Did the Gospels Copy Each Other

Scholars call Matthew, Mark, and Luke the Synoptic Gospels.

The word Synoptic comes from the Greek sun, meaning together, and opsis, having to do with view or sight.

Thus, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called Synoptic because in distinction from John, they can be viewed together.

That is, these three gospels look more or less the same.

First of all, the Synoptics tell many of the same stories.

Jesus's temptation, his exorcisms, parables, and transfiguration, Jesus cursing a fig tree, his Last Supper with his disciples, and his prayer in Gethsemane.

These are all found in all three Synoptic Gospels, but many of these stories are not found in John.

In fact, almost every story in Mark is also found in Matthew or Luke.

In contrast, most of the stories in John are not found in the Synoptic Gospels.

For example, the story of Jesus visiting the Pharisee Nicodemus is only found in John.

So we call Matthew, Mark, and Luke Synoptic because unlike John, they tell the same stories, but there's an even more important sense in which the Synoptic Gospels can be said to look the same.

When Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell the same story, they tell it in the very same words.

Consider the call of Levi, a story found in all three Synoptic Gospels.

In the original Greek of Mark, this passage is 20 words long, and almost every single one of those 20 words from Mark also appears in Matthew and Luke.

This is not an isolated occurrence.

There are extended word-for-word agreements between the Synoptics in almost every shared story.

Consider another example, the feeding of the 5,000.

Once again, all three Synoptics use the same words to tell the same story, and the feeding of the 5,000 is an especially interesting example because it's one of the rare stories that appears in both the Synoptics and the Gospel of John.

But unlike the Synoptics, John does not share any wording.

The fourth gospel tells the story in its own language.

So the sheer fact that John is so different highlights the special relationship among the Synoptics.

The Synoptics tell most of the same stories.

John, for the most part, tells different stories.

The Synoptics share a great deal of language among themselves.

John does not.