Gospel Parallels: A Comparison of the Synoptic Gospels, New Revised Standard Version Hardcover – November 30, 1992

There are three very good books which compare the texts of the Gospels. The less expensive one, comparing the three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) by Burton H Throckmorton, Jr. is the one you may be most inclined to get, since it costs about $22 from Amazon, compared to a "new" price of $145 for the Synopsis of the Four Gospels, English Edition edited by Kurt Aland. It's important to specify "English Edition" as there is a Greek edition as well, with titles an explanatory notes in German (but with English titles in small print off to the left, with Latin titles off to the right.)! If you do not know German, you may not want the Greek edition. However, if you are intent on comparing the Greek across the Gospels, you may wish to go for it anyway. It may be a very nice way to exercise your Greek. All the verse numbers are, of course, language independent, and the Gospel names are virtually the same in German and English.The Throckmorton is based on particular English translations. The Fifth Edition is based on the NRSV, which should work well for most Protestant and many Catholic churches. The Aland is based on the RSV; however, it includes notes on the differences between translations in the KJV of 1611, the Catholic Edition of the RSV, the English Revised Version of 1881, and the American Standard Version of 1901. Some of these may not be useful to most people, but the comparison with the KJV will recoup some famous phrases which may have been lost in modern translations, such as "generation of vipers", replaced by "brood of vipers" in 20th century translations.Before going any further, I suggest that unlike the Concordance, modern Bible software such as Bibleworks has not replaced this style of book. To my knowledge there is no way to automatically line up corresponding parts of two or more Gospels. So, this is still worth having, especially for doing exegesis on the Synoptics.One obvious difference between the two is that Aland includes all four Gospels. Until you get to the Passion scenes, there is precious little parallel between John and the other three, but where there is, it has interest. And, a comparison of how they treat the passion and resurrection is especially interesting. To Throckmorton's benefit, he includes an outline of the parallels at the beginning of the book. This allows you to locate the names of episodes and find them quickly, by page. Aland includes a very similar index, at the rear of the book. Aland also has an index to all Gospel passages, in Chapter and verse order. Thus, you have two different ways of locating a specific pericope. In Throckmorton, there is only a list of Pericope titles, no list of verses.Since Throckmorton uses the NRSV, you will find no discrepancies' with the Bible you are likely to be carrying. If you compare the Cleansing of the Temple pericope in both, for example, Matthew 21:12 in the ESV will say "...entered the temple of God." while the NRSV will say "...entered the temple." Throckmorton will have a note saying that some sources add the "of God". Aland will say that "Other ancient authorities omit `of God'". This pericope is one of the few which occur in roughly equal detail in all four Gospels, except that in John, it occurs in the beginning of Jesus' ministry, not near the end. One of the first things you notice (this is true of John in general) is that John's account has just a tad more concrete detail (he includes the fact that the merchandise was oxen and sheep and pigeons) than Mark, for example, which is the most complete version in the Synoptics.Here, we also see a virtue of the Aland who repeats whole texts (in smaller type) when the pericope is outside their main line of narrative. All four appear in Pericope 25, in the main line for John. Parts occur again in Pericope 276 The Question About Authority, where John 2:18 - 22 is reproduced, in small type. Throckmorton has a similar feature, but only for the Synoptics.This brings up a point which may be important if you have trouble with fine print. Throckmorton's print averages 12-13 characters per inch while Aland's averages 15 - 17 characters per inch. Better the version you can read than the one you can't read.Throckmorton has an index of non-canonical parallels entirely absent from Aland. This may be of little use to anyone but scholars (or maybe pastors who want to mix things up a bit). I happened to check one of these in the II Clement (part of the Apostolic Fathers) and as long as your edition of II Cement is fully numbered (I looked in Bart Ehrman's Loeb Translation), you should have no trouble finding the parallel. (But the Loeb edition of II Clement also had that cross-reference, so it was not necessary to have Throckmorton, if you were reading II Clement.For the sake of completeness, I really prefer the Aland, but you may have other requirements, such as cost or readability.

I first got this title in seminary. I bought this as a gift to a Sunday school class who had discussions about the early manuscripts, although they didn't call them that. It's a great reference for understanding these origins of the New Testament, and concise and clear. One doesn't have to memorize it for it to be helpful. It opens people's eyes to how the process worked, and what we know and don't know.

Brings together the gospel in an comparative way. Additional references from non canon sources.

This is a helpful reference book to have when studying the synoptics. It takes a while to get used to how Throckmorton structures this and how to find particular passages in the gospels. Nevertheless this provides a concise parallel of related passages between the synoptics and even notes variations by lining up each parallel verse.

Book is okay for the price.

This book is a notably fine tool for anyone doing serious study of the synoptic Gospels. The paper, binding and print size are excellent and the format with comparable texts is invaluable at an outstanding price.

Wonderful book / tool. It really helps you get a feel for the gospel parallels. One flaw: Gospel of John not included. Granted, John doesn't have a lot of parallels in the life of Christ, but there are some... The feeding of the 5,000 comes to mind. There's also the Last Supper, Passion of Christ and Resurrection to name a few. Still, I cannot put it down. Its my new way to read any passage in the Synoptics. Plus the NRSV is in the 500-years-old-English-translation tradition along with the Geneva, Bishops, KJV, RV, ASV, RSV, NASB, AMP and ESV so it is an essential reference.

What a wonderful resource for all of us attempting to develop a certain theme such as discipleship, the call of the Holy Spirit or other topics that would take a great deal of time to access. It is done for us in a beautifully simple way in which the topics are spoken about in each of the Gospels.It is laid out in such an articulate yet easy manner. It will be used by me and many in the future.