"We are Judean"! The Sayings Gospel Q's redactional approach to the Law

Abstract

This article is focussed on Q's treatment of the Law and what it can tell us about the Q community's Judean ethnic identity. It is argued that part of the reason for the incorporation of the main redaction in Q (here Kloppenborg's Q2 + Q3) was to defend the Judean ethnic identity of the Q people. This becomes evident in its conservative approach to the Law as opposed to that of the formative stratum where the Law was freely reconstructed. Q's approach to the Law is also informed by its Moses / New Exodus typology encountered in the various strata.