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The Case of the “Rule of Three” in the Gospels

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The New Testament in Antiquity and Byzantium
This chapter is in the book The New Testament in Antiquity and Byzantium

Abstract

The eminent papyrologist and former Keeper of Western Manuscripts in the British Museum and Egerton Librarian (from 1961-72), Theodore Skeat, wrote an academic paper which adopted the title of one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short stories about his famous detective: “The Case of the Missing ThreeQuarter”. 1 Following Skeat’s example, I offer my contribution to Klaus Wachtel’s Festschrift by way of examining how the figures “three” and “third” or episodes that occur three times are treated in the New Testament Gospels. The figure “three” is commonplace in folklore and in children’s nursery rhymes where the characters may be piggies, little kittens, the Billy Goats Gruff, blind mice or Goldilocks’ bears. Possibly threefold events in such stories make them mnemonically important - things occurring three times show that the actions and words are worthy of note and effective. “Once” may be a chance occurrence, “twice” may be due to mere coincidence - but anything repeated twice is important, significant and memorable. The same literary “Rule of Three” may readily be seen in Greek and Latin classics, Norse mythology, Shakespeare, the Old Testament and in Grand Opera. Mime’s and Wotan’s threefold questionings in Wagner’s Siegfried, the three riddles in Puccini’s Turandot, the three ritual trials in Mozart’s Die Zauberflote and the three caskets shown to each of Portia’s suitors in The Merchant of Venice are examples that spring to mind. Below, the “Rule of Three” within the New Testament follows Jesus’ career. For example 7 we examine parables spoken by Jesus during his ministry.

Abstract

The eminent papyrologist and former Keeper of Western Manuscripts in the British Museum and Egerton Librarian (from 1961-72), Theodore Skeat, wrote an academic paper which adopted the title of one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short stories about his famous detective: “The Case of the Missing ThreeQuarter”. 1 Following Skeat’s example, I offer my contribution to Klaus Wachtel’s Festschrift by way of examining how the figures “three” and “third” or episodes that occur three times are treated in the New Testament Gospels. The figure “three” is commonplace in folklore and in children’s nursery rhymes where the characters may be piggies, little kittens, the Billy Goats Gruff, blind mice or Goldilocks’ bears. Possibly threefold events in such stories make them mnemonically important - things occurring three times show that the actions and words are worthy of note and effective. “Once” may be a chance occurrence, “twice” may be due to mere coincidence - but anything repeated twice is important, significant and memorable. The same literary “Rule of Three” may readily be seen in Greek and Latin classics, Norse mythology, Shakespeare, the Old Testament and in Grand Opera. Mime’s and Wotan’s threefold questionings in Wagner’s Siegfried, the three riddles in Puccini’s Turandot, the three ritual trials in Mozart’s Die Zauberflote and the three caskets shown to each of Portia’s suitors in The Merchant of Venice are examples that spring to mind. Below, the “Rule of Three” within the New Testament follows Jesus’ career. For example 7 we examine parables spoken by Jesus during his ministry.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. List of Contributors IX
  4. Klaus Wachtel: An Appreciation XI
  5. Klaus Wachtel: Bibliography XV
  6. A Texts
  7. The “Western” Text of Acts: A Challenge for Historians 1
  8. In anderen und eigenen Sprachen. Ein textkritisch-exegetisch motivierter Blick auf Apg 2,1–13 23
  9. Acta 2:1–22 in der Revision des Jakob von Edessa 37
  10. New Traces of an Old Text: The Corrections of Gregory-Aland 424 in Acts 1–14 51
  11. The Longer Ending of Mark in Gothic 69
  12. La géographie marcienne et ses corrections ecclésiales 81
  13. A Coptic Papyrus without John 21? 93
  14. GA 382: Byzantinisches „Allerlei“ 109
  15. The Case of the “Rule of Three” in the Gospels 123
  16. The “Power on the Head” of a Woman. A New Appraisal of 1 Corinthians 11:10 and its Variants 135
  17. The Text of Hebrews in GA 1739, in Selected Other Greek Manuscripts, and in Works of Origen: Preliminary Quantitative Assessments 147
  18. Photius: A Re-evaluation of the Johannine Evidence in Light of Modern Tools 165
  19. ὡς ἐν τῇ Ἀποκαλύψει λέγεται. (Vermeintliche) Apk-Zitate am Ende der byzantinischen Epoche 175
  20. Manuscripts of the Greek Bible 189
  21. Kr in the Gospels 203
  22. Eine Dromone in GA 013? Gedanken zu einer Schiffszeichnung 215
  23. B Editing
  24. The Earliest Printed Portions of the Greek New Testament 229
  25. Von den Evangelien bis zur Apk. Die Ordnung der Schriften in der Edition des Neuen Testaments 249
  26. Von den Kanones der Textkritik zu einer Theorie der Variantenentstehung im Rahmen der Kohärenzbasierten Genealogischen Methode. Einige vorläufige Überlegungen 265
  27. Manuscripts, Texts, History, and the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM): Some Thoughts and Clarifications 281
  28. Improving the CBGM: Recent Interactions 295
  29. The Byzantine Text as the Initial Text 309
  30. Family 1 in the Gospel of John: Its Members, Text and the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method 325
  31. An Initial Selection of Manuscripts for the Editio Critica Maior of the Pauline Epistles 343
  32. Editorial Activity and Textual Affiliation: The Case of the Corpus Paulinum 361
  33. Die mehrheitsbildenden Gruppen der Apokalypse-Überlieferung: Textgeschichtliche und editorische Herausforderungen 385
  34. Transkription und Kollation neutestamentlicher Handschriften. Analyse der Fehlermöglichkeiten und ihrer Ursachen 401
  35. A Text-Critical Approach to Punctuation in the New Testament: 1 Corinthians 14:33 415
  36. When Does συν- Assimilate? 429
  37. Digitale Werkzeuge zur Systematisierung koptischer Handschriften 439
  38. Die Vetus Latina-Edition der Apostelgeschichte: Überlegungen zu Chronologie, Konstituierung und Disposition der „Texttypen“ 449
  39. Index of Manuscripts 467
  40. Index of Biblical Passages 473
  41. Index of Subjects 479
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110591682-009

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. List of Contributors IX
  4. Klaus Wachtel: An Appreciation XI
  5. Klaus Wachtel: Bibliography XV
  6. A Texts
  7. The “Western” Text of Acts: A Challenge for Historians 1
  8. In anderen und eigenen Sprachen. Ein textkritisch-exegetisch motivierter Blick auf Apg 2,1–13 23
  9. Acta 2:1–22 in der Revision des Jakob von Edessa 37
  10. New Traces of an Old Text: The Corrections of Gregory-Aland 424 in Acts 1–14 51
  11. The Longer Ending of Mark in Gothic 69
  12. La géographie marcienne et ses corrections ecclésiales 81
  13. A Coptic Papyrus without John 21? 93
  14. GA 382: Byzantinisches „Allerlei“ 109
  15. The Case of the “Rule of Three” in the Gospels 123
  16. The “Power on the Head” of a Woman. A New Appraisal of 1 Corinthians 11:10 and its Variants 135
  17. The Text of Hebrews in GA 1739, in Selected Other Greek Manuscripts, and in Works of Origen: Preliminary Quantitative Assessments 147
  18. Photius: A Re-evaluation of the Johannine Evidence in Light of Modern Tools 165
  19. ὡς ἐν τῇ Ἀποκαλύψει λέγεται. (Vermeintliche) Apk-Zitate am Ende der byzantinischen Epoche 175
  20. Manuscripts of the Greek Bible 189
  21. Kr in the Gospels 203
  22. Eine Dromone in GA 013? Gedanken zu einer Schiffszeichnung 215
  23. B Editing
  24. The Earliest Printed Portions of the Greek New Testament 229
  25. Von den Evangelien bis zur Apk. Die Ordnung der Schriften in der Edition des Neuen Testaments 249
  26. Von den Kanones der Textkritik zu einer Theorie der Variantenentstehung im Rahmen der Kohärenzbasierten Genealogischen Methode. Einige vorläufige Überlegungen 265
  27. Manuscripts, Texts, History, and the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM): Some Thoughts and Clarifications 281
  28. Improving the CBGM: Recent Interactions 295
  29. The Byzantine Text as the Initial Text 309
  30. Family 1 in the Gospel of John: Its Members, Text and the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method 325
  31. An Initial Selection of Manuscripts for the Editio Critica Maior of the Pauline Epistles 343
  32. Editorial Activity and Textual Affiliation: The Case of the Corpus Paulinum 361
  33. Die mehrheitsbildenden Gruppen der Apokalypse-Überlieferung: Textgeschichtliche und editorische Herausforderungen 385
  34. Transkription und Kollation neutestamentlicher Handschriften. Analyse der Fehlermöglichkeiten und ihrer Ursachen 401
  35. A Text-Critical Approach to Punctuation in the New Testament: 1 Corinthians 14:33 415
  36. When Does συν- Assimilate? 429
  37. Digitale Werkzeuge zur Systematisierung koptischer Handschriften 439
  38. Die Vetus Latina-Edition der Apostelgeschichte: Überlegungen zu Chronologie, Konstituierung und Disposition der „Texttypen“ 449
  39. Index of Manuscripts 467
  40. Index of Biblical Passages 473
  41. Index of Subjects 479
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