The Gospel and the Apostles

Table of Contents

The Gospel and the Apostles:

A - The Synoptic Problem:

B - The Gospel of John:

C - The Apostolic Letters:

Communal Truth:

PART III - MERGING MATTHEW AND MARK - Page 2

The Translation of Matthew

 

The Conflation of Mark and Semitic Matthew:

The following chart shows the process required by the Translator of Matthew to merge the reconstructed Semitic Matthew with Mark in order to produce the Greek version of Matthew. The grey pericopes in Mark’s column represent material which was left out of the final document (Greek Matthew). Material which came only from Mark is shown in red in its column, and material which came only from Semitic Matthew is shown in blue in its column. Passages which have parallels (whether close or loose) between the two sources are shown in indigo in the columns for Mark and Semitic Matthew.

The column for Greek Matthew shows in more detail how the Translator used his sources. Material which remained quite faithful to his sources is shown in the colour relevant to the specific source (red for Mark, blue for Semitic Matthew). Purple pericopes are those where the Translator has conflated elements from both Mark and Semitic Matthew into a single pericope. The red lines between the columns connect those pericopes from Mark which the Translator kept in their original order, whereas the black lines indicate the Markan passages which the Translator has relocated in Greek Matthew. And although it is likely that some material from the second half of Semitic Matthew was also displaced in Greek Matthew (to conform to Mark’s order), this chart presents it here in its final order based on Greek Matthew.

This chart shows how frequently the Translator seems to have conflated accounts from his two sources (all the purple passages in the Greek Matthew column). This is in sharp contrast to the procedure used by Luke, who nearly always alternated between his two sources (Mark and Matthew), and only on very rare occasions (limited only to Jesus’ Baptism and parts of the Passion) combined elements from the two together.

The data on which this chart is based is presented in greater detail on Page 8 of the Appendix.

 

 

A Possible Re-ordering of Semitic Matthew:

The following chart presents a speculative re-arrangement of the text of the reconstructed Semitic Matthew. This re-arrangement is not only internally consistent in terms of the content of the suggested text, but also makes sense in terms of the adjustments the Translator would have needed to make in order to allow Semitic Matthew to conform to the order of Mark in the second half of the Gospel.

The complete text of this reconstruction (in English) is included on Page 10 of the Appendix.