Description
Book SynopsisRewriting the Feeding of Five Thousand reveals the connection between John and the Synoptics with a focus on John 6.1-15. Statistical analyses establish the percentages of verbal and word order agreement between John 6.1-15 and the Synoptic parallels. An analysis of contextual agreements between the narratives in John and the Synoptics facilitates observing the percentage of agreement between them on a verse-by-verse basis, the average percentage of agreement between them, and the average percentage of agreement between them when Johannine material without parallel in the Synoptics is excluded from the data. Furthermore, this book analyzes the Matthean and Lukan redaction of Mark in their versions of the feeding of the five thousand and their influence on the Johannine narrative, as well as how John's narrative can be understood as a thorough rewriting of the Synoptic accounts.
Trade Review«In critical dialogue and making excellent use of previous and contemporary scholarship on the feeding miracle in the Fourth Gospel, Steven A. Hunt argues that John had read and thoroughly digested all three of the Synoptic Gospels. This first-rate book is highly recommended to all Johannine scholars who are still wrestling with the question of John’s dependence on the Synoptics. A provocative, scholarly and readable book.» (Gilbert Van Belle, Professor Ordinarius of New Testament, Faculty of Theology of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium)
«Like a canny detective, Steven A. Hunt re-opens the file on John’s relationship to the Synoptics and, on the incident of the loaves and fishes, goes over the data with an unmatched combination of comprehensiveness, precision, and patience. In the end the jury’s task is easy. The simplest explanation that accounts for the data – the preferred explanation in scientific method – is that John used the Synoptics.» (Thomas L. Brodie, Director, Dominican Biblical Institute, Limerick, Ireland)
«A compelling case for John’s use of the Synoptics! Steven A. Hunt definitely convinced me that, in John 6:1-15 anyway, the author’s use of the Synoptics amounts to ‘transformative imitation’ (to use his words). Any future study of the relationship between John and the Synoptics cannot neglect this important contribution.» (D. Francois Tolmie, Dean, Professor of New Testament, Faculty of Theology of the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa)
