CHAPTER EIGHT OF MARK'S GOSPEL

[1] In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said unto them, [2] “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: 

• It is possible there is reference here, as previously in chapter two, to Joshua’s encounter with the Hivites/Gibeonites. 

-Mark 8:3 = “from afar they’ve approached” [μακροθεν ηκασι]

-Joshua 9:9 = The Hivites say: “From a land far away we’ve come [μακροθεν ηκασιν].” 

-In Josh 9:12 the strangers show the food they made upon setting off on their journey, supposedly ‘hot off the grill’ which are now become ‘worm-eaten.’ = so like the crowd in Mark 8 they have no edible sustenance. 

-Mark 8:2 = “Three days [ημερας τρεις] they’ve remained with me...”

-Joshua 9:16 = “after three days” [μετα τρεις ημερας] Joshua and the Israelites discover the ruse of the Hivites, who turn out to be the nearby Gibeonites instead, having fooled them into an oath to not kill them so they won’t be overwhelmingly defeated by their powerful new neighbors.

-Josh 9:12 = “from our houses” [απο οικων ημων]

-Mark 8:3 = “to their houses” [εις οικον αυτων] 

-Josh 9:8 =  Joshua asks: “From what place [ποθεν] do ye hail?” (in verse 5 and 12 they prepare “breads” [αρτοι] as props for their ruse)

-Mark 8:4 = disciples ask: “From what place [ποθεν] shall we be able to get filling bread [αρτων] in a wilderness area?”

-What certainly clinches the likelihood that a reference to Joshua 9 is meant here is the repetition, here and no where else in this gospel, of the word “fasting” [νηστεις] from Chapter 2, where we first encountered material from the book of Joshua. 

Joshua 18:3= “How long shall you faint [εως τινος υμεις εκλυθησεσθε] to inherit the land the Lord gave us…” 

-Mark 8:3= if Jesus releases the crowd to their homes: “They’ll be fainting [εκλυθησονται] on the way, having come from far off.”

-Mark 8:3= Jesus says “Should I release them… unto their house?” [απολυσω αυτους … εις οικον αυτων]

-Joshua 22:4= “Go forth, returning unto your houses.”

-Mark 8:2f = Psalm 106:7f on hungry/thirsty 

-Psalm 107:3 = “those from east, west, north and south”

[3] And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for some came from far off.”

Perhaps we have here a reference to Micaiah’s prophecy against Ahab in 1 Kings 22. A reader of Mark’s gospel must note that the feeding miracle in chapter 8 is a double, with differences, of the feeding in chapter 6. Remember how at Mark 6:34 Jesus had “compassion” on the crowd for “they were like sheep without a shepherd”, a reference possibly to 1 Kings 22:17 (Mark has changed ‘ouk esti’ into ‘me exonta’) when Ben Imlah sees Israel “scattered amongst on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd. Let each return to his house in peace.” Then here in Mark 8:3 Jesus again has “compassion” on the multitude and mentions them “returning unto their house.” Note how the subject of ‘fasting’ appears here—perhaps a reference to how Ahab framed Naboth, who is tricked into breaking a fast, causing others to believe the false witnesses paid to say he is a “law-breaker.”

[4] And his disciples answered him, “From where can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?” [5] And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” [6] And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. [7] And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.  

-2Baruch 29:4 = Leviathan and Behemoth will be “sustenance to those who are left” [In the Dead Sea Scrolls version of 1 Samuel similar apportionment of dead monsters takes place at the eschatological Messianic banquet [=1QSamuel 1:14-15 and 2:11-12]

-Eusebius, Ecclesiatical History 3.39.1= “Thus the elders who saw John, the disciple of the Lord, remembered hearing him say how the Lord used to teach about those times, saying ‘The days are coming when vines will come forth, each with 10,000 boughs, on each bough 10,0000 branches, and each branch 10,000 twigs, and on each 10,000 grapes…”  = this is obviously a quote from the Syriac version of 2Baruch 29:5 [= notice how verse 3 says “when the Messiah will begin to be revealed…”]

[8] So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up broken pieces that was left seven baskets. 

-it’s possible that the number seven is here because the Hivites/Gibeonites of Joshua 9 were among the ‘7 Gentile nations’ of Torah stories. 

-2 Kings 4:44 = “They ate and there was left over, just as the Lord had said.” 

-Joshua 18:9 (when Josh sends out men to map out designated areas for each of the tribes) = “Map out for yourselves seven sections.” [εγραψεν αυτην… επτα μεριδας εις βιβλιον]

  -Joshua 18:9 is why there are seven loaves in Mark 8:5 = the 7 portions of land become 7 basketfuls of leftovers [επτα σπυριδας = επτα μεριδας]. Mark is making a pun between the Greek words for ‘sections’ and ‘baskets’

-Joshua 18:9 is also why Mark 6:36 has Jesus tell crowd to “go round about [κυκλω] the fields and towns.” (in Joshua it’s to map out the area)

-The clue to what Mark is doing seems to be given outright in Mark 6:34 where Jesus sees a crowd and compares them to ‘sheep without a shepherd’ [προβατα μη εχοντα ποιμενα]. Numbers 27:17 uses this phrase ‘sheep without a shepherd’ about Joshua [Ιησους] son of Nun and how “at his word, Israel goes out and comes in.” That is, he will replace Moses as leader, just as the evangelist implies Jesus’ words abrogate the now defunct Torah observances. It seems the evangelist wishes to carefully convey that his Jesus is here to replace Moses, meaning ultimately that the Torah/law is no longer valid. Notice that Mark refuses for some reason to use the phrase in Greek for Torah “the law” [νομος], using only the euphemistic “Moses,” seemingly to emphasize the ‘man-made’ element of the giving of the Pentateuch. A similar tactic is taken by the Lukan author of Acts, who implies that ‘angels’ ordained these codes. These authors rarely become overt about their rejection of Jewish ethos and nomos, but if one keeps a close eye on their ‘code,’ one can catch certain glimpses of their method.

 [9] And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away. 

-Joshua 22:6= “Joshua blessed them [ηυλογησεν] and sent them away [εξαπεστειλεν αυτους]

-Mark 8:7= “he blessed” [ευλογησας] … (verse 9:) “he dismissed [απελυσεν αυτους] them”

[10] And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. [11] And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, testing him. 

-Psalm 24:6 LXX= “This is the generation seeking the Lord” [αυτη η γενεα ζητουντων] 

-Mark 8:11= Pharisees “seeking” [ζητουντες] a sign, in verse 12: why “does this generation [η γενεα αυτη] seek a sign [σημειον]?”

-1Corinthians 1:22= “Jews ask for signs, but we preach Christ crucified.” 

-hints of Deut 29:3 here? —in the language of “testing” [πειρασμους] and “signs” [τα σημεια]

[12] And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek after a sign? Amen I say unto you— there shall no sign be given unto this generation!” 

-Mark 8:11= the Pharisees come forward “to test” (πειραζοντες αυτον) Jesus, presumably by challenging him to perform some on-the-spot instant Messianic miracle to prove his status to them, though oddly this is seemingly what he’s been doing throughout the narrative? The evangelist apparently semantically distinguishes between ‘wonders/mighty-works’ and ‘eschatological portents’?

-Psalm 95:8= mentions the ‘test’ (πειρασμου) in the ‘wilderness’ (ερημω)

-Psalm 95:11= YHWH says: “So I swore an oath in my anger; shall (=ει) they enter into my rest?” [=the implied answer is no]

-Mark 8:12= having groaned in his spirit , Jesus pronounces: “Shall (=ει) be given this generation a sign?” [=here the implied answer is an emphatic no]

-Psalm 95:10= YHWH says: “I loathed that generation (τη γενεα εκεινη)” [=the Exodus forefathers in verse 9 who “tested Me” (ουεπειρασαν με)]. Verse 10 also identifies the Hebrew slaves freed from Egypt as being those men who basically “don’t know” (ουκ εγνωσαν) anything. 

-note that Hebrews 3:11 quotes Psalm 95:8f almost entirely as if it were making it’s poetry up ex-tempore as pious advice, which is what in one way or another to varying degrees what each and every New Testament author is up to. 

-LXX Psalm 94:11, which is cited in Hebrews 3:11 (might be related to Mark 8:12 “amen I say to you” turn of phrase?)

-are the Pharisees asking to be ‘given a sign’ here meant to be an echo of Pharaoh at Exodus 7:9 who says “Give us a sign!” ? 

 [13] And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side. [14] Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. [15] And he charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.” 

Exodus 12:15 = commands of whosoever eats yeast/leaven on the seven days before Passover “their soul shall be utterly destroyed from out of Israel!” Reiterated in verses 19-20 for effect 

-Mark 8:15= beware the “leaven of the Pharisees” [ζυμης των φαρισαιων]

-Gal 5:9= “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” μικρα ζυμη ολον το φυραμα ζυμοι (Gal 5:1=ζυγω yoke/circumcision) = 1Corinthians 5:6f repeats this line and makes clear Paul is using the “yeast of malice and evil” to refer to previous Torah observance the so-called ‘hypocrisy’ he thinks it instills in its adherents. 

[16] And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.” [17] And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, “Why do you reason, because you have no bread? Do you neither perceive nor understand? Are your hearts hardened? [18a] Having eyes, do you see not? And having ears, do you not hear?

-Mark 3:5 the synagogue witnesses to the withered hand healing are called ‘callous-hearted’ by the Markan narrator.

-Mark 8:17= Jesus asks his chosen students: “Still do have ye have hearts being calloused/hardened?” 

-Psalm 95:8= μη σκληρυνητε τας καρδιας υμων

-Mark 8:18= eyes having do u not see, having ears do u not hear?” 

-Psalm 94:7= Sinners say to themselves: “the Lord won’t see  … or perceive” but to this the psalmist retorts in verse 9: “The one who created the ear, doesn’t He hear, the one who shaped the eye, does He not contemplate?” (κατανοει)

-Psalm 94:11= “The Lord knows the thoughts (κυριος γινωσκει τους διαλογισμους) of men.”

-Mark 8:17-18= “knowing (γνους) Jesus says: ‘Why do you reason (διαλογιζεσθε)…? Do you not comprehend or perceive? (ουπω νοειτε ουδε συνιετε)’

-Mark 8:33=  Peter isn’t “setting-his-mind/thinking” (θρονεις) on the “things [=plans] of God” but those of [fallible] men.

-Psalm 94:8= God tells his hypothetical audience of sinners and idolators: “O moron, think!” (=θρονησατε)

-Mark 6:52 and 8:17 both mention how the 12 didn’t “perceive” about the “bread-loaves” because theirs ‘hearts were hardened.’

-Mark 8:17-18 = Jesus attributes stubbornness to the disciples— there is a reference to Deuteronomy 29:4 = “the Lord hasn’t given you a heart to know [καρδιαν ειδεναι] or eyes to see [οϕθαλμους βλεπειν] or ears to hear [και ωτα ακουειν]…” = this would be manifestly appropriate here, as that text from Sepher Debarim basically says the Israelites didn’t ‘have faith’ even when they were shown ‘miracles’ like that of the Exodus cycle. Deut 29:2f like Mark 8 here has mention of "signs" [τα σημεια] and "testing" [πειρασμους].

-Paul calls the ‘hardening of Israel’s heart’ a ‘mystery’ at Romans 11:25 

-since he brought it up in the previous chapter, there is also the possibility that the part of Isaiah 6:9f he didn't bring up is in mind here in the background.

[18b] “Do you not remember?”

-Mark 8:18= “Do you not remember [ου μνημονευετε]?”

-Deuteronomy 32:7= “Remember!” [μνησθητε] (= more Torah language here)

[19] When I broke the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you collect?” They say unto him, “Twelve.” [20] “And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.” [21] And he said unto them, “Then how is it that you still don’t understand?!” 

-Jeremiah 5:19= when people ask, ‘Why did God do this to us?’ [=the exile to Babylon] God says because Jacob/Judah has “forsaken me” (same word in LXX as Jesus final words in Mark 15 or the stark picture drawn of the 12’s faithlessness at chapter 14: = “All forsook him.” Jesus quotes Jeremiah 5:21 in rebuking the disciples for not understanding the second miraculous feeding at Mark 8:17f= here Mark is showing us how the ‘moronic’ [=Jeremiah 5:21] 12 are actually part of those on the ‘outside’ in terms of understanding Jesus’s parables and teachings, as described in Mark 4:11f. 

-the willful yet clueless abandonment of Israel’s God by his own is a refraining complaint of prophets like Zechariah and Hosea, and is a theme which gets transferred to Jesus in Mark’s narrative, hinting that he is the OT deity or his avatar.

-as for the “fish” motif here—in chapter 11 of the book of Numbers, the people complain about the magical manna and how it is flavorless; they long for the “fishes they used to eat in Egypt” that was spiced with garlic and leeks. God angrily wonders aloud to Moses at verse 22 whether “all the fishes of the sea would be enough for them?!”

-immediately after the appearance of the manna at Exodus 16, in the next chapter Moses is tested: he asks the congregation at 17:2 “Why put YHWH to proofs?” This may be why in Mark 8 there is a (second) feeding in the wilderness followed by Pharisees “testing” Jesus. 

-Psalm 78 = it is very important to remember that biblical motifs, especially those of miracles, have an overtone of judgement and God cursing those who disbelieve him, a major point of the Torah. 78:19 has the Israelites ask rhetorically: “Shall God be able to prepare a table in the wilderness?” while verse 29 is quite similar to Mark 6:42 and 8:8, but is as negative as can be: “They ate, and were filled up exceedingly.” In the Psalm the author refers to the Torah incident in Numbers 11 where the people asked for food and God angrily sends them poisonous quail which they choke to death on. The gospel authors also want to remind their readers of this aspect of God’s wrath, but they often do so with such subtlety that one can miss it easily. But this again is nothing new—the dead sea scrolls have examples of it! 11QMelch scroll mixes Lev 25:13 with Isa 61:1-3. It also sees Isa 52:7 as a double-entendre= as “shalom” for themselves (=the righteous) and “shillum” (=retribution) for the wicked. 

[22] And he arrived at Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.

— in one his most bizarre borrowings, Mark rewrites the Sodom story!=

-Mark 8:22b = the disciples “appealed” [παρακαλουσιν] to Jesus “that he should touch him” [ινα αψηται]

-Genesis 19:5 = the Sodomites “called forth” [εξεκαλουντο] Lot to bring out the handsome men visiting him “so that we can be intimate with them” [ινα συγγενωμεθα] 

-Genesis 19:11 = Sodomites are “stricken with blindness” [επαταξαν εν αορασια] and  “disabled” [παρελυθησαν] while “seeking” [ζητουντες] the door.

-Mark 8:22a they “bring to him a blind man” [ϕερουσιν αυτω τυϕλον]

-It is possible that Mark here is punning on ‘Pharisees’ [Φαρισαιοι] via the sound-alike word for “bring” [ϕερουσιν] or earlier at verse 11 the ‘testing’ [πειραζοντες]?

[23] And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw anything. 

-Genesis 19:16 = Lot’s family are “disturbed” [εταραχθησαν] and the angels “held his hand” [εκρατησαν … τη χειρος αυτου] then in verse 17 “they led them outside” [εξηγαγον αυτους εξω] of town.

-Mark 8:23 on Jesus “taking hold of the hand [επιλαβομενος της χειρος] of the blind man, he led him outside” [εξηγαγον αυτον εξω] of town. 

[24] And he looked up, and said, “I see men as trees, walking.” 

-this appears to be an obscure reference to Jotham’s ‘parable’ at Judges 9, the only place in scripture where there are ‘trees going about’ in search of a king. After others reject the title, it is given to a thorn-bush, who warns the others at verse 15 that if they don’t ‘rely on his protection’ then fire will come forth from him to ‘devour the cedars of Lebanon!’ This makes it clear that it is YHWH who spoke out of a ‘burning thorn-bush’ in Exodus who is the true ‘monarch’ of Israel. Mark means for us to remember this when the centurions at chapter 15 ‘crown’ Jesus at his execution as ‘king of Jews’ with brambles from a ‘thorn-bush.’ 

-Zechariah 4:2 = an angel wakes up the prophet and asks: “What do you see?” [τι συ βλεπεις], a possible parallel to Mark 8:23b where Jesus asks what “did he see?” [ει τι βλεπει].  Note how Zechariah 4 has imagery of “looking,” “eyes,” allegorical “trees” etc  

[25] After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. 

-Genesis 19:17= an angel warns Lot’s family “Don’t look around [περιβλεψη] behind you [εις τα οπισω] nor stand in the adjacent vicinity.”

-Gene 46:4= God tells Jacob/Israel to “go down into Egypt” and promises using an odd colloquialism that his son will bury him: “Joseph will put his hands upon your eyes.” [επιβαλει τας χειρας αυτου επι τους οϕθαλμους σου]

-Mark 8:25a= “placed his hands on his eyes” [επεθηκε τας χειρας επι τους οϕθαλμους αυτου]

-Numbers 27:23= when Moses ordains Joshua ben Nun as his successor, he does similarly, “placing his hands” [επεθηκε τας χειρας αυτου επ’ αυτον] on him in the sight of Eleazar and the congregation.

[26] And he sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.” 

-Mark 8:26 Jesus warns the blind man he’s just healed: “Don’t enter the town!” = is this intertextual residue? (i.e. because like Sodom in Genesis 19:13-14 it would be destroyed?) Likewise, Lot tells the angel(s) rescuing him that he fears to go to Zoar due to the fire from heaven, but instead wants to hide in a cave.

-in his usual, inexplicable, mirroring technique, Mark echoes this sentence at the beginning of chapter 11, see how= 

-Mark 8:26 = Jesus says: “Don’t go into the town [εις την κωμην] or say (anything) to anyone [ειπης τινι]...”

-Mark 11:2-3 = Jesus says: “Go into the town [εις την κωμην] ... and should anyone [τις] say [ειπη] to you...”
-note also how in chapter 11 Jesus sends the 2 and they are described as entering, while in chapter 8 the blind man is sent back to his home and counseled ‘Do not enter.’ 

-is there residue from Mark’s borrowing from Joshua here? Compare=

-Mark 8:26a= “and (Jesus) sent him to his house.” 

-Joshua 24:28 “and Joshua sent the people [και απεστειλεν ιησους τον λαον] … (each) to his own place [εις τον τοπον αυτου] 

[27] And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, “Whom do men say that I am?” [28] And they answered, “’John the Baptist:’ but some say, ‘Elijah;’and others, ‘One of the prophets.’”

-Mark 8:27f = Jesus inquires who “men” [ανθρωποι] think he is: the disciples answer that people assume he is “just like any other prophet” [ως εις των προϕητων], (some manuscripts have: οτι instead of ως) likely taken from LXX Judges 16:7, 11 of Samson who says without his strength he’d be “like any other man” [ως εις των ανθρωπων]. 

 [29] And he saith unto them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answereth and saith unto him, “Thou art the Christ.” [30] And he warned them that they should tell no man of him.

The two-stage healing of another blind man occurs right before Peter’s confession of Jesus as ‘Christ’ at Mark 8:27-30— meaning Peter’s realization is wrong-headed and only partially complete, like the blind man’s seeing people as walking trees; he has to be healed again (or twice) to fully get the point or be restored to ‘true sight.’ 

-as we saw above with verse 26, there are a great many overlaps between chapter 8 and 11 that are so minuscule that it seemed redundant to list them here. Simply notice the amount of times the words ‘say,’ ‘ask,’ and ‘answer’ are repeated in Greek, along with John the Baptist being brought up out of nowhere in chapter 11, plus the scribes/Pharisees (=presumably?) ‘considering’ is meant to mirror Peter ‘thinking’ (=wrongly?) that Jesus is the ‘Christ.’ Considering that Mark is quite careful in all in his constructions, there might even be some significance in the parallel between the blind man in verse 24 perceiving “men like trees [ως δενδρα] walking around [περιπατουντας]” and Jesus “walking around” [περιπατουντος] in the temple grounds at 11:27 right after being discretely (=or ironically) hailed as some kind Davidic king by having “tree-branches” [δενδρων] (=same word!) strewn in his path (v. 8). Remember also that the image of “anthropomorphic walking trees” comes from Judges 9:8f where different kinds of trees compete for who is rightfully their ‘king.’ Jesus entry to Jerusalem seems to draw on Jehu’s subversive and unexpected coronation at 2Kings 9.

-John 1:19-21 is based on Mark 8:27-30

[31] And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 

-Three times in Mark (=8:31 , 9:31 , 10:34) he uses this term “rise” (= ανιστημι); which is a reference to Hosea 6:2 LXX = “ [εν τη ημερα τη τριτη αναστησομεθα]

-the idea of a "son of Man" who is "enlivened" could be read into Psalm LXX 79:17-18 (MT Psalm 80), where this person is at "God's right hand." 

-in his prophetical work, as we have it, Jeremiah sets up an expectation, repeating the terrible curses and punishments he foresees coming at regular intervals in his book, three times, every nine chapters or so; at Jer 7:33, 16:5, and 25:10. He then reverses these at 33:11 in a final prophecy of hope! Mark does something similar, having Jesus three times foretell his Passion, each time with slight variants. 

-Isaiah New Exodus (p 291)= “…Jesus goes to Jerusalem to not to launch a war of conquest by killing but by being killed. Not by taking others’ lives, but by giving his. This is not a denial of the prophesied coming of the Yahweh-Warrior, only a radical inversion of it. It might well be that this, ultimately, is the content of the ‘secret’ which is spoken of in the Parables chapter, and is perhaps the Markan equivalent of Paul’s μυστηριον του θεου (1Cor 2:1; cf. 1Cor 1:18-25)

[32] And he spoke the word openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.

-Compare Mark 4:33 and the discussion there of ‘openness.’

[33a] But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, “Get thee behind me, Satan!  

-this is a very surprising reference and rewrite of an incident from Zechariah, where the priest Yeshua ben Yehozadak is redeemed in a vision:

-Zechariah 3:2= the prophet intercedes for Jesus ben Yehozedak saying “The Lord rebuke you (επιτιμαο), Satan!” which has obviously influenced Mark 8 where Jesus “rebuked (επιτιμαο) Simon” and calls him “Satan.” 

-see Psalm 108:6 = “Let the devil be at his right … (verses 18-19=) his “cursed clothes shall seep into his bones like oil.” 

-Zechariah 3:1 = has Jesus the high priest standing “with the devil to his right” then in verse 3 an angel says to “remove his filthy garments”

-LXX Jeremiah 23:5 = “I will raise up to David a just “dawn” [ανατολην] … verse 6 = behold [ιδου] his named shall be called ‘Jehozadak’ [Ιωσεδεκ] 

-this bit of scripture gets reinterpreted by the author of Zechariah 6=

-Zechariah 6:11 = mentions Jesus ben Jehozadak [Ιωσεδεκ], then says in next verse “’Rising’ is his name” [ανατολη ονομα αυτου]

-Zechariah 3:8 also has Joshua the high priest and the phrase “Behold [ιδου], my servant called ‘Rising’ [ανατολην]” 

-2 Maccabees 3:10-11= high priest tells Heliodorus that Simon “that devil” has lied about the treasury

-Mark 8:33= Simon is called Satan

-2Samuel 19:21-22 =  Abishai ben Zeruiah is called “satan” for suggesting Shmei bar Gera should be killed for “cursing the Christ” [χριστος] (meaning here: King David)  

[33b] “for you think not the things that be of God, but matters that are from men.”

-Mark 8:33 = here Jesus’ death, referred to as a ‘baptism,’ is called a ‘god-thing, not a man-thing.’ = There is a double entendre when this idea is brought up later in chapter 11 when Jesus asks temple authorities whether John’s baptism was ‘from heaven or man.’  

-Mark 4:11-12 quotes Isaiah 6:9-10 and Mark 8:18 quotes Jeremiah 5:21 but the imagery is the same, and the parallels and condemnation of Peter/Simon and the 12 is obvious due to this!

-one needs to make the cognitive leap that Mark intends us to= that the ‘things of men’ he and his spokesman Jesus denigrate is the Old Testament, the previous covenant—the Torah itself! The things of God are the new testament that the Son of Man’s passion is ushering in the story. Which includes the cessation of all prophecy and the end of kosher laws and levitical purity rules.

[34] And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, “Whomsoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

[35] “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. [36] For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? [37] Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Mark 14:9 what the woman did will be told of throughout “the entire world” [ολον τον κοσμον] = relates to 8:36 = what profit if a man gains “the whole world” [τον κοσμον ολον] = the words reversed as usual procedure for the evangelist when he’s quoting himself! 

 [38] “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels!”

-more setting up of the punchline of Simon Peter’s lying denial before spectators in the courtyard of the high priest’s house. 

-Robert M Fowler, 'Loaves and Fishes' (pg 226) = “Why Mark wishes to denigrate the disciples so consistently is a matter of speculation, but it may well have something to do with Mark’s denigration of Jesus’ relatives, the Jewish religious leaders and, in general, all persons and things Jewish.”