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Q

A hypothetical collection of Jesus’ sayings that is thought to have circulated in the 1st century and used independently by the authors of Matthew and Luke. The Q hypothesis was first developed among German scholars as a component of the two-source theory in the 19th century, the solution to the Synoptic problem in which Mark is the first Gospel (and the most reliable for describing the ministry of Jesus) and Q an early source of Jesus’ sayings. The designation Q derives from German Quelle, “source.” The Q hypothesis explains (1) the remarkable verbal agreement between large blocks of Jesus’ teachings found both in Matthew and Luke but not Mark (hence Q is sometimes called the “double tradition”), (2) why the sequence of sayings in Matthew for the most part follows the relative Lukan sequence, and (3) why Matthew especially has doublet sayings (i.e., similar sayings, one adopted from Mark and one from Q). Perhaps one of the sources explicitly mentioned in Luke 1:1-4, Q contains some of the most characteristic parables and ethical teachings of Jesus, such as the Beatitudes, love of enemies, and the Lord’s Prayer. There are only two narrative stories in Q, the temptation and the healing of the centurion’s servant, but even in these passages the primary focus is Jesus’ dialogue.

Interest in Q was revived in the late 1960s in the wake of redaction criticism and the discovery of the Gospel of Thomas in 1947. Redaction criticism’s interest in the Gospel writers’ style and theology analyzed the use of their sources, including the sayings in Q. The 114 sayings of Jesus collected under the title Gospel of Thomas, part of the Nag Hammadi library, provided an early Christian document analogous in genre to Q and bolstered claims of its existence. Several scholars have attempted to reconstruct Q’s original text by carefully analyzing the differences between Matthew’s and Luke’s readings, and then determining which of the two preserves Q’s reading and which edited Q’s reading. Recent studies have focused on Q’s own and distinct theology, particularly its concerted condemnation of “this generation” and its views on Judaism and Gentiles. Sociologically oriented studies have speculated on the community behind the document: the sayings may have been recorded by early wandering missionaries or prophets, or among the communities in or near Galilee which supported them. Q’s theology and its community are found not only in what it contained, but also in what it did not: strikingly absent are references to a eucharistic meal or Jesus’ resurrection, explicit references to the Crucifixion, church leadership, or primacy of any disciples. Whether these aspects were simply assumed, rejected, or not yet developed by the tradents of Q has been disputed. While some scholars still dispute that Q was a written document, others have speculated that Q itself contained two written layers, an early sapientially oriented collection of sayings blocks that was later supplemented with apocalyptically oriented sayings.

Since Luke follows the Markan sequence of pericope closely, many posit that Luke also follows the order of Q more closely, and hence Q passages are often cited with the Lukan versification (e.g., Q 11:2-4 for the Lord’s Prayer). Alternatively, Q passages are referred to by citing both parallel passages (e.g., Matt. 6:9-11 = Luke 11:2-4 for the Lord’s Prayer).

Bibliography. I. Havener, Q: The Sayings of Jesus. Good News Studies 19 (Wilmington, 1987); J. S. Kloppenborg, ed., The Shape of Q (Minneapolis, 1994).

Jonathan L. Reed

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

Q

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)