“Good master” – differences in reported speech in the gospels.

It is no longer so frequently heard, but in years past it was sometimes argued that the Bible cannot be verbally inspired since the gospel writers do not quote the same words in some dialogues.

Take for example here the dialogue between Jesus and the young man:

Matthew 19:16 ” . . . Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”

Mark 10:17 and Luke 18:18 ” . . . Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

Since Greek lacks quotation marks it is difficult to tell when if ever reported speech is meant to be a verbatim quote. Even with those the concept of inspiration does not require a writer to record a complete conversation unless this is essential to the purpose of the record. Nor do quotes have to be complete: In this example the complete request of the rich young man may well have been: “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may inherit eternal life?”