OF THE FOUR GOSPELS IN ENGLISH. ACCORDING TO THE COMMON VERSION. NEWLY ARRANGED, WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES, BY EDWARD ROBINSON, D. D., LL. D. LATELY PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE IN THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK; REVISED EDITION, WITH FOOT-NOTES FROM THE REVISED VERSION OF 1881, AND ADDITIONAL NOTES BY M. B. RIDDLE, D. D. PROFESSOR OF NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS IN HARTFORD THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. BS 1914 Copyl COPYRIGHT, 1846, BY EDWARD ROBINSON COPYRIGHT, 1874 AND 1886, BY EDWARD ROBINSON AND MARY A. ROBINSON COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY M. B. RIDDLE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED UV GIFT INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT BY THE EDITOR. DR. R. EDWARD ROBINSON'S Harmony of the Four Gospels in English is herewith published in an enlarged and revised form. I. THE ARRANGEMENT has, in general, been preserved unaltered; though minor modifications have been introduced. A few of these represent the later judgments of Dr. Robinson himself, as given in the more recent editions of his Greek Harmony. Many more are the result of an effort to present in parallel lines the parallel clauses; an improvement largely due to the skill and good judgment shown at the Riverside Press. The only extensive transfers are (as in the Greek Harmony): John 7: 53; 8: 1 transferred from § 83 to § 84, the whole of the latter section being properly regarded as of doubtful genuineness; the three accounts of the anointing at Bethany brought forward to § 111 from § 131; Matt. 21: 14-17 transferred from § 112 to § 113; and §§ 136, 137 transposed, with section numbers in brackets. The reasons for these changes are given under the proper sections in the Additional Notes of the Appendix. The "Schedule of Days" is that given by Dr. Robinson in those editions of his Greek Harmony published before 1851; see p. 184. II. THE TEXT of the Authorized Version is retained, but carefully corrected to conform with the standard English editions. In some minor matters, of spelling and punctuation, the standard edition of the American Bible Society has been followed, though rarely unless sustained (as against the Oxford edition of the A. V.) by the Revised Version. Dr. Robinson's occasional emendations have usually been retained. No little labor, however, has been given to securing accurate reproduction of the English text. III. THE FOOT-NOTES constitute an entirely new feature of this edition. They are invariably selected from the Revised Version of 1881, and are de signed to serve the purpose of the Harmony. As it was impossible to give all the emendations of the revisers, a selection was made, including (1) those changes representing extensive variations in the Greek text; for example, an omission of a clause or verse, or a variation seriously affecting the sense; (2) verbal changes, which, while apparently trivial, serve to show more accurately the correspondences and divergences of the several narratives. Those of the latter class, though appearing more frequently in the foot-notes, include only a portion of the changes affecting the relations of parallel pass ages. Where the Authorized Version fairly represents this relation, no notes have been inserted. Many interesting emendations have been necessarily passed over. A more detailed explanation of the foot-notes and of the terms used in them will be found on p. xx. facing p. 1. IV. THE APPENDIX corresponds with that in the revised edition of the Greek Harmony. My own additions, which are quite numerous, have been bracketed. No passage of any length has been omitted, unless a well-attested change of text invalidated the positions of Dr. Robinson. My effort has been to add nothing that did not seem suited to the design of the Harmony and in accord with the author's principles of interpretation. Where I felt constrained to differ from him, both sides have been presented. Some of the more extensive additions only carry Dr. Robinson's arguments down to the present conditions of the controversy respecting the Gospels. His main positions are retained, because they are still unshaken. The editor can have no better hope for the present volume than that it may be as useful for this generation as the original English Harmony was in its day, and that it may further the great purpose to which the author devoted his life. M. B. RIDDLE. HARTFORD THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, February, 1886. PREFACE. HE Harmony of the Four Gospels in Greek, published in 1845, having been favorably received, I have been requested, by many persons whose advice I could not disregard, to prepare a similar Harmony of the Gospels according to the common English Version. This I have attempted to do in the present work. In the Gospels we have four different narratives of the life and actions of our Lord, by as many different and independent historians. The narrative of John, except during the week of the Saviour's passion, contains very little that is found in either of the other writers. That of Luke, although in its first part and at the close it has much in common with Matthew and Mark, comprises nevertheless in its middle portions a large amount of matter peculiar to Luke alone. Matthew and Mark have in general more resemblance to each other; though Matthew, being more full, presents much that is not found in Mark or Luke; while Mark, though briefer, has some things not contained in any of the rest. The Evangelists were led, under the guidance of the Spirit, to write each with a specific object in view, and for different communities or classes of readers; much as in the case of the authors of the Epistles. Hence, while the narratives all necessarily exhibit a certain degree of likeness, they nevertheless bear also each for itself the stamp of independence. The four writers vary likewise in their chronological character. On the one hand, it appears that Mark and John, who have little in common, follow with few exceptions the regular and true order of the events and transactions recorded by them; as may be more fully seen at the close of the Introduction to the Notes. On the other hand, Matthew and Luke manifestly have sometimes not so much had regard to chronological order, as they have been guided by the principle of association; so that in them, transactions having certain relations to each other are not seldom grouped together, though they may have happened at different times and in various places. Some other diversities in the character and manner of the Evangelists are pointed out in the Introduction to the Notes. In view of the preceding considerations, it follows that, in order to obtain a full and consecutive account of all the facts of our Lord's life and ministry, the four Gospel-narratives must be so brought together as to present as nearly as possible the true chronological order; and, where the same transaction is described by more than one writer, the different accounts must be placed side by |