[1] And when they came near to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sent forth two of his disciples, [2] And said unto them, “Go your way into the village opposite: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, upon which a man has never sat; untie him, and bring him!
-the OG of Zechariah 9:9 adds the detail (not present in Hebrew) of a ‘new’ colt, meaning one on which “yoke has never been laid” as per the ritual of the Red Heifer at Numbers 19:2 and Deut 21:3.
-2Samuel 6:2= the covenantal Ark may only be placed atop a “new wagon”
[3] And if any man should say to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ answer that ‘the Lord has need of him’ and straightway he will send him hither.”
-Mark 11:1-6 and 14:12-16 are based on the incident from 1Samuel 9.
-there is a pun on ‘kyrios’ here, in its Greek double-entendre of “master/Lord.”
[4] And they went their way, and found the colt tied outside the door in a place where two paths met; and they loose him. [5] And certain of them that stood there said unto them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’ [6] And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.
-Mark reuses imagery sometimes right within a few paragraphs of the same chapter. In 11:2 there is mentioned a donkey [πωλον] upon which no one “has sat” [κεκαθικε], which parallels a few lines later at verse 15 the “chairs/seats [καθεδρας] of those selling” [των πωλουντων] (The word for selling here is a homonym of donkey in Greek). In verse 6 those near the donkey “allow” [αϕηκαν] the disciples to take it. In verse 16, Jesus “doesn’t allow” [ουκ ηφιεν] anyone to ‘carry sacred vessels’ through the temple. Finally, those near the donkey ask disciples: “What is it you do?” [τι ποιειτε] (in untying) which is echoed by verse 28, the scribes asking “By what authority do you make [εν ποια … ποιεις] this happen?”
-Note this introduction of ‘standers-by’ who, like a Greek chorus, appear onstage only to ask questions of characters in this tragic drama. We encounter them again in chapter 14 with Simon Peter.
-punning in either Greek or Hebrew between words in a paragraph happens often, though it can be difficult to discern when it is a purposeful homophone or not—as in LXX Judges 10:4 where a certain ‘Jairus’ has 30 “donkeys” [pwlous] and 30 “cities” [poleis] which were known as “Jairus’s Properties” [epauleis]
[7] And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.
-when Jehu is proclaimed king, it happens that those around him=
-2Kings 9:13= “they hastened… and took each his cloak and placed it under him under the stairs.” [εσπευσαν… ελαβεν ιματιον… εθηκαν υποκατω αυτου επι το γαρεμ των αναβαθμων]
-Mark 11:7= “they threw… their cloaks… and he sat upon him (the donkey)” [επεβαλον… τα ιματια… εκαθισεν επ’ αυτω]
-Exodus 17:10a, 12= “And Joshua did as Moses told him…. and taking a stone they placed it under him.”
-Psalms of Solomon 17:21-22, 30-33 = 2Kings 12, 23 on Davidic kings triumphant entry to a city, here a “purging of Jerusalem” during that king’s ‘reform program’
[8] And many spread their garments on the road: and others cut down branches off the trees, and scattered them along the path.
The other gospels add to the midrash here, having a raucous crowd of younger people making pronouncements=
-Luke 19:37-40 uses Hebrews 2:11 ‘stones will shout’ instead of Matthew’s Psalm 3.
-Psalm 8:3 = out of the mouth of babes:—strength!
-Isaiah 26 = Jebus is the “city of strength”
-Isaiah 37:2-3 = “The children are at the cervix, but no strength is there to bring forth.”
[9] And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, “Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: [10] Blessed be the kingdom of our father David: Hosanna in the highest.”
-Matthew shouts what Mark leaves sotto voce: Matt 21 points out the obvious connection to Zechariah 9 where the ‘daughter of Zion’ is urged to “shout” when her king comes unto her, lowly and riding “upon an ass.” Though famously he takes poetry literally and makes Jesus ride two animals at once! A perfect example of how LXX borrowing causes the oddities of NT texts!
-Zechariah 9:9-11 = revisions Isaiah 62:10-12
-Psalm 24:8; Isa 43:15, and Zephaniah 3:15= “The Lord is king!”
-Mark used Psalm 118 to construct the scene of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Out of Psalm 118 he took the gate, procession, invocation, branches, temple, salvation, and maybe other motifs.
-Mark 11:9 ‘blessed who comes in lord’s name’ from psalm 117:25 LXX (=regular 118:26) and psalm 148:1. As with so much in Mark, it is uncertain if the crowd may be yelling ‘hosanna’ simply because it’s Passover, not because they favor Jesus. Unintentional irony?
-2Samuel 5:6-10 = Jebusites tell David: “You can’t get in here, the lame and the blind shall repel you.”
-Matthew 21:14 ‘lame and blind’ who come to Jesus to be cured are the eunuch and foreigner from Isaiah 56, made acceptable by the Messiah’s blessing.
-there is rabbinic tradition about how if Israel is humble the Messiah will appear in glory on the ‘clouds of heaven’ as per Daniel 7, but if they are arrogant he will arrive poor and shoddy, riding a lowly foal.
[11] And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.
-for some reason Matthew 21:17 changes this into Jesus staying overnight alone here: “And he left them and going into Bethany he lodged there.”
- is there some sense, in Mark 11:11= "Since it was already (too?) late? = is the evangelist implying that the Temple's "day" is "over"—it's time has ended?
[12] The next day, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: [13] And seeing a green fig tree from afar, he approached so perhaps he might find any fruit: but found nothing but leaves; for it wasn’t the season. [14] And Jesus answering, said unto it: “May no man eat of your fruit from now until forever!” His disciples overheard this.
-Mark 6:31 = “Not even to eat was there an opportune/convenient time.” [ουδε ϕαγειν ηυκαιρουν] This line is surprisingly mirrored in the cursing of the fig tree pericope. Mark 11:13 where “he looked to find” [ευρησει] figs, but “it wasn’t the season/time” [ου… καιρος], then in verse 14: “let none eat from you again” [μηδεις ϕαγοι]. So here we have the parallel in ‘finding time’ and ‘eating.’
-Isaiah’s New Exodus p = “R. A. Cantrell has suggested that the image of Yahweh seeking figs on his fig tree is found in Jeremiah 8:13, a text not far removed from Jeremiah’s famous temple sermon from which Jesus draws his subsequent pronouncement in the outer court (cf. Jer 7:11 in Mk 11:17) see Cantrell, R.A., ‘The cursed fig tree’ BibToday29 (1991) pp 1-58
-Micah 7:2= "There are no (fruit-)clusters to eat, no early figs that I crave."
[15a] And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple,
-Zechariah 14:21 = “there will be no trader (MT has here ‘Canaanite’ = ?) in the Lord’s house in that day”
-Mark 11:15a= “selling [πωλουντας] and buying [αγοραζοντας] in the temple [ιερον].”
-Isaiah 24:2 = The Lord will disperse all on the earth: and “common people shall be as priests [ιερευς] and one buying [αγοραζων] as one selling [πωλων]…”
[15b] and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the chairs of those that sold doves;
-Malachi 3 is meant to be underlying all this= "The Lord whom they seek has suddenly come to his temple, who shall stand when he appeareth?" Here the ‘Lord’ Jesus literally pulls the chairs out from under them so they either can’t stand or have to stand. Note also the prophetic theme embodied by Isaiah 32:2= “He will appear [ϕαινομαι] in Zion.”
[16] And he would not allow that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
[17a] And he taught, saying unto them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer?’ but ‘you have made it a den of thieves!’”
-Mark 11:17 = yokes two opposing temple views = Isaiah 56 is foreign-inclusive but Jeremiah 7:11 foresees the temple’s demolishing as being akin to that of Shiloh, an incident which, though never narrated in the OT as we have it, seems to have been some sign of comeuppance upon the ‘high places.’ We can just barely glimpse underneath all this that Mark sees the Judaism of the 2nd temple as somehow equivalent to the apostasy of Israel stating by Jeroboam I.
-Isaiah 56:7 = Jeremiah 7:8-15 = ‘house of prayer’ in common
-Jeremiah 7:15LXX= “I will throw you away from before before my face as I did your brethren, the seed of Ephraim.”
-it seems Mark has been inspired by Jeremiah 7:15’s use of the key-words ‘cast out’ and ‘Ephrem’. One guesses that this has led him to use Hosea’s section using those same terms to compose this intertwining motif here. A reader agrees with another scholar J. Duncan M. Derrett, who on page 35 of ‘The making of Mark: the scriptural bases of the earliest gospel’ (1985) opines: “a Christian Kabbala exist(s) under the surface of Mark…”
[18] And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people were astonished at his doctrine.
-Mark 1:22 = listening to Jesus, people are “overwhelmed [εξελησοντο] at his teaching [επι τη διδαχη]” because he isn’t at all like the scribes.
-Mark 11:18 the scribes fear Jesus because the populace are “astounded by his teaching” [εξελησσει επ τη διδαχη] so they begin to seek out how to destroy [απολεσωσιν] him”
Hunger, wither destroy pattern =
-Mark 2:25 = he hungered [επεινασεν]
-Mark 11:12 = he hungered [επεινασεν]
-Mark 3:1,3= “withered” hand [εξηραμμενην]
-Mark 11:20-21= “withered” tree [εξηραμμενην]
-Mark 3:6= how… to destroy [οππς… απολεσπσι]
-Mark 11:18= they sought how… to destroy [εζητουν ππς… απολεσπσιν]
-Mark 3:5= περιβλεψαμενος [at those crying out]
Mark 11:11= περιβλεψαμενος [at those keeping silent]
-Matthew 21:14 adds an episode where after this minor mini-riot Jesus “heals the blind and the lame” = an obvious reference to 2Samuel 5:8 where David at first can’t enter Jerusalem his new capitol to be crowned because, as the inhabitant taunt him, “the blind and the lame shall repel you!” This in the context of 2Samuel is an etiology about why text like Leviticus 21:16f deny all access to certain maimed or handicapped persons, an apologetical stance one finds throughout Jewish writings, see dead sea scroll where it’s explained that the deaf aren’t allowed in the sacred precincts simply because they wouldn’t be able to hear the service.
-Psalm 35:14-16 cripples mocked me, “gnashing their teeth at me” (εβρυξαν επ’ εμε τους οδοντας)
[19] And when even was come, he went out of the city.
-when rewriting all this, Luke 21:37 makes Jesus temple preaching last several days, with him “lodging” [ηυλιζετο] every night at the Mount of Olives. Luke has borrowed this from Matthew 21:17 where that evangelist has made the inference from Mark that Jesus “camps out” [ηυλισθη] at Bethany, though for Matt this is without the other disciples. Luke 21:38 mentions also how “all the people rose early [ωρθριζε] to hear him”—which is an obvious reference to Hosea 6:1’s “In their affliction they shall rise early [ωρθριουσι], saying, ‘We should return to the Lord.’” (a phrase refrained at Hosea 14:1, which becomes in Catholic liturgy part of Tenebrae service). Hosea 6 has several bits about ‘getting up a dawn’ to ‘meet the Lord’; a situation not inimical to the conclusion to the gospel of Mark. This “lodging/camping” language may be a vestige from Joshua 8:9 where Joshua “lodged in the midst of the people” while verse 10 says in Greek: “Jesus rose early in the morning” (a phrase with some resonance for our gospel editors)
[20] And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. [21] And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, “Master, behold, the fig tree which you cursed has withered away!”
-Hosea 9:15= “Because of Gilgal, I will cast them out [εκβαλω] of my house, no way will I love them!”
-Hosea 9:10= “like an early fig-tree [ως… συκη πρωιμον] I beheld your fathers.”
-Mark 11:20= πρωι (morning coming near) ειδον την συκην, εξηραμμενην εκ ριζων
-Hosea 9:16= Ephraim “is dried up at the roots” [ριζας αυτου εξηρανθη] and “he shall bear fruit no longer [ουκ ετι ουκ μη].”
By borrowing this cursing language Mark is showing us that Jesus gesture of withering this tree is like God’s desire to give Jewesses ‘miscarrying wombs’ in the rest of Hosea 9. Though it is difficult to tell who is borrowing whose motifs, Jeremiah 7:12-14 mentions the destruction of Shiloh, the “place where (God) camped his tent previously” but which he allowed to be razed due its denizens becomes idolators. In vengeance, YHWH promises through his prophet (Jeremiah 7:15=) “I will drive you out of my sight … as I did to the seed of Ephraim.”
- Shiloh’s destruction is never narrated anywhere in OT except Psalm 78:60, but see some commentary on 1Samuel 5:1-12.
[22] And Jesus answering saith unto them, “Have faith in God. [23] For Amen I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, ‘Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea!’ and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he asks.”
-Mark talking about the temple mount here. It would be in front of them here as described in this scene. The gospel author cannot resist turning even the slightest homily into a polemical tirade! Casting a cold eye over the Romans enslavement of untold thousands, all of which is nothing more than fun fodder for droll comment and dry sarcasm by the New Testament editors, whoever they may have been.
-1 Corinthians 13:2= “if I have faith to remove mountain...”
-Of course a Pauline saying would be in view here, considering the underlying and underhanded anti-Judaism involved here.
-Isaiah 19: 23-5 “the mountain of the temple of YHWH shall be be lifted high and tower over other mountains and hills…”
-Isaiah 40:4 = “every mountain and hill will be made low!” = see how this was applied to Herod the Great by the Rabbis later in his capacity as leveler of previous temple mount to enlarge and rebuilt the edifice on a much grander scale. See also how Mark 11: where pure and total faith can cause “this mountain be cast into the sea” is a very violent attitude toward the temple, gloating over it’s torching by the Roman emperor Vespasian’s (=god) eldest boy, the military commander Titus (the son of god).
-Ezek 17:9 = the tree Israel won't flourish on foreign soil, but will wither at the root if not planted on a lofty mountain.
[24] “Therefore I say unto you, ‘Whatever things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. [25] And when you stand praying, if you’re holding something against anyone—forgive!: so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive your trespasses. [26] But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.’”
-a fundamental tenet of Christianity, this is taken from Jesus Ben Sirach=
-Ben Sira 28:2 = “When praying, if you forgive, your sins are then forgiven.” [ὁ ἐκδικῶν παρὰ κυρίου εὑρήσει ἐκδίκησιν καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ διατηρῶν διατηρήσει ἄφες ἀδίκημα τῷ πλησίον σου καὶ τότε δεηθέντος σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι σου λυθήσονται ]
[27] And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders.
-Mark 11:21 = Peter mentions the fig-tree which Jesus had “cursed” [κατηρασω]
-Genesis 3:14 = the snake is “cursed” [επικαταρατος]
-Mark 11:14 = Jesus promises at the Passover feast: “No longer [μηκετι]” will I consume wine “into the ages (i.e. ‘forever’) [εις τον αιωνα]”
-Genesis 3:22 = God thinks about Adam: “So he doesn’t [μηποτε]” consume the fruit of life and the live “forever/into the ages” [εις τον αιωνα]
-Mark 11:13 “Behold, the fig-tree [ιδων συκην] … with leaves [ϕυλλα] (=repeated twice)” and in verse 14 “none shall eat your fruit!” [μηδεις καρπον ϕαγοι]
-Genesis 3:1 = “Thou shalt not eat [ου μη ϕαγητε]” and in verse 6: “she beheld [ειδεν] … the fruit [καρπου] … and she ate [εϕαγε] … he ate [εϕαγον]… (line 7=) the fig-tree leaves [ϕυλλα συκης]”
-Genesis 3:10 = Adam tells God how he “heard [ηκουσα] God walking around [περιπατουντος]” the garden in the afternoon-breeze.-Mark 11:14 = the disciples “heard” [ηκουον] Jesus curse of the tree, then in line 27 Jesus is in the “holy-place” [ιερα] and he is “walking around” [περιπατουντος]” (Eden represents the temple just as Adam is the Davidic king)
[28] They questioned: “By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things? [29] And Jesus answered and said unto them, “I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
-at three places the following ideas appear grouped near each other in a cluster: astonishment, casting, questioning = at Mark 1:21-27, 6:1-3. 11:15-18, 28.
[30] “The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? Answer me!”
-Job 38:3 = God sarcastically gives a series of rhetorical examples to the mortal Job about how insignificant he is compared to a deity: “I will ask you [ερωτησω δε σε], and you will answer me!” [συ δε μοι αποκριθητι] (i.e. ‘where were you when I made stars etc…’)
-Micah 6:3= annoyed and tired of how he is treated by his people, an exasperated God asks them: “What [τι] did I do [εποιησα] to you [σοι]? Answer me! [αποκριθητι μοι]”
-At Mark 11:28 Jewish authorities interrogate Jesus: “Who [τις] to you [σοι] gave permission to do [ποιεις] these things?” But Jesus hotly retorts back: “Was John’s baptism earthly or divine? You answer me! [αποκριθητε μοι]”
-Notice how in the above two examples, it is God’s divine prerogative to ask questions and demand answers, which is probably why Jesus refuses to respond and interrogates his interlocutors thus.
[31] And they reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we shall say, ‘From heaven’; he will say, ‘Why then did ye not believe him?’ [32a] But if we shall say, ‘Of men…'"
-Their inner dialogue trails off here, interrupted to make way for the narrator’s aside as to why they won’t express their opinion.
[32b] For they feared the crowd: for all men held (the opinion) that John definitely was a prophet.
- verse 32b here =
- “They feared the crowd (εϕοβουντο τον οχλον) for they all held (the opinion) John to certainly be a prophet (απαντες γαρ ειχον τον Ιωαννην οντως οτι προϕητης ην).”
repeats a sentence from 6:19-20=
“Herodias held (a grudge) against him… (η δε Ηρωδιας ενειχον αυτω) [but wasn’t able to murder him because] for Herod feared John…” (ο γαρ Ηρωδης εϕοβειτο τον Ιωαννην)
-Note how whenever Mark quotes himself reverses the word order and often spins the phrase around 180 degrees. It is also interesting that the establishment representatives’ anxiety about the effect John can have on the general public is similar to Antipas’ reason for his pre-emptive strike against the rabble-rousing preacher—the apprehension that apocalyptic harangues can inspire unruly mobs.
[33] And they answered and said unto Jesus, “We don’t know.” And Jesus answering saith unto them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
-‘Isaiah’s New Exodus’ (p 339) = “Jesus’ action in the Temple is not only a matter of acting in an authoritative way. … It specifically presages judgment. This is, we would urge, why they want to kill him. … This is why Jesus points to John’s baptism: their refusal to prepare through repentance is the grounds for his announcement of judgment. So the authorities reason among themselves (Mark 12:31-32). Once again, wise in their own conceits, they cleverly extricate themselves by replying, with extraordinarily wonderful irony perhaps some of the finest in Mark’s gospel), that they do not know. Quite so.”
-Josephus Contra Apionem 1.318= Manetho stated that Judea’s capitol city was named ‘Hierosolyma’ (=how Jerusalem is spelled in Greek) because “Jews are so sacrilegious,” making a homonym pun by taking the city name as indicating “Plunderers-of-temples.’ The Egyptian historian claims the Jews later altered the name slightly to hide this embarrassing origin story.
-So Mark is not alone in anti-Semitically accusing the Jews of being sacrilegious and therefore gloating over they’re soon-to-be-seen destruction, which must be deserved because why else would these rumors and enmities be so prevalent? An attitude leading to atrocities up to own recent memories.
-Mark reuses imagery sometimes right within a few paragraphs of the same chapter. In 11:2 there is mentioned a donkey [πωλον] upon which no one “has sat” [κεκαθικε], which parallels a few lines later at verse 15 the “chairs/seats [καθεδρας] of those selling” [των πωλουντων] (The word for selling here is a homonym of donkey in Greek). In verse 6 those near the donkey “allow” [αϕηκαν] the disciples to take it. In verse 16, Jesus “doesn’t allow” [ουκ ηφιεν] anyone to ‘carry sacred vessels’ through the temple. Finally, those near the donkey ask disciples: “What is it you do?” [τι ποιειτε] (in untying) which is echoed by verse 28, the scribes asking “By what authority do you make [εν ποια … ποιεις] this happen?”
No comments:
Post a Comment