Simon J. Joseph, ««Seek His Kingdom»: Q 12,22b-31, God’s Providence, and Adamic Wisdom.», Vol. 92 (2011) 392-410
In Q 12,22b-31, a kingdom-saying functions as the climax to a sapiential collection, but it is not self-evident that this message is sapiential. Q 12,31 uses traditional wisdom structures and forms to advance what appears to be an «eschatological» message. In this study, I re-examine the nature of the wisdom in Q 12,22b-31 and argue that the theme of God’s providence can be understood in relation to eschatological ideals of the restoration of creation and a «Son of God»/Adamic christology.
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“Seek His Kingdomâ€:
Q 12,22b-31, God’s Providence, and Adamic Wisdom 1
Since the 1960s, the dominant formative element in the composi-
tion of Q has been identified as instructional wisdom 2. The author of
Q drew from the literary conventions, style, rhetoric and content of
Jewish wisdom literature 3. Jesus and John are “Wisdom’s childrenâ€
(Q 7,35). Wisdom sends out prophets who are rejected (Q 11,49-51;
Q 13,34-35). Wisdom weeps for her people who refuse to listen to
Jesus. The Inaugural Sermon, which includes the beatitudes, teach-
ings on loving enemies, practicing non-violence, unconditional love,
compassion, and non-judgment indicate a sapiential orientation. The
Jesus of Q is greater even than Solomon, with all his wisdom (Q
11,31-32). This paper will examine Q 12,22b-31 as a test case to ex-
amine the nature, extent, and range of the wisdom tradition in Q.
I. Wisdom and Apocalypticism in Q
The dominant consensus in contemporary Q studies is that Q was
written in stages 4, and a number of sapiential “speeches†constituted
the formative clusters around which Q grew 5.
1
A shorter version of this paper was presented in the Wisdom and
Apocalypticism Section at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical
Literature, New Orleans, November 23, 2009.
J.M. ROBINSON, “ΛΟΓΟΙ ΣΟΦΩÎ: Zur Gattung der Spruchquelle Q,†in
2
Zeit und Geschichte: Dankesgabe an Rudolf Bultmann (ed. E. DINKLER)
(Tübingen, 1964) 77-96; J.S. KLOPPENBORG, The Formation of Q: Trajectories
in Ancient Christian Wisdom Collections (Philadelphia, PA 1987).
3
G. STANTON, “On the Christology of Qâ€, Christ and Spirit in the New
Testament (eds. B. LINDARS – S.S. SMALLEY) (Cambridge 1973).
4
D. LÃœHRMANN, Die Redaktion der Logienquelle (WUNT 33; Neukirchener-
Vluyn 1969) 84; S. SCHULZ, Q: Die Spruchquelle der Evangelisten (Zürich
1972) 57-175; D. ZELLER, Die Weisheitlichen Mahnsprüche bei den Synoptikern
(FzB 17; Würzburg 1977) 191; R.A. PIPER, Wisdom in the Q-Tradition. The
Aphoristic Sayings of Jesus (SNTSMS 61; New York 1989).
5
G. THEISSEN, The First Followers of Jesus. A Sociological Analysis of
the Earliest Christianity (London 1978); P. HOFFMANN, Studien zur Theologie
der Logienquelle (Münster 1972).
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