Intertextuality: Luke and 1 Corinthians

by Neo 4 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Neo

  I’m looking for information about how much the author of the third canonical Gospel draws from Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians. A comparison of the Synoptics with 1 Corinthians seems to show that Luke is more closely linked to 1 Corinthians than the others.

  Consider the following passages, for example:

  Luke 10:7,8 Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you (exclusively Lukan), for the worker deserves his wages (mysthos; Matt uses rhabdos, food). Do not move around from house to house. When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you.
  Luke 17:10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.”
  
  1 Corinthians 9:14,16-18 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel (cf. 1Tim 5:18). … Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward (mysthos); if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward (mysthos)? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.
  1 Corinthians 10:27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.

  Luke 11:49 For this reason also the wisdom of God said, “I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute” (In Matthew’s parallel passage [23:34], Christ, not the "wisdom", is the one who says “I will send…”)

  1 Corinthians 1:24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (God’s sophia personified, as in Luke)

  First Corinthians’ Last Supper account, in particular, is followed more closely by G-Luke than by G-Matthew and G-Mark. For instance, only Luke and Paul add the command: “Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22; 1 Corinthians 11)

  What do you think? Is there any common material used by the authors of Luke and 1 Corinthians? I’m interested in the following issues:

  1) Among the Gospels, which is more dependent upon 1 Corinthians’ gospel traditions? Is it Luke?
  2) Among the Pauline epistles, which one has a more dense intertextuality with Luke/Acts? 1 Corinthians?

  Does anyone have any info (or links) on that? Thanks!

  Neo
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  Narkissos

  There are indeed striking parallelisms between Luke and 1 Corinthians, but they are not exclusive.

  Other Pauline passages, especially Romans 12:14ff; 13:8ff, are reflected in the Gospels (not only Luke).

  The Lukan account of the Last Supper is dependent on Mark 14:22ff which already shows a strong similarity of wording with 1 Corinthians 11.
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  Leolaia

  Hi Neo....These are very interesting questions (and I love your use of highlighting ).

  The first problem to consider is the nature of the intertextuality: is it a direct dependence or are both texts dependent on a common written source or a common oral tradition? Is the parallel a case of use of allusion or direct quotation? If there is a direct dependence, what is the direction of the dependence? One needs to look at evidence such as verbal agreement, the extent of the parallel, other parallels outside the two texts being compared, the literary form of the text, etc. Here are some interesting discussions of the Pauline parallels to the gospel sayings traditions:

  Allison, Dale (1982). "The Pauline Epistles and the Synoptic Gospels: The Pattern of the Parallels," New Testament Studies 28:1-32.

  David Dungan (1971). The Sayings of Jesus in the Churches of Paul: The Use of the Synoptic Tradition in the Regulation of Early Church Life (Philadelphia: Fortress Press).

  Koester, Helmut (1990). Ancient Christian Gospels (London: SCM Press), pp. 52-62.

  The general observation is that the Jesuine material is mostly confined to certain sections of Paul's letters (e.g. Romans 12-14, 1 Corinthians 7-14, 1 Thessalonians 5), and which overall reflect a knowledge of the church order and parenetic material found also in Mark and the "Sermon on the Mount/Plain" found in Matthew 5-7 and Luke 6 (= Q). The patterns discussed by Allison leads him to conclude that that Paul knew a pre-Markan collection of Jesuine sayings which was utilized by the author of Mark. The most striking parallel, between Luke 22:19-20 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-25, is a crux interpretum due to the variant manuscript tradition; the two most common views are that the Lukan text draws on a non-Markan source of the Last Supper (i.e. likely 1 Corinthians), or that the Lukan text was subsequently assimilated to the Pauline text post facto. This turns on how the MS evidence and internal evidence is assessed.

  There is also a block of material in 1 Corinthians 1-4 which differs from the preceding by its proto-gnostic character and its kinship with similar sayings in the synoptics and gnostic gospels (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:19 = Matthew 11:25-26, Luke 10:21; 1 Corinthians 2:7 = Matthew 13:55, Mark 4:22, Gospel of Thomas 5-6; 1 Corinthians 2:9 = Gospel of Thomas 17, Matthew 13:16-17, Luke 10:23-24; 1 Corinthians 3:1 = Matthew 11:12, Luke 10:21; 1 Corinthians 4:5 = Gospel of Thomas 6; 1 Corinthians 4:8 = Gospel of Thomas 2), and in a number of places Paul is actually closer to the phrasing in the apocryphal gospels than in the intracanonical tradition.
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  peacefulpete

  
  What is interesting is that despite the author of Luke/Acts (aka Luke) hailing Paul as his poster boy he never mentions Paul as having written any letters much less quotes them. Mark is heavily influenced by Pauline thought and therefore Luke would naturally reflect this. However the specific verbal parallels you mentioned are another thing. I suspect the sacremental words in question from the Supper story found only in Luke are an interpolation. As discussed before the manuscript evidence suggests to me the words were added perhaps as early as the second century.

  Luke 11:49's Wisdom may reflect the general usage rather than direct dependence on 1 Cor. Its just not a convincing example of allusion or dependence. The expression was fairly common and the usage of the two passages is not the same. Paul is specifically identifying his Christ with the Wisdom figure, while Luke seems to be correcting/clarifying Matthew's ambiguity by inserting the Wisdom figure as agent of God as speaker. I don't think he was having his Jesus identify himself as Wisdom.

  Luke 10:7 is much less impressive when you examine the Greek. There is no verbal parallel with 1 Cor 10:27.

  It is interesting that he used mysthos (pay, wage) rather than follow Matthew. Is this because he wanted to deliberate expand on Matthew so as to include other needs than food or was he perhaps drawing from the parable of the workers in the field which uses mysthos? The Diadache 11:6 specifically declared that a visiting intinerant preacher was to stay 1-2 nights and take only the food needed to sustain him till the next house. If he asked for pay he was a fraud:

  11:1 Therefore, whoever comes and teaches you all these things aforesaid, receive him. 2 If the teacher himself is perverted and teaches a different doctrine to the subversion thereof, do not listen to him; but if he increases your righteousness and knowledge of the Lord, receive him as you would the Lord. 3 And concerning the apostles and prophets, do according to the command of the Gospel. 4 Let every apostle who comes to you be received as you would the Lord. 5 He will stay one day, and if necessary, a second day, but if he stays three days, he is a false prophet. 6 Let the apostle when departing take nothing except bread until he arrives at his next lodging. But if he asks for money, he is a false prophet.

  This suggests to me that the Diadache here was unfamiliar with Luke or that Luke was altered (maybe using 1 Cor.) perhaps to defend a practice of asking wages. But ultimately it seems a slight thread to hang a theory of Lukan dependence on 1 Cor.
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  peacefulpete

  Well I guess I type too slow, I didn't see your comments guys.