Losing the Lost Coin: Gender Doublets in the Synoptic Tradition

The Bible continues to be a contested book with texts that are both detrimental to women’s full participation and inclusive and liberating with the latter often being hidden and sometimes deliberately obscured, however, they can be uncovered. The question of which of these traditions go back to the historical Jesus is contested. Historical Jesus traditions would have higher authority in the eyes of critical readers, and denying this status to traditions diminishes their importance. This article examines the tradition of “gender doublets” where double parables cite two examples for the same idea that illustrate male and female reality. The author argues that the frequency of these doublets, as well as the spread of evidence and the variability of construction, make it very probable that these doublets go back to the historical Jesus. In an environment hostile to women, it is more likely that parables like “the lost coin” or “the woman baking with leaven” got “lost” or were deliberately omitted from parallel traditions rather than the possibility of a later redactor compiling or composing such doublets. The Bible continues to be a contested book with texts that are both detrimental to women’s full participation and inclusive and liberating with the latter often being hidden and sometimes deliberately obscured, however, they can be uncovered. The question of which of these traditions go back to the historical Jesus is contested. Historical Jesus traditions would have higher authority in the eyes of critical readers, and denying this status to traditions diminishes their importance. This article examines the tradition of “gender doublets” where double parables cite two examples for the same idea that illustrate male and female reality. The author argues that the frequency of these doublets, as well as the spread of evidence and the variability of construction, make it very probable that these doublets go back to the historical Jesus. In an environment hostile to women, it is more likely that parables like “the lost coin” or “the woman baking with leaven” got “lost” or were deliberately omitted from parallel traditions rather than the possibility of a later redactor compiling or composing such doublets.