“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.