New Gospel Fragment: Preliminary Notes and Hypothesis
I want to proceed with some preliminary notes. They are basic, foundational, but lead to a working hypothesis of this fragment that, I hope, will help lead to a particular social context. First, here is a reiteration of my translation from my previous post : Line 1: ...my mother gave me li[fe]... Line 2: ...the disciples said to Jesus... Line 3: ...deny. Mary is worthy of it.... Line 4: ..........Jesus said to them, "My wife.... Line 5: ....... she will be my disciple and.... Line 6: ...Let wicked people.... Line 7: ...I dwell with her because... Line 8: .....................an image................ The first note is literary genre (or at least micro-genre). This is a dialogue form. In line 2, we have the introductory formula for speech--here, the disciples' speech to Jesus. The fourth line, then, shows Jesus' response. This fragment, therefore, presents us with a glimpse of a dialogue ...