(Mt vi, 1-4)
Dr. Robinson, in his Study of the Gospels,[104] maintains, quite correctly, that Matthew’s chap. vi breaks the connection in his Sermon on the Mount. If it is omitted, the connection is not only better, but is the same as that of Luke’s in his Sermon on the Plain. He also considers that Mt vi, 7-15, breaks the connection between the verses that immediately precede and immediately follow them. He therefore concludes that Mt vi, 1-5, 16-18, at one time had a separate existence of its own. This is not impossible. The disarrangement by the insertion of chap. vi is indeed obvious. Bacon, in his Sermon on the Mount, and Votaw, in his article under the same title in Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, bring out the same composite character of the Sermon as Matthew has it. But much of this material which Matthew has inserted in his Sermon on the Mount is duplicated word for word in other connections in Luke, and so is uniformly accredited to Q. This creates a presumption that the rest of this interpolated material, especially where it is obviously homogeneous in character with the Q material generally, was taken by Matthew from his recension of Q. It is not contended that none of this material which Matthew has here inserted and which is nowhere duplicated in Luke was in Luke’s recension; it is only contended that since Matthew’s recension and Luke’s recension are demonstrated to have been different from each other in certain passages, it is fair to press the argument from this difference to its reasonable limit, and assume that much if not most of this logian matter peculiar to Matthew stood before him in his source. In the case of the verses now before us, however, it seems extremely improbable that Luke with his interest in alms-giving (see Lk xi, 41; xii, 33) should have found them in his source and have omitted them.
ABOUT PRAYER
(Mt vi, 5-8)
This sounds like a “midrash” on the Lord’s Prayer. There are several Matthean words in the passage. Μισθός is used ten times by Matthew as against once by Mark and thrice in Luke’s Gospel. Βατταλογέω is found here only in the New Testament, and not in the Septuagint. Πολυλογία is found here only in the New Testament. Εἰσακούω is an infrequent word in the New Testament, being used only in this passage, in Luke’s chap. i, once in Acts, and twice in the Epistles. Ἀποδίδωμι is used eighteen times by Matthew; seven of these uses are found in the section xviii, 25-34, and three in the unduplicated verses vi, 4, 6, 18. It is used once by Mark and eight times by Luke in his Gospel. These facts are hardly enough to establish any verdict as to the origin of the section now in question, tho they would rather look toward Matthew’s derivation of it, with its corresponding sections vi, 1-4, and vi, 16-18, from some written source. Such being the case, Matthew’s recension of Q will certainly fit the requirements better than any other known document.
ABOUT FASTING
(Mt vi, 16-18)
If the Lord’s Prayer, which Luke gives in another and better connection, be omitted from Matthew’s chap. vi, we shall have here three consecutive sections which have very striking literary resemblances; they are the sections on alms-giving, on prayer, and on fasting. That these should have found no echo in the Gospel of Luke, if they stood in his source, is strange; especially considering his peculiar interest in alms-giving and prayer. As to the literary affinities among these three sections, the use of μισθὸς, four times, has been noted. The phrase ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν occurs three times; the longer phrase ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ, καὶ ὁ πατήρ σου ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοι, three times.[105] Quite without these recurrences of the same formulae, the form and sentiment of the three sections are so markedly the same as to suggest that they were originally consecutive, and that they have been taken from one written source. No more probable source can be suggested than QMt.
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE
(Mt vii, 6)