Current Translation: 1890 Darby Bible American Standard Version Arabic Bible (Smith & Van Dyke) Byzantine/Majority Textform Greek New Testament Elzevir Textus Receptus (1624) with Morphology Giovanni Diodati Bibbia King James Version La Bible Louis Segond 1910 La Sankta Biblio Raamattu (1933, 1938) Reina Valera Revisada (1960) Reina-Valera Actualizada Russian Synodal Bible Translation Scrivener’s Textus Receptus (1881) Scrivener’s Textus Receptus (1894) with Morphology Statenvertaling Stephen’s Textus Receptus (1550) Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (1985) The Emphasized Bible The Holy Bible: King James Version The King James Version Apocrypha The Lexham English Bible The New Testament in Greek (Scrivener 1881) Versão Fácil De Ler Westcott and Hort Greek New Testament (1881) with Morphology Young’s Literal Translation

The synoptic gospels consist of books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These three gospels contain much of the same material. The books of Matthew and Luke tell nearly all of the stories told in Mark. Matthew and Luke also share several stories that are not in Mark. In addition, all three books are written as if the authors had personally observed all of the events and were reporting what they saw at the time.

The Gospel of John specifically omits much of the material found in the synoptic gospels. It also contains a considerable amount of material that is not found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It appears that John wrote his gospel as a supplement to the other gospels. Whether or not John actually had seen them is unknown, but it appears that he at least knew the contents of synoptic gospels. In the areas where John does tell of the same events, he tends to add information that is not in the other gospels. This may primarily be because the Gospel of John was written many years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. This is supported by the literary style used in John. The author is obviously telling the narrative looking back on the events in a more reflective style than the synoptic gospels. The contents of John also supports this view. For instance, in John's telling of the Anointing in Bethany (John 12:1-8), John names Mary as the woman who anointed Jesus with nard. The synoptic gospels left the woman nameless, most likely to protect her. By the time that John wrote his gospel, the threat to her for being named would have past.

Insights like these are why it is so important to study all of the gospels together. That is why we've put this site together, so you can study the life of Jesus with each gospel side-by-side.