Living among Wolves: How to Understand the Imagery of Q 10:3 If Q 10:2 Is Interpreted Literally

Q 10:2 is universally regarded as a metaphorical instruction to pray that God would send missionaries into the mission field. As an alternative, I have argued elsewhere that it should be interpreted as a literal logion in the Sayings Gospel Q, advising the peasantry and poor to beg for harvesting work and gleaning opportunities from farm managers on large estates. If this is correct, a different interpretation of the subsequent logion in Q 10:3 would be necessary on the level of Q. The standard interpretation of this logion, which is universally accepted by NT scholars, is that the sheep represent missionaries and the wolves represent those on the mission field. The purpose of this study is to reconsider the interpretation of Q 10:3 if the preceding logion is understood literally. Vital to such a reinterpretation of Q 10:3 is identifying the “wolves” mentioned in this saying. Much of this article is therefore devoted to closely identifying the wolves of Q 10:3.