The Incorporation of Jesus and his Emissaries in a Tripartite Canonical Framework (Luke 11:45-53)

This composition critical exegetical study examines Luke’s distinctive presentation of Jesus’ woes against the scribal scholars in Luke 11:45–51. Four elements of Luke’s presentation are identified which contribute to the inclusion of Jesus and his emissaries within a distinctly tripartite canonical framework. Luke’s peculiar use of the Greek term νομικός is shown to be employed as a rhetorical marker to emphasize the scripture interpreting role of the scribal scholars and to provide a broad allusion to scripture overall. The correspondence of the three woes against the νομικοί to the tripartite Hebrew canon is demonstrated as further evidence for this allusion to scripture and a threefold revelatory tradition. Two elements within the second woe, the saying of the “Wisdom of God,” and the range of past martyrs, are then discussed and found to have intertextual links with 2 Chronicles 24 and 36, suggesting the present passage is a typological recapitulation of past persecution and martyrdom, as well as judgment. The article concludes that these distinctive elements show that Luke typologically incorporates Jesus and his emissaries within a tripartite revelatory tradition and canonical framework, and that by further implication, Luke’s written testimony (Luke-Acts) to the persecution and killing of Jesus and his sent ones, contributes to the self presentation of this written testimony as a climactic continuation of the OT scriptures