THE THREE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS A FEW SELECTED PASSAGES SHOWING HOW CERTAIN PHRASES IN THE GOSPELS THE accounts given on the two following pages have been selected and arranged especially to show the relationship which certain passages in the Gospels seem to bear to each other. Some of them are not usually considered as being in any way related; but there are certain phrases in them so worded, and so peculiarly situated and connected to the accounts of which they are a part, that they have an important bearing upon the question of the origin, authenticity and history of these books. It might have been well had consideration of these passages been deferred till at the end of the book. Perhaps some of the inferences drawn would have impressed themselves with more force upon the mind of the reader had this been done; but there are other comparisons of a like nature elsewhere in the Gospels, and many other similarly related phrases and sentences will be pointed out, and these will serve as an introduction to them; and they will prove corroborative of further inferences to be drawn when those passages are reached. Should the reader not be prepared to receive as conclusive the deductions here brought out, let him pass on to the main body of the work following, and after he has studied that for a sufficient time let him return to these pages and reperuse them. The capital letters in the margins, A to H, mark parallel accounts. These are subdivided, and parallel phrases and sentences are marked with the small letters, a a, b b, and so on to Z. Special attention is directed to those passages marked with the capital letters F and C. F is in all six of the columns except the last, C is in but three of them, the last three. The columns are arranged to show the best comparisons one with another, and not with reference to the positions which they happen to occupy in the Gospels. A portion of Mark's fifth chapter is in the first column; an extract from Matthew is in the second; another from the same book is in the third; and so on. At the tops and bottoms of the columns, are Roman numerals indicating the page on which the passage preceding or following, as the case may be, is to be found.'" By turning to these, it will be noticed that most of the passages have parallel passages in the other Gospels not shown here, it not being desirable or even possible to give them all. viii 5 22 And there cometh one of the rulers of the synaa gogue, Jairus by name; and seeing him, he falleth at his feet, 23 and beseecheth him much, saying, My little daughter is at the b point of death: I pray thee, that thou come and 25 And a woman, which Hg * F * * * * * * * 37 And he suffered no man to follow with him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. 38 And they come to the house of the ruler of the h synagogue; and he behold eth a tumult, and many weeping and wailing greatly. 39 And when he was entered in, he saith unto them, Why make ye a tumult, and weep? the child i is not dead, but sleepeth. 40 And they laughed him to scorn. But he, having put them all forth, taketh the father of the child and her mother and them that were with him, and goeth in where the child was. 41 And taking the child by the hand, he saith unto F her, Talitha cumi; which jis, being interpreted, Dam sel, I say unto thee, Arise. i j xviii 12 9 And he departed thence, and went into k their synagogue: 10 and behold, a man having a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, 1 Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? that they might accuse him. 11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be of you, that shall have A one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 12 How much then is a man of more value than a sheep! m Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day. 13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth hand. And he n thy stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out, and took counsel against him, how they might destroy him. 15 And Jesus perceiving it withdrew from thence: and many followed him; and he healed them all, 16 and charged them that they should not make him known: 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, but sleepeth. And they B laughed him to scorn. 25 But when the crowd was put forth, he entered in, and took her by the F hand; and the damsel arose. 26 And the fame hereof went forth into all that land. 27 And as Jesus passed by from thence, two blind men followed him, crying out, and saying, Have mercy on us, thou son of David. 28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. 29 Then touched he their eyes, saying. According to your faith be it done unto you. 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus strictly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. 31 But they went forth, and spread abroad his fame in all that land. 32 And as they went x forth, behold, there was brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. 23 And when the 18 Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; My beloved in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him, And he shall declare judgement to the Gentiles. 19 He shall not strive, nor cry aloud; Neither shall any one hear his voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed shall he not break, And smoking flaxshall he not quench, Till he send forth judgement unto victory. 21 And in his name shall the Gentiles hope. 22 Then was brought xunto him one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb and he healed him, insomuch that the dumb man spake and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, Is this the son of David? 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man doth not Z cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. y A B X F E G 8 and from Jerusalem, and from Idumæa, and beyond Jordan, and about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude hearing what great things he did, came unto him. 9 And he spake to his disciples, that a little boat should wait on him because of the crowd, lest they should throng him: 10 for he had healed many; insomuch C r that as many as had plagues pressed upon him that they might touch him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whensoever they beheld him, fell down be'fore him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. 12 And he charged them much that they should not make D him known. S 14 13 And he goeth up into the mountain, and calleth unto him whom he himself would: and they went unto him. And he appointed twelve, that t they might be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, 15 and to have authority to cast out devils: 16 and Simou he surnamed Peu ter; 17 and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and them he surnamed Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder: 18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and V Thomas, and James the son of Alphæus, and Thaddæus, and Simon the Cananæan, 19 and W Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him. iii 4 their and 23 And Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in synagogues. preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manrner of disease and all manner of sickness among the people. 24 And the report of him went forth into all Syria: and they brought unto him all that were sick, holden with divers diseases A and torments, posS sessed with devils, and epileptic, and palsied; and he healed them. 25 And there followed him multitudes great from Galilee and Decapolis and Jeruq salem and Judæa and from beyond - Jordan. p 5 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain : and when he had sat down, his disciples C came unto him: 2 and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 8 me xviii 6 6 And it came to pass on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue k and taught: and there was a man there, and his right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Phari1 sees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath; that they might find how to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man that had his hand withered, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. 9 And Jesus said unto them, I ask you, Is it lawm ful on the sabbath to do good, or to do harm? to save a life, or to destroy it? 10 And he looked round about on them all, and said unto him, Stretch forth thy hand. And he n did so: and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with madness; and o communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. 12 And it came to pass in these days, that he went out into the mountain to pray; and he continued all night in prayer to God. 13. And when it was day, he called his disciples; and he t chose from them twelve, whom also he named apostles; 14 Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Eu Andrew his brother, and And when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. 2 And behold, there came to him a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make clean. 3 And he stretched forth his hand, and touched B him, saying, I will; be thou made clean. And straightway his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for testimony unto them. a XV James and John, and Philip and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew and Thomas, and James the son of Alphæus, and Simon which was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of w James, and Judas Iscariot, which was the traitor; 17 and he came down with them, and stood on a level place, and a great multitude of his disciples, and a great number of the people p from all Judæa and Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; 18 and they that were troubled with unclean S spirits were healed. 19 And all the multitude sought to touch him: for power came forth from him, and healed them all. r 20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed are ye poor: Luke's sermon X The account of the healing of the daughter of Jairus is to be found in the 9th. chapter of Matthew, the 5th. of Mark, and the 8th, of Luke. On page 8, in the first and second columns, are given the first two of these, Luke's account being omitted. They are marked in the margin with a capital letter, H. The following phrases and sentences are common to the two accounts. MARK. a...there cometh one of the rulers......and beseecheth him much, saying, b My little daughter is at the point of death: ......come and lay thy hands on her, that she may......live. c And he went with him; and a great multitude followed him,...... MATTHEW. a ...there came a ruler, and worshipped him, saying, b My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. c And Jesus arose, and followed him,...... d And a woman, which had an issue of d And......a woman, who had an issue of blood twelve years,...... e came in the crowd behind, and touched his garment. blood twelve years, e came behind him, and touched the Lorder of his garment: f For she said, If I touch but his garments, f for she said......If I do but touch his garI shall be made whole, And......Jesus......turned him about......to see her...... ment, I shall be made whole. g said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath g said, Daughter, ..thy faith hath made made thee whole; h And they come to the house of the ruler of the synagogue; and he beholdeth a tumult, i he saith unto them, ......the child is not j But he, having put them all forth.....goeth thee whole. h And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute-players, and the crowd making a tumult, i he said......the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the crowd was put forth, he Here follows the account of It will be seen that the vernal coincidences are not confined to the record of spoken words, but that they are conspicuous in the narrative portions of the accounts as well. If the 5th. chapter of Mark, and the 9th. of Matthew are copies from the same original source, whatever differences there are between them being the result of alterations which were made in them, then the charge F in Matthew's 30th. verse that "no man know it" must have originally belonged to the account of the healing of the daughter of Jairus, as Mark has it, it having been transferred to the account of the healing of the two blind men by the insertion of that account into the other, the intention evidently being to insert it at the end of the other. The character of the writing in vogue during the first two or three centuries would make such a transference possible where the person copying had no other information upon the subject than that contained in perhaps two or three manuscripts which lay before him, and these not any too clear and legible, marred with interlineations, glosses and marginal additions, and perhaps differing from one another. Passing on to the second, third, and fourth columns, the fourth being the first one on page 9, the following summary may be made of them. With them are included, Matt. 9:14-17, which immediately precedes the second column, Matt. 12:1-8, which immediately precedes the third column, and Mark 2: 18-28 (2:18-22 and 2 : 23-28), which immediately precedes the fourth column. These are designated as X1 and X2, those in Matthew being related by their juxtaposition in Mark's second chapter. C-E G 19 And Jesus said unto them, etc. (ver. 19 - 22.) 23 And it came to pass, that he was going on the sabbath day through the cornflelds; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. 24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? 25 And he said unto them, etc. ver. 25-28.) (Mark 3:1-6.) 7 And Jesus with his disciples withdrew to the sea and a great multitude from Galilee followed: etc. (to end of ver. 9.) 10 for he had healed many; etc. ( to end of ver. 11.) 12 And he charged them much that they should not make him known. (Ver. 13-19. ) (Ver. 20-21.) 22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and, By the prince of the devils casteth he out the devils. In the above illustration, each column has been made complete by the insertion in parentheses of the verse numbers for all the missing passages. The omitted portions of X1 and X2 are entirely the spoken words of Jesus, and the parallelism is perhaps more marked than in the narrative passages given here. See pages vi and xvii. Now the fact that X1 is given in Matthew's 9th. chapter, that X2 is in the 12th. chapter, and that these are given together in Mark's 2nd. chapter, and all three followed by the suspiciously similar passages, F, and the unquestionably parallel passages, G, is surely of some significance in its bearing upon the question of the origin of these chapters. That there is a true parallelism existing between the F in Matthew's 9th. chapter and the F in the 12th. chapter, is heightened by the fact that the authenticity of Matt. 12:17-21, and other similar passages in Matthew, has been questioned on account of the character of the L |