Word Counts Per Markan Pericope

The following table demonstrates Matthew's and Luke's tendency to abbreviate Mark. Passages in which Matthew or Luke uses more words than Mark are highlighted. Passages that contain double tradition material are marked with an asterisk.

Pericope		Verses			Number of Words			Percent of Passage Paralleled in
		Matthew	Mark	Luke	Matthew	Mark	Luke	Matthew	Luke	Both
1	John the Baptist Prepares the Way	3:1-12	1:1-8	3:1-20	236*	123	380*	87	73	71
2	Jesus' Baptism	3:13-17	1:9-11	3:21-22	99*	53	43*	100	100	100
3	The Temptation of Jesus	4:1-11	1:12-13	4:1-13	184*	30	203*	83	67	67
4	Jesus Goes to Galilee	4:12-17	1:14-15	4:14-31	81*	35	309*	100	17	17
5	Jesus Calls His First Disciples	4:18-22	1:16-20	5:1-11	89	82	207	100	100	100
6	Jesus Drives Out an Impure Spirit		1:21-28	4:31-37	0	124	119	15	100	15
7	Jesus and Simon's Mother-in-Law	8:14-15	1:29-31	4:38-39	30	44	38	100	100	100
8	Healings at Capernaum	8:16-17	1:32-34	4:40-41	36	46	52	80	80	80
9	Jesus Prays Early in the Morning		1:35-39	4:42-44	0	63	54	0	100	0
10	Jesus Heals a Leper	8:2-4	1:40-45	5:12-16	52	99	98	71	100	71
11	Jesus Heals a Paralytic	9:1-8	2:1-12	5:17-26	126	196	213	100	100	100
12	Call of Levi	9:9-13	2:13-17	5:27-32	93	109	94	100	100	100
13	Fasting	9:14-17	2:18-22	5:33-39	105	129	142	92	92	92
14	Lord of the Sabbath	12:1-8	2:23-28	6:1-5	136	108	92	85	88	85
15	Healing on the Sabbath	12:9-14	3:1-6	6:6-11	90	95	115	83	97	83
16	Crowds Follow Jesus	12:15-21	3:7-12	6:17-19	23	103	62	73	72	45
17	Jesus Appoints the Twelve	10:1-4	3:13-19	6:12-16	74	94	76	95	100	95
18	A Kingdom Divided	12:22-37	3:20-30	11:14-22	150*	126	153*	74	74	74
19	Jesus' Mother and Brothers	12:46-50	3:31-35	8:19-21	90	85	54	100	80	80
20	Parable of the Sower	13:1-9	4:1-9	8:4-8	131	151	90	99	95	94
21	The Purpose of Parables	13:10-17	4:10-12	8:9-10	155*	52	36	100	100	100
22	Parable of the Sower Explained	13:18-23	4:13-20	8:11-15	128	145	109	98	98	98
23	Lamp on a Stand		4:21-25	8:16-18	0	74	61	0	72	0
24	Parable of the Growing Seed		4:26-29		0	60	0	0	0	0
25	Parable of the Mustard Seed	13:31-33	4:30-32	13:18-20	50*	57	40*	79	84	63
26	Summary of Jesus' Speaking in Parables	13:34-35	4:33-34		34	25	0	56	0	0
27	Jesus Calms the Storm	8:18-27	4:35-41	8:22-25	155*	118	94	98	98	98
28	Gerasene Demoniac	8:28-34	5:1-20	8:26-39	135	325	293	62	99	62
29	Jairus' Daughter and the Hemorrhaging Woman	9:18-26	5:21-43	8:40-56	138	373	287	70	94	67
30	Jesus in His Hometown	13:54-58	6:1-6a		96	125	0	94	0	0
31	Jesus Sends the Twelve	10:1-14	6:6b-13	9:1-6	230*	106	93	74	89	74
32	John the Baptist Beheaded	14:1-12	6:14-29	9:7-9	172	302	52	88	18	13
33	Feeding of the 5,000	14:13-21	6:30-44	9:10-17	157	237	164	70	84	68
34	Walking on the Water	14:22-33	6:45-52		188	139	0	88	0	0
35	Many Healings	14:34-36	6:53-56		44	72	0	75	0	0
36	Defilements	15:1-20	7:1-23		278*	361	0	77	0	0
37	Syrophoenician Woman	15:21-28	7:24-30		139	129	0	91	0	0
38	Deaf and Mute Man	15:29-31	7:31-37		63	115	0	57	0	0
39	Feeding of the 4,000	15:32-38	8:1-9		115	131	0	85	0	0
40	The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod	15:39-16:12	8:10-21		194*	168	0	84	0	0
41	The Blind Man at Bethsaida		8:22-26		0	80	0	0	0	0
42	Peter's Confession	16:13-20	8:27-30	9:18-21	157	75	66	100	100	100
43	First Passion Prediction	16:21-23	8:31-33	9:22	72	69	25	93	43	43
44	On Discipleship	16:24-28	8:34-9:1	9:23-27	114	132	106	98	92	92
45	Transfiguration	17:1-13	9:2-13	9:28-36	232	209	178	90	69	65
46	Demonized Boy	17:14-20	9:14-29	9:37-43a	133*	270	124	42	44	32
47	Second Passion Prediction	17:22-23	9:30-32	9:43b-45	131	47	54	87	55	55
48	Who Is the Greatest?	18:1-20	9:33-50	9:46-50	423*	307	98	52	27	15
49	Divorce	19:1-12	10:1-12		216	153	0	82	0	0
50	Little Children	19:13-15	10:13-16	18:15-17	45	64	57	72	86	58
51	The Rich Man Who Lacks One Thing	19:16-30	10:17-31	18:18-30	271*	281	202	85	81	81
52	Third Passion Prediction	20:17-19	10:32-34	18:31-34	53	73	43	84	73	73
53	Request of James and John	20:20-28	10:35-45	22:24-27	168	190	67	100	45	45
54	Blind Bartimaeus	20:29-34	10:46-52	18:35-43	79	123	108	71	82	61
55	Entry into Jerusalem	21:1-11	11:1-11	19:28-44	190	185	266	76	89	76
56	Cursing the Fig Tree and Clearing the Temple	21:12-22	11:12-26	19:45-48	215	253	61	70	28	15
57	Jesus' Authority	21:23-32	11:27-33	20:1-8	222	125	118	100	100	100
58	Parable of the Tenants	21:33-46	12:1-12	20:9-19	238	182	199	98	92	92
59	Rendering to Caesar	22:15-22	12:13-17	20:20-26	115	106	104	96	88	88
60	Marriage at the Resurrection	22:23-33	12:18-27	20:27-38	163	171	170	99	91	91
61	Greatest Commandment	22:34-40	12:28-34	10:25-28	82	153	73	41	52	37
62	David's Son or David's Lord	22:41-46	12:35-37	20:41-44	78	63	47	89	89	89
63	Warning against the Scribes	23:1-7	12:38-40	20:45-47	109*	44	48	68	100	68
64	Widow's Offering		12:41-44	21:1-4	0	75	58	0	93	0
65	Apocalyptic Discourse	24:1-51	13:1-37	21:5-36	824*	606	497	89	70	61
66	Chief Priests Plot Against Jesus	26:1-5	14:1-2	22:1-2	70	34	24	100	100	100
67	Anointing at Bethany	26:6-13	14:3-9		109	124	0	88	0	0
68	Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus	26:14-16	14:10-11	22:3-6	35	30	44	100	100	100
69	Preparations for the Last Supper	26:17-19	14:12-16	22:7-13	61	99	96	88	100	88
70	Last Supper	26:20-30	14:17-26	22:14-23	181	160	168	100	84	84
71	Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial	26:31-35	14:27-31	22:31-34	87	79	62	100	43	43
72	Gethsemane	26:36-46	14:32-42	22:40-46	195	181	97	97	45	45
73	Jesus' Arrest	26:47-56	14:43-52	22:47-53	189	140	124	86	54	54
74	Peter Follows at a Distance	26:57-58	14:53-54	22:54-55	39	43	30	100	100	100
75	Jesus Before the Sanhedrin	26:59-68	14:55-65	22:63-71	157	179	121	89	41	41
76	Peter's Denial	26:69-75	14:66-72	22:56-62	116	128	112	100	94	94
77	Jesus Before Pilate	27:1-26	15:1-15	23:1-25	398	196	373	100	47	47
78	The Soldiers Mock Jesus	27:27-31	15:16-20		84	69	0	91	0	0
79	Crucifixion of Jesus	27:32-54	15:21-39	23:26-48	328	259	359	97	77	77
80	Burial of Jesus	27:55-61	15:40-47	23:49-56	114	144	118	77	74	65
81	Resurrection of Jesus	28:1-10	16:1-8	24:1-12	173	136	176	78	72	60

Matthew's Use of Mark

1. Matthew and Mark have 75 pericopes in common.
2. Within these pericopes Matthew uses 10962 words, while Mark uses 10570 words. Thus Matthew condenses the Markan pericopes by -4%.
3. Matthew is longer than Mark in 38 (51%) of these passages.
4. If we remove pericopes where Matthew has added Q material, then Matthew is longer than Mark in 26 out of 59 pericopes, using 7390 words in place of Mark's 7833 words (a 6% decrease).
5. If we split the Markan passages into ideas (sometimes verse, sometimes clause - see the gospel comparisons pages), we find that 80% of Mark is included in Matthew.
6. If we consider only the words of Jesus, Matthew includes 3146 of Mark's 3800 words of Jesus (83%).
7. Matthew adds material from another source to approximately 30 of the 75 pericopes.

Luke's Use of Mark

1. Luke and Mark have 67 pericopes in common.
2. Within these pericopes Luke uses 8496 words, while Mark uses 9295 words. Thus Luke condenses the Markan pericopes by 9%.
3. Luke is longer than Mark in 18 (27%) of these passages.
4. If we remove pericopes where Luke has added Q material, then Luke is longer than Mark in 14 out of 61 pericopes, using 7368 words in place of Mark's 8871 words (a 17% decrease).
5. If we split the Markan passages into ideas (sometimes verse, sometimes clause - see the gospel comparisons pages), we find that 63% of Mark is included in Luke.
6. If we consider only the words of Jesus, Luke includes 2413 of Mark's 3800 words of Jesus (64%).
7. Luke adds material from another source to approximately 19 of the 67 pericopes.

If we tried to reconstruct Mark using only Matthew and Luke and did not account for portions dropped out by one or the other, we would end up with only 54% of Mark's gospel! The situation is no better with the words of Jesus, where only 2139 of Mark's 3800 words of Jesus (56%) are reflected in both Matthew and Luke in writing their gospels.