CHAP. I. HARMONISTIC PRINCIPLES. 3
It further might happen, that Matthew joins the two events a and by an indirect Connective
(second class), whereas in Mark a and d are connected in the most direct way. It then follows,
that d has to be inserted between a and b:
| Matthew | a | a | Mark |
| d | |||
| b |
And not only single incidents, but sometimes whole Chains of consecutive events, as will be
shown in Chapter II., have to be inserted between other Chains, strictly in accordance with
the same principle.
Nor could we in such a case justly blame Matthew and Mark as though they contradicted
each other. The charge of contradiction could in fairness then only be raised, if one Evangelist,
in stating certain consecutive facts, should employ such Connectives as imply immediate succession,
while the other Evangelist with equally strong and unqualified terms should record the same
facts in a different order of succession.
Every thing then depends on the accuracy in fixing the precise value of the connecting
formula, a task, however, by no means so easy as it may appear at first. To accomplish the
object, our enquiries must needs be based upon the Greek original: no other Version, be it ever
so exact, will answer the purpose.
For instance, in Matthew 8. I 8 it is nothing but the omission of the Article (ídòn dè ó
'Jesoùs pollous öchlous peri aùtón), that justifies us in the view that Matthew did not intend to
represent the great multitudes in v. I 8 as identical with the crowd mentioned in v. I 6. Had he
used the Article as in 5. I (ídòn dè t o ủ s ôchlous), I 3. 36 (ápheis t o ù s ôchlous), I 5. 39 (ápolúsas
t o ù s ôchlous), the identity of the people in v. I 6 and v. I 8, and hence the direct connection
of the incident recorded in v. I 4— I 7 with v. I 8 and the sequel would have been established,
in which case Matthew's akoluthistic statements would simply be irreconcileable with those of
Mark. But as the words run, we are at full liberty to assume, that the scene in v. I 8 was quite
a different one from that in v. I 4— I 7, that, in fact, Matthew meant to say no more but: "on a
certain occasion, when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he"...etc.
Again, when reading Mark 1. 21—23 and Luke 4. 3 I—33, it is generally supposed, that
the healing of the Demoniac in the synagogue at Capernaum happened on the very first Sabbath,
after Jesus with his first four disciples had come there.1) Now to any one versed in Greek, the
very sight of the Imperfect Tense used both by Mark and by Luke (édidasken, éndidáskon,
éxepléssonto) must sufficiently prove, that this passage contains the description not of a single
act, but of a long, continued, habitual preaching of Christ on Sabbath-days in that synagogue.
Mark as well as Luke put toĩs sábbasin, which may signify either a single Sabbath or a
plurality of Sabbaths. The English Version renders the Plural in Luke (v. 3 I), but treats it as
a Singular in Mark (v. 2 I), where the eúthéos ("forth with") and also the Aorist eíselthòn
("entered") show indeed clearly enough, that this ministry of Christ in the synagogue commenc-
ed on the very first Sabbath after he had settled at Capernaum. But the subsequent use of terms,
expressing a general description of this continued preaching, has at once the effect of loosening
the close connection between Christ's first appearance in that synagogue and the healing of the
Demoniac. Had Mark and Luke employed the Aorist for the Verbs quoted above, the immediate
succession of the items: "Four disciples called," "A demoniac healed in the synagogue at
1) As to the starting-point in Christ's ministry at Capernaum, it is a strange coincidence, that with our most
impartial and analytical method of scrutinizing each Gospel separately for its akoluthistic hints, we attain a
result very similar to that, arrived at by simply attending to the narrative of Mark and Luke, as stated above.
Namely, the very first act of Christ at Capernaum, after He had called His first four diciples, was indeed, as
will be shown in the sequel, the healing of a demoniac, not, however, that case which occurred in the synago-
gue on a Sabbath, but the healing of another blind and dumb demoniac (Matt. XII.). Mark and Luke, from their
various sources of information, both knew, that Christ at the very beginning of His public labours at Caper-
naum cast out a devil, though they were not quite sure, which of the four distinct cases, recorded to have hap-
pened within the space of a few weeks (Sect. 65, 72, 75 and 85), had occurred first. But being just at the
description of Our Lord's Sabbath-ministry in the synagogue at Capernaum, what was more natural and logical
for them, than to continue by narrating that casting out of a devil, which Christ performed in the very same
locality and on a Sabbath!
1*
