The Gospel of Mark is traditionally the second of the New Testament Gospels. It narrates the life of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to his resurrection, but it concentrates particularly on the last week of his life. Usually dated around AD 65-80, it is regarded by most modern scholars as the earliest of the canonical gospels, contrary to the traditional view of the Augustinian hypothesis. See New Covenant for the concept translated as New Testament in the KJV. The New Testament, sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, and, in recent times, also New Covenant, is the name given to the part of the Christian Bible that was written in the first centuries of... The Gospel of Matthew (literally: according to Matthew, Greek: Κατα Μαθθαιον ) is one of the four Gospel accounts of the New Testament. ... The Gospel of Luke is the third of the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament, which tell the story of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. ... The Gospel according to John is the fourth gospel document in the sequence of the canon of the New Testament, and scholars agree it was the fourth to be written down. ... The Acts of the Apostles (Greek Praxeis Apostolon) is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. ... The Epistle to the Romans is one of the epistles, or letters, included in the New Testament canon of the Christian Bible. ... See also: Second Epistle to the Corinthians and Third Epistle to the Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians is a book of the Bible in the New Testament. ... See also: First Epistle to the Corinthians and Third Epistle to the Corinthians The Second Epistle to the Corinthians is a book of the Bible New Testament. ... The Epistle to Galatians is a book of the New Testament. ... The Epistle to the Ephesians is one of the books of the Bible in the New Testament, traditionally said to be written by Paul at Rome about the same time as that to the Colossians, which in many points it resembles. ... Philippians redirects here. ... The Epistle to the Colossians is a book of the Bible New Testament. ... The First Epistle to the Thessalonians, also known as the First Letter to the Thessalonians, is a book from the New Testament of the Christian Bible. ... The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, also known as the Second Letter to the Thessalonians, is a book from the New Testament of the Christian Bible. ... This article or section should be merged with Second Epistle to Timothy The First Epistle to Timothy is a book of the canonic New Testament, one of the three so-called pastoral epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and the Epistle to Titus). ... This article or section should be merged with First Epistle to Timothy The Pastoral Epistles are often considered together, as each throws light upon the others. ... The Pastoral Epistles are often considered together, as each throws light upon the others. ... The Epistle to Philemon is a book of the Bible in the New Testament. ... The Epistle to the Hebrews (abbreviated Heb. ... The Epistle of James is a book of the New Testament, best known for its teaching that faith without works is dead (James 2:26 KJV). ... In Christianity, the First Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament. ... The Second Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament of the Bible. ... The First Epistle of John is a book of the Bible New Testament. ... The Second Epistle of John (normally just called 2nd John or 2 John) is a book of the Bible New Testament. ... The Third Epistle of John is the 64th book of the Bible. ... The brief Epistle of Jude is a book in the Christian New Testament canon. ... Visions of John the Evangelist, as depicted in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. ... Ivan Kramskoj - Christ in the desert Mark 1 is the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. ... Mark 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. ... Mark 3 is the third chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. ... Mark 4 is the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. ... Mark 4 is the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. ... For the 1944 movie, see Lifeboat (movie). ... Mark 7 is the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. ... The Mark-8 is a microcomputer design from 1974, based on the Intel 8008 CPU (which was the worlds first 8-bit microprocessor). ... Mark 9 is the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. ... Mark 10 is the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. ... This article is on the biblical chapter. ... ... Mark 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. ... Mark 16 is the final chapter of the Gospel of Mark. ... See New Covenant for the concept translated as New Testament in the KJV. The New Testament, sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, and, in recent times, also New Covenant, is the name given to the part of the Christian Bible that was written in the first centuries of... For the genre of Christian-themed music, see gospel music. ... Jesus (8-2 BC/BCE – 29-36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus the Nazarene, is the central figure of Christianity, in which context he is known as Jesus Christ, where Christ is a Greek title meaning Anointed, corresponding to the Hebrew term Messiah. The... The Baptism of Christ, by Piero della Francesca, 1449 The Baptism of Jesus is the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. ... The Baptism of Christ, by Piero della Francesca, 1449 John the Baptist (also called John the Baptizer or Yahya the Baptizer) is regarded as a prophet by at least three religions: Christianity, Islam, and Mandaeanism. ... According to the Trinitarian interpretation of the New Testament, Jesus was both human and God, so he had the power to lay his life down and to take it up again; thus after Jesus died, he came back to life. ... For other uses, see number 65. ... For other uses, see number 80. ... Canonical is an adjective derived from canon. ... For the genre of Christian-themed music, see gospel music. ... The Augustinian hypothesis holds that Matthew was written first, then Mark, then Luke, and each Evangelist depended on those who preceded him. ...

Authorship and Provenance

The gospel itself is anonymous, but as early as Papias in the early 2nd century, a text was attributed to Mark, a disciple of Peter, who is said to have recorded the Apostle's discourses. Papias' authority in this was John the Presbyter. While the text of Papias is no longer extant, it was quoted by Eusebius of Caesarea: Papias (working in the 1st half of the 2nd century) was one of the early leaders of the Christian church, canonized as a saint. ... // Events Roman Empire governed by the Five Good Emperors (96–180) – Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius. ... Mark the Evangelist (Markus) (1st century) is traditionally believed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark, drawing much of his material from Peter. ... Saint Peter, also known as Peter, Simon ben Jonah/BarJonah, Simon Peter, Cephas and Kepha—original name Simon or Simeon (Acts 15:14)—was one of the twelve original disciples or apostles of Jesus. ... The shadowy figure of John the presbyter (John the Elder) formed a link in the chain of Early Christian oral tradition that Papias of Hierapolis recorded in the early 2nd century, in five volumes called Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord (Greek — Kyriakôn logiôn exêgêsis... Eusebius of Caesarea (~275 – May 30, 339) (often called Eusebius Pamphili, Eusebius [the friend] of Pamphilus) was a bishop of Caesarea in Palestine and is often referred to as the father of church history because of his work in recording the history of the early Christian church. ...

And the presbyter would say this: Mark, who had indeed been Peter's interpreter, accurately wrote as much as he remembered, yet not in order, about that which was either said or done by the Lord. For he neither heard the Lord nor followed him, but later, as I said, Peter, who would make the teachings anecdotally but not exactly an arrangement of the Lord's reports, so that Mark did not fail by writing certain things as he recalled. For he had one purpose, not to omit what he heard or falsify them.^[1]

From the time of Clement of Alexandria, at the end of the 2nd century, to the mid 20th century, scholars have generally thought this gospel was first written at Rome, but Syria is also a viable candidate. The Rome-Peter theory has been questioned in recent decades. It is argued that the Latinisms in the Greek of Mark —once seen as an indication of Roman provenance—could have stemmed from many places throughout the Western Roman empire. Furthermore, Papias' comment does not make it clear that the Mark of whom he spoke is the author of the canonical gospel which bears that name. Neither does the comment in 1 Peter 5:13 "The chosen one at Babylon sends you greeting, as does Mark, my son" for Mark was a very common name in the first century. Some scholars believe that the Gospel of Mark contains mistakes concerning Galilean topography, supporting that the author, or his sources, were unfamiliar with the actual geography of that area, unlike the historical Peter. Finally, some scholars dispute the connection of the gospel with persecution, identified with persecution at Rome, because persecution was widespread, albeit sporadic beyond the borders of the city of Rome. Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and one of its most distinguished teachers. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Area  - City Proper  1285 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,553,873 almost 4,300,000 1. ... A Latinism is a word borrowed from Latin into another language, such as English. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... In Christianity, the First Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament. ... , Babylon is the Greek variant of Akkadian Babilu, an ancient city in Mesopotamia (modern Al Hillah, Iraq). ... (1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century - other centuries) The 1st century was that century which lasted from 1 to 99. ... Galileans (or Galilæans) were members of a fanatical sect (Zealots), followers of Judas of Galilee, who fiercely resented the taxation of the Romans, and whose violence contributed to induce the latter to vow the extermination of the whole race. ... Many Christians have experienced persecution from both non-Christians and from other Christians during the history of Christianity. ...

As Morna D. Hooker, the Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity in The University of Cambridge, stated in her commentary on Mark (p. 8): "All we can say with certainty, therefore, is that the gospel was composed somewhere in the Roman Empire—a conclusion that scarsely narrows the field at all!"

A Mar Saba letter ascribed to Clement of Alexandria, copied into a book at the Mar Saba monastery and published by Morton Smith in 1973, contains references to a previously unknown Secret Gospel of Mark and provides additional details about Mark's Roman origin. While most Clement scholars agree that the letter sounds authentic, a number of scholars remain unconvinced that an early, "Secret" Mark existed before the canonical gospel, and have asserted that the "Mar Saba letter" is a modern-day forgery. The discovery in 1958 of a fragment of an unknown Secret Gospel of Mark provoked a storm of recrimination, denial and abuse. ... Morton Smith was a Professor of Ancient History at Columbia University in New York City. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1973 calendar). ... The Secret Gospel of Mark refers to a previously unsuspected gospel mentioned in a letter that presents itself as written by Clement of Alexandria. ... The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. ... Forgery is the process of making or adapting objects or documents (see false document), with the intention to deceive. ...

Date

The text of the Gospel itself furnishes us with no clear information as to the time that it was written. It is generally agreed among scholars to be the first gospel written. Comments attributed to Jesus in Mark 13:1-2 (the "little Apocalypse", see below) have been seen as a reference to the destruction of the Temple. This would mean that either Mark recorded Jesus prophesying that the temple would be destroyed, or that the work was written after it happened in AD 70. Most scholars contrast these comments with the more specific ones in Luke and Matthew, and would be hesitant to assign a date later than AD 70-73, the latter being when Jerusalem was finally and fully sacked. Nevertheless, a great majority of moderate and conservative scholars assign Mark a date between AD 60 and 70, although there are vocal minority groups which argue for earlier or later dates. Jesus (8-2 BC/BCE – 29-36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus the Nazarene, is the central figure of Christianity, in which context he is known as Jesus Christ, where Christ is a Greek title meaning Anointed, corresponding to the Hebrew term Messiah. The... The Temple in Jerusalem or the Holy Temple (Hebrew: בית המקדש, transliterated Bet HaMikdash) was built in ancient Jerusalem in c. ... The Gospel of Luke is the third of the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament, which tell the story of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. ... The Gospel of Matthew (literally: according to Matthew, Greek: Κατα Μαθθαιον ) is one of the four Gospel accounts of the New Testament. ...

Two papyrologists, Fr. Jose O'Callaghan and Carsten Peter Thiede, have proposed that lettering on a postage stamp-sized papyrus fragment found in a cave at Qumran, 7Q5, represents a fragment of Mark 6:52-53; thus they assert that the present gospel was written and distributed prior to AD 68. Almost all other papyrologists, however, consider this identification of the fragmentary text, and its supposition that early Christians lived at Qumran, to be dubious. Prof. ... Qumran (Khirbet Qumran) is located on a dry plateau on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea in Israel. ... Fragment 5 from Cave 7 of the Qumran Community Among the Dead Sea scrolls, 7Q5 is the designation for a parchment fragment discovered in Cave 7 of the Qumran community. ... Qumran (Khirbet Qumran) is located on a dry plateau on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea in Israel. ...

Audience

The general theory is that Mark is a Hellenistic gospel, written primarily for an audience of Greek-speaking residents of the Roman Empire. Jewish traditions are explained, clearly for the benefit of non-Jews (e.g. 7:1-4; 14:12; 15:42). Aramaic words and phrases are also expanded upon by the author: e.g. ταλιθα κουμ ("talitha cum", 5:41); κορβαν ("Corban", 7:11); αββα ("abba", 14:36). The Hellenism exhibited is not confined to language. The description in this Gospel of how the Sanhedrin plotted to execute Jesus has been used to promote and condone anti-Semitism. The demonization of Pharisees at first seems to direct this gospel at a Gentile audience; perhaps one only partly of Jewish extraction, as at Alexandria. (See Jews in the New Testament for further discussion.) For other senses of this name, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... Aramaic is a Semitic language with a 3,000-year history. ... For the tractate in the Mishnah, see Sanhedrin (tractate). ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... The Pharisees (from the Hebrew perushim, from parash, meaning to separate) were, depending on the time, a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era (536 BCE–70 CE). ... The word Gentile from the Latin gentilis, can either be a translation of the Hebrew Goy/גוי or of the Hebrew word Nochri/נכרי. In the most common modern use it refers to the former being derived from the Latin term gens (meaning clan or a group of families) and it is... Many verses in the New Testament (NT) can be seen as critical of Jews, in particular the Pharisees, the form of Judaism that became dominant after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. The most famous verse in this respect is Matthew 27:25, which states Then answered...

Alongside these Hellenistic influences, Mark in common with the other synoptic gospels makes detailed use of the Old Testament in the form in which it had been translated into Greek, the Septuagint, for instance Mark 1:2; 2:23-28; 10:48b; 12:18-27; also compare 2:10 with Daniel 7:13-14. Those who seek to temper the anti-Semitism in Mark note passages such as 1:44; 5:7 ("Son of the Most High God"; cf. Genesis 14:18-20); 7:27; and 8:27-30. These also indicate that the audience of Mark has kept at least some of its Jewish heritage, and also that the gospel might not be as Hellenistic as it first seems. The Synoptic Gospels is a term used by modern New Testament scholars for the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke of the New Testament in the Bible. ... The Septuagint (LXX) is the name commonly given in the West to the Koine Greek Alexandrine text of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh/Old Testament) produced some time between the third to first century BC. The Septuagint Bible includes additional books of the old Jewish canon beyond those contained in the... The Book of Daniel, written in Hebrew and Aramaic, is a book in both the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Christian Old Testament. ... Genesis (Greek: Γένεσις, having the meanings of birth, creation, cause, beginning, source and origin) is the first book of the Torah (five books of Moses) and hence the first book of the Tanakh, part of the Hebrew Bible; it is also the first book of the Christian Old Testament. ...

The author of Mark also employed certain Latinised vocabulary not found in any of the other gospels: e.g. σπεκουλατορα ("soldier of the guard", 6:27, NRSV), ξεστων (Greek corruption of sextarius ("pots", 7:4), κοδραντης ("penny", 12:42, NRSV), κεντυριων ("centurion", 15:39, 15:44-45). It has been suggested that these usages show that Mark was written in Rome. Modern reconstruction of a centurio of 70 AC A centurion (Latin: centurio; Greek: hekatontarchos) was a professional officer of the Roman army. ...

Markan priority among the Synoptic gospels

The first three or synoptic gospels are closely related. For example, out of a total of 662 verses, Mark has 406 in common with both Matthew and Luke, 145 with Matthew alone, 60 with Luke alone, and at most 51 peculiar to itself, according to one reckoning. The commonality goes beyond the same selection of what stories about Jesus to tell but extends to the use of many of the same words in how they are told. The synoptic problem is an investigation into whether and how the gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke used each other or common sources. The Synoptic Gospels is a term used by modern New Testament scholars for the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke of the New Testament in the Bible. ... The synoptic problem concerns the literary relationship between and among the first three canonical gospels (the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke), known as the synoptic gospels. ...

Most researchers into the synoptic problem have concluded that Mark was written first and used by Matthew and Luke ("Markan priority"). Markan priority was first proposed by G. Ch. Storr, in 1786 but it did not come to dominate critical scholarship until the mid-19th century. The major alternative to Markan priority is the Griesbach hypothesis, which holds that Mark was written third as an abbreviating combination of Matthew and Luke. The traditional view that Matthew was written first in Hebrew (or Aramaic), and the Greek Mark was based on it, and a few of the advocates of traditional suggest that the Greek Matthean was translated with the use of an already written Mark and/or Luke, bringing the text into better agreement, to give the familiar Greek Matthew. Markan priority is the hypothesis that the Gospel of Mark was the first written of the three Synoptic Gospels, and that the two other synoptic evangelists, Matthew and Luke, used Marks Gospel as one of their sources. ... 1786 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Griesbach hypothesis is a solution to the synoptic problem which gives priority to the Gospel of Matthew. ...

Of the two solutions to the synoptic problem that are based on Markan priority, the Two-Source hypothesis (2SH) posits that the gospels of Matthew and Luke also draw extensively from a now-lost "sayings" collection—called Q after German Quelle, "source". Most supporters of the 2SH do not think there is a literary connection between Mark and Q, but a couple of active scholars have argued that Mark had some knowledge of Q. The Two-Source Hypothesis is the most commonly accepted solution to the synoptic problem among biblical scholars, which posits that there are two sources to Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke: the Gospel of Mark and a lost, hypothetical sayings collection called Q. The Two-Source Hypothesis was first... The Q document or Q (Q for German Quelle, source) is a postulated lost textual source for the Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke. ...

Mark and Midrash

The Gospel of Mark appears to be Midrash, or sermonic commentary, of the Tanakh. Mark contains over 150 citations or allusions to the Tanakh, with the bulk of the Gospel episodes being derived from Kings 1 & 2 stories about Elijah and Elisha. See Michael A. Turton's Historical Commentary on the Gospel of Mark Errors of geography and culture suggest the author was not a local, but may have written in Rome. Midrash (pl. ... 11th century Targum Tanakh [תנ״ך] (also Tanach, IPA: or ) is an acronym that identifies the Hebrew Bible. ...

Mark's disputed relation with the Q Gospel

Many mainstream textual critics agree that Matthew as we now have it and Luke depend upon Mark and the theorized lost "sayings" gospel called Q. Associated with the subject of "Markan priority" discussed below, is the question raised whether Mark depends on the Q gospel at all. Several possible relationships are offered: Mark supplementing the sayings source, Q as a supplement to Mark, even "a critical debate by Mark with the Christology of the sayings source" [1].

The existence of Q was suggested originally to account for the "double tradition" material, that material which is present in both Matthew and Luke but not Mark. Some scholars, like Burton Mack (1993 pp 177-9), discuss "a myriad of interesting points at which the so-called overlaps between Mark and Q show Mark's use of Q material for his own narrative designs." [2]. On the other hand Udo Schnelle (1998 p 195) finds that "a direct literary connection between Mark and Q must be regarded as improbable" and looks to connections through the oral tradition [3].a

Characteristics

Unlike both Matthew and Luke, Mark does not offer any information about the life of Jesus before he begins his ministry: there is no nativity in Mark, as in Matthew (1:18-2:12) and Luke (2:1-20), nothing about John the Baptist's birth (as in Luke 1), no massacre of the infants (Matthew 2:16), and no childhood tales (Luke 2:41-52). Neither is there a genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-17 or, differently, Luke 3:23-38). The detailed narrative concentrates on the miracle stories, omitted by the later synoptics, show us otherwise (compare e.g. Mark 1:19 and Luke 4:38a; Mark 5:21-43 and Matthew 9:18-26). The Gospel of Matthew (literally: according to Matthew, Greek: Κατα Μαθθαιον ) is one of the four Gospel accounts of the New Testament. ... We dont have an article called Luke 2 Start this article Search for Luke 2 in. ... Luke 1 is the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. ... Matthew 2 is the second verse of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. ... Matthew 1 is the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. ... the king returnes. ... Luke 4 is the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. ...

Other characteristics unique to Mark

• Son of Man is the major title used of Jesus in Mark (2:10, 2:28; 8:31; 9:9, 9:12, 9:31; 10:33, 10:45; 14:21, 14:41). Many people have seen that this title is a very important one within Mark’s Gospel, and it has important implications for Mark’s christology. Jesus raises a question that demonstrates the association in Mark between ‘Son of Man’ (compare Daniel 7:13-14) and the suffering servant in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 – “How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt?” (9:12b, NRSV) Yet this comparison is not explicit ; Mark’s Gospel creates this link between Daniel and Isaiah, and applies it to Christ. It’s postulated that this is because of the persecution of Christians; thus, Mark’s Gospel encourages believers to stand firm (13:13) in the face of troubles.
• The testing of Jesus in the wilderness for forty days contains no discourse between Jesus and Satan and only here are wild beasts mentioned (1:12-13).
• Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man numerous times.
• The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath (2:27). Omitted from both Matt 12:1-8 and Luke 6:1-5.
• Jesus' family say he is out of his mind (3:21).
• Among the synoptics Mark contains the smallest number of parables or riddles; only 12 (John has 3. None of them are found in Mark).
• Only Mark counts the possessed swine; there are about two thousand (5:13).
• Only place in the New Testament Jesus is addressed as "the son of Mary" (6:3).
• Only place that both names his brothers and mentions his sisters (6:3 -- Matthew has a slightly different name for one brother and no mention of sisters 13:55)
• Two consecutive healing stories of women, make use of the number twelve (5:25 and 5:42).
• The taking of a staff and sandals (6:8-10) are prohibited in Matt 10:10 and Luke 9:3 and 10:4.
• The longest version of the story of Herodias' daughter's dance and the beheading of John the Baptist (6:14-29).
• Mark's literary cycles:

• 6:30-44 - Feeding of the five thousand;
• 6:45-56 - Crossing of the lake;
• 7:1-13 - Dispute with the Pharisees;
• 7:14-23 - Discourse about food defilement.

Then:

• 8:1-9 - Feeding of the four thousand;
• 8:10 - Crossing of the lake;
• 8:11-13 - Dispute with the Pharisees;
• 8:14-21 - Incident of no bread and discourse about the leaven of the Pharisees.

• Jesus heals using his fingers and spit (7:33).
• Jesus must lay his hands on a blind man twice to cure him (8:22).
• The 'Messianic Secret' motif (e.g. 1:32-34; 3:11-12); Demons know of Jesus and his secret identity. He is not just a wonder-worker; Jesus is the, or a, Son of God.
• Even though the 12 disciples are Jesus' close traveling companions, they still have difficulty understanding his teachings and wonder who he is.
• Mark is the only synoptic gospel that does not contain "The Lord's Prayer", unless one accepts (11:25-26).
• When Jesus is arrested a young naked man flees (14:51-52).
• A woman anoints Jesus' head. There is no mention of her hair (14:3-9).
• Witness testimony against Jesus does not agree (14:56).
• Jesus gives the direct answer,"I am"(14:62).
• The cock crows "twice" as predicted (14:72).
• The cloak is royal purple (15:17), as in John (19:2). In Matthew (27:28) it is a common scarlet military cloak.
• Simon of Cyrene's sons are named (15:21).
• A summoned centurion is questioned (15:44-45).
• The women ask each other who will roll away the stone (16:3).
• A young man sits on the "right side" (16:5).
• Afraid, the women flee from the empty tomb. They "tell no one" what they have seen (16:8). Close of short ending text.
• As in John (20:14) the resurrected Jesus first appears to only Mary Magdalene, from whom had been cast out seven demons (16:9). Later he appears to others.
• Disciples are told by the resurrected Jesus that they can handle serpents and drink poison without harm- if this passage is accepted as genuine (see "ending" below). (16:18).
• Mark is possibly the easiest gospel recognizable as an artistic creation of a particular culture of people at a particular period in the ancient world. This is a world where miracle is taken for granted. Not to believe in them would seem simply irrational. MacMullen,1984 (Also see Galen's-On Jews and Christians in its ENTIRETY, Robert Wilken's The Christians as the Romans Saw Them, Yale, 1986 & Changes in the Roman Empire : Essays in the Ordinary, Ramsay MacMullen, Princeton, 1990)

The phrase son of man is a primarily Semitic idiom that originated in Ancient Mesopotamia, used to denote humanity or self. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Book of Daniel, written in Hebrew and Aramaic, is a book in both the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Christian Old Testament. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... John 20 is the twentieth chapter of the Gospel of John in the Bible. ...

The "little Apocalypse" of Mark 13

Exegesis is often made to show correspondences with the calamities of the First Jewish Revolt of AD 66–70. Jesus' remarks in 13:1–2, seen as a reference to the destruction of the Temple, would place the work after AD 70. The passage predicts that the Temple would be torn down completely—"Not one stone will be left upon another." Indeed, the Temple was completely destroyed by the forces of the Roman general Titus (Josephus, Jewish War VI). (The Western Wall, which still stands, was not a part of the Temple proper, but rather part of a larger structure on which the Temple and other buildings stood.) This fulfilled prophecy would place the passage before the destruction of Jerusalem, for readers who affirm the reality of prophecies; others speculate that this an example of a vaticinium ex eventu (NL, loosely "prophecy after the event"; cf. Book of Daniel). Jesus seems to be also talking about the End of the world: This article discusses textual hermeneutics. ... The Great Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE), sometimes called The first Jewish-Roman War, was the first of two major rebellions by the Jews of Judea against the Roman Empire (the second was Bar Kokhbas revolt in 132-135). ... Josephus (c. ... Jewish War is a book written by the historian Josephus as a description of Jewish history up to the events of the Destruction of Jerusalem. ... Western Wall by night Wailing Wall redirects here. ... The Destruction of Jerusalem (specifically, the Second Destruction of Jerusalem) was the culmination of the successful campaign of Titus Flavius against Judea after an unsuccessful attack four years prior by Cestius Gallus. ... Vaticinium ex eventu (Prophecy from the event) is a technical theological or historiographical term referring to a prophecy written after the author already had information about the events he was foretelling. The text is written so as to appear that the prophecy had taken place before the event. ... New Latin (or Neo-Latin) is a post-medieval version of Latin, now used primarily in International Scientific Vocabulary cladistics and systematics. ... The Book of Daniel, written in Hebrew and Aramaic, is a book in both the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Christian Old Testament. ... The end of the world may refer to: Science, religion and the humanities: ultimate fate of the universe, in cosmology eschatology and end times, the end of the world in religious prophecy and mythology end of civilization, the destruction of civilization or humanity end of the world (philosophy), the notion...

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs. (verse 8) Global earthquake epicenters, 1963–1998 An earthquake is a sudden and sometimes catastrophic movement of a part of the Earths surface. ...

Losses and early editing

Mark is the shortest gospel. Manuscripts, both scrolls and codices, tend to lose text at the beginning and the end, not unlike a coverless paperback in a backpack. These losses are characteristically unconnected with excisions. For instance, Mark 1:1 has been found in two different forms. Most manuscripts of Mark, included the highly regarded 4th century manuscript of Mark, Codex Vaticanus, has the text "son of God," but three important manuscripts do not. Those three are: Codex Sinaiticus 01 (4th century), Codex Koridethi 037 (9th century), and the text called Minuscule 28 (11th century). A further manuscript, P45 is 3rd century, but its opening portion has not survived. (At the same time there is a translation issue that affects the intent: the article "the" is not present in Greek MSS; it was instead added to English translations for flow and compatibility with Church doctrine. "A Son of God" would also be a correct translation, as would the omission the article entirely.) A section of the Codex Vaticanus, containing 1 Esdras 2:1-8 The Codex Vaticanus (The Vatican, Bibl. ... Codex Sinaiticus (London, Brit. ... The Codex Koridethi (Θ, 038, Q, or theta) is a 9th century manuscript of the four Gospels. ...

An axiom adopted by some readers, though not by professionals generally, is: "A shorter version generally means an earlier form." Judicious editing of unwanted material, however, may also produce a shorter document. The discovery of sections that have been deleted in the familiar, canonical Mark, quoted in a letter of Clement of Alexandria, is discussed in the entry for Secret Gospel of Mark. Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and one of its most distinguished teachers. ... The Secret Gospel of Mark refers to a previously unsuspected gospel mentioned in a letter that presents itself as written by Clement of Alexandria. ...

Interpolations may not be editorial, either. It is a common experience that glosses written in the margins of manuscripts get incorporated into the text as copies are made. Any particular example is open to dispute of course, but one may take note of Mark 7:16, "Let anyone with ears to hear, listen," which is not found in early manuscripts. A gloss is a note made in the margins or between the lines of a book, in which the meaning of the text in its original language is explained in another language. ...

Ending

There was some dispute among textual critics in the 19th century as to whether 16:9-20, describing some disciples' encounters with the resurrected Jesus, were actually part of the original Gospel, or if they were added later. The oldest extant manuscripts do not contain these verses and the style differs from the rest of Mark, suggesting that they were a later addition. A few manuscripts even include a different ending after verse 8. By the 5th century, at least 4 different endings have been attested. (See Mark 16 for a more comprehensive treatment of this topic.) Mark 16 is the final chapter of the Gospel of Mark. ...

The third-century theologian Origen quoted the resurrection stories in Matthew, Luke, and John but failed to quote anything after Mark 16:8, suggesting that his copy of Mark stopped there, but this is an argument of silence. Critics are divided over whether the original ending at 16:8, which ends the Gospel at the empty tomb without further explanation, was intentional or the accidental loss of the complete ending or even the author's death.[4] Some of those who believe that the 16:8 ending was intentional suggest a connection to the theme of the "Messianic secret". Origen (ca. ... In the Gospels, the empty tomb is the first sign of the resurrection of Jesus. ...

References and further reading

• Brown, R., et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, 1990.
• Bultmann, R., History of the Synoptic Tradition, Harper & Row, 1963.
• Dewey, J., “The Survival of Mark’s Gospel: A Good Story?”, JBL 123.3 (2004) 495-507.
• Grant, Robert M., A Historical Introduction to the New Testament Harper and Row, 1963: Chapter 8: The Gospel Of Mark
• Holmes, M. W., "To Be Continued... The Many Endings of Mark", Bible Review 17.4 (2001).
• Mack, Burton L., 1993. The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian origins, HarperSanFrancisco.
• McKnight, E. V., What is Form Criticism?, 1997.
• Perrin, N., What is Redaction Criticism?
• Perrin, Norman & Duling, Dennis C., The New Testament: An Introduction, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1982, 1974

• Schnelle, Udo, 1998. The History and Theology of the New Testament Writings (M. Eugene Boring translator), Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998.
• Stephen Neill and Tom Wright,The Interpretation of The New Testament 1861-1986, Oxford University Press, 1990, 1989, 1964
• Telford, W. (ed.), The Interpretation of Mark, Fortress Press, 1985.
• Tuckett, C. (ed), The Messianic Secret, Fortress Press, 1983

Persons with this name include Raymond Alfred Brown, Dean of Admissions, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX. Raymond E. Brown, S.S., (1928 - 1998), biblical scholar and Roman Catholic priest in the United States. ... Rudolf Karl Bultmann (August 20, 1884 - July 30, 1976) was a German theologian of Lutheran background, who was for three decades professor of New Testament studies at the University of Marburg. ...

See also

• Ancient history
• Curiosity
• Gospel of John
• Hero
• Miracle
• Myth
• Parable
• Resurrection
• Ritual
• Rudolf Bultmann
• Science
• Storytelling
• Supernatural
• Tradition

Ancient history is the study of significant cultural and political events from the beginning of human history until the Early Middle Ages. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Gospel according to John is the fourth gospel document in the sequence of the canon of the New Testament, and scholars agree it was the fourth to be written down. ... Heroine, the feminine form of hero, should not be confused with heroin, the drug. ... According to many religions, a miracle, derived from the old Latin word miraculum meaning something wonderful, is a striking interposition of divine intervention by God in the universe by which the operations of the ordinary course of Nature are overruled, suspended, or modified. ... The word mythology (Greek: μυθολογία, from μυθος mythos, a story or legend, and λογος logos, an account or speech) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use supernatural events or characters to explain the nature of the universe and humanity. ... An ill digested lesson The Governess. ... It has been suggested that Resurrection of the dead be merged into this article or section. ... A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value, which is prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. ... Rudolf Karl Bultmann (August 20, 1884 - July 30, 1976) was a German theologian of Lutheran background, who was for three decades professor of New Testament studies at the University of Marburg. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Science For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). ... “Storytelling is humanity’s oldest form of literacy. ... The supernatural (Latin: super- exceeding + nature) refers to forces and phenomena which are beyond ordinary scientific understanding. ... The word tradition, comes from the Latin word traditio which means to hand down or to hand over. ...

External links

Online translations of the Gospel of Mark:

• Early Christian Writings: Mark in numerous English translations, on-line scholarly resources
• Mark at Bible Gateway of Gospel Communications (various versions)
• Mark on Wikisource

Related articles:

• Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897: mainstream Protestant scholarship of the 19th century summed up for the average reader.
• "Gospel of Mark", New Catholic Encyclopedia, [5]. A bit dated, but very informative.
• Secret Gospel of Mark Description of an altered Gospel of Mark in Egypt, mentioned in a letter by Clement of Alexandria, with images.
• A textual commentary on the Gospel of Mark Detailed textcritical discussion of the 300 most important variants of the Greek text (PDF, 411 pages).
• Michael A. Turton's Historical Commentary on the Gospel of MarkA detailed commentary on the Gospel of Mark.
• The various endings of Mark Detailed textcritical description of the evidence, the manuscripts, and the variants of the Greek text (PDF, 17 pages).

Notes

1. ↑ In many older translations, the Greek behind προς την χρειαν, pros tas chreias, "anecdotally" had been rendered "to the necessities (of his hearers)", but contemporary scholars since J. Kürzinger in the 1960s now prefer to understand chreias in this context as a rhetorical term that means "anecdote."