Research on Q has frequently been driven by questions addressing the legitimacy of the two-source hypothesis or by questions related to the reconstruction of this source. As such, Q scholarship has often viewed its tasks primarily through the lenses of source- and redaction-critical perspectives. The authors of this volume make a conscious effort to refocus, at least to a certain extent, discussions concerning Q from questions of reconstruction to narratival and metaphorical aspects of this text. Narrative elements such as space, time, characters, plot, etc. on the one hand, and metaphorical elements such as Bildfeldtradition, socio-historical aspects of the images employed, etc., on the other, can be recognized and examined even apart from a precise, verbal reconstruction of a text. Since parables are an especially fruitful area for such considerations, the parables found in Q receive particular emphasis and consideration. Along these lines, this publication is intended to provide not only new perspectives on old questions in Q scholarship (e.g., tradition-history, social context, tradents, etc.) but also to provide stimulus for new directions in the study of Q.
