CHAPTER THIRTEEN OF MARK'S GOSPEL

 [1] And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!” 

-compare Mark 11:21 when Simon-Peter exclaims “Rabbi, look!” (=at the withered fig-tree) and Mark 13:3 where the disciples remark: “Teacher, look!” (=at these big buildings making up the Temple Mount). This purposeful parallel seems to make it more than likely that the dried up tree of chapter 11 is a negative parable/prophecy against the temple establishment and the physical location itself. 

-Mark 13:1-2= “Look [ιδε]… see [βλεπεις]… these big stone-works [μεγαλας οικοδομας].”

While exiting the “holy-spot” [ιερου], Jesus remarks that “in no way will exist block supporting block, (all will be) dislodged” [ου μη αϕεθη λιθος επι λιθος ος ου μη καταλυθη (dislodged)] 

-Haggai 2= at verse 3 God asks Jesus (=ben Yehozedak that is!) if he has ever “beheld” [ειδε] the temple’s “former glory”: ‘How do you see it [βλεπετε] now? It is as not existing!’ Then in verse 9 it is promised that “great [μεγαλη] will be the glory of this house [οικου τουτου], the last (=newest) above the first [η εσχατη υπερ την πρωτην].’” Then line 15 has God telling the builders to consider the previous state before even attempting to place “stone upon stone” [λιθον επι λιθον] of the “sanctuary” [ναω]. 

[2] And Jesus answering said unto him, “See these huge buildings? There won’t be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down!"

-Myers, Binding the Strong Man page 335 = “In the tradition of Jeremiah (Jer 21), defying the logic of patriotism, Mark abandons Jerusalem and the restorationist project as a lost cause.” 

-Binding the strong man page 62 = “Mark vigorous engages these popular prophets (like Jesus ben Ananias) in a war of myths over the proper interpretation of apocalyptic ideology and practice.” 

-Lamentations 4:1b = after Temple destruction by Babylonians: “dislodged holy stones (lay) at the end of every street.”

-Isaiah 27:9 = “I shall remove [αϕελωμαι] sin from Jacob when they should furnish us all stones [λιθους] of the shrines [βωμων] to cut up into fine powder, in no way shall there remain [ου μη μεινη] their sacred trees.”

-Isaiah 9:10 = the ‘insolent Samaritans’ say “The bricks are fallen but come, let us dress stones [λιθους]… we should build [οικοδομησωμεν] a tower.” 

-Mark got the idea from 1Corinthians 8 to look for Isaiah 27 ‘stone’ prophecy. Mark seems to be implying that the Jerusalem temple is an idol shrine, similar to Paul’s sneaky way of saying Jews sacrifice “as if to” an idol, without being actually idolatrous. This is more poetic language tinged with disparaging import.  

 [3] And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately: [4] “Tell us, when shall these things be? What shall be the sign that all these things shall be fulfilled?” 

-Isaiah 41:23= “tell to us!” [επατε υμιν] (things at the last days coming to pass)

-Mark 13:4= 4 bros ask about when “these things will be” ταυτα εσται: “tell to us!” [ειπε ημιν]

-also Dan 12:6= “How long until these miracles you’ve talked of occur?” or verse 8: “What of these ‘last things’?”

-in chapter 13 the disciples request for a “sign” [σημεαον] allies them with the Pharisees of 8:11f, while “these things” [ταυτα] (=as in authorities challenge to Jesus at 11:28) refers to the coming judgment upon the temple. The reason Mark 13:3 describes the Mount of Olives as “over against” or “opposite the temple” [κατεναντι του ιερου] which is the same word used by Ezekiel twice in 11:1 [κατεναντι] and 11:23 (where the glory of the Lord ascends to “stand” upon that mountain which is “before the city” [απεναντι της πολεως]) One wonders if the reason James/John duo here are among those who ask this is that Jesus is somehow meant to be connected to the being who “raises his left and right hands high up to the sky in oath” who swears that after the “completion” of the “time, times and half-time” everyone will understand what he’s talking about. Would Mark have read this to be a crucifixion reference?  The idea of “wrapping up destiny/history” is emphasized by the phrase in Daniel’s final sentence, 12:13, where “satisfying completion [συντελειας]” is mentioned, matching the 4 disciples question about “fulfillment” [συντελεισθαι] in Mark 13:3.

-it has long been argued by theologians that this chapter is referring variously and simultaneously Jesus tribulations and the Jewish War(s) and Jesus’ future Parousia as the Son of Man. 

-in rewriting this chapter Luke makes more obvious that he is talking about the 1st Roman/Jewish under Titus and Vespasian. Luke 21:22 interprets that as being “days of vengeance” [ημεραι εκδικησεως] in an obvious allusion to the same phrase at Hosea 9:7. Also Luke 23:30 has Jesus quote Hosea 10:8 (=“They shall say to the mountains, ‘Cover us’ and to the hills ‘Fall on us!’”), which makes one suspect the reason he changes Mark 15 into Luke 23:38 and has it as “Here is [ουτος εστιν] the king [βασιλευς] of the Jews” because his language has been influenced by Hosea 10:3 = “They shall say: ‘There is no [ουκ εστι] king [βασιλευς] to us.” (see the same sentiment at Hos 13:10).

[5] And Jesus answering them began to say, “Take heed lest any man deceive you: [6] For many shall come in my name, saying, ‘I am Christ!’ and shall deceive many. 

-Isaiah 9:16= Isaiah prophesies that “the ones misleading people shall be declared blessed. They misled in order to swallow them down.”

-like Mark 13:5-6, Isaiah 9:15-16 uses the word “misleading” twice about people who are supposedly ‘admirable’ and identifies some as “prophets teaching lawless things.” Their very violent doom is described there as well; also like Mark 13, Isa 9:19 also has the theme of internecine family strife wit: “a man shall not spare his brother” etc. 

-the “take heed/beware” language here [blepete] echoes back to 12:38= “Beware the scribes!” 

 [7] And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. 

-“Be not alarmed” [μη θροεισθε) = this phrase is very likely referring to the Pauline letter 2 Thessalonians 2:2-4, also a sermon warning against getting too carried away or stirred up by apocalyptic forecasts. One thinks of prophetic texts like “Woe to them that look forward to the Day of the Lord—it is a day of darkness and not light!” (=Amos 5:18f) 

-Mark 13:7 = “what must take place [δει γενεσθαι] before the end”

-Daniel 2:28 LXX = “what must take place”  [δει γενεσθαι]

-Numbers 24:14= Balaam says: “I will advise [συμβουλευσω (= possibly alluding to the word for ‘symbol’ here as well)] what this people [ο λαος] will do in the last days [επ’ εσχατων των ημερων] (i.e. ‘in the future’)” 

-Genesis 49:1 = Jacob tells his sons what will meet them “in the future/last days” [επ’ εσχατου των ημερων]  This becomes an important phrase reused in Mark’s little apocalypse. 

-"rumors of wars" = referring to Daniel 7:21, 8:24, and/or 11:4-27?

-at Daniel 4:5, 19; 5:6, 9; 7:15, 28 there is description of "being alarmed"

[8] “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are just the birth-pangs!

-Mark 13:7 = you’ll hear of “war” [πολεμους]”

-Isaiah 19:2 = every man “shall wage war” [πολεμησει] against his brother”

-Mark 13:8 = there shall rise up “nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom”

-Isaiah 19:2 = “city against city, abode against abode”

 -Mark 13:8 = “there’ll be earthquakes [σεισμοι] in different places…” 

-Isaiah 19:1 = the idols of Egypt shall be “shaken” [σεισθησεται] 

-Mark 13:8 = there’ll be famine and “disturbances [ταραχαι]...”

-Isaiah 19:3 = the Egyptians shall “be disturbed” [ταραχθησεται]

-lines of Isaiah 19:5-10 are about drought

-Mark 13:5-6 = on being “misled” [πλανηση, πλανησουσιν]

-Isaiah 19:14 = this word is used three times “delusion/ wander/mislead” are the connotation here. 

-Mark 13:10 = to all nations must be proclaimed “the good news” [ευαγγελιον]

-Isaiah 19:12 = rhetorically dares all the “wise men” [σοϕοι] of Egypt to “announce” [αναγγειλατωσαν] what God’s plans are. In the previous sentence he’s dubbed them all as “morons.” The repetitive use of the word “counsel” here reminds one of the description of Joseph of Arimathea as a “decent counselor.” 

-it was probably to make the above pun/word association that Mark chose chapter 19 here. The resonance between the Greek words ‘announce’ and ‘good news’ are too close and perfect for him not to have noticed.

[9] “But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. [10] And the gospel must first be published among all nations. 

-this all seems to point back toward Joel 2:32 and Isaiah 52:7-12, both of which use the rare phrase “good tiding/news” (= ευαγγελιζο)

-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]

-Mark 6:12 = the disciples among the populace: “proclaimed that they should repent” [εκηρυσσιν ινα μετανοησωσι]. This connects backwards to Mark 1:4 = John “proclaimed a baptism of repentance” [κηρυσσων βαπτιαμα μετανοιας] and then later forwards to Mark 14:9 where Jesus comments that what the unknown woman with the alabaster jar did for him will “be proclaimed as a memorial” [κηρυχθη … εις μνημοσυνον]. It’s useful to remember here that the word for repentance is very similar in meaning and nuance Greek to the word ‘memory’. 

- Mark 13:9 on how Christians will be “stood up/led before” [αχθησεσθε] before kings [επι βασιλεων]

-Daniel 3:13 = “they led them [ηχθησαν] before the king” [ενωπιον του βασιλεως]

-Daniel 7:25 prophesies: “the righteous will be “handed over” to a Gentile tyrant (Antiochus IV?) during the end times. 

[11] “But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. 

-Mark 13:9=  on Christians being forced to testify before kings =

Psalm 119:46= “I spoke [by/acc. to] Your testimonies before kings” (ελαλουν εν τοις μαρτυριοις σου εναντιον βασιλεων)

-Mark 13:11= “meditate upon” (μελετατε) … ibid verse 16= “to speak” (λαλουντες) 

-Psalm 119:47= “I meditated (εμελετων) on Your commandments (εντολαις σου) which I loved greatly (ηγαπησα σϕοδρα)

[12] Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. 

-Mark 13:12= “children will rise up [επαναστησονται] against parents”

-Micah 7:6= “For the son treats his father with contempt, the daughter rises up [επαναστησεται] against her mother.”

-Mark goes on to quote the next line from Micah in his  next line. 

-the text of Micah 7:6 is quoted almost exactly in Matthew 10:36 but Luke 12:53 adds to it in order to make each clause equal, proving he can’t resist changing his source; the obvious explanation for so-called ‘Q’ is that it is Luke changing the changes of Matthew from Mark. People can’t deal with these mens’ creativity. 

[13] “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endures unto the end, the same shall be saved. 

-Mark 13:13  “…for my name’s sake [δια το ονομα μου] … He who remains until the end: that one shall be saved.” [ο υπομεινας εις τελος, ουτος σωσησεται]  

-Isaiah 66:5 YHWH says= “Your brothers who hate you and cast you out for my name’s sake … shall be put to shame.” [the LXX clarifies this by adding ‘the Lord’s name’]

-Micah 7:8= “I will wait for [υπομενω] the God of my salvation [σωτηρι μου].” 

-the “wise” of Daniel 11:35 and 12:1 who “endure the tribulations of the end-time” are in view here too.

-note also how Isaiah 66 mentions the ‘birth-pangs’ Jerusalem feels before her deliverance and how ‘the Gentiles shall ingather’ the lost tribes of Israel in a return from diaspora, which Mark utilizes here as precedent for the Gentile mission of people like Paul and his ilk. 

-James 5:11 = “They shall be called blessed who wait patiently/hold fast until the end” [μακαριζομεν τους υπομενοντας … τελος]

-James 5:20 “He who turns a sinner from delusion shall deliver [σωσει] his soul.” That term appears in verse 6 about forgiveness as well. Both of the above sentences have preceding sentences that are quite similar: James 5:10 mentions the “long-suffering prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord” [τω ονοματι κυριου].

-although the provenance of 2 Esdras is not certain, Mark 13:13 is an exact quote of 2Esdras 6:25

[14] But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let the reader understand!) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: 

-though it might seem like a parenthetical aside to the reader here, as if Mark were nudging us in the ribs and breaking the fourth wall, this is probably meant to be the character Jesus telling the disciples to ‘understand’ the secret hidden meaning to the Book of Daniel, beyond its plain sense, as per the book of Daniel itself, see 12:10 LXX= “Those who are wise will have understanding, but the wicked won’t understand.”

• here Mark gets to one of his major points, that his narrative is meant to prove the twisted timeline of Daniel’s end-time prophecies. 

-Daniel 9:24 – 70 sevens of weeks (=or 77 times?) [which speaks of covering up sins and atoning for iniquities] but not same verbiage, though seems to be behind Matthew 18:21-22 where Peter asks about forgiving a brother = εβδομηκοντακις επτα = though that same words also appears in Genesis 4:24 about Lamech’s punishment for murder! 

-Matthew 24:37ff = 2 in a field, 1 taken and one left = Lot and wife in Gen 19:77”lest you be taken with them” and maybe also Mark 13:14 “flee to the mountains” (like Lot and daughters)

-Notice in Mark 13 Jesus, while making reference to the Danielic ‘tribulation like none before or since’, doesn’t ever explicitly say he’s making reference to Daniel’s (=9:27 or 11:31 or 12:1) ‘desolating thing-that-should-not-be.’ Only Matthew later makes that specific connection. Mark may have been cluing us in as to what he’s doing earlier in Chapter 11 when Jesus quotes Jeremiah 7. Perhaps Mark 13 is making reference to Jeremiah 7:30 where YHWH exclaims: “They profane the house called by my name with abominations [βδελυγματα]…” and verse 34b concludes that due to this: “All the land will be a desolation. [ερημωσιν]” It is from part a of this same verse that Mark 2 got the idea that “the  (voice of the) bridegroom [νυμϕιου] will be taken away [καταλυσω].” Jeremiah 44:22 again repeats the exact sentiment of 7:30. It is possibly from Jer. 44 that the author of Daniel, who probably composed that work as nationalistic propaganda in Maccabean times, took this phraseology to reuse. As we have seen, this is common scribal practice.  

-Jeremiah 24:6= [God declares of the remnant of Judah in Babel] “I will build them [ανοικοδομεισθαι] and in no way demolish [καθελω].” 

-Mark 13:2 reverses this into “buildings [οικοδομας] which in no way should be not demolished [καταλυθη].”

-In Jeremiah 24 the prophet compares Israel to a basket of figs, drawing on Amos’ metaphor and also showing this must in the back of Mark’s mind due to the chapter 11 tree-cursing and temple-disruption intercalation. Jeremiah here is reiterating sentiments from other parts of his book, see Jer 1:10 and 18:9 for like imagery of ‘demolishing/reconstruction.’

-In the Septuagint of Jeremiah 33-36, the Hebrew word ‘navi/nabi’ is translated into Greek as ‘false-prophet’ [ψευδοπροϕητης] even though the Hebrew has no modifier indicating an untrue nature. This may have influenced Mark 13:22’s use of this word. 

-Ezekiel 33:25-29 = The Lord causes the downfall of Jerusalem because: “you chew food with … blood poured out … you stand with sword drawn to commit pollutions… due to abominations the mountains will be made desolate.” 

-Daniel 8:13= “put an end to transgression” = but whose?: either the idolatrous impositions of Antiochus 4th are referred to here, or those ‘innovations’ so many traditionalists harangue against as invented by the Jewish people themselves in some spirit of rebellion. Both? But a careful reading shows that Antiochus, at least according to the Danielic writer, thinks that the Syrian king “put an end to transgression”, not initiating it. This leads one to conclude the author’s theology is such as that of the Deuteronomist, that he sees Syrian encroachment in the Hellenistic age as being God’s way of stopping some perceived Jewish cultic activity that was considered somehow defective. Perceiving all that might be helpful in understanding why Jesus curses the temple and it’s leaders so thoroughly at Mark 11-12, this meaning that likely the Markan author sees Titus and the Romans as “putting an end to Jewish transgression” at the temple’s altar? But all of this must be inferred step by step. (see page 39 of ‘The Antiochene Crisis and Jubilee theology in Daniel’s 70 sevens’ by Dean R. Ulrich)

-4Ezra 5:4 (also 14:11-13) shows that the phrase “after the 3^rd…” has the implicit meaning of “start of eschatological signs”!!!

-the verb “to read” (‘at no time have you read that…?’) is spoke three times by Jesus in Mark, at 2:25, 12:10 and 12:26.

-in Daniel, "in the middle of the week" someone will "abolish sacrifices" = this could theoretically be either candidate: the 'good' messiah who brings atonement in verse 24 (=his death abrogates Torah like Paul wishes were true?) or it might also be the 'bad' prince "who is to come" in the following verse. See 1 Macc 1:9 [επληθυναν κακα εν τη γη]    
-Daniel 8:10 = "trampling" [καταποτηθη] (= see Luke 21:24's πατουμενη)

[15] And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house: 

-Mark 13: 15= the “one on the roof” [επι του δωματος] not go down into the house [μη καταβατω εις την οικιαν]

Is this a reference to the spies in Rahab’s house, hiding on the bar-maid’s roof?=

-Joshua 2:8= Rahab ascended upon the roof to the spies [ανεβη επι τω δωμα]

-or a some obscure nod to Saul at 1 Sam 9:25-27?

-other scriptural times when people have to flee their city due to apostasy or idolatry are when Taxo does so at Testament of Moses 9:6 with his 7 sons (=likely modeled on the priest Eleazar in 4 Macc, also the name Taxo in gemetria spells Asaph) and 1Maccabees 1:54, 2:28 where Matthias Hasmoneus with his brothers escape a polluted capital and its desecrated naos. 

[16] And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. 

-later a certain Simon of Cyrene is pictured as ‘coming back (to Jerusalem?) from a field right before the crucifixion (=the end-time event?)

-some of this is simply stealing from the Sodom story once again, where the angels tell Lot, “Flee for your life, don’t look back [εις τα οπισω] or stop anywhere in the valley, run for the hills  [εις τα ορος] or be annihilated!” (=Genesis 19:16-17) = these exact phrases are used by Mark’s character Jesus here: εις τα ορη at Mark 13:14 and εις τα οπισω at verse 16.

[17] But woe to them that are with child and to them that nurse in those days! 

-this is similar to Luke 23:29, which is a reversal of the random blessing of a bystander to Jesus at Luke 11:27= “Blessed are the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!” which is itself a borrowing from Genesis 49:25, Jacob’s blessing of Joseph. 

-just like Elisha has a vision of the future Aramaean king Hazael ‘ripping open pregnant women and dashing babies skulls against walls’ during war-time at 2Kings 8:12, so Mark 13:17 has Jesus pronounce ‘Woe!’ over women nursing infants during the future ‘troubles’ he foresees. 

[18] And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. [19] For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. 

-the phrase “behold those days are coming when…” [ιδου ημεραι ερχονται] is a quote from Jeremiah 30:3 LXX. 

-Mark 13:19=

“Such as not has taken place until now” [οια ου γεγονε…εως του νυν]

• -Daniel 12:1  affliction “such as has not occurred” [οια ου γεγονεν] 

-Gen 18:12= Sarah thinks to herself: 

“For not yet has it happened to me until now [ουπωμεν μοι γεγονεν εως του νυν]

-Gen 18:14= at this time, to the hour [εις τον καιρον τουτον εις ωρας]

-Mark 13:32= “the hour no one knows” [της ωρας ουδεις οιδεν] v. 33 “you don’t know for when the time is”   [ουκ οιδατε γαρ ποτε ο καιρος εστιν] 

-Gen 18:1= near the door [επι της θυρας] 

-Mark 13:29= at the door [επι θυραις] 

-Gen 18:3= “Don’t go by/pass by your servant, if I’m favorable.”

-Mark 13:30’ not shall go by this generation… [μη παρελθη η γενεα]

[20] And except that the Lord had shortened those days, nothing of all flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. 

-it’s important to remember that Daniel 12:1-2 is a mixing of two previous text, he taken the phrase ‘time of tribulation’ from Jeremiah 30:3-9 along with the ‘saved/delivered’ language there and Ezekiel 5:8-14 has given him ‘never yet done’ motif along with the ‘abomination’ and ‘desolation’ vocabulary which he has reinterpreted similarly to the way our evangelists do so consistently. 

-the terminology here of “all flesh” [πασα σαρξ] is borrowed from Genesis 6:12 where God obliterates “all flesh” [πασα σαρξ] in the Flood, but Noah is a righteous remnant; see Ben Sirach 44:17f for that precise interpretation of the Torah fable. cf Sirach 36 for a ‘shortening of the days’ idea.

 [21] And then if any man shall say to you, ‘Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there’— believe him not! 

-Mark 13:21b= “Behold, he’s there!” [ιδου εκει]

-Ezekiel 33:33 = “Whenever it shall come to pass, they shall say: ‘Behold, it’s there (=happening)!’ [ιδου ηκει] and then they will know a (true) prophet has been in their midst.”

-the reason Jesus is “sitting down before” [καθημενου … κατεναντι] the disciples during this sermon may be due to Ezek 33:31’s= “They sit down [καθηνται] before [εναντιον] you and hear your sayings, yet have no intention of actually performing them.”  

[22] For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall give signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. [23] But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things. 

-Mark 13:22 “false” [ψευδος] prophets and fake messiahs “shall give signs” [δωσουσι σημεια] 

-Mark 14:44 = Judas “had given the (agreed upon) sign” [δεδωκει … συσσημον] = is dedokei here an anagram of dodeka? = the 12 in Greek

-Deuteronomy 13:1-2 = “Even if a prophet arises and gives wonders and signs which actually do take place but then says ‘Psst, let’s go worship other gods’—don’t listen!” (=Jesus words here are a loose Greek translation of the Deuteronomy injunction.)

=is Mark subtly comparing Judas to a false Messiah? He later ‘gives’ a ‘sign’ thus proving he is a ‘false’ disciple. One wonders what relationship this shadowy character ‘Judas’ in this gospel/novel has to the figure with the homonym name of Theudas in Josephus, a ‘wonder-working deceiver’ (as that author calls him) who attempts a Joshua/Jesus-like miracle and is executed by Roman authorities. 

[24] But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her glow,

-Mark 13:24 = ο ηλιος σκοτισθησεται και η σεληνη ου δωσει το ϕεγγος αυτης

-Joel 2:10b (repeated at Joel 3:15)= “The sun and moon shall darken [ο ηλιος και η σεληνη συσκοτασουσι] and the stars shall relinquish [δυσουσι] their brightness [ϕεγγος αυτων].”

-Joel 2:32 = “All and any who [πας ος αν] call upon the name [το ονομα] of the Lord shall be delivered [σωθησεται].” 

-Mark 13:13  “…for my name’s sake [δια το ονομα μου] … He who remains until the end: that one shall be saved.” [ο υπομεινας εις τελος, ουτος σωσησεται]  

-Mark 13:19 = “hasn’t happened” [ου γεγονε … απ’]

-Joel 2:2 =  “hasn’t happened” [ου γεγονεν απο]

-Mark 13:25b = “the heavens shall be shaken” [τοις ουρανοις σαλευθησονται] 

-Joel 2:10a = “heaven shall be shaken” [σεισθησεται ο ουρανος]

-Joel 2:11 =  “The Lord shouts in front of his might force [προ … δυναμεως], for great [πολλη] is his army base-camp.”

-Mark 13:26 = “Son of Man arrives with great power” [μετα δυναμεως πολλης]

-Mark 13:28b, 29b = ”It is near!” [οτι εγυς]

-Joel 2:1b (repeated at 1:15, 3:14)=  ”It is near!” [οτι εγυς]

-Mark 13:27 = angels “will assemble” [επισυναξει]

-Joel 3:1-22 =  YHWH says when “the captivity ends… I will gather [συναξω] all the nations [εθνη].”

-Isaiah 13:9-10= “Behold, the day of the Lord approaches, cruel with wrath and harsh anger… The sun will be dim at it’s rising and the moon won’t shed it’s light.”

-LXX [but not MT] mentions demons in Isaiah 13:21 and 34:14 = both of these are referenced in Mark 13:24-25 

[25] The stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. 

-Isaiah 34:4= “The powers in heaven shall rot away and skies rolls up like a scroll, they shall fall … as leaves from a fig-tree.”

-LXX [but not MT] mentions demons in Isaiah 13:21 and 34:14 = both of these are referenced in Mark 13:24-25, which he has mixed with Joel 2. 

-Isaiah 40:19= the τεκτων chooses wood incorruptible and wisely seeks to “station his image” (verse 20=) “so it won’t be shaken” [μη σαλευηται] 

=does this connect with Jesus being called a ‘tekton’, a fashioner/maker, clearly a title of God. Is the unshakable wood he "chooses to station" simply the cross itself?

[26] And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 

Mark has interpreted Daniel in a complex yet simple way= he is  assuming there is some connection between the ‘coming’ Son of Man in Daniel 7 with the Prince who is to come’ in Daniel 9, and likely assuming due to Dan 12:11 that Dan 9:27 and 11:31 be taken together to understand 12:7 as clarifying 7:25.

[27] And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

-Mark 13:27= “from the four [εκ των τεσσαρων] winds” = is this a reference to Ezekiel 37:9= “from out of the four [εκ των τεσσαρων] winds” God shall breathe new (metaphorical?) life into the valley of dry bones. 

-Isaiah 41:9= sperm of Abraham which I grabbed from ends of earth [απ’ ακρων της γης]

-Mark 13:27= απ’ ακρου γης

-Mark 13:22f = scattering of YHWH’s people (laos) in Zechariah 2:6 and Deuteronomy 30:4 LXX “the tops of heaven” (απ ακρου του ουρανου) which is revisioned and expounded upon similarly at Isaiah 11:10f and Jeremiah 31:7-8, all of which might be related to Ezekial 37! 

-this idea of “gathering” [επισυναξει] gets reused poetically by Luke’s passion where he mixes the end of Deuteronomy with Jeremiah 22 (It is likely that Matthew 23:37-39 is the real author of the section of text reused by Luke 13:34-35, but that is no matter to our conclusions here)=

-Luke 13:34 = Jesus tells a personified Jerusalem: “How often I’ve longed to gather your children [τεκνα] the way a hen gathers her nestlings [νοσσιαν] under her wings [πτερυγας], but they did not [ουκ] want to.” 

-Deuteronomy 32:11 = God is compared to “an eagle who longs to hug his nestlings [νοσσιαν] with outstretched wings [πτερυγας]”

-Deuteronomy 32:5 = God exclaims about Sinai generation: “They sinned—they are not [ουκ] my children!”  

Luke 13:35 = “Your house is left to you.”

-Jeremiah 22:5 = (prophet tells Davidic dynasty:) “Your house is to be left desolate!”

[28] Now learn a parable of the fig tree— when her branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near: [29] “So ye in like manner, when you see these things coming to pass, know that it is near, even at the doors!

-Jeremiah 8:20-21 may be in the background of this entire chapter= “Summer went, the harvest is over, yet we weren’t saved/delivered. Since the abasement of the daughter of my people I have been enveloped in darkness, in confusion as prevailed over my the birth-pangs of woman in labor.”

-Isaiah 34:4f (= where the “heavens roll up like a scroll” and ”stars shall fall like leaves from a fig tree”) lies behind Mark 13:28 (=when branches are tender, summer is near) and possibly Amos 8:1 f [=though this has major differences in the LXX] see Mark 4:26-9 =  

-Amos 8:13 “they shall run about seeking the word of the Lord, and not find it.” 

-Mark 4:27 = “no one knows” how fruit/plants/sees grow as in 13:32f where “no one knows “ is repeated twice. 

-Isaiah 13: 10 = sun dark / moonless, while verse 21 refers to demons (= Mark 14:24) also Isaiah 34: 14 LXX only has demons, rights after mentioning stars falling like “shriveled figs”. For more fig imagery, see Zechariah 2:6, 10 and Deut 30:4.

-on the day of the Lord and hiding of idols, see LXX Isaiah 2:19 the phrase “rending of the rocks” appearing at end of Matthew = see something similar in Testament of Levi 4:1. Ezekiel 37:12-13 only place in LXX where an “opening” of tombs occurs. 

-there is a pun here in Greek between ‘summer/door’ (= thuras/thurais) just as there was in Amos 8:2 in Hebrew between the consonantally homonymic mystic phrase ‘basket of summer-fruits’ [כלוב קיץ] which the prophet hermeneutically perceives to mean ‘has come unto me the end (times)’ [אלי בא הקץ]. I would hazard to posit that Mark was at least mildly aware of, if not partially fluent in, some Semitic language, or at last their rather eccentric scribal practices.

[30] “Amen I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. [31] Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 

-is Mark 13:31 a conflation of Isaiah 51:6 (=‘look up and the heavens shall be as smoke solidified and the earth below wasteland’) and 40:8 (=‘the word of our God abides unto eternity’). Mark may have learned this from Paul —many would be surprised at just how much of Paul’s letters are simply creatively strung-together excerpts from Isaiah, rearranged and twisted to accord with his new-fangled and illimitable religious logic. If one had time, it is edifying to notice the Paul conveniently leaves out any sections of scripture he is quoting that might be inconvient to his self-serving (and self-aggrandizing?) arguments—in this he is prevalent among a long line of such people-pleasing demagogues. 

[32] “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. 

-Zechariah 14 is speaking about the ‘Day of YHWH’ i.e. ‘end of world/judgement’ and in verse 7 remarks: “That day [η ημερα εκεινη] shall be known [γνωσθησεται] (only?) to the Lord [τω κυριω].” 

in Mark 4:27 “no one knows” how fruit or seeds grow as in 13:32f “no on knows” is repeated twice

-Gen 18:14= at this time, to the hour [εις τον καιρον τουτον εις ωρας]

-Mark 13:32= “the hour no one knows” [της ωρας ουδεις οιδεν] v. 33 “you don’t know for when the time is”   [ουκ οιδατε γαρ ποτε ο καιρος εστιν] 

 [33] “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. [34] For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. [35] “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house arrives, at evening, or at midnight, or at cock-crow, or in the morning: 

-this is Mark giving us a preview of the chronological sequence laid out by the next two chapters, the Passion Narrative. 

[36] “Lest coming suddenly he finds you sleeping!

-Malachi 3:1 = “The Lord whom you seek shall suddenly [εξαιϕνης] come to his temple” = It is probable that Mark is making reference to this exact word in 13:36 where Jesus warns to be vigilant “lest the master come suddenly [εξαιϕνης] and find you asleep.” 

-1 Thessalonians 5:1f= “times and seasons” [περι δε των χρονων και των καιρων] and has the Jeremiad theme of mocking the prophets who claim “peace!’” then “like labor pains the tribulations came upon them without warning…”

-Mark 13:8 = “These things are the beginning of birth-pangs” [αρχαι ωδινων ταυτα] connects to 1Thessalonians “suddenly comes upon them destruction like labor pains [ωσπερ η ωδιν]… but do not flee yet!” [ου μη εκϕυγωσιν]

-Mark 13:14 = “flee [ϕευγετωσαν] to the mountains!” 

-1 Thessalonian 5:6 = “So then we shouldn’t sleep like the rest, but watch/be vigilant!” [αρα ουν μη καθευδωμεν ως οι λοιποι, αλλα γρηγορωμεν]

-obviously connected to Mark 14:37-38 = “are you not vigilant?” [γρηγορησαι] … “be vigilant” [γρηγορειτε]

-Mark 14:41 = “Sleep, be at rest!” [καθευεδετε το λοιπον] 

 [37] “And so what I say, I say to you all: 'Watch!’” 

-1 Corinthians 16:13-14 = “Be vigilant [γρηγορειτε] all of you!” [=παντα υμων] is very clearly echoed in Mark 13:37 “What I say, I say to you all: Be vigilant!” [α δε υμιν λεγω πασι λεγω: γρηγορειτε]

-considering this one, how can anyone say there is no Pauline influence on Mark?

-it’s important to point out what is going on here in this speech. Jesus is saying the Messiah will be meek and allow himself to be killed now, but at his ‘return’, however this works, he will be the avenger destroying the Temple and Jerusalem. It is never explicitly spelled out—because all Biblical authors make their readers 'work for it'—but Mark sees Jesus as not only the ‘messiah’ who is “cut off/has nothing” in Daniel 9 but also as the “Prince (=nagid) who is to come” and “destroy the sanctuary and city.” These characters seem to be separate in the prophecy, but forcing self-serving meanings that are not there part and parcel of ALL rabbinic and Christian readings of the scriptures, though to this day people refuse to acknowledge this due to some impermeable psychological block. But this is why one must “watch”—because the returning messiah, coming between the years 66 and 70 to butcher the terrorist Jews of a rebellious tax-farm, will be in the disguise of a Roman general! The Son-of-Man/Christ has several identities, just as Mark implies Elijah/John did/does. Even though the plain sense of Daniel 9 seems to be about Antiochus Epiphanes and the author’s hope that “his end would come with a flood” instead Mark takes this sentence to be about “prince/messiah” who was ‘cut off.’ This might be why in chapter 10 Jesus refers to his own execution as a “baptism”—Mark thinks this is the ‘flood’ referred to by Daniel 9!

-there might be touches of Jeremiah 6 throughout Mark 13=

-Jeremiah 6:26 = “for suddenly shall come upon you a misery!“ [οτι εξαιϕνης ηξει ταλαιπωρια εϕ’ υμας]

-Mark 13:36 “lest suddenly he find you…” [μη ελθων εξαιϕνης ευρη υμας]

-Jeremiah 6:23-24 says about “war [πολεμον] against Zion”= “We heard [ηκουσαμεν] reports [ακοην] concerning them… affliction like childbirth-contractions [ωδινες ως]

-Mark 13:7-8 “”you’ll hear of wars [ακουσητε πολεμους] and reports [ακοας] about wars… these are merely labor pains [ωδινων]”

-Jeremiah 6:25 = “Don’t venture into a field [εις αγρον].”

-Mark 13:16 “Him who’s in a field [εις τον αγρον], don’t turn back…”