Abstract
This edited volume arises from papers presented at a conference on Gospel Interpretation and the Q Hypothesis held in Roskilde, Denmark in 2015. The volume is arranged in two parts: Part I History and Theory; Part II Textual Studies. The volume has a strong coherence and addresses a number of fundamental and recent issues in Q scholarship and Gospel interpretation.
The opening essay by Omerzu (pp. 1–10) is scene-setting as it introduces the stakes in advocating or disputing the Q hypothesis. In part one readers will likely focus on the essays in chapters six and seven, where first Tuckett critiques Watson’s rejection of the Q hypothesis—especially in his major work Gospel Writing (2013). This essay raises several significant issues that press Watson on which ‘redactional procedures’ should be compared when assessing the plausibility of the Q hypothesis against Watson’s preferred solution the L/M (Farrer) hypothesis (pp. 116–120), as well calling for a clearer understanding of the concept of agreement and difference between Matthew and Luke. The discussion of the birth narratives is instructive (pp. 120–122). Here, Tuckett questions whether Watson is correct to see this as positive evidence of Luke’s agreement with Matthew (and hence evidence of Luke’s literary dependence on Matthean redactional material), or whether, given that the two accounts are very divergent, that this should be classified as a difference. Readers will assess the arguments in different ways, but the discussion helpfully draws out the dividing lines in the debate. Watson responds (pp. 139–147) by stating seven theses on the synoptic problem that from his perspective problematise the dominance of the Q hypothesis. These two essays, along with Kloppenborg’s ‘Conceptual Stakes in the Synoptic Problem’ (pp. 13–42) are highlights in the first section.
Section two comprises seven essays, which each focus on specific textual issues. Eve-Marie Becker’s ‘Mark With and Against Q’ (pp. 151–163) argues that ‘Mark dealt with Q as a source of inspiration in order to surpass and counteract the existing piece of literature’ (p. 163). Scherer probes coherence and distinctiveness as a way of exploring the social matrix of the double tradition (pp. 185–200). It is argued that the double tradition in its familial roles present a social matrix that is coherent and provides evidence of ‘reflections on urgent problems of a group of Jesus follower’ (p. 198). Shelly Matthew’s discusses the implications of a possible second century of Luke-Acts for the Q hypothesis (pp. 245–265). In essence she suggests that the canonical form of Luke is indeed a second-century product, but it is itself a redaction of an earlier version, ‘core Luke’, which is the entity that stands at the heart of articulations of the Two-Source theory. Finally, Dieter Roth interacts with recent discussions of Marcion’s Gospel in regard to the Synoptic Problem (pp. 267–282).
This is a rich and coherent volume. Many of the essays are important in their own right. As a collection, this is a significant contribution to the continuing debates around the Q-hypothesis.