Abstract
When attempting to identify and examine the material unique to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, students are often forced to consult some combination of commentaries, synopses, and the Greek New Testament. A situation thus emerges in which the student must keep several volumes open at one time while looking continually back and forth for comparison. A scenario like the one just described was in part, the genesis for the present volume. The author writes,
The idea for this book developed during my own studies of the Gospels as a graduate student. I would often sit in my Greek exegesis classes on the Gospels with my Q parallels and Synopsis, and wish that I had at my disposal a small book that printed the special material of Matthew and Luke [p. 13].
Jones's slim volume seems to fill this lacuna nicely.
This helpful little book consists of three chapters. The first chapter is devoted to a brief sketch of the synoptic problem and concludes with an argument in favor of the Two-Source/Four-Source theory. Chapters 2 and 3 provide Greek texts and English translations of material unique to Matthew and Luke, respectively. The Greek texts are taken directly from the 27th edition of the Nestle-Aland text (Novum Testamentum Graece), while the English translations are those of the New Revised Standard Version.
At the end of his first chapter, Jones explains his approach to the selection of material included in the book. First, he is not attempting to reconstruct the so-called “M” and “L” sources. No attempt at reconstruction is undertaken in the book. Second, unlike previous treatments, Jones does not provide criteria to distinguish between what is received and what has been composed by Matthew or Luke. Instead, he simply identifies all of the material that is unique to both Matthew and Luke and provides it in one volume.
At the end of the day, there is little new material in this book. Jones has simply compiled pre-existing arguments and texts into a format that will prove to be a useful resource for those working with the synoptic gospels. I envision this book being most useful in seminary and divinity school contexts, especially among those students who have not had previous exposure to the Synoptic Problem and are learning to use a Greek synopsis. I also expect this book to be a go-to resource for scholars looking for a quick and painless tool for comparing and contrasting the distinctive contributions of Matthew and Luke to the canonical Gospel tradition.