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|---|
| Passage Unit (IV.19…) | Argument Function (inside Marcion’s Luke) | Structural / Irenaean Method Signals | Redaction & Dependence Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| IV.19.1 – Women supporting Jesus | Narrative detail turned into prophetic fulfillment (Isaiah applied to financial support motif) | Small narrative element converted into testimonia-chain; prophetic prefiguration used as interpretive rule | Suggests inherited testimonia logic rather than spontaneous exegesis; aligns with Irenaean “economy continuity” model |
| IV.19.2–4 – “He who has ears…,” giving/withholding logic | Internal logical dilemma: giving/receiving implies judgment | Refutation from retained sayings; moral reciprocity → judicial framework → creator identity | Template argument reused elsewhere in Book IV; strong sign of pre-existing anti-Marcion schema |
| IV.19.5 – Hidden light / revelation | Anti-hidden-god polemic embedded inside parable interpretation | Sudden doctrinal insertion typical of heresiological dossier; narrative used to deny unknown deity | Looks like modular anti-Marcion block inserted into commentary flow |
| IV.19.6–10 – “Who is my mother?” episode | Narrative realism used against docetic/Marcionite reading | Layered internal constraints: narrative realism → semantic reinterpretation → theological conclusion | Characteristic Irenaean reasoning: reinterpretation preserves historical reality rather than replacing it |
| IV.19.11–12 – Transfer of kinship language | Spiritual reinterpretation presupposes literal base (“nemo transfert quid nisi ab eo qui habet”) | Ontological continuity logic; symbolic transfer requires historical possession | Strong alignment with anti-docetic framework shared with Irenaeus |
| IV.19.13 – Concluding identity logic | Gospel narrative internally forces creator continuity | Pericope-by-pericope dismantling of Marcion from shared text | Reads like sequential use of prepared anti-Marcion exegetical units |
“Aure audietis et non audietis … Qui habet aures audiat” (Tertullian Adv. Marc. IV.19) — cf. Irenaeus AH IV.29.1 / III.11.8 (Isa 6:9 applied to unbelief and selective hearing); “Quae mihi mater et qui mihi fratres?” (Tertullian IV.19) — cf. Irenaeus AH III.16.3–5 (reinterpretation of familial sayings to affirm incarnation rather than deny it); anti-Marcionite appeal to prophetic fulfilment (“de prophetia est…”) — cf. Irenaeus AH III.12.1–5 (Christ speaks and acts according to prophetic anticipation).
Methodological parallels.
The chapter continues the programmatic method described by Irenaeus (“Nos autem etiam ex his quae adhuc apud eos custodiuntur arguemus eos”), namely refutation derived from the opponent’s retained Gospel material. The argument proceeds by internal exegesis rather than external authority: sayings preserved in Marcion’s Gospel (Lukan pericopes) are interpreted through prophetic antecedents to demonstrate continuity with the creator. This mirrors Irenaeus’s repeated practice of demonstrating that heretics unwittingly preserve testimonies against themselves (AH III.12; IV.33). The appeal to prophetic foresignification (“de prophetia est”; Isaianic women disciples; Isa 6:9 hearing motif) reproduces the Irenaean strategy of harmonizing Gospel logia with prophetic oracles as interpretive keys rather than as secondary prooftexts.
Structural correspondences.
The argument unfolds in the recognizable Irenaean sequence: prophetic anticipation → dominical saying → doctrinal inference about the unity of God. First, prophetic texts validate narrative features (wealthy women disciples, parables, hearing motif); second, Gospel sayings are expounded sequentially (hearing formula; measure given and taken; lamp imagery; kinship sayings); third, theological conclusions follow, especially against docetic or anti-creational readings. This structural layering resembles the macro-structure of AH III–IV where prophetic testimony precedes Gospel exposition and culminates in Christological unity. The progression from hermeneutics (how to hear) to Christology (true birth, real kinship) echoes Irenaeus’s movement from exegesis to doctrinal polemic.
Historical polemic parallels.
Marcion appears as a posterior innovator whose reading is exposed through scriptural coherence rather than mere accusation. Tertullian’s insistence that Christ’s sayings presuppose known prophetic frameworks parallels Irenaeus’s claim that heretics sever Scripture from its prior narrative continuity (AH I.8.1; III.2.1). The emphasis that Christ’s words cannot negate prophetic precedent but reinterpret it reflects the Irenaean theme of recapitulation: later revelation unfolds earlier teaching rather than abolishing it. Appeals to audience memory (“qui habet aures audiat”) and polemical asides against heretics resemble Irenaeus’s rhetorical practice of drawing the reader into ecclesial consensus rather than presenting isolated prooftexts.
Signs of inherited exegetical scaffolding.
The chapter’s structure suggests a pre-existing scholion-like framework: each Gospel unit is introduced with a prophetic parallel, then interpreted as confirming continuity with the creator. The recurring formula (“de prophetia est,” Isaianic citations, law-prophet parallels) gives the impression of a commentary organized around dominical logia aligned with prophetic testimonia, compatible with a harmony-style or logia-collection exegesis rather than purely Tertullianic rhetoric. The handling of the kinship saying (“Quae mihi mater…”) closely resembles Irenaeus’s approach: not denial of birth but reinterpretation of relational priority, a line of argument attested repeatedly in AH III against docetic readings.
Condensed assessment.
The chapter strongly supports dependence upon an earlier Irenaean anti-Marcionite framework: internal refutation from Marcion’s own Gospel, prophetic-Gospel pairing as the basic exegetical unit, and a structured progression from scriptural exegesis to doctrinal unity replicate characteristic features of Irenaeus’s announced method of arguing from texts “quae adhuc apud eos custodiuntur.”
