The work of synoptic analysis is akin to the work of text criticism. Many
of the same rules apply. This post covers Mark 1:19-20 // Matthew 4:21-22.
(8)
S* Καὶ προβὰς ὀλίγον
Mark Καὶ προβὰς ὀλίγον
Matt Καὶ προβὰς ἐκεῖθεν
S* And
when he’d gone on a bit,
Mark And when he’d gone on a bit,
Matt And when he went on from there,
ἐκεῖθεν is a favorite expression of Matthew. It stands to reason
that he changed the more casual sounding ὀλίγον of
his source (S* or Mark as the case may be) to ἐκεῖθεν.
(9)
S* εἶδεν Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ
Mark εἶδεν Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ
Matt εἶδεν ἄλλους δύο ἀδελφούς, Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ,
S* he saw James of Zebedee and
his brother John
Mark he saw James of Zebedee and his
brother John
Matt he saw two other brothers,
James of Zebedee and his brother John
Matthew’s ἄλλους δύο ἀδελφούς echoes his δύο ἀδελφούς in (2). It is natural to take the correlate additions in
Matthew as expansions on a base text, rather than their omission in Mark as
abbreviations of a base text.
(10)
S* καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ καταρτίζοντας τὰ δίκτυα,
Mark καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ καταρτίζοντας τὰ δίκτυα,
Matt ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ μετὰ Ζεβεδαίου τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῶν καταρτίζοντας τὰ δίκτυα αὐτῶν,
S* – and they were on boat
repairing nets,
Mark – and they were on boat repairing
nets,
Matt * * on boat with their father
Zebedee repairing their nets,
Matthew’s tendency to adopt a less paratactic style is again on display. The
additions in Matthew are explicative. The result is a more ponderous
presentation, less colloquial, in line with tendencies in evidence throughout Matthew
relative to Mark.
(11)
S* καὶ εὐθὺς ἐκάλεσεν αὐτούς.
Mark καὶ εὐθὺς ἐκάλεσεν αὐτούς..
Matt καὶ ἐκάλεσεν αὐτούς.
S* and right then he called
them.
Mark and right then he called them.
Matt and * * he called them. [transposed
to following clause]
εὐθὺς in Matthew shows up in (12). Its placement in Mark is the
lectio dificilior (the more difficult reading). Its placement in Matthew
harmonizes with its collocation in the subunit preceding (7).
(12)
S* καὶ ἀφέντες τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ
Mark καὶ ἀφέντες τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν Ζεβεδαῖον ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ μετὰ τῶν μισθωτῶν
Matt οἱ δὲ εὐθέως ἀφέντες τὸ πλοῖον καὶ τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν
S* And leaving their father on
boat,
Mark And leaving their father Zebedee
on boat with the hired hands,
Matt * * Leaving the boat and
their father right then,
It was noted above – in locus (5) – that Mark seems to contain the occasional
explicative gloss identifiable on the basis of comparative analysis. Ζεβεδαῖον is most naturally explained in this way. But μετὰ τῶν μισθωτῶν is not. Unlike the former, the latter phrase does not make explicit a detail
already implied by the surrounding text. It adds a detail not deducible from
context. It’s possible that in some oral retellings the detail appeared, whilst
in others it dropped out. Oral traditions, if reduced to writing on multiple
occasions – a default probability - reproduce micro-variations of this kind. Insofar
as Mark and Matthew depended on a common source, the economical thesis is
that μετὰ τῶν μισθωτῶν had dropped out in the version of the source Matthew
had, but not in the version Mark had. The alternative is to invent a reason for
Matthew leaving it out. But no obvious reason for so doing presents itself.
As in (1) and (7), Matthew avoids καὶ parataxis and adopts a more literary register.
(13)
S* ἀπῆλθον ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ.
Mark ἀπῆλθον ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ.
Matt ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ.
S* they went after him.
Mark they went after him.
Matt they followed him.
Matthew’s choice of term
harmonizes with the standard gospel terminology.
The Reconstructed Common Source
Καὶ προβὰς ὀλίγον εἶδεν Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ καταρτίζοντας τὰ δίκτυα, καὶ εὐθὺς ἐκάλεσεν αὐτούς. καὶ ἀφέντες τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ ἀπῆλθον ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ.
Mark 1:19-20
Καὶ προβὰς ὀλίγον εἶδεν Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ καταρτίζοντας τὰ δίκτυα, καὶ εὐθὺς ἐκάλεσεν αὐτούς. καὶ ἀφέντες τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν Ζεβεδαῖον ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ μετὰ τῶν μισθωτῶν ἀπῆλθον ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ.
Matthew 4:21-22
Καὶ προβὰς ἐκεῖθεν εἶδεν ἄλλους δύο ἀδελφούς, Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ μετὰ Ζεβεδαίου τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῶν καταρτίζοντας τὰ δίκτυα αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐκάλεσεν αὐτούς. οἱ δὲ εὐθέως ἀφέντες τὸ πλοῖον καὶ τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ.
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