CHAPTER TWO OF MARK'S GOSPEL

=EXCURSUS ON HIDDEN METAPHORS=

-It seems very likely that there is in chapter 2 of Mark’s gospel some affinity, however metaphorical, between the paralyzed man on mattress and the Old Testament ‘Ark of the Covenant’, though admittedly what Mark’s meaning in presenting him as such is still obtuse—mockery? Not as far-fetched as it may seem at first, please hold opinion on that until after pursuing this entire commentary. Still, I argue that this unseen presence hovers just under the surface of this text.

 -Mark 2:3= “they were bearing [ϕεροντες] a paralyzed man being lifted [αιρονενον] by four [τεσσαρων] (men).”   

-Mark’s cluster of words is what makes one suspect the invalid’s “litter/pallet” [κραββατον] is meant somehow to represent the Ark [κιβωτου] of the Covenant, as in Exodus 37:3-5 this rectangular object also has “four” [τεσσαρα] sides and rings for “bearing [αναϕορεις] poles” to be inserted for “lifting” [αιρειν] it. (=Exod 38:4-7 has all these same terms for describing the main cultic holocaust altar) Maybe Mark means to suggest by way of a pun that the Jewish God or the old Mosaic way is sick/paralyzed and needs ‘curing” = ??? All the motifs are there for some kabbalistic exegesis: the disabled man’s cot being the site of a religious quarrel about ‘dismissing sins” is analogous to the Ark and it’s ‘atonement-seat’, it’s “covering for a covering” (Exodus 39) similar to how Mark 2 has “unroofed the roof.” If some such simile or metaphor is meant, does that make Mark 2:9= “Arise and lift your litter and walk!” is then equivalent by dream logic to Moses dire incantation at Numbers 10:35 = “Rise O Lord and let your enemies be scattered!” which causes the Ark to levitate and incinerate the Israelites’ foes. Later at Mark 6:55 when “litters/cots” [κραββατοις] are mentioned again, the sick upon they are being “run around” [περιδραμοντες] and “carried about” [περιϕερειν] “all round about that area” [αλην την  περιχωρον εκεινην] in a similar fashion to how “the Ark [η κιβωτος] gets paraded  [περιελθουσα] all around [κυκλω] the city [πολιν] of Jericho at Joshua 6:11. Mark wants us readers to connect 6:55 with chapter 2 because that sentence ends with “they were hearing [ηκουον] that [οτι] he is there [εκει εστι]” which repeats 2:1. (See also Joshua 7:22 “they ran” [αδραμον], also the redundant mention of “again” at Mark 2:1 might be colored by the word “city” from Josh 6:11)    

-in the same way that “many are gathered together [συνηχθησαν πολλοι]” (=Mark 2:2) outside “the house where” Jesus is staying so too at Joshua 7:14 tells the “people” [λαον] (compare Mark 2:4: “crowd” [τον οχλον] with Josh 6:13= “the whole crowd” [ο … οχλος απας]) that the only way to find out who took the “forbidden stuff” (=similar to the disciples ‘forbidden’ rations at the end of chapter 2 here) is to “gather together” [συναχθησεσθε] the tribes and the Lord will reveal which “house” [οικον] is guilty. It turns out to be a certain “Achan son of Zabda” [υιου ζαβδι]—does this have somthing to do with two disciples being called “sons of Zebedee”?  Joshua 7:9 = the Canaanites “dwelling [κατοικουντες] in the surrounding [περικυκλωσουσιν] land”; compare Mark 6:36= the disciples suggests either the people “should go into surrounding [εις τους κυκλω] … towns” or else they themselves “buy [αγορασωμεν] 200 dinars worth” (=in verse 37) = compare Joshua 7: 21 where Achan bar Zabda confesses he stole “200 [διακοσια] drachma of silver [αργυριου] and a gold bar worth 1 [μιαν] and 50 [πεντηκοντα].” At Mark 6 Jesus makes the people lie down by “100s and fifies [πεντηκοντα].”

-as for Mark 2:1-4, does the house which no one can enter due to the large crowd outside signify via some Markan metaphor to stand in cabbalistically for Jericho at Joshua 6:1?= “Jericho was closed and sealed up… no one went out of it nor entered.” 

-Finally, note the following= 

-Joshua 7:23= “they brought [εξηνεγκαν] (the anathema objects) … to Joshua … and they placed them [εθηκαν] before the Lord.” 

-Mark 6:45= “Jesus suddenly compelled [ηναγκασε] his students to…” and see also line 41 where he wants the edibles “placed near [παραθωσιν] them.” (=when he repeats this story at 8:6 Mark uses a verb form closer to that from Joshua: παρεθηκαν)

-1Sam 6:20= men of Beth-Shemesh ask: “Who’ll be able [τις δυνησεται] to stand before the Lord who is God [του θεου]?”

-Mark 2:7= the scribes ask= “Who is able [τις δυναται] to forgive sins… except God?”

-1Sam 6:7= the Israelites gives specific instructions to the Philistines about returning the stolen Ark—they are to goad/guide oxen forth using their own “offspring” [τεκνα] to “lead them away” [απαγαγετε] to “the house” [εις οικον] of Aminadab.” 

-Mark 2:5, 11= Jesus calls the paralytic “son” [τεκνον] and bids him ‘Arise … and go off to your house!’ [εγειραι … και υπαγε εις τον οικον σου]

-1Sam 4:4= “They lifted from there the Ark [ηραν εκειθεν την κιβωτον] … upon which were sitting [επεκαθητο] the cherubim.” 

-Mark 2:6-8= “Some scribes there sitting [εκει καθημενοι] asked… ‘What [τις] are these blasphemies this (certain) one [ουτως] speaks?’ … and Jesus knew [επιγνους] their inner monologues…”

-1Sam 4:6= Philistines remark: “What is [τις] this?” and “then they knew [εγνωσαν] … that certain one [ουτος] God of theirs [ο θεος αυτων] is in their camp with them!”

-Mark 2:12= “he went forth before [εξηλθεν εναντιον] … so as to amaze [ωστε εξιστασθαι] … ‘It’s never happened that we’ve seen such things! [οτι ουδεποτε ουτως ειδομεν]’” 

-1Sam 4:8 = “For it happened not like this [οτι ου γεγονε ουτος] either yesterday [εχθες] or even three days ago.”

-1Sam 4:13 = the high priest Eli’s “heart receded” [εξεστηκυια] (=palpitations?) in shock when he finds out the Ark has been seized by foreigners.

-1Sam 4:3 = because they were “devastated (in battle) before [ενωπιον]” the Philistines, the Jews declare that for good luck the Ark should “come forth” [εξελθετω] among them 

-perhaps Mark 2:2 echoes lightly the sentence at 1Sam 4:1? = “The Philistines were gathered together [συναθροιζονται] against” Israel etc…

     [1] And again he entered into Capernaum, after some days; and it was heard that in the house he was. [2] And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. 

• As bizarre as it may seem, there are several instances where Mark utilizes key segments from the Genesis chapter 19 tale of Lot and his divine visitors. Though tangential, the following may be the first example:

-At Genesis 19:11 = The angels visiting Lot put some kind of magical curse on the men of Sodom stalking his porch, who instantly become “disabled” [παρελυθησαν]), while staggering about seeking for “the door.”

-Mark 2:3 = introduces a “paralyzed man” [παραλυτικον]

-Mark 2:2-3= “They heard he was in that house” and soon “many were gathered together so there was no longer space… by the door.” This is quite similar to how the Sodomites are aware that Lot has welcomed some angels as guests and become curious concerning the alluring strangers from out of town. 

[3] And they came unto him, bringing one paralyzed man, who was held up by four men. 

• there are fleeting allusions to the book of Joshua scattered around this pericope=

-Joshua 4:9= the priests “lifting the ark” [αιροντων την κιβωτον]

-Mark 2:3= they come to him “bringing” [ϕεροντες] the paralytic lifted by four men. (=like the ark!)

-Joshua 6:13= seven priests, those “bringing” [ϕεροντες] seven trumpets before the ark. 

-Joshua 4:18= the ιερεις οι:  αιροντες την κιβωτον also in verses 9-10 and again in 3:6,8 

-Mark 2:11= αρον τον κραββατον (=this is why four men [τεσσαρων] are carrying the paralytic [παραλυτικον], he is the ark)

-Genesis 7:17 = during Noah’s flood: “lifted up [επηρε] was the Ark [την κιβωτον]” by the waters, similarly in verse 18.

[4] And when they could not come near on account of the multitude, they uncovered the roof where he was: and having gouged it out, they lowered down the pallet upon which the paralyzed man was lying.

-Mark 2:4 = “they unroofed the roof where he was” [απεστεγασαν … την στεγην οπου ην], just as in Genesis 8:13 after the Flood somewhat subsides, Noah “uncovered the roof of the Ark which he’d made” [απεκαλυψε … την στεγην της κιβωτου ην εποιησε]

-Mark 2:2, 4= “no space by the door” [τα προς την θυραν] and “not being able [και μη δυναμενοι] to draw near [προσεγγισαι] on account of [αυτω δια]…”

-Exodus 40:4= the altar “by the door” [παρα την θυραν] of the tent of testimony 

-Exodus 40:35 = Moses “was not able [και ουκ ηδυνηθη] to enter the tent of testimony” for the “cloud of God’s glory” way is the way. =is this why no one can get into the house in Capernaum? Jesus IS the divine cloud/pillar of fire/angel of Presence etc? Some suggestions….

[5] When Jesus saw their faith, he told the paralytic, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” 

• -Joshua 5:9= YHWH says to Joshua=  “Today I have removed the stain/stigma (σημερον ημερα αϕειλον τον ονειδισμον) of Egypt from you.” 

-Mark 2:5= Jesus says to paralytic: “Child, I remove your sins from you!” [τεκνον αϕεωνται σοι αι αμαρτιαι σου]

 [6] But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts: [7] “Why does this person speak such blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” [8] And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, ‘Why reason ye these things in your hearts? [9] Which is it easier to say to the paralyzed, ‘Thy sins be forgiven thee;’ or to say, ‘Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?’ 

-Mark 2= the παραλυτικω is told by Jesus in verse 9: “Walk!” [περιπατει], compare to Joshua 5:2= the sons of Israel are “circumcised” [περιτεμε] and then verse 8 they are “sitting down in the camp until healed” [καθημενοι εν τη παρεμβολη εως υγιασθησαν]

-Mark 2:6= the scribes are “sitting down and reasoning in their hearts” [εκει καθημενοι και διαλογιζομενο εν ταις καρδιαις] 

-Joshua 5:1= the kings of Phoenicia all have their “thoughts” [διανοιαι] “melted away” and none anymore among them have intellect [ϕρονησις ουδεμια] (intellect may be pun on Φοινικης)

-1Kings 1:2 = King Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room and became infirm. He sends message to the city of Ekron to inquire of an oracle of their deity,  ‘the lord of the flies’ Beelzebub. Because he has not trusted the God of Israel, Elijah curses him thus: “You shall not ever get down from the (sick-)bed you’ve climbed onto!” When Ahaziah’s messengers meet a strange “hairy” man (=Elijah) on the road in 1 Kings 1:8 (something which is quoted in Mark 1:6 about John the Baptist!) they report that he “wore a large leather belt girded around his loins.”

 [10] But that so you all may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sin” (so to the paralytic he said:)

-Mark 2:10 and Daniel 7:14 both have ‘son of man’ and ‘authority.’ Though he never uses anything but the third person to refer to himself this way, Jesus (or Mark) clearly intends to signal that he is this figure from Daniel. 

-4Ezra 13:26 the son of man is he “who is he whom the Most high has been keeping for many ages.” (= see 1Enoch 48:6 for same idea) I would judge it quite likely that Mark intended the ‘human Jesus’ to have basically vanished or been overtaken by being ‘possessed’ by the ‘Spirit’ at baptism, the ‘son-of-man’/messiah is puppeting a mortal body around. There was much infighting for centuries among early Christians about such issues.

-1Enoch 71:14 = “An angel said to me: ‘You are the Son of Man!’”

-Mark 2:10a= "that you might know that" [ινα δε ειδητε οτι] = this phrase has a specific connotation in the Torah of seeing and believing and thus obeying YHWH= see Exodus 8:6; 10:2; 16:12; also Isa 45:3. See how Joshua 3:7 has God tell the hero: "that they should know [ινα γνωσιν] that insofar as [καθοτι] much as I was with Moses so shall I be with you..."  So again we have a NT evangelist using language in a way that points us toward the 'hidden' identity of this 'teacher/rabbi' Jesus in the story—he IS somehow either YHWH himself or his avatar. This might appear quite obvious now, but would have been innovative and even blasphemous of course at the time of its composition. Many scholars of modern times seem to think Mark has 'low Christology'—they are most mistaken indeed in this supposition! The author of this present commentary felt compelled to compose this very work due to this deficient mindset among the scholarly community. 

[11] “I say unto thee: ‘Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way unto thine house.’” [12a] And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all.

-Mark 2:12 paralytic “went forth [εξηλθεν] before all [εναντιον παντων]”  

-2Samuel 6:4= “The brothers [of Uzzah ben Aminadab] went in front of the Ark” (επορευοντο εμπροσθεν της κιβωτου) [=in verses 2 and 5 this is along with David and “all” the people]

-Mark 2:12= “He went forth with his bed (αρας τον κραββαττον εξηλθεν) in front of everyone (εμπροσθεν), so as to cause amazement.” (ωστε εξιστασθαι)

-the word εμπροσθεν is omitted from some manuscripts as redundant or is replaced with its synonym εναντιον, causing the 2Samuel parallel to vanish. 

-Mark 2:12 = the newly-healed cripple arises and having lifted the litter he “goes forth, before everyone” [εξηλθεν εναντιον παντων] (meant to be a parallel to the multitude following the ark in Joshua)

-Mark 2:4 = “not being able to draw near [προσεγγισαι] to the town on account of the multitude [δια τον οχλον].” This might be intended to be the same multitude from Joshua 6:9,13 who were the “remaining crowd all together were behind the ark” [λοεπος οχλος απας οπισθεν της κιβωτου]

-Mark 2:1 = “It was heard that he was in the house.” [ηκουσθη οτι εις οικον εστι]

-Joshua 6:20 = the people “heard” [ηκουσεν] the trumpets “in the house” [εις την οικιαν] (=verse 23)

[12b] insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!” 

-by saying ‘crowds’ in Matthew 9:8 he has understood Mark’s purpose in at 2:12, meaning to exclude the ‘scribes’ 

-Jeremiah 3 imagines a future era when “the Ark of the Covenant” [v. 16] won’t be a neglected object and in v. 17 “all the nations shall gather together (συναχθησονται)” and cease to “go after the thoughts of their heart (ενθυμηματων της καρδιας αυτων)” =might there be some echo of all this in Mark 2? In verse 2, “too many” are “gathered together” (συνηχθησαν) outside a certain “house” [compare Jeremiah 3:18= “In those days, the house of Judah shall come together with the house of Israel.”] Then in Mark 2:6-8 the scribes are described as “reasoning in their hearts” (διαλογιζομενοι εν ταις καρδιαις αυτων). At Jeremiah 3:22 God urges his sons who “turn back” (επιστρεϕοντες) [i.e. repent] that he will “heal their brokenness” and verse 27 the prophet admits on his people’s behalf that: “we’ve sinned … going to bed in shame.” These asides might have led Mark’s author to free-associate with the 2Kings 1 story where Ahaziah’s messenger’s are “turned back” (επεστραϕησαν) by Elijah [repeated twice in verse 5] and they repeat his message of “never getting out of bed again” due to what can only be labeled a ‘lack of faith.’

-Mark 2:12= “At no time did we behold such (things)!” [ουδεποτε ουτως ειδομεν] 

=this sentence strangely is mirrored at Mark 9:8 when, looking about at Jesus conversing with Elijah and Moses, the vision vanishes and: “No longer did they behold anyone.” [ουκετι ουδενα ειδον] (=the similarity is closer in Greek than is possible in English in translation though.) 

[13] And he went forth again by the seaside; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them. 

-this incident is later basically repeated at Mark 4:1. This may simply be a fleeting presentation of a motif repeated throughout Isaiah (42:10-12, 49:1, 51:4-5, 60:9, 66:19) 

 [14] And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, “Follow me.” And he arose and followed him. 

-Levi is called ‘son of Alphaios’, just as Jacob/James is, though the latter is enumerated as one of the twelve at Mark 3:18. Yet this person, the tax-collector, isn’t an apostle as such? It might be that this Levi stands apart because at Numbers 13 the patriarch Levi isn’t among the “the twelve” Moses sends to “spy out the land.” Later Matthew 9:9 tries to make him into another person named ‘Matthew’, while Luke 19:1 makes a whole new incident out of all this about a man named Zachaeus! 

-Michael Goulder, ‘A New Paradigm’ (p. 676)= (about Mark 2 and Luke 5 =) “Luke has told the story of Levi once; now he is adapting the Call of Matthew. Both end, ‘I came…’. The names Ζακχαιος/Ματθαιος are strikingly alike.”

[15] And it came to pass, that, as Jesus reclined [to dine] in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.

-In Mark 2:15 there are “many” [πολλοι] with Jesus, “reclining” [κατακεισθαι]

-1Corinthians 8:10 = “If any should behold you [εαν γαρ τι ιδη σε] reclining [κατακειμενον] in an idol temple and eating [εσθιειν]”

then in verse 16 some come along “beholding him eating with sinners” [ιδοντες αυτον εσθιοντα μετα … αμαρτωλων]

-1 Corinthians 8:12 “sinning against your brother [αμαρτανοντες εις αδελϕους] .. you sin [αμαρτανετε]”

-Mark 2:17 = “Not the strong is it that need medical assistance.” [ου … οι ισχυοντες ιατρου] is very likely suggested as being a comment on Paul’s repetitive use of the word “weak” which can also mean ‘ill’ in 1 Corinthians 8= verse 7 has ασθενης, verse 9 ασθενουσιν, verse 10 ασθενους, verse 11 ασθενων, verse 12 ασθενουσαν. Paul may have an obsession here with mocking his opponents.  

1Cor 8:10 = “if any should be behold you reclining” [εαν γαρ τις ιδη σε κατακειμενον] in an idol temple.” This was likely the inspiration for Mark 214’s calling of Levi son of Alphaeus whom Jesus “beheld” [ειδε] “sitting at a tax toll booth” [καθημενον επι το τελωνιον] Then in the next verse some “sinners” (possibly including Levi since he was just invited to follow Jesus) are scandalously “reclining” [κατακεισθαι] with Jesus “in his house” (it’s implied this is Jesus’ own residence somehow). Note that “house” in Greek is often in this era a euphemism for the Jewish temple, or temples in general since this comes into play when talking about Paul’s reticence when talking about idolatry. At any rate, these sinners socializing at Jesus place are described thus by Mark 2:15= “for there were many.” [πολλοι]

[16] And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with tax collectors and sinners, they said unto his disciples, “How is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” [17] When Jesus heard it, he said unto them: “They that are well have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came to call—not the righteous—but sinners, to repentance.” 

-Jesus eating with Jewish sinners is meant to prefigure Paul’s meals with Gentile sinners in Galatians 2:12-15 and Sabbath breaking at Mark 2:24 and Paul’s disdain for all Jewish holidays commanded by the Torah in Galatians 4:10-11 and Jesus food defilement dismissal at Mark 7:15 and Paul having no problem with eating food sacrifice to idols as long as one understand idols are nothing in 1 Corinthians 8:1-7.  

-Mark 2:16 is about being questioned on eating and drink, an obvious euphemism in an early Christian context for kosher issues and social commerce with uncircumcised Gentiles etc. Then in verse 19 a “bride and groom” and marriage are mentioned. 

-1Cor 9:5 “do we not have authority to eat and drink [as we like] or lead a sister/wife about?”

-1 Corinthians 9:13 on one working in the temple getting a portion of the ‘holy bread/consecrated things’ [ιερα]: ‘Don’t you know?” This possibly helped Mark create the discussion on whether its ok to do that, as David did. In an echo of Paul’s “don’t you” in Mark 2:25 Jesus asks: “At no time did you read?” [ουδεποτε ανεγνωτε]  

-Jesus counters the Pharisees’ claim to be “just” [δικαιος] by stating emphatically that: “the strong (ones) [οι ισχυοντες] don’t need a doctor, only the weak.” Influenced perhaps by Isaiah 49?  

=as for the juxtaposing the strong/righteous with weak/immoral, see Isaiah 49:24f where YHWH will “free those enslaved by the strong [ισχυοντος] and rescue those kidnapped by tyrants.”

[18] And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, “Why do the John’s disciples and of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” [19] And Jesus said unto them, “Can the children of the bride-chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But whenever the days come when the groom is removed from them, then in those days they shall fast.

-the resonances between this exchange and the birth of Solomon in the OT are quite curious=

-2Samuel 12:21= David observes a repentant “fast” [νηστειαν] (= verse 12) because the bastard son he had by Bathsheba is gravely ill, cursed by God. After the baby dies, his servants find the king eating heartily. They ask in 12:21 why he “doesn’t fast” anymore. In verse 22 he answers: “While the [εν τω το] boy was alive … (my thinking was:) ‘Perhaps the Lord will show mercy’ (verse 23) Now that he’s dead, why is this [ινατι] that I fast? It’s not possible [δυνησομαι] for him to return to me…”

-Mark 2:18 = “Why do [διατι] John’s disciples …

-Mark 2:19 = “Is it possible [δυνανται] for the grooms-men to abstain while in the wedding-hall, in which the [εν ω ο] groom is there with them?” 

=so here the story is made into it’s opposite my Mark, by verse 20’s logic even the disciples fasting wouldn’t prevent Jesus from being the bridegroom who gets ‘taken away.’ Note how Mark uses the strange grammar construction of ‘en o ho’, likely borrowed from 2Sam 12:18.

-Zechariah 7:5-6= “Should you fast … even 70 years, have you by abstaining (actually) fasted to me? Should you eat and drink, do you not eat and drink to yourselves?” 

-the only fast actually required by the Torah is Yom Kippur at Leviticus 16:29, although Pharisees inventing new rules and customs is something Jesus later takes major issue with in chapter 7.

-Mark 2:16: it is asked why Jesus “drinks” [πινει] with tax-collectors and sinners. Mark 6:25, 28 have John’s head on a “platter” [πινακι] while Mark 14:25 has Jesus declare he will “not again drink wine” until he drinks it “anew” in the kingdom of heaven. This connects back to Mark 2:18-20 about abstention and fasting and even more surprisingly to Paul first letter to the Corinthians 8:13 where he sarcastically announces: “In no way shall I eat meat, forever! [=τον αιωνα]” (literally: ‘unto the ages’)

-Jesus pronouncement at the Last Supper on consuming wine “anew” [καινον] seems to hearken back to Mark 2:22 on the putting of “new wine” [οιν ων νεον] which is a phrase repeated three times in the Mark 2 parable, must be meant to be an aural callback to Paul’s phrase ‘forever’ compare the homonyms: ton eiona with oin on neon. The love of sound-alike puns is endless in these Gospel materials. In Mark 2 there might be an intended link between “bags” [ασκους] and “to hear” [ασκουε]. But this is only a suggestion. 

[20] But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. 

-Mark 2:20= the “bridegroom” will be “taken away” (απαρθη) [only place this rare word is used in NT besides synoptic pars.]

-drawing ever so slightly on Isaiah 53:8, where also the verb αιρειν is use with απο as a preposition.  

-there a complex idea presented under all this, considering that the only ‘fast’ ever prescribed by Mosaic law is that of the Day of Atonement: as much as Mark tries to direct us toward seeing the Passion and Lord’s ‘supper’ as being equivalent to Pesach, we shall see in chapters 14-15 that Yom ha-Kippurim’s metaphorical shadow hedges all around the margins of this story.

-“A voice against the bridegroom and the bride!” = the doom-laden refrain from Jeremiah 7:34, 16:9, 25:10 (repeated three times in order for the later shocking reversal of this at Jeremiah 33:11 to be more surprising). This pronouncement of impending doom was quoted and shouted everyday in downtown Jerusalem for some years before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE—by a certain apocalyptic vagrant prophet that Josephus calls Jesus ben Ananias. The point of both Jesuses making the allusion is to point out to the “bride” [=Judea’s capitol? its people?] that she is destined to have her king/Messiah/rightful sovereignty “removed” and won’t be getting the “wedding” she may have expected. 

-wedding metaphor for messianic age see Isaiah 61:10 and 62:5 also YHWH and his bride daughter Israel at Hosea 2, Isa 54:5, 62:4-5, Jer 2:2, Ezek 16 

-Amos 8 might be briefly behind the above gospel passage= verse 2 and 9 has the phrase "on that day" and verse 10 explains how celebratory feasts shall transform into funeral banquets. Amos 8:11 warns of a future "famine, not of bread" but one of a dearth of prophecy, the cessation of the Lord's "word." This may connect up to the coming story of the two feedings in the wilderness at Mark 6 and 8, both of which could be read as having "leftover food" because no food at all was really needed—Jesus' teachings were sufficient. 

[21] “No man also sews a piece of new cloth on an old garment: or else the new piece meant to repair instead rips away from the old, and the tear is made worse. [22] And no man puts new wine into old wineskins: or else the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will be spilled, and the skins be ruined: so new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

• -I’m not aware of any commentator having noticed that this paragraph is Mark making reference to an incident in Joshua 9, where the Hivites/Gibeonites pretend to be from “far away” but turn out to be neighbors. They use fake props to make it look like they’ve been on a long trek, such as Joshua 9:4’s “old leatherbags of wine” [ασκους οινου παλαιους]

-compare Mark 2:22= No one casts new “wine into old leather bags” [οινον… ασκους παλαιους].

-Joshua 9:5= “Raggedy old garments” [τα ιματια πεπαλαιωμενα] 

-There is also a pun between 'rakous' [=rag/patch of cloth] and 'sakkous', the LXX word for the ‘sack-cloth’ the Canaanites use for their ploy] 

-Mark reuses the imagery from Joshua 9 again at the 1^st miraculous feeding miracle in Chapter 6, as we shall see. 

• -Ultimately, with this parable Mark is warning against the futility of such projects as the Gospel of Matthew, which attempts boldly to salvage some remnant of Judaism. By Mark’s logic, such a sewing together of old and new ‘testaments’ would simply cause “schisms”, the pun he makes on the Greek word for ‘tear/rip.’ And indeed it has caused schisms! In countering such a view, the next gospel attempter after Mark gives us in this next quote possibly a clue as to how he and his fellows all operated: Matthew 13:52 = “Every scribe trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out something old and something new from the treasure house.” Possibly this is a partial reference to Song of Songs 7:13. Such a metaphor may be all we moderns get as to a pyschologically insightful self-revelation from one of these fanciful fan-fiction compilers as to their motive when producing these very novel materials known as scriptures. 

[23] And it came to pass, that he went through the cornfields on the Sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. 

- the mention of ‘field’ here may connect to 1Kings 2:26 where the newly crowned king Solomon tells the traitor Abiathar: “Run to Anathoth, to your field!” He tells him that though he is marked for death he himself will not do the deed because Abiathar risked himself by carrying away the Covenant Ark from Jerusalem when David retreated during a rebellion. 

-the strange phrase “making a path/way” at first seems to make it look like Mark intends us to imagine the men beating down the stalk to make room to walk, though more likely is this is an LXX expression the author is borrowing (see for instance LXX Judges 17:8 = la’ashot darko = του ποιησαι οδον αυτου).

[24] And the Pharisees said unto him, “Behold, why do they on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful?” [25] And he said unto them, “Have you never read what David did, when he had need, and was hungry, him and they that were with him? [26] How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the Bread of the Presence, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?”

-Mark 2:24-27 David eats the holy bread because he’s hungry

-see Josephus 3.360 (15.3)= on the terumah and priests having such strong conscience that they didn’t eat holy bread even during the famine of Claudius.

-Josephus, Antiquities 3.320f (not exact, but a paraphrase)= “When famine under Claudius during unleavened feast no priest dared to eat the terumah bread, so fearful are Jews of blaspheming.” = this obviously has something to do with Jesus laissez-faire attitude toward David illegally eating and sharing the untouchable shew-bread “because he was hungry” in Mark 2:25-26. 

-1 Corinthians 9:13 on one working in the temple getting a portion of the ‘holy bread/consecrated things’ [ιερα]: ‘Don’t you know?” This possibly helped Mark create the discussion on whether its ok to do that, as David did. In an echo of Paul’s “don’t you” in Mark 2:25 Jesus asks: “At no time did you read?” [ουδεποτε ανεγνωτε]  

-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. 

[27] And he said unto them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: [28] Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” 

-the Hebrew dative case (‘of emphasis’), represented by the Hebrew letter L (lamed) in front of a word, can be forced to be interpreted/understood as a dative of possession, in the same way, with the “l” in front. Thus it’s likely that Mark’s 2:27 “The Sabbath was made for man…” is a haggadic midrash on Leviticus 16:31 [cf. 23:32] = “The Sabbath shall be for you…”

-though all this might seem trivial, it is instead acerbic and savage. 

-Deuteronomy 18:1-4 could be read to mean priests can eat only the offerings and dues made to temple by worshippers. See Josephus Antiq 20.8.9 (181) and 20.9.2 (206-207) about priests dying due to their tithes being seized by Ananus’ vindictive slaves absconding with these dry goods at his implied behest, the high priest's servants steal the sustenance and otherwise vindictively deprived their poorer colleagues of food out of some class-warfare taken too far.