CHAPTER ONE OF MARK'S GOSPEL

[1] The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;  [2] As it is written in the prophets: ‘Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.’ 

-While the text claims to be referencing Isaiah, Mark 1:2 obliquely cites Exodus 23:20 about the “messenger sent before thy face.” This is an allusion to the angel controlling the pillar of fire, set before the Israelites into the sea when it parted. So the upcoming baptism in the next paragraphs of Mark takes on different meaning if this idea is meant to color that incident. What is important to notice here is that the Markan author wants us to notice the remainder of that Exodus sentence, the part he does not quote but instead fills in with the Isaiah and partial remembrance from Malachi 3. Exodus 23:20 continues: “He won’t forgive your rebellion, since My name is in him!” Without actually mentioning this idea anywhere, Mark is cluing us readers in to overall theme: the ‘rebellion’ of the Jews against the Lord, in the gospel’s case this would be the character of Jesus, who is YHWH’s avatar, if one may use this imprecise term. There are a few important unwritten yet ever-present allusions of this type scattered through Mark, and reiterated bit by bit as well. Especially of Exodus 23 and its environs. The evangelist is subtly warning his readers, without actually quoting it, to not “resist the persuasion” (=Exodus 23:22) of the messenger of YHWH, who seemingly by Mark’s logic is Jesus who is somehow both YHWH and his angel.

-Right from the beginning we struggle with the issue of whether the author of this gospel was aware of or could read the Hebrew scriptures in the original language. We may point out here that the phrase "prepare the Way" [פנה דרך] that connects Malachi and Isaiah 40:3 is present only in Hebrew, while the LXX has επιβλεψεται and ετοιμασατε respectively, even more odd is this latter Greek term for "prepare" appears in Exodus 23:20 only in Greek not Hebrew. So all this may be coincidence, but could be evidence of a bilingual mind capable of several allusions that are related thematically as well as verbally and grammatically. 

-Matthew 11:10 rewrites this, having Jesus change ‘mou’ to ‘sou’ when quoting Malachi 3, making a statement from God to a prophet about the Messiah into a statement by God to the Messiah about a prophet who is to announce him. Matt has understood Mark, and how this kind of hermeneutical change can point to Exodus 23:20’s angel being YHWH himself, his own Messiah, a theme that is the ‘secret’ in Mark of Jesus’ identity.

-Rodrigo de Sousa, ‘Problems and perspectives on the study of Messianism in LXX Isaiah in Kooij/derMeer ‘The Old Greek of Isaiah: issues and perspectives’ (pges 146-147) = “I am not suggesting that the translator of LXX Isaiah was specifically thinking of Michael when reading 9:5(6). My point is that, if there was a widespread concept of a correlation between angelic activity and messianic deliverance, it would not be surprising to find traces of this inserted into the translation at the prompt of linguist elements in the Hebrew.... If indeed βουλη is not necessarily an eschatological term, the conception of an ‘angel of great counsel’ is not impossible.”

-Isaiah LXX 9:5-6= “an angel of great counsel” [μεγαλης βουλης αγγελος]

-Isaiah 25:1 compare  μεγαλης βουλης in Jeremiah 32[=LXX 39]:19

-cf the “angel of the Presence” who reveals heavenly secrets and mysteries at Jubilees 2:1f.

-'ISaiah's New Exodus' page 106= [on the 'angel of the presence' at Isa 63:9-10] "Here, too, there is the motif of YHWH's presence (='angel' = Holy Spirit'?) becoming a threat due to Israel's grieving ruach ha-kadosh caused Yahweh to become their enemy. (cf Mark 3:29)" = ibid page 134= "Telford, I think, is correct here: Elijah has been send and rejected (Mark 9:12), the outcome can only be purging judgment,: 

-Luke 9:35 = a heavenly voice urges the witnesses to Jesus’ transformation to “Listen to him!” – This is a reference to the ‘true prophet’ predicted by Deuteronomy 18.

-LXX Daniel 10:16, 19= “one like a son of man” says… “Be manly and tough!” [ανδριζου και ισχυε]  [advice Paul repeats at 1 Corinthians 16:13] This is Joshua advice from the beginning of his eponymous book= Joshua 1:18= “Be strong and manly! [αλλα ισχυε και ανδριζου]” (=note how Paul quotes it backwards, just as Mark and others so often do when quoting the LXX. Might this be some unspoken rule of writing at the time, a habit among scribal literati?)

-1 Corinthians 16:10 [αϕοβως … verse 11: ειρηνη … verse 13 ανδριζεσθε κραταιουσθε] is a clear reference to Daniel 10:19 [μη ϕοβου ανηρ επιθυμιων, ειρηνη σοι ανδριζου και ισχυε]

-Isaiah 63:8-9 = “He himself proved to be their Savior… It was neither messenger nor angel but his Presence that saved them.”

-but Mark seems to make subtle reference to the negative aspect of YHWH’s appearance as well! Note how there are affinities between Mark 1:2 cluster of phrases like: “as it’s written” [γεγραπται], “behold” [ιδου], “my messenger” [αγγελον μου], “before your face” [προ προσωπου σου] and Exodus 32:34= “Behold, my angel [ο αγγελος μου] shall proceed “before your face” [προ προσωπου σου] and in whatever day I visit, I will bring upon them their sin. So the Lord struck down people due to the calf Aaron had made.” (=see also Exodus 32:32 “forgive [αϕες) their sin [την αμαρτιαν αυτων] and Mark 1:4-5 “forgiveness [αϕεσιν] … of their sins [τας αμαρτιας αυτων] =plus Moses begs God with some hyperbole at Exod 32:33 to be “erased out of your book that you wrote [εγραψας].”

-the kind of mishmash of midrash Mark has done is not unique= Matthew 2:5-6 cites Micah 5:1 but mixes it with 2Samuel 5:2 while Matthew 21:4-5 quotes Isaiah 62:11 but adds in a little bit of Isaiah 4:3 with a hint of Judges 16:17.  

 [3] “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight!’ [4] John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. [5] And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

-in a move common to Mark, as we shall see, he keeps in the background another text from the same book he is taking his allusions from: Isaiah 40 is what started this tale, but here Isaiah 35:7-8= “For water has broken forth in the wilderness  … there shall exist there a pure way, called holy.”

-Mark 1:5 = “All in Judah went unto John. And all [παντες] were immersed [εβαπτιζοντο] in the Jordan [εν τω Ιωρδανη].” Was this pivotal statement influenced by 1 Corinthians 10:2 = “and all [παντες] unto Moses [εις τον Μωυσην] were immersed [εβαπτισοντο]” in the Re(e)d Sea.  In addition to this Paul mentions manna as spiritual food and spiritual drink from the water-rock in the desert. Did all this give Mark his major themes: baptism, feeding in wilderness, then a covenant of drinking soteriological blood? Just a suggestion…  

-‘Isaiah’s New Exodus’ (page 383)= “In a word, Mark is 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 writ large.” 

-1Cor 1:17= “Christ sent me not to baptize, but to announce good news…” =note how verse 20 has the sarcastic “Where then is the scribe?”—compare this to Jesus’ advice advice later in this gospel to “Beware the scribes!”

[6] And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a belt made of skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; 

-though on the surface Mark is making an allusion to how Elijah is recognized by King Amaziah in 2Kings, this and the next few lines are a complex parody of the spies reporting to Moses on the promises land at Numbers 13. They tell him it is flowing with milk and “honey” [μελι] yet the inhabitants are so tall that the Israelites might as well be small as “locusts [ακριδες] in front of them” (=verses 27, 33); just as here in Mark 1:6 John is pictured as subsisting upon “honey [μελι] and locusts [ακριδας].” They are standing by the Jordan river (Num 13:29) here, the only place where this body of water is named in the Torah—which might have been what drew the gospel author to draw from this text. The Baptist declares Jesus in Mark 1:7 to be “one mightier [ισχυοτερος] than I” —just as the Israelites who are afraid of reportedly “giant” Canaanites whine that: “they are much stronger [ισχυοτερος] than us!” (= at Numbers 13:31) The reason Mark focuses our attention on Jesus “coming up/ascending from” [αναβαινον] out of the water at Mark 1:10 is because of Caleb’s urging the people: “Ascend [αναβαντες] indeed let us ascend” (Num 13:30) unto the promised land. John’s verb about being unfit to “bend down” [κυψας] to untie shoes might be Mark exchanging a homonym for the word Numbers 13:23-24 uses for the spies who “shake/beat out [εκοψαν] a branch” from an unnaturally large grape-vine as proof of Canaan’s fruitfulness. Mark puns like this quite often, should one choose to perceive it.  But ultimately, Mark’s parody of Numbers 13 is meant to show that, John and Jesus are preaching a “hopeful” outlook that others are not willing to view in the same “way.” For doing the same thing, Caleb and Joshua were rewarded with  achieving a the place God had gifted and becoming the only ones of their generation not to die cursed because they didn’t repent. Though this part of the parallel is clear, one may take it further and see some irony in the fact that in the gospel story these two men, John and Jesus, are the ONLY ones pictured as dying! It is also interesting that John is here portrayed as apparently having a “loud voice” in the way that Caleb in later legend scared away Canaanite giants with his “yelling.” 

-the reference to John subsisting on “eating honey” might have something to do with the incident at 1Samuel 14 where Saul’s son Jonathan (John) is nearly punished for “eating honey.” There it is asked: “Shall the one bringing Israel salvation die?” 

[7] And preached, saying, “After me, one shall come who is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to bend down and untie. 

• In the background of Joshua 5:15b where the hero is accosted by an anonymous angel, this being tells him to take off his sandals “and Joshua did so.”

-Mark 1:7= John calls himself unworthy to untie Jesus’ sandals [λυσαι… υποδηματων]

-Joshua 5:15= An angel tells Joshua to “untie his sandals” [λυσαι του υποδημα].

-There might be some metaphor occurring here, where John is the ‘angel’ (the same word in Greek for messenger) and Jesus is Joshua. We shall see that Mark uses material about the anonymous angel from this section of the book of Joshua yet again, in chapter 14 where a mysterious figure armed with a sword slices the ear of someone attempting to arrest Jesus. 

[8] Indeed, I have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.” 

-this spirit-baptism may have a eschatological/judgmental connotation, as per the prophet Joel where a ‘pouring of spirit upon the Gentiles’ is part of an eschatological Beit Din—it portends their coming judgment!

[9] And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in the Jordan. [10] And immediately (upon) coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:

-for Israel as ‘dove’ = Psalm 74:19-20; Hosea 7:11, 11:11; Canticles 2:10-14.

-Mark 1:9 = “And it came to pass in those (days) …” [και εγενετο εν εκειναις ταις] … he beheld [ειδε] heaven get torn open. 

-Ezekiel 1:1 = -“And it came to pass in the 30^th year… that I was … by the river when the heavens opened [ηνοιχθησαν] and I beheld [ιδον]… (in verse 4 there is a ‘wind/spirit’ [πνευμα])

-the motifs of ‘spirit’ and ‘beholding’ along with ‘heavens opening’ and ‘at the river’ (=if Mark was written in Aramaic, the parallel here would be stronger because the word ‘Jordan’ itself means ‘river’)

-This ‘tearing’ will be used as a powerful image at the gospel’s finale, where at Jesus’ death the temple veil “tears/rips.” The sanctuary curtain, like the sky, separates God from his creatures. But twice in the gospel this division is breached! 

-Joshua 1:11= in three days you’ll pass over the Jordan

-Joshua 2:16= hidden there three days

-Romans 6:3-8= on being ‘baptized’ in to Jesus ‘death’

-Mark 8:2= Jesus says to the crowd: ‘already three days’ [ηδη ημερας τρεις] they’ve remained with me and have nothing to eat. 

Mark 1:10=  αναβαινων απο του υδατος … πνευμα ωσει περιστεραν καταβαινον επ’ αυτου 

-Joshua 3:13= υδωρ το καταβαινον στησεται ανοθεν ως σωρος verse 15= the priests feet are εβαϕησαν verse 16= the water stood still, “going down from above” [καταβαινον ανοθεν] 

-not only Isaiah 64 but also its previous chapter are underlying the baptism scene. Isaiah 63:9 sums up what we’ve just seen about the ‘avatar’ of YHWH= “Not an ambassador, or an angel but the Lord himself rescued/saved them, because of loving them … he ransomed.” Then the next line introduces Mark’s major gospel theme: “But they resisted persuasion an provoked his holy spirit.” There is mention in chapter 63 of ‘hardening of Israel’s heart’ and how after the “sanctuary’s being trampled” they have become as they were “from the beginning” when God “didn’t rule” a people. 

-Isaiah 63-64 motifs are reflected through the beginning of Mark, at 1:10, 3:28f, 4:1f, and 5:25-34, 43f.

 [11] And there came a voice from heaven, saying, “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

• MT of Isaiah 64:12 = “O would that You would tear the heavens and come down … to make atonement … to make known your Name to Your enemies … working unexpectedly miracles no one has ever heard of before!” [=the Greek LXX is entirely different here, but it is not unlikely that Mark knows his scriptures not only through the Septuagint but the Aramaic epitomes known as Targumim]
• Isaiah 42:1 = “I will put my spirit upon him (=Jacob/Israel), he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles … upon him they shall hope.”
• the “thou art” [συ ει] at Mark 1:11 is from LXX Psalms 2:7, quoted backwards (=ει συ) while the “delight” [ευδοκησα] references Isaiah 42:1= the chosen one in whom God “delights” [ευδωκα], on whom “His spirit” [πνευμα] has been placed. 
• It does seem likely that an ‘adoptionist’ sonship is in view here, at his immersion the ‘normal but abnormally righteous’ human Jesus becomes the Messiah/Christos  of YHWH just as the Davidic king does in Psalm 2. By introducing a line form this Psalm, Mark also gives the first inkling of the trouble Jesus will have, because of the ‘kings of the earth raging against (Israel’s) anointing’

-Mark 1:11 = Testament of the 12 Patriarchs Levi 18:6 where “heavens shall open”, then God’s voice;  see also Ezekiel 1:1.

-Mark appears to be not interested in narrating Jesus’ youth—perhaps reflecting a Jewish tradition similar to that reported in the church father Justin’s ‘Dialogue with Trypho’ (section 8) where it is opined that: “Even if the Messiah were born and lived somewhere, he wouldn’t even be aware of his identity nor would anyone else, until Elijah appears to reveal him to all.”

-Mark 1:11 = Testament of Levi 18:6 where heavens shall open, then father’s voice;  see also Ezekiel 1:1)

-Testiment of Levi 18:10 = says the Messiah opens the gates of Eden and removes the guarding sword.

[12] Immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. [13a] And he was there in the wilderness forty days, 

-in what is perhaps the first of many instances of irony in this gospel, here Jesus is “cast [εκβαλλει] out” by the (holy) “spirit” [πνευμα], and from then on he is the one “casting out spirits” (or “money-changers” as well)!

-what is Jesus doing out in the desert? Writing/receiving the gospel? Not as far fetched as it might seem, compare the following fleeting reference= 

-Mark 1:13a= “And he was there [και ην εκει] … forty days [ημερας τεσσαρακοντα].”

-Exodus 34:28 = “And he was there [και ην εκει] … forty days [τεσσαρακοντα ημερας]. Bread he did not eat or water drink. And on tablets he wrote the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.”

[13b] tempted by Satan; and was with the wild animals; and the angels served him.

-1Kings 19:8 = after being threatened by Jezebel (much like Herodias does to John the Baptist in chapter six of Mark) Elijah hides in the wilderness for 40 days and nights at Mount Horeb. An angel brings him bread and water. 

-see page 144 of ‘Biblical interpretation in early christian gospels, volume 1: the gospel of Mark’ (edited by Thomas R Hatina)= on Hosea 2:16-20 influencing Mark 1 :12-13 where Jesus is “in the wilderness” with “the wild beasts” like Gomer/Israel or how the only other place in LXX where ‘meta’ is used with ‘therion’ is at Daniel where Nebuchadnezzar is insane in a field eating grass. 

• The Testament of Naphtali 8:4f = “The Devil will flee from you, wild animals will fear you, angels will stand by you.”  
• =It is difficult to be certain when the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs were written and they are certainly not free from some kind of later Christian tampering. Thus, between these Hellenistic novels and the NT gospels there are parallels that are of great passing interest, but unknown provenance. We shall still tentatively in this commentary point out ones that appear to be of import. 

-Chapter one of Mark is full of fleeting allusions to 1 Kings chapter 17. Elijah is told to dwell by the stream called Cherith that branches off the Jordan river. In that deserted area ravens [or crows in the LXX] bring him bread and meat for sustenance. After Jesus is baptized in ‘the Jordan’, he goes ‘into the wilderness’ with ‘wild beasts’ and ‘angels serve him’ for ’40 days/nights.’ Mark has mixed in 1Kings where, while in hiding from Jezebel, Elijah is given cake by an angel and this ‘strengthens him forty days and nights.’ In 1Kings 17, Elijah leaves the stream after it dries up and is fed by a widow whose sick son he laters raises. Jesus, after his wilderness ordeal is hosted by Simon’s mother-in-law (=presumably a widow?) whose fever is cured so she can ‘minister unto’ his disciples. In Elijah’s story the widow of Sarepta sarcastically accosts the prophet: “What have I to do with you, man of God? Have you come to call to mind my past sins and condemn my son.” Yet after the miracle, yet opines: “I know you are a man of God.” But the second iteration of her statement is less sarcastic than the first! Mark has combined these to create a demon is a synagogue who says [using the plural like the later ‘Legion’ of chapter 5]: “What have we to do with you? …have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, holy-one of God!” 

-As for the holy spirit baptism, one suspects that since this is the first chapter of Mark here may be present in the background a typology from Genesis, the first book of the Penteteuch: in that scroll “the spirit” operates “upon the waters” or the “dove” that indicates to Noah that “the waters” have subsided.

[14] Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, [15] announcing: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: Repent! —and believe the gospel.”

-Daniel 2:44= “In the days of those kings, the God of Heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed.” 

-possible vague connection to Book of Wisdom 10:10= When a “righteous one” is running/hiding “from a brother’s wrath” that’s when Wisdom reveals to him “God’s kingdom.”

-Here is out first reference to the impending doom of Judea and its capitol by the Romans from the years 66 to 72. Jesus first words in Mark are a reference to the Lamentations of Jeremiah 4:18 = “Our time has approached [ηγγικεν ο καιρος], our days are fulfilled [επληρωθησαν], our end is happening now!”

-Mark 1:14= “The time is fulfilled [πεπληρωται ο καιρος] (when) approaches [ηγγικεν] God’s kingdom.” 

=this reference is likely made due to the evangelist trying to make reference, without quoting it, to Lamentations 4:20= “The Lord’s Anointed (=Christ the Lord?) [χριστος κυριος] was arrested/seized because of our corruptions, so … now we live in his shadow (exiled) among Gentiles.” The Greek word ‘Christ/anointed one’ only appears, in a strangely disparaging manner, in chapter 8 of the present gospel. Mark, one can be certain, would have found this phrase very interesting. See how Lamentations 5:12-13 also has “princes being hung by their hands (=crucified?) … and young men weakened by being forced to carry wood.” The evangelist has so many scriptural texts in the background, it is hard to enumerate them all, his references can be so indirect.

- in rewriting this, the other synoptic evangelists put these words in John’s mouth; Matt 12:28 and Luke 11:20 add the phrase “manifested” [εϕθασεν] (=from Daniel 7:22, the LXX/OG, the Theodotion or Aramaic editions don’t have this)

-Mark 1:5 has ‘repentance’ while line 15 has Jesus say “repent, for the kingdom of God etc’ which matches up with the gospel’s end where Joseph is awaiting the Kingdom of God at Mark 15:44-45. 

-Unlike in Matthew and Luke later, Mark has neither John the Baptist nor the 12 disciples ever preach or declare “the approaching kingdom of God” (ηγγικεν η βασιλεια του θεου)— an omission which is of some significance. It is likely Mark intends this to mean that, by his reckoning, no one in Jesus’ lifetime/public-ministry understood the true import of how radical his teaching was—until Paul, that is. The prime motivation of the novel known as Mark, if such can ever be clearly discerned, is to convince Christians to repudiate the Torah as it had been previously practiced. Mark, and all NT writers after him, cast Mosaic Law observance under a rubric of ‘Pharisaic hypocrisy,’ though Matthew tries to undo Mark by going the other direction while Luke reverses this further but also, like Mark and Paul, by careful misdirection—but all that is for different commentary…

[16] Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. [17] And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. [18] And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.

-see the negative fishing symbolism in Amos 4:2, Ezekiel 29:4, Jer 16:16 

-Isaiah 19:8 = “The fishermen [αλιεις] shall moan … those casting [βαλλοντες] hooks and those throwing nets [αμϕιβολεις] shall mourn.”

-Mark 1:16 = Simon and his brother Andrew are “casting [βαλλοντας] their throwing-net [αμϕιβληστρον] ... for they were fishermen [αλιεις].”

-by the logic of Markan sandwiches, Jesus recruiting of disciples at Mark 1:16 [παραγων … ειδεν Σιμωνα και Ανδρεαν τον αδελϕον] is mirrored  by Mark 15:21 [αγγαρευουσιν παραγοντα τινα Σιμωνα Κυρηναιον … τον πατερα Αλεξανδρον] = the name Andrew is paired/mirrored with Alexander by Greek word association, while Simon, family relationships and ‘passing by’ are the present repeated themes meant to draw our attention to this. Both pairs of brothers here make the choice to follow Jesus here, either “suddenly” [ευθυς] forsaking their work or “leaving” [αϕεντες] their family. Mark means us to contrast the disciples calling with their cowardly and faithless abandonment of their master in 14:50= “All forsook [αϕεντες] him and fled.”

-Numbers 32:12-13= God pointedly mentions twice how, unlike all others, only Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun “followed after me” [συνεπηκολουθησαν οπισω μου] 

-Mark 1:17-18 = “Come after me [οπισω μου] … and they followed [ηκολουθησαν] him.”

 [19] And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were on a ship mending their nets. [20] And immediately he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him. 

• There is allusion here to Isaiah, the evangelist turning poetry into action=

-Isaiah 62:11b= “Behold [ιδου] the savior has come [παραγινεται], having his wage [μισθον] with him [μετ’ αυτου] and the work in front of him.”  

-Mark 1:16= “Passing by [παραγων] he beheld [ειδεν]…”

-Mark 1:20 = the Zebedee brothers leave their father in the boat “with [μετα] his own wage-workers [μισθωτων].” 

Isaiah 62:12= “He shall call them [καλεσει αυτον]…”

-Mark 1:20 = “He called them [εκαλεσεν αυτοις].” 

-that this ingenious method has gone unnoticed for centuries is quite terrible!

[21] And they went into Capernaum; and right  away on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. [22] And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. 

• There is a parallel here to Jesus’ later activity at the Jerusalem Temple:

-Mark 1:22 = listening to Jesus, people are “astonished [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.” 

These ‘synagogue’ settings for Jesus’ controversial teachings are barely disguised stand-ins for the temple. It wouldn’t do dramatically for Mark to have his whole story be his provocative protagonist lecturing unmolested at Jerusalem’s cultic center, although strangely Jesus later says at 14:49 that this is what indeed happened. Perhaps that is some example of editorial fatigue.

-Book of Joshua has his name spelled Jesus () in Greek. I believe this causes Mark to compose purposeful parallels not only that Joshua, but also the high priest of the rebuilt temple so much praised by the prophet Zechariah [=Jesus ben Yehozedak in chapters 3, 6, and 9]. We shall have more to say on him in chapter 8. 

• At Joshua 1:10, Joshua “gave instructions to (ενετειλατο) the scribes.” And in verse 16, the people swear allegiance oath to him: “As much as you gave charge we’ll do and … as we hearkened [ηκουσαμεν] to Moses so we will hearken [ακουσομεθα] to you.” 

 -Compare Mark 1:27= “To unclean spirits he gives orders [επιτασσει] and they hear/obey him! [υπακουουσιν]”

At Joshua 1:18, “any man who resists listening to” Joshua is cursed: “Let such a man die!” 

-Mark 1:28= there went forth the “report of him” (=Jesus) “round about” [πειριχωρον] the area.

-Joshua 2:2= “It was reported to the king of Jericho: ‘Israel is here to spy out the land.’” Note how later at Mark 1:45 Jesus isn’t able to “openly” [ϕανερως] enter the city —the very reason Joshua had to send spies into Jericho! 

[23] And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, [24] Saying, “Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, Jesus the Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 

-Mark 1:24 = “Have you come to destroy us [απολεσαι], Holy One of God?” [ο αγιος του θεου] (=This last phrase the demon mentions is the high priest’s actual title, specifically written onto the golden headband/mitre that Aaron wears on his forehead at Exodus 28:36, tied onto his turban with a blue cord: “the Lord’s Blessed” [αγιασμα κυριου]), a detail perhaps vaguely alluded to by the plaque fixed to Jesus’ cross later in the narrative. 

-1Kings 17:18 = Sarepta widow asks Elijah: “What have I to do with thee, man of God, have you come to bring to mind my (past) sins?”

At 2Kings 4:9 = the Shunnamite woman reminds her husband about the prophet Elijah: “Behold, a man of God who is holy!” [ιδου … οτι ανθροπος του θεου αγιος ουτος]. 

-Mark 1:24= possibly based on a purposeful misunderstanding of Judges 13:5 where the description of the hero Sampson as ‘nazir elohim’ is translated by the LXX as αγιος θεου in Codex Vaticanus but differently as ναζιραιον τω θεω in Codex A of the same spot, yet this is reversed in LXX Codex Vaticanus of LXX Judges 16:17 where the same two words occur has ναζιραιος θεου, while Codex B there gives us αγιος θεου!  

-unclean spirit at Mark 1:24 challenges Jesus: “What have I to do with you?” =  Elisha thus rebukes King Joram dismissively at 2 Kings 3:13. (cf. Joshua 22:24, Judges 11:12, 1Kings 17:18 where this phrase basically means ‘pesky meddling’)

-see how John 20:22 uses this same incident to fuel his own novelization: there the about-to-be ascended Christ “breathed on” the apostles to impart the Paraclete’s gift of grace—this is a reference to 1Kings 17:21 where Elijah “breathed” [ενεϕυσησε] onto the widow of Sarepta’s son to revive him. 

[25] And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Shut up and get out of him!” [26] And when the unclean spirit had torn him, he cried with a loud voice, it left of him. [27a] And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What then is this?

-at Genesis 37:10 Joseph tells Jacob his dream about becoming greater than the rest of his family and his father “rebukes” [επετιμησεν] him (exact same word as Mark 1:25!). The onlookers “debating among themselves” recalls the 11 brothers who incline eventually to Reuben’s argument that they should only get rid of Joseph but not kill him themselves. Also the synagogue demon recognizing Jesus (‘the son’) or “knowing his identity” echoes the brothers’ question to their father at Gen 37:32: “Do you know whether this coat is your son’s or not?” 

[27b] What new doctrine? For with authority he commands even unclean spirits, and they obey him. [28] Immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all round about the region of Galilee. 

-Sometimes Mark repeats certain details with slight change; same words but the meaning has nuance—displaying a polychromatic splendor=

-Mark 1:25a= Jesus “rebukes” (επετιμησεν) a “spirit” (πνευμα)

-Mark 4:39a= Jesus “rebukes” (επετιμησεν) the “wind” (πνευμα)

-Mark 1:25b= Jesus commands: ‘Be silent!’

-Mark 4:39b= Jesus commands: ‘Be still!’

-Mark 1:27= all are amazed and questioned themselves

-Mark 4:41= all are amazed and questioned themselves

Mark 1:27= people remark: ‘What’s this? Poltergeists obey (υπακουσιν) him?’

-Mark 4:41= the winds “obey” (υπακουει) Jesus. 

[29] After they exited the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. [30] But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and they told him about her. [31] And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and right away the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.

-Ruth 3:1= “And she stayed with her mother-in-law.”

-Ruth 3:16 = “Ruth went unto her mother-in-law [πενθεραν] and she (=Naomi) said [η δε]: ‘What is it [τι εστι] daughter?’” = this slightly mirrors Mark 1:30’s “and his mother in law [η δε πενθερα] and the crowd’s question at line 27: ‘who is [τι εστι] this?’

-Ruth 4:5= Boaz says from “the hand of Naomi” Ruth acquires her field so as to “raise up the name of the one having died” =just as Jesus “raises up” Simon’s wife’s mother “by the hand.” 

• Here is a story that in certain details is mirrored or ‘book-ended’ by finale of our gospel, see the following= 

-chapter 1

=verse 40 = a leper

-verse 29-30 = Simon’s house and an unnamed woman, verse 31 she ‘serves’ the men.

-chapter 14 =

-verse 5 = a leper 

-verse 3 Simon’s house and verses 4-8 an unnamed woman who ‘does good work for him’ (=the anointing).

-Mark 1:30 = Simon’s “mother-in-law” [πενθερα] is “lying in bed” [κατεκειτο] with fever.

This isn’t all though=

Jesus “holds hands with” both Peter’s mother-in-law (at 1:31) and Jairus’ daughter (=5:41). Is this because at Genesis 19:16 one angel grasps the hands of both Lot and his wife while another does the same with Lot’s two daughters? The strange mention of Peter’s familial relation to the woman healed of fever might be connected somehow to the angel asking Lot if he has any “in-laws” (=Gen 19:12), while the contemptuous “laughter’ of Jairus' household echoes both Isaac’s “getting teased” by his elder brother and Lot’s sons-in-law assuming he is “joking” about the impending doom. After her healing, Peter’s wife’s mother “serves” the men, presumably cooking food and the like. After recovering, it is urged that the tween girl be “given something to eat.” Both these stories have a similar outline.

-2Kings 3 = the Shunamite’s son is with his “father” [πατερα] harvesting at midday when he complains “my head, my head” and dies that day (presumably of a headache/fever?). His mother “lays him down” [εκοιμισεν] upstairs where Elisha sleeps when visiting their house. This is all suggestive of Peter’s in-law’s ‘fever.’ 

-as random as it might be, could any of this have something to do with Canticles 5:10-16, where the 'bridgroom' is escorted by the poem's speaker to "the house of my mother" (=the Temple?). 

[32] And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. [33] And all the city was gathered together at the door. [34] And he healed many that were sick from various diseases, and cast out many unclean spirits; and didn’t allow these unclean spirits to speak, because they knew him.

-Mark 1:34= “they knew [οτι ηδεισαν] him”

-if there is a connection to Ruth and Simon’s mother-in-law (Naomi?), then it might be of some interest to point out that after Ruth (at 3:13-14) “spends the night [νυκτα]” with Boaz she “rises up” [αναστη] in the “morning” [πρωι] and Boaz says “Do not let it be known [μη γνοσθητω]!” just as here Jesus silences evil spirits and then spends “the night” (somewhere?) and “rises” [αναστας] like Ruth before everybody else that “morning” [πρωι]. 

[35] And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. 

-the verb “to pray” [προσευχεσθαι] is used only of Jesus in 3 places at Mark 1:35, 6:46, and 14:32, 35, 39. Just as with the Passion predictions, these appear in triplicate. 

• Mark has drawn from an incident in 2 Samuel here were David has to flee his own palace due to a coup by his son Absalom. Behold these parallels=

-2Samuel 17:12a = Ahitophel explains to Absalom how he intends to assassinate David: “We’ll come upon him in one of the places [τοπων], whichever we happen to find [ευρωμεν] him there [εκει].”

 -Mark 1:35 = Jesus “by night [εννυχον] having risen up [αναστας] he went forth unto a deserted place [τοπον] and there [κακει] prayed.”

-2Samuel 17:1b= “Ahitophel told Absalom: ‘I shall rise up [αναστησομαι] and pursue [κατεδιωξω] David at night [νυκτα].’” 

-Mark 1:36= “and Simon and those with him [οι μετ’ αυτου] pursued him” [κατεδιωξαν] and having found [ευροντες] him…

-2Samuel 17:12b = … and certainly there won’t be among the those with him [τοις μετ’ αυτου] even one left (alive standing).” 

-2Samuel 17:3= Ahitophel makes the excuse: “Hey, besides, it’s only the life of one man you seek [συ ζητεις], and (then) all [παντι] the population will be at peace.” 

-Mark 1:37= “All seek you!” [παντες ζητουσι σε] 

[36] And Simon, and those with him, pursued after [Jesus]. [37] And when they had found him, they said unto him, “All men seek for thee!” 

Strangely (=or not?), this theme appears in the story of the two spies at Rahab’s house in the book of Joshua 2:22= “And sought after them [εξεζητησαν] the ones pursuing in all didn’t find [οι καταδιωκοντες πασας τας οδους ουχ ευρον]” 

• This scene, ultimately, seems to have been composed in order that it connect or mirrors or bookends the ending. It’s kind of like poetry, the chapters rhyme—if only thematically via verbs and strategic repetitions=

-Mark 1:35  = Jesus “at very early morning arose” [και πρωι … λιαν αναστας] and then goes missing. In verse 36 when “Simon and those with him” seek and then find their teacher, it matches up with 16:2 where the women: “and exceedingly early morning” [και λιαν πρωι] at the sun’s “rising’ [ανατειλαντος] are told to tell “the disciples and Peter.” (verse 7) 

-Mark 1:36 uses the strange verb κατεδιωξεν of Jesus’ newly renamed disciple Simon “pursuing” Jesus and not finding him until morning. This is an obvious parallel to the ending where the women seek and don’t find Jesus and an angel directs them to tell Simon to return to Galilee, something he does do—here instead! See the end of this book for a discussion of the gospel of Mark being a never-ending story, an infinite loop where the characters finish things they begin later in the narrative. This is a serious possibility in the text. At any rate, this verb occurs in a negative sense at Genesis 14:14-15 where Abram “pursues” his enemies, by night no less, just as presumably Simon is meant to be doing here. The same word is utilized in James 5:6 where the wicked have unjustly “gone after/pursued” [=i.e. denounced in court legal proceedings] the Righteous One.  

[38] And he said unto them, “Let us get going into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for that is what I came here for.” [39] And he proclaimed in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.

-might the word used here for “proclaimed” [κηρυξω] be related to Joseph being “proclaimed [εκηρυξεν] by a herald [κηρυξ]” in front of him (Gen 41:43), as John was previously being in relation to Jesus. Also Pharaoh, like Simon and the other disciples, is “in search of” [ευρησομεν] (=Gen 41:38) a “man who has the spirit of God in him.”

-Mark 1:38 Jesus says: “We should lead on/get going [αγωμεν].”

-Mark 14:42 = Jesus says: “Lets get going” [αγωμεν] then in next verses those looking to seize him arrive accompanied by Judas. [notice the Marcan sandwich here as in 1:37 Simon tells Christ: “All seek you!” [παντες ζητουσι σε]. The bookends seem to point to a betrayal of the Messiah’s whereabouts by his own, if nothing else. Simon is subtly compared to Judas the elders at chapter 14. In that chapter he also seems to be compared to a leper! But let us not digress yet… 

[40] And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him said, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” [41] And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and spoke unto him, “I am willing; be cleansed!” 

-Mark 1:41 Jesus commands the leper: “Be cleansed!” (καθαρισθητι) = exact word used by Naaman’s servants in 2Kings 5:13 where they advise their master to do as the prophet Elisha had advised:“Bathe and be cleansed!” (καθαρισθητι) 

-I think some association is intended here with Moses’ having his hand temporarily turned “leprous as snow” in Exodus 4:6f, right after God explains how to “stretch out your hand” and make a staff transform magically into a serpent. And of course, Moses is mentioned explicitly here. Perhaps this power over skin disease that for Moses is a visible sign of his authority has a similar function in this pericope. 

-Chapter one’s healing of the leper is the only place in the NT where Jesus “stretches forth his hand.” (εκτεινας την χειρα) [Even in the rewritten parallels at Matt 8:3 and Luke 5:13] It is likely this is intended to signify and recall the ‘wonders’ that accompany the liberation from Egypt in the Pentateuch. The phrase εκτεινας την χειρα is used numerous times in the book of Exodus either of God personally or his avatars Moses and Aaron= see Exodus 4:4, 7:5, 19, 8:5-6, 16-17, 9:22, 33, 10:12, 21-22, 14:16, 21, 26-27. Showing that he recognizes and wants to emulate what Mark is doing, Luke 11:19-20 has Jesus’ term his exorcist power as “the finger of God,” a phrase meant to reference us back to Exodus 8:19 and the Pharaoh’s sorcerer’s who witness the serpent/staff devour the other magic snakes. 

-there is likely a brief reference to one of the ‘Suffering Servant’ passages of Isaiah 53:10-11= “The Lord willed [βουλεται] to cleanse [καθαρισαι] him of the plague (=beating). If you should offer your life as a (sacrificial) sin-offering, you’re seed shall be long-lived. The Lord willed his hand to remove the misery of his soul…”  = so like Mark’s leper episode we have ‘the Lord’ being ‘willing’ by his ‘hand’ to ‘cleanse’ a ‘plague’ then suggests making ‘an offering.’ Mark through his scribal art can force a lot of allusion into a small detail.

-alternate readings here have Jesus “becoming enraged” here instead of “moved with compassion.” If the earlier odd reading of him getting angry are original, they may also be a carry-over from Mark borrowing detail from 2Kings 5:11 where Naaman is “enraged” because he feels put off by the Elisha’s advice to him on how to cure his leprosy. There is also a parallel in that Jesus places his hand over the leper and instantly heals him, while in 2Kings 5:11 this is merely a hypothetical act that Naaman imagines Elisha might do for him. Mark has ironically reversed this. 

HISTORICAL ASIDE= 

It was apparently a known racial slur among ancient anti-semites to refer to the Jew’s famous leader Moses as a leper. 

-Josephus Against Apion 1:31 (=281) = he argues that Moses couldn’t be a leper as the Egyptian historian Manetho had claimed because of the laws in Leviticus. Josephus says Moses law says even touching lepers or being under the same roof as them renders one unclean. This is not something from the Torah. Touching a leper is never explicitly mentioned, as so here it seems Josephus has merely become overzealous in his protestation of a slander on his people. And yet, Mark’s weird insistence on supposedly ‘unclean persons’ constantly ‘touching’ Jesus throughout this novel is quite troubling and has the hallmarks of an obsession. 

-word “unclean” is used 29 times in Lev 11 and 24 Lev 15 = LXX

-Philo, 9:43 claims that Mosaic law says prostitutes should be executed, something far beyond what Deut 23:17 says

-in some Jungian way, Jesus’ miracles are ‘more perfect repeats’ of events in the Torah. The ten ‘plagues’ meant to prove the Moses truly does act on behalf of God were expected to be repeated ‘in the Messianic age’ [for such speculations see Targum Ps-Jonathan on Exod 12:42 and Targ. Lamentations 2:22]

[42] And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. 

-2Kings 5:11= Naaman is “enraged” that Elisha won’t even see him in person when he travelled all that way. He had expected that the prophet would “call upon” [επικαλεσεται] his God and then place “his hand” over the place where he had skin disease and effect a magic cure. When this doesn’t occur, he “goes forth” [απηλθεν] in a fuming huff. If this is what Mark is borrowing from, it might make more understandable an alternate reading in some manuscripts of Mark 1 where Jesus is “driven to anger” instead of “moved to compassion” at line 41; the leper had “called upon” [παρακαλων] Jesus to help him and in line 42 the demon (like an angry Naaman!) “goes forth” [απηλθεν] because the gospel hero is willing to do what an OT prophet would not, placing his “hand” [χειρα] (Mark 1:41) over him. Also Naaman at 2Kings 5:18 asks pardon ahead of time for the future instances where he might be in a idol shrine with his king “kneeling down” (repeated 3 times in one line) before an idol; though he is now a proselyte he will have to fake obeisance to paganism for expedience’ sake. The leper at Mark 1:40 “goes down on his knees” [γονυπετων] to implore for assistance. And both tales call their respective incidents “this matter” = [τον λογον in Mark 1: and του λογου τουτο at 2Kings 5:18] 

[43] And he strictly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; [44] And said unto him, “Be sure to say nothing to anyone: but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.”

-Mark 1:44= “to no one say anything [μηδενι μηδεν] but … appear before the priest [τω ιερει]…”

-1Sam 21:2 = David startles Ahimelech by sneaking up on him= “He said to the priest [τω ιερει], ‘The king gave charge to me today concerning this issue saying to let no one know anything [μηδεις μηδεν] about the matter for which I’ve sent you…” (compare how Mark 1’s leper is “sternly charged’ to silence yet ‘proclaims the matter’ anyway)

-Mark 1:44b in Greek literally tells the “cleansed/purified” leper to “be a witness against” [μαρτυριον] the high priest at Jerusalem, by “bringing an offering” [προσενεγκε]

-Malachi 3:3 = YHWH shall “cleanse” [καθαρισει] the Levites until they are pure enough to “bring” [προσαγοντες] an “offering” [θυσιαν] in a state of uprightness.

-Malachi 3:5= YHWH is a swift “witness” [μαρτυς] against those oppressing the poor.

-‘Isaiah’s New Exodus’ page 285 = “Is there a connection between the priestly requirement for lepers in Lev 14:25 and Israel’s ‘leprous’ wounds in Isa 1:5f, with the latter being borne by the ‘servant’ in 53:4-6? =Jeremias’ ‘Servant’ page 62f discusses Aquila’s translation of ‘negoa’ by αϕημενον (so Jerome’s Vulgate translates as ‘quasi leprosum’ and Talmud, Sanhedrin 98b where these wounds are called “those of a leper”).

-later in the gospel, an anonymous ‘servant of the high priest’ has his “earlobe removed” by a blade in Mark 14. Might this be our leper here, again showing up? To make atonement for a leper, the Torah specifies at Leviticus 14:25 to have the priest “put it (=blood) on the right earlobe” of the participant. 

-The word ‘’Law’ (νομος) as the common 1^st century catch-phrase for all OT Jewish rules and regulations never appears in Mark, for the Torah, where Mark only substitutes the name Moses as a euphemism for the Torah and Jewish customs in general. [=1:44, 7:10, 10:3-4, 12:19, 26] By the end of this commentary, one might begin to see why I strongly suspect this is due to Mark’s thorough disdain for the Torah and Judaism as such, to the point that he cannot bring himself to call it “the Law.” 

In never even mentioning the ‘Torah’ or ‘Law’ as such, Mark is taking the opposite tactic of his fellow Hellenist apologist Paul, who in his missives cites from scriptures as diverse as Psalms, Isaiah, and wisdom literature and he titles them all “nomos” (Law) in Romans 3:19. 1Corinthians 14:21 is reworked poetry from Isaiah 28:11-12 and this is called “law” as well. His tactic is to get around the logical and ethical/ethnic complex realities of the first 5 books of the OT in order to subvert and undermine them with his progressive bizarre laxities by turning poetry into something useful to twist the received logic of tradition.  

 [45] But he left and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was outside in lonely places: yet they came to him from every quarter.

-Mark 1:44a= Jesus tells the healed leper “Be sure to say nothing to no one!”  which is slightly echoed later in 9:30c where when passing through Galilee Jesus “wants no one to know it.”

--2Samuel 17:17 = king David and his men “weren’t able to be seen [ουκ ηδυναντο οϕθηναι] entering the city [εισελθειν την πολιν].” 

-Mark 1:45= Jesus “wasn’t able to openly [ δυνασθαι ϕανερως] enter the city [εις πολιν εισελθειν].

-there are some parallels to chapter six=

-Mark 6:34= “compassion” [ εσπλαγχνισθη]  =  Mark 1:41 [σπλαγχνισθεις]

-Mark 6:35= “deserted places” [ερημος εστιν ο τοπος]  =  Mark 1:45 [εν ερημοις τοποις ην]

-Mark 1:44 = Jesus makes the leper promise: “See that to anyone nothing should you say [ορα μηδενι μηδεν ειπης], but go…”  [αλλ’ υπαγε] which dovetails exactly with the youth’s advice in Mark 16:7 to the women in the gospel’s final scene: “But go!”  [αλλ’ υπαγετε] and famously in the next line the women “having come/gone forth [εξελθουσαι] … and “say nothing to no one” [ουδενι ουδεν ειπον]. Mark 1 has the leper doing to opposite, “going forth” [εξελθων] and telling all. Thus, Mark has bookended his extensive literary pastiche. 

[see Mark 6:38 = Jesus ask how many loaves have? “Go and see!” [υπαγετε και ιδετε] which brackets against Mark 16:6-7 = the youth tells women to “see!” [ιδε] where they put him, “yet go” [αλλ’ υπαγετε] to Galilee where you’ll “see him” [οψεσθε]. ]

-Is ο εξελθων [‘the Coming One’] a Christological title of some sort for Jesus in Mark 1:45? 

-Deut 27:18= “Cursed is he who misleads a blind man.” And Lev. 19:14= “You must not curse the deaf nor trip up a blind man as he walks.”

-Juvenal, the Roman comedian, in his 14^th satires (lines 101-104) accuses the Jews of “learning from Moses not to tell someone the way unless the person observes the same rites as they, and they guide one who is thirsty to a fountain only if he is circumcised.” 

-Mark, like Paul, makes much of community food and table fellowship, a burning issue of their day. Mark’s spotlight upon symposium attendance, such as the luncheon at Levi the tax-man’s place in chapter 2 or Simon the leper’s soiree at chapter 14, is in accord with the milieu of Ben Sirach 31:15 (which echoes the language of Leviticus 19:18 “know your neighbor [r’k] as your own soul [nepheshk]) which is reinterpreted within the context of a shared meal.

As anti-Semitic as slurs like Juvenal’s may be, there were those, such as the community at Qumran that presumably wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, who felt no inclination toward “universal love” and acceptance of those not part of their closed-off cadre. In the DDS Damascus Document 6:20-21 Leviticus 19:18 is cited as “Each man is to love his brother as himself” [this apparently would exclude non- members of this cult] while the same scroll at 9:2 does quote Leviticus’ “You shall not take vengeance.” But leaves the second part of the sentence out, perhaps because of selectively reiterating it in that earlier section. See also the beginning of 1QS 1:1-4, 9= “Seek God with one’s heart and a;; one’s soul .... to everything he has chosen ... to love the Sons of Light.” So again, only fellow Jews matter, and only then those who conform. 

-Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica 34:1 = "the Jews alone of all nations avoided dealings with any other people and looked upon all men as their enemies."  =he also adds that the Jews had introduced laws in order "to share table [τραπεζης κοινωνειν] with no other nation." 

-Baraita, Avoda Zara 8a= "If a Gentile held a banquet for his son and invited all the Jews in his town, notwithstanding that they eat their own food and drink their own wine, the scripture charges them as if they had eaten of the sacrifices of the dead." 

-one suspects that Mark intends in some obscure way to present John and Jesus in this story as being types of the two “doves” [περιστερων] used to cleanse “the poor” specifically in Leviticus 13-14. One of these is to be killed  immediately (=John’s beheading?) while the second bird is “tied to a stick of wood with a purple thread” (=like Jesus who is dressed in ‘purple’ and ‘affixed to a wood-cross’?) and then “dipped” [βαψει] (=baptized?) in the blood of the other, to be taken and released “outside the city, [εξω της πολεως] into the plain.” (=Lev 14:53) This might explain why Mark chooses to present Jesus as not preaching publicly until John’s death and why the holy spirit looks like a “dove” [περιστεραν]. Also, note how the first chapter of Mark ends with Jesus “outside the city [πολιν … εξω] and in empty areas.” Mark 1:44 (=“Moses assigned [προσεταξε]”) uses the exact same word as Lev 14:5 [προσταξει].