The Chreia

[NOTE: This is a revised and expanded entry from my other earlier post entitled, "The Chreia," which has now been deleted. Hope this is helpful for those interested in the historical Jesus studies.]

The Chreia as a Literary Form

There were Greek rhetoricians long before Aristotle (4^th century B.C.E.) and they continued at least until the 11^th century. These ones were those that trained and schooled lawyers and other public orators. From about the time of Theon (1-2 C.E.) to the time of Doxapatres (11^th century), these rhetoricians used a literary form called a chreia.

A chreia is defined as “a reminiscence that is succinct, about a character, whom it credits. Why is a chreia a reminiscence? Because if it were extended, many times it would be narrative or something else. Why is about a character? Because many times without a character reference a succinct reminiscence is a maxim or something else. Why is it called a chreia? Because of its usefulness.”[1]

Thus the requirements for a literary form to be a chreia are as follows:

1. It was always concise
2. The speaker is identified
3. The statement or action is always given
4. The content is various (that is, it can be about ethics, philosophy, education, etc.)

This literary form was employed for a shortcut in memory. It was an easy and accessible way for recording accounts and memorizing them. But how reliable are they? Do their literary forms change over time?

Theon writing from about 1-2 C.E. (latest would be 2^nd century C.E.) wrote and recorded some chreias. The later commentator, Doxapatres, from the 11^th century, reproduced some 18 chreias that Theon had penned [these weren't originally his, but he had copied them from other sources] about a millennium earlier. How much did they differ? How similar were they? Bellow I will reproduce some of the chreias.

Chreias in Transmission

# 1

Theon (c. 1-100): When Olympias found out that her son, Alexander, declared himself [the son] of Zeus, she said, “Will this one not stop accusing me to Hera?”
Doxapatres (c 1000-1100): When Olympias, the mother of Alexander, heard that her son said he was [the son] of Zeus, she said, “Will the young man not stop slandering me to Hera?”

# 2

Theon: When Pythagoras, the philosopher, had been asked how long the life of man was, he went up on the roof and peek over briefly.
Doxapatres: When Pythagoras had been asked how long the life of man would be, he appeared briefly and then hid.

# 3

Theon: A certain Lacedemonian, when someone asked him where the Lacedemonians held the boundaries of the land, pointed to his spear.
Doxapatres: When the Lacedemonian had been asked where the boundaries of Sparta were, after he extended his spear and pointed, he said, “There.”

# 4

Theon: When Alexander, the king of Macedon, stood over Diogenes, while he was sleeping, he said, “it is not good for a counselor to sleep all night long,” and Diogenes answered, “to whom the people turn and who has so many cares!”
Doxapatres: When Alexander stood over Diogenes, sleeping, he said, “it is not good for a counselor to sleep all night long.”

# 5

Theon: Plato, the philosopher, said branches of virtue grew with sweat and labor.
Doxapatres: Plato used to say the branches of virtue grew with sweat and labor.

# 6

Theon: Isocrates, the rhetor, used to say his well-developed disciples were children of the gods.
Doxapatres: Isocrates said his well-developed disciples were children of the gods.

Evaluation of Data

Above I reproduced 6 of the 18 chreias found among Doxapatres-Theon transmission. The differences are not very much. Further, none of the differences affect the essence of the message. We are likely to see more variation from newspapers in the 21^st century than we do with these chreia. We should also keep in mind that these reflect a transmission process of about a millennium (1,000 years!).

Chreias among the Christians

Below I will present the chrea where it concerns Polycarp’s account of John, the apostle.

Eusebius, DE 3.39, 6, on the authority of Polycarp, (c. 156 CE):  “Once the apostle John entred a bath house in order to wash himself, but when he learned that Cerinthus was inside, he left the place, fled through the door, and would not remain under the same roof with him, but urged each one with him, saying, ‘Let us flee, lest the bath house collapse, since Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is inside!’”

DE 4.6, (c. 320 CE): “John, the disciple of the Lord, when he went to wash himself in Ephesus, after he saw Cerinthus inside, ran out of the bath house without washing, but called out, ‘Let us feel, lest even the bath house collapse, since Cerinthus, the enemy of truth, is inside!’”

Theodoret of Cyr. Eccl. Hist. 2.3 (c. 447 CE): “This one, as they say, saw the divine John, the evangelist, washing himself, for it happened because of ill health that he used the bath house. ‘Let us flee,’ he said, ‘from here, least because of Cerinthus, the bath house fall in and we share [the destruction].’”

De recept. Haer. 28 c-29A (c. 600 CE): “They said that also Saint Polycarp said that when washing himself in a bath house, the evangelist John, having learned that also Cerinthus was washing himself, left the place and fled, warning those with him, ‘Let us flee, lest the bath house collapse, since Cerinthus, the enemy of truth, is inside.’”

De haer. Libell. 4 (c. 1000): “When it was necessary, the apostle John used a bath house, but when he found out as he was about to enter that Cerinthus was inside, he jumped up and left through the door as quickly as possible, not considering it right to be with him under the same roof. He explained also to those with him saying, ‘Let us flee, lest the bath house collapse on us, since Cerinthus, the enemy of truth, is inside.’”

Evaluation

Though the wording differs in some instances, and some phrases and words are added, it is, in essence, the same chrea with the same basic message: John entered a bath house but fled when he saw Cerinthus. This chrea went under 900 years of transmission and we can still deduce the essential message that it was meant to convey.

Chreias in the New Testament

And a certain scribe came up and said to him: “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you are about to go.” But Jesus said to him: “Foxes have dens and birds of heaven have roosts, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay down his head.” (Matthew 8:19-20)

Then another of the disciples said to him: “Lord, permit me first to leave and bury my father.” Jesus said to him: “Keep following me, and let the dead bury their dead.” (Matthew 8:21-22)

And still another said: “I will follow you, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those in my household.” Jesus said to him: “No man that has put his hand to a plow and looks at the things behind is well fitted for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:61-62)

Departing now, Jesus was on his way from the temple, but his disciples approached to show him the buildings of the temple. In response he said to them: “Do YOU not behold all these things? Truly I say to YOU, By no means will a stone be left here upon a stone and not be thrown down.” While he was sitting upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately, saying: “Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?” (Matthew 24:1-3)

Sayings of Jesus in Chreia Form

The sayings of Jesus that are represented in chreia form can be considered to be extremely reliable, as we have seen from the transmission of the chreias between Theon & Doxapatres. The chreias in the New Testament, however, didn’t go through a 1000 year transmission.

Most critical scholars date Matthew to about 80 CE. If this is so, the chreias were transmitted for a mere 50 years[2]. If a 1000 year transmission span of chreias can be considered fairly reliable, as the data suggests, then how much more reliable would the chreias in the Gospels be that were transmitted for no more than 50 years[3]?

Considering all the above, I should note here that the sayings found within the chreias aren’t supposed to be Jesus’ words verbatim. The chreia is supposed to capture the essence or gist of the message. In other words, we can have confidence that the chreias in the Gospels accurately and reliably preserve Jesus’ teaching not necessarily his words verbatim.

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[1] Papiri Greci e Latine 1, no. 85.

[2] If Jesus’ ministry started in 29 CE.

[3] If some chreias were recorded in the year 30, it is possible that the authors of the Gospels had access to these original documents themselves. It is always equally possible that the chreias are the authors’ own. Whichever position one adopts, the reliability of the chreia is nearly 100%.