Views of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research

Articles Leave a Comment

Underlying the research of the Jerusalem School is the hypothesis that the original biography of Jesus was written in Hebrew.

Revised: 29 August 2019

No two scholars ever share identical views on every question, and this is certainly true among the scholars of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research.

Jerusalem Perspective, in reporting the work of the Jerusalem School, would not want to give the impression that scholars of the School are required to adhere to a party line. Although there is considerable agreement regarding foundational elements in their view of the Synoptic Gospels, the members of the School are still formulating and refining their collective approach.[*]

For example, David Flusser accepted Robert Lindsey’s solution to the synoptic problem—that Luke rather than Mark was written first—yet not all the School’s members are wholly convinced of this conclusion. However, it can safely be said that all members of the School understand the necessity of first translating the Greek texts of the Gospels into Hebrew, and then examining that Semitic equivalent in its first-century cultural and linguistic context.

Comparing the resulting Semitic back-translation with the epigraphical and literary remains from the Second Temple period is an essential feature of the Jerusalem School’s methodology.

All members of the School use this methodology because they have found that it works: it clarifies the meaning of Jesus’ words, often when the Greek text is unclear or reflects bad Greek.

Underlying the research of the Jerusalem School is the assumption that Jesus probably taught in Hebrew, or at least, that the original biography of Jesus was written in Hebrew.


[*] To read about the official methodology of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research, click here.

This article originally appeared in issue 26 of the Jerusalem Perspective magazine. Click on the image above to view a PDF of the original magazine article.

Leave a Reply

  • David N. Bivin

    David N. Bivin
    Facebook

    David N. Bivin is founder and editor of Jerusalem Perspective. A native of Cleveland, Oklahoma, U.S.A., Bivin has lived in Israel since 1963, when he came to Jerusalem on a Rotary Foundation Fellowship to do postgraduate work at the Hebrew University. He studied at the Hebrew…
    [Read more about author]

  • JP Content

  • Suggested Reading

  • Why Do The Wicked Prosper? title imageHospitality Heritage of the ChurchPetros Petra WordplayHistorical Jesus a Tanna FIDeliver Us From Evil6 Stone Water JarsEnemies of the HarvestWere Women Segregated?Luke 9-51-56—A Hebrew FragmentUnlocking the Synoptic ProblemNew Portrait of SalomeInsulting God's High PriestLoving BothMedieval JargonBeating the (Thorny) Bushes title 2Gergesa, Gerasa, or GadaraPG‘Everything Written…in the Psalms About Me’ (Luke 24-44)And OR In Order To RemarryAnti-Jewish TendenciesScribal ErrorsAllegro to ZeitlinTwena With All Due RespectTorah in the Sermon on the MountBethsaida 002Flusser Times of the GentilesIf Your Eye Be Single cover imageIntro to SynopticThe Names of Jerusalem in the Synoptic Gospels and ActsStewards of God's KeysBy the Finger of GodPower of ParablesTrees of LifeBest Long-TermFlusser Parables of Ill ReputeNew International JesusReich Design and MaintenanceSafrai Synagogue CenturionNun GergesaThe Social Jesus-Beyond and Individualist ReadingSabbath BreakersNeot KedumimWealth of Herod the GreatGood Morning, ElijahMiraculous CatchSalted With FireJewish Laws of Purity in Jesus' DayMidrash in the New TestamentAesop's Fables and the Parables of the SagesJesus’ Temptation and Its Jewish BackgroundOstracon From Qumran FlusserOrigins of Jesus' Dominical TitleDid Jesus Make Food Clean?Evidence of Pro-Roman Leanings in the Gospel of MatthewA Body, Vultures & SoMBinding and Loosingספר פתרון תורהPilgrimage in the Time of Jesus coverThe Appearance of Jesus-Hairstyles and BeardsA Farewell to the Emmaus RoadDid Jesus Wear a KippahDid Jesus Save the Life of an Adultress?Tangled Up in TecheletThey Know Not What They DoCenturion and the SynagogueWhat Is the Leaven of the PhariseesDoes God Play Scrabble?Role of Women in the TempleAre Christians Supposed to Tithe? Title ImageNotley The Man Who Would Be King Title ImageLet Him Who Is Without SinTreasure in HeavenSafrai Zechariah's TaskApostolic DecreeJesus' Final Journey to Jerusalem title imageRomans 11-The Olive Tree's Root title imageDid Jesus Call God Abba title imageWhat’s Wrong with John 21-7? title imageWhat Was Simon Peter Wearing? title ImageWhat's Wrong with Contagious Purity? title imageYoung Seven Kinds of Pharisees Title ImageSin Against the SpiritJPG PilgrimageSafrai Halakha in the GospelsLook at all the Trees title image(Why) Did Jews Hate Tax Collectors?Ruzer Jesus' WordsTverberg No Longer OpenlyTurnage ExpectationA Goy's Guide to Ritual Purity title imageJohn's Baptism of Repentance title imageA Priest of the Divison of AbijahCharacter Profile Beelzebul Title Image 1