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Psalms and the Baptist

Religions and Theology, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13-9PL, UK, downing{at}hippdiog.demon.co.uk

Psalms 1 and 2, combined in some witnesses, afford a significant inter-text for the accounts in Matthew and Luke, and so, in Q, for the Baptist, the baptism of Jesus, and the temptations. As does the combined psalm, the Baptist distinguishes the wicked as chaff from the fruitful righteous, and this constitutes, so Justin, a call to repentance. The combined psalm goes on to threaten kings and earthly judges, as does the Baptist, and proclaims instead the begetting of an (implied) Davidic figure, a proclamation repeated ‘from heaven’ in some texts of Luke. This divine adoption is then challenged by the diabolos, who attempts to usurp not only God’s placing of his vice-regent on his holy hill of Zion, but also the divine gift of the uttermost parts of the earth. This reading of Ps. 1/2 is thus arguably significant for our reconstruction and reading of Q, for our reading of Luke, and, possibly, of the historical Baptist and of the historical Jesus.

Key Words: Psalms • Baptist • Jesus’ baptism • temptations • Luke • Q

Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Vol. 29, No. 2, 131-137 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0142064X06072834


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