Synoptic Problem

E57314

New Testament studies issue biblical studies topic textual relationship problem

The Synoptic Problem is the scholarly investigation into the literary relationships and sources behind the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which share extensive overlapping content and structure.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
Synoptic Problem canonical	3
Synoptic problem	2

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T454003 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Synoptic Problem
Context triple: [Synoptic Gospels, centralQuestion, Synoptic Problem]

A. Synoptic Gospels
The Synoptic Gospels are the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which present closely related accounts of the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
B. Alexandrian text-type
The Alexandrian text-type is a family of early and highly regarded New Testament manuscript traditions characterized by concise, less harmonized readings and often considered closest to the original text by many textual critics.
C. Byzantine text-type
The Byzantine text-type is a major textual tradition of the Greek New Testament characterized by a relatively uniform and later standardized form of the text that became dominant in the medieval Byzantine Empire.
D. Docetism
Docetism is an early Christian heresy that claimed Christ only seemed to have a physical body and to suffer, denying the true humanity of Jesus.
E. Commentary on the Epistles of Paul
Commentary on the Epistles of Paul is a biblical exegesis traditionally attributed to the early Christian theologian Pelagius, offering one of the earliest Latin commentaries on Paul’s letters and reflecting the theological debates of late antiquity.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Synoptic Problem
Target entity description: The Synoptic Problem is the scholarly investigation into the literary relationships and sources behind the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which share extensive overlapping content and structure.

A. Synoptic Gospels
The Synoptic Gospels are the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which present closely related accounts of the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
B. Alexandrian text-type
The Alexandrian text-type is a family of early and highly regarded New Testament manuscript traditions characterized by concise, less harmonized readings and often considered closest to the original text by many textual critics.
C. Byzantine text-type
The Byzantine text-type is a major textual tradition of the Greek New Testament characterized by a relatively uniform and later standardized form of the text that became dominant in the medieval Byzantine Empire.
D. Docetism
Docetism is an early Christian heresy that claimed Christ only seemed to have a physical body and to suffer, denying the true humanity of Jesus.
E. Commentary on the Epistles of Paul
Commentary on the Epistles of Paul is a biblical exegesis traditionally attributed to the early Christian theologian Pelagius, offering one of the earliest Latin commentaries on Paul’s letters and reflecting the theological debates of late antiquity.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	New Testament studies issue ⓘ biblical studies topic ⓘ textual relationship problem ⓘ
aimsToExplain	literary interdependence of the Synoptic Gospels ⓘ origin of shared sayings and narratives ⓘ sequence of composition of the Synoptic Gospels ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	problem of the Synoptic Gospels ⓘ
concerns	Gospel of Luke ⓘ Gospel of Mark ⓘ Gospel of Matthew ⓘ
fieldOfStudy	literary relationships among the Synoptic Gospels ⓘ
focusesOn	differences among the Synoptic Gospels ⓘ literary dependence among the Synoptic Gospels ⓘ order of pericopes in the Synoptic Gospels ⓘ overlapping content of Matthew, Mark, and Luke ⓘ similarities among the Synoptic Gospels ⓘ sources used by the Synoptic evangelists ⓘ
hasKeyConcept	Augustinian hypothesis ⓘ Farrer hypothesis ⓘ Griesbach hypothesis ⓘ Lukan priority ⓘ Markan priority ⓘ Matthean priority ⓘ Q source (hypothetical) ⓘ surface form: Q source double tradition ⓘ minor agreements ⓘ triple tradition ⓘ Q source hypothesis ⓘ surface form: two-source hypothesis
hasKeyQuestion	Did the Synoptic evangelists use common written sources? ⓘ How should agreements and disagreements in order be explained? ⓘ How should agreements and disagreements in wording be explained? ⓘ What is the direction of literary dependence among the Synoptics? ⓘ What sources underlie the double tradition material? ⓘ What sources underlie the triple tradition material? ⓘ Which Synoptic Gospel was written first? ⓘ
involves	comparison of parallel passages ⓘ form criticism ⓘ redaction criticism ⓘ source criticism ⓘ
methodUsed	linguistic analysis of Greek text ⓘ statistical analysis of verbal agreements ⓘ synopsis comparison ⓘ
relatedTo	Gospel sources ⓘ New Testament canon formation ⓘ Synoptic Gospels ⓘ historical Jesus research ⓘ
studiedBy	New Testament scholarship ⓘ surface form: New Testament scholars biblical theologians ⓘ historical Jesus researchers ⓘ textual critics ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Synoptic Gospels → centralQuestion → Synoptic Problem ⓘ

Q source (hypothetical) → associatedWith → Synoptic Problem ⓘ

Griesbach hypothesis → addresses → Synoptic Problem ⓘ

Markan priority → addresses → Synoptic Problem ⓘ

this entity surface form: Synoptic problem

Markan priority hypothesis → addresses → Synoptic Problem ⓘ