Abstract:
New Testament scholars have for centuries posited different solutions to the Synoptic Problem.
Recently a new solution was proposed. Mogens Müller applies Geza Vermes’s term rewritten
Bible to the canonical gospels. Accepting Markan priority, he views Matthew as rewritten
Mark, Luke as rewritten Matthew, and John as additional source. This article examines
Müller’s hypothesis by first investigating the history of the controversial term rewritten Bible/
Scripture and its recent application to the New Testament Gospels. Müller’s hypothesis is then
compared to other solutions to the Synoptic Problem, such as the Augustine, Griesbach, and
Farrer-Goulder Hypotheses. The Two Document Hypothesis is discussed and Müller’s 2nd
century Luke theory is compared to Burton Mack’s almost similar stance and tested with
the argument of synoptic intertextuality in view of the possible but improbable early second
century date for Matthew. Lastly, the relationship between the synoptic Gospels is viewed in
terms of literary intertextuality. Müller suggests proclamation as motivation for the Gospels’
deliberate intertextual character. This notion is combined with the concept of intertextuality
to suggest a more suitable explanation for the relationship between die Gospels, namely
intertextual kerugma. This broad concept includes any form of intertextuality in terms of text
and context regarding the author and readers. It suitably replaces rewritten Bible, both in
reference to genre and textual (exegetical) strategy.
