Syncrisis as literary motif in the story about the grown-up child Jesus in the temple (Luke 2:41–52 and the Thomas tradition)

Abstract

Syncrisis as literary motif in the story about the grown-up child Jesus in the temple (Lk 2:41–52 and the Thomas tradition): The article explores hermeneutical solutions for the negative response from the child Jesus towards his biological parents in the Lukan temple story (Lk 2:41–52). The ‘wisdom’ of the child who acts in an ‘adult-like’ way is interpreted as a syncrisis. This literary motif is explained by an analysis of the contrasting positive and negative acts of the child Jesus towards teachers of the Torah in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.

Children in the New Testament

“…Other terms indicate specific attributes, such as development, stature, or character, including: βρέφoς (fetus; newborn: B.A. Green 2016); νήπιoς (infant: Van Rensburg 1986;Fowl 1990), θηλάζ ων (nursling), παρθένoς (young woman of marriageable age; virgin); μικρός (little one; youth; unimportant person: Feder 2014), and νέoς (new one; youth; novice). Finally, a third set of terms overlaps between these two, sometimes used to refer only to youth, sometimes only to indicate relationship, and other times an ambiguous combination of the two.…”

“…Such kinship language is widespread across the New Testament, beginning with the genealogies recorded in Matthew and Luke (Sigismund 2009;Draper 2013;Punt 2013b) and continuing through the household codes of later epistles (Van Rensburg 2006;MacDonald 2008;MacDonald 2011a;MacDonald 2012;MacDonald 2014;Lindeman Allen 2020a). Both Jesus and Paul use of family terms to describe those who follow the gospel (Burke 2004;Aasgaard 2007Aasgaard , 2008Burke 2012;Finlan 2013), often at the expense of continued commitments to one's own family, leading to what A.J.…”

“…Studies of children include explorations of New Testament and Early Christian conceptions of when life begins (Playoust and Aiken 2008; M.J. Smith 2022a); the place and role of infants in New Testament and early Christian households (Achtemeir 1989;Kügler 2014); and the metaphorical role of infants, especially in 1 Peter (Francis 1980;Achtemeir 1989;Tite 2009; T.W. Martin 2014;Lindeman Allen 2020a) and the letters of Paul (van Rensburg 1986;Fowl 1990;Gaventa 1991;Aasgaard 2007;McNeel 2013McNeel , 2014. Some work has also been done on the liminal ground of youth and young adulthood represented by terms such as νεανίσκoς (Lindeman Allen 2022b; Lindeman Allen 2023: 147-174) and παρθένoς (De Sousa 2008).…”

“…Often the first to come to mind among this group are the unidentified group of children whom the synoptic gospels record Jesus as blessing , and the individual child, often linked with the former group, whom Jesus places in the midst of his other followers as an example of greatness . New Testament Scholarship has treated these stories, at length, often with attention to what can be learned from these children either metaphorically or as moral exemplars for adults who seek to enter God's realm, though increasingly recognizing the possibilities for reading this text with reference to the actual children whom Jesus blesses as well (Best 1976;Hull 1980;Crossan 1983;Derrett 1983;Robbins 1983;Nkwoka 1985;Ringshausen 1986;Kodell 1987;Taylor-Wingender 1988;Balthaser 1991;Fowl 1993;van Aarde 1994;Bailey 1996;Faber Van der Meulen 1996;Gundry-Volf 2000;Wright 2002;Clark 2002;Oyen 2003;Ostmeyer 2004a;Ostmeyer 2004b;van Aarde 2004;Tuor-Kurth 2005;White 2008;Spitaler 2009;Wilmer and White 2013;Chirstine 2014;Feder 2014;Madzokere 2014;Ruele 2014;Bartolomé 2015;B.A. Green 2016;Lindeman Allen 2019b;Sánchez 2019;E.…”

“…And should the twelve-year-old Jesus at the Temple be considered a child or an adult (Luke 2:41–52)? (van Aarde 2019). To this end, scholars employ a variety of philological and cultural analysis.…”