Abstract
Analyses of Q which take the Sayings Source to have originated in Cynic/sapiential circles find difficulty in explaining the place of the temptation of Jesus in either narrative or theological terms in the signs source. This essay argues that the temptation story is a report of an ecstatic experience of Jesus, which involves a heavenly journey and the defeat of Satan. There are descriptions of cognate experiences in contemporary eschatological-apocalyptic literature and in Qumran. If this reconstruction is correct, then it will lead to a major revision of our understanding of the theology of Q.
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