A speculative reconstruction of proto-Mark's final

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
Post Reply
Giuseppe
Posts: 13732
Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:37 am
Location: Italy

A speculative reconstruction of proto-Mark's final

Post by Giuseppe »

I put in red the interpolations.

Mark Commentary:

43 Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.
44 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” 45 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him.
Only Judas recognizes Jesus to point out the fact that Jesus is really the Jewish Messiah.
46 The men seized Jesus and arrested him. 47 Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
48 “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” 50 Then everyone deserted him and fled.
Jesus is denying the fact that the people don't recognize him, hence the author of this passage was denying the Messianic Secret found in proto-Mark.
51 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind. Who wrote this verse had probably in mind the final verse of the young man in the empty tomb. Hence I reject also this as interpolation.
53 They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together. 54 Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.
55 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. 56 Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.
57 Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” 59 Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”62 “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
the divine Christ abandons the man Jesus only after having revealed himself to at least one of the sinedrites: Joseph of Arimathea.
63 The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. 64 “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death. 65 Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.
Now the man Jesus is abandoned by Christ and therefore he can be beaten, differently from the Christ, who was there to see the beating of the man Jesus, laughing loudly about him.
66 While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him.
“You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said.
68 But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.[g]
69 When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, “This fellow is one of them.” 70 Again he denied it.
After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”
71 He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”
72 Immediately the rooster crowed the second time.[h] Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
In the original Proto-Mark, who was seeing from a distance the scene was the divine Christ, once he had abandoned the man Jesus to his fate. A tradition arises that identified this divine Christ with Simon Magus, and not coincidentially Peter is portrayed as a parody of Simon Magus ('the standing one') and accordingly Peter is 'sitting' at the fire (note that the Magus adored the fire). Note also that while the divine Christ/Simon Magus was laughing about the man Jesus who is beaten, now we have his parody Peter who is wepting. In proto-Mark Peter was denying that the beaten man was the divine Christ.
15 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate is simply allied with the sinedrites.
2 “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
6 Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
9 “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
12 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
13 “Crucify him!” they shouted.
14 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them.
The interpolator want to secure the reader that the man Jesus before Pilate was really the Christ and the Jewish Christ, while who escaped the crucifixion was the mere robber Bar-Abbas, parody of the marcionite 'Son of Father' and/or of the divine Christ who abandoned Jesus before the trial.
He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. This is the mere role of Pilate in proto-Mark
The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. 17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” 19 Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. Note that in the previous verse, Pilate had already flogged Jesus and handed him to Jews, and so this flash-back is evidently an interpolation, since the Romans have taken again Jesus to beat him.
21 A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. 22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). evident interpolation against Basilides.
23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. interpolation against docetists who denied that Jesus can eat or drink like any other human being.
24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him.
Nothing to say.
26 The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews. To secure the Readers that the crucified man Jesus coincides with the Christ, and the Jewish Christ
27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. [28] [j] 29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!” 31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” To secure the Readers that the crucified man Jesus coincides with the Christ, and the Jewish Christ
Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him. In proto-Mark only Jesus was alone crucified, and the divine Christ was insulting him and mocking him.
33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you mocked me?”). the man Jesus realizes that the divine Christ was mocking him.
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
To secure the Readers what precisely Jesus was saying. Now who is mocked (by the reader) is not Jesus, but who was before Jesus.
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,[l] he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph,[m] and Salome. 41 In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
Nothing to say..
42 It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Joseph is the only sinedrite to recognize that the crucified man was not the divine Christ,
having listened from Christ himself (see Mark 14:62) that he had abandoned the man Jesus. Therefore he buried Jesus in view of the future resurrection of the dead, since the End is coming.



The final verses are interpolations, since the man Jesus is considered risen only with the general resurrection of the dead.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
Post Reply