Statistical Studies of the Verbal Agreements and their Impact on the Synoptic Problem *

Abstract

The patterns of verbal agreement between the gospels have long been considered a key for solving the synoptic problem, and a subdiscipline within gospel source criticism of tabulating and interpreting these patterns of agreement has slowly emerged in the name of gathering the most objective evidence available. Studies of the verbal agreements have steadily grown in their sophistication (esp. in combinatory analysis), as well as in their appreciation for the nature of the gospel text as something more than a mere compilation. The question of whether this approach can substantially further the field, however, has yet to be answered. This article surveys and critiques all published statistical studies of the verbal agreements known to the author.