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Luke's Gospel is famous for its impressive series of parallels between John the Baptist and Jesus, including a number of matching points in the ethical teaching of the two. This study, which joins the spate of works highlighting similarities between persons and texts within this Gospel, argues that John's preaching to the crowds in the vicinity of the Jordan river in 3:7–14 and Jesus's parable of the rich man and Lazarus in 16:19–31 represent one such point of correspondence. It accomplishes this objective by demonstrating that a number of lexical and thematic elements in 3:7–14 are echoed in 16:19–31. This leads to the suggestion that Jesus's message, transmitted through this parable, can be interpreted as a reprise of John's preaching at the beginning of the narrative. Since John is portrayed in Luke 3 as a prophet of repentance in the face of the impending judgment, the similarity of Jesus's teaching in Luke 16 to that of John emphasises Jesus's role as a prophet, frequently elaborated in Luke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The parables of the mustard seed and leaven have received countless interpretations over the years. Out of these, interpretations that relate these parables to categories of either impurity or growth (but also contrast) predominate. This article will critically evaluate these approaches before proposing a novel avenue of interpretation. The article relates in three distinct ways to the research and person of Lilly Nortjé-Meyer. Firstly, it treats a "gender-pair" in the Sayings Gospel Q, which links up with Lilly's work on gender (e.g. Nortjé-Meyer 2008; 2010). As commentators and Q scholars often remark, Q has a tendency to describe male and female behaviour in conjunction, often as consecutive examples or parables of human behaviour in general (see, e.g. Batten 1994, 47–49). The parables of the mustard seed and leaven represent one instance of this tendency in Q. Secondly, in ways that will become clear, the article relates directly to Lilly's most recent focus on the liberation of animals and the interconnectedness of all creation (e.g. Nortjé-Meyer 2019). Thirdly, also in ways that will become clear, the article relates strongly to Lilly's focus and intent with her research to promote the liberation of humans, especially those who suffer in this world (e.g. Nortjé-Meyer 2002; 2018). It is a huge pleasure and honour to dedicate this article to my friend and colleague, Lilly Nortjé-Meyer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I will draw on intersectional feminist theory and interdisciplinary neighbour studies. My point of departure is the rich and complex reception of the Hebrew Bible phrase, "love your neighbour as yourself" (Lev 19:18). What is love and who is a neighbour? And what about the stranger? I will suggest an alternative reading of the so-called parable of the lost coin in the Gospel of Luke (15:8–10) and propose a re-naming of the story to the parable of the found neighbours. By highlighting not only the woman or the lost coin, but the female neighbours she invites to celebrate when she finds it, a broader social and cultural context for the parable will be presented. My aim is to use this apparently "un-colourful" one-verse story as a starting point for "asking the other question" and for creative re-imagination of female neighbours among Christ-following groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article challenges popular interpretations of the parable of the talents, which underlie economic views blaming poverty on laziness. It carefully compares the versions in Matthew and Luke and argues that the more original version is the one in Luke. This is based on a historical incident, linked to Archelaus, the son of Herod the Great, and makes sense as a story told in the context of Herod-ruled Galilee after the execution of John the Baptist. It argues for the parable as a story of open resistance with a dual message: a "public" and a "hidden" transcript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social conflict was a social phenomenon in early Roman Palestine and may be explored with social-scientific models. A model is proposed that contains the contrasting elite and non-elite ideologies across various applicable social domains. Furthermore, the influence of Roman imperialism is indicated on each social domain. Taken as a whole, the model describes the competitive and alternate visions of society among the elite and non-elite. The model may assist in highlighting social conflict in textual data with early Roman Palestine as a narrative location. It is suggested that the model is applied as a heuristic instrument. Luke 19:1–27, which includes the conversion of Zacchaeus and the parable of the Minas, is discussed as an example of the heuristic value of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]