It's already been pointed out by a precious few that the Greek of "Mark's" (author) presentation of Joseph of Arimathea's identification is reMarkably similar to the Greek of the presentation of Josephus' identification:
"Mark's" Fourth Philosophy Source (After Imagination, Paul & Jewish Bible) = Josephus
Rarer though is anyone going beyond "Mark" only faking/contriving a name to yield a notorious historical name all the Way to "Mark" wanting/expecting/knowing the dear Reader will primarily think of the historical Josephus at this point in the narrative. And of course, as The Donald never says, the truth is usually in between (cut to ConAway saying "What is truth?")4) "Mark's" Joseph apo Arimathias asks for and receives one of three crucified who recovers: Josephus' Josephus apo Matthias asks for and receives three crucified, one of which recovers.
Correspondent: Paul Tobin
Link: The Burial
Smoking gun excerpt:
The similarity in the names of the main protagonist is also considerable. In the same work, Josephus elucidated his distinguished ancestry. His grandfather, also named Joseph, begot Matthias his father in the tenth year of the reign of Archelaus (AD6). In the Greek text (the language Josephus wrote in) Joseph begot Matthias is rendered as Josepou Matthias. In Mark's gospel, Joseph of Arimathea is written in Greek as Joseph apo Arimathias, the similarity is curious. To quote Schonfield:
It is certainly curious that we have Josephus, himself a Josepou Matthias, begging the Roman commander for the bodies of three crucified friends, one of whom is brought back to life. [11]
So, the purpose of this Thread is to consider the evidence that "Mark" intentionally forged/contrived the identification "Joseph of Arimathea" so that the reader would identify and think of the historical Josephus at this point in the narrative. Fortunately for this Thread it starts out as a reasonable possibility considering that:
- 1) GMark looks like it was written in Rome by a Master late 1st or early 2nd century.
2) For the original audience of 1), as Josephus would have been the premier historian for the setting of 1st century Israel, and the related events would have been hugely significant for Rome, the name connection would have been unmistakable.
3) Most of GMark is impossible so the fiction claimed by this Thread falls well within the author's straukos zone.
4) "Mark" has been demonstrated to have a literary technique of contrived names Ad Nazorean.
As the unfaithful here know by now, the starting point for this type of investigation is Textual Criticism:
15:43
Strong's | Transliteration | Greek | English | Morphology |
2064 [e] | elthōn | ἐλθὼν | having come | V-APA-NMS |
2501 [e] | Iōsēph | Ἰωσὴφ | Joseph | N-NMS |
3588 [e] | ho | ὁ | - | Art-NMS |
575 [e] | apo | ἀπὸ | from | Prep |
707 [e] | Harimathaias | Ἁριμαθαίας*, | Arimathaea, | N-GFS |
2158 [e] | euschēmōn | εὐσχήμων | prominent | Adj-NMS |
1010 [e] | bouleutēs | βουλευτής, | Council member, | N-NMS |
3739 [e] | hos | ὃς | who | RelPro-NMS |
2532 [e] | kai | καὶ | also | Conj |
846 [e] | autos | αὐτὸς | himself | PPro-NM3S |
1510 [e] | ēn | ἦν | was | V-IIA-3S |
4327 [e] | prosdechomenos | προσδεχόμενος | waiting for | V-PPM/P-NMS |
3588 [e] | tēn | τὴν | the | Art-AFS |
932 [e] | basileian | βασιλείαν | kingdom | N-AFS |
3588 [e] | tou | τοῦ | - | Art-GMS |
2316 [e] | Theou | Θεοῦ, | of God. | N-GMS |
5111 [e] | tolmēsas | τολμήσας | having boldness, | V-APA-NMS |
1525 [e] | eisēlthen | εἰσῆλθεν | he went in | V-AIA-3S |
4314 [e] | pros | πρὸς | to | Prep |
3588 [e] | ton | τὸν | - | Art-AMS |
4091 [e] | Pilaton | Πιλᾶτον* | Pilate | N-AMS |
2532 [e] | kai | καὶ | and | Conj |
154 [e] | ētēsato | ᾐτήσατο | asked for | V-AIM-3S |
3588 [e] | to | τὸ | the | Art-ANS |
4983 [e] | sōma | σῶμα | body | N-ANS |
3588 [e] | tou | τοῦ | - | Art-GMS |
2424 [e] | Iēsou | Ἰησοῦ. | of Jesus. | N-GMS |
Bonus material for Solo = If Joseph of Arimathea was intended to be Josephus then who was The Young Man at the tomb (in proper attire for The Last Supper) who was the first to proclaim the risen christ?
Josephus
Figures Don't Lie But Liars Figure. A Proportionate Response to the Disproportionate Response Claim (Gaza)