Mark | Matthew | Luke | John |
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60-80 AD | 70-100 AD | 93 AD | 125 AD |
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Mark vs Synoptic Gospels | |||
1
For Moses said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.'
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For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.'
Mark presents an incorrect, very Gentile attitude in quoting the Old Testament with 'For Moses said'. It was God who said the 10 Commandments as Matthew, and all Jews know. |
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2
Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet.
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While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.
Palestinian synagogues normally had only one leader. Mark mistakenly quotes multiple leaders (plural). |
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3
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
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On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" On the first day of unleavened bread when they sacrificed the Passover, Mark confuses Nisan 15 with Nisan 14. Was Mark a Jew who did not know about the Passover? Matthew drops the phrase "when they sacrificed the Passover". |
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4
So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.
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He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.'" Mark has the disciples meet a man carrying a jar of water. This is not in accordance with social norms. A Jewish man would not do a woman's job (i.e. carry a water jar). Matthew does not mention no water jar. |
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5
It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, |
As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.
This means "either Friday began with that sunset, and Jesus had died on Thursday"; or Mark did not know the Jewish day began at evening". Matthew clarifies Mark's confusion over Jewish days. |
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6
So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb
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Mark says the same evening Joseph "bought a linen cloth." Matthew drops the idea of a Jewish man buying something on the Sabbath day. No Jew could have made that mistake. |
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As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"
"I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty. |
This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'"
Mark wrongly ascribes Malachi 3:1 to Isaiah. Matthew 3:3 corrects this ???????? |
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1 "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
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At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"
In Mark, the teachers of the law ask 'Who can forgive sins but God alone?'. Jews would never ask such a question. Matthew drops this question. |
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1 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions."
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Mark mistakenly names "Abiathar", it should be "Ahimelech". Matthew, does not repeat the same mistake |
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1 You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"
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"Which ones?" he inquired. Jesus replied, "'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
Mark misquotes the Ten Commandments and inserts an extra commandment: "Do not defraud." Matthew quotes the Ten Commandments correctly. |
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1 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?").
For the director of music. To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? |
About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?")
Mark has Jesus quoting Psalms in Aramaic (Eloi). Matthew quotes Jesus using the Hebrew 'Eli'. |
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1 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.
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Mark has Jesus and his disciples journeyed "out from the borders of Tyre ... through Sidon, to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders". The journey described is like "travelling from Cornwall to London by way of Manchester" ( According to Anderson, H. The Gospel of Mark NCB (London, 1976), the journey described is "like travelling from Cornwall to London by way of Manchester" (i.e. a non-sensical route) |
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1 He got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha
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Mark refers to the "the district of Dalmanutha." As far as is known, there was no such place in Galilee. There are numerous textual variants in the manuscripts on this region, making it difficult to identify. |
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1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes
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When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.
Mark specifies the eastern side of the lake of Galilee is the country of the Gerasenes. Gerasenes is over 30-miles from a lake. Matthew changed " Gerasenes" to "Gadarenes" which is a well-known spa 8-miles from the lake. |
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1 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him."
When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. |
The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the other evil things he had done, Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. Mark incorrectly refers to Herod Antipas as a "King" and not "tetrarch" (governor, subordinate rule). Matthew makes the "King" error once in 14:9. The correct title "tetrarch" is used in many Bible verses |
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1 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married.
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Mark says that Antipas married the wife of his brother Philip. According to Josephus' Antiquities 18.5.4, she was actually the wife of a different brother, not Philip. josephus/ant-18 |
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Mark Shows Ignorance of Judaism | |||
1 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that this will not take place in winter, because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now--and never to be equaled again.
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Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
Mark fails to urge Jesus' followers to pray that they do not have to flee on the Sabbath. Matthew urges prayers to avert disaster on the Sabbath |
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1 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.
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Or haven't you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?
Mark lacks reverence for Jewish customs and Mosaic Law. |
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1 For it doesn't go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
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These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them."
Mark asserts that Jesus "declared all foods clean." It is impossible Jesus would have abolished the food laws without his opponents ever once mentioning that in accusations. |
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1 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
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Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Mark incorrectly names Elijah before Moses. Matthew places Moses before Elijah, as Moses is far more important to Jews than Elijah. |
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1 "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David" "Hosanna in the highest heaven!"
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The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest heaven!"
Mark refers to the kingdom our father David. No Jew would have referred to our father David. The father of the nation was Abraham, or possibly Jacob, who was renamed Israel. |
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1 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." ... To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions. |
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
Mark reduces the importance of the Law, instead for Love and Kingdom. Matthew, a Jew places a far greater emphasis on the Law. |
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Mark | Explains Jewish Features | |||
Mark never explains Gentile matters, such as who Pilate was. However, he assumes that his intended readers know even less about Judaism than he does, and so explains the most elementary features. Was Mark really a Jewish companion of Peter, or someone who was very close to the earliest, Jewish , followers of Jesus? |
Matthew makes more use of Judaism and assumes his readers understand the Jewish religion. | ||
1 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
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Mark explains what a lepton, a coin used in Palestine, was worth half a "quadrans". Furthermore, "quadrans" is a word borrowed from Latin. | ||
1 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery."
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Mark forbids women to divorce their husbands and remarry. But Jewish law already forbade that. The teachings seems more appropriate for readers of a pagan background. |
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1 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means "sons of thunder"),
Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means "son of Timaeus"), was sitting by the roadside begging. |
Mark feels compelled to explain the most basic meanings of Aramaic surnames.
Mark's intended readership were obviously ignorant of elementary Aramaic. This is supposedly from somebody to whom Aramaic was a mother tongue. |
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1 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them,
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Mark uses 'the fourth watch'.
The Romans divided the night into four watches (New Bible Dictionary) The Jews divided the night into three watches. |
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Mark | Peter's Companion | |||
Mark never acknowledges Peter's authority. | And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me." Matthew acknowledges Peter |
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The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
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Educated Roman Gentiles would have known the Temple had a curtain, as it was taken to Rome after Jerusalem was sacked. (Book 7, Chapter 5 in 'Wars of the Jews' by Josephus). The Jewish community would not have understood the curtain verse, as it was not common knowledge. |
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Mark | Contradictions | |||
1 He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables
They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him! |
Mark says that the secret of the kingdom of God has been given to the disciples. Q. What was this secret? Q. When was it given to the disciples, who seem totally ignorant of who Jesus was? |
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1 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits ... Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town ... They went out and preached that people should repent ... They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them
Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him |
Jesus sends out the disciples to preach and teach. Later on, Jesus warns his disciples not to tell anyone about him! |
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1 He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."
Jesus explains they have to pray first before driving out demons. How did the disciples drive out demons before that, when Jesus had neglected to give them such basic instruction as to pray first? |
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1 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this
"Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? Mark gives some instructions about the Law. Jesus asks the disciples in verse 18 that they are without understanding. |
2291 views · 3 hrs ago | Author: Guest • Updated: 12 May 2019 |
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