[1] He left there, returning to own country with his disciples following. [2] And when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, “From where has this man [learned] these things? What wisdom is this was given him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? [3] Is this not the carpenter: the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Judas, and Simon?—and are not his sisters here with us?”
Sirach 38:24-39:11 contrasts artisans (carpenters and their ilk) against scribes who have nothing but the leisure time to “seek out hidden meanings of proverbs”
So they were offended at him. [4] But Jesus said to them: “A prophet is not without honour, except (when he is) in his own country, among his family in his own house!”
-Isaiah 41:28= “if I’d ask ‘from where are you?’ [ποθενεστε], in no way would they answer me”
-Mark 6:2= they were saying: “from where did this one get all this” [ποθεν τουτω ταυτα]
-Isaiah 41:24= “From what place are you [οτι ποθενεστε]… or is your work [εργασια] from?” =is this connected to the sailors’ question to Jonah in chapter 1 of that book?
-Isaiah 41:23= we shall wonder [θαυμασομεθα]
-Mark 6:5= “he could do no strong work” [δυναμιν] (verse 6:) “he marveled” [εθαυμαζε]
-Isaiah 41:7= ανηρ τεκτων, verse 6: “judging each neighbor and the brother [αδελϕω] helping”, verse 5 the tops of the earth are ‘startled’ [εκστασαν]
-Mark 6:3= Jesus’ neighbors say: [ουχ ουτος εστιν ο τεκτων… αδελϕος δε Ιακοβου]
[5] And he could there do no mighty work (except that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them). [6a] And he marveled because of their unbelief.
- Mark’s bizarre reuse of segments and fragments from the Sodom story in Genesis 19 are so surprising, the present author of this commentary was unsure they were actually there until compiling a list of enough of them; see for instance Chapter 8’s healing of the blind man.
-Genesis 19:21= God (or an angel speaking for him) tells Lot that he “admired” [εθαυμασα] (or: “was amazed by”) the advice he’d given earlier at Genesis 18 about sparing the inhabitants if there were any righteous ones among them. Here it seems he is confusing Lot (=the person he is addressing) with Abraham (=the one who actually gave the advice mentioned) here or the editor of the Torah has mixed up something, for it was not Abraham’s nephew who made this suggestion! (Or, all humans might look similar to divinities?)
-Mark 6:6a = Jesus “marveled/was amazed” [εθαυμαζα] by the unbelief of those around him.
-Genesis 19:22 an angel says to Lot: “I won’t be able to do the work (=of destroying the Cities of the Plain) until you go there.” (=that is, arrive at Zoar). [ου γαρ δυνησομαι του ποιησαι πραγμα εως ελθειν σε εκει]
-Mark 6:5 = Jesus “wasn’t able to do any powerful work there” [ουκ ηδυνατο εκει ουδεμιαν δυναμιν ποιησαι ει μη] (in his “fatherland”)
- Mark’s way of borrowing these phrases and then reworking them into something so fantastically new never fails to be breathtaking. Once readers allow themselves to see what is occurring just below the surface of these texts, the literary genius at work here appears as miraculous as the events it purports to describe.
[6b] And he went round about the villages, teaching. [7] And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits; [8] And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: [9] But wear sandals and don’t put on two coats.
-Exodus 12:11 = the Passover meat shall be “eaten in haste” with “your sandals on your feet and staff [βακτηρια] in hand”
-Mark 6:8-9= “a walking-stick [ραβδον] only… but sandals being tied-on…”
-the bread, money and garments prohibition might be meant to be the opposite of Exodus 12:34-35 where God apparently confuses the Egyptians into just handing over to the Jews most of their gold, silver and clothes, even while they still were baking bread.
-Genesis 42:19= Joseph advises their youngest brother be held “in prison” while they “go purchase provisions” [the parallel here is plain]
-Gen 42:25 = Joseph “gave charge … to give them provisions for the journey” = Mark 6:8 Jesus “exhorted them that they shouldn’t carry anything on the journey, except a staff—no provision bag!”
-2Kings 5:22= 2 changes of raiment
-Mark 6:7-13= raiment
-“Take thy staff and go.” says Elisha to his servant Gehazi in 2Kings 4:29a= from here is where Mark 6:8 obtains the detail in instructions to disciples while evangelizing. Luke later has noticed what his predecessor inspiration was and added a bit more from the rest of 2Kings sentence: “Don’t salute anyone on the road!”
-Genesis 45:21= he gave them provisions for the journey, v 22= and to all double robes, 300 gold coins to Benjamin.
[10] And he said unto them, “Whenever you enter a house, abide there until you come forth.”
-This seemingly simple advice is just a reiteration of Lot’s invitation to the angels at the start of Genesis 19:2!
[11] “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you: ‘It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on Judgment Day than for that city!’”
- As we saw Matthew do in creating basing chapter 5 of his gospel on Isiah 61, so does Mark here use Isaiah 52, here and briefly at the apocalyptic sermon of chapter 13.
-Isaiah 52:2 = tells Jerusalem: “shake off the dust” [εκτιναξαι τον χουν]
-Isaiah 52:7 = mentions the “feet” [ποδες] of those “announcing good news”
Isaiah 52:11 = “Leave, get away from there! [εκειθεν]”
Mark 6: = “When you go forth from there [εκειθεν], shake the dust off [εκτιναξατε τον χουν] your feet [ποδων].”
-Isaiah 52:10 = the “uttermost parts of earth” [τα ακρα της γης] shall witness God’s salvation.
-Isaiah 52:12 = “the God of Israel is the one assembling [επισυναγων] you”
-Mark 13:27 = “(angels) will assemble [επισυναξει] the chosen ones … from the uttermost parts of earth [απ’ ακρου γης]”
-Genesis 19:2 = Lot tells angels to “wash your feet” [τους ποδας υμων]
-Mark 6: = Jesus tells disciples that if they’re rejected in their preaching in a certain new town to simply “shake the dust of your feet”
-Mark 6:10 = Jesus tells disciples: “Wherever you should enter a house…” [οπου εαυ εισελθητε εις οικιαν]] = Genesis 19:3 = the angels “entered into his house” [εισηλθον εις τον οικον αυτου]
-Mark 6:10 = Jesus says to the disciples “Whenever you enter a house, abide there until you come forth.” This seemingly simple advice is just a reiteration of Lot’s invitation to the angels at the start of Genesis 19:2!
-Genesis 19:26 = Mark 6:10b in its sense (=going forth from)
-Mark 6:11 = Jesus proclaims: “Better for Sodom on the day of judgment [κρισεως] than that city [η τη πολει εκεινη].
-Genesis 19:9b = ends with “rather than them” [μαλλον η εκεινους]
-Mark 13:9 = a “testimony” [μαρτυριον], verse 10: must be “proclaimed” [κηρυχθηναι] which mirrors Mark 6:11 = a “testimony” [μαρτυριον], then in verse 12: “they proclaimed” [εκηρυσσον]
[12] And they went out, preaching that people should repent. [13] And they cast out many devils, anointing with oil many that were sick, and healed them. [14] And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad) and he said to himself that: “John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him.”
-Even though Elijah wasn’t executed, 1 Kings implies that he would have been—Jezebel swears that he’ll suffer the same death he gave to the priests of Baal, who he decapitated. So in creating the subtle parallel of Mark chapter 6, the author has chosen well yet again.
-1 Corinthians 15:29 = “why baptism [βαπτιζομενα] for the dead if truly (or ‘completely) the dead [νεκρων] aren’t raised [εγειρονται].”
-Mark 6:14 = Herod Antipas thinks that John “the Baptizer [βαπτιζων] has from the dead [νεκρων] been raised [ηγερθη]” Here in these two sentences we have the common denominator of baptize/dead/raised, in that order.
-Joshua 6:27 = “the Lord was with Joshua and the name of him was in all the land” [ην κυριος μετα Ιησου και ην το ονομα αυτου κατα πασαν την γην] Mark 6 makes the strange aside that Herod had received an inkling of Jesus’ activities: ‘For his name became apparent/open” [γαρ εγενετο το ονομα αυτου].
[15] Others said, ‘It’s Elijah!’. And others said, ‘A prophet!’ or ‘Something like one of the prophets [perhaps]…’ [16] But when Herod heard thereof, he said, “It is John, whom I beheaded—he is risen from the dead! “
-though Elijah wasn’t executed, 1 Kings implies that he would have been—Jezebel swears that he’ll suffer the same death he gave to the priests of Baal, who he decapitated. So in creating the subtle parallel of Mark chapter 6, the author has chosen well yet again; his literary allusions have tact and taste.
[17] For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her. [18] For John had said unto Herod, “It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.” [19] Therefore Herodias held a grudge against him, and wanted to have him killed; but she was unable to.
-Mark 6:17 = Herod had John “kept in prison” [ϕυλακη] due to his criticism of his marrying his brother’s [αδελϕου] wife [γυναικα]. Compare this to Esther 2:15-16 = Esther’s father was the “brother” [αδελϕου] of Mordecai’s father, then mention of the “keeper” [ϕυλαξ] of the “women.” [γυναικων]
[20] For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and observed him—and when he heard him, he did many things, hearing him gladly.
-Esther 2:21 = the 2 eunuchs [ευνουχοι] “fretted” [ελυπηθησαν] about Mordecai’s influence and they “seek to kill” [αποκτειναι] Artaxerxes. A phrase reused at Mark 14:1 from Jeremiah 26 about another arrested prophet, Uriah.
-Esther 2:21 = the 2 eunuchs [ευνουχοι] “fretted” [ελυπηθησαν] about Mordecai’s influence and they “seek to kill” [αποκτειναι] Artaxerxes. A phrase reused at Mark 14:1 from Jeremiah 26 about another arrested prophet, Uriah.
-Mark 6:19 = Herodias “held it against” [ενειχεν] John and wanted “to kill” [αποκτειναι] him.
-Esther 2:22 Esther “revealed/made open” [ενεϕανισε] the plot of the eunuchs to the king
-Mark 6:14 = Jesus reputation was “made open/apparent” [ϕανερον] to Herod
-Esther 2:23 = the king “gave the order” [επεταξεν] for Mordecai to be memorialized in the library records
-Mark 6:27 = the king “gave the order” [επεταξεν]
EXCURSUS ON ESTHER AND DANIEL’S INFLUENCE HERE=
-Mark 6:20 = Herod “listened to” [ηκουε] John, did “a lot of” [πολλα] things for him, and “preserved” [συνετηρει] him, just as the king in Daniel 6:14 is struggling to “rescue” [εξελεσθαι] Daniel.
-Daniel 6:14 = the king “heard” [ηκουσε] about accusations against Daniel he “fretted much over him” [πολυ ελυπηθη επ’ αυτω], just as Mark 6:26 Herod is “dejected” [περιλυπος] upon hearing his step-daughter’s request.
-Artaxerxes gives Haman his royal signet ring “to set a seal” [σϕραγισαι] on the decrees written against the Jews in Esther 3:10
-Daniel 6:17 = throwing Daniel into the lion’s den, they “set a seal” [εσϕραγισατο] on it with king Nebuchadnezzar’s signet ring.
-Esther 3:9 = Haman advises the king to “decree” [δογματισατω] that the Jews be “destroyed.” [] = Daniel 6:9 = king Darius “gave orders to write the decree” [επεταξε γραϕηναι το δογμα]
-Mark 3:6= how… to destroy [οππς… απολεσπσι]
-Mark 11:18= they sought how… to destroy [εζητουν ππς… απολεσπσιν]
Daniel 6:4 = “They sought [εζητουν] an excuse to find something [ευρειν] against Daniel” some transgression or error, but they didn’t.
-this is likely the inspiration for Mark 11:18’s notice right after Jesus disruptive temple activity, where the scribes and chief priests
-Mark 11:18= it’s said by the Markan narrator that the very reason these Jews wish to destroy Jesus is “because they feared” him [εϕοβουντο γαρ]. These are exactly the same words that end the gospel, in Mark 16:8 used of unworthy and/or unbelieving disciples. The point is clear: the gospel’s author thinks quite ill of both these groups and in fact subtly lumps them all together, their unworthiness permeating the text like leaven.
[21] And when the right time came around, Herod organized a birthday dinner-party for his courtiers, army commanders, and foremost nobility of Galilee;
-Daniel 5:1= the king “made a feast [εποιησε δειπνον] for his great men [τοις μεγιστασιν αυτου] … a thousand [χιλιοις] of them.”
-Mark 6:21 “made for his courtiers (=great men) [εποιε τοις μεγιστασιν αυτου] a birthday-party feast [τοις γενεσιοις αυτου δειπνον] and military officers [[χιλιαρχοις]]”
-Genesis 40:20= “Pharaoh planned a supper for his birthday.” [γενεσεως ην Φαραω και εποιει ποτον]
-Daniel 3:24 = Nebuchadnezzar “rose up in haste and said to his great men” [ειπε τοις μεγιστασιν]
Esther 1:14 = “those foremost” [οι πρωτοι] = Mark 6:21 “those foremost” [τοις πρωτοις]
@ it is most interesting that Esther obviously borrows from the Pentateuch’s Joseph tales=
Genesis 41:42 = Pharaoh “removing the ring from his finger” [και περιελομενος Φαραω τον δακτυλιον απο της χειρος αυτου] he put it on the hand” of Joseph.
-Esther 3: = the king “removing his ring” [και περιελομενος ο βασιλευς το δακτυλιον εδωκεν εις χειρας τω] gave into the hands” of Haman.
Esther 1:3 Artaxerxes made banquet for friends and satraps [none of same words but same idea], at 2:18 he does similarly, but here there word for dinner is ποτον
Mark 6:20 matches Esther 1:10 about Vashti, while 6:22 = Esth 2:15-16 and verse23 = Esth 2:9
-Suetonius, Titus 11.5= Titus captured Jerusalem on his daughter's birthday. The soldiers thought this such an amazing coincidence that they hailed him Imperator partly due to this.
-Josephus War 7.38-39= While in Caesaria during his brother Domitian's birthday, Titus made about 2500 Jewish captives fight to the death against each other or wild animals, or simply burned them alive as part of a celebration spectacle. Josephus mentions how "to many Romans the way these were executed seemed better than they deserved." Later still at Beirut for his father Vespasian's birthday, Titus killed "an uncountable number of prisoners in the same way."
[22a] And when the daughter of Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him,
-We shall pass over here the question of why the text seems to say Herod’s niece Salome is named Herodias. It is likely the text is corrupted and meant to say ‘Herodias’daughter.’ Possibly the text was purposely changed so no one might think that the ‘Salome’ who anoints Jesus at chapter 16 is the same woman?
-as surprising as it may be, there appear under the seams of the text here an incident from the end of the book of Judges. Judges 21:19-22 explains how it’s for an Israelite it was forbidden to “give as a wife” from your own kin to men from the tribe of Benjamin. The Israelites advise the Benjamites that to “obtain females” they abduct/rape women from Shiloh who will be in fields for a “holiday” [εορτη]= “Whenever should come forth [εξελθωσιν] the daughters … dancing [χορευουσαι]…” This is done so future “brothers” shall remember Israel didn’t “take to himself a wife [γυναικα] in battle … according to the time [τον καιρον].” Verse 14 mentions how: “it pleased [ηρεσεν] them thus.” The connection to a ‘daughter dancing’ during a ‘dispute’ about ‘taking the wife of a brother’ is pertinent to the present story.
-Mark 6:22’s “the daughter entered dancing” may parallel the unfortunate daughter of the judge Jephthah who is executed due to a rash oath at Judges 11:34 = “having entered the daughter… with dances”
-notice that in Esther 7:1-10= a girl uses a banquet as pretext to order her enemy’s execution.
-Mark 6:22b = Salome’s dance “pleased” [ηρεσεν] Antipas’ court
-Esther 1:21 = Memucan’s advice “pleased” [ηρεσεν] the king and court= see also 2:4 [ηρεσε] and 2:9
-Mark 6:23 = Esther 2:9 = ηρεσεν αυτω το κορασιον [the eunuch, keeper of the harem, liked Esther]
-Mark 6:20 = Herod heard John “with pleasure” ηδεως = Esther 1:10 = ηδεως [the king being “with pleasure” in Esther 1:10 seems to be a reference to arousal ?]
[22b] the king said unto the damsel,” Ask from me whatever you want and I’ll give it you. [23] He swore: “Whatever you ask, I will give it—even up to half of my kingdom!”
-Mark 6:23 is a quote of Esther 5:3
At Mark 6:22, Herod is about to recklessly throw away “half his kingdom,” even if only figuratively. And since almost everything Jesus says in this gospel is related to and commenting on other events in the story, we, the audience, are meant to recall 4: and connect the verses via gezera shawa. By Mark’s logic, Herod’s “house, being divided, cannot stand” and ipso facto his reign “is at and end.” The historian Josephus writes (at Antiquities 18.) how Herod Antipas executed John the Baptist as a pre-emptive strike based on even the possibility that the prophet’s influence over the large crowds he preached to might someday provoke them toward anti-government violence of some kind. Josephus goes on to recount how, not too long after the demise of the fiery demagogue John, Antipas lost most of his army in a war against King Aretas of Arabian Petra, who attacked the tetrarch out of revenge—it was this Arab king’s daughter whom Antipas had rudely divorced to marry his brother’s wife Herodias. Mark could not have been unaware of such rich irony, that the historical Herod did eventually give up “half his kingdom” due to his rash decision-making! The Jewish historian at Antiquities 18. Mentions how it was the general opinion of the populace at the time that Herod’s military forces being wiped out was a divine punishment for destroying a zaddik, a holy man. Again we are left to consider what-if possibilities, such as that our author is nudging us, like John’s susceptible crowd, toward textual violence— a critical ironical ‘understanding’ that leads us toward the shared and ‘knowing’ laughter before our narrator’s voice.
[24] And she went out, and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?” And she said, “For the head of John the Baptist.” [25] Then she hurried back instantly to the king, and asked: “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist, on a platter.”
-in Esther 7:1-10= a girl uses a banquet as pretext to order her enemy’s execution.
-the book of Judith also involves a woman who instigates a decapitation
-Judith 12:14= Judith says that whatever ‘pleases’ [αρεστον] the eyes of her lord she will ‘do speedily’ [σπευσασα ποιησω] (=or: ‘with haste’)
-Mark 6:25= μετα σπευδης (Salome goes ‘with haste’)
-Seneca Senior (Declamations 9.2)= a prostitute [male or female not specified] asks proconsul Flaminius to watch a man being beheaded. He sends for executioner immediately decapitates a condemned man. For this see Livy 39.42-43, Cicero, Old Age 42, Valerius Maximus Fact 2.9.3
The striking image of a foe’s ‘head served on a dinner-tray’ seems to be a reference to emperor Tiberius asking the Syrian governor to bring him King Aretas of Petra’s hacked off skull because he dared to defy Rome by attacking Because Antipas was a ruler installed by the Tiberius. The same gruesome assassination order appears yet again later in the story of emperor Nero’s mistress Poppea asking him to give her his ex-wife’s “severed head on a serving-dish” because she envied her rival’s good reputation among the people.
-Josephus, Antiquities 18.8.7-8 (289-301) (also Philo’s Legatio ad Gaium 36/276-42/333) in return for his throwing a lavish dinner party, Caligula offered Agrippa the right to ask for anything; the somewhat-Jewish prince asked his old cellmate Gaius not to desecrate the Jerusalem temple by placing his statue there.
[26] And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake and because of those who were around him, he would not disregard her.
-Mark 6:26= Herod “didn’t want to disregard her” [ουκ … αθετησαι], compare to Esther 2:15 Esther “didn’t disregard one thing” [ουδεν ηθετησεν] the eunuch told her to do.
Esther 1:12 = “and the king fretted” [και ελυπηθη ο βασιλευς]
-Mark 6:26= and the king was “dejected” [και περιλυπος ο βασιλευς], in chapter 2 of Esther this same verb is used of two eunuchs who are swiftly foiled in their impotent lust for power.
-Esther 2:5-7 = Mordecai, son of ‘Jairus’ (line 7 =) whose ‘daughter’ is a ‘young lady [το κορασιον]
-Mark 5:22-23 = ‘Jairus’ has a ‘daughter’ who in line 41 is called “young lady” [το κορασιον]
-Esther 2:12 = “twelve months” [δεκαδυο μηνυς]
Esther 2:5 = Mordecai is son of “Jairus” [Ιαειρω], just as the sick girl has a father named Jairus [Ιαειρος] in Mark 5:22 .
-Esther 2:10 = “For Mordecai warned/gave charge (or: ‘strictly ordered’) to her not to report it.” (that is, her Jewish descent) [ο γαρ … εντειλατο αυτη μη απαγγειλαι]
could this be the origin of Mark’s puzzling ‘Messianic secret motif’, such as that at Mark 5:43 where Jesus “warns a lot” [διεστειλατο … πολλα] against anyone knowing about the raising of Jairus’ daughter. Or Mark 3:12 where he reproaches unclean spirits “a lot” [πολλα] to not “make him apparent.”
[27] And immediately the king sent an executioner, commanding the head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, [28] And brought his head served on a dinner-platter, and gave it to the damsel: and the teen girl gave it to her mother.
-Mark 6:26= the “sent for” [αποστειλας] an executioner to bring John’s head.
Esther 1:22 has the king “send out” [απεστειλεν] the decree about wives’ obedience.
[29] And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.
-Esther 2:18 King Artaxerxes releases all prisoners in his kingdom, unlike poor Herod who kills John, also later connected to the strange release of Barabbas
-Esther 5:9 [constantly in chap 6 too] Mordecai is [εν τη αυλη]
Mark 14:66 = Peter is “in the courtyard” [εν τη αυλη]
-Esther 4:11= “whoever goes into the inner courtyard [εν τη αυλη] uncalled, for them there is no salvation!”
-Esther 7:4= Esther mentions παιδισκας and says it’s not worthy to “slander” [ο διαβολος] in the courtyard of the king.”
-Midrash Rabbah on Esther 1:19= Memucan says, just say the word and I’ll bring in Vashti’s head on a platter.
In midrash of Esther 1:21 the idea of “what Memucan said” being done was in folklore turned into a detail where he’d suggested Vashti be beheaded for her insolence. Midrash Rabbah on Esther 1:19= Memucan says, ‘just say the word and I’ll bring in Vashti’s head on a platter.’
[30] And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.
-Mark 6:30 = the apostles gathered together to Jesus “and reported all” [απηγγειλαν αυτω παντα] they’d done and taught.
-2Samuel 17:18 = a youth “reported” [αnηγγειλε] to Absalom that he’d seen David’s men (see also 2Sam 15:28 where David explains: “behold, I wait for you in the desert [ερημου] until you “report” [απαγγειλαι]) in verse 30 he’s in the “olive-grove ascent” (later at chapter 14 Mark borrows more from this narrative)
-Mark 6:31 the crowd didn’t have an opportune time “to eat” [ϕαγειν]
-2Samuel 17:29 = the people [λαω] are brought near David “to eat” [ϕαγειν] because “it’s said” [ειπαν] they are “hungering and fainting” [πεινων και εκλελυμενος] in the “wilderness” [ερημω] = see Mark 8:3 on the crowds “fainting from fasting.”
-Mark 1:45= Jesus becomes more and more well-known: “so that no longer [μηκετι] was he able to openly [αυτον δυνασθαι ϕανερως] into the city to enter [εις πολιν εισελθειν]” but was instead in “deserted” [ερημοις] places. (as he is said to be in again in Mark 6:31-32, 35)
-2Samuel 17:17 = David’s spies “weren’t able to be seen [εισελθειν εις την πολιν] entering into the city” (= same reason Joshua had to send spies into Jericho! =see Joshua 18:19 about entering the city and not being seen, as the spies hide at Rahab’s house)
2Sam 18:1 = David placed over the people “army commanders” [χιλιαρχους]
-2Sam 18:2 = David “sent away” [απεστειλε] the people
-Mark 6:17 = Herod “having sent” [αποστειλας] to have John jailed (repeated again at line 27 about his order to have him beheaded)
-2Sam 18:2 = David tells the people: “having gone forth, I shall go forth (too)” [εξελθων εξελευσομαι]
- Salome hurriedly goes in and out of the room and back again during her vivid flashback : see Mark’s subtle shift of language— 6:22 (=εισελθουσης), 24 (=εξελθουσα), 25 (εισελθουσα)
-2Sam 18:3: = David promises: “Even if [εαν … το] half of us [ημισυ ημων] should perish, it won’t deter us!”
-Mark 6:23 = Herod promises his step-daughter/half-niece: “Even if [ο εαν] you might ask for half of [ημισους … μου] my kingdom…”
-2Sam 18:4 = David tells the crowd: “I’ll do the pleasing [αρεση] thing before [ενωπιον] you!”
-Mark 6:22 = Salome’s dancing was “pleasing” to the dinner guests
-2Sam 18:5 = David asks his commanders to “Spare Absalom.” if possible = Just as in Mark 6:20 the tetrarch tries to “preserve” John.
-2Sam 18:19-20, 25, 31 haggles over whether the death of Absalom is “good news” [evangelia] on not.
-2Sam 18:33 = the chapter ends with David wishing he “could but die somehow in place of his son” = a line with theological pertinence for a story about God’s Son, who is also a Son of David (=perhaps?) who dies in place of sinners/the people
-Mark 6: = Herod is “fretful” over his “oath”
-2Sam 19:2 = David “frets” [λυπειται] over Absalom’s death, then a few lines later an oath is mentioned
-Mark 6:22-23 = “said the king [ειπεν ο βασιλευς] … and swore-by-oath to her” [και ωμοσεν αυτη] =is this related to 2Samuel 19:23 = “said the king [ειπεν ο βασιλευς] … and swore-by-oath to her” [και ωμοσεν αυτη] , which however common, becomes more probable considering the surrounding intertwining references.
[31] And he said to them: “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while” —For there were many coming and going, and they had no occasion so much as to eat. [32] And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. [33] And the people saw them departing, and many recognized him, running on foot from thence out of all cities.
-2Samuel 17:18 = a youth “reported” [αnηγγειλε] to Absalom that he’d seen David men (see also 2Sam 15:28 where David explains: “Behold, I wait for you in the desert [ερημου] until you “report” [απαγγειλαι]) in verse 30 he’s in the “olive-grove ascent”
-Mark 6:31 the crowd didn’t have an opportune time “to eat” [ϕαγειν]
-2Samuel 17:29 = the people [λαω] are brought near David “to eat” [ϕαγειν] because “it’s said” [ειπαν] they are “hungering and fainting” [πεινων και εκλελυμενος] in the “wilderness” [ερημω] = Mark 8:3 on the crowds fainting from fasting
-Mark 6:40 = Jesus arranges those he’s feeding by the “ hundreds” [εκατον]
2Samuel 18:1= David appoints “commanders of hundreds” [εκατονταρχους]
-Gen 18:8= Abram’s servant took μοσχαριον “and placed it near them and ate..” [και παρεθηκεν αυτοις και εφαγον]
-Mark8:6= “and placed it near them” [παρεθηκεν] v.8 “and ate…” [αυτα… και εφαγον]
-in Gen 42 and mark 6 there is this pattern “placed bread”, then portions, then five…
-Mark 6:31 Jesus says: “Rest a little” [αναπαυεσθε ολιγον]
-Mark 14:41 “Remain (sleeping) and at rest.” Jesus says [λοιπον και αναπαυεσθε]
-Mark 6:21 = Herod waited for an “opportune time” [ευκαιρου] to have a party, while in the next scene Mark 6:31 the crowd who are with Jesus hasn’t had an “opportune time” [ευκαιρουν] to eat.
-Mark 6:27 = he “gave the order” [επεταξεν] parallels, via similar sounding verbs, Jesus’ later “bidding farewell” [αποταξαμενος] (=verse 46???) to the crowd.
-Mark 6:28 = disciples are upset at the unexpected possibility of now having to turn back to town and buy “200 (denarii-worth of) bread” [διακοσιων … αρτους] for the hungry crowd.
-has Mark really found a way to round up his themes through several narrative sources, is the entire biblical narrative structure obtusely based on various hermetic signposts made apparent via word-play and name-dropping and verbal clues. Of course, what else have the hundreds of pages of this phenomenon occurring repeatedly unceasing with several hundred examples at the very least! This is why the rabbis were not entirely ‘serious’ about their ‘exegesis’ if scripture! Their own direct ancestors were the wholesale architects of such narratives, which they are merely imitating in the obtuse parables of the Talmuds.
[34a] And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them,
-there are several verbal parallels here between chapter one of Mark=
-Mark 6:34= εσπλαγχνισθη
-Mark 1:41= σπλαγχνισθεις
-Mark 6:35= ερημος εστιν ο τοπος
-Mark 1:45= εν ερημοις τοποις ην
-Here Jesus is "recognized" then comes a communal eating of "bread"= might this connect to Genesis 43? =
-Genesis 43:31b = Joseph, about to cry, washes his face, controls his emotions, then “placed the bread” [παραθετε αρτους]
-Mark 6:41= αρτους … ινα παραθωσιν
-Genesis 43:32 = the brothers set a place for Joseph at dinner, but set apart: “For not able to eat [ου γαρ εδυναντο … συνεσθιειν] Hebrew bread-loaves was he, such being to Egyptians an abomination. [βδελυγμα γαρ εστι]”
[34b] because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
-Mark 6:34= προβατα μη εχοντα ποιμενα
-Numbers 27:17= has this phrase ‘sheep without a shepherd’ about Joshua [Ιησους] and how ‘at his word Israel goes out and comes in.’ [just as Joshua/Jesus has them here ‘lie down in 50s etc]
-the phrase “he began to teach them” might be a key as how to interpret this whole scene. It probably isn’t the food that satisfies the crowd but the “word coming the mouth of God as per Deuteronomy, a line Matthew has Jesus quote to the devil. It is very interesting that when Matthew rewrites this line (Matt 14:14) he changes it to: “Jesus, while disembarking saw the large crowd, and feeling compassion, he healed their sick.” But this is not all! Matthew again copies Mark 10:1 at Matt 19:2 and changes “taught” [εδιδασκεν] to “healed” [εθεραπευσεν]. Because this is in the context of a ‘shepherd’ reference, one suspects Zechariah 10:2 might be in mind for Matthew at these instances, as unlikely as at first that might see, only because the LXX of this verse alters from the MT to it being about “sheep being vexed due to there being no healing.” (=some manuscripts of the OG here confuse ‘dry up’ [εξηρανθησαν] with ‘scattered/driven off’ [εξηρθησαν] for some reason, though it is only a two letter difference). Observe also how Mark 11:17 and Luke 19:47 have Jesus “teach” after expelling the money-changers but Matt has him “heal” (=21:14)!
[35] And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, ‘This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:
-Mark borrows from so many parts of the Tanakh in this chapter! Here Ruth intrudes in a Kabbalistic cluster, a series of tidbits are refurbished here by our ingenious author=
-Ruth 2:7 = she “didn’t rest even a little”
-Mark 6:31 = Jesus commands: “Rest a little!”
-Ruth 2:11= Boaz says: “It was reported to me all as much as you’ve done” [απηγγελη μοι παντα οσα πεποιηκας] = Ruth 3:16 repeats this about Naomi: απηγγειλαν αυτη παντα και οσα εποιησαν (and Mark 6:30 repeats the phraseology exactly!).
-Mark 6:30= “They reported to him all, even as much as they did.” [απηγγειλαν αυτω παντα και οσα εποιησαν]
-Ruth 2:14= “Already it’s the hour [ηδη ωρα] to eat, draw near [προσελθε] here to consume my bread-loaves.”
-Mark 6:35 = “Already the hour [ηδη ωρας] had become great/late, and the disciples, having drawn near [προσελθοντες]…”
-Ruth 2:10 = she asks Boaz: “How is it you’ve recognized [επιγνωναι] me?”
-Mark 6:33 = “Many recognized [επεγνωσαν] him”
-Ruth 2:19-20= mentioned blessing twice, Mark 6:41 Jesus takes bread to “bless it”
[36] Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.’
-Numbers 11:4= “The riffraff in their midst felt a gluttonous craving.” (the LXX verbs of this may be connected to 1 Corinthians 10:6)
[37a] He answered and said unto them: “ You give them [something] to eat!”
-Jesus tested the disciples here? The point of the end of Genesis was that the brothers should NOT go down into Egypt to buy grain, it is what leads eventually to the enslavement for generations. As so often, Isaiah might be in mind here: he uses the metaphor of God’s words being to its hearers a sufficient sustenance=
-Isaiah 55:1-2 = “Receive grain and eat without cost … why spend money on what fails to satisfy?”
Isaiah 30:20= The Lord will give you the bread you need… No longer will your teacher hide himself, your own eyes will witness the teacher.” (=this might explain Jesus’ being called ‘rabbi’ or ‘didaskalos’ so often)
[37b] And they say unto him: “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii of bread, and give them to eat?
-Genesis 42:19= Joseph says, “if you’re peaceable, let one of your brothers be held in prison [εν τη ϕυλακη] but the other ten should proceed to “purchase” [αγορασμον] some “grain provisions” [σιτοδοσιας].
-Mark 6:37= the disciples ask: “Should we go buy [απελθοντες αγορασωσιν] 200 dinarii of bread?”
-notice how we’ve just been informed how John was “held in prison” [εν τη ϕυλακη]! So possibly the association between ‘buying grain’ coming right after a ‘fellow brother’ being ‘put in jail’ might have all influenced Mark to have a flashback about John’s arrest then narrate a ‘grain’ scene.
-2Sam 16:1 = David gets the unexpected provisions of “200 bread-loaves” [διακοσιοι αρτοι (200 is the number of men he has at 2Sam 15:11)]
-Mark 6:28 = disciples are upset at the unexpected possibility of now having to turn back to town and buy “200 (denarii-worth of) bread” [διακοσιων … αρτους] for the hungry crowd.
[38] He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see!” And when they knew, they said, “Five, and two fishes.”
-Mark 6:38= 5 loaves are likely related to 1 Samuel 21:17 where David eats five of the twelve loaves of the Presence, which Mark has brought up earlier at the end of chapter 2.
[39] And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.
-Mark 6:31, 34b, 39 = All this imagery is meant to be a snapshot, if you will, of Psalm 23:2 = “The Lord is my shepherd ... who maketh me to lie down on green grass.”
=this scene from a fictional novel now known as Mark is meant to be a literal enactment of this ancient Hebrew poetry, as nearly every single line of the gospel being a parody of some kind from the Septuagint should make extremely obvious to anyone who doesn’t refuse to see it.
[40] And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
One of the most surprising borrowings in Mark!=
-1Kings 18:4 = “Obediah took [ελαβεν] a hundred [εκατον] prophets and hid them by fifties [ανα πεντηκοντα] in two [δυο] caves, nourishing them with bread [αρτω] and water.” (repeated at line 13)
-Mark 6:40-41 = “They reclined … by hundreds [εκατον] and by fifties [ανα πεντηκοντα]. And having taken [λαβων] five bread-loaves [αρτους] and two [δυο] fishes… he divided among [εμερισε] to all.”
-1Kings 18:6 = King Ahab and Obadiah “divide up [διεμερισαν] the way” (=go separate paths).
And Mark 6:39-40 (=’He bade them lie sideways, party by party’) =compare to Exodus 18:25 (commander of hundreds and fifties, note the ‘chiliarchos’ like those invited to Herod’s birthday!) [copied almost exactly by the author of Deuteronomy 1:15 ]
-Exodus 18:25 = compare to Mark 6:40 and Deuteronomy 15: (cf. 1QSam 1:14-15, 2:11-12 = the same kind of obsession with logistics and apportionment takes place at the ‘Messiah’s feast’ in the Dead Sea Scroll version of this event.’)
[41] And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.
-“dividing”= a note from Genesis 1? (‘God ‘dividing’ the waters (in verse 7) or ‘dividing’ the light from darkness in verse 4)
-Numbers 11:22= an exasperated God asks rhetorically of the whiny and ungrateful Israelites: "If all the fishes of the sea were caught, would it be enough to satisfy them?"
[42] And they did all eat, and were filled.
-Ruth 2:14 = ”Dip thy morsel in vinegar” [βαψεις τον ψωμον σου εν τω οξει] says Boaz, then Ruth gets from him some “toasted grain / parched corn” [=αλϕιτον] and “she ate and was filled and there was leftover.” [εϕαγε και ενεπλησθη και κατελιπε]
=John’s gospel might borrow a bit more from Ruth= John 6:12 mentions how those how ate of miraculous feeding of 5000 were “filled-up” and John 13:26 it is he “who dips the morsel” [βαψας το ψωμιον] in the communal communion dish is to be Christ’s betrayer.
-Leviticus Rabbah interprets Exodus 24:11 (="They beheld God and ate and drank; yet He did not stretch forth his hand against" the leaders of Israel.) as meaning that the elders "feasted their eyes" upon God's gorgeous wife, the Shekinah and that merely from the sight of her they "derived actual nourishment" according to the interpretation of Rabbi Yohanan. R. Tanchuma seems to suggest this was a impertinent ravishment: "they uncovered their heads and became bold" (hgy sw't l'bn=a phrase with sexual meaning at Bavli Ketubot 12a and 28a.) R. Phinehas opines that those joining Moses here: "deserved to have a hand raised against them" as the texts indirectly suggests. Their supposed 'arousal' at this situation is alluded to as well at Numbers Rabbah 2:25 where they "stand on their feet." Compare the Apocalypse of Abraham where he "feasts" on the sight of a helping angel and consequently has no need of sustenance for 40 days and nights.
[43] And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. [44] And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.
-there remained left over “12 baskets full” and “about 5000 men” [ωσει πεντακισκιλιοι ανδρες] were involved.
-Joshua 8:12, 23-25= “about 5000 men” [ως πεντε χιλιαδας ανδρων] assist Joshua/Jesus in killing “12” thousand men/women at Ai and “not one was remaining left behind.”
-There is perhaps mixed into this tale a small string of references to God’s creation of plants and sea-creatures at Genesis 1, which might be due to the link between a “multiplication” of baked wheat and fishes and Gen 1:28: the command to “increase and multiply, fill (πληρωσατε) the earth!” The irony concerning a miraculous increase of foodstuff would here be appropriate, though present only in undertones. Afterwards in Mark there are 12 “baskets filled” (κοϕινους πληρεις) with leftovers in Mark. There are few more possible links, though these uncertain=
-Gen 1:30= χορτον χλωρον [green grass]
-Mark 6:39= επι τω χλωρω χορτω [green grass]
-Gen 1:28= ευλογησεν [he blessed]
-Mark 6:41= ευλογησε [he blessed]
-Gen 1:23= ημερα πεμπτε [it was the 5th day]
-Mark 6:38= πεντε (there were 5 loaves)
-Gen 1:28= αρχετε των ιχθυων (God creates fish)
-Mark 6:38= δυο ιχθυας (two fish)
-Gen 1:29= God tells the humans: “Behold, I give you … (all plants) for food” [ιδου δεδωκα… εσται εις βρωσιν]
-Mark 6:37= Jesus tells disciples: “Give … to eat” [δοτε… ϕαγειν] (=repeated two times)
[45] And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. [46] And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.
[47] And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. [48] And he saw them struggling in their rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he drew near them, walking upon the sea, and he was about to pass by them.
-Mark 6:48 = “He was about to pass them by. [παρελθειν]”
=”pass by”: this phrase has connotation of ‘divine epiphany’ in Exod 22:18-23, 34:5-9 and 1Kings 9:9-18 where God reveals himself to Elijah. The word has the meaning “to save/rescue” as well in Amos 7:8 and 8:2. Exodus 33 has God three times tell Moses how he’ll “pass him by” but twice explains that the prophet “won’t see his face.” This might explain why the disciples are unable to recognize their master.
- Here Mark briefly yet brilliantly parodies one of the great stories of scripture, the parting of the Red Sea. He does this so deftly it is easy to miss, especially reading in translation. It is quite strange that this makes the disciples metaphorically into the evil Egyptians, if we dare to follow Mark’s odd logic to it’s conclusion. Let’s examine the Greek=
- -Mark 6:48 = “It was the fourth watch [τεταρτην ϕυλακην] of the night”
- -Exodus 14:24 = “It came to pass in the watch [εν τη ϕυλακη] … the Lord, with a pillar of smoky fire, disturbed [συνεταραξε] the Egyptians army-camp.”
- -Mark 6:50= “For all beheld him and were disturbed [εταραχθησαν].”
- -Exodus 14:21 = “a strong south wind blew all night” (=MT has ‘east’)
- Mark 6:48 = “the wind was against them”
- -Mark 6:47 = “in the middle of the sea” [εν μεσω της θαλασσης]
- -Exodus 14:16 = “in the middle of the sea” [εις μεσον της θαλασσης] (=repeated twice in verses 22-23)
-the author of Mark here proves his genius with dazzling results.
-Mark 6:51 and 4:39 have the exact same sentence: “and the wind ceased” [και εκοπασεν ο ανημος]
[49] But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out:
-2Macc 5:21 = where Syrian tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes pillages the temple and then feels so arrogant it’s as if he could “go over the sea on foot” [πελαγος πορευτον θεσθαι]
-here, just as Isaiah 51:9-10 mixes Exodus allusions with Creation metaphors, so Mark also locks together Exodus 14’s sea miracle with Jobs 9:8 and Psalm 77=
- Job 9:8 = “God (=El), alone [μονον], walks upon the sea/waters”
-Mark 6:48b= “walking on the sea” [περιπατων επι της θαλασσης και ηθελεν παρελθειν αυτους] and in the previous verse Jesus is described as “alone” [monos]!
-Psalm 77:19 = “Thy way was through the sea … yet thy footprints were unseen.”
-Job 35:10 = “God who … watches nightly [ϕυλακας νυκτερινας]
-Mark 6:48 = “watch [ϕυλακην] of the night [νυκτος]”
-Job 35:11 = “insolent wicked men shall cry out [κεκραξονται]”
-Mark 6:49 = “they cried out [ανεκραξαν]”
-in one of his brilliant subtle touches, Mark hints that Jesus is “the Lord” of the OT by his very action at 6:48= “He beheld [ειδεν] them struggling” just as “the Lord” [ο κυριος] at Job 35:13 hates to “behold” [ιδειν] things “that are out of place.”
-Job 35:14 = “He’ll deliver if you plead before him” [εναντιον αυτου]
-Mark 6:48 = “the wind was against him” [εναντιος αυτοις]
=with mastery over Greek word choice, Mark cleverly turns a phrase into a clever turn of phrase! Job 34:26 also has similarly: “The impious are visible before him [εναντιον αυτου] … they didn’t recognize the rules of God!” This might be why the disciples don’t recognize their master—they are somehow lawless, irreligious, hypocrites. Is this more Markan disparaging, expanding Paul’s tirades like that against Kephas in Galatians?
[50] For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, “Take heart: it is I—be not afraid!”
-Psalm 64:8b= “All [παντες] the ones viewing them were disturbed [εταραχθησαν].” (=cf. Mark 6:50 ‘they all [παντες] saw him and were disturbed [εταραχθησαν].”) =this is a common OT sentiment though, see Psalm 48:6.
-Mark 6:50= “he talked with them” [ελαλησε μετ’ αυτων] = this phrase is often used in the OG/LXX specifically to refer to God speaking with humans directly, as here. See Jacob at Genesis 35:13; Bethel is called the place where God “spoke to him“ [ελαλησε μετ’ αυτου]
-Mark 6:49= “they thought it to be a phantom [ϕαντασμα]”
-Wisdom 17 is a sermon on ‘unbelievers’ and ‘the unrighteous who oppress Israel.’ By making reference to this, Mark seems to be berating the apostles (especially Peter’s) by deftly comparing them to the Egyptians. What goes often unrecognized is how the gospel authors used not only primary sources like Exodus but betray an intimate knowledge of refractions of such traditions, ones such as the Book of Wisdom and Ben Sirach etc. Wisdom 17:3-4 describes these antagonists as “fearful” and “troubled by apparitions” [ϕαντασμα].
-Wisdom 17:8 mocks the pretentious Egyptian magicians: “They that promised to drive away troubles from a sick soul, were themselves sick with fear—and thus only deserving of laughter!” =compare how the disciples are NEVER portrayed as successfully healing anyone. At Mark 9 the episode of the epileptic boy is a total failure for them, but is merely meant to be one example of many. Wisdom 17:11-12 explains it’s opinion that: “fear is nothing but … the betrayal of rationality” and calls it an error of “counting ignorance less than the torments [βασανον] that cause it.” (=see Mark 6:48 “they were tormented [βασανιζομενους] in their rowing”).
-Wisdom 17:15= “They were vexed by monstrous apparitions [ϕαντασματων]… and there came upon them a fear not looked for.”
-Wisdom 17:6= the Egyptians perceived the pillar of fire as a nightmarish thing, just as the disciples do Jesus= “There appeared to them a very dreadful fire that lit itself, and they thought the things which they saw to be worse than the unseen sight they beheld not.”
-one should perhaps point out the word ‘basanois’ (=torments) is used dozens of times in 4th Maccabees concerning the tortures endured by the 7 righteous brothers and the pious old man.
-Matt 14:31 might be adding an extra Exodus reference, along the line of that appearing in Mark 1’s leper story. Jesus “extends his hand” to help Peter—a reference to Exodus 14:13-31?
[51] And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were amazed exceedingly, and wondered. [52] For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.
-Michael Goulder 'Luke: a new paradigm' (p 677) = “It seems we can watch the creative mind at work.” [=note parallels with Mark 6 and Luke 24 – “their heart” stays singular in moving. A sure case of editorial fatigue]
-Goulder, 'Paradigm' (p 791) = “in Mark Jesus has blessed the bread and portioned the fish (for later): in Luke he blesses the bread at Emmaus and eats a portion of the fish now. It seems likely that Luke has filled in an otherwise colourless tradition of the appearance to the disciples from the similar Marcan story of the Lake.
-Ezekiel 27:29 = prophets warns Tyre that it’s naval crew and ship-captains “shall go down from their boats and upon the ground [επι την γην] shall stand. (Verse 30:) “they’ll cry out [κεκραξονται] bitterly” verse 32: Tyre is silent “in the middle of the sea” [εν μεσω της θαλασσης]. At line 28 Ezekiel tells how ‘navigators will fear’ and 26-27 mentions rowers/oarsmen, as Mark 6:48 tells how the disciples were “tormented in their rowing.”
Mark 6:47 = the disciples boat was “in the middle of the sea” [εν μεσω της θαλασσης] while Jesus is alone “on the land” [επι της γης], at verse 49 they “cry aloud” [ανεκραξαν] but in next line their teacher says to ‘Fear not!’ and at 51 he abates the wind by ‘ascending onto the boat’ (=the opposite of Ezekiel 27:29 above!)
-Ezekiel 27:25 = tells Tyre how her merchant ships will sink tragically: “your boats [πλοια] were filled up and weighed down exceedingly in the heart of the seas.”
-Ezek 27:26 seems to be the basis for the ‘harsh wind’ that assails Jonah in chapter 4:8, just as Jonah’s earlier ‘big fish’ encounter means to be a literalization of Amos 9:3 where “those that try to hide from” YHWH “even under the sea” will be “bitten by a serpent.”
-Ezekiel 27:8 explains that the the ‘oarsmen’ he speaks of represent ‘rulers’ of Tyre/Sidon while the ‘navigators’ represent metaphorically stand in for the ‘wise men’ [σοϕοι] of that kingdom. Thus we shouldn’t be surprised if the fictional gospel characters known as the disciples just might be literary representations of something very similar, card-board cut-outs like the background Chorus of a Greek tragedy, there to comment as pawns/puppets of their author’s necessities, as are Socrates and his students in the dialogues of the philosopher Plato.
- Whether some influence of Ezekiel is to be detected here or not, the theme of the ‘so-called wise being exposed as fools’ will appear blatantly in Mark 7.
[53] And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore. [54] And when they were come out of the ship, immediately they knew him, [55] And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. [56] And wherever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole.
-Zechariah 8:23= “In the future, 10 men of every language shall take hold of a Jew’s cloak-hem [του κρασπεδου] … and say ’We heard that God is with you!’” [ακηκοαμεν οτι ο θεος μεθ’ υμων εστι]
-Mark 6:55= “They heard that there he is!” [ηκουον οτι εκει εστι]
- -There may be here a fleeting Genesis allusion to Joseph’s adventures=
-Genesis 42:2 = Jacob tells his sons: “Behold [ιδου], I heard that there was [ακηκοα οτι εστι] grain in Egypt... go there [εκει] to buy some... that you might live and not die!” (a reference to a common Levitical refrain, see Lev 16)
-Genesis 42:4 = the youngest Benjamin is not sent along the journey with his elder brothers to Egypt “lest [μηποτε] he catch some “sickness/infirmity” [μαλακια].
-Genesis 42:7 = Joseph, seeing his siblings, “recognizes” [επεγνω] them and thence takes pains to “estrange himself from” them.
-Mark 6:54 = “Quickly they recognized him [ευθεως επιγνοντες]
-Mark 6:55 = “Those having illnesses [κακως] are brought ...
- -This little paragraph is basically a recap of the healed paralytic on a litter and the woman with blood flow problem. Note how the phraseology of “if only could touch” [καν αψωνται] is elsewhere only at 5:28 = [καν αψωμαι].
-Joshua 9:4-5= αποδεδεμενους… σανδαλια… ιατια… αρτοι
-Mark 6:8= μη αρτον, v 9= υποδεδεμενους σανδαλια, then χιτωνας
-Mark 6:8= carry no “provision bag” [περαν] “for the journey/in the way” [εις οδον]
-Joshua 9:11= take “provisions for the journey/way” [επισιτισμον εις την οδον]
-Joshua 9:19= we swore an oath, “now we aren’t able to touch” [νυν ου δυνησομεθα αψασθαι] so “they’ll live/be preserved” [ζησονται]
-Mark 6:56= if they “could but touch” [αψωνται] they’d be “delivered/saved” [εσωζοντο]
-John P. Meier, 'A Marginal Jew' (volume 2 , page 999, footnote 137)= “It is intriguing to note that just three verses later, in Job 9:11, Job says of God: ‘If he should pass by me, I would not see him….’ The language of ‘passing by’ right after a mention of God’s walking on the sea is striking for anyone who knows the Marcan story of Jesus’ walking on the water. However, the parallel is this case is merely verbal. God’s ‘passing by’ in Job 9:11 is the very opposite of a theophany; it is divine movement that, like most divine movement, is invisible to mere mortals like Job.”
-John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew, volume 2 , page 731 footnote 17= “Sometimes critics will bring up the similarity of language between this miracle and the punishment oracle recounted in 1 Kgs 13:4-6: King Jeroboam’s hand withers when he stretches it out against the prophet of doom, and then it is restored when the prophet prays to the Lord. But the similarity is simply one of a few words (ekteino, ten cheira autou, xeraino) and nothing more. The context and sense are completely different. No decision for or against the historicity of the miracle in Mark 3:1-6 can be made to rest on these sparse verbal parallels.”
-How anyone could write thousands of pages on the gospels and make such a statement is beyond exasperating. The obvious fact that all biblical works are novels based on other novels seems too much for most people to deal with, so they simply ignore it even while pointing it out! Two pages later Meyer says in footnote 27= “It is sometimes pointed out that in Luke 13:4, in a pericope that is separated from the cure of the bend-over woman by the parable of the barren fig-tree (13:6-9), there is a passing reference to 18 people who were killed by the fall of a tower in Siloam. The two occurrences of the same numeral may help explain why the two pericopes wind up close to each other in the Lucan narrative and perhaps already in the pre-Lucan tradition. But there is nothing to indicate that one story borrowed the numeral from the other…”
-But of course the number repetition is nothing more than Luke copying Mark’s use of 12 in chapter six of his work! These scholars have somehow managed to convince themselves that the gospels aren’t novelistic didactic fiction—perhaps because this might mean the ethics and mores of modern Western society are based on a misunderstood comic novel and would be much too upsetting. Finally, one can sadly see the tragic myopic vision of Meyer in the following: (A Marginal Jew vol 5, page 79=) “Luke most likely did not know Matthew.”
-There is such great subtlety in all of chapter six. Mark implies many things. In a flashback, it is explained how the machinations of Herodias lead to the decapitation of John the Baptist, who Mark keeps implying is somehow possibly an ‘Elijah redivivus.’ In 1Kings, Elijah in a frenzy beheads several prophets of Baal and Jezebel swears she “do the same to him” in revenge, though she never actually gets the chance to. By the logic of Biblical reversal, John, considered by characters in the story as perhaps (a reincarnated?) Elijah IS actually ‘put to the sword’—the fate his typological predecessor escaped from. Mark may be cluing us in early that the same reversal should be expected for his Messiah, Jesus, who shall in this incarnation be the humble servant not the conquering king.
Mark’s borrowing of the structure of themes from 1Kings 19 might explain the sequence in chapter 6 of this gospel—disciples are called, a prophet is killed, there is a journey to the desert, and people are fed. Mark seems to pun between the words ‘sent’ and ‘apostles.’
=Note the following=
-Mark 6:30= “the apostles [αποστολοι] … reported [απηγγειλαν] to him all [παντα] even as much as they did [οσα εποιησαν].”
-1Kings 19:1= Ahab “announced” [ανηγγειλεν] to Jezebel “all [παντα] as much as (Elijah) did [οσα εποιησαν]”
1Kings 19:2= Jezebel “sent” [απεστειλεν] Elijah a message swearing “that [οτι], by this hour [την ωραν] tomorrow” she will behead him just as he did to her prophets of Baal.
-Mark 6:35= the disciples say “that [οτι]: ‘This is a wilderness [ερημος] and already the hour [ωρα] is great [πολλη].” (=euphemism for ‘late’)
-1Kings 19:4 = Elijah “went down the wilderness [εν τη ερημω] road for one (whole) day.”
-1Kings 19:7= waking him, an angel tells Elijah to “rise up and eat, for great [πολλη] is the journey (ahead) of you.”
-1Kings 19:20= after being called/chosen by Elijah, Elisha “ran after [εδραμεν] him”
-Mark 6:33= many people “ran together there” [συνεδραμον εκει] to see Jesus
-1Kings 19:21= Elisha kills and cooks his now unnecessary oxen, and then “he gave to the people to eat” [εδοκε τω λαω και εϕαγον]
-Mark 6:37= Jesus tells the 12: “You give them something to eat!” [δοτε αυτοις υμεις ϕαγειν]
-Just as Herod says to ‘Herodias’ girl’ in Mark 6:23 = “whatever thou askest” [ο εαν αιτησης] v 24= “on a dish” [επι πινακι]
-Luke 1:63= “asking…for a tablet… he wrote” [αιτησας… πινακιδιον εγραψεν]
-Luke 1:60= “and the mother of him said” [η μητηρ αυτου ειπεν]
-Mark 6:24= ειπεν τη μητρι αυτης
-Mark 6:21= birthday party [γενεσιοις]
-Luke 1:57= brought forth (John) [εγεννησεν]
-Mark 6:21 “courtiers (μεγιστασιν … χιλιαρχος και πρωτοι) “those reclining were pleased”
-Mark 6:20= ακουσας… ηκουεν
-Luke 1:58= “hearing this, those neighbors” [ηκουσαν οι περιοικοι] “and relatives” [συγγενεις] “magnified… rejoiced together” [οτι εμεγαλυνεν… συνεχαιρον] (see Mark 6:21= ευκαιρου)
-Luke 3:23 = Jesus “was about thirty years old (at first)” [ην ο Ιησους ωσει ετων τριακοντα]
-Genesis 41:46 = Joseph “was thirty years old [ην ετων τριακοντα]” when he became Pharaoh’s steward.
-Genesis 41:42 = Pharaoh “removing the ring from his own hand” [και περιελομενος Φαραω τον δακτυλιον απο της χειρος αυτου] and put it on Joseph
-Esther 3: = the king “removing the ring from his own hand” [και περιελομενος ο βασιλευς το δακτυλιον εδωκεν εις χειρας τω] and put it on Mordecai
-1Enoch 56:5f = the righteous “shall eat and rest and rise with the Son of Man forever.”
-Isaiah 40:11= “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd… he will give you rest.”
-Mark 6:31= Jesus gives “rest” while feeding his “sherpherdless sheep.”
-It is not immediately obvious, but Mark has woven several Exodus parallels into the chronology of this chapter. Jesus instructions to the disciples on what to carry with them (‘No provision bag” [περαν]) recalls Exodus instruction to bring “no provisions [επισιτισμων] on the journey [εις την οδον]” from Egypt. The reference to Jesus arriving at his “fatherland” [πατριδα] (=6:1) may be due to the Exodus 12: 48-49 insistence that only those who truly “native-born” [αυτοχθων] and “local inhabitants” [εγχωχριω] can eat of the Passover sacrifice. The ‘feeding in the wilderness’ is a combination of the Manna episodes of Exodus and Numbers along with Elisha’s multiplication of food for the ‘sons of the prophets at 2Kings. And then, most surprising of all, the ‘walking on water’ episode is meant to parody the parting of the Red Sea, Mark’s second time doing this after the drowned pigs who were symbols of the Pharaoh’s army.
-for more Torah parallels, note how in chapter six three things occur in the same order as similar sounding events do in Genesis= Jesus the is rejected in his hometown (like Joseph by his brother at Gen 37), then Herod marries his brother’s wife in a way that is contrary to the law (as does Onan at Gen 38), then John is put in prison (as is Joseph at Gen 39).
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