The presence of traditions in Pauline letters has long been recognized in the case of Old Testament quotations. However, when the concept of tradition is broadened to include other types of material, the issue becomes more complex and requires that some attention be given to several preliminary matters. In a word it is necessary to define the term and to establish the adequacy of the tools and criteria by which traditions are identified.

As it is used here, ‘tradition’ means more than a prior idea or story floating in the memory of the Apostle, of his co-traditioners or of the amanuenses and co-senders of the letters. It is, more concretely, a specific item in a traditioning process that was formed and in oral or written usage before Paul incorporated it into his letter. But can it be established that Paul utilized tradition in this narrower sense of the word?

Constitutional questions are posed in much recent study of Christian origins. What was the significance of the ministry of Jesus for the contemporary Jewish polity, and the subsequent growth of the Christian ecclesia? The differing emphases of the answers can be roughly labelled ecclesiastical, for example in B. F. Meyer, or national, for example in G. B. Caird and E. P. Sanders. Despite such differences, the twelve must needs be central in the subject-matter (as in B. F. Meyer, 134; Sanders, 326). Can one go further towards determining the constitutional significance of a body of twelve for a Jew of the first century A.D.?

One possible model for the twelve, the group of tribal princes, seems to be relatively neglected. In what follows attention will be drawn to it, and an attempt will be made to characterize its interpretation in ancient Judaism. Finally, against this background, brief comment will be offered on the place of the twelve in early church order and in the ministry of Jesus.

Nous ignorons tout des conditions dans lesquelles les premiers chrétiens ont adopté la pratique du baptême d'eau en usage chez les disciples de Jean. Rappelons seulement quelques-unes des constatations qu'on peut faire à cet égard.

Le baptême de Jésus au Jourdain ne joue aucun rôle perceptible dans son ministère. Certes, si l'on fait fond sur Jn 3. 22–30 et 4. 1s, Jésus aurait temporairement participé à une activité baptismale parallèle à celle de Jean; nous en reparlerons plus loin. Cependant la tradition synoptique ne fait état pour sa part d'aucune pratique de ce genre et elle ne fait pas davantage mention d'un quelconque propos de Jésus à ce sujet dans sa prédication prépascale. L'absence est particulièrement significative dans les consignes données aux disciples lorsqu'ils sont envoyés par Jésus dans les villages (Mc 6. 7–13 et par.). C'est seulement après la Résurrection que, dans un texte particulier à Mt, Jésus donne l'ordre de baptiser à ceux qu'il envoie (Mt 28. 19), mais cet ordre suppose, de façon surprenante, qu'ils savent déjà de quoi il s'agit et le propos est marqué dans sa forme trinaire par l'usage ultérieur de l'Eglise. Nous n'avons en tout cas pour le baptême aucune tradition qui corresponde de près ou de loin à l'institution eucharistique.

Let us draw familiar battle lines at the outset by adhering to some ofttested propositions concerning the speeches of Acts: that they are mainly conceptions and instruments of Lucan historiography; that they therefore argue the case of the author as historian, not the ostensible cause of the speaker in the situation recounted; that their audiences are fictitious representations of the stages of the Christian mission programmed in Acts 1. 8; finally that, like other Lucan repetitions, the speeches have a complementary and mutually explanatory function in the author's sustained dialogue with his reader.

Serious study of the synoptic problem can be undertaken only with the aid of a Greek synopsis. At the present time three such synopses are readily available: Aland's Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorum now in its 12th edition, the 13th edition of Huck extensively revised by H. Greeven and the recently published text by B. Orchard. In this article these synopses are referred to as follows: Aland as Syn when all 12 editions are intended, otherwise as SynA=1–8 or SynB=9–12 to differentiate between the two major editions of the text, the earlier of which has a text comparable with the twenty-fifth edition of Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (= N–A25) and the later a text comparable with N-A26; Greeven's revision as H-G; and Orchard's text as Orchard.

Opinions differ concerning the form of the Bartimaeus narrative in Mark 10. 46–52. M. Dibelius considered it to be a ‘less pure type’ of paradigm, although in the first edition of his work he analysed it as a ‘Personal Legend’. R. Bultmann thought the story showed secondary characteristics and the close interlacing of the story into the Marcan context betrayed the ‘late formulation’ of the present form. He believed, however, that it is hardly possible to recognize a stylistically proper miracle narrative at the basis of this passage. Since R. Bultmann, most authors classify the Bartimaeus narrative as a miracle story but some hasten to point out how the story lacks certain formal elements of a miracle story.

Der synoptischen Heilungsgeschichten, etwa Mk 2. 1–12, nicht unähnliche und doch auch wieder verschiedene Wunderbericht aus Joh 5. 1–18 wurde vom Evangelisten aus der Tradition übernommen und seinem Werke ein-gegliedert, also dessen Absichten dienstbar gemacht und daher mit neuem Inhalt gefüllt, also aktualisiert. Dabei mag die heutige Gestalt der Erzählung durch verschiedene Rezensionen des Evangelientextes bedingt sein oder auch schon in der vorausgehenden Tradition erfolgt sein, was verschiedene durchschimmernde Tendenzen nahe legen könnten. Auf alle Fälle ist der Heilungsbericht des Kranken vom Bethesdateich im heutigen Zusammenhang Teil eines grösseren Abschnittes und als solcher das grosse Zeichen, gewirkt am Sabbat, das zur Anerkennung des wahren Geheimnisses der Person Jesu und daher zu einem tiefen Glauben führen soll, aber den Widerspruch der Juden herausfordert. Die Erzählung hat also ihren Selbstzweck verloren.