[1] And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.
-the “morning” [πρωιι] and the crowd at verse 8 speaking as one with emphasis on “doing” seems to echo Exodus 24:3 and 7 where the people “answer as one” to Moses and swear “to do” all he’s entailed. The prophet “rose early in the morning” [τοπρωιι] (Exod 24:4) for all this. Later Matthew parodies this to monstrous effect where the people collectively shout together in an ironic oath accept metaphysical blood “upon themselves” in an attempt to emulate Exodus 24 where the people accept gracefully as Moses splashes/dashes blood “upon them.”
-Josephus, War 6.5.3 (303f) Jesus ben Ananias is “led” (αναγειν) to the Roman eparch. He like, our gospel character of the same name, uses Jeremiad imagery of “voice of the bridegroom: etc to prophesy the fall of the Temple. For his pains he is, again like Mark’s Jesus, “scourged” for his pains and also “silent before his interlocutors.”
-LXX of Hosea 10:6 = “having bound/tied him/it they brought him/it to Assyria as a gift for king Joreb.”
-Luke 23:7 = Having bound Jesus = Cyril of Jerusalem, Tertullian and Iranaeus mention this verse in this odd Hosean context!
[2] And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And the answer [from Jesus ]was: “You say so.” [3] And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he made no response. [4] And Pilate asked him again, saying, “You answer nothing? Look how much testimony is damning to you.” [5] But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate wondered about it.
-Pilate “marvels” [θαυμαζειν] at Jesus silence, just as the tyrant Antiochus IV “marvels” [εθαυμασαν] at the fortitude of the tortured priest Eleazar at 4Mac 17:16-17.
[6] Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. [7] And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.
-Mark 15:7 Barabbas had “done murder” [ϕονον] then in verse 10 Pilate know the high priests turned him over “due to envy” [ϕθονον], an interesting quasi-anagram.
-Genesis 49:6= Israel tells how his sons Simeon and Levi: “completed injustice by their sects. May their counsel [βουλην] not be in my life, nor their conspiracies [συστασει]… for in a rage they have committed murder [απεκτειναν]…”
-Mark 15:1, 7 = while “in counsel” [συμβουλιον] (chambers) there is mentioned another defendant who is charged with “conspiracy” [συστασιαστων] to commit “murder.”
[8] And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them. [9] But Pilate answered them, saying, “Would you prefer that I release unto you the King of the Jews?” [10] For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.
-Book of Wisdom 2:24 = “Through the envy [ϕθονος] of the devil, death entered the world and those who belong to him experience it.”
[11] But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.
- like two goats on the day of Atonement, one is be the ‘escaped goat’ and is released. Otherwise there is no logical reason why an obviously guilty person would be released except to fulfill this mythical typology.
[12] And Pilate answered and said again unto them, “What then shall I do to him whom you call ‘ King of the Jews?’” [13] And they cried out again, “Crucify him!”
-Esther 7:9 = and the king said “Let him be crucified” [σταυροθητω]
-Matthew 27:22 = and the crowd said: “Let him be crucified” [σταυροθητω]
[14] Then Pilate said unto them, “Why, what evil hath he done?” And they cried out the more exceedingly, “Crucify him!”
-Mark 15:12, 14= “responding [αποκριθεις] … he said [ειπεν] … ‘What [τι] … has he done?’ [εποιησεν]”
-1Samuel 20:32-33 = like Pilate here with the lynch mob, prince Jonathan doesn’t understand why Saul is so murderously incensed at David= “Responding [αποκριθεις] … he said [ειπεν] … ‘Why should he die? What has he done?’ [τι πεποιηκε].” He realizes his father plans “evil” [κακια] against his friend.
-Esther 5:14 = wife of Haman wants Mordecai hanged
-Pilate’s question at Mark 15:14 “what evil has he done?” [τι γαρ εποιησεν κακον] vaguely connects to Torah stipulations about animals with who are to be without defect= see Leviticus 22:18-25 and Deuteronomy 15:21.
[15] And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.
-compare Mark 15:6-7 “Due to the holiday he (=Pilate) released to them one prisoner, whoever they asked for.” with Esther 2:18 where Artaxerxes makes a banquet and then seemingly declares some kind of ‘general amnesty’ in his realm.
-Psalm 73:14 = the speaker is whipped in the morning, as here (it seems to be about 9 am at this point in the Passion Narrative)
-Matthew 27:24= Pilate's sarcastic handwashing gesture is meant to parody the "red heifer" ritual of Deuteronomy 21:1-9 where the elder "wash their hands" after breaking the neck of a cow—verses 7-8 mention "innocent blood", just as Pilate states he is "innocent" of this "blood."
-2Samuel 1:16= David tells Amelekite "Your blood be on your head ... since you've killed the Lord's Christ" = is this where Matthew 27:25 is drawn from?
[16] And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.
Mark 4:18 = “among thorns sown” [ακανθας σπειρομενοι]
-Mark 15:16 = the centurions of the “cohort” [σπειρω] make Jesus a crown of “thorns” [ακανθινον]
[17] And they clothed him with purple,
-Josephus, Antiq 11.6.10f (255) King tells Haman to give Mordecai “mark of honor” [χρηστος συμβουλος]. Just as in the first sentence of LXX Psalm 107, this Greek word ‘chrestos’ here cannot have failed to grab the notice of Gospel-minded interpreter, as this phrase could easily be metaphorically read as saying ‘the symbol of the cross.’ This might explain this possible use of another detail from Josephus’ embellishment of the Esther story in Jesus’ mocking as a mock-king.
Mark 15:17= ενδυουσιν αυτον πορϕυραν (they put him in purple), v 20 ενεπαιξαν (=they mocked/jested)
-Josephus, Antiq 11.6.10f (256)= Haman bids Mordecai to “put on some purple” [ενδυσασθαι την πορϕυραν…] v257 Mordecai thinks this is “in jest” [χλευαζεσθαι].
-Sirach 40:4= Fear of death is always bothering the imaginations of all men: "from them that wear purple and a crown [υακινθινον και στεϕανον] to a regular linen shirt."
-2Sam 1:24= David sings a lament: “Daughters of Israel, cry for Saul, the one dressing you [] in scarlet [/////] apparel…”
-Matthew 27: = “they undressed [////] him and put on him a scarlet [] cloak.”
-1Sam 29:6-8= King Achish tells David: “I didn’t find anything bad [/////] against you, but in the opinion of my counsellors you’re no good. If you get out of here without a fuss then in no way will you do evil [//////] in their sight.” David replies: “What did I do [////] to you?”
and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head,
-Psalm 89:38b the psalmist accuses his hearers of “treating with contempt your own Anointed One, raising him up (=? in MT this is “you’ve spurned the Messiah [=meaning either ‘priest’ or ‘king’ in the context—note how this “raising” might suggest crucifixion])… profaning his sanctuary [αγιασμα]” (in Hebrew of the MT this is “you dashed his crown [noru] to the dust”)= note how the “nezer” theme may here be present again, echoed from the mysterious ‘Nazareth' from chapter 1.
[18] And began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
-in Philo’s “Pro Flacco’ the beggar ‘Carabas’ is “hailed as ‘Maran’” which is explained as being what Syrians called their king. The author of this work suggests the reader find other commentaries with a discussion of this odd episode and it’s possible influence on the Passion Narrative.
[19] And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.
-Ascension of Isaiah 5:1-2 = after Isaiah sentenced to death, the fake prophets who accused him also mock him.
-1Kings 22:16 Ahab put Micaiah “under oath” to tell the truth and in 1Kings22:24 Zedekiah the false prophet ‘slaps’ Micaiah. At this point in the story Micaiah stops being coy and presages the exact doom of Israel’s king. Might there be a connection to how Jesus refuses to answer at first in his trial but at a certain point responds with a sentence that clearly is meant to be a poetical image of justice coming violently upon his accusers at some point in the future.
[20a] And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him,
-Mark 15:20= “took off [εξεδυσαν] … put on [ενεδυσαν] … they led him out [εξαγουσιν].”
-again, Mark seems to parodying Temple rituals! This and the next line are obviously meant to mirror Leviticus 6:11, where the high priest making an atonement on behalf of a man who has sworn falsely (=much like Simon a few hours before?) is instructed to: “take off his clothes [εκδυσεται] and put on [ενδυσεται] some other apparel and he shall bring forth [εξοισει] the burnt remains outside [εξω] the camp unto a clean place [τοπον].” =Note also how Mark 15:22 has “they brought him to a place [τοπον] called … Skull.” (=so this, like so many details here, is a typological reversal—the opposite of ‘clean’ as prescribed by the Torah). Even perhaps Leviticus 6:12 could have been of interest to Mark, the priest “taking up wood to place it” might be read as related to crucifixion somehow.
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[20b] and led him out to crucify him.
-1 Kings 21:13 = Naboth = “They bore (false) witness against him and then led him [εξηγαγον] outside the city to stone him.”
-note that it is people who have been paid specifically to “eat” at the table on a fast day with Naboth, who betray with false testimony. Just as in Mark 2 we saw Jesus not fasting and now in 14-15 the pseudo-recounting of “speaking against” something, “God and king” for Naboth and the Temple for Jesus.
-Mark 15:20 = “They led him out [εξαγουσιν] to crucify him [σταυρωσωσιν].”
[21] And they compelled one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
-this one is complex and a wild guess. Does the naming of two sons here suggest Jacob/Israel and Esau/Edom? The name “Alexander” means “man [andros] of struggle [alex]” (=compare how Isaac’s twin sons ‘struggled in the womb’) and Rufus means “red” in Greek, the color Genesis 25:25 says Esau was born “completely fire-red [πυρρακης].” The detail here of their father “coming in from a field [αγρου]” resembles Jacob’s father mistaking him for his brother Edom (which also means ‘red’) because he smells like “ a field” [αγρου]. Genesis 25:27 calls Esau a “man-of-the-country/outdoorsman” [αγροικος] and several times referred to as being ‘in the plain’ [πεδιου] hunting.
[22] And they brought him unto the place called Golgotha (which is, being interpreted: ‘The place of a skull’)
-Gilgal?
[23] They tried to give him wine to drink, mixed with myrrh—but he wouldn’t accept it.
-Leviticus 10:8-9= “Because you have the Lord’s anointing ointment [χρισεως] upon you… wine [οινον] you shall not drink [ου πιεσθε]
-Mark 15:23= “gave wine [οινον] to drink [πιειν] which he did not [ουκ] take.”
-Proverbs 31:6-7= on how women of Jerusalem were expected to give criminals on their way to executions some "drugged wine" out of mercy.
[24] And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.
–Matthew has embroidered some non-retaliatory ideas couched in the terms he’s taken from Mark’s passion story. Matthew 5:39-41 has Jesus say: “Whoever slaps [ραπιζει] … (then counsels that whoever wants to sue for your shirt) give them your coat [το ιματιον] and the one (Roman soldier) who conscripts you [αγγαρευσει],” go for him the extra mile. Matthew has drawn all this from the following:
-Mark 14:65 = they spit at and “slap” [ραπισμασιν] Jesus at his trial
-Mark 15:20 = the Roman soldiers “conscript” [αγγαρευουσιν] Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross, then they gamble over the prisoner’s “coat” [τα ιματια]
-Matthew has very likely known and studied Mark’s text so well that he has been able to creatively draw upon every last bit he can use for his inventive adventure, to correct and overtake and likely replace Mark as THE Christian scripture about the Christ.
[25] And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
-Jeremiah 10:3-5 = a wooden idol set up like a scarecrow in a cucumber field. (inspiration for the medieval Abd Al-Jabbar saying Jesus executed in field of “vegetables and melons.”)
-is the sedile of this cross meant to be an ironic "throne"? See Psalm 96:1, 10= "The Lord reigns from the tree."
[26] And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
-Mark 15:26= “the inscription [επιραϕη] was spelled out [επιγεγραμμενη]”
-this is a very faint parody of the first version of the “two tablets [πλακες] with writing” [η γραϕη] that have “engraved inscription” [γεγραμμεναι] of law-codes from Exodus 32:15-16 that Moses breaks in anger after discovering Aaron’s golden calf idol. He ceremonial mixes the dust of the smashed stone-tablets with water. In an excellent example of the intertextuality of the Torah, this scene itself is obviously a parody of the ‘suspected adultress’ sotah ordeal from the book of Numbers. The people have been ‘unfaithful’ to their spouse YHWH, leaving aside the semantics of the gold calf being meant to represent him.
-Colossians 2:14 has Christ nailing to the cross “the ordinances” [χειρογραφον] against us, something possibly alluded to in Mark 15:26= a ‘superscription’ [επιγραφη] (presumably nailed to the cross) marking the condemned man as ‘King of Jews.’ Both of these words used have the connotation of the kind of negative symbology given to the law/Torah by Paul. These Christian writer/theologians are comparing the Pentateuch to a written death sentence. This is a very Hellenistic viewpoint.
-Colossians 2:14 has Christ nailing to the cross “the ordinances” [χειρογραφον] against us, something possibly alluded to in Mark 15:26= a ‘superscription’ [επιγραφη] (presumably nailed to the cross) marking the condemned man as ‘King of Jews.’ Both of these words used have the connotation of the kind of negative symbology given to the law/Torah by Paul. These Christian writer/theologians are comparing the Pentateuch to a written death sentence. This is a very Hellenistic viewpoint.
-Antiquities 14.31 (line 36f) = cites a lost work of the Greek geographer Strabo on how a golden grapevine inscribed “From Alexander, King of the Jews” was displayed at the Capitoline temple of Jupiter in imperial Rome. It seems to have been seized as booty by Pompey’s invasion in 63 BCE. This would have been a common sight then, in the largest city in the world. (=Is this inspiration for the gospels fictional detail about a ‘King of the Jews’ inscription affixed to Christ’s crucifix for whatever reason?)
-Esther 3:14= the decree that Jews are to be killed = “Copies [αντιγραϕα] of this decree [επιστολων] were (publicly) displayed [εξετιθετο] everywhere.” (the words used give the impression of something ‘affixed’ in place)
-Jeremiah 17:1 = “The sin of Judah with a stylus of iron … carved and written upon the plaque of their heart.” Verses 19-20 of that chapter have the phrase “king of the Jews” twice. Jeremiah’s main concern is “not lifting a burden” on the Sabbath—is this connected to Simon “lifting” the beam of the cross?
[27] And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.
-later on Luke adds an extra bit here, based on Joseph in Genesis=
-Genesis 40:14= Joseph implores Pharaoh’s wine-taster, one of two people he is in prison with, to: “Remember me [μνησθητι μου] … whenever [οταν] good happens to you (=i.e. you are freed and restored to position).”
-one of the two ‘convicts’ being crucified along side Jesus in Luke 23, begs him in verse 42: “Remember me [μνησθητι μου] Lord, whenever [οταν] you get to your Kingdom.”
[28] And the scripture was fulfilled, which says” ‘And he was counted among transgressors.’
-this explicit quoting of Isaiah seems out of character for Mark, and has been suspected by other scholars of being inserted. At any rate, he is as usual more laconic here than his later imitators. He needs 'malefactors’ to be executed along with the ‘servant’ just as Isaiah’s enigmatic poetry seems to suggest. Later Matthew picks up on this and parallels the ‘rich’ theme that Mark here ignores and makes Joseph of Arimathea unwittingly fulfill the other half of that prophecy about the righteous sufferer making his grave with the wealth, which in Hebrew poetry is meant to twin the ‘transgressors’ in the same verse.
[29] And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, [30] Save thyself, and come down from the cross.”
-Mark 15:29 references both=
Lamentations 2:15= “All them who pass by in the way whistle and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Isn’t she the city that is a crown of glory?…’
Lamentations 3:30= “He will give to the one hitting him his cheek.”
-LXX Isaiah 27:7 = “who struck others [επαταξε] … shall be stricken” [πληγησεται]
-Mark 15:19 = “they beat [ετυπτον] … and spat [ενπτυον] (anagrams!)
-Psalm 107:12 = the heart of theirs was “humbled” [εταπεινωθη]
-Mark 15:32 = those crucified with him “berated him” [ωνειδιζον]
-Isaiah 27:8 = “berating” [ωνειδιζων]
[31] Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, “He saved others; himself he cannot save.
-the martyrs of 4Maccabees are often offered the chance to “save themselves”; Eleazar at 5:6 and 6:15, 27 and the 7 brothers at 10:1, 13 and 10:13 (see also 15:26-27).
-Matthew 27:43 (=”He relied upon God—let Him rescue [ρυσασθω] him now! For he said: ‘I am God’s son!”) is based on Wisdom 2:18= “If he’s the righteous [δικαιος] son of God let him be delivered [ρυσεται] out of the (cf. verses 13, 16). It is also from this verse we can see why the guard at Mark 15 declares Jesus ‘truly son of God’ while the same figure at Luke 23:47 calls him ‘surely a righteous man!’ Wisdom 2 makes clear they are one and the same as biblical concepts.
-Although never stated yet heavily implied, Mark’s Jesus could save himself at anytime. His ‘self-righteous suicide’ is not unlike that of Socrates in Greece centuries before: both are ‘gadflies’ to the establishment who allow themselves to be done in as a curse upon those who kill, thus he defeats them and shows himself justified in martyrdom. Plato, like Mark in his secretive yet in-your-face jokes, presents his master’s death as his whole body going numb from poison, lingering on a description of his rigor-mortis erect virile member, a figurative flipping of the bird to his enemies. That the gospel author is doing something similar, though soto voce, is quite likely. Suicide in order ‘unleash a fury’ (=in Hellenistic parlance) was not unknown even in Asia. Cicero (de Divinatione 1:47) tells how the Indian guru Calanus was captured by Alexander the Great and commanded to slavishly perform a ‘sacred song’ in honor of ‘flames’ before the conqueror’s court. Instead the Hindu holy-man lit himself on fire, calling out to the king in a curse: “See you soon!” as he jumped onto his own funeral pyre, an immolation emulated again during the Vietnam era near our own times. Josephus’ defensive polemical tract ‘Against Apion’ 19 quotes the Greek writer Clearchus as claiming that Aristotle had opined that the Jews are descended from “Indian philosophers” called the “Calani.” Perhaps Josephus himself believed something such, or meant to present others as believing so; for at War 7.351-357, the famous Masada mass-suicide, the leader Eleazar (=Lazarus?) ben Yair (=Jairus?) pleads with his comrades to in their deaths try to “imitate the Indian philosophers.” =Truly an extraordinary bit of evidence of Jewish identity politics! Note how strange it is that Plato’s Republic (2.361e – 262a) says that the hypothetical and ideal ‘just man/righteous one’ may often “have to endure crucifixion, due to the jealousy of the unjust.” How peculiar! Though Plato is referring to impalement or hanging not Roman style execution, the parallel is telling as to how ancient moral and ethical speculations might unfold. In the same way Jesus can foresee the temple’s destruction right before he is arrested, so too Socrates at Plato’s Apology 39c where he quips: “on the point of death, I am now in the state where men are wont to prophesy.”
[32] ‘Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.’ And they that were crucified with him reviled him.
-Mark 15:32 = “That we should know [ινα ιδωμεν] and believe. [και πιστευσωμεν]”
-Isaiah 53:1 LXX = “who has believed? [επιστευσε]” … verse 2 “We beheld him” [ειδομεν αυτον] (here the Greek word for beheld is homonym of know)
-Psalm 35:17-21 "My smirking foes say of me (viewing my torture): 'God, how we relish this sight!'"
[33] And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
-Jeremiah 15:9 = warns Jerusalem that “her sun is set in the middle hour of the day”
-Exodus 10:22 sun blotted out for three days in Egypt.
-Mark 15:33 = σκοτος εγενετο εϕ’ ολην την γην
-Amos 8:9 = “The sun shall set at midday and over the land [επι της γης] shall be darkness [συσκοτασει].”
[34] And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? (which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?)”
-1Kings 18:27-28 = At “midday” [μεσημβρια] Elijah mocks the prophets of Baal, saying their ‘god’ [θεος in verse 24] can’t hear them, maybe they should “cry out with a loud(er) voice [ϕωνη μεγαλη].”
-Mark has rescued Elijah’s story in an extremely eccentric way here. Just like the author of 1Kings, Mark also mentions a time of day, then Jesus' yelling with "a loud voice [ϕωνην μεγαλην]" and also "crying out [εβοησεν]"(=paralleled by Elijah's dare to "yell out [βοατε] in the name of your God" at 1Kings 18:24) to a God who (seemingly) doesn’t listen, or at least ironically doesn’t appear to, though Mark’s mention of Psalm 22 would make it clear from the overall vibe of that prayer that everything goes right ultimately for the righteous sufferer. Note also the reversal of Elijah "sneering" [εμυκτηρισεν] at the failed Baal devotees at 1Kings 18: being turned into onlookers mocking Jesus and along with mention of Elijah and expectation of a miracle, these side-characters who function like a Greek chorus act almost as if they have read 1Kings—but of course it is their creator Mark who has done so and expects us to recognize this. The reader, the audience, was intended to respond by remembering, just as the hearers of Deuteronomy are exhorted to.
-Luke 23:34's “Forgive them for they know not” is exact quote from Psalm 108:4.
-Luke //////= “Father into your hands I commend my spirit” is an exact word-for-word quote of Psalm 31:5 = [εις χειρας σου παραθησομαι το πνευμα μου] (=also the 18th line has δικαιος)
-Wisdom 3:1= the souls of the just [δικαιος] are in God’s hand.”
-2 Samuel 15:26 = David remarks: “If God is not with me, then let him do whatever he pleases with me.”
[35] And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, “Behold, he calls Elijah!” [36] And one ran and filled a sponge with of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying “Leave off; let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”’
-Mark 15:36 those looking on command “Let him be!” [αϕετε] which echoes a word in the next line, where Jesus “lets go” [αϕιες] a loud cry.
-is it meant to be ironic that in 15: 36 the bystanders wonder whether Elijah will “lower him” [καθελων] while not much later Joseph comes to “lower him” [καθελειν]
[37] And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
-Lamentations 2:17 = God rends his garments in grief. Isaiah 6 implies the Temple curtain is the bottom hem of God’s robes. Does Mark mean for us to imaging his tearing a cloak to mark his son’s death?
-2Kings 2:11 = Elijah is taken up by chariot of fire with “a lot of rumbling” [συσσεισμω] = this detail may have inspired Matthew 27:51’s adding of a sudden “earthquake” [εσεισθη] which leads to his also borrowing (in verse 52) from Ezekiel’s “dry bones” chapter 37.
-Matthew was aware of Mark’s use of the Elijah/Elisha cycle, and adds/borrow accordingly; see=
-Matt 27:51a= curtain rent “in two” [εις δυο]
-2Kings 2:12 = in grief Elisha rips his clothes “in two” [εις δυο]
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[38] Just then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
-1 Maccabees 1:22 and Antiquities 12.5.4 (250) Antiochus IV took away the veil in 169 BCE. = Pausanias Description of Greece 5.12.4 = the parapetasma wool veil in Olympian temple in Greece donated by one “Antiochus, king of Syria.” [could this indeed be the legendary pre-Maccabean cloth stolen long before]
-Bellum 5.5.4 (213-214) the temple veil had 4 colors with a panorama of the heavens displayed
-Sirach 50:5-7 = high priest Simon coming out of the veil, is compared to a star, the sun, moon, rainbow.
-Bavli, Gittin 56b = Titus rent veil with sword and blood flowed out
-Testament of Benjamin 9:4 = the curtain (απλομα) of the sanctuary is rent and God’s spirit is “poured upon the Gentiles, like fire.”
-R. Brown, ‘Death of the Messiah’ (vol 2 page 1108-1113) = thinks the rending of the veil is negative, or at least not positive.
[39] When the centurion, who stood over against him, beholding how he’d breathed his last, and gave up the ghost, he said: “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
-in another incredible reuse of phrasing from an older scripture, the centurion’s confession is likely based on 1Kings 18:39 where those who witness Elijah calling down fire from heaven confess: “Truly [αληθως] the Lord is God, he is God!”
-this matches exactly the crucifixion guard’s use of “indeed/certainly” [αληθως] and Mark has exchanged the LXX “he is” [αυτος] for it’s Greek homonym “this here (man)” [ουτος]. He's changes 'autos theos' [=he is God] into 'outos ... uios' [this one is God's ... (son)] and makes 'esti' into 'en.' Very clever use of puns and homonyms.
-2 Samuel 18:9 = after Absalom is riding a mule through a very thick forest, he gets his head stuck between a great gnarled oak tree (“caught between heaven and earth” is how the text puts it). In verse 10, a “certain man”—presumably a centurion since verse 1 mentioned David appointing such figures for this battle—reports to Joab that he saw [ειδεν] the thing happen, telling [ειπεν] him how he saw the king’s son ‘hanging’ in a tree. When he is asked why he didn’t “strike him dead” right there, he replies that nothing, not even being bribed by silver, could make him “harm the lad.” The man instructs Joab to “stand right opposite” [στηση εξεναντιας] him as he goes to tell the king.
-2 Samuel 18:9 = after Absalom is riding a mule through a very thick forest, he gets his head stuck between a great gnarled oak tree (“caught between heaven and earth” is how the text puts it). In verse 10, a “certain man”—presumably a centurion since verse 1 mentioned David appointing such figures for this battle—reports to Joab that he saw [ειδεν] the thing happen, telling [ειπεν] him how he saw the king’s son ‘hanging’ in a tree. When he is asked why he didn’t “strike him dead” right there, he replies that nothing, not even being bribed by silver, could make him “harm the lad.” The man instructs Joab to “stand right opposite” [στηση εξεναντιας] him as he goes to tell the king.
-Mark 15:39 = The guard who “stood right opposite” [παρεστηκως εξ εναντιας] Jesus saw [ειδων] him" die from crucifixion. This same centurion is “asked” by Pilate about whether Jesus “had died earlier”, just as Joab asked his man about Absalom’s being somewhat impaled yet not expired. The men in Mark and 1Samuel recognize somehow that the person they view is the “son of” someone important and that this fact makes their status different from other 'rebels.' It is possible some Kabbalistic reading of Absalom being a ‘crucified Son of David’ is here implied.
-Mark 3:11= the unclean spirits, when they “viewed” him [εθεωρει], “cried out” [εκραζε] saying that [λεγοντα οτι] ‘You are the son of God!’” [συ ει ο υιος του θεου]
-Mark 15:39= “Beholding [ιδων] how Jesus cried out [κραξας] he said [ειπεν] ‘This was the son of God!’” [υιος ην θεου]
-Mark 5:6 = the 'Legion' demoniac “beholds” [ιδων] Jesus and in next verse “cries out” [κραξας] and calls him “son of God” [υιε του θεου]
-Is there in all this some reference to Daniel 3, where King Nebuchadnezzer “saw” [ορω] the three men in the execution furnace, then “declares” [ειπεν] that now it appears there are four and one looks like a “son of God” [υιω θεου] (=this being an Aramaic euphemism for an angel)
-Robert Fowler, ‘Let the reader understand’ page 207= “Virtually every comment uttered by every character in Mark’s passion narrative is an oblique, indirect comment, either ironic, metaphorical, paradoxical, or ambiguous, or a combination of these. … We cannot just say that the centurion vow he is speaking ‘truly’ (alethos) and therefore we may trust him. Insincerity masks itself in claims to truthfulness, just as the Pharisees and Herodians tried to mask their ulterior motive back in Mark 12:14 (‘Teacher, we know that you are true…’).”
[40] There were also women looking on from afar: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
-Former friends looking on ‘from a distance’ = Psalm 38:12 and 88:9 mentions “they’ve made me an abomination to themselves.”
-later tradition claimed the Salome here (whose name may have caused the deletion by scribes from chapter 6 of the name of the Herodian princess who strips for her stepfather in order for readers not to think they are the same) was also called ‘Mary/Miriam.’ If this is so, then there is the bizarre circumstance, mirrored at the end of the gospel of John, of three Marias “viewing from afar” [μακροθεν] what transpires. One is not surprised if one follows our way of reading this novel, for Moses’ sister Maria/Miriam waits by the Nile and “spies out from afar [μακροθεν]” what happens to the baby in a basket.
[41] (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem. [42] And now when the evening arrived, because it was the preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath)
-interestingly, a 2nd century addition to Luke 23 (verse 48 on) in OS sin. Cur. And the OL (St-Germain manuscript g) has the crowd here admit aloud: “Woe to us! What has happened because of our sins? The end of Jerusalem has approached.” Similarly in Ephraem the Syrian’s Commentary on the Diatesseron 20:28 (=SC 121.362) and Gospel of Peter 7:25. The Syriac version of 1 Maccabees 2:7 (preserved in a 5th century account of legendary martyrdoms) has Matthias say: “woe to us! What has befallen us? To look upon the misery of our people and the ruins of the holy city!” [for more on this see J.R. Harris p 9 of ‘The origin of a famous Lucan gloss’ in ExpTim 35 (1923-24) pp 7-10]
[43] Then there arrived Joseph of Arimathaea, a decent counselor (who was also waited for the kingdom of God) and went in boldly unto Pilate to ask for [custody of] Jesus’ body.
-LXX Job 2:6= the devil dares God to test Job by hurting him. God replies: "Behold I give him over [παραδιδοναι] to you, (but) only preserve his life [την ψυχην αυτον]!" = the later 'Testament of Job' changes this to (=at 20:1-3)= (when the devil is unable to tempt Job, he departs in a huff. Job explains: "After he left, he asked [αιτησαι] (permission) for (power over) my body [σωμα] from the Lord, to be given over [παραδιδοναι] to his hand to be used as he wished, but he didn't give him any authority over my soul [ψυχη]." = this tradition appears to be present in the mind of Mark when he tells of how Joseph of Arimathea "asked for" [//////////] permission to get possession of the "body" [σωμα] of Jesus.
-Mark 1:5 has ‘repentance’ while line 15 has Jesus say “repent, for the kingdom of God etc’ which matches up with the end where Joseph is awaiting the Kingdom of God at Mark 15:44-45.
-Luke 23:50 = a man, Joseph by name [ανηρ ονοματι Ιωσηϕ]
-in Luke 1:27 Luke has the virgin Mary espoused “to a man whose name was Joseph” [ανδρι ω ονομα Ιωσηϕ]
-Raymond Brown, ‘Death of the Messiah’ (page 1228 volume 2 note 58)= “So in this architectonic arrangement where at the end of the story Luke has Joseph of Arimathea resemble pious Jews at the beginning of the story, is he also meant to remind us of his namesake or is the similarity accidental?”
-more evidence, if any were necessary, of Luke’s learning by example from Mark.
-does Mark intend some vague association with patriarch of the same moniker? The introduction of this guest-starring character who is called a ‘competent judge’ [ευσχημων βουλευτης] resembles Genesis’ namesake: Josephus’ Antiq 2.91 explains the new title of ‘Zaphenath-Paneach’ that Pharaoh bestows upon his vizier (Gen 41:45) as “meaning ‘Discoverer of Secrets’ due to his amazing [παραδοξον] intelligence [συνεσεως].” (the Targums have this reason as well, plus see Bereshith Rabbah 90:4= “The name denotes ‘He who reveals things hidden and easily explains them.”)
-At any rate, the epithet ‘euschemon’ may be intended to hint that this Joseph is wealthy, which one probably would have to be in order to have a seat among the Sanhedrin. Mark never calls him ‘rich’, but Matthew later adds this detail explicitly in his version to make more clear the parallel to Isaiah 53’s “he shall make his grave with lawbreakers… with the rich.”, yet another OT Hebrew poetic nuance the Hellenistic gospel writers have purposefully misunderstood in order to create their parable. And yet they are following the rabidly illogical rabbinic method of the Targumim and other Midrash materials.
[44a] And Pilate marvelled that he was already dead:
-the Roman procurator/prefect was “amazed” [θαυμαζω] that the accused had expired, a detail perhaps colored by Isaiah 52:15a (LXX but not MT)= “Many Gentiles shall wonder [θαυμασονται] about him.” Could the centurion’s earlier strange insight into Jesus’ special status also have something to do with Isa 52:15b’s “Those to whom it (=the Servant’s appearance) was not announced, shall see.”
[44b] and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead [45] And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
-Mark 15:43 = Joseph, a “member of the council”, “having boldness dared [=ητησατο] to ask” [πολμησας] which the author has mirrored with the earlier story in Mark where Jesus actually agrees with a scribe for once, then after that no one “dared question him.” [ετολμα … επερωτησαι]
-Mark 15:46 = Joseph “took him down” [κατεθηκεν], in reverse parallel to John’s disciples who “take up [ηραν] his corpse” [το πτωμα αυτου] and “put him” [εθηκαν] in a tomb [μνεμειω]. The word ‘disciples’ may be mean to be the echo of Joseph’s moniker Arimathia. Mark 6:29 John’s “disciples come” [οι μαθητα … ηλθον] and 15:43 “of Arimathea came” [ηλθεν … Αριμαθαιας].
-Joshua 24:32ff they take Joseph’s bones and bury them in a field he owned already, like the Joseph of Mark 15= so here we have the motif of a Joseph who owns an area where a body can conveniently be placed.
-more negativity??? = compare Joseph of Arimathea ‘expecting the kingdom’ with Mark 12:34 scribe who Jesus admits is ‘not far from the kingdom.’ Yet ‘not far’ is still nowhere near! Four lines later in verse 38 Jesus warns: “Beware the scribes!” —Sarcasm again? Does Acts 1:17 have a reference to Mark’s brief section on Joseph of Arimathia? Acts mentions how Judas was “numbered among” [κατηριθμημενος] the disciples [μαθηται]. The word for numbers is a quasi-anagram of Arimathia, itself a word which could easily be misread as a description meaning ‘the best disciple’ or ‘superior student.’ What is important to point out is that in Acts 1:18 Judas is described as buying a “plot of land” (literally ‘place’) with his snitch money and somehow accidentally dying there. After this Luke describes the election to replace him where the two candidates are “Joseph Barsabbas called Justus” and one Matthias, the latter of whom wins. This connects up inversely with the note at Acts 4:36-37 where the loser in this lottery is reintroduced thus: “Joseph, called by the apostles Barnabas, a Levite of Cyprus” had a field, which “having sold he brought the proceeds” to donate communally to the apostles. Some kind of negative example to Judas is meant here, but one must wonder about the similarity between Matthias’ name and the Greek term for disciple and why this Joseph’s name changes from Barsabbas to Barnabas and what if anything that might have to do with the robber Barabbas from Mark’s narrative.
[46a] And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen,
-Clement of Alexandria, Excerpta ex Theotodio 38= "A river goes from under the throne od Space [=topos] and flows into the Void of Creation which is Gehenna, it is never filled, ... And Space itself is fiery.... It has a veil in order that the things may not be destroyed by the sight of it. And only the archangel enters it—and to typify this the high priest every year enters the Holy of Holies..."
-MIshnah Kilayim 9.4 states a corpse may be buried with a shroud containing a forbidden mixture of fibers [=sha'atnez]. Talmud Bavli Niddah 61b gives the explanation: "Once a person is dead, he is free of all commandments." The prooftext cited is Psalm 88:5= "free among the dead."
[46b] and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone over the door of the sepulchre.
-Isaiah 22:15= a certain Somnan (‘Shebna’ in the MT) is, like Joseph here, an ‘administrator’ of the temple. Isaiah’s text sarcastically asks of him, concerning the temple: “Why did you quarry [ελατομησας] for yourself this … tomb [μνημειον] and depict yourself dwelling in rock [εν πετρα].” Mark at 15:46 has compressed this into: “tomb [μνημειω] having been carved [λελατομημενον] out of rock” [εκ πετρας]. -MT Isaiah 36:3 Shebna is a court officer, but in LXX 22:18 he is made into a ‘iereus’ wearing a ‘stephanon’ (see Sirach 45:12 and Targum Isaiah 22:15 passim) =Matthew 16:19 – Isaiah 22:22 = keys, open/shut, none shall open/shut, though none of the same words are used, being mediator and steward of the temple is what is being discussed here. A few verses earlier is the strange metaphor of the temple being “fancy tomb” built to aggrandize the wealthy of Jerusalem, the detail of it being ‘hewn/dug out’ from a ‘rock’ as ‘memorial’ are all details used by Mark and Matthew to describe Jesus’ tomb—a place which, like the temple, was once God’s/Jesus’ place but now it has been abandoned. Notice the angel/man’s laconic statement to the women at the end of Mark: ‘he is not here!’ This seems like an underhanded way of proclaiming the Jew’s God has abandoned his tomb/temple; if one is willing to see the negative metaphor being applied by the rabidly anti-Semitic evangelists.
-translation note= at MT Isa 36:3= Shebna is officer of the court but OG makes his a priest in Isa 22:18 wearing a crown ; see Sirach 45:12 and Targum Isa 22:15
-Mark 15:46= Joseph “rolled” [προσκυλιω] a stone over the grave-cave. This Greek word (only occurring elsewhere in parallels of Matt 28:2 and Luke 24:2) is the same used in Genesis 29:8 where Jacob meets his future bride Rachel. It’s implied that he gets so excited by her appearance that he briefly gains sufficient superhuman strength to “roll” back the stone blocking the mouth of a well. He then, uninvited, runs over to force a “kiss” on the pretty shepherdess. Compare how Judas used such an action as a signal earlier.
-Numbers 21:18= the well which “was quarried [εξαλατομησαν] by gentile kings” –like the tomb in Mark 15:46= “quarried” [λελατομημενον]. This well in Numbers is often interpreted in Rabbinical musings and even the Dead Sea Scrolls as a occult reference to a messianic-type figure.
-Daniel 6 and that prophet’s escape from a den of lions is a good prototype for Jesus trial in general. Mark has only let it’s full presence intrude fleetingly here. Daniel 6:13 is the key to noticing the motif of “supplication” present in this spot. Just as at Mark 15:42-43 a “counsellor” [βουλευτης] waits “until evening” [οψιας] to “come forward” [εισηλθη] and dare “to ask/petition” [ητησατο] for permission to take custody of Jesus’ body = compare to Daniel 6:7 where Daniel’s political enemies “took counsel” [συνεβουλευσαντο] against him to create an anti-Jewish law to entrap him. It forbids anyone to “ask/petition” [/////] a god (=i.e. pray) without the king’s permission. Ignoring this, Daniel (like Jesus in Mark 14) both prays 3 times and is in an “upper-room.” At 6:12 where the jealous courtiers “come forward” [προσελθοντες] to point out to King Darius that Daniel has broken the decree, and in the line 14 the monarch “was struggling [αγωνιζομενος] to rescue him until evening” [/////]. Then the king “wakes early in the morning” to find the prophet “delivered” from death, like the women in chapter 16 who get introduced in the next sentence. Pilate’s surprise at Jesus quick death is a reversal of Darius shock at finding Daniel “unhurt” [διαϕθορα ουχ].
[47] And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.
-Leviticus 16:23b = “he shall put it aside there” [αποθησει αυτην εκει] (the high priest inside the sanctuary)
-possible slight allusion in Mark 16:6b = youth at tomb invites women to view “the place where they put him” [τοπος οπου εθηκαν αυτον]
-Joshua 8:29= King of Ai= they “lowered” [καθειλον] his “body” [σωμα] from the cross/tree [ξυλου] and set over him a a “heap of big stones” [λιθων μεγαν]
-Mark 15:45= Joseph is given Jesus’ “body” [σωμα] and having “lowered” him [καθελων] in verse 46 he rolls a stone over tomb-door.
-Joshua 10:27= repeats the details of King of Ai’s death in the description of the crucifixion of the 5 Canaanite kings killed by Joshua.
-Mark 16 seems like Joshua 8 in miniature and backwards in narrative chronology, each involving crucifixion and caves.
-Josh 8:1 the Lord tells Joshua not to “fear or be timid.” Then in verses 5-6 the words ‘come forth’ and ‘flee’ are each repeated twice and in verse 10 Jesus/Joshua “rises early in the morning.” While in verses 18-19 the phrase “quickly [] out of their place” occurs twice.
-Joshua 10 bizarrely repeats many details of Joshua 8, in fact Joshua 10:25 quotes 8:1! But in chapter 10 it is 5 kings who are crucified instead of one, and where as AI’s king had his corpse thrown into a waterless pit in front of the city which is then sealed by big rocks here instead these 5 kings flee from Joshua by hiding in a cave and he has large stones brought to lock them in before crucifying them. The phrases in both these chapter about the Lord promising Joshua “spoils” [] should be compared with Pauline letters like where he speaks of Christ’s crucifixion as a “triumph”, literally: a Romanesque parade where the victorious messiah “has taken captive every power” [] and leads them in procession [] = the author of this letter, whether Paul or not, has taken these ideas from a misreading of the LXX’s misreading of Psalm.
-An extraordinarily complex and subversive system of imposing a new hermeneutic on scripture is behind Paul’s deceptively simple theological pronouncements about how Christ has “nailed the ordinances [of Torah] to the cross.” It can be suspected that whatever Paul’s pesher/proof-text method is quite radical. It we are to guess at where to start, it’d be best with the book of Joshua where the hero crucifies various Canaanite kings. These must have been seen , by Paul’s logic, as symbols of ‘stoicheia’ or ‘powers’
-Joshua 4:5= he commanded the 12 to each carry/lift away a stone [αρατω… λιθον]
-Joshua 4:7= these stones [λιθοι] are to you a memorial [μνημοσυνον]
-Joshua 4:19-20= Γαλγαλοις
-is this why in Mark 16:3 the women ask who’ll lift away the stone, because the 12 should’ve done it?
-Joshua 4:9= the priests “lifting the ark” [αιροντων την κιβωτον]
-Mark 8:2= Jesus says to the crowd: ‘already three days’ [ηδη ημερας τρεις] they’ve remained with me and have nothing to eat.
-Joshua 18:16= the borders of Joseph and Judah “go down to Gehenna” [καταβησεται επι Γαιωνναμ]
-is Joseph of Arimathea meant to be Joseph of Genesis? He is identified only as “pretty decent counselor”, an adequate description of Joseph in his capacity as Pharaoh’s advisor.
-is this Joseph based on the anonymous character from 1Kings 13:29-31 who, unlike others who are afraid of the lion near his body, dares to bury the dead prophet and “places him” in his own tomb, or at least plans to eventual be buried with the prophet as well.
-Joshua 2:16= hidden there three days
-at Joshua 24:32ff they take Joseph’s bones and bury them in a field he owned already, like the Joseph of Mark 15
-Joshua 1:11= "In three days you’ll pass over the Jordan."
=extra hypomnemata for chapter fifteen=
-For some reason the Epistle of Barnabas 12:9 quotes Exodus 17:14 wrong as if the phrase ‘put it in the ears of Joshua’ should be translated ‘by the means of the Son of God.’ Yet this does seem to be more circumstantial evidence that the OT figure of Joshua was somehow perceived to be ‘Jesus/Joshua.’
-is it possible the evangelists somehow intended the image of Aaron and Hur “on either side” of Moses (holding his hands up so he can effect the magic of the staff “until the descent of the sun” =Exodus 17:12) as related the two thieves/terrorists on either side of Jesus cross—a person who coincidentally or not expires at sunset?
-Vergil, Georgics 1:463f says at Caesar’s assassination on the Ides of March, there was a solar eclipse from noon until nightfall, though Vergil is so obtusely poetic here the meaning can be obscured (=eclipsed?)
-Exodus 34:25 seems to have resonance for the entire Passion=
“You shall not slay with yeast the blood of my sacrifices, and there shall not remain all night into morning anything offered for the holiday of Passover.”
-1Samuel 8:19= “the people didn’t want [ουκ εβουλετο ο λαος] to listen to” Samuel’s advice.
-Mark 15:15= Pilate “wanted [βουλομενος] to do what was fitting for the crowd [τω οχλω].”
-1Sam 12:19-20= because of the populace “asking for a king” [αιτησαντες εαυτοις βασιλεα], Samuel remarks about himself: “I’ve done [πεποιηκατε] badly…” (=compare Mark 15:14= “He’s done what bad thing?”)
-1Sam 12:17= Samuel says: “Great is the evil you did [κακια ην εποιησατε] in wishing for a monarch.”
-Mark 15:7= Barabbas: “committed [πεποιηκεισαν] murder”
-1Samuel 12:25= “If you commit evil [κακοποιησητε] your king will added to your dead!”
-1Sam 8:8= God tells Samuel not to take the Israelites rejection of him personally, since the Jews: “As they do to me, so they also do to you.” [ουτως αυτου ποιουσι και σοι]
-Mark 15:8= the populace “asked” [αιτεισθαι] that Pilate grant pardon a prisoner “as he continually did for them.” [καθως αει εποιει αυτοις]
-1Sam 8:9= “only that testifying” [πλην οτι διαμαρτυρομενος]
Mark 15:4= “again [παλιν] … how much against you [ποσα σου] they testify [καταμαρτυρουσιν]!”
-Samuel predicts that once they have leadership of a king the Israelites will “yell out” [βοησεσθε] for help and “the Lord will not listen!”
-Mark 15:8= the crowd “yells out” [αναβοησας] to the Roman governor
-Mark 15:6= “whomever they asked for” [ονπερ ητουντο]
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