THE SAYINGS GOSPEL OF Q - as reconstructed and published by James M. Robinson in The Gospel of Jesus - In search of the Original Good News p. 23ff
Chapter 2 - The Sayings Gospel Q
Beginning in 1983, I organized a team of scholars, called the International Q_Project, to reconstruct the Sayings Gospel Q_ word by word. The result of a generation of teamwork by more than forty scholars is available in the rather massive The Critical Edition of Q(Leuven: Peeters; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000). It is more accessible in the abridged edition, The Sayings Gospel (in Greek and English (Leuven: Peeters, 2001; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002). My resultant English translation of Qis reprinted below
Anyone wishing to investigate my own research over the past forty years that led up to and accompanied this reconstruction of the text of the Sayings Gospel Q_may consult my large volume The Sayings Gospel Q. Collected Essays (Leuven: Peeters, 2005), although that volume may be too technical to interest average readers.
In the reconstruction process, the wording of the Sayings Gospel Q had to be worked out in a painstaking word-by-word analysis, saying after saying, to detect and undo the varying stylistic and theological "improvements" that are characteristic of both Matthew and Lk. Since the Gospel of Matthew was rooted in the Q community, it often continued Qs language more faithfully than did the gentile Christian Gospel of Lk. But since the Gospel of Lk did not come from a congregation still making use of the Sayings Gospel Qit had less need to update the Qtext and hence often has the older reading. The Sayings Gospel Qitself is not in the New Testament, but everything in Qis nonetheless in the New Testament because it is in Matthew and Lk.
The reconstruction process tried to measure the degree of probability to be accorded to each of the thousands of decisions involved. As a result, rather complex marks in the text of the critical edition make clear just how probable each word was thought to be. Those wishing to study such technical details may consult that edition itself But for average readers such intrusions into the flow of the text would distract more than inform, and so are reduced here to a strict minimum.
HOW TO USE THE SAYINGS GOSPEL Q
In what follows, references to the Sayings Gospel Quse the chapter and verse numeration of the Gospel of Lk, since it was Lk who usually followed the sequence of Q_more faithfully than did Matthew. For example, the reference "Q6:22" indicates that this is the Aversion of the saying found in Lk 6:22 and its Matthean parallel Matthew 5:11.
In a few instances where the Matthean sequence diverges from that of Lk, it is Matthew who retains the sequence of QThe result is that at times the sequence in which Q_is reconstructed will have (Lukan) numeration that is not sequential, such as that for the three temptations of Jesus. In such cases, the verses are printed in Matthean sequence, since that is the sequence of Q_ but the numeration still pedantically follows Lk, with the result that the sequence of the verse numeration is, for example, "Q 4:1-4, 9-12, 5-8,13."
In one instance, a saying thought to belong to Qis nonetheless only in Matthew; it is listed between the immediately preceding and following Q sayings in Lk. "Q 6:29'30/Matthew 5:41" means that the Qsaying behind Matthew 5:41 belongs in Qbetween 6:29 and 6:30, that is, between Lk 6:29 and 6:30.
If there is a high degree of uncertainty about a particular word or phrase, no text is provided, but the place is marked with an ellipsis, ... indicating that there was some text here. Parentheses, (), are used where the text has to be emended or where only the gist or train of thought, but not the actual language, could be provided.
To make it easier to find your way through the text, headings are inserted for each unit of associated sayings, clusters, or paragraphs. Of course they do not belong to the original text of the Sayings Gospel Q itself
Beneath each section are given the chapter and verse references to Q Since the chapter and verse reference to OJs the same as that of Lk, if you are interested in seeing the section in its Lukan context with its Lukan wording, you can simply look it up in that same chapter and verse in Lk. For example, the Lukan text making use of Q 6:20-21 is to be found in Lk 6:20-21.
References to Matthew are also added beneath each section. For example, "Q 6:20-21, see Matthew 5:1-4, 6" points to the verses in Matthew where these Q sayings are to be found. Thus, if you would like to see the way in which Matthew edited, and from his point of view improved, the wording of Q, you can see it for yourself in this example, you can see how Matthew "spiritualized" the Beatitudes by shifting "the poor" and "hungry" to "poor in spirit" and "hungering and thirsting after righteousness." Or you can see how Matthew carries out the same kind of spiritualizing in the Lord's Prayer, "Q 11:2b-4, see Matthew 6:9-13a." In Matthew, Q‛s "let your reign come: Our day's bread give us today" becomes "let your reign come: your will be done on earth as it is in heaven; our day's bread give us today." Gradually, you will begin to get a feel for the emphases that Matthew does not want to be overlooked. Conversely, Lk has different emphases, which you can find if you compare the reading in Q with the reading in Lk.
Since a goodly number of the same sayings occur in the Sayings Gospel Q and in the Gospel of Thom, the references to the Gospel of Thom are added after the sections that have such parallels, just after the reference to Matthew, for example, " Q 6:20-21, see Matthew 5:1-4, 6, also Thom 54; 69:2." In this case, Thom saying 54 agrees with the Q Beatitude for the poor, but Saying 69:2 spells out in more detail the Beatitude for the hungry: "Blessed are those who hunger in order that the stomach of the one who craves for (food) may eat its fill."
To make the actual comparison with the reading in the Gospel of Thom, let me refer you to The Fifth Gospel: The Gospel of Thom Comes ofAge, by Stephen J. Patterson and myself, with a new English translation by a team of scholars led by Hans-Gebhard Bethge, which we edited (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1998).
Later chapters contain a few quotations from the Gospel of Thom (Nag Hammadi Codex 11, Tractate 2) and the Gospell of Philip (Nag Hammadi Codex II, Tractate 3). Since holes in the papyrus occur, the missing or emended text is supplied in square brackets, [ ], when the reading is rather certain. When it is impossible to fill the hole with any certainty, the place is indicated with an ellipsis inside the square brackets, [... ] .
THE TEXT OF THE SAYINGS GOSPEL Q
[Occasionally a note will be added from the main text of GoJ indicating the particular verse it refers to, and the page from the text - like 34 p.8]
Opening Line
0 (... Jesus ... )
Q 3:0, not in Mt or Lk
The introduction ofJohn
2b John' 3a (...) all the region of the Jordan ( .. )
Q3:2b-3a, see Mt 3:1, 5
John‛s Announcement of Judgement
7 He said to the crowds coming to be baptized: Snakes litter! Who warned you to run from the impended rage? 8 So bear fruit worthy of repentance, and do not presume to tell yourselves: We have as forefather Abraham! For I tell you: God can produce children for Abraham richt out these rocks! 9 And the ax already lies at the root of the trees. So every tree not bearing healthy fruit is to be chopped down and thrown on the fire.
Q 3:7-9, see Mt 3:7-10
John and the One to Come
10b I baptize you in water, but the one to come after me is more powerful than I, whose sandels I am not fit to take off. He will baptize you in holy Spirit and fire. " His pitchfork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn on a fire that can never be put out.
Q 3:16b-17, see Mt 3:11-12
The Baptism of Jesus
21b Jesus ... baptized, heaven opened, u and the Spirit ... upon him ... Son ...
Q 3:21b-22, see Mt 3:16-17
The Temptations of Jesus
1 And Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit 2 to be tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing for forty days; he became hungry. 3 And the devil told him: If you are God's Son, order that these stones become loaves. 4 And Jesus answered him: It is written: A person is not to live only from bread.
9 The devil took him along to Jerusalem and put him on the tip of the temple and told him: If you are God's Son, throw yourself down. 10 For it is written: He will command his angels about you, 11 and on their hands they will bear you, so that you do not strike your foot against a stone. 12 And Jesus in reply told him: It is written: Do not put to the test the Lord your God.
3 And the devil took him along to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor, 6 and told him: All these I will give you, 7 if you bow down before me. 'And in reply Jesus told him: It is written: Bow down to the Lord your God, and serve only him.
13 And the devil left him.
Q 4:1-4,9-12,5-8,13, see Mt 4:1-11
Nazara
16 (....) Nazara (....)
Q 4:16, see Mt 4:13
Beatitudes for the Poor, Hungry, and Mourning
20 (... And raising his eyes to his disciples he said: Blessed are you poor, for God's reign is for you. 21 Blessed are you who hunger, for you will eat your fill. Blessed are you who mourn, for you will be consoled.
Q 6:20-21, see Mt 5:1-4, 6, also Thom 54; 69:2 [for the "poor" (cf 7:22) see p.19 with reference to the Ebionites, a heretical sect.]
The Beatitude for the Persecuted
22 Blessed are you when they insult and persecute you, and say every kind of evil against you because of the son of humanity. 23 Be glad and exult, for vast is your reward in heaven. For this is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Q 6:22-23, see Mt 5:11-12, also Thom 69:1a; 68:1
Love Your Enemies
27 Love your enemies 28 and pray for those persecuting you, 35 c-d so that you may become sons of your Father, for he raises his sun on bad and good and rains on the just and unjust.
Q 6.27-28,35c-d, see Mt 5:44-45
Renouncing One's Own Rights
29 The one who slaps you on the cheek, offer him the other as well; and to the person wanting to take you to court and get your shirt, turn over to him the coat as well. 29-30/Mt 5:41 And the one who conscripts you for one mile, go with him a second. 30 To the one who asks of you, give; and from the one who borrows, do not ask back what is yours.
Q 6:29, 29-30/Mt 5:41,30, see Mt 5:39b-42, also Thom 95
The Golden Rule
31 And the way you want people to treat you, that is how you treat them.
Q 6:31, see Mt 7:12, also Thom 6:3
Impartial Love
32 If you love those loving you, what reward do you have? Do not even tax collectors do the same? 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what (reward do) you (have)? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
Q 6:32, 34, see Mt 5:46,47, also Thom 95 [ at 34 p 8 Q was written for a Jewish Christian audience. In includes derogatory statements about Gentiles like those that wer no doubt common in Aramaic speaking Jeiwsh villages]
Being Full of Pity Like Your Father
36 Be full of pity, just as your Father is full of pity.
Q 6:36, see Mt 5:48
Not Judging
37 Do not pass judgment, so you are not judged. For with what judgment you pass judgment, you will be judged. 38 And with the measurement you use to measure out, it will be measured out to you.
Q 6:37-38, see Mt 7:1-2
The Blind Leading the Blind
39 Can a blind person show the way to a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?
Q 6:39, see Mt 15:14, also Thom 34
The Disciple and the Teacher
40 A disciple is not superior to the teacher. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher. Q 6:40, see Mt 10:24-25a
The Speck and the Beam
41 And why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but the beam in your own eye you overlook? 42 How can you say to your brother: Let me throw out the speck from your eye - and just look at the beam in your own eye? Hypocrite, first throw out from your own eye the beam, and then you will see clearly to throw out the speck in your brother's eye.
Q 6:41-42, see Mt 7:3-5, also Thom 26
The Tree Is Known by Its Fruit
43 No healthy tree bears rotten fruit, nor on the other hand does a decayed tree bear healthy fruit. 44 For from the fruit the tree is known. Are figs picked from thorns, or grapes from thistles? 45 The good person from one's good treasure casts up good things, and the evil person from the evil treasure casts up evil things. For from exuberance of heart one's mouth speaks.
Q 6:43-45, see Mt 7:16b, 18; 12:33b-3S, also Thom 45 [Jesus connects with John‛s message 3:7-9 p.117]
Not Just Saying Master, Master
46 Why do you call me: Master, Master, and do not do what I say?
Q 6:46, see Mt 7:21
Houses Built on Rock or Sand
47 Everyone hearing my sayings and acting on them 48 is like a person who built one's house on bedrock; and the rain poured down and the flash floods came, and the winds blew and pounded that house, and it did not collapse, for it was founded on bedrock. 49 And everyone who hears my sayings and does not act on them is like a person who built one's house on the sand; and the rain poured down and the flash floods came, and the winds blew and battered that house, and promptly it collapsed, and its fall was devastating.
Q 6:47-49, see Mt 7:24-27
The Centurion's Faith in Jesus' Word
1 And it came to pass when he ended these sayings, he entered Capernaum. 3 There came to him a centurion exhorting him and saying: My boy (is) doing badly. And he said to him: Am I, by coming, to heal him? 6b-c And in reply the centurion said: Master, I am not worthy for you to come under my roof; 7 but say the word, and let my boy be healed. 8 For I too am a person under authority, with soldiers under me, and I say to one: Go, and he goes, and to another: Come, and he comes, and to my slave: Do this, and he does it. 9 But Jesus, on hearing, was amazed, and said to those who followed: I tell you: Not even in Israel have I found such faith.
Q 7:1, 3, 6b-9, see Mt 7:28a; 8:5-10 [p.10 the pericope makes Jesus‛ role as faith healer clear in the Q document]
John's Inquiry About the one to Come
18 And John, on hearing about all these things, sending through his disciples, 19 said to him: Are you the one to come, or are we to expect someone else? 22 And in reply he said to them: Go report to John what you hear and see: The blind regain their sight and the lame walk around, the skin-diseased are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, and the poor are evangelized. 23 And blessed is whoever is not offended by me.
Q 7:18-19, 22-23, see Mt 11:2-6 [22 p.10 providing a list of the things Jesus had done to prove that he was the ‛one to come‛ - a list so extensive that Mt had difficulty documenting it - cf 13:34-5]
John - More Than a Prophet
24 And when they had left, he began to talk to the crowds about John: What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 If not, what did you go out to see? A person arrayed in finery? Look, those wearing finery are in kings' houses. 26 But then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, even more than a prophet! 27 This is the one about whom it has been written: Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your path in front of you. 28 I tell you: There has not arisen among women's offspring anyone who surpasses John. Yet the least significant in God's kingdom is more than he.
Q 7:24-28, see Mt 11:7-11, also Thom 78; 46 [28: Jesus view of John in relation to Kingdom of God vs Jn‛s "christianizing John" cf Jn 1:29,34,36; 3:28, p.123f]
For and Against John
29 For John came to you, . . . the tax collectors and ... (responded positively) 30 but the (religious authorities rejected him.
Q 7:29-30, see Mt 21:32
This Generation and the Children of Wisdom
31 To what am I to compare this generation and what is it like? 32 It is like children seated in the marketplaces, who, addressing the others, say: We fluted for you, but you would not dance; we wailed, but you would not cry. 33 For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and you say: He has a demon! 34 The son of humanity came, eating and drinking, and you say: Look! A person who is a glutton and drunkard, a chum of tax collectors and sinners! 35 But Wisdom was vindicated by her children.
Q 7:31-35 see Mt 11:16-19 [34 p.12 Jesus was not a ascetic like John, he is a person who eats and shares food with others] [31-34 p.16-7 (cf also 10:10-15 + 11:29-30) passages that talk of a rejection of the Q = Jewish Christian community]
Confronting Potential Followers
57 And someone said to him: I will follow you wherever you go. 58 And Jesus said to him: Foxes have holes, and birds of the sky have nests; but the son of humanity does not have anywhere he can lay his head. 59 But another said to him: Master, permit me rst to go and bury my father. 60 But he said to him: Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.
Q 9:57-60, see Mt 8:19-22, also Thom 86 [reflects on Jesus‛ rejection of family ties cf 12:53 + 14:26(Lk‛s comment). p.104]
Workers for the Harvest
2 He said to his disciples: The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few So ask the Lord of the harvest to dispatch workers into his harvest.
Q 10:2, see Mt 9:37-38, also Thom 73
Sheep Among Wolves
3 Be on your way! Look, I send you like sheep in the midst of wolves.
Q 10:3, see Mt 10:16
No Provisions
4 Carry no purse, nor knapsack, nor sandals, nor stick, and greet no one on the road.
Q 10:4, see Mt 10:9-10a [4 p.15 Texts in the NT as Lk 22:33-35, Mk 14:43,Mk 14:47 indicate that the early ‛church‛ had become ‛militant‛. Jesus instructed not even to carry a stick in self-defense. see also p.113]
What to Do in Houses and Towns
5 Into whatever house you enter, first say: Peace to this house! 6 And if a son of peace be there, let your peace come upon him; but if not, let your peace return upon you. 7 And at that house remain, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the worker is worthy of one's reward. Do not move around from house to house. 8 And whatever town you enter and they take you in, eat what is set before you. 9 And cure the sick there, and say to them: God's reign has reached unto you.
Q 10:5-9, see Mt 10:7-8, 10b-13, also Thom 14:4 [9 p.10 a mission instruction calling on the disciples to heal the sick, making clear that Jesus‛ healing power was carried over to them] [7-9 p.12 the worker is assured of receiving food]
Response to a Town's Rejection
10 But into whatever town you enter and they do not take you in, on going out from that town, 11 shake off the dust from your feet. 12 I tell you: For Sodom it shall be more bearable on that day than for that town.
Q l0:10-12, see Mt 10:1-15
Woes Against Galilean Towns
13 Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the wonders performed in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, in sackcloth and ashes. 14 Yet for Tyre and Sidon it shall be more bearable at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, up to heaven will you be exalted? Into Hades shall you come down!
Q 10:13-15 see Mt 11:21-24 [13 p.10 the "mighty works" Jesus had performed in Chorazin and Bethsaida]
Whoever Takes You in Takes Me in
16 Whoever takes you in takes me in, and whoever takes me in takes in the one who sent me.
Q 10:16, see Mt 10:40
Thanksgiving That God Reveals Only to children
21 At (that time he said: I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you hid these things from sages and the learned, and disclosed them to children. Yes, Father, for that is what it has pleased you to do.
Q 10:21, see Mt 11:25-26
Knowing the Father Through the Son
22 Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and to whomever the Son chooses to reveal him.
Q 10:22, see Mt 11:27, also Thom 61:3b
The Beatitude for the Eyes That See
23b Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24 For I tell you: Many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, but never saw it, and to hear what you hear, but never heard it.
Q 10:23b-24, see Mt 13:16-17
The Lord's Prayer
2b When you pray, say: Father - may your name be kept holy! - let your reign come: 3 Our day's bread give us today; 4 and cancel our debts for us, as we too have canceled for those in debt to us; and do not put us to the test!
Q 11:2b-4, see Mt 6:9-13a
The Certainty of the Answer to Prayer
9 I tell you: Ask and it will be given to you, search and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks will it be opened. 11 What person of you, whose child asks for bread, will give him a stone? 12 Or again when he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 13 So if you, though evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, by how much more will the Father from heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Q 11:9-13, see Mt 7:7-11, also Thom 92:1; 94 [11-13 p.12 Jesus promises people that they can trust God for food, for just as God feeds the ravens, so he feeds humans]
Refuting the Beelzebul Accusation
14 And he cast out a demon which made a person mute. And once the demon was cast out, the mute person spoke. And the crowds were amazed. 15 But some said: By Beelzebul, the ruler of demons, he casts out demons! 17 But, knowing their thoughts, he said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself is left barren, and every household divided against itself will not stand. 18 And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? 19 And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, your sons, by whom do they cast them out? This is why they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then there has come upon you God's reign.
Q 11:14-15,17-20, see Mt 9:32-34; 12:25-28 [20 p.11 exorcisms are done because God is reigning - the Kingdom has come in your midst GCS]
[(Mt) 34 p.10 shows Jesus‛ role as exorcist initiating the Beelzebul controversy]
Looting a Strong Person's House
21 (A strong person's house cannot be looted, u but if someone still stronger overpowers him, he does get looted)
Q 11:21-22, see Mt 12:29, also Thom 35
The One Not with Me
23 The one not with me is against me, and the one not gathering with me scatters.
Q 11:23, see Mt 12:30
The Return of the Unclean Spirit
24 When the defiling spirit has left the person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, and finds none. Then it says: I will return to my house from which I came. 25 And on arrival it finds it swept and tidied up. 26 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and, moving in, they settle there. And the last circumstances of that person become worse than the first.
Q 11:24-26, see Mt 12:43-45
Hearing and Keeping God's Word
27-28 .... 27 While he was saying this a woman from the crowd called out, "Blest is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!" 28 "Rather", he replied, "blest are they who hear the word of God and keep it."
Q 11:27-28, not in Mt, but see Thom 79:1-2
The Sign of Jonah for This Generation
16 But some were demanding from him a sign. 29 But he said: This generation is an evil generation; it demands a sign, but a sign will not be given to it-except the sign of Jonah! 30 For as Jonah became to the Ninevites a sign, so also will the son of humanity be to this generation.
Q 11:16, 29-30, see Mt 12:38-40
Something More Than Solomon and Jonah
31 The queen of the South will be raised at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and look, something more than Solomon is here! 32 Ninevite men will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the announcement of Jonah, and look, something more than Jonah is here!
Q 11:31-32, see Mt 12:41-42
The Light on the Lamp Stand
33 No one lights a lamp and puts it in a hidden place, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light for everyone in the house.
Q 11:33, see Mt 5:15, also Thom 33:2-3
The jaundiced Eye Darkens the Body's Radiance
34 The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is generous, your whole body is radiant; but if your eye is jaundiced, your whole body is dark. 35 So if the light within you is dark, how great must the darkness be!
Q 11:34-35, see Mt 6:22-23, also Thom 24:3
Woes Against the Pharisees
42 Woe to you, Pharisees, for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and give up justice and mercy and faithfulness. But these one had to do, without giving up those. 39b Woe to you, Pharisees, for you purify the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and dissipation. 40 Purify the inside of the cup, . . . its outside ... pure. 43 Woe to you, Pharisees, for you love the place of honor at banquets and the front seat in the synagogues and accolades in the markets. 44 Woe to you, Pharisees, for you are like indistinct tombs and people walking on top are unaware.
Q 11:42, 39b, 41,43-44, see Mt 23:23, 25, 26b-27, 6-7, also Thom 89:1
Woes Against the Exegetes of the Law
46b And woe to you, exegetes of the Law, for you bind ... burdens, and load on the backs of people, but you yourselves do not want to lift your finger to move them. 52 Woe to you, exegetes of the Law, for you shut the kingdom of (God) from people; you did not go in, nor let in those trying to get in. 47 Woe to you, for you built the tombs of the prophets, but your forefathers killed them. 48 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are the sons of your forefathers.
Q 11:46b, 52,47-48, see Mt 23:4, 13, 29-32, also Thom 39:1-2
Wisdom's Judgment on This Generation
49 Therefore also Wisdom said: I will send them prophets and sages, and some of them they will kill and persecute, 50 so that a settling of accounts for the blood of all the prophets poured out from the founding of the world may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, murdered between the sacrificial altar and the House. Yes, I tell you: An accounting will be required of this generation!
Q 11:49-51, see Mt 23:34-36 [a final editor of the Sayings of Q actually quotes a text ascribed to Wisdom, personification of God; cf 13:34-5, p.119]
Proclaiming what was whispered
2 Nothing is covered up that will not be exposed, and hidden that will not be known. 3 What I say to you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.
Q 12:2-3, see Mt 10:26-27, also Thom 5:2 = 6:5; 33:1
Not Fearing the Body's Death
4 And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. 5 But fear the one who is able to destroy both the soul and body in Gehenna.
Q 12:4-5 see Mt 10:28
More Precious Than Many Sparrows
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? And yet not one of them will fall to earth without your Father's consent. 7 But even the hairs of your head all are numbered. Do not be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.
Q 12:6-7, see Mt 10:29-31 [also 22b-31 - shows Jesus view of God‛s caring control of nature vs John‛s doomday version p.156]
Confessing or Denying
8 Anyone who may speak out for me in public, the son of humanity will also speak out for him before the angels. 9 But whoever may deny me in public will be denied before the angels.
Q 12:8-9, see Mt 10:32-33
Speaking Against the Holy Spirit
10 And whoever says a word against the son of humanity it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.
Q 12:10, see Mt 12:32a-b, also Thom 44
Hearings Before Synagogues
11 When they bring you before synagogues, do not be anxious about how or what you are to say; u for the holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what you are to say.
Q 12:11-12, see Mt 10:19
Storing Up Treasures in Heaven
33 Do not treasure for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and gnawing deface and where robbers dig through and rob, but treasure for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor gnawing defaces and where robbers do not dig through nor rob. 34 For where your treasure is, there will also be your heart.
Q 12:33-34, see Mt 6:19-21, also Thom 76:3
Free from Anxiety Like Ravens and Lilies
22b Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you are to eat, nor about your body, with what you are to clothe yourself 23 Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing? 24 Consider the ravens: They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet God feeds them. Are you not better than the birds? 25 And who of you by being anxious is able to add to one's stature a cubit? 26 And why are you anxious about clothing? 27 Observe the lilies, how they grow: They do not work nor do they spin. Yet I tell you: Not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these. 28 But if in the field the grass, there today and tomorrow thrown into the oven, God clothes thus, will he not much more clothe you, persons of petty faith! 29 So do not be anxious, saying: What are we to eat? Or: What are we to drink? Or: What are we to wear? 30 For all these the Gentiles seek; for your Father knows that you need them all. 31 But seek his kingdom, and all these shall be granted to you.
Q 12:22b-31, see Mt 6:25-33, also Thom 36:1,4, 2-3
The Son of Humanity Comes as a Robber
39 But know this: If the householder had known in which watch the robber was coming, he would not have let his house be dug into. 40 You also must be ready, for the son of humanity is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Q 12:39-40, see Mt 24:43-44, also Thom 21:5; 103
The Faithful or unfaithful slave
42 Who then is the faithful and wise slave whom the master put over his household to give them food on time? 43 Blessed is that slave whose master, on coming, will find him so doing. 44 Amen, I tell you: He will appoint him over all his possessions. 45 But if that slave says in his heart: My master is delayed, and begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with the drunkards, 46 the master of that slave will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him to pieces and give him an inheritance with the faithless.
Q 12:42-46, see Mt 24:45-51
Children Against Parents
49 Fire have I come to hurl on the earth, and how I wish it had already blazed up! 51 Do you think that I have come to hurl peace on earth? I did not come to hurl peace, but a sword! 53 For I have come to divide son against father, and daughter against her mother, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law
Q12:49,51,53, see Mt 10:34-35, also Thom 10;16:1-2, 3b
Judging the Time
54 But he said to them: When evening has come, you say: Good weather! For the sky is flame red. 55 And at dawn: Today it's wintry! For the lowering sky is flame red. 56 The face of the sky you know to interpret, but the time you are not able to?
Q 12:54-56, see Mt 16:2-3, also Thom 91:2
Settling out of Court
58 While you go along with your opponent on the way, make an effort to get loose from him, lest the opponent hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the assistant, and the (assistant) throw you into prison. 59 I say to you: You will not get out of there until you pay the last penny!
Q 12:58-59, see Mt 5:25-26
The Mustard Seed
18 What is the kingdom of God like, and with what am I to compare it? 19 It is like a seed of mustard, which a person took and threw into his garden. And it grew and developed into a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.
Q 13:18-19, see Mt 13:31-32, also Thom 20
The Yeast
20 And again: With what am I to compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was fully fermented.
Q 13:20-21, see Mt 13:33, also Thom 96:1-2
I Do Not Know You
24 Enter through the narrow door, for many will seek to enter and few are those who (enter through) it. 25
When the householder has arisen and locked the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying: Master, open for us, and he will answer you: I do not know you, 26 then you will begin saying: We ate in your presence and drank, and it was in our streets you taught. 27 And he will say to you: I do not know you! Get away from me, you who do lawlessness!
Q 13:24-27 see Mt 7:13-14, 22-23; 25:10-12
Many Shall Come from sunrise and sunset
29 And many shall come from Sunrise and Sunset and recline 28 with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Q 13:29, 28, see Mt 8:11-12 [28: the Q community‛s final repudiation of Israel for rejecting the message of John and Jesus find expression in very negative language, p.120 - so different from Jesus‛ view cf 10:21]
The Reversal of the Last and the First
30 The last will be first, and the first last.
Q 13:30, see Mt 20:16, also Thom 4:2
Judgment over Jerusalem
34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her nestlings under her wings, and you were not willing! 35 Look, your House is forsaken! I tell you: You will not see me until (the time) comes when you say: Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Q 13:34-35 see Mt 23:37-39 [‛one who comes‛ - Q‛s understanding of John‛s ‛one to come‛ in 3:16b-17, cf 7:18-9 p.122]
The Exalted Humbled and the Humble Exalted
11 Everyone exalting oneself will be humbled, and the one humbling oneself will be exalted.
Q 14:11, see Mt 23:12
The Invited Dinner Guests
16 A certain person prepared a large dinner, and invited many. 17 And he sent his slave at the time of the dinner to say to the invited: Come, for it is now ready. 18 (One declined because of his) farm. 19 (Another declined because of his business) 21 And the slave, (on coming, said) these things to his master. Then the householder, enraged, said to his slave: 23 Go out on the roads, and whomever you find, invite, so that my house may be filled.
Q 14:16-18,19,21,23, see Mt 22:2-3, 5, 7a, 8-10, also Thom 64
Hating One's Family
26 (The one who) does not hate father and mother (can)not (be) my (disciple); and (the one who does not hate) son and daughter cannot be my disciple.
Q 14:26, see Mt 10:37 also Thom 55; 101:1-2
Taking One's Cross
27 The one who does not take one's cross and follow after me cannot be my disciple.
Q 14:27 see Mt 10:38, also Thom 55:2
Finding or Losing One's Life
33 The one who finds one's life will lose it, and the one who loses one's life for my sake will find it.
Q 17:33, see Mt 10:39
Insipid Salt
34 Salt is good; but if salt becomes insipid, with what will it be seasoned? 35 Neither for the earth nor for the dunghill is it fit-it gets thrown out.
Q 14:34-35 see Mt 5:13
God or Mammon
13 Nobody can serve two masters; for a person will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon.
Q 16:13, see Mt 6:24, also Thom 47:2
Since John the Kingdom of God
16 The Law and the Prophets were until John. From then on the kingdom of God is violated and the violent plunder it.
Q 16:16, see Mt 11:12-13
No Serif of the Law to Fall
17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one iota or one serif of the Law to fall.
Q 16.17 see Mt 5:18
Divorce Leading to Adultery
18 Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and the one who marries a divorcee commits adultery.
Q 16:18, see Mt 5:32
Against Enticing Little Ones
1 It is necessary for enticements to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It is better for him if a millstone is put around his neck and he is thrown into the sea, than that he should entice one of these little ones.
Q 17.1-2, see Mt 18:7, 6
The Lost Sheep
4 Which person is there among you who has a hundred sheep, on losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains and go hunt for the lost one? 5a And if it should happen that he finds it, 7 I say to you that he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.
Q 15.4-5a, 7, see Mt 18:12-13, also Thom 107
The Lost Coin
8 Or what woman who has ten coins, if she were to lose one coin, would not light a lamp and sweep the house and hunt until she finds? 9 And on finding she calls the friends and neighbors, saying: Rejoice with me, for I found the coin which I had lost. 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels over one repenting sinner.
Q 15:8-10, not in Mt
Forgiving a Sinning Brother Repeatedly
3 If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if seven times a day he sins against you, also seven times shall you forgive him.
Q 17:3-4, see Mt 18:15,21
Faith Like a Mustard Seed
6 If you have faith like a mustard seed, you might say to this mulberry tree: Be uprooted and planted in the sea! And it would obey you.
Q 7:6, see Mt 17:2ob, also Thom 48
The Kingdom of God within You
20 But on being asked when the kingdom of God is coming, he answered them and said: The kingdom of God is not coming visibly. 21 Nor will one say: Look, here! Or: There! For, look, the kingdom of God is within you!
Q 7:20-21, see Mt 24:23, also Thom 3:1-3; 113
The son of Humanity Like Lightning
23 If they say to you: Look, he is in the wilderness, do not go out; look, he is indoors, do not follow 24 For as the lightning streaks out from Sunrise and flashes as far as Sunset, so will the son of humanity be on his day.
Q 17:23-24, see Mt 24:26-27, also Thom 3:1-2
Vultures Around a Corpse
37 Wherever the corpse, there the vultures will gather.
Q 7:37 see Mt 24:28
As in the Days of Noah
26 As it took place in the days of Noah, so will it be in the day of the son of humanity. 27 For as in those days they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark and the flood came and took them all, 30 so will it also be on the day the son of humanity is revealed.
Q 7:26-27, 30, see Mt 24:37-39
One Taken, One Left
34 I tell you: There will be two men in the field; one is taken and one is left. 35 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left.
Q 7:34-35 see Mt 24:40-41, also Thom 61:1
The Entrusted money
12 A certain person, on taking a trip, 13 called ten of his slaves and gave them ten minas and said to them: Do business until I come. 15 After a long time the master of those slaves comes and settles accounts with them. 16 And the first came saying: Master, your mina has produced ten more minas. 17 And he said to him: Well done, good slave, you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. 18 And the second came saying: Master, your mina has earned five minas. 19 He said to him: Well done, good slave, you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. 20 And the other came saying: Master, 21 I knew you, that you are a hard person, reaping where you did not sow and gathering up from where you did not winnow; and, scared, I went and hid your (mina) in the ground. Here, you have what belongs to you. 22 He said to him: Wicked slave! You knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather up from where I have not winnowed? 23Then you had to invest my money with the money changers! And at my coming I would have received what belongs to me plus interest. 24 So take from him the mina and give it to the one who has the ten minas. 26 For to everyone who has will be given; but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
Q 19:12-13,15-24,26, see Mt 25:14-15b, 19-29, also Thom 41
You Will Judge the Twelve Tribes of Israel
28 You who have followed me 30 will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Q 22:28,30, see Mt 19:28
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