CHAPTER THREE OF MARK'S GOSPEL

[1] And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there who had a withered hand. 

-There is obviously something pejorative about synagogues being the location of so much demonic activity. It might be possible that all of this has been suggested to Mark by the phrase from Psalm 22:16 = “a group [=συναγωγη] of wicked ones has encompassed me.” Mark uses Psalm 22 to great dramatic effect in chapter 15 of his work.

• -here Mark 3:1-6 borrows from 1Kings 13 where Jeroboam stretches forth his hand to order the arrest of a man who prophesies against his creation of the new (non-Jerusalem) altars set up at Bethel and Dan. This hand is magically withered then healed by the prophet. Part of his negative future prediction is that Jeroboam’s dynasty will be overthrown someday by a son born to the Davidic house: “Josiah [Ιωσιας] is his name and he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places on their own altars!” (1Kings 13:2) One suspects the author of Mark would have liked that this kings name is so similar to Jesus in Greek and that the same generation of priests who tried Jesus would have been killed by the Romans. 

-Mark 3:5 has reversed 1 Kings 13:6f in Kings the hand withering and healing are aftermath of attempt to arrest a prophet, while in the gospel it is the opposite, being the instigation of a prophet’s later arrest. 

 [2] And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse him. [3] And he said unto the man which had the withered hand, “Stand in our midst!” [4] And he said unto them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath-days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?” And they were silent. 

-Joshua 8:31= on Mount Ebal, Joshua brought a “sacrifice of salvation” [θυσιαν σωτηριον]

-Mark 3:4= Jesus asks if it’s allowed on the Sabbath to “save or kill” [σωσαι η αποκτειναι]

-Joshua 8:9= Joshua lodged at night “in the middle of the people” [εν μεσω του λαου]

-Joshua 8:22= they were “in the middle “ [αναμεσον] of the camp (repeated in verses 11-12)

-Mark 3:3= Jesus says to the man with the withered hand: “Get into the middle!” [εις το μεσον]

-Mark 3:1= and he entered again into the [και εισηλθε παλιν εις την] synagogue 

-Joshua 8:19b= and they entered the city [και εισηλθον εις την πολιν]

-Joshua 8:18= the Lord says to Joshua: “stretch forth thy hand!” [εκτεινον την χειρα σου]

-Mark 3:5= Jesus says to man with withered hand: “stretch forth thy hand!” [εκτεινον την χειρα σου]

-Joshua 8:20= και περιβλεψαμενοι

-Mark 3:5= και περιβλεψαμενος

 [5] And as he angrily looked round about at them, grieved at the hardness of their hearts, he told the man, “Stretch forth your hand!” And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. 

-Mark 3:5 = the verb ‘restored’ [αποκαθισταναι] was a technical term in Jeremiah 16:15, 23:8, 24:6 and Ezekiel 16:55 for “restoration of Israel/Judah” to its own land in an eschatological sense.

-some association with Isaiah may be meant here= verses 19-20  describe the Lord’s “anger” [οργης] at those whose “hearts [καρδια] are proud” (=as in ‘Ephraim’ at verse 9) and how “his hand” [η χειρ αυτου] is held high to strike down the insolent. God curses the proud, threatening that they shall “eat their own arms, and still hunger!” = to shall this compare how Mark 3’s early verses contain Jesus “anger” [οργης] at the hard-“hearted” [καρδιας] when he fixes “the hand of his” [η χειρ αυτου]

-Micaiah ben Imlah’s last words have a separate introduction (1Kings 22:28b= “And he said, ‘Hear, you people, all of them!’” []): an exact quote from Micah 1:3 (=shim’u ammim kullam).

-also compare Micah 2:11 (lu ish holek ruach wa-sheqer [] kizzeb) and 1Kings 22:22 [] (ruach sheqer)    /////////

-the content of Micaiah’s prophecy (=1Kings 22:13-23) draws on Ezekiel: his opening statement to the king [‘I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd.’ v.17] is like Ezekiel’s condemnation of the kings (Ezek 34:6= “My sheep strayed all over the mountains and on every high hill, were scattered all over the face of the earth, and there was on one to look for them.”)

-1Kings 22:19= Micaiah’s vision of God on a throne attended by hosts is like Ezekiel’s 1:26-28’s picture of the so-called ‘Living Creatures’. At Ezekiel 2:2 a spirit enters the prophet and he ridicules the prophets of peace for “following their own spirit” [meaning ‘lies’] (=13:3-7) paralleling Micaiah seeing a lying spirit possess the court’s seers in 1Kings 22:22-23= all of these allusions connect to form a veiled criticism of Ezekiel, whose basic worldview seems here to be implicitly rejected by the Deuteronomistic editor. 

-Joshua 8:31= Moses “gave charge” [ενετειλατο] to the attendant of the Lord [ο θεραπων κυριον] (ibid in verse 33)

-Mark 3:2= Jesus’ opponents decide if on Sabbath he “will cure” [θεραπευσει] then they should “charge him” [ινα κατηγορησωσιν]

-Mark 3:5= being grieved (by their callousness) [συλλυπουμενος] then Jesus makes the withered hand “like/as the other” [ως η αλλη]

-mark 14:19= hearing that they’ll soon betray, the disciples “begin to grieve” [λυπεισθαι]  one asks “no, how I” and then another [και αλλος] says “Now, how I?” 

-at this point Matt and Luke have ‘finger of God’ has come upon you… which proves gospels are midrashing Exodus, the reason Jesus calls disciples then has family reject them, in a hypothetical original, this would have occurred, but Mark and his imitators are parodying their so-called source materials. 

[6] And the Pharisees went away, and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. 

-the hapax legomenon of ‘opos’ at Mark 3:6 where the Pharisees and Herodians sought “how to destroy him” (‘οπως αυτον απολεσωσιν) echoed exactly later at the temple incident that the whole story basically leads up to[cf. 11:18= πως αυτον απολεσωσιν]. 

[7] But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea, [8] And from Jerusalem, from Idumaea, from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon— a great multitude came unto him when they had heard what great things he did. 

-Mark’s mention of “beyond the Jordan” [περαν του ιορδανου] and Galilee [Γαλιλαιας] match exactly that of Isaiah 9:2 which is probably what this little aside is meant to recall—the “great light” revealed to those surrounding “Zebulon and Naphtali” is presumably meant to be the gospel message, if we follow the logic of Mark’s allusion. It is interesting that the  Gospel phrase “to/by the sea” [προς την θαλασσαν] here matches the Hebrew of Isaiah 9 [דרך הים] better than the Septuagint which has “the rest (of those) along the coast(line).” 

[9] And he spoke to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. [10] For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. [11] And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried out, saying, “Thou art the Son of God!” [12] And he strictly charged them that they should not make him known. 

[13] And he went up into a mountain, and called unto him whom he wished: and they came unto him. 

-Mark 3:13b = “and he called whomever he wished” [και προσκαλειται ους ηθελεν]

-Joshua 4:4 = “And Joshua called on twelve men” [και ανακαλεσαμενος Ιησους δωδεκα ανδρας]

-At Exodus 6, Moses’ father-in-law offers the advice that others beside the prophet should be appointed to make rulings to alleviate his work-burden, who could be temporarily left in charge whenever the Israelite leader ‘goes up into the mountain’ for long periods to commune with God. In opposition to this, our narrator makes sure we are aware that Jesus’ selection of students was done at his own initiative. 

-Mark 3:14= Jesus “appointed” [εποιησε] disciples = this term, though quite common, is used in LXX 1Kings 12:31, 13:33 and 2Chronicles 2:18 of “selecting” tabernacle officials, priests and the like, even Moses/Aaron themselves in 1Samuel 12:6. 

[14] And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, [15] And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: 

-Joshua 4:1-8 is where Joshua chooses twelve men to place stones at the Jordan, which Mark echoes by having his Joshua choose 12. 

-the 12 listed names in Mark 3:16-19 = based on Gen 35:22f the sons of Jacob notice how Judas and Issachar are next to each other in verse 23, possibly the origin of the name Judas Iskariot? Is Zebedee equivalent to Zebulon? In Genesis 35 Simeon lives in Canaan. Mark 3:19 gives us Simon the Canaanite. The patriarch Jacob has a son named Levi, while in Mark 2 a man called Levi [son] of Alphaios is called to be a follower but is not named as one of the 12, yet some manuscripts of the NT name him as Jacob/James! 

[16] And Simon he renamed ‘Peter’ 

-Isaiah 39:7 = to Hezekiah= your own sons shall be made eunuchs/castrated by the Babylonians. 

-Daniel 1:7-11, 18 = Daniel and his friends are ‘renamed’ by the overseer of eunuchs of Nebuchadnezzar’s palace in Babylon

-Babylonians changed the name of King Zedekiah from Mattaniahu just as Pharaoh had with Jehoiakim 

[17] and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, ‘ sons of thunder’

-this scene recalls Numbers 13, where Moses sends out 12 “spies” to judge the layout of the Promised Land. He also renames his left-tenant Hoshea as Joshua, as apparently Jesus has done here to Simon with added title of Peter.

-the ‘Boanerges’ seems to be a mistranslation, since ‘boas’ means ‘oxen’ and ‘ergas’ means ‘work’—recall that when Elijah called Elisha the latter was plowing with two oxen, i.e. doing farm work. 

-1Kings 19:19= Elisha was ploughing with 12 teams of oxen “and he was among the 12”

[18] And Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, [19] And Judas Iscariot, who also delivered him up: and they went into a house. [20] And the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.

-one suspects the names would be somehow meant to mash up with the sons of Jacob at Exodus 1:2-4; but any connection is fragmentary: note how Judah [Ιουδας] is followed by Issachar [Ισσαχαρ] which Judas Iscariot [Ιουδαν Ισκαριωτην] is a quasi-anagram of. There is in Mark a Simon, a Zebedee, a Levi. Exodus’ list has Simeon, Zebulon, and Levi. More difficult would be to try and equate Thaddeus with Gad or Alphaeus as some misspelling of Naphtali. A moniker like ‘Bartholemew” (=Son of Ptolemais =descended from Seleucid Diodochoi rulers of Egypt?) is anomalous, maybe meant to be equivalent to Israel’s youngest male offspring ‘Ben-Yamin’ (=Son of the south). 

-None of the gospels can agree on the 12’s names, which ironically is similar to the status of the 12 tribes in the Old Testament= 

-How many Israelite tribes were there? Twelve? In the Jewish scriptures, there are thirteen tribes, although Levi did not have any land and was not “registered”, but even then there were thirteen territories because Manasseh had two portions, one east of the Jordan and one west. Moreover, Joseph, who ought to have been a tribe, was not—his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh replaced him when Levi was not “registered”. In the first chapter of Judges, there are only ten tribes, even though Joseph and his two sons are all among them. Levi, Reuben, Issachar and Gad are not among them. In the Song of Deborah at Judges 5 , there’s 10 tribes, except Manasseh is called Machir, and Gad is ‘Gilead,’ and Judah, Sumeon and Joseph are not mentioned.

Later, in the division of the putative royal monarchy into two, the northern kingdom, Israel, has ten tribes, and the southern one only two, Judah and Benjamin, but the country is called Judah, as if Benjamin did not matter or did not really exist. The story of the prophet Ahijah (1Kings 12:20) divides Judah alone from the rest, but the rest consists of only ten tribes, so, it seems, that Benjamin did not exist. Nor could Simeon and Reuben have been part of the northern kingdom because they were southern tribes which ought to have been associated geographically with Judah. If the split between the tribes was ideological, as the bible maintains, then Judah would have been surrounded by Israel! In fact, there was no such split until Samaria was finally swallowed up by Assyria, leaving Judah as a “remnant”.

What is also remarkable about Joshua 1-12 is that it refers exclusively to the territory of Benjamin with only four exceptions, probably glosses, one of them plainly being a marginal note. Joshua focuses often on Gilgal, an unknown place elsewhere connected to Benjaminites like Saul (1 Sam 11:1),. Ben-Yamin seems simply to be an alternative name for Yehud. Judah IS the “Son of the South”.

  

[21] And when those around him heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, “He is beside himself.”

-Ezekiel 2:5 = this “rebellious house” will know that you are “a prophet” … (verse 6=) and you won’t be “startled” [εκστης] by their “angry faces” when they rise against you “round about” [κυκλω]

-Mark 3:21 = his family says (or someone told them) that Jesus is “out of his mind”; literally in Greek “startled” [εξεστη] 

-the phrase ‘those around him’ is meant to signify ’friends/family’ here= in Greek this is literally: “those of his/him.”

[22] And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, “He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils he casts out demons.”

-though the details are terse, one assumes Mark means us to think that possibly the leper from chapter one did “show himself” at the temple as instructed and now a delegation comes to question Jesus’ authority to do miracles and/or stir up the populace. 

• in Mark 3:22 where the scribes say: “He has Beelzebul!” = is this an ironic reference to the Torah commandment of Exodus 23:13 that “the names of other gods should not even be heard form your mouth”? Yet they say it here. Is Mark accusing them of accidental blasphemy?  

-these “scribes from Jerusalem” are meant to parallel the “congregation of Korah” at Number 16:13 who question Moses’ authority, arguing that he has set himself up as “a prince” [αρχων], just as these rabbis reject Jesus’ power by saying it’s from the “prince [αρχων] of demons.” The phrase from a few sentences ago “he called on whomever he wished [ους ηθελεν]” echoes Numbers 16:7 where Moses sets up a test for his accusers to see whose incense the Lord accepts as an offering: “he will choose whom he wishes.” [ος αν εκλεξηται]. For those who know how this story ends, the allusions to it in Mark 3 mean that the author is implying (or hoping/wishing) for the future destruction of these characters: for the scribes to be swallowed by the earth like Korah!  

[23] He called out unto all of them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? [24] And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 

• The first mention of ‘parables’  

-Ezekiel 17:2 = “Son of man, speak an allegory [παραβολην] to the house of Israel.”

-Ezekiel 20:49 = “Is He not a maker of allegories?”

Ezekiel 24:3 = “Utter a parable [=mashal] to this rebellious house.”

-Jokanaan ben Zakkai's parable at Bavli Shabbat 153a is an earlier version of Matthew 22:11-13. The same parable is attributed to Rabbi Judah I in Midrash Qoheleth 9.8. 

-Sukkoth 28a says J. ben Zakkai was an expert in "fox fables and washman's parables."

-Bavli Sanh 38b: "Rabbi Meir had 300 parables of foxes and we have only three left." 

-notice how in chapter 3 Jesus family are called “those [οι] outside [εξω]” just as chapter 4:11 explains the the disciples that “those outside [τοις εξω]” would be excluded further by being told only obtuse allegories, not insider knowledge and explication. He speaks to hostile authorities from the capitol in parables in chapter three, and they are meant to be similar in function to the complainers who were wiped out by God’s wrath in Number 16. Those siding with Korah there are also twice in Num 16:# described as “standing against” Moses, as are Jesus’ relatives here. At Mark 3:23 Jesus also “calls” [παρακαλεω] his adversaries, the same word as his chooses of followers a few lines earlier. Again, is Mark underhandedly criticizing Jesus family and friends? It would appear so. Is he again gloating over the obliteration of this generation he is writing about in the past tense, who would have been nearly genocided by the Romans in second half of 1st century and into the middle of the 2nd. But it all be more complex than that, seeing as Numbers 12 has God smite Moses’ own sister with leprosy for criticizing his marriage and even her sibling Aaron is guilty of the crime listed at Exodus 22: “Thou shalt not curse the ruler of thy people.”—and yet neither of these lose status later in the narrative. Perhaps something similar is going on in the NT gospels? We shall keep the possibility in mind. 

[25] And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

-is this some kind of foreshadowing of how the historical Herod Antipas ironically ruined his kingdom by offering to ‘divide it in half’ for his stripping step-daughter in chapter 6?

 [26] And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. [27] No man can break into a strong man's house, and plunder his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will ransack his house. 

-Mark 3:27= “Then his house [την οικιαν αυτου] he’ll plunder [διαρπασαι].”

-Micah 2:2b = in a list of complaints against Israelite leaders, it’s mentioned they “plunder [διηρπαζον] a man [ανδρα] and his house [τον οικον αυτου]”

-Mark 10:16= Jesus wouldn’t allow any carrying of “vessels” [σκευος]; which matches 3:27 on the strong man’s “goods” [τα σκευε αυτου] being plundered. 

-Luke 11:22 either recognized or assumed that Mark was referencing Isaiah for he substitutes the a different word into his version of this saying, one that was used by LXX Isaiah 53:12a= “out of the strong ones [ισχυρων] he will portion spoils [σκυλα]” [=cf. Isaiah 49:24-26 (=the ‘spoils’ ripped by force from a ‘giant/strong one’ and the bit about ‘being saved’) or -Isa 24:22 the kings/archons are “bound (asshir) in a pit” ]

-Hosea 6:9= “You strength [ισχυς] is like some guy [ανδρος] who is a thug.” 

-Deuteronomy 28:29-30= those who break the Torah shall “be plundered [διαρπαζομενος] all their days … they’ll build a house but never live there!” Verse 32 promises such transgressors “their hand shall not be strong [ισχυσει].” 

-Testament of Levi 18:12 and Testament of Zebulon 9:8= "Beliar shall be bound by him" and "The Lord himself ... shall liberate the prisoners of Beliar." = see also TEst. Simon 6:6 and Test. Dan 5:10-13

-for another "strong man" [andros dunatou] see Isa 49:24

[28] “Verily I say unto you, ‘All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: [29] But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost shall never have forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation” [30] (—Because they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’)

This is a very underhanded undermining of Peter. Jesus himself identifies Simon as “Satan!” later in chapter 8, which the exactly the same as saying he has an unclean spirit, and if that charge isn’t true then, by Mark’s own internal logic, Jesus will never be forgiven for this false accusation. Since the gospel author takes such pains to portray his protagonist as omniscient and not inclined to ever be in error, we must accept the demonic designation of Simon by his teacher alongside chapter 3’s clarification. Mark is subtly stating that Peter was never in possession of the holy spirit, according to the standards laid out by this pejorative reckoning. And in that, we have the basic raison d’etre for the existence of Mark’s little novel. 

-1Samuel 2:25 (paraphrase) = ‘If a man sins against a mortal, they pray for him, but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall pray for him?’ 

-on this see Stevan Davies, Kevin Johnson ‘Mark's Use of the Gospel of Thomas’ (1996)= “In essence Mark 8:27-33 is a seeming confession that might lead toward the idea of Petrine supremacy (cf. Matthew and Luke’s redaction of it) but no — in act we hear that it led to Jesus’ condemnation of Peter as Satan. Herman Peterson (1994) has argued that in other principal ways Mark’s gospel is written as a parody of pre-existing textual traditions. “  ….  “In light of Mark 3:22-29, where it is an unforgivable sin to call someone Satan who has received the Spirit, when Jesus calls Peter Satan he thereby unequivocally denies the possibility that Peter has the Spirit of God.” ////////// NOTE FIND THE PAGE NUMBERS FOR THIS 

-the language here is drawn from Isaiah 63:10’s summary of the Exodus wilderness generation= “They resisted persuasion and provoked his holy spirit. So the Lord turned against them, and became their enemy, waging war.”

-Isa 63:9 ends with “days of the aeon” [του αιωνος] while verse 11 begins with “days everlasting” [αιωνιων] = compare Mark 3:30’s “forgiveness unto the aeon” [τον αιωνα] contrasted with  “everlasting [αιωνιου] judgement” 

[31] There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.

• a reverse joke of Mark’s; looking forward to the clarification in the next chapter that “those on the outside” are not meant to be saved. Here Jesus’ family are noted as being literally and figuratively “on the outside.”

 [32] A crowd (of onlookers) sat about him, and they informed him: “Behold, your mother and your brethren are outside looking for you.” [33] “Who is my mother or my brothers?” he answered them.

-Mark 3:32= “your mother and brothers [η μητηρ σου και οι αδελϕοι σου] are outside seeking [εξω ζητουσι σε] you” which is meant to echo Jacob asking his youngest son: “Even your mother and brothers [η μητηρ σου και οι αδελϕοι σου] you expect to bow down to you!” (=this is actually a word-for-word quote of LXX Genesis, like so many of Mark’s OT references!)

-Gen 37:15-16= a “wandering man” asks Joseph what he “seeks” [ζητεις] and the shepherd boy requests that the man “report” [απαγγειλον] to him where his brothers are, just as Jesus’ family “send a message” [απεστειλαν] to where he’s preaching at and are “seeking” [ζητουσι] him (vv. 31-32).

-Joshua 2:18= “Behold [ιδου] … your mother and brothers [την ματερα και τους αδελϕους…] you’ll bring together your household [συναξεις οικιαν σου]… (then in verse 19=) outside [εξω]”

-Mark 3:19= “in a house [εις οικον]” (verse 20=) “there comes together” [συνερχεται]

-At Mark 16:5-6= the mourning women are told by the seated [καθημενον] youth: “You seek the Nazarene?” [ζητειτε] and to “look/behold!” [ιδε]. This mirrors the pericope of Mark 3:32 where Jesus family “seek” [ζητουσι] him while he himself looks around “at those sitting” [καθημενους] and declares to them: “Look/behold!” [ιδε] It’s the same grouping: just more Markan sandwiches and playful literary arrangement. 

[34] As he looked around at those which sat about him, he stated: “Behold, (here are) my mother and my brothers! [35] For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.”

-LXX Psalm 39:9= “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.” Might be behind Mark 3:35’s assertion that “whomsoever does the will of God” thus becomes kin with Jesus. 

-At Mark 1, all in the synagogue are “amazed” [εθαμβηθησαν] by the exorcism at verse 27—this suggests a negative connotation when twice later at Mark 10:24 and 32 the disciples are “shocked” [εθαμβουντο] by their master’s words about the rich (this is on the way to Jerusalem at 10:23). Jesus “looks all around” [περιβλεπσαμενος] at them before delivering a judgment on the rich.

-Mark 5:42 witnesses to the raising of Jairus’ 12 year old daughter are ‘overcome/beside themselves’ [εξεστησαν], mirroring 3:16-19 where the 12 are listed by name and then in verse 20 Jesus family (“those of him” [οι παρ’ αυτου]) try to seize him implying he is “out of his mind/beside himself” [εξεστη]. 

-Farrer, ‘Study' (pgs 76-77) = compares Mark 2:1-12 with Exodus 4:1-9 the first of several signs used to convince the elders of Israel that Moses had authority. 

-the tenor of this chapter, where Jesus breezily rejects his family (something made more harsh in later gospel fan-fiction), might be related to certain incidents in Jeremiah. In chapter 12 of Jeremiah his family residing in his hometown of Anathoth blame him for losing them money by his push for Jerusalem centrality. 

-Ezekiel 3:22-27= God instructs Ezekiel never to preach in public until he is told, when the time is right. 

-‘Isaiah’s New Exodus’ (page 203)= “Jacob/Israel might swear ‘by the the name of the Lord’ and ‘confess the God of Israel’ but it is not in truth or right (=Isa 48:1). They are Israel in name only. Immediately after this Isaiah 49 announces the election of a new servant. It seems that a similar pattern is being repeated here.” 

-though the evangelist is more careful about being openly hostile, this chapter may be meant to reflect Jeremiah 11, where that prophet is rejected violently by the people of his hometown, who fear the political consequences of Jeremiah’s message. In typical fashion, he curses their young people to certain and gruesome deaths. 

-there are several details supplied concerning OT characters that Mark has possibly borrowed but not told us readers about explicitly= note how in 1Samuel chapter 2, Hannah has 3 sons and 2 daughters = Just as Mark 3 informs us of Jesus’ mother Mary having besides him 3 sons and daughters plural, so at least 2. It’s also possible the ‘Joses’ who is never mentioned again in this list of brothers is simply a double or stand-in for Jesus. The likely reason that Jesus is portrayed as unmarried—that constant obsession of modern conspiracy theorists—is not only because Paul was celibate but because the prophet Jeremiah was instructed to never marry. Also recall the detail about Ezekiel never prophesying in public until the day after his wife dies, with God adding that he shall go out of his way to not mourn. One book’s metaphors color another’s choice of metaphors. 

-Num 12:9 = the “anger” [οργη] of the Lord

-Mark 3: = Jesus gives the evil eye to his enemies: “with anger” [μετ’ οργης]

-Num 12:10 = Aaron “looked upon” [επεβλεψεν] Miriam, seeing that she has become “as leprous as snow” [ωσει χιων]

-Mark 9:3 = “exceedlingly white as snow” [λευκα λιαν ως χιων]

-Mark 3:5= “having looked around” (repeated at line 34) 

-Mark 9= “having looked around they saw no one”

-Mark 3= Jesus’ mother, who we’ve been informed at 6:3 is named Miriam [Μαριας], is similar to being like Moses sister Miriam who at Numbers 12:14 is forced to stay “outside” [εξω] the camp. Of course there is the unseen parallel of ‘“Mary with the brothers” (=Mark 3:34) and “Moses’ sister Mary with their brother” Aaron.

-Mark 3:28-29  =  Num 12:11= a discussion of sin 

-at 12:15 of Numbers Miriam is “unclean” = Mark 3:30 = Jesus takes great offense at being accused of having an “unclean” spirit.