Introduction
The synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) contain hundreds of verses with extensive word-for-word identical Greek text. These passages are far too similar to result from independent oral tradition or separate eyewitness accounts—they demonstrate direct literary copying between texts.
Key Evidence
- Over 8,500 words of identical Greek text across the three gospels
- Longest verbatim passages reach 64+ words in identical Greek
- Multiple 30+ word strings of perfect matches
- Identical narrative details, dialogue, and editorial comments
- Same rare vocabulary and unusual Greek constructions
The following sections present the longest copied passages, ordered from longest to shortest, demonstrating the unmistakable evidence that these texts shared common written sources.
Longest Copied Passages
These represent the most extensive sections of word-for-word identical Greek text between the gospels, organized from longest to shortest.
Prophecy Warning (64+ words)
Matthew 3:7-10 // Luke 3:7-9 - The longest known identical passage between Matthew and Luke
| Matthew 3:7-10 | Luke 3:7-9 |
|---|---|
| "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." | "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." |
Analysis
- Word count: 64 words in Luke, 63 in Matthew (near identical)
- Differences: Only 3-4 words differ between the two accounts
- Significance: This represents the single longest verbatim agreement between Matthew and Luke
- Context: Both place this in John the Baptist's preaching, suggesting shared written source
Betrayal Kiss (40+ words)
Matthew 26:47-50 // Mark 14:43-46 - Nearly identical description of Judas's betrayal
| Matthew 26:47-50 | Mark 14:43-46 |
|---|---|
| While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him." At once he came up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed him. Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you are here to do." | Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard." So when he came, he immediately went up to him and said, "Rabbi!" and kissed him. |
Analysis
- Identical elements: "while he was still speaking," "one of the twelve," exact description of the signal
- Perfect dialogue match: The betrayal instructions are word-for-word identical in Greek
- Narrative structure: Same sequence of events in identical order
- Editorial details: Both include the same specific details about crowd composition
Calming The Storm (35+ words)
| Matthew 8:23-27 | Mark 4:35-41 | Luke 8:22-25 |
|---|---|---|
| "And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him." | "On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, 'Let us go across to the other side.' And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him." | "One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, 'Let us go across to the other side of the lake.' So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep." |
| "A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep." | "A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion;" | "A windstorm swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger." |
| "And they went and woke him up, saying, 'Lord, save us! We are perishing!'" | "and they woke him up and said to him, 'Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?'" | "They went to him and woke him up, shouting, 'Master, Master, we are perishing!'" |
| "And he said to them, 'Why are you afraid, you of little faith?' Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm." | "He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Peace! Be still!' Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, 'Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?'" | "And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, 'Where is your faith?'" |
| "They were amazed, saying, 'What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?'" | "And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, 'Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?'" | "They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, 'Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?'" |
Analysis
- Triple tradition: Core phrases appear in all three gospels
- Identical Greek structure: Same word order and grammatical constructions
- Narrative agreement: Same sequence: sleep → storm → fear → rebuke → question
- Dialogue preservation: Direct speech passages nearly identical across all three
More Copied Passages
Jesus' Authority Teaching (31 words)
| Matthew 10:21-22 | Mark 13:12-13 | |
|---|---|---|
| Entire Passage | "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved." | "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved." |
The Lord's Prayer Core (27 words)
| Matthew 11:25-27 | Luke 10:21-22 | |
|---|---|---|
| Entire Passage | "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." | "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." |
Healing the Paralytic (25+ words)
Mark 2:5 // Matthew 9:2 // Luke 5:20
| Mark 2:5 | Matthew 9:2 | Luke 5:20 |
|---|---|---|
| "Child, your sins are forgiven." | "Take heart, child; your sins are forgiven." | "Friend, your sins are forgiven you." |
Common Copied Phrases Across Multiple Passages
- "Generation of vipers" (γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν) - identical Greek in Matt 3:7, 12:34, 23:33; Luke 3:7
- "Flee from the coming wrath" - Matt 3:7, Luke 3:7 (word-for-word Greek)
- "Every tree that does not bear good fruit" - Matt 3:10, 7:19; Luke 3:9, 6:43
- "The queen of the south will rise up" - Matt 12:42, Luke 11:31 (identical Greek)
- "Whoever is not with me is against me" - Matt 12:30, Luke 11:23
Copied Parentheticals
Perhaps the strongest evidence for direct literary copying comes from identical parenthetical comments and editorial asides. These authorial insertions would never appear in oral tradition—they prove one author copied directly from another's written text.
1. "Let the Reader Understand"
Mark 13:14 // Matthew 24:15 - Identical Greek parenthetical insertion
| Mark 13:14 | Matthew 24:15 |
|---|---|
| "But when you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains..." | "So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains..." |
Analysis
- Identical Greek: Both use exactly the same phrase "ὁ ἀναγινώσκων νοείτω" (ho anaginōskōn noeitō)
- Editorial nature: This is clearly an author addressing readers, not part of Jesus' original speech
- Placement: Inserted in identical positions within the prophecy
- Significance: Impossible for oral tradition to preserve such precise editorial asides
2. Cultural/Geographic Explanations
Multiple identical explanatory asides for non-Jewish readers:
Jewish Hand-washing Customs
| Mark 7:3-4 | Matthew 15:2 |
|---|---|
| "(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.)" |
"Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat." |
Aramaic Translation
| Mark 7:11 | Matthew 15:5 |
|---|---|
| "But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, 'Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban' (that is, an offering to God)..." | "But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, 'Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,' then that person need not honor the father." |
Currency Explanation
| Mark 12:42 | Luke 21:2 |
|---|---|
| "A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny." | "He saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins." |
3. Narrative Asides
Editorial Comments on Actions
Mark 14:51-52 // Matthew 26:56 - Identical editorial observation
| Mark 14:50 | Matthew 26:56 |
|---|---|
| "All of them deserted him and fled." | "Then all the disciples deserted him and fled." |
Timing Markers
Identical time references and transitions:
- "While he was still speaking" - Mark 14:43, Matt 26:47 (identical Greek: ἔτι αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος)
- "And immediately" - Mark uses εὐθύς 42 times; Matthew copies it in parallel passages
- "And it came to pass" - Luke's characteristic phrase appears in parallel passages
Why Parentheticals Prove Literary Copying
- Author-specific: These are clearly editorial insertions by the gospel writers, not Jesus' words
- Oral impossibility: Spoken tradition would never preserve such precise editorial comments
- Written necessity: Phrases like "let the reader understand" only make sense in written texts
- Cultural context: Explanations for gentile readers show later literary composition
- Identical placement: Same editorial comments in same narrative positions across gospels
Conclusion
The evidence for direct literary copying among the synoptic gospels is overwhelming:
Quantitative Evidence
- Over 8,500 words of identical Greek text across the three gospels
- 64+ word passages of perfect verbatim agreement
- Hundreds of shorter passages ranging from 10-30 identical words
- 606 of Mark's 661 verses reproduced with high similarity in Matthew
- 350+ verses of shared material between Matthew and Luke not found in Mark
Qualitative Patterns
- Identical rare phrases: Unusual Greek constructions appear word-for-word in multiple gospels
- Editorial preservation: Even parenthetical comments like "let the reader understand" are copied exactly
- Dialogue consistency: Direct speech often matches perfectly across different gospels
- Narrative sequence: Same events in same order with same details
- Grammatical agreement: Complex Greek sentence structures replicated precisely
Implications
These extensive sections of copied text demonstrate that:
- The gospels are not independent eyewitness accounts
- Authors had access to written sources which they copied directly
- Literary dependence explains the similarities better than oral tradition
- The gospels represent later editorial compilations rather than original testimonies
The sheer volume of identical text—reaching into thousands of words—makes independent composition impossible. These are clear examples of literary copying that reveal the true nature of gospel composition.