Gospel of Mark

[[File:Giorgio_Vasari,_Saint_Mark,_1570-1571,_NGA_159063.jpg|right|thumb|165px|Mark and his catty companion.]]{{Biblenav}}
Mark is the second book of the [[New Testament]] of the [[Bible]].  It is preceded by [[Gospel of Matthew]] and followed by [[Luke]].  

Mark is considered to be one of two primary sources for the three synoptic [[gospels]] along with the ''[[Q gospel|Q document]]''. Mark does not address the [[Virgin birth|birth]] or infancy of [[Jesus]]. Instead, the reader is brought immediately into Jesus' theology and preachings as Jesus is being baptized by John. Mark is far less focused on Jesus' days of teaching than he is on the Passion, which takes up the majority of the works of Mark.

==Authorship and dating== 
:''Main article: [[Authorship of the New Testament#Mark|Authorship of the New Testament]]''
Although written anonymously and in third-person, the author of the Gospel of Mark is believed, per [[Christianity|Christian]] tradition, to be Mark, the interpreter of [[Saint Peter|Peter the Apostle]]. However, this tradition should be taken with a grain of salt, for Papias, the originator of this tradition, was, by far, no scholar. It has been suggested that the book was originally intended as fiction and further that its author understood the [[Mythology|non-historicity of Jesus]].

The Gospel of Mark is considered the first of the gospels written because the only material it contains that is not contained in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke are a few insignificant details that anyone in his right mind would edit out. It can be dated to 67 [[CE]] by its apocalyptic [[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark#Mark 13:1|Oliviet Discourse]], for it mentions "wars and rumors of wars", a reference to the First Jewish Revolt, tells of the persecution of Christians under Nero, who died in the summer of 68 CE, tells the Judeans to "flee to the mountains", which would be stupid after the autumn of 67 CE, and, especially telling, prays that the flight of the Judeans may not be in the Winter. Documentation of these events sets the lower limit on the date of authorship at about 67 CE, but does not rule out the possibility that the gospel was actually written much later.

===Historical figures===
It is likely that Mark’s Jesus figure is based/derived on a real earthly being attested in Josephus’ ''Jewish War'' — ”{{wpl|Jesus ben Ananias|Jesus son of Ananias|”.}} Likewise, it is likely that Mark’s “[[John the Baptist]]” figure is based/derived on a real earthly being attested in Josephus’ ''Antiquities of the Jews''. But that does not mean that “John the Baptist” met ”Jesus son of Ananias” on the Jordan and performed a baptism, any more than the movie “[[Abraham Lincoln]]: Vampire Hunter” means Lincoln hunted [[Vampire|Vampires]].

It appears that the Markan author used the works of Josephus as inspiration for his Jesus and John the Baptist figures, which means the composition date is post 93 CE, and more likely second-century.<ref>Per Godfrey, Neil (2 April 2019). “[https://vridar.org/2019/04/02/much-more-fully-informed-history-for-atheists-the-scholarly-introduction-to-the-two-jesus-parallels/ Much More Fully Informed History for Atheists — A Scholarly Introduction to the Two Jesus Parallels]”. ''Vridar''. Mahlon Smith writes: "[Ted Weeden now concludes] that Josephus himself created the story of Jesus son of Ananias and that Mark used his account. If this is the case, Mark could have been composed no earlier than 80 ce."</ref><ref name="Miller.2017.263" /><ref name="Doudna.2019.119" />

==Contents of Mark==
Mark begins with the baptism by John and the calling of the twelve. [[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark#Mark 4:1|Mark 4]] introduces some of the parables of Jesus. [[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark#Mark 8:1|Mark 8]] forward begins the discussions of Jesus' last days, with the actual entrance into [[Jerusalem]] to be found in [[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark#Mark 11:1|Mark 11]].

=== Baptism by John ===
Richard Carrier holds that the [[John the Baptist]] scene is most likely fictional.<ref name="GodlessEngineer.2019.Baptist" /> Carrier further argues that pre-existing pagan cults also used the "baptism" concept as an initiatory rite and that the gospel scene is an {{wpl|Etiology#Mythology|etiological myth}} that explains the purpose of baptism to the Christian initiate. Carrier writes,
{{quotebox|I found and cite numerous peer reviewed treatments of the John the Baptist scene that plainly point out that Mark has obviously invented it to suit his purposes—contrary to those who don’t notice this and thus mistakenly think it goes against Mark’s interests. It doesn’t. It’s an etiological myth, a category of myths that explain the origins and meaning of rituals—in this case baptism, in which Mark has the famous John “the Baptist” declare Jesus his <em>superior</em> and <em>successor</em>. Which is not a statement against interest; it’s exactly what Mark would <em>want</em> to invent.<ref name="Carrier.2019.Baptist" />}}

=== Temple cleansing by Jesus ===
R.G. Price asserts that the cleansing of the temple scene is the product of the imaginative interpretation of a passage in Hosea by the Markan author and has no historical basis.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Price |first1=R. G. |title=[http://www.rationalrevolution.net/blog/?p=40 Cleansing of the Temple – Intertextuality Overturns the Consensus] |date=13 January 2019}} ''rationalrevolution.net''.</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Price |first1=R. G. |title=[http://www.decipheringthegospels.com/examples.html Deciphering the Gospels Proves Jesus Never Existed - Examples] |date=2018}} ''decipheringthegospels.com''.</ref> Other scholars like {{wpl|Burton L. Mack}} also assert that the scene is fiction. Mack writes, "The temple act cannot be historical. If one deletes from the story those themes essential to the Markan plots, there is nothing left over for historical reminiscence."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Godfrey |first1=Neil |title=[https://vridar.org/2010/02/13/why-the-temple-act-of-jesus-is-almost-certainly-not-historical/ Why the Temple Act of Jesus is almost certainly not historical] |date=13 February 2010}} ''Vridar''.</ref>

==Theology and Style==
Mark is written for a predominantly Greek audience. His allusions to the [[Old Testament]] tend to be a way of setting the scene, rather than direct fulfillment of [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[prophecy]]. The one notable exception is the Passion, which does cast Jesus' trial and death as the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy. Throughout Mark, Jesus is not the "Son of God" as with the other three gospels, but the "Son of Man". The Jesus character in Mark is more political and direct than he is prophetic. The wording of Mark's parables emphasizes moral codes and spiritual behaviors that are grounded in this world.<ref>Alfred Blunt ''ap.'' {{cite book|last=Bowman|first=John|title=The Gospel of Mark: The New Christian Jewish Passover Haggadah|year=1965|publisher=Brill Archive|page=95|quote=[When we view the Marcan picture of Jesus] in isolation, it strikes us at once as being a very meagre story. . . . The Marcan Jesus is an austere figure, mysterious, stormy, and impervious. This portrait is drawn with the utmost economy of line and colour.}} cf. {{cite web |last1=Godfrey |first1=Neil |title=[https://vridar.org/2019/01/15/why-jesus-in-the-gospel-of-mark-is-so-sparsely-drawn-an-explanation/ Why Jesus in the Gospel of Mark is so Sparsely Drawn: An Explanation] |date=15 January 2019}} ''Vridar''.</ref>

When Jesus speaks of the end of human history he says, "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."<ref>[[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark#Mark 13:32]]</ref> In this passage (which appears in [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] as well<ref>[[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Matthew#Matthew 24:36]]</ref>) Jesus specifically excludes himself from this knowledge of eschatological timing, creating a breach in his alleged omniscience and the unity of the Trinity. This might suggest that the author of this text was an [[Arianism|Arian]].

==Differences from Matthew and Luke==
*Mark frequently explains Jewish ritual, another example that the book is intended for a Gentile audience.
*Jesus is addressed as the Son of Mary, as well as names his brothers and sister.
*"The Sabbath is made for man; man is not made for the Sabbath" ([[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark#Mark 2:27|Mk 2:27]]) does not appear in Matthew, Luke or [[Gospel of John]].
*Strong emphasis on the role of John the Baptist including a detailed description of the beheading of John.
*Mark contains details obscure and unnecessary, such as [[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark#Mark 3:21|Mark 3:21]], [[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark#Mark 6:5|Mark 6:5]], and [[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark#Mark 14:51|Mark 14:51]], which do not appear in either Matthew or Luke.
* The phrase from verse [[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark#Mark 16:18|16:18]], "and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them," is found only in Mark.
* Mark is more willing to provide negative material about Jesus, such as the disciples rebuking Jesus in [[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark#Mark 4:38|Mark 4:38]] and Jesus healing many but not all in [[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark#Mark 1:34|Mark 1:34]] (c.f. [[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Matthew#Matthew 8:16|Matthew 8:16]]).<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcan_priority Marcan priority], Wikipedia, accesssed 28 January 2016</ref>

==Alternate endings==
:''{{wpa|Mark 16}}''
{{cquote|Mark’s strange ending . . . has <em>no appearances of Jesus</em> following the visit of the women on Easter morning to the empty tomb!|||James Tabor<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tabor |first1=James |title=[https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/the-strange-ending-of-the-gospel-of-mark-and-why-it-makes-all-the-difference/ The “Strange” Ending of the Gospel of Mark and Why It Makes All the Difference] |date=1 April 2018}} ''Biblical Archaeology Society''.</ref>}}

The original ending of Mark is chapter 16 verse 8, "[The women] said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." The Greek version of Mark ends in what is apparently mid-sentence. The final two words are εφοβουντο γαρ, this is significant because nowhere else in ancient Greek is a sentence ended with the word γαρ (meaning "for").

Mark is the only canonical gospel with significant various alternate endings. However, most of the contents of the traditional longer ending, verses [[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark#Mark 16:9|16:9-20]], are found in the other gospels and are not unique to {{wpl|Gospel of Mark|Mark|.}} This longer ending appears to be an [[Bible interpolation|interpolation]] added early in order that Mark's ending resemble those of the other gospels.

All alternate endings are forgeries, which include: a short ending summarizing the traditional longer ending; and a long ending detailing Jesus' role in defeating [[sin]], inserted around the fifth century (see {{wpl|Gospel of Mark#Ending|Gospel of Mark §. Ending}}).<ref>{{cite web |title=[https://religions.wiki/index.php/Gospel_of_Mark Gospel of Mark]}} ''Religions Wiki''.</ref><ref>Robert H. Stein, "[https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/articles_bbr_02.php The Ending of Mark]," <em>Bulletin for Biblical Research</em> 18.1 (2008): 79-98 (84). "[T]here is universal agreement that the shorter ending, the shorter ending followed by the longer ending, and the longer ending with the Freer Logion after v. 14 are not Markan but are later scribal additions added to 16:8. The only endings of Mark that we possess that merit consideration are 16:8 and the longer ending, 16:9–20." </ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Carrier |first1=Richard |title=[http://www.errancywiki.com/index.php?title=Legends2 Legends2 {{!}} Mark 16:9-20 as Forgery or Fabrication] |date=2009}} ''Errancy Wiki''. "The style, logic, and content of the LE ['Longer Ending' of Mark] all demonstrate against Markan authorship, indeed decisively even by themselves, the more so together . . . . The manuscript evidence and even the Patristic evidence strongly confirm this conclusion in every respect . . . . And all the leading experts agree . . . . There is therefore no rational basis for believing the LE was written by Mark."</ref>

=== Up a creek without a paddle ===
In the longer ending, Jesus went through a litany of signs that would identify those who believed:

# In Jesus' name they would cast out devils.
# They would speak with new tongues.
# They would pick up serpents without harm.
# They would drink poison with no ill effect.
# They would cure the sick by laying on hands.

Some of the Pentecostal churches have taken at least some of these precepts literally, particularly the ones about [[speaking in tongues]] and [[Snake handling|handling snakes]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080803025928/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fn%2Fa%2F2008%2F07%2F11%2Fnational%2Fa183128D08.DTL Pastor among suspects in illegal snake bust]. The Associated Press, 11 July 2008. In [[Kentucky]], snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50 to $250 fine. In Middlesboro, Kentucky in 2008, 10 people were arrested and 125 venomous snakes were confiscated as part of an undercover sting operation against the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name.</ref>

=== Historizing trend after Mark ===
The canonical gospels when laid out chronologically illustrate the progression towards historizing a bodily resurrection. Neil Godfrey writes:
{{quotebox|
* Mark merely has an empty tomb and no resurrection appearance, and this is the sort of indicator that one reads in Greco-Roman stories of Heracles and co — the disappearance of the body was the conventional indicator that the deceased had been taken to join the gods.
* Matthew has a resurrection appearance or two, and in the first one the women hold Jesus by the feet. In the second one Jesus stands on a mountain and some disciples are not even convinced it is Jesus.
* Luke has Jesus vanishing before the eyes of onlookers and appearing mysteriously in the middle of closed rooms, but to persuade disciples he was nonetheless flesh he told them to touch him and watch him eat.
*John then has the famous doubting Thomas scene where Jesus, after having asked his disciples to have a look at his flesh, appears again to require they (or at least one of them) thrust their hands into his side. He then starts a fire on a beach and cooks everyone a meal of fish.

So even within the gospels themselves we can see an evolution of the idea of the resurrection of the physical body.<ref>[https://vridar.org/2011/04/05/does-the-notion-of-a-crucified-messiah-need-a-historical-easter-experience/#comment-9088 Comment by Neil Godfrey—10 April 2011]—per  {{cite web |title=Does the notion of a crucified messiah need a historical easter experience? |date=5 April 2011}} ''Vridar''.</ref>}}
</blockquote>

==The Secret Gospel of Mark==
:''{{wpa|Secret Gospel of Mark}}''
In 1958, an American researcher claimed to have found a letter, in a library in Israel, from a Bishop named Clement of Alexandria which discussed a heretical version of the Gospel of Mark.  According to this letter, Clement was suggesting that this non-canonical version was not something Christians should read. If true, it would explain a weird passage in Mark, but the explanation would be one that a lot of fundamentalists wouldn't like. The canonical gospel mentions that Jesus took a trip to Jericho and then the very next sentence describes him leaving Jericho, raising the question of what he did there. According to the alleged secret gospel, Jesus apparently duplicated his Lazarus trick, raising a young man from the dead. Jesus then got to know this young man and decided to teach him some "secrets of the Kingdom of God" involving this kid dressing up in nothing but a loincloth and having nighttime meetings with Jesus. However, nobody else has seen this letter and it could just as easily be a hoax. Assuming it isn't a hoax, a longer version of Mark "for initiates only" while the shorter version has the wink-wink-nudge-nudge references to pederasty cut and more edifying material added, is an example of [[milk before meat]]. As the church ossified into a political institution, the shorter Mark would have become canonical and secret Mark would have been suppressed entirely.<ref>See also Shawn Eyer, [http://gnosis.org/library/secm_commentary.htm The Strange Case of the Secret Gospel According to Mark: How Morton Smith's Discovery of a Lost Letter by Clement of Alexandria Scandalized Biblical Scholarship] at [http://gnosis.org/ The Gnostic Society Library].</ref>

==Greek names of the disciples of Jesus==
The Gospel of Mark was originally composed in Greek for a Greek-speaking audience and later translated into Syriac, Latin and Coptic.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Greek names of the disciples per [[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark#Mark_3:13|Mk. 3:13-19]]<ref>{{cite book|date=2011|title=[http://books.google.com/books?id=DDP14C8_TwAC&pg=PA124 English-Greek Parallel New Testament]|publisher=Kevin P. Thompson|page=124}}</ref>
!scope=col width=16%| Name (in order of presentation)
!scope=col| Mentions by name (3:20–16:8)
!scope=col width=12%| Base Name
!scope=col width=20%| Modifier
!scope=col width=12%| Cognomen
!scope=col width=18%| Cognomen given by Jesus
!scope=col| "Church Pillars" per Paul c. 53 CE (Galatians 2:9)<ref name="Elmer.2010.75"/><ref name="Galatians.2.9" />
|-
| Simon Peter || style="text-align: center;"| ~20<ref name="greeklexicon.Simon.Peter" /><ref name="greeklexicon.Peter.4074" /><ref name="Cassidy.2007.17" /> || Símōnos <br /> Σίμωνος || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || Pétros <br /> {{Wiktl|Πέτρος}} || Kēphâs <br /> {{Wiktl|Κηφᾶς}}{{efn|name=Rock}} 
|-
| Jacob/James (son of Zebedee) || style="text-align: center;"| ~10<ref name="greeklexicon.James.Boanerges" /> || Iákōbos <br /> Ἰάκωβος || ton tou Zebedaiou <br />τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου || &nbsp; || Boanergés <br/> Βοανεργές || Iakōbos <br /> Ἰάκωβος
|-
| John (brother of Jacob/James) || style="text-align: center;"| ~10<ref name="greeklexicon.John.2491" /> || Iōánnēs <br /> Ἰωάννης || ton adelphon tou Iakōbou <br /> τὸν ἀδελφὸν τοῦ Ἰακώβου || &nbsp; || Boanergés <br /> Βοανεργές || Iōannēs <br /> Ἰωάννης
|-
| Andrew || style="text-align: center;"| 1<ref name="greeklexicon.Andrew.406" /><ref name="Godfrey.2014.Andrew" /> || Andréas <br /> Ἀνδρέας || &nbsp; || &nbsp;|| &nbsp; 
|-
| Philip || style="text-align: center;"| 0<ref name="greeklexicon.Philip.5376" /> || Phílippos <br /> Φίλιππος || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp; 
|-
| Bartholomew || style="text-align: center;"| 0<ref name="greeklexicon.Bartholomew.918" /> || Bartholomaîos <br /> Βαρθολομαῖος || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp; 
|-
| Matthew || style="text-align: center;"| 0<ref name="greeklexicon.Matthew.3156" /> || Matthaîos <br /> Ματθαῖος || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
| Thomas || style="text-align: center;"| 0<ref name="greeklexicon.Thomas.2381" /> || Thōmâs <br /> Θωμᾶς || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
| Jacob (son of Alphaeus) || style="text-align: center;"| 0<ref name="greeklexicon.James.Alphaeus" />{{efn|name=Ambiguous}} || Iákōbos <br /> Ἰάκωβος || ton tou Halphaiou <br />τὸν τοῦ Ἁλφαίου || &nbsp; || &nbsp;  
|-
| Thaddeus || style="text-align: center;"| 0<ref name="greeklexicon.Thaddeus.2280" /> || Thaddaîos <br /> Θαδδαῖος || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
| Simon (the Cananean) || style="text-align: center;"| 0<ref name="greeklexicon.Simon.4613" /> || Símōnos <br /> Σίμωνος || ton Kananaion <br /> τὸν Καναναῖον || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
| Judas Iscariot || style="text-align: center;"| 2<ref name="greeklexicon.Judas.2455" /> || Ioúdas <br /> Ἰούδας || &nbsp; || Iskariṓtēs <br /> Ἰσκαριώτης || &nbsp;
|}

Jesus put a name on Simon, and that name was Petron. Notably, the Markan author does not have Jesus appoint Simon as he did the other disciples, but just calls him a name.<ref name="Gundry.2000.165">{{cite book|last=Gundry|first=Robert|title=[https://books.google.com/books?id=6h-jdYBcyjIC&pg=PA165 Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross, Chapters 1 - 8]|year=2000|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-2910-8|page=165 |quote=[Per Mark 3:13-19] pinning the new name “Peter” on Simon (with the resultant stylistic disasters that Σίμωνι, “Simon,” does not go into the accusative case, as do the other names because of their appositive relation to the accusative τοὺς δώδεκα, “the Twelve,” and that Πέτρον, “Peter,” is in the accusative not as one of the appositives to τοὺς δώδεκα [the twelve] but as an appositive to ὄνομα, “name”). In fact, then, neither “Simon” nor “Peter” is part of the delayed list. We can tell from the word order of Mark’s interruptive statement that emphasis falls, not on the meaning of the new name for its significance to Simon, but on the act of renaming for its signifying Jesus’ authority: ὄνομα [name] comes right after the verb and Πέτρον [Petron] does not appear till after the following τῷ Σίμωνι [to Simon]. Thus: “and he put a name on the [aforementioned] Simon, [i.e.] Peter.”}}</ref><ref name="Tolbert.1996.145" />

*Petron is not a proper name, it literally means "Rock" or "Stone" in Greek.<ref>Clement Grene ''[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/151178708.pdf Cowardice, Betrayal and Discipleship: Peter and Judas in the Gospels]'' [PDF]. "Mary-Anne Tolbert has claimed that Peter’s nickname is given as a specific reference to the ‘rocky ground’(πετρῶδες) of the Parable of the Sower of Mark 4:1-20. [Tolbert, ''Sowing'', p. 145.] The description of the seed sprouting up quickly, only to wither away under the heat of the sun, might indeed seem like an apt allegorical description of Peter’s career as a follower of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel. —(p.120)"</ref><ref name="Tolbert.1996.195" />
*Boanerges is defined within ''Mark'' as "Sons of Thunder".<ref name="MacDonald.2014.11" />
*Some of the proposed meanings for Iskarioth:<ref>Taylor, Joan E. (2010). "the Name 'Iskarioth' (Iscariot)" ''Journal of Biblical Literature''. 129. 367–83 </ref>
# “a man from Qarioth”
# “robber” or “assassin”
# “the liar” or “the false one”
# “red-head” or  “red dyer”
# "to deliver” i.e. it was he who delivered Jesus to the authorities.
# “a man from Jerusalem”{{sfn|MacDonald|2014|pp=11–12}}

The name Judas Iscariot as literally meaning "Jerusalem Jew" is coherent with Tom Dykstra's argument that the Gospel of Mark is a polemic against the Torah observant (hence "Jewish") leaders of the Christian Jerusalem church who appear as the figures: Peter; James/Jacob; and John in the Markan gospel. And that the name Judas Iscariot is a reference to the Torah observant Christians still supporting said Jerusalem church. Dykstra writes,
{{quotebox|Mark was written after a conflict had developed between Paul and the Jerusalem Christian leadership under the leadership of the "pillars" Peter, James, and John. For the [Markan] Gospel's original readers, the picture of obtuse, glory-seeking, slothful disciples couldn't help but bolster the authority of the one Apostle who was not so characterized [''i.e.'' Paul]. . . . in the terms of Mark's own day and Paul's perspective, the real traitors are among the Christian Jewish leadership, not the non-Christian Jews. The name Judas ("Jew") corresponds so well to Paul's view that his opponents were traitors to the cross of Christ by being zealots for Jewish traditions [''e.g.'' being Torah observant], that it is reasonable to suppose Mark deliberately named the betrayer Judas for that reason.{{sfn|Dykstra|2012|pp=116–117}}}}

==See also==
*[[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Mark]]

==Notes==
{{notelist|refs=
{{efn|name=Rock|Kēphas is a name that means Rock in Aramaic, whereas Petron is a name that means Rock in Greek}}
{{efn|name=Ambiguous|Three ambiguous mentions of Jacob/James occur at: the transfiguration Mark 9:2; the Mount of Olives Mark 13:3; and the Garden of Gethsemane Mark 14:33. However as Dennis R. MacDonald (2014:11) notes of the Boanerges, "In every instance but one they speak in unison". And given that these ambiguous mentions also identify John as present, then they are unlikely to be mentions of Jacob son of Alphaeus.}}
}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
<!-- D -->
* {{cite book|ref=harv|last=Dykstra|first=Tom|title=Mark Canonizer of Paul: A New Look at Intertextuality in Mark's Gospel|year=2012|publisher=OCABS Press|isbn=978-1-60191-020-2}}
<!-- M -->
* {{cite book|ref=harv|last=MacDonald|first=Dennis R.|title=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8amDBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 The Gospels and Homer: Imitations of Greek Epic in Mark and Luke-Acts]|year=2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-3053-8}}
<!-- T -->
* {{cite book|ref=harv|last=Tolbert|first=Mary Ann|title=Sowing the Gospel: Mark's World in Literary-Historical Perspective|year=1996|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=978-1-4514-1440-0}}
* Website
** {{cite web |ref=CITEREFgreeklexicon |title=[https://greeklexicon.org/lexicon/ Greek-English lexica and dictionaries] }} ''GreekLexicon.org''.
{{refend}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%|refs=
<!-- C -->
<ref name="Carrier.2019.Baptist">{{cite web |last1=Carrier |title=[https://www.richardcarrier.info/archives/16144 Tim O'Neill & the Biblical History Skeptics on Mythicism] |date=22 December 2019}} ''Richard Carrier Blogs''.</ref>
<ref name="Cassidy.2007.17">{{cite book|last=Cassidy|first=Richard J.|title=Four Times Peter: Portrayals of Peter in the Four Gospels and at Philippi|year=2007|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-5178-0|page=17|quote=Mark records Peter’s spoken words in six scenes, and in two of these scenes Peter speaks twice (14:29, 31; 14:68, 71). Simply on the basis of the frequency of his spoken words, Peter must be considered Jesus’ most prominent disciple.}}</ref>
<!-- D -->
<ref name="Doudna.2019.119">Doudna, Gregory L. (2019). “Is Josephus’s John the Baptist Passage a Chronologically Dislocated Story of the Death of Hyrcanus II?”. In Pfoh, Emanuel; Niesiolowski-Spanò, Lukasz (ed.). <em>Biblical Narratives, Archaeology and Historicity: Essays In Honour of Thomas L. Thompson</em>. Bloomsbury–T&amp;T Clark. pp. 119–137. ISBN 978-0-567-68657-2. "This article proposes that Josephus’s ‘John the Baptist’ passage in ''Antiquities'' is a chronologically displaced story of the death of Hyrcanus II, the aged former high priest, by Herod the Great in either c. 34 or 30 BCE. "</ref>
<!-- E -->
<ref name="Elmer.2010.75">{{cite book|last=Elmer|first=Ian J.|editor=Wischmeyer, Oda; Scornaienchi, Lorenzo|title=Polemik in der frühchristlichen Literatur: Texte und Kontexte|year=2010|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-022354-5|pages=150, n. 75|chapter=Pillars, Hypocrites and False Brothers|quote=[In the Epistle to the Galatians] Paul refers to James, Peter and John as “the ones reputed to be important” (2:6; cf. 2:2) and “reputed pillars” (2:9), to which he adds the comment, “whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearances” (2:6).}}</ref>
<!-- G -->
<ref name="Godfrey.2014.Andrew">{{cite web |last1=Godfrey |first1=Neil |title=[https://vridar.org/2014/03/22/why-is-andrew-peters-brother-overlooked-so-often-in-the-gospel-narrative/ Why is Peter's Brother, Andrew, Overlooked So Much in the Gospe]l Narrative? |date=22 March 2014}} ''Vridar''.</ref>
<ref name="GodlessEngineer.2019.Baptist">“[https://youtu.be/7Rd6riAtl0U?t=4977 Misquoting Mythicism: Syncretism and Dying/Rising God Parallels w/ Richard Carrier]” @time 01:22:57. <em>YouTube</em>. Godless Engineer. 20 December 2019.</ref>

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<ref name="MacDonald.2014.11">[[#CITEREFMacDonald2014|MacDonald 2014]], p. 11. "The Markan Evangelist not only translates the joint nickname [Boanerges] but also makes a point that it was Jesus who created it . . . Its significance for Mark lies in his translation “Sons of Thunder.” Earlier the Evangelist introduced James and John as fishermen who abandoned their father’s boat. If one were to look for an analogy to them in classical Greek literature, one set of brothers should instantly come to mind: Castor and Polydeuces, the twin sons . . . known as the Dioscuri, “Sons-of-Zeus.” Zeus, of course, was the god of thunder and lightning, and the Dioscuri were sailors; they were among the Argonauts who accompanied Jason to retrieve the golden fleece. [In every instance but one they speak in unison, e.g. the request to sit at the glorified Jesus’ right and left hand]."</ref>
<ref name="Miller.2017.263">Miller, Merrill P. (2017). “The Social Logic of the Gospel of Mark: Cultural Persistence and Social Escape in a Postwar Time”. In Crawford, Barry S.; Miller, Merrill P. ''Redescribing the Gospel of Mark''. SBL Press. pp. 207–400. ISBN 978-0-88414-203-4. "In a monograph comparing the story of Jesus of Nazareth in Jerusalem and the story of Jesus ben Hananiah in Jerusalem, Ted Weeden Sr. has occasion to draw on Kloppenborg’s discussion of the Roman ritual of evocatio to argue that Josephus has himself composed the series of portents and prodigies as a theology of evocatio, obviously not in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Roman ritual, but to show that God had decided to abandon the temple because of the tyranny, false prophecy, and bloodshed of the rebels. The final portent, the oracle of Jesus-Ananias (Weeden’s shortened form for Jesus ben Hananiah) against the city, the temple, and the people represents the devotio. […] Weeden has presented an impressive list of parallels between Jesus of Nazareth in Jerusalem and Jesus-Ananias in Jerusalem in a Greco-Roman environment in which the penchant for mimetic writing was a central feature of literary production. —(pp. 263–264)"</ref>
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<ref name="Tolbert.1996.145">[[#CITEREFTolbert1996|Tolbert 1996]], p. 145, n. 27. "[Per Mark 3:13-19a] Simon is in the dative case rather than the expected accusative case used for all the other names of disciples. See the discussion in E. Best, ''Following Jesus: Discipleship in the Gospel of Mark'' (JSNT Sup 4; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1981), 180-81."</ref>
<ref name="Tolbert.1996.195">[[#CITEREFTolbert1996|Tolbert 1996]], p. 195, n. 31. "The disciples’ change of state from initial faith to fear and failure . . . has caused considerable confusion in Markan scholarship. Some scholars, emphasizing the deeply negative depiction of the disciples in the later chapters, have argued that for Mark the disciples are the opponents of Jesus or the object of the author’s strongest polemic (see, e.g., Weeden, ''Mark—Traditions in Conflict'', 26–51; and W. Kelber, ''The Oral and the Written Gospel: The Hermeneutics of Speaking and Writing in the Synoptic Tradition, Mark, Paul, and Q'' (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983), 97–99, 125–29)."</ref>

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<ref name="Galatians.2.9">{{cite web |title=[https://www.blueletterbible.org/mgnt/gal/2/1/t_conc_1093009 Galatians 2:9 (MGNT)] }} ''Blue Letter Bible''.</ref>
<ref name="greeklexicon.Simon.Peter">[[#CITEREFgreeklexicon|''GreekLexicon.org'']]: Simon (Peter) —[https://greeklexicon.org/lexicon/strongs/4613/ Mk 3:16 14:37 15:21]</ref>
<ref name="greeklexicon.Peter.4074">[[#CITEREFgreeklexicon|''GreekLexicon.org'']]: Peter —[https://greeklexicon.org/lexicon/strongs/4074/ Mk 3:16 5:37 8:29 8:32 8:33 9:2 9:5 10:28 11:21 13:3 14:29 14:33 14:37 14:54 14:66 14:67 14:70 14:72 14:72 16:7]</ref>
<ref name="greeklexicon.James.Boanerges">[[#CITEREFgreeklexicon|''GreekLexicon.org'']]: Jacob/James Boanerges —[https://greeklexicon.org/lexicon/strongs/2385/ Mk 1:19, 29 3:17 5:37 6:3 9:2 10:35 10:41 13:3 14:33 15:40 16:1]</ref>
<ref name="greeklexicon.John.2491">[[#CITEREFgreeklexicon|''GreekLexicon.org'']]: John Boanerges —[https://greeklexicon.org/lexicon/strongs/2491/ Mk 1:19 3:17 6:25 8:28 9:2 9:38 10:35 10:41 11:30 11:32 13:3 14:33]</ref>
<ref name="greeklexicon.Andrew.406">[[#CITEREFgreeklexicon|''GreekLexicon.org'']]: Andrew —[https://greeklexicon.org/lexicon/strongs/406/ Mk 1:16, 29 3:18 13:3]</ref>
<ref name="greeklexicon.James.Alphaeus">[[#CITEREFgreeklexicon|''GreekLexicon.org'']]: Jacob/James Son of Alphaeus —[https://greeklexicon.org/lexicon/strongs/2385/ Mk 3:18]</ref>
<ref name="greeklexicon.Philip.5376">[[#CITEREFgreeklexicon|''GreekLexicon.org'']]: Philip —[https://greeklexicon.org/lexicon/strongs/5376/ Mk 3:18]</ref>
<ref name="greeklexicon.Bartholomew.918">[[#CITEREFgreeklexicon|''GreekLexicon.org'']]: Bartholomew —[https://greeklexicon.org/lexicon/strongs/918/ Mk 3:18]</ref>
<ref name="greeklexicon.Matthew.3156">[[#CITEREFgreeklexicon|''GreekLexicon.org'']]: Matthew —[https://greeklexicon.org/lexicon/strongs/3156/ Mk 3:18]</ref>
<ref name="greeklexicon.Thomas.2381">[[#CITEREFgreeklexicon|''GreekLexicon.org'']]: Thomas —[https://greeklexicon.org/lexicon/strongs/2381/ Mk 3:18]</ref>
<ref name="greeklexicon.Thaddeus.2280">[[#CITEREFgreeklexicon|''GreekLexicon.org'']]: Thaddeus —[https://greeklexicon.org/lexicon/strongs/2280/ Mk 3:18]</ref>
<ref name="greeklexicon.Simon.4613">[[#CITEREFgreeklexicon|''GreekLexicon.org'']]: Simon —[https://greeklexicon.org/lexicon/strongs/4613/ Mk 3:18]</ref>
<ref name="greeklexicon.Judas.2455">[[#CITEREFgreeklexicon|''GreekLexicon.org'']]: Judas —[https://greeklexicon.org/lexicon/strongs/2455/ Mk 3:19 14:10 14:43]</ref>
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mark, Gospel of}}
{{BibleGuide}}

[[Category:New Testament]]
[[Category:Gospels]]

Categories: New Testament, Gospels