Hebrew Language Approaches to the Gospels and their contribution to synoptic studies

Hebrew-language origins of the synoptic gospel tradition have been discussed by church fathers and scholars from the second century on wards well into modern times. However, with the rise of critical scholar ship in the 18th and 19th century, the traditional assumption of a pre-canonicai Hebrew gospel tradition has been dismissed gradualiy from the discourse about gospei origins and the synoptic question. The reasons for this dismissal can briefly be summed up as follows:

1. The rise of the Two-Source-Hypothesis as the most commonly accepted solution to the synoptic problem led to a shift of focus from a possible Hebrew Matthew to the Greek Mark as the oldest written document of the synoptic gospel tradition.