Scholarly Reflections
Young, Stephen E. "Chapter Six: Seeking Consistency: Looking for Indicators of Orality in 1 Clement 46.76-8." Jesus Tradition in the Apostolic Fathers. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011, 176-200.
In this chapter, Young applies his theory of orality and literacy which he used in earlier chapters to the text of 1 Clement 46.7b-8 (Young 2011, 176). He begins by reproducing the passage, where the Lord is cited as saying personal destruction is better than making someone stumble. Parallels to the parts of the statement are then given (Young 2011, 176-177).
The saying in 1 Clement is divided into two parts - that of woe and the statement about a millstone. Young finds both of these elements within each of the Synoptic Gospels (Young 2011, 179). In Mark, the statements are separated by several chapters. The statement of woe is almost identical but the millstone statement is not. In Matthew, the statements are together, with the "woe" after the millstone, and the millstone statement is nearly identical to that of Mark, rather than 1 Clement (Young 2011, 180). Luke has a "woe" before the millstone saying, in close proximity. However, from a linguistic standpoint, the text in Luke is more similar to that in Matthew (Young 2011, 182).
Young continues by comparing the Synoptic parallels on a linguistic basis, presenting the Greek text and flagging verbal agreements (Young 2011, 183). He concludes that Matthew and Luke did not follow Mark in the "woe" saying. He further suggests the source contained a millstone saying, wince both Matthew and Luke used one there (Young 2011, 184). The identity of ideas and the variability in vocabulary used suggests an oral source to young (Young 2011, 186). Young extrapolates that the same oral tradition would have been used by Clement as by Matthew and Luke, and that the text of Matthew or Luke would not have been used in 1 Clement (Young 2011, 188-189).
Young's analysis next moves to consider whether evidence of redaction by the Synoptic authors can be found in 1 Clement 46.8. This could indicate a literary influence of the Gospels on Clement (Young 2011, 191). However, Young finds no compelling evidence for such redactional elements in the text.
Young concludes that the passage in 1 Clement 46.8, introduced by "remember the words of the Lord Jesus," represents a retelling of an oral tradition of a saying of Jesus (Young 2011, 196).