Q source

The sayings source Q (from the Greek logion " saying ", nor speech source or short Q for " source " ) is a hypothetical, Greek, handwritten text, which according to the two- source theory the authors of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke in addition to the text of Mark's Gospel as a second source should have been present. He had mainly contain sayings, known sayings, and Jesus was created in the context of early Christian itinerant preacher. There are no known copies of Q or of parts of this suspected source.

Scope and content

The sayings source was reconstructed several times and with different results by comparing Matthew and Luke's Gospel with the Gospel of Mark. This draws mainly on the common passages of Matthew and Luke that are not found in Mark. In the critical edition of the reconstructed text of 2000 (see below: reconstructions ), which was created by an international research team, including verses from the Matthean or Lukan special material or verses with Mark parallels various reasons for Q have been considered.

In more recent research different possible precursors of the sayings source were discussed. Depending on the author This is a text or several texts, eg Proto -Q1, Q1, Q2 and Q2 or proto- Q1, Q2, and Q3 each with a different date and different Christology. Other authors distinguish eg older in Judea and Galilee and later in the Diaspora written down the words of Jesus, which were up 65 AD written together. The hypotheses are hardly any limits as Q or any part thereof is not tangible as extra-Biblical text. No later than the year 70 AD but is said to have written the " final version " of the sayings source as a text by an unknown editor.

In the source there is no Passions according to reconstruction or resurrection account (as in the Gospel of Thomas ). It is with a few exceptions (eg Q 7:1-10 ) about words and sayings of Jesus, who is revered in the Christian source, especially as Son of Man.

Tradition -historical considerations

The sayings source has been nowhere delivered as a standalone script or received as a separate heading into the canon of the New Testament. Representatives of the sayings source explained this by saying that they have lost their significance as independent writing early on, after they had been received in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Q critics see the reason simply is that there was no such source ( Markus Barth, Austin M. Farrer, Michael Goulder, James R. Edwards, Werner Kahl).