Papers by Dale C . Allison
The Sayings Source Q and the Historical Jesus, 2001
Neutestamentliche Exegese im Dialog: Hermeneutik—Wirkungsgeschichte—Matthäusevangelium: Festschrift für Ulrich Luz zum 70. Geburtstag, 2008
After his resurrection* (Matt 27,53) and the Descens ad inferos The earth quakes, rocks are rent,... more After his resurrection* (Matt 27,53) and the Descens ad inferos The earth quakes, rocks are rent, and tombs are opened when Jesus dies in Matthew 27; thereafter, resurrected bodies exit their graves and show themselves in Jerusalem. This curious legendit can be nothing elseiposes intriguing riddles for the interpreter, most of them ably reviewed in our honoree's marvellous commentary on the First Gospel.2 Among those riddles is the function of the chronological > N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, Minneapolis 2003, 632-36, urges that "some stories are so odd that they may just have happened," and Matt 27,51-53 "may be one of them," although admittedly the historian cannot show this. Cf. the laboured musings of David Wenham, The Resurrection Narrative in Matthew's Gospel, TynB 24 (1973) 42-46. Yet why has this astounding prodigy left no trace in the other gospels or Acts or Paul or, for that matter, Josephus? (The apologetical claim of Quadratus apud Eusebius, H.E. 4,3,1-2 SC 31 ed. Bardy, 162, that people raised by Jesus were seen long after the saviour's depar ture, may refer solely to individuals reportedly raised during the ministry, not to the holy ones of Matt 27,5 lb-53.) Surely the stupendous marvel depicted by Matthew would, if it had some basis in fact, have instantly become a bedrock of Christian apologetics, especially as the text speaks of many graves and many wit nesses. It must rather have originated in someone's haggadic or over-luxuriant imagination. Cf. Eric Fascher, Das Weib des Pilatus (Matthaus 27,19). Die Auferweckung der Heiligen (Matthaus 27,51-53). Zwei Studien zur Geschichte der Schriftauslegung, Halle 1951, 35. Perhaps the legend was partly etiological, an explanation for rock fissures outside Jerusalem; later writers certainly explained such fissures by appealing to our tale (e.g.
Christian Engagements with Judaism, 1999
Jesus and the Restoration of Israel: A Critical Assessment of N.T. Wright's Jesus and the Victory of God, 1999
The Four Gospels 1992: Festschrift Frans Neirynck vol. 2, 1992
MATTHEW: STRUCTURE, BIOGRAPHICAL IMPULSE AND THE IMITATIO CHRISTI I Recent structural analyses of... more MATTHEW: STRUCTURE, BIOGRAPHICAL IMPULSE AND THE IMITATIO CHRISTI I Recent structural analyses of the First Gospel have tended either to make the book pivot about the twice-repeated And .tote fip^aro 6 TpaoCg of 4,17 and 16,21, with the result that the Gospel falls into three parts \ or, following B.W. Bacon, to regard as determinative the five-fold formula in 7528-29; 11,1; 43,52r 19,1; and 26,1, which formula highlights the recurrent alternation'between narrative and discourse?. My sympathies lie with Bacon and his followers' : Mt 4,17-and 16,21 just cannot, despite recurrent'attempts to show otherwise, bear the literary weight which has been placed upon them. To instance, in abridged form, the chief defects of the tripartite scheme:-djio Tore recurs in 26,16, and fip^axo is used of Jesus in 11,7 and 20 (the last with roxe). Thus the phraseology of 4,17 and 16,21, because not unique, fails to call-attention to itself. Contrast the use of dyevexo 6x6 and dxeXeoev in.7,28; 11,1; 13,52; 19,1; and 26,1: they are reserved for the five-fold formula.-One hesitates to see 4,17 as marking a structural break or as,a verse set apart from its immediate context: there are, as our honoree has well argued, too many firm connections vfith 4,12-16'.-One also hesitates to discover a major structural chasm at 16,21: that verse is closely linkpd with what precedes it*.-Should not more be expected from a structural analysis than what amounts, in the end, to the proposition that Matthew, like most books and stories, has a beginning, a middle, and an end?
The Jesus Tradition in Q, 1997
Two DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS Q 13:35b reads as follows: "And I tell you, you will not see me unt... more Two DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS Q 13:35b reads as follows: "And 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.' " 1 Whether with reference to Matthew (cf. 23:39) or Luke, to Jesus or Q, interpretations of this verse have generally followed one of two paths. Either it has been construed as a declaration of unqualified judgment, or commentators have thought the verse to hold forth the hope that Israel might one day accept her Messiah, Jesus. The two readings agree in assuming that the eschatological redemption is in view. 2 John Calvin, representing the first alternative, wrote that Jesus "will not come to them [the Jews] until they cry out in fear-too late-at the sight of His Majesty, 'truly He is Son of God.' " 3 T. W. Manson paraphrased to similar effect: "The time will come when you will be ready to say to me, 'Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord'; but then it will be too late." 4 And J. C. Fenton has affirmed that, according to Mt 23:39, "Jesus will not be seen by Jerusalem again before he comes in judgement, and they will greet him, but with mourning." 5
The Jesus Tradition in Q, 1997
In his influential study, Jesus' Promise to the Nations, 1 Joachim Jeremias drew two major conclu... more In his influential study, Jesus' Promise to the Nations, 1 Joachim Jeremias drew two major conclusions. He claimed first that Jesus limited his own preaching to Israel and forbade his disciples to preach to non-Jews and, second, that Jesus promised Gentiles a share in salvation because he looked forward to their eschatological pilgrimage to Zion. In making this second and crucial point, Jeremias placed great weight upon the Q text, Mt 8:11-12, which reads: "I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 2 These words, according to Jeremias, were composed by Jesus and envisage God's rejection of the Jews ("the sons of the kingdom") on the one hand and God's acceptance of the Gentiles (the "many from east and west") on the other. 3 Jeremias's interpretation of Mt 8:11-12 and its Lukan parallel has become a commonplace of contemporary scholarship. Whether exegetes are discussing Jesus or Q or Matthew or Luke they almost always identify those coming from east and west as Gentiles and "the sons of the kingdom" as the Jewish people. 4 These equations, however, are neither 1. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982. 2. Cf. Lk 13:28-29: "There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out. Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God." 3.
The Jesus Tradition in Q, 1997
In the Q saying, Mt 10:30 = Lk 12:7a, Jesus tells disciples that "the hairs of your head are all ... more In the Q saying, Mt 10:30 = Lk 12:7a, Jesus tells disciples that "the hairs of your head are all counted." 1 Most commentators, whether discussing the meaning for Q, Matthew, or Luke, take the assertion to be about "the watchfulness of the Father's care." 2 In John Meier's words, God "knows and cares for the small details of their [the disciples'] lives, down to the number of their hairs, something they themselves do not know or care about." 3 This is also Joachim Gnilka's judgment. Citing 1 Sam 14:45, 2 Sam 14:11, and b. B. Bat. 16a, 4 he observes that this last is part of a commentary on Job 38, in which the theme is God's care for his creation. 5 On first reading the standard interpretation seems to commend itself. 6 It appears appropriate to the context, which is an attempt to comfort persecuted missionaries or disciples by referring them to God's providential care: "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight. Fear not; you are of more value than
The Jesus Tradition in Q, 1997
In his instructive article, "Matthew 6.22f. and Ancient Greek Theories of Vision," Hans Dieter Be... more In his instructive article, "Matthew 6.22f. and Ancient Greek Theories of Vision," Hans Dieter Betz claims to find in the pre-Socratics, in Plato, and in Philo the clues to elucidate Q 11:34-35(36), the enigmatic logion about the eye as the lamp of the body. 1 He directs attention to the following texts in particular: (1) Plato, Timaeus 45B-46A. In discussing the creation of the human body, Plato speaks of the "light-bearing eyes" ((poocrcpopa 0|i|iaTa), and he asserts that within the human eye is a type of fire-a fire which does not burn but is, as Bury translates, "mild." 2 When we see, this fire, which is both "pure" (eiA-iKpivec,) and "within us" (evxoq fllicov), flows through the eyes and out into the world, where it meets the light of day. As like is attracted to like, the light of the eyes coalesces with the light of day, forming one stream of substance. And then, to quote Plato, "This substance, having all become similar in its properties because of its similar nature, distributes the motions of every object it touches, or whereby it is touched, throughout all the body, even unto the soul, and brings about the sensation which we term seeing." 3 In fine, we see because we have within us a light which streams forth through our eyes. 4 (2) Empedocles, frag. 84. 5 In describing the composition and structure of the eye, Empedocles recounts a parable about a man preparing to take a trip on a wintry evening. It being dark, he requires a lamp. But the winds of winter will put out the light as soon as he leaves his lodg-The Eye as a Lamp, Q 11:34-36 ing. So what does the man do? He covers his lamp with linen screens. These keep the wind out but let the light through. Just so, says Empedocles, is it with the eye. The organ of sight contains the "elemental" or "primal" fire (oiyoyiov 7i\3p), a fire which would be extinguished if it were not protected from the water in the eye. But it is protected-by membranes and delicate tissues. These membranes and tissues let light out but at the same time keep the water of the eyes from going into the chamber of fire. In Empedocles, as in Plato, the eyes are a channel for an outward-flowing fire. Moreover-and this is especially noteworthy for our purposes-in fragment 84 the eye is explicitly likened to a lamp. 6 (3) Theophrastus, De Sensu Iff. 7 According to Theophrastus, who cataloged ancient opinions about sensation, Parmenides held the same theory as did Plato and Empedocles: we see according to the principle that like matches like. That is, we see because the light within goes forth and encounters the light without. (4) Philo, De Abr. 150-57. The most famous of ancient Alexandrian Jews followed Plato in accepting an extramission theory of vision. His reflections on the eye and its marvels are preserved in De Abr. 1 5 0-57. Here we read, among other things, that the eyes "reach out" and "act upon objects," and that the light within us "goes forth towards the things seen." 8 Starting with the texts just cited, Betz argues that the saying, "The eye is the lamp of the body," came into Christian tradition from the Greek world and that Mt 6:22b-23b offers a critical reinterpretation. The proverbial notion that the eye is the lamp of the body suggests that the eye itself sees, and this is rejected in favor of the notion that sight is a moral issue. What matters is not physiological explanation but inner disposition. While good sight depends upon an ocpGccfyioc, an\o\k,, bad sight is caused by an ocpGccAjidc, Ttovrjpoq-cmKov^ and novrpoc, both being ethical terms. According to Betz, in Mt 6:22b-23 "the entire approach of Greek philosophical tradition is called into question," and this "from a Jewish point of view." 9 Among Betz's major conclusions at least three merit assent. First, "the eye is the lamp of the body" should probably be considered prover-6. For discussion and literature see Beare, Greek Theories, pp. 14-23, and D. O'Brien, "The Effect of a Simile: Empedocles' Theories of Seeing and Breathing," Journal of Hellenic Studies 90 (1970): 149-79. O'Brien himself argues that while Empedocles believed the eye to produce an outward-flowing fire, he did not connect this with the act of seeing. This is a distinctly minority position and conflicts with the impression left by Aristotle, De Sensu 437b-38a. 7.
The Jesus Tradition in Q, 1997
Multiple Meanings Mt 12:43-45 and Lk 11:24-26 preserve a unit-"a strange piece of material" 1-whi... more Multiple Meanings Mt 12:43-45 and Lk 11:24-26 preserve a unit-"a strange piece of material" 1-which, being without Markan parallel, is usually assigned to Q. 2 The Matthean version clearly functions as a parable, for (unlike the Lukan version) it ends with this: "so will it be also with this evil generation." 3 This application and the Matthean context show how the First Evangelist at least interpreted "the last state of that person is worse than the first" (12:45a = Lk 11:26b). Mt 12:43-45, which the evangelist moved to a place where it functions as a sort of summary, 4 is about Jesus' relationship to "this generation." 5 The narrative of an unclean spirit 6 that leaves or is forced to leave someone, only to return later with seven other spirits more evil than itself in order to occupy the
The Jesus Tradition in Q, 1997
The Jesus Tradition in Q, 1997
The Jesus Tradition in Q, 1997
Most modern commentators and exegetes have believed that Matthew's Sermon on the Mount (hereafter... more Most modern commentators and exegetes have believed that Matthew's Sermon on the Mount (hereafter SM) was composed by the author of the rest of the First Gospel. The First Evangelist, drawing upon Q, Mark, and his distinctive tradition, M, forged the discourse in accordance with his own aims and interests. This is the common opinion not only about Matthew 5-7 but also about all the major Matthean discourses, which are usually taken to be five in number: the SM, chapters 5-7; the missionary discourse, chapter 10; the parable discourse, chapter 13; the community discourse, chapter 18; and the eschatological discourse, chapters 24-25. l On the other hand, the Lukan counterpart to the SM, namely, Lk 6:20-49, the so-called Sermon on the Plain (hereafter SP), is widely regarded as a speech which Luke only lightly retouched: it brings us very close to Q. THE THEORY OF HANS DIETER BETZ This is not, however, the only view that has been taken of the matter. Hans Dieter Betz has recently outlined six different ways one might explain the relationship between the SM and SP. 2 (1) The majority opinion already introduced holds that the SP is close to Q while the SM is a Matthean expansion. (2) The SM is close to Q, the SP a Lukan abridgement. 3 (3) Both the SM and SP are different redactional elaborations of
The Jesus Tradition in Q, 1997
THE COMPOSITIONAL HISTORY OF Q Once scholars rightly concluded that both Matthew and Luke knew an... more THE COMPOSITIONAL HISTORY OF Q Once scholars rightly concluded that both Matthew and Luke knew and used Mark, it remained to account for the large amount of non-Markan material-mostly sayings-common to the First and Third Gospels. Did Luke draw upon Matthew? 1 Did Matthew draw upon Luke? 2 Or did the two evangelists use not only Mark but some other source as well? For reasons which need not be rehearsed here, the conventional wisdom now holds that Matthew and Luke employed a second written source, a document now lost. 3 It is today known as Q (from the German Quelle, "source"). 4 The Compositional History of Q Kloppenborg contends that Q contained two major types of sayings-"prophetic sayings (often framed as chreiai) which announce the impending judgment of this generation and which evince the Deuteronomistic understanding of history" 17 as well as "community-directed exhortations concerning self-definition and general comportment toward the world, discipleship, and mission, and the prospect of persecution and death." 18 The latter were the formative component of Q and can be classified as "instruction." To this were later added the prophetic sayings and additional interpolated sayings 19 which turned Q into a collection of chreiai. These more than doubled the original document. Finally, the temptation story (Q 4:1-13) was added at the third and final stage. Kloppenborg's work, although full of useful review, helpful discussion, and new insights, has its share of difficulties. The first is that the distinction between sapiential and prophetic layers is worrisome. Is it perhaps an ahistorical construct? That the figure of Wisdom appears not in Kloppenborg's sapiential stratum but in his prophetic layer 20 moves one to ask whether the dichotomy between wisdom and prophecy is not artificial. The same doubt arises from the circumstance that we have ancient Jewish literature-the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and 4 Ezra being obvious examples-which freely mix apocalyptic and wisdom materials. 21 That Kloppenborg must argue that the sayings in his
Expository Times, 1987
THE EXPOSITORY TIMES • 203 response of prayer to preachiiigi In the office, this can easily be ac... more THE EXPOSITORY TIMES • 203 response of prayer to preachiiigi In the office, this can easily be achieved by having the sermon soon after the collects and keeping the customary further prayers to follow the sermon. Justin, suggests this sequence in his description of worship,as involving readings from the apostles' memoirs;-or the prophets, a discourse on these by the president, and then the prayers of the congregation (Apology i. 67). The pattern of the early church points towards an integrating of the spirituality of scripture, preacher, congregation,-and liturgy, into a spirituality of preaching. This article was read as an Anglican contribution (as will at some points be evident) to a combined clergy school of the Manchester and Salford dioceses in September 1985. ' See e.g. Explorations in Theology 1 (SCM [1977]), 106. ' Cf. (The New Testament aS the Church' s Book (Fortress [1972]), 44-63, though the actual phrase comes from a lec ture Professor Marxsen gave in Nottingham some years ago. ' See e.g. L. E. Keck, The Bible in the Pulpit (Abingdon [1978]), 100-105. * Eight Lectures on Reaching (1877; reprinted SPCK [1959]), 5. Returning to this book recently reinforced my convic tion that it remains the single best book on preaching.
The Word Leaps the Gap: Essays on Scripture and Theology in Honor of Richard Hays, 2008
In the second edition of his book The Faith of Jesus Christ, Richard Hays has observed that the f... more In the second edition of his book The Faith of Jesus Christ, Richard Hays has observed that the first edition's "account of the history of research focuses al most exclusively on twentieth-century studies." He acknowledges that were he to rewrite the book today, he would put more emphasis upon the history of interpretation, for "one of the important growing edges" of his current work "is the recognition that we have a great deal to learn by broadening the conversation to include the questions and insights of our predecessors who lived before the so-called 'Enlightenment.'"' The sentiment deserves our wholehearted endorsement. The history of interpretation is invaluable for assessing our interpretive proposalsespe cially our novel proposals. I have indeed come to the view that if I construe a particular text in an essentially unprecedented way, so that I am a lone voice in exegetical history, then one of two things must be true: either the passage communicates its meaning so poorly that seemingly no one, over the course of two thousand years of intense reading and reflection, has seen the point before, until I came along, or I am wrong. In most instances, surely the latter is the case. The history of interpretation does not just effectively curb our appetite for novel readings. It additionally serves us well because the guild some times suffers from what I have called "exegetical amnesia" (a phrase that * * * "The fringe of his garment" (rd Kpaonshov toO ipariob auroO) occurs only once in Mark, in 6:56, where it belongs to the third and climatic verse in a series: • First, in Mark 3:10, sick people touch Jesus and are healed. • Second, in 5:27, a woman touches his garment (roti ipctTiou auTou; w. 28, 30: Twv ipan'wv) and is healed. • Third, in 6:56, people touch only the fringe of Jesus' garment (v. 56: tou KpacFTT^Sou TOU IpctTiou QUTOu) and are nonetheless healed.T his textual crescendo is unique to Mark. Luke has no parallel to Mark 6:53-56 and so has no comparable triad. Only twice does the Third Gospel tell of people touching Jesus for healing. The first time is in 6:19, which leaves Jesus' clothing out of account (cf. Mark 3:10). The second time is in 8:44, where the woman with a chronic hemorrhage touches Jesus' garment. This verse recalls Mark 6:56 and presumably depends partly upon it: "She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment" (tou Kpaorn^bou TOU Ipa-riou auToO). Matthew likewise fails to reproduce Mark's neat triadic scheme and is 2.
After Ezekiel: Essays on the Reception of a Difficult Prophet, 2010
Ezekiel 1:4-28, which recounts Ezekiel's inaugural vision of God at the River Chebar, has evoked ... more Ezekiel 1:4-28, which recounts Ezekiel's inaugural vision of God at the River Chebar, has evoked any number of fascinating and strange responses. Happily, Michael Lieb, in his delightful and learned book. The Children of Ezekiel, has instructively catalogued many of them.' He reviews, for example, those portions of John Milton's Paradise Lost that turn the prophet's weird winged creatures and weird flying wheels into weapons of war. He discusses the bizarre case of Josef F. Blumrich, a NASA aeronautical engineer who convinced himself that Ezekiel 1 describes, with accurate, technical detail, spaceships and wrote an entire book to that effect.' Lieb also considers the late American President, Ronald Reagan, whose evangelical eschatology and understanding of bibli cal prophecy informed some of his decisions about the "Strategic Defense Initiative," popularly known as "Star Wars." One of Lieb's major discoveries is that Western readers have regularly reinterpreted the ineffable in terms of contemporary technologies, especially military technologies. The second half of The Children of Ezekiel is given over to understanding the importance of Ezekiel's vision for the Nation of Islam. According to Elijah Mohammad and Louis Farrakhan, a "Mother Plane" or "Mother Ship" flies about in the sky above us. Invisible to most, those with eyes to see can see it. It is a large flying arsenal that, with Allah at the helm, will someday soon destroy white people and fi'ee black peoplenot unlike Milton's "Chariot of Paternal Deitie," which will, on the last day, reward the righteous and punish the wicked. And this juggernaut appears in the Bible, for it is exactly what Ezekiel saw in a vision, so long ago, in the sixth century bce. Lieb's work on the Nation of Islam offers an original entry into its religious
American Theological Inquiry, 2014
Lectures in New Testament delivered in January of 2013 at the McAfee School of Theology in Atlant... more Lectures in New Testament delivered in January of 2013 at the McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta. They retain the informal style of the original oral presentation. The lecture summarizes some of my conclusions about the history of the interpretation of James as they now appear in Dale C.
Journal of Jewish Studies, 2003
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary ' My translation, based upon the critical edition of Francis Schm... more Pittsburgh Theological Seminary ' My translation, based upon the critical edition of Francis Schmidt, Le Testament grec d'Abraham: Introduction, Edition critique des deux recensions grecques, traduction (Tubingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1986). RecShrt EAH: 5p.oiov IpuKivov. This appears to mean 'like a tamarisk' (cf. Lampe, s.v., fp(e)iKivrb. The variations in the MSS-D (piKiVou); C (rpcKiVou); I (exoiVou)-are all corruptions of ipeiKivov. RecShrt BFG: blvSpov. Scholars are accustomed to referring to RecLng as A, to RecShrt as B. But given that both RecLng and RecShrt contain, in Schmidt's standard edition, MSS which he designates as A and B, the old nomenclature should be replaced. ' My translation, based again upon Schmidt, Testament, and his RecShrt family of MSS, EACDHI. These MSS show variations among themselves, but none is important for this essay. I shall not consider herein Schmidt's other group of RecShrt MSS, BFG, which in any case are not too distant here from EACDHI (although see n. 2). "* Montague Rhodes James, The Testament of Abraham (TS 2; Cambridge: Cambridge Uni versity Press, 1892), pp. 59-64. 5 ' And some say that he [the serpent] did not touch it [the tree of life] at all. On the contrary.
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Papers by Dale C . Allison