What is the Two Source Hypothesis (2SH)?
The 2SH adopts the Markan priority hypothesis for the triple tradition and the Q hypothesis for the double tradition. Accordingly, Mark was written first among the synoptics. Matthew and Luke independently copied Mark for its narrative framework (the Triple Tradition) and independently added discourse material from a non-extant sayings source called “Q” for German Quelle, ‘source’. Despite recent challenges, the 2SH remains the dominant synoptic theory today among New Testament scholars for most of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century. Lately much attention has been devoted to studying Q and its own history of composition.
