Triple Tradition // Double Tradition Overlap

by Vincent Sapone

 

The Temptation of Jesus

Matthew ch. 4 Mark ch. 1 Luke Ch. 4
Then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights and afterward he was hungry.
The spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him.
And Jesus, full of the holy spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry.

 

This block is obviously triple tradition material. It occurs in all three synoptic gospels. Under Markan priority scholars must believe Mark shared this material with another source. In the case of the two document hypothesis this other source could be called Q and we would have a Mark // Q overlap here.

The Items in Bold are triple agreements between Matthew, Mark and Luke. Q would also house these same verbatim agreements between Mark and Q.

 

Matthew and Luke Agreements against Mark

  • Jesus
  • was led (verb form differs, however)
  • devil
  • and
  • was hungry

Matthew and Luke are independent of one another under the two document hypothesis. Thus, these substantial agreements against Mark lead us to view Matthew and Luke as using another source in addition to Mark. This is also inevitable considering that both Matthew and Luke narrate details of this temptation. The account above from Mark is the end of the temptation story. Matthew and Luke relay specific temptations of the devil. This shared material must derive from some common place.

Triple Agreements

  • the Spirit
  • the wilderness
  • tempted by the
  • forty days

These are triple agreements between all three texts. Q must share these agreements. Why must Q have these verbatim agreements? As E.P. Sanders writes, "It is not reasonable to think that Matthew and Luke copied Mark 1.12-13 down to 'tempted by', and then switched to Q for 'the devil' (Mark's 'Satan') and 'he was hungry'. They were presumably copying Q throughout." (SSG, p. 81)

The situation is the same throughout the overlap passages. The theory of Mark and Q overlaps requires verbatim agreement between Mark and Q. Streeter, when commenting on the John the Baptist material pointed out that "Mk i.7-8 occurs almost word for word in Mt iii.11 = Lk iii.16, but it is clear that Matthew and Luke did not derive the verse from Mark but from the same source whence they derived the preceding and following verses" -- that is, from Q. As EP Sanders writes, "Otherwise we would have to suppose that Matthew and Luke copied Mark 1.7-8 to the phrase 'holy spirit', and then both turned to Q for 'and fire', adding then another verse from Q. The two source hypothesis does not ask this of us." Thus we see that incidental triple agreements occur where Mark and Q have verbatim agreement.

 

A listing of the Five Principal Overlap Passages with verses with verbatim agreements.

  1. John the Baptist (Mark 1.2-4, 7-8)
  2. The Temptation (Mark 1:12-13)
  3. Collusion with Satan (Mark 3.22-30)
  4. Mustard Seed (Mark 4.30-32)
  5. Commissioning the Twelve (Mark 6.6b-11)

The extent of the Mark // Q overlaps is of course greater than this. Here is a more complete listing:

Pericope or Saying ----------------- Q / GLuke--------GMatthew---------GMark-------

Appearance of John ---------------- 3:2b-4-----------3:1-3, 5----------- 1:3-5-------------
Eschatological Preaching-------------3:16-17---------- 3:11-12---------- 1:7-8-----------
Instructions for the Road-------------10:4-7-----------10:9-11----------- 6:8-13------------
Beelzebul Accusation-----------------11:14-20------12:22-28-----------3:23-26----------
He who is not with me----------------11:23----------12:30--------------9:40---------------
Pharisees Take the First Seats-------11:43-----------23:6---------------12:39-------------
Fearless confession-----------------12:8-9------------10:32-33-----------8:38-------------
The Spirits Assistance----------------12:11-12-------10:19-------------13:9-11----------
Whoever carries his cross -----------14:27--------- --10:38--------------8:34-------------
Whoever seeks his life----------------17:33------------10:39--------------8:35------------
About Salt----------------------------14:34-35---------5:13---------------9:50-----------
On Divorce---------------------------16:18-------------5:32------------10:11-12---------
About Sandal-------------------------17:1-2-----------18:6-7------------9:42------------
The Temptation of Jesus---------------4:1-13-----------4:1-11-----------1:12-13--------

 

As we can see there are a significant number of supposed Mark and Q overlaps. Streeter suggested that 50 of the passages with Mark // Q overlaps have instances of verbatim agreement. Of course with so many instances of verbatim agreement between Mark and Q we are naturally inclined to question whether or not a literary relationship exists between Mark and Q.

 

 

SSG = Studying the Synoptic Gospels by EP Sanders and Margaret Davies
FEATURED WRITINGS

 

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