The trajectory of POxy 840

Erastus Jonker has posted a nice little thesis, on POxy 840. This one suggests, based on language, where POxy 840 sits.

Way back in 1999, when the Internet community was starting up, I had mine own project on this topic, arguing for a parallel with Matthew 23 and Luke 11:39-41. One Art Kilner emailed me on Christmas Eve pointing out that the setting follows Matthew's and not Luke's. I immediately ruled out Q for this. (This was back when I was still taking Q seriously.)

Going "impressionistic" by flooding the zone with parallels from all sides is, I think, exactly the correct starting strategem when approaching a text dug out of the rubbish. It is also proper that a 400 page thesis is the medium to do it. I wasn't writing a thesis so on that last week before Y2k, I called victory. For 2016, I commend Erastus who I hope is now Doctor Jonker for taking the trouble.

All this said, I still think POxy 840 is postMatthean.

Matthew is dealing with the intraChristian debate about circumcision, like Paul and then Mark; which is why Matthew wraps his tale around baptism. Luke, the historian, must recall that debate which is why he starts before the Jordan, with Jesus' own circumcision.

As we go through all the trajectories in early Christendom, which interrelate, we come across the Encratism, shared among several such communities. Encratism in Egypt will impress the Copts to end up in their monasteries. This next phase will debate personal luxuries, if Christians should go any further in this world than what they need to survive and to propagate. On the Jewish menu, as it were, were wine and meat. Christians knew they didn't need this stuff, which was taking up land in Egypt, so they debated if they even should allow it.

Then the Christians asked about water usage. Why share the bathhouse? Stagnant waters aren't clean. It turns out even Jews crack wise about the miqveh, cf. the Morning Report when Maxine is quoted. We might even have the Johannine Gospel arguing this case, where it discusses the Living Water.

For a debate about ritual cleanliness, Christians could site this best either about where Jesus was baptised, that is in the Jordan Valley; or at the Temple. POxy 840 and Matthew went with the latter. If you don't hold with Q: then Luke felt he needed to put off such debates for Acts, as he didn't like to talk about the mission to the gentiles before that; so he cut this discussion from that setting, and stuck it with general calumnies against the Pharisees, earlier. (If you do hold with Q, I have to say, Q looks a lot like Matthew here, which redundancy is one reason I parted from Q.)