Matthew 3

Syntactic observation

ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν — the kingdom of the heavens. Counted inside this corpus the split is sharp: Matthew uses this phrase 32 times and the kingdom of God only four (12:28, 19:24, 21:31, 21:43); Mark uses the kingdom of God 14 times and the kingdom of the heavens never; Luke uses the kingdom of God 31 times and the kingdom of the heavens never. Of the four Gospels only Matthew uses the phrase. They divide even in the same scene — the proclamation at Mark 1:15 is ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ, while Matthew 3:2 and 4:17 have ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. οὐρανός stands in the plural (τῶν οὐρανῶν), and that plural is itself Matthew's habit. ἤγγικεν is perfect — it has come near and stands near; the same perfect sits at the same point in Mark 1:15. Μετανοεῖτε is present imperative plural — not turn once but keep turning. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀καὶ).

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Syntactic observation

Γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν — offspring of vipers; literally, things fathered by vipers. γέννημα is the noun of γεννάω, the root that ran through thirty-nine fathered's in ch. 1. A book that opened with a genealogy uses that same root three chapters later for an address that denies lineage — and two verses on, at v.9, the contrast is made explicit: do not say we have Abraham as father, for God can raise children to Abraham from these stones. The chain of begetting filled the book's first chapter, and the Baptist says the chain guarantees nothing. γέννημα occurs three times in Matthew, all three the same address (3:7, 12:34, 23:33), and Luke 3:7 has the identical address in this same scene — four places in the corpus. But only Matthew put a chain of begetting first, so only in Matthew does the address answer back to the book's own opening chapter. And the hearers are bracketed together as Pharisees and Sadducees, a pairing found here in Matthew. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀αὐτοῦ).

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Syntactic observation

Matthew gives baptism three materials — water (ἐν ὕδατι), and Holy Spirit and fire (ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί). Mark 1:8 at the same point names water and Spirit and no fire. Luke 3:16 writes ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί, as Matthew does — so **Mark alone lacks the fire.** All three books are inside this corpus, so the difference is verifiable by collation. And fire has already appeared twice in this paragraph — v.10, the fruitless tree thrown into fire; v.12, the chaff burned with πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ, unquenchable fire. ἄσβεστος occurs three times in the corpus — here in Matthew, at Mark 9:43 (the unquenchable fire of Gehenna), and at Luke 3:17 in this same scene. So the fire of v.11 is the same word as the judging fire on either side of it, bound into one prepositional phrase with the Spirit. The ὀπίσω of ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος, the one coming behind me, is the word that marks the disciple's place at Mark 1:17, 8:33, 8:34. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸂ὑμᾶς βαπτίζω⸃ ⸂καὶ πυρί⸃·).

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Syntactic observation

δικαιοσύνη occurs seven times in Matthew (3:15, 5:6, 5:10, 5:20, 6:1, 6:33, 21:32) and never in Mark; in this corpus Luke has it once (1:75) and John twice. The first words Jesus speaks in Matthew contain this word, and it becomes one of the book's key terms. πληρῶσαι, to fulfil or fill up, is the verb of the fulfilment citations in ch. 2 (πληρωθῇ) — there a prophecy is fulfilled, here a righteousness. And the subject is first person plural: ἡμῖν πληρῶσαι, for us to fulfil. Jesus binds himself and the Baptist together. The verse has no counterpart in Mark, whose 1:9 goes straight to the baptism with no exchange between them. πᾶσαν, all, stands before δικαιοσύνην and leaves the scope open. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸂πρὸς αὐτόν⸃·).

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Syntactic observation

The voice from heaven speaks in the third person — Οὗτός ἐστιν, this is. At the same scene in Mark 1:11 it is second person — Σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱός μου, you are my Son. Luke 3:22 is second person too, Σὺ εἶ — so **Matthew alone writes it in the third person.** All three books are in this corpus, so the difference is verifiable by collation. The change of person changes where the words are aimed: in Mark they are spoken to Jesus; in Matthew they are spoken for the bystanders to hear. The following phrase shifts with it — Mark has ἐν σοὶ εὐδόκησα, in you I am well pleased; Matthew ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα, in whom. At the transfiguration, though, the two books converge again: Mark 9:7 and Matthew 17:5 both have the third-person Οὗτός ἐστιν. εὐδόκησα is aorist standing where a present state is meant — tense and sense apparently at odds.

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