Mark

Mark L. Strauss, Tremper Longman III, David E. Garland

• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN:
  9780310531999
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

Continuing a Gold Medallion Award-winning legacy, the completely revised Expositor's Bible Commentary puts world-class biblical scholarship in your hands.

A staple for students, teachers, and pastors worldwide, The Expositor's Bible Commentary (EBC) offers comprehensive yet succinct commentary from scholars committed to the authority of the Holy Scriptures. The EBC uses the New International Version of the Bible, but the contributors work from the original Hebrew and Greek languages and refer to other translations when useful.

Each section of the commentary includes:

• An introduction: background information, a short bibliography, and an outline
• An overview of Scripture to illuminate the big picture
• The complete NIV text
• Extensive commentary
• Notes on textual questions, key words, and concepts
• Reflections to give expanded thoughts on important issues

The series features 56 contributors, who:

• Believe in the divine inspiration, complete trustworthiness, and full authority of the Bible
• Have demonstrated proficiency in the biblical book that is their specialty
• Are committed to the church and the pastoral dimension of biblical interpretation
• Represent geographical and denominational diversity
• Use a balanced and respectful approach toward marked differences of opinion
• Write from an evangelical viewpoint

For insightful exposition, thoughtful discussion, and ease of use—look no further than The Expositor's Bible Commentary.

Text and Exposition

I. PROLOGUE (1:1–13)

OVERVIEW

The first few paragraphs of Mark’s gospel serve as an introduction or prologue to the work as a whole. Yet there is considerable debate concerning its parameters. A few commentators (e.g., E. Haenchen, W. Schmithals) see the prologue as continuing only through v.8, since vv.1–8 summarize the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus first appears on the scene in 1:9. Others (e.g., C. E. B. Cranfield; W. L. Lane; R. H. Gundry; R. T. France) take the prologue through v.13, since these verses serve as a preview and introduction to Jesus’ ministry, which begins in v.14. Still others (e.g., J. Marcus; R. A. Guelich) consider the introduction to extend to v.15 because of the inclusio between the euangelion (GK 2295, “good news”) of 1:1 and the two occurrences of euangelion in vv.14–15. Either of the latter two suggestions makes good sense, since vv.14–15 form a bridge and transition from the introduction of the gospel to the Galilean ministry of 1:16–3:6. The prologue introduces the good news about Jesus (1:1), which is proclaimed for the first time in vv.14–15. We will treat vv.14–15 as the introduction to the next section.

Verses 1–13 can be divided into four parts, the heading introducing the beginning of the gospel as the fulfillment of Scripture (vv.1–3), the ministry of John (vv.4–8), the baptism of Jesus (vv.9–11), and Jesus’ temptation (vv.12–13).

A. The Heading (1:1–3)

1The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2It is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way”—

3“a voice of one calling in the desert,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.’”

COMMENTARY

1 The first verse functions as a kind of title. It is not clear, however, whether it is intended to refer to the entire gospel, the prologue (vv.1–13 or vv.1–15), the ministry of John the Baptist (vv.1–8), or only the scriptural quotations in vv.2–3. All four make good sense contextually. Since v.2 begins with “just as” (kathōs), which normally links with the preceding sentence, the beginning must point at least in part to the scriptural quotations of vv.2–3. Mark seeks to show that the beginning of the gospel was in fulfillment of Scripture. These scriptural quotations in turn point to the ministry of John, the description of which follows (vv.4–8), and throughout the NT the beginning of the gospel is consistently linked to John’s ministry (Mt 11:12; Lk 16:16; Jn 1:6; Ac 1:22; 10:37; 13:24). At the same time, the whole book may be seen as “the beginning of the gospel” since it describes the origin of the message of salvation Mark and his community are presently proclaiming. It is also possible that in using the word archē (GK 794, “beginning”) Mark intentionally echoes the opening verse of the LXX (en archē, “in the beginning”; Ge 1:1; cf. Jn 1:1), from a desire that his readers realize his book recounts a new beginning, in which God reveals the good news of Jesus Christ. Taken in this way, the first verse would be not only a title for the entire book but also a claim to its divine origin.

The word “gospel” comes from the old English “godspel” (“good news”) and—as noted above—translates the Greek euangelion. The Greek word originally meant the reward for bringing good news but later came to mean the good news itself. It was used in the ancient world for announcements such as victory in battle or the enthronement of a ruler. An inscription celebrating the birthday of the Roman emperor Augustus speaks of “good news [euangelia] to the world” (TDNT 2:722, 724–25). In the OT, the announcement of God’s end-time deliverance of his people is sometimes referred to as “good news.” Isaiah 52:7 reads, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news . . . who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (cf. Ps 96:2; Isa 40:9; 61:1). Jesus probably drew from this OT imagery when he began proclaiming “the good news” that the kingdom of God was at hand. God’s great day of salvation had arrived. The early church imitated this use when they identified as “gospel” the message of God’s salvation available through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians, one of the earliest NT books (ca. AD 50–51), that “our gospel [euangelion] came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction” (1:5). Here, as elsewhere, the euangelion is the proclamation of the good news about Jesus Christ.

Mark does not identify his book as “a gospel” (a particular literary genre); rather, his book recounts the beginning of the gospel, how the proclamation of salvation available through Jesus Christ came to be. The book is a written version of the oral proclamation calling people to faith in Jesus. Although Mark does not call his work a gospel, it appears to have been Mark’s use of the term that prompted the church to refer to such written accounts as “gospels.” “Mark’s book has come to be called a gospel because it contains the gospel—the announcement of the Christian good news” (Moule, 8).

In the rendering “about Jesus Christ,” the translators of the NIV have interpreted the Greek genitival construction as an objective genitive: Jesus is the object and content of the gospel. The other main interpretive option is a subjective genitive, “by Jesus Christ,” which certainly fits the near context, in which Jesus preaches the good news (vv.14–15). Some interpreters believe the genitive is intentionally ambiguous, with Jesus portrayed as both subject and object—the proclaimer and the proclaimed. This intention is possible, and the parallel “gospel of God” in v.14 suggests similar ambiguity. Jesus’ proclamation there is both from God and about God. Against such a dual reference is the linguistic reality that an author usually has one sense in mind when writing (unless there is an intentional pun). If a decision must be made, the evidence tips in favor of the objective genitive, since Mark has in view the whole Jesus event—his life, death, and resurrection.

“Jesus” is the Greek form of Joshua, which means “Yahweh is salvation” or “salvation of Yahweh.” It is the name revealed by the angel to Joseph before Jesus was born, and it was given as descriptive of his mission—“and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). “Christ” (christos) is the Greek word for “anointed,” behind which is the Hebrew māšîah., from which the English word “messiah” (“anointed one”) derives. By the time Mark writes, Christians were regularly using the term as a second name for Jesus (“Jesus Christ”), yet in Mark, where it occurs only seven times, the term always carries a titular sense, “the Messiah” (1:1; 8:29; 9:41; 12:35; 13:21; 14:61; 15:32). The TNIV appropriately revises the NIV’s “Jesus Christ” to “Jesus the Messiah” (see comments at 8:29 for a fuller discussion of the title).

Some MSS omit the last phrase of v.1, “the Son of God.” A decision regarding its originality is very difficult from a textual standpoint. On the one hand, there are good reasons for including the phrase as original. (1) The evidence from the MSS is strong (see Notes at the end of this section). (2) The word’s omission may be accounted for by homoeoteleuton (a technical term meaning “same ending”), whereby a scribe accidentally omitted the two words huiou theou, “Son of God,” because the two previous words (Iēsou Christou) have the same endings. (3) Son of God is an important theme in Mark’s gospel (cf. 1:11; 3:11; 5:7; 9:7; 12:6; 13:32; 14:36, 61; 15:39). The ministry of Jesus begins with the Father’s announcement of Jesus’ divine sonship at his baptism (1:11) and climaxes with the declaration of the centurion at the foot of the cross, “Surely this man was the Son of God” (15:39).

On the other hand, there is weighty evidence that the phrase is not original to the verse: (1) Some early texts lack it, and several early church writers omit it. (2) It is difficult to imagine how a scribe could have carelessly omitted the words at the very beginning of the book (long before copying fatigue set in). (3) A theologically astute scribe would have been aware of the importance of the title in Mark’s gospel and may have introduced it for this very reason.

The scales would seem to tip slightly toward the phrase’s original inclusion. Most English versions include it with a note alerting the reader to the alternative. Whether or not the phrase was original does not change the fact that “Son of God” is a critically important title in Mark’ s gospel. Taylor, 120, remarks, “Beyond question this title represents the most fundamental element in Mark’s Christology.”

2–3 Mark cites the OT to show that any true understanding of the ministry of Jesus—the beginning of the gospel—must be firmly grounded there. The verb translated “is written” (v.2) is in the perfect tense. It denotes completed action in the past with continuing results. “It was written and still is” is the sense. The frequency with which this tense of the verb is used by the NT writers to introduce OT quotations underscores their strong belief in the unchanging authority of the Scriptures.

In the KJV (cf. NKJV), “in the prophets” is read for “in Isaiah the prophet.” The MS attestation for this reading is very weak. It doubtless arose because the quotations that follow are not only from Isaiah but also include one from Malachi. The first part of the quotation in v.2 agrees verbatim with the LXX of Exodus 23:20a. The second part is from the Hebrew of Malachi 3:1 but differs from both the Hebrew and LXX in reading “your way” instead of “the way before me.” By this change in persons, allowance was made for a messianic interpretation of this passage. These two texts were similarly combined by the rabbis (cf. Exod. Rab. 23:20), who apparently identified Elijah (Mal 3:1; 4:5–6) with the messenger of Exodus 23:20.

The quotation in v.3 is taken from the LXX’s text of Isaiah 40:3, the only difference being the substitution by Mark (or perhaps he found the text already altered) of “of him” for “of our God.” This applies the statement to Jesus, since the antecedent is “Lord,” a title the early church used for Jesus.

Mark brings together these OT texts in a striking way. He probably found the Exodus text already combined with Malachi 3:1. The two passages occur together in the “Q” text Matthew 11:10//Luke 7:27, and, as noted above, were probably already linked in Jewish rabbinic tradition. The Exodus text originally referred to God’s promise of a messenger “to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared” (Ex 23:20), i.e., through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Malachi took up this Exodus text and gave to it an eschatological application with reference to a messenger (identified in Mal 4:5–6 as “Elijah”) who would go before the Lord to prepare God’s people for the great and dreadful “day of the LORD.” Mark goes further by linking a third text to this matrix—Isaiah 40:3. In its original context, this Isaiah text predicted a new exodus, the Lord’s glorious return to his people in their Babylonian exile to lead them in triumph back to the Promised Land. Isaiah depicts a voice calling for the preparation of the way “in the desert” for the coming of Yahweh to his people. Whereas the Hebrew text of Isaiah linked the desert to the preparation of a way, Mark follows the LXX in connecting the desert to the messenger. John the Baptist is the messenger in the desert who will prepare the way for a new and greater exodus deliverance, the revelation of God’s salvation in Christ.

So why does Mark identify the prophecy as coming from “Isaiah” if it is a mixed citation? Some suggest Mark was simply mistaken; others, that he is citing from a book of “testimonies,” a collection of OT texts that Christians used in their apologetic confrontations with Jews and God-fearers, and that three citations were collected under an “Isaiah” heading. A better solution is that Mark is thinking of the broader context of Isaiah and seeks to present the coming of Jesus as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s portrait of God’s end-time salvation. Rikki Watts (Isaiah’s New Exodus in Mark [Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000]) sees Mark’s reference to Isaiah as part of an Isaianic “new exodus” motif that runs as a thread throughout Mark’s narrative. As the only editorial OT citation in Mark’s gospel, this opening text is programmatic for his gospel; it invokes the prophecies of the Isaianic new exodus as the conceptual framework for his whole work. According to Watts, “for Mark the long-awaited coming of Yahweh as King and Warrior has begun, and with it, the inauguration of Israel’s eschatological comfort: her deliverance from the hands of the nations, the journey of her exiles to their home and their eventual arrival at Jerusalem, the place of Yahweh’s presence” (p. 90).

Watts traces this threefold Isaianic scheme through Mark’s gospel. Isaiah’s themes of Yahweh-Warrior’s defeating Israel’s enemy and their idols, and his healing of the people through the ministry of the Servant, correspond to Jesus’ exorcisms of demons and healings in the Galilean ministry (Mark 1–7). In Isaiah Yahweh’s healing of “blind” Isr...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Contributors
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Mark
• Introduction
• I. PROLOGUE (1:1–13)
• II. THE EARLY GALILEAN MINISTRY (1:14–3:6)
• III. THE LATER GALILEAN MINISTRY (3:7–6:6a)
• IV. WITHDRAWAL FROM GALILEE (6:6b–8:30)
• V. THE JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM (8:31–10:52)
• VI. THE JERUSALEM MINISTRY (11:1–13:37)
• VII. THE PASSION AND RESURRECTION NARRATIVE (14:1–16:8[9–20])
• APPENDIX: THE LONGER ENDING (16:9–20)