The NET Bible Synopsis of the Four Gospels Gregory A. White, ed. Biblical Studies Press Richardson, Texas Copyright © 2004 by CQG Publications and Biblical Studies Press All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America SCRIPTURE QUOTED BY PERMISSION. QUOTATIONS DESIGNATED (NET) ARE FROM THE NET BIBLE® COPYRIGHT © 2005 BY BIBLICAL STUDIES PRESS, L.L.C. www.bible.org ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Publisher Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gregory A. White, ed. The NET Bible Synopsis of the Four Gospels 1. Bible. - N.T. - Gospels. | 2. Bible. - N.T. - Gospels - Harmonies. | 3. Aland, Kurt -- Synopsis of the four gospels. | 4. Synoptic problem. I. Title. 2009 LCN 2008940515. ISBN 978-0-7375-0153-7 CQG Publications 3510 Creek Manor Drive Kingwood, TX 77339 Biblical Studies Press 1101 E. Arapaho Rd, Suite 200 Richardson, TX 75081 www.bible.org Thanks Thanks to God the Father Almighty, and Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord. Thanks to my Father, Allen Isaac White Jr., who inspired me to resume my studies in God’s Word. And by whose ‘homegoing’, my life in Christ was renewed. Thanks to my mother Anna R. White, whose life inspires and encourages me. It’s impossible to list here, all those here who deserve thanks, for fellowship and biblical insights. However, thanks also to Rev. Allen Isaac White Sr., Sam Walker, Elder James Warren Sr. and Sister Shirley D. Warren, Gail Harney, Anderson Grimsley, Rev. Solomon Smith, Ann Williams, Alma Young, Harold Scott and all of my profes- sors and fellow students at the College of Biblical Studies. My particular gratitude needs to be expressed to several professors from the College of Biblical Studies, without whose help this Harmony would have been neither conceived nor published. Thanks to professor Roy Led- gerwood, for encouraging me to develop this Harmony during his ‘New Testament Literature Survey of the Gospels’ at the College of Biblical Studies. Thanks also to Dr. Richard Klein for his encouragement towards publishing this Harmony; and for his editorial help, and guidance towards making this a more user friendly publication. Thanks also to Dr. Harry Leafe for his direction and encouragement to proceed with publishing this work; to make use of the NET Bible, and for his help in getting this work published. I am particularly thankful for the suggestion to use the NET Bible after having read the endorsement of the NET Bible by Chuck Swindoll, (whose lessons I listen to almost every day), which states: “There are many wonderful things I could say about the NET Bible, but the most important is this: the NET Bible is a Bible you can trust. The translation is clear, accurate, and powerful. And the notes, those wonderful notes! They bring to the layman scholarly insights and discussions that have up till now been accessible only to those trained in the biblical languages. If you are serious about studying Scripture, get a copy of the NET Bible.” – Chuck Swindoll The NET Bible notes are not available in this harmony. However I would strongly encourage you to get a copy for your own personal study. And finally thanks to my family, my wife Cyndi, daughter Quinci and son Greyson, for their support, and patience, and help with the manuscript throughout this project. Table of Contents INTRoDuCTIoN ...................................................................................................7 TABLE oF SCRIpTuRES ....................................................................................12 Map: palestine In Christ’s Time .........................................................................21 I. pREFACE ...............................................................................................................22 Map: Birth and Childhood .................................................................................23 II. BIRTH AND CHILDHooD .........................................................................24 Map: preparation .................................................................................................33 III. pREpARATIoN ...............................................................................................34 Map: The Beginning of Jesus’ public Ministry ...................................................40 IV. THE BEGINNING oF JESuS’ puBLIC MINISTRY ...........................41 Map: Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee ...........................................................................47 V. JESuS’ MINISTRY IN GALILEE ..................................................................48 VI. THE SERMoN oN THE MouNT ..........................................................63 VII. THE SERMoN oN THE pLAIN ............................................................75 Map: Events in Christ’s Ministry .......................................................................79 VIII. JESuS’ MINISTRY IN GALILEE CoNTINuED ..............................80 IX. THE WAY To THE CRoSS .......................................................................126 X. LAST JouRNEY To JERuSLEM .............................................................136 XI. JESuS AT THE FEAST oF TABERNACLES ......................................167 XII. THE MINISTRY IN JuDEA ....................................................................175 XIII. THE FINAL MINISTRY IN JERuSALEM ........................................185 XIV. THE ESCHAToLoGICAL DISCouRSE ..........................................198 XV. CoNCLuSIoN oF THE ACCouNT oF THE TIME BEFoRE THE pASSIoN ....................................................................................204 Map: The Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion and Burial of Christ ..............................210 XVI. THE pASSIoN NARRATIVE ................................................................211 Map: The Resurrection, Appearances, and Ascension of Christ ..................240 XVII. THE RESuRRECTIoN ..........................................................................241 XVIII. THE ENDINGS oF THE GoSpELS ...............................................247 AppENDIX .............................................................................................................251 Eusebian Canons .................................................................................................253 Index of Gospel parallels ....................................................................................263 Index of Gospel Scriptures.................................................................................279 Genealogy of Jesus (According to Matthew) ..................................................287 Genealogy of Jesus ..............................................................................................288 Exactly Identical Verses ......................................................................................289 Jesus’ Discourses & Conversations ...................................................................289 parables of Jesus ..................................................................................................290 Miracles of Jesus ..................................................................................................291 Messianic prophecies ..........................................................................................293 prayers in the Gospels .......................................................................................295 Women in the Gospels .......................................................................................296 New Testament References to old Testament Sources ..................................297 Birth of Christ ....................................................................................................303 The Beginning of Jesus’ public Ministry ...........................................................304 Christ’s Early Travels 1 .......................................................................................305 Christ’s Early Travels 2 .......................................................................................305 Christ’s Later Ministry 1 ....................................................................................306 Christ’s Later Ministry 2 ....................................................................................306 Christ’s Final Days ..............................................................................................307 Bibliography .........................................................................................................309 Introduction Synopsis of the Four Gospels A synopsis is a tool which displays different passages of a text side by side for comparison. This is most com- monly done with the four Gospels of the New Testament because of their similar material, but it could reasonably be done with any text that has similar passages, such as the old Testament historical narratives. The synopsis you pres- ently hold contains the four Gospels of the New Testament. It is different from comparing parallel versions, such as one English translation to another, because all of the passages displayed in this synopsis are from the same version, the NET Bible. It is different from a harmony because the passages are not reorganized into one story; each Gospel in a synopsis is separate from the others and can be read by itself or in comparison with the others. This parallel arrangement enables fruitful comparison of the Gospels to each other so each may be understood well on its own in light of the others. The layout of the synopsis is designed to allow for comparison of similar material across the Gospels while not losing sight of each Gospel as a discrete whole. Each Gospel has been subdivided into small units, usually paragraphs but sometimes smaller or larger depending on the material. The Gospels are then arranged into columns which follow the canonical order of Matthew, Mark, Luke, then John, with similar paragraphs presented side by side so the reader can compare them easily. The far right column is used for ancillary material helpful to the reader. The Tables of Parallels are based upon the Synopsis of the Four Gospels of Kurt Aland, 12th Edition, (New York: united Bible Societies, 1985). In Aland’s Synopsis, the numbered pericopes are often repeated in order to provide a con- tinuous series of references in sequential order, for each of the four gospels. Each text ultimately occurs in consecutive order with references to previous and next citations to provide continuity. Following the bold type in the same column header, (e.g., Matthew), of each table below, provides the verses in order for each book of the Gospels. The reader using this synopsis can run their eyes down each Gospel’s column, stopping only at the references in bold type, in order to read all of the references and parallels in order for each Gospel. As a basic text for this Synopsis of the Four Gospels, the NET Bible has been chosen. It would perhaps prove helpful to you to use this synopsis as an extra-biblical reading or a study guide with your own copy of the NET Bible. The complete NET Bible is available online, for free, at www.netbible.com. The synopsis follows four conventions which may seem a bit unusual, but they are done for important reasons. (1) Empty space in a synopsis is intentional: When any Gospel lacks material that is found in another, that column will be left empty as a visual clue that there is no parallel to the material found in the other Gospel. (2) Some paragraphs will be printed more than once in the synopsis. This is because the material occurs in two or more Gospels. The first time the material is printed the synopsis is following the order of the first Gospel, while the second time the material is printed the synopsis is following the order of the second Gospel, and so on. This allows the reader to compare and contrast the broad setting of the paragraphs in each Gospel more objectively. (3) Through different sizes of type the synopsis indicates the relative closeness of the parallel material. primary parallels, which indicate a direct relationship between the paragraphs, are printed in normal type. Secondary parallels, which indicate a less direct, perhaps only conceptually parallel relationship, are printed in smaller type. (4) Quotations from the old Testament are printed in bold italics, and allusions to the old Testament are printed in plain italics. This convention is followed in the NET Bible itself, and it is retained here as a help for the reader. Synopsis Features A Table of Scriptures that enables the reader to see at a glance which of the four writers reported on the events that make up the complete Gospel story and also has a page reference to direct you to that event. Table of ScripTureS 8 • Eusebius Canons with modern chapter and verse references for the numbered sections. Also include are two letters relating to the Eusebius Canons translated by Kevin p. Edgecomb: • Eusebius' letter to Carpianus • Jerome’s letter to Pope Damasus Column Size and Column Headings are used as a navigational aid. In addition to the use of bold type as detailed above, the size of a column on a page specify whether the other made any references or alluded to the pericope. In addition, the verses contained within the pericope are noted in the Column Headings. A Notes Column on the right hand side of each page where the reader is kept informed of: • Paragraph Titles from the Net Bible associated with the event • OT References and allusions associated with the text • Eusebian Canons associated with the event with cross referenced verses and Canons. Additional Features Charts tables and maps appearing in this synopsis include: • An index of Gospel Parallels • An index of New Testament passages • A diagram of the Genealogy of Jesus • A chart of Exactly Identical Verses • A chart For Finding Passages In the Harmony • A chart of Jesus' Discourses & Conversations • A chart of Prayers in the Gospels • A chart of Parables of Jesus • A chart of Miracles of Jesus • A chart of Messianic Prophecies • A chart of New Testament References / Old Testament Sources • A chart of Women in the Gospels • A map indicating Mary, Joseph and Jesus' Flight To Egypt • A map indicating Christ's Great Galilean Ministry • A map indicating Events in Christ's Ministry • A map indicating The Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion and Burial of Christ • A map indicating The Resurrection, Appearances, and Ascension of Christ • A map indicating Palestine In Christ's Time All charts include the page that references where each item can be found in the Synopsis. Text in square brackets [] indicates verses that appear in the Notes section of the NET Bible but have been excluded from the NET Bible text. 9 NeT bible SyNopSiS of The four GoSpelS The Eusebian Canons The text for Eusebius’ letter to Carpianus is taken from the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graecum (27th ed.) (pp. 73*-74*), as are the listings of the tables themselves (pp. 74*-78*). The tables have been modified to include scripture references in a modern chapter:verse notation. The translations of Eusebius’ letter and Jerome’s letter (which is helpful as an alternate explanation of the Eusebian apparatus) are compliments of Kevin p. Edgecomb. You can find his website at http://www.bombaxo.com/euspage.html. Eusebian Sections with NET BIBLE References The Eusebian Sections are listed in the Appendix. Indicated are the modern chapter and verse references for the numbered sections devised by Eusebius (and/or Ammonius). There are two numbers for each entry within each table cell, the first being the Eusebian section and canon, separated by a colon, the second being the NET Bible reference. Letter of Eusebius to Carpianus Eusebius to Carpianus, (my) beloved brother in the Lord. Greetings. Ammonius the Alexandrian, through truly much labor and zeal, presented to us the Fourfold Harmony:1 set in order next to the Gospel According to Matthew were the similar-sounding2 pericopes of the rest of the Evangelists, with the inevitable result that the continuing sequence of the three was utterly destroyed con- cerning the interconnection3 of readings. But so that, while preserving entire the rest of the whole and the sequence, you may know the proper place in each Evangelist in which each is guided by love of truth to say like another, taking a starting-point from the work of the above-mentioned man, I have formed for you ten lists4 in total, attached below. Of these, the first contains numbers in which similar things were said by the four: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. The second, in which the three: Matthew, Mark, Luke. The third, in which the three: Matthew, Luke, John. The fourth, in which the three: Matthew, Mark, John. The fifth, in which the two: Matthew, Luke. The sixth, in which the two: Matthew, Mark. The seventh, in which the two: Matthew, John. The eighth, in which the two: Luke, Mark. The ninth, in which the two: Luke, John. The tenth, in which each of them wrote in his own manner.5 This, then, is the description of the lists attached below. Their clear explanation is this. In each of the four Gospels, a number is written before each part, starting from the first, then second and third, and proceed- ing in order through the whole until the end of the books. For each number there is a preceding note in 1 δια τεσσαρων Not to be confused with the Diatessaron of Tatian. I choose here "fourfold harmony" as the translation to distinguish this and also to indicate what the phrase would probably have brought to mind with an educated listener. the term is borrowed from musical terminology, and designates "a series of four harmonic tones" (Metzer Canon, 114). Thus my translation. Another tempting translation is "synopsis," as this is the term for modern works resembling that of Ammonius' (e.g., Kurt Aland's Synopsis of the Four Gospels). 2 οµοφωνους 3 lit., "web" 4 κανων I translate as "list" throughout rather than "canon." 5 The absence for a list covering those pericopes peculiar to the trio Mark, Luke, John, and of the duo Mark, John, I have yet to see explained. The attraction to having twelve lists would have been irresistible, one would think, to so early a churchman.