Matthew Chapter 13 — The Epileptic Boy, the Second Prediction, and the Little Ones

Overview

UPDV chapter 13 covers the epileptic boy (13:1-5), the second passion prediction (13:6-7), the dispute about greatness and sayings on stumbling (13:8-15), and the would-be followers (13:16-19). This material comes from canonical Matthew 17:14-18, 17:22-23, 18:1-9, and 8:19-22, drawing on Mark 9:14-50 and Q (Luke 9:57-60 and Luke 17:1-2).

The most significant editorial decisions are the removal of the faith-and-mustard-seed saying (canonical Matt 17:19-20), the temple tax episode (17:24-27), and nearly all of the compiler's fourth discourse (canonical Matt 18). The most significant textual reversion is the rewriting of the greatness dispute and stumbling block sayings to a composite of Mark 9:33-37 and Luke 17:1-2, with the body-member sayings drawn from Mark 9:43-47.

The Epileptic Boy (13:1-5)

"And when they had come to the multitude, there came to him a man, kneeling to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is epileptic, and suffers grievously." The healing of the epileptic boy (13:1-5) comes from canonical Matt 17:14-18, based on Mark 9:14-29. Davies and Allison confirm that "the redactional tendencies of Matthew and Luke adequately account for their differences vis-à-vis Mk 9:14-29" — no non-Markan source need be postulated.

The compiler's abbreviation of Mark is drastic. Mark 9:14-29 is a vivid, sixteen-verse narrative featuring a crowd dispute, a detailed conversation between Jesus and the father, the boy's violent convulsions, a dialogue about faith ("I believe; help my unbelief!"), and a dramatic exorcism requiring private explanation. The compiler reduced this to seven verses, dropping the crowd dispute, the father's faith dialogue, the convulsions, and the violent exit of the demon. Davies and Allison catalog the changes: the compiler "greatly shortened and simplified Mark's involved account," made the father kneel and call Jesus "Lord" (neither present in Mark), diagnosed the affliction as epilepsy (σεληνιάζεται, selēniazetai) rather than Mark's "dumb spirit," and replaced Mark's vivid conclusion with the formulaic "and the boy was cured from that hour" (cf. the same formula at 8:13 and 15:28).

The UPDV uses the compiler's abbreviated text. This is abbreviation of a Markan pericope — the narrative structure is preserved even as the detail is condensed — and the UPDV's methodology retains the compiler's text for such cases.

The Second Passion Prediction (13:6-7)

"And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, The Son of Man will be delivered up into the hands of men; and they will kill him, and the third day he will be raised up. And they were exceedingly sorry." The second passion prediction (13:6-7) comes from canonical Matt 17:22-23, based on Mark 9:30-32. Davies and Allison confirm that "Matthew's source for this section is Mk 9:30-2" and that "there is no good reason to infer that Matthew has here been influenced by a non-Markan source." The compiler's text follows Mark closely, abbreviating Mark's notice that Jesus was teaching secretly ("he would not have any one know it") and replacing Mark's "they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him" with the simpler "they were exceedingly sorry." The UPDV uses the compiler's text — this is straightforward abbreviation of a Markan pericope without structural alteration.

The Faith-and-Mustard-Seed Saying (Canonical Matt 17:19-20) — Removed

The compiler's conclusion to the epileptic boy story replaces Mark's ending ("This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer") with a different saying: the disciples' private question about their failure, followed by Jesus' response about "little faith" and the mountain-moving power of faith like a mustard seed. Davies and Allison explain that this is a conflation: the compiler took the introductory "amen" formula and "this mountain" from Mark 11:23, while the conditional formulation and the mustard seed are from Q (cf. Luke 17:6). The saying is further embellished with the redactional conclusion "and nothing will be impossible for you" (no parallel in Mark or Luke). The entire passage (17:19-20) is marked Ouc — context uncertain — because the saying has been uprooted from its original Q context and conflated with Markan material into a composite that reflects the compiler's editorial craftsmanship rather than any single source.

The Temple Tax (Canonical Matt 17:24-27) — Removed

The temple tax episode is unique to Matthew with no synoptic parallel. Davies and Allison describe it as "a reasonably stylish passage" that functions as a "rule miracle" — a miracle story that serves to justify a teaching on taxation. The miracle itself, however, is never actually narrated (the fish with the coin in its mouth is commanded but not described as happening). The passage is M material, part of the cluster of special Peter traditions the compiler gathered into this section of the Gospel (alongside 14:28-31 and 16:17-19). It is removed as non-Markan, non-Q material with no parallel elsewhere in the tradition.

The Dispute about Greatness (13:8-10)

"And there arose a reasoning among them, which of them might be the greatest. But Jesus knowing the reasoning of their heart, took a little child, and set him by his side." The greatness dispute (13:8-10) comes from canonical Matt 18:1-5, based on Mark 9:33-37. The UPDV rewrites the compiler's version to a composite of Mark's and Luke's forms.

The compiler treated his Markan source "rather freely," as Davies and Allison note. He "shortened the narrative introduction (so that it has become much less colourful), dropped the declaration in Mk 9:35 ('If anyone wants to be first, let him be last of all and servant of all'), added the sayings in vv. 3 and 4, and omitted the end of Mk 9:37 ('and whoever receives me …')." The compiler's goal was to create a collection of παιδία (paidia, "children") sayings — gathering material around a catchword theme rather than preserving the Markan sequence.

The UPDV reverts to a composite of Mark 9:33-37 and Luke 9:46-48 — not a reconstruction of either source alone, but a synthesis that draws the narrative frame from Luke (who is closer to Mark's structure at this point) and the saying from Luke's version of Mark's logion. The narrative introduction uses Luke's form — "there arose a reasoning among them, which of them might be the greatest" (13:8, cf. Luke 9:46) — rather than the compiler's version where the disciples explicitly ask Jesus the question (canonical Matt 18:1). Luke's form, where Jesus perceives an unspoken dispute, is closer to Mark's account where the disciples argue among themselves on the road and Jesus asks what they were discussing.

The UPDV's saying in 13:10 — "Whoever will receive this little child in my name receives me: and whoever will receive me receives him who sent me: for he who is least among all of you, the same is great" — follows Luke 9:48, which preserves the Markan structure of Mark 9:37 (receiving a child = receiving Jesus = receiving God) and adds the reversal saying ("he who is least among all of you, the same is great"). This replaces the compiler's 18:3-5, where the "become as children" saying and the "humble himself" saying serve the compiler's thematic collection.

The compiler's 18:3 — "Except you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the kingdom of heaven" — is removed. Davies and Allison note that this verse was "either drawn upon M or jumped ahead to Mk 10:15," which the compiler later omits at 19:13-15. They tentatively attribute it to "a non-Markan source," noting that "it appears to be more primitive than Mk 10:15" and represents "an independent witness to the saying." The UPDV drops it here because it is an addition to the Markan pericope. The underlying tradition, however, is not lost from the UPDV reconstruction. Mark 10:15 — "Whoever will not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he will in no way enter in it" — is preserved in the UPDV's Mark text, where the compiler omitted it from his parallel at Matt 19:13-15. The saying's deep roots in the tradition (Mark, John 3:3/5, Gospel of Thomas 22 and 46) are thus honored through the Markan witness rather than through the compiler's displaced insertion.

Stumbling Block Sayings (13:11-15)

"But whoever will cause one of these little ones to stumble, it is profitable for him that a great millstone should be hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea." The stumbling block section (13:11-15) draws on a complex of sources: Mark 9:42 and Q (Luke 17:1-2) for the millstone saying, Q (Luke 17:1) for the woes on stumbling, and Mark 9:43-47 for the body-member sayings.

Davies and Allison confirm that 18:6 represents "a Markan/Q overlap" — the saying about causing little ones to stumble exists in both Mark 9:42 and Luke 17:2, and the compiler conflated them. The UPDV uses a form closer to Luke 17:1-2, stripping the compiler's addition of "who believe on me" (τῶν πιστευόντων εἰς ἐμέ, tōn pisteuontōn eis eme), which appears in the compiler's 18:6 and Mark 9:42 but not in Luke's Q version. The shorter form — simply "one of these little ones" — is probably more original.

The woes on stumbling (13:12) follow Luke 17:1 — "It is impossible but that occasions of stumbling should come; but woe to him, through whom the occasion comes" — rather than the compiler's expanded version at 18:7, which adds "Woe to the world because of occasions of stumbling!" The compiler's "woe to the world" is an editorial expansion that broadens the scope beyond the immediate community context.

The body-member sayings (13:13-15) are drawn from Mark 9:43-47 rather than the compiler's condensed version at Matt 18:8-9. The compiler compressed Mark's three-part structure (hand, foot, eye) into two verses, combining hand and foot into a single saying (18:8) and keeping the eye separate (18:9). The UPDV restores Mark's triadic structure — hand (13:13), foot (13:14), eye (13:15) — with the Markan vocabulary of "hell" (γέεννα, geenna) and "unquenchable fire" (τὸ πῦρ τὸ ἄσβεστον, to pyr to asbeston) rather than the compiler's "eternal fire" (τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον).

A methodological note is required here. The UPDV keeps the compiler's abbreviation of Mark for the epileptic boy narrative (13:1-5) but reverts to Mark's fuller form for the body-member sayings. The distinction rests on the difference between narrative pericopes and dominical sayings. For narratives — healing stories, exorcisms, sea crossings — the compiler's abbreviation preserves the inherited story structure even when it condenses detail, and the UPDV retains his text. For sayings of Jesus, however, the compiler's compression can alter the rhetorical form of the utterance itself. Mark's triadic hand-foot-eye structure exhibits what Davies and Allison call "the rhythm of the spoken word" — the deliberate escalation and repetition that characterizes oral tradition. The compiler's compression into two verses collapses this oral pattern into a prose summary. The UPDV preserves the compiler's narrative abbreviations but restores dominical sayings to their more primitive spoken form where Mark attests it.

Davies and Allison note that all the sayings in 18:6-9 "would all seem to go back to Jesus." The millstone saying "has multiple attestation (Mark and Q)" and "was known to Paul." The body-member sayings exhibit "the sharpness of the alternatives set out, as well as the form of expression," which "seem characteristic of Jesus' thought."

The Guardian Angels and Father's Will (Canonical Matt 18:10, 14) — Removed

The compiler's 18:10 — "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I say to you, that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven" — is removed as editorial. Davies and Allison call it a "redactional introduction to the parable of the lost sheep," noting that "word statistics do not demonstrate a redactional genesis they are consistent with one." The verse creates the compiler's thematic frame for the lost sheep parable, drawing on the widespread Jewish belief in guardian angels but expressed in the compiler's characteristic language ("my Father who is in heaven").

Similarly, 18:14 — "Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish" — is the compiler's "redactional conclusion to the parable of the lost sheep," containing his characteristic vocabulary (θέλημα + πατρός, thelēma + patros, appearing four times in Matthew and zero in Mark or Luke). Both verses frame the lost sheep parable with the compiler's editorial theology of divine care for the little ones. The parable itself (18:12-13), which is Q material (cf. Luke 15:3-7) and "almost universally considered authentic," is preserved — but it appears at UPDV 19:4-5 in its Lukan sequence rather than here in the compiler's discourse architecture.

The Would-Be Followers (13:16-19)

"And there came a scribe, and said to him, Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus says to him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." These two exchange stories (13:16-19) come from canonical Matt 8:19-22, which is Q material paralleled at Luke 9:57-60.

The compiler placed this Q material before the stilling of the storm (canonical Matt 8:23-27), embedding it in his narrative bridge between the Sermon on the Mount and the miracle cycle. The UPDV relocates it to follow the Lukan order, where these exchange stories appear after the Elijah discussion and before the mission of the seventy (Luke 9:57-10:1). This is consistent with the UPDV's general principle of restoring Q material to its Lukan sequence.

The sayings themselves are deeply traditional. The "foxes have holes" saying is one of the most distinctive utterances attributed to Jesus — its startling comparison of the Son of Man unfavorably to animals, its implied homelessness, and its lack of theological elaboration all point to early tradition. The "let the dead bury their dead" saying is, as Davies and Allison note elsewhere, "one of the most radical utterances in the synoptic tradition," overriding even the sacred obligation of filial burial.

The Community Discourse (Canonical Matt 18:15-35) — Removed

The bulk of the compiler's fourth discourse — the community rules for sin, forgiveness, and discipline — is removed from this chapter. This is the largest single block of material omitted, and its fate requires detailed accounting.

The compiler built 18:15-35 as a sustained discourse on community life: how to reprove a sinning brother (18:15-17), the authority to bind and loose (18:18), the promise to those gathered in Jesus' name (18:19-20), the question of unlimited forgiveness (18:21-22), and the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (18:23-35). Davies and Allison identify the sources: "18:15 is reminiscent of Lk 17:3, 18:21-22 of Lk 17:4. The remainder of the material is without parallel." They assign the community rules (18:15-17) and the forgiveness exchange (18:21-22) to Q, noting the close parallels with Luke 17:3-4. Verse 18:18 is "a redactional doublet of the saying in 16:19" — the binding-and-loosing authority already removed with Peter's keys in chapter 12 of this article. Only 18:19-20 ("where two or three are gathered") is classified as M material, probably known to the compiler as oral tradition.

The Q material — the reproof-and-forgiveness sayings — is not lost. It is preserved in the UPDV at Luke 17:3-4, where the sayings appear in their Lukan sequence: "If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to you, saying, I repent; you will forgive him." The compiler expanded this simple Q exchange into a three-stage judicial procedure (private reproof, witnesses, community tribunal) that reflects the institutional concerns of his congregation — what Davies and Allison compare to the discipline procedures of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The UPDV strips this institutional expansion and preserves the underlying Q saying in its simpler Lukan form.

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (18:23-35) is a harder loss. Davies and Allison note that it is "almost universally reckoned an authentic parable of Jesus," even though it is "preserved only in Matthew." It came to the compiler as oral tradition — M material — and he shaped it with his characteristic introduction ("Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to …") and conclusion ("So will also my heavenly Father do to you"). The UPDV removes it because it is M material with no synoptic parallel — the same criterion that removed the temple tax (17:24-27), the tares interpretation (13:36-43), and the laborers in the vineyard (20:1-16). The loss is real: this is not editorial scaffolding but a parable that, as Davies and Allison put it, depicts God as one who "cancels incalculable debts" and warns of "the consequences of failing" to imitate that forgiveness. But the UPDV's source-critical method does not make exceptions for quality. M material is removed regardless of its probable authenticity, because the reconstruction is built on the two-source framework (Mark and Q), not on judgments about which unique traditions "sound like Jesus."

What the UPDV Removes from This Section

Matt 17:19-20 (faith and mustard seed): Ouc — conflation of Mark 11:23 and Q (Luke 17:6), with redactional additions. Uprooted from original context.
Matt 17:24-27 (temple tax): M material unique to Matthew, no synoptic parallel. Part of the compiler's special Peter tradition cluster.
Matt 18:3 ("become as children"): Addition to Markan pericope. Davies and Allison: probably from "a non-Markan source," possibly "more primitive than Mk 10:15." Multiple independent witnesses (Mark, Q, John, Thomas).
Matt 18:10 (guardian angels): "Redactional introduction to the parable of the lost sheep." Compiler's editorial framing.
Matt 18:14 (Father's will): "Redactional conclusion to the parable." Compiler's characteristic vocabulary.
Matt 18:15-35 (community discourse): See full discussion above.

References

Davies, W. D. and Dale C. Allison Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. 3 vols. International Critical Commentary. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988–1997.