Matt 15:14	Luke 6:39-40	John 9:41	Thom 34
42 "Never mind	39 And he posed	1 Jesus said	Jesus said:
them.	a riddle for them:	to them:
They are		"If you were
blind guides		really blind,
of blind people.		you would be
If	"Can	free of sin..."	"If
one blind person	one blind person		a blind person
guides	guide		leads
another,	another?		a blind person,
both	Won't they both		both of them
will end up	end up		will fall
in some ditch."	in some ditch?		into a hole."
Matt 10:24-25		John 13:16
24 "Students are not	40 Students are not	16 "Let me
above	above
their teachers.	their teachers.	tell you this:
nor slaves		slaves are never
above		better than
their masters.		their masters;
25 It's enough	But those who are	messengers
for students	fully taught	are never
to become	will be	superior
like their teachers	like their teachers."	to those who
and slaves		sent them."
like their masters."
Matt 23:24
24 "You blind leaders!
You strain out a gnat
and swallow a camel."

Loose links

Luke interrupts Q's sermon with a brief narrative comment. The next pair of sayings on guides and disciples seems  unrelated to the context. These sayings are not in Matt 7, where  the principle of equal measures (see cluster 3:4 above) is linked directly to Q's critique of critics (see cluster 3.6 below). Matthew's sequence is logically simpler than Luke's and, therefore, closer to oral tradition. Thus, someone has inserted the sayings about guides and disciples into Q's original sequence. Such disruptions are not typical of Luke.  An earlier editor of the sayings source is more likely to have joined independent sayings by the type of loose thematic association found here. The two sayings were paired because they both concern following a leader. But the most striking word in the couplet is "blind," which led to its insertion before Q's saying about impeded sight.

Matthew cites these sayings elsewhere without linking them. Instead, he pairs each with a saying not reported by Luke.  These are probably not from Q, but are similar to sayings in John.  John does not cite the Q sayings.

Setting

The settings in Luke and Matthew leave the original use of the saying about blind leading blind uncertain. Matthew's context (controversy with Pharisees) seems plausible since, as this ironic passage from Paul indicates, "guide to the blind" was a Jewish metaphor that teachers of the Torah claimed with pride:

"But  if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the Law,
and boast of your relation to God and know his will,
and determine what is best because you are instructed in the Law,
and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind,
a light to those who are in darkness,
a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children,
having the Law, the embodiment of knowledge and truth,
you then who teach others, will you not teach yourself?
     --Rom 2:17-21

In Matthew's setting that condescending view of others is made to reflect back on a pompous speaker. Such ironic inversion is typical of Jesus. Yet, the characterization of the Pharisees as "blind guides" is unique to Matthew:

Matt 23:16	"Damn you, blind guides, who claim...."
Matt 23:17	"You blind fools!...."
Matt 23:19	"You are so blind!...."
Matt 23:24	"You blind leaders!...."

Since this rhetorical slur in not found in the parallel passages in Luke 11, the Fellows were unanimous in not tracing it Jesus' own lips.

Blind guides	%	Red	Pink	Grey	Black	WA	Print
Matt 15:14a Matt 23:16a Matt 23:17a Matt 23:19a Matt 23:24		0 0 0 0 0	15 0 0 0 45	31 0 0 0 25	54 100 100 100 30	21 00 00 00 38	black black black black grey
Blind lead blind
Luke 6:39b Matt 15:14b Thom 34		12 4 4	35 39 39	15 19 19	38 38 38	40 36 36	grey grey grey

Luke's context (a sermon urging tolerance) is odd only if the saying about blind leading blind is understood as unprovoked criticism of others. But the rhetorical question in Luke 6:39 seems to be a retort, like Paul's use of the metaphor, to rebuff self-righteous critics. The comment about blind leaders could serve to defend the pedagogical wisdom of overlooking others' defects to help them avoid greater obstacles. Such a reading suits Q's context after warnings against passing strict judgment on others.

Yet neither setting is original. Thomas is evidence that this aphorism circulated freely. And the conclusion is obvious, like most conventional wisdom. So while many Fellows thought Jesus might have invoked this ironic image of blind guides, most hesitated to claim he created it.

Commonplaces

The sayings about disciples and servants are even more commonplace.  They offer no provocative insight that is typical of Jesus' inversion of social attitudes.  Instead, they endorse traditional views of teachers and masters as superiors and models. The seminar was almost unanimous in not tracing these sayings to Jesus.

Disciple & servant	%	Red	Pink	Grey	Black	WA	Print
Luke 6:40 Matt 10:24-25a John 13:16 John 15:20a DialSav 53c		4 0 0 0 0	0 4 0 8 0	35 27 31 30 0	62 69 69 65 100	15 12 10 14 00	black black black black black