(1)
Thom 20:2-4
(2) 1Q or?2Q: Luke 13:18-19 = Matt 13:31-32
(3) Mark 4: 30-32 = Matt 13:31-32
(1) Thom 20:2-4
/20 :1/The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us what Heaven's imperial rule is like." /2/He said to them, It's like a mustard seed. /3/(It's) the smallest of all seeds, /4/but when it falls on prepared soil, it produces a large branch and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky. [Complete Gospels]
(2) 1Q or?2Q: Luke 13:18-19 = Matt 13:31-32
Luke 13:18-19
/13:18/ He said therefore, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what should I compare it? /19/ It is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches."=Matt 13:31-32
/13:31/ He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; /32/ it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."
(3) Mark 4: 30-32 = Matt 13:31-32
Mark 4:30-32
/4:30/ He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? /31/ It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; /32/ yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."=Matt 13:31-32
/13:31/ He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; /32/ it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."
Item: 35
Stratum : I (30-60 CE)
Attestation : Triple
Historicity : +
Common Sayings Tradition : YesCrossan [Historical Jesus, 276-79] treats The Mustard Seed as one of 5 parables and 7 other items that comprise a list of 12 multiply-attested complexes that refer to the kingdom of God. He notes that this is the only extant parable with triple independent attestation.
He notes three "converging vectors" along which the tradition has adapted the parable as it was handed on:
- developing the original contrast between seed and plant to emphasize the transition from smallness to greatness;
- transformation of the mustard plant into a substantial tree (as in Sayings Gospel Q); and
- intertextual links with the biblical traditions such as Ps 104:12; Ezek 31:3,6; Dan 4:10-12.
Crossan cites the comments on the mustard plant by Pliny the Elder (fl. 23-79 CE) in his Natural History 19.170-71:
Mustard ... with its pungent taste and fiery effect is extremely beneficial for the health. It grows entirely wild, though it is improved by being transplanted: but on the other hand when it has once been sown it is scarcely possible to get the place free of it, as the seed when it falls germinates at once.
Citing his own earlier work on the parable (In Parables: The Challenge of the Historical Jesus. Harper & Row, 1973), Crossan points out:
When one starts a parable with a mustard seed one cannot end it with a tree, much less the great apocalyptic tree, unless, of course, one plans to lampoon rather crudely the whole apocalyptic tradition.
After noting the way in which mustard plants tend to proliferate in both field and garden with negative results for both, so that the Mishnah (around 200 CE) would regulate its cultivation, Crossan cites with approval Douglas Oakman's observation: "It is hard to escape the conclusion that Jesus deliberately likens the rule of God to a weed."
In the end, Crossan concludes:
The point, in other words, is not just that the mustard plant starts as a proverbially small seed and grows into a shrub of three or four feet, or even higher, it is that it tends to take over where it is not wanted, that it tends to get out of control, and that it tends to attract birds within cultivated areas where they are not particularly desired. And that, said Jesus, was what the Kingdom was like: not like the mighty cedar of Lebanon and not quite like a common weed, like a pungent shrub with dangerous takeover qualities. Something you would want only in small and carefully controlled doses -- if you could control it.
Text
Item
Source
JS Mtg
%Red
%Pink
%Gray
%Black
W Avg
Color Thom 20:2-4
15
Q, K, T
86ND
20
52
24
2
0.63
Pink
86Red
39
50
11
0
0.76
Red Luke 13:18-19
15
Q, K, T
86ND
8
60
28
4
0.57
Pink
86Red
36
39
21
4
0.69
Pink Matt 13:31b-32
15
Q, K, T
86ND
8
60
24
8
0.56
Pink
86Red
38
31
24
7
0.67
Pink Mark 4:30-32
15
Q, K, T
86ND
20
44
28
8
0.59
Pink
86Red
43
36
21
0
0.74
Pink The Seminar accorded a Red vote to the Thomas version of this saying [Five Gospels, 59f] because it shows no influence of the tendency to adapt the original metaphor of the mustard plant (as a parody of the cedar of Lebanon; see Ezek 17:22-23) under the influence of the apocalyptic tree image derived from Daniel. The apocalyptic tree reaches to heaven, and its branches cover the earth, providing shelter to the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky (Dan 4:12,20-22).
Luedemann [Jesus, 32] consider the parable to be authentic (criteria of difference and coherence), but understands it as a parable about the sure coming of God's kingdom in the near future: "It should be emphasized once again that the prospect of the future is an original element of Jesus' teaching."
Meier does not comment on this saying in the first 3 volumes of his Marginal Jew , even though the second volumes has an extended treatment of the Kingdom of God in the message of Jesus.
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