John S.

Kloppenborg
John S. Kloppenborg is a Canadian professor of reli-
gion who has authored numerous books and articles based
on New Testament scholarship. He is the Chair of the
Department and Centre for the Study of Religion at the
University of Toronto and a participant in The Context
Group.
[1]
His work includes research on the origins of and sources
for early Christian writings including the Q document,
thought to have been one of the rst written collections of
the teachings of Jesus. Kloppenborg has also written and
taught about the dierent versions of the proto-biblical
texts and the meaning and uses of the specic parables of
Jesus.
1 Biography
Kloppenborg received his M.A. (1977) and his Ph.D.
(1984) in Toronto, Canada from the University of
St. Michaels College (a constituent college of the
University of Toronto). He has taught and conducted re-
search in Toronto, Windsor, United Kingdom, Helsinki,
Jerusalem, Cambridge, Calgary, and the United States in
Claremont, California. He is one of the general editors
of the International Q Project.
2 General Summary of Contribu-
tions to Near East and Biblical
Scholarship
John Kloppenborg is an original research scholar
whose work on the origins of Christianity, the ancient
manuscripts of ancient Christians and the history of Sec-
ond Temple Judaism is often cited by other scholars and
authors. He has researched and written most substantially
about the Q document, also known as the Synoptic Say-
ings Gospel. This document is thought to be one of the
oldest circulating sources of the sayings of Jesus. It is
thought to be prior to, and to have been known to the au-
thors of the The Gospel of Matthew, The Gospel of Luke
as well as to the author of the (non-synoptic) The Gospel
of Thomas. This work touches on the Synoptic problem.
Kloppenborg has also done original research and written
on the social world of the early Jesus movement in Jew-
ish Palestine, the societies of the eastern Roman Empire
and the social signicance of the parables of Jesus. Other
areas of interest have been the letters of the New Testa-
ment, especially the Letter of James, and the culture of
the Graeco-Roman world as relates to such matters as: re-
ligion, spirituality, cultic associations, ethnic sub-groups
and their ancient organization, professional societies and
the general conditions of the societies in the Near East
during the time of Second Temple Judaism, the time of
Jesus and the formation of the Bible as we know it.
3 Tenants in the Vineyard
Published in 2006, Kloppenborgs book, The Tenants in
the Vineyard: Ideology, Economics, and Agrarian Con-
ict in Jewish Palestine, titled after the tenants in the
vineyard parable attributed to Jesus by the New Testa-
ment, provides an analysis for the critical reader of the
Bible of this very dicult parable. The bible citation
for the parable is Mark 12:1-12 and it is also recorded
in the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas (65). In his book,
Kloppenborg models a new approach to the parables of
Jesus. He discusses the ideological interests engaged by
the parable in modern times and over the history of the
Christian Church. Next, he explains the conditions of
the society in which the parable was rst laid out, espe-
cially in regards to ancient viticulture. In his conclusions,
Kloppenborg notes that the parable has ironically been
interpreted from the viewpoint of those in power in pol-
itics and society rather than as a literary parable or as an
anti-power parable, as it may have read in the original
texts. He shows that the editing in Marks version of the
story takes it beyond the useful idiom common to Jesus
other parables. Kloppenborg also includes a second vol-
ume documenting historical papyrus dealing with ancient
viticulture and agrarian conict.
4 Critical Edition of Q
Published in 2000, by James M. Robinson, Paul Ho-
mann, and John S. Kloppenborg, The Critical Edition
of Q: Synopsis including the Gospels of Matthew and
Luke, Mark and Thomas with English, German, and
French Translations of Q and Thomas is a groundbreak-
ing, though still controversial, work of scholarship.
Containing a lengthy introduction by bible scholar James
M. Robinson and a foreword by the three editor scholars:
Robinson, John S. Kloppenborg and Paul Homann, this
hefty volume provides a redactionary version of what the
1
2 5 BOOKS
original Q document might have looked like whether it
was written in Greek or Aramaic. The Critical Edition of
Q is the product of the International Q Project (IQP), a
program inaugurated at the Society of Biblical Literature
in 1985 that has sought to establish an accessible critical
edition of the source shared by Matthew and Luke.
Their work also seeks to document the major turning
points in the history of Q research, with particular at-
tention to the problem of establishing a critical text of
Q (xix). Putting aside a purely hypothetical Aramaic
source of Matthew and Luke, which would mean that
Q would never be more than a hypothesis, Robinson
claims, in the introduction, that such approaches have
been completely replaced by objective criteria, based
on empirical observation of Matthean and Lukan redac-
tional traits (xix). The bulk of the text is the critical text
of Q (1-561), which concludes with a concordance of Q
(Greek words [563-81]). The volume also contains a dis-
cussion of divergences fromthe Lukan sequence (lxxxix),
text-critical notes (xc-cvi), and end-pages (cvii). The crit-
ical text itself is formatted with eight columns on facing
pages presenting by column: 1) any Markan parallel to
Matthew, 2) any doublets found in Matthew, 3) the text
in Matthew that is deemed to be derived from Q, 4) the
critical text of Q, 5) the text in Luke that is deemed to
be derived from Q, 6) Lukes doublets, 7) any Markan
parallel to Luke, and 8) any parallel from the Gospel of
Thomas, the Coptic of which is provided but also retro-
verted into Greek. As footnotes, the Thomas and Q texts
are translated into English, French and German.
The editors intend this volume to be functional as a stan-
dard research tool for the study of Q despite the contin-
uing controversy over the validity of the text actually ex-
isting. This is the most comprehensive eort to provide
such a tool nonetheless.
5 Books
The Sayings Gospel Qin Greek and English with Par-
allels fromthe Gospels of Mark and Thomas, Contri-
butions to Biblical Exegesis & Theology vol. 30 with
James M. Robinson and Paul Homann
Documenta Q edited by James M. Robinson, John
S. Kloppenborg, and Paul Homann, with contri-
butions from the International Q Project
The Tenants in the Vineyard: Ideology, Economics,
and Agrarian Conict in Jewish Palestine (2006)
Apocalypticism, Antisemitism and the Historical Je-
sus: Subtexts in Criticism Journal for the Study of
the New Testament, Supplement Series, vol. 275 with
John W. Marshall (2005)
Excavating Q: The History and Setting of the Sayings
Gospel (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000)
The Critical Edition of Q with James M. Robin-
son and Paul Homann (Hermeneia; Minneapolis:
Fortress; Leuven: Peeters, 2000)
Voluntary Associations in the Graeco-Roman World
with Stephen Wilson (1996)
Conict and Invention (Valley Forge, Pa.: Trinity
Press Int'l, 1995)
The Shape of Q: Signal Essays on the Sayings Gospel
(Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994)
Scriptures and Cultural Conversations: Essays for
Heinz Guenther at Sixty-ve Pp. 211 (1992)
Early Christianity, Q and Jesus Ed. with Leif E.
Vaage Pp. 265 (1991)
Q-Thomas Reader (1988) with Michael G. Stein-
hauser, Stephen Patterson, and Marvin W. Meyer
Q Parallels: Synopsis, Critical Notes & Concordance
(1988)
The Formation of Q: Trajectories in Ancient Wisdom
Collections (Minneapolis, 1987)
5.1 Articles in Peer-Refereed Journals
2006 H.J. Holtzmanns Life of Jesus According to the
A Source. Part 1 extquotedbl JSHJ 4(1):75108.
2006 H.J. Holtzmanns Life of Jesus According to the
A Source. Part 2. JSHJ 4(2):203223.
2005 Evocatio deorum and the Date of Mark. Journal
of Biblical Literature 124/3 (2005): 419-450.
2004 Isa 5:1-7 LXX and Mark 12:1, 9, Again. Novum
Testamentum 46/1 (2004) 12-19.
2004 Self-Help or Deus ex Machina in Mark 12.9. New
Testament Studies 50 (2004) 495-518.
2003 On Dispensing with Q? Goodacre on the Rela-
tion of Luke to Matthew, New Testament Studies 49/2
(2003) 210-236.
2002 Egyptian Viticultural Practices and the Citation of
Isa 5:1-7 in Mark 12:1-9. Novum Testamentum 44/1
(2002) 134-159.
2001 with Robert A. Derrenbacker, Jr. Self-
Contradiction in the IQP? A Reply to Michael Goulder.
Journal of Biblical Literature 120 (2001) 57-76.
2000 Dating Theodotos (CIJ II 1404), Journal of Jew-
ish Studies 51 (2000) 243-280.
1999 Patronage Avoidance in the Epistle of James,
Hervormde Teologiese Studies 55/4 (1999) 1-40.
1996 Political Histories and Theories of Religion: A re-
sponse to Burton Mack and Ron Cameron, Method and
Theory in the Study of Religion 8/3 (1996) 279-89.
5.2 Chapters in Books 3
1996 The Sayings Gospel Qand the Quest of the Histor-
ical Jesus, Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 307-
344.
1993 Filadela, qeodidakto~ and the Dioscuri: The
Rhetorical Situation of 1 Thess 4:912. New Testament
Studies 39, no. 2 (1993): 26589.
1993 The Sayings Gospel Q: The People behind the
Document. Current Research: Biblical Studies 1 (1993)
9-34.
1992 Exitus clari viri: The Death of Jesus in Luke.
Toronto Journal of Theology 8/1 (1992) 10620.
1990 Alms, Debt and Divorce: Jesus Ethics in Their
Mediterranean Context. Toronto Journal of Theology
6(2):182-200.
1989 The Dishonoured Master (Luke 16, 1-8a). Biblica
70(4):474-95.
1987 Symbolic Eschatology and the Apocalypticism of
Q. Harvard Theological Review 80(3):287-306.
1986 Blessing and Marginality: The Persecution Beat-
itude in Q, Thomas & Early Christianity. Forum
2(3):36-56.
1986 The Formation of Q and Antique Instructional
Genres. JBL 105(3):443-62; Reprinted as pp. 138155
in The Shape of Q: Signals Essays on the Sayings Gospel.
Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994.
1984 Tradition and Redaction in the Synoptic Sayings
Source, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 46:1 (1984): 3462.
1982 Isis and Sophia in the Book of Wisdom, Harvard
Theological Review 75:1 (1982): 5784.
1981 Joshua 22: The Priestly Editing of an Ancient Tra-
dition, Biblica 63:3 (1981): 34771.
1979 Didache 16:68 and Special Matthaean Tradition,
Zeitschrift fr die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 70:1/2
(1979): 5467.
1978 An Analysis of the pre-Pauline Formula 1 Cor
15:3b5 in Light of Some Recent Literature, Catholic
Biblical Quarterly 40:3 (1978): 35167.
1978 Wisdom Christology in Q, Laval thologique et
philosophique 34:2 (1978): 12947.
5.2 Chapters in Books
Documenting Jesus; Associations in the Ancient World,
(2006)
2006 The Theodotos Synagogue Inscription and the
Problem of First-Century Synagogue Buildings. pp.
236282 in Jesus and Archaeology
2005 Didache 1.16.1, James, and the Torah. In Tra-
jectories Through the New Testament and the Apostolic
Fathers
2005 As One Unknown, Without a Name? Co-opting
the Historical Jesus. pp. 123 in John S. Kloppenborg,
with John W. Marshall (eds.). Apocalypticism, Anti-
Semitism, and the Historical Jesus: Subtexts in Criticism.
Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus,
2004 The Reception of the Jesus Tradition in James.
pp. 91139 in The Catholic Epistles and the Tradition
2004 Quotations and Allusions in Did. 1.3b2.1: Bor-
rowed froma nished Gospel or froma common source?
pp. 10530 The Didache and Matthew: Two Documents
from the same Jewish-Christian Milieu?
2003 The Biblical Critic and the Truth: A Response to
D.Z. Phillips. pp. 103112 in Truth: Interdisciplinary
Dialogues in a Pluralistic Age
2003 Ideological Texture in the Parable of the Tenants.
In Fabrics of Discourse: Essays in Honor of Vernon K.
Robbins
2003 Riches, the Rich, and Gods Judgment in 1 Enoch
92-105 and the Gospel according to Luke. In George W.
E. Nickelsburg in Perspective: An On-going Dialogue of
Learning
2002 Goulder and the New Paradigm: A Critical Ap-
preciation of Michael Goulder on the Synoptic Problem.
In The Gospels According to Michael Goulder: A North
American Response pp. 2959
2001 Discursive Practices in the Sayings Gospel Q and
the Quest of the Historical Jesus. pp. 149190 in The
Sayings Source Q and the Historical Jesus, Colloquium
Biblicum Lovaniense XLIV
2000 Is there a New Paradigm? pp. 2347 in
Festschrift for David R. Catchpole
2000 Isaiah 5:1-7, the Parable of the Tenants, and Vine-
yard Leases on Papyrus, pp. 111134 in Text and Arti-
fact in the Religions of Mediterranean Antiquity: Essays
in Honour of Peter Richardson
2000 Ethnic and Political Rivalry at Caesarea Mar-
itima. pp. 227248 in Religious Rivalries and the Strug-
gle for Success in Caesarea Maritima
1999 A Dog Among the Pigeons: The Cynic Hypoth-
esis as a Theological Problem, Pp. 73-117 in From
Quest to Quelle: Festschrift James M. Robinson
1999 Making Sense of Dierence: Asceticism and the
Jesus Tradition. pp. 149156 in Asceticismand the New
Testament
1999 The Life and Sayings of Jesus. pp. 1030 in The
New Testament Today
1998 Status und Wohlttigkeit bei Paulus und Jakobus.
pp. 127154 in Von Jesus zum Christus Christologis-
che Studien: Festgabe fr Paul Homann zum 65
1998 Lvangile Q et le Jsus historique. Pp. 225-
268 in Jsus de Nazareth: Nouvelles approches dune
nigme
4 6 REFERENCES
1996 Collegia and Thiasoi: Issues in Function, Taxon-
omy and Membership. pp. 1630 in Voluntary Asso-
ciations in the Graeco-Roman World, edited by John S.
Kloppenborg and S.G. Wilson
1996 Egalitarianismin the Myth and Rhetoric of Pauline
Churches. pp. 24763 in Rethinking Christian Origins:
Essays Honoring Burton L. Mack
1996 The Sayings Gospel Q: Literary and Stratigraphic
Problems. pp. 166 in Symbols and Strata: Essays on
the Sayings Gospel Q
1995 Conict and Invention: Recent Studies on Q. pp.
114 in Conict and Invention: Literary, Rhetorical and
Social Studies on the Sayings Gospel Q, edited by John
S. Kloppenborg.
1995 Jesus and the Parables of Jesus in Q. pp. 275319
in The Gospel Behind the Gospels: Current Studies in Q,
Supplements to Novum Testamentum 75
1994 Introduction. pp. 122 in The Shape of Q: Signal
Essays on the Sayings Gospel, edited by John S. Kloppen-
borg
1994 The Transformation of Moral Argument in the Di-
dache. pp. 88109 in The Didache in Context, edited by
Clayton N. Jeord. Supplements to Novum Testamen-
tum. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
1993 Edwin Hatch, Churches and Collegia. Pp. 212
238 in Origins and Method: Towards a New Understand-
ing of Judaism and Christianity. Essays in Honour of
John C. Hurd,
1992 The Theological Stakes in the Synoptic Prob-
lem. Pp. 93120 in Evangelica: Essays to Honor Frans
Neirynck,
1991 Literary Convention, Self-Evidence and the Social
History of the Q People. Pp. 77102 in Early Christian-
ity, Q and Jesus
1991 with Leif E. Vaage. The Sayings Gospel Q and
Method in the Study of Christian Origins. Pp. 114 in
Early Christianity, Q and Jesus
1991 City and Wasteland: Narrative World and the Be-
ginning of the Sayings Gospel (Q). pp. 14560 in How
Gospels Begin
1990 City and Wasteland: Narrative World and the Be-
ginning of the Sayings Gospel (Q). pp. 14560 in How
Gospels Begin
1990 Easter Faith and the Sayings Gospel Q. Pp. 71-
99 in The Apocryphal Jesus and Christian Origins
1990 Nomos and Ethos in Q. pp. 3548 in Gospel Ori-
gins and Christian Beginnings: In Honor of James M.
Robinson
1990 The Sayings Gospel Q: Translation & Notes pp.
3574 in Q Thomas Reader, with Marvin W. Meyer,
Stephen Patterson, and Michael G. Steinhauser
6 References
[1] http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~{}kloppen/
5
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