Magdalena Karta. Was Mark's Mary Magdalene Mark's Jesus' Mother?

[JoeWallack]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WfbmIkyISs

JW:
I confess that the title of this Thread is intended as an attention getter but I also have faith that at the conclusion of this Thread the Superior Skeptic will agree that "Mark" (author) intended his Mary Magdalene to be Jesus' mother in some sense.

First, the basic frame of how "Mark" gets there:

Verse	Candidate for Jesus' mother	"Mark's" Criteria to be Jesus' Mother	Commentary
3 31 And there come his mother and his brethren; and, standing without, they sent unto him, calling him. 32 And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. 33 And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? 34 And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren! 35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.	Jesus' biological mother	Doing God's will	Since "Mark's" Jesus is doing God's will and his biological mother is trying to prevent him from doing so, "Mark" has eliminated Jesus' mother as being Jesus' mother.
6 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended in him.	-	-	The only place in GMark that names Jesus' mother. As always, note that generally in GMark the good remain anonymous and the bad are named. The general exception is that if you are prominently naughty you earn a name so that you can be replaced by a good with the same name.
7 10 For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death:	-	-	This line doesn't really belong in this Thread but the clever irony is irresistible. Jesus speaks badly of his mother, and so dies The Death.
16 1. And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the [mother] of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint him.	The women who come to prepare Jesus for burial, Mary Magdalene, Mary and Salome.	Doing God's will.	Based on GMark as a whole, none of these are Jesus' biological mother and "Mark" does not describe them as Jesus' biological mother. Reasons to think that the Mary's here were intended to be Jesus' new (spiritual) mother: 1) "Mark" had previously disqualified Jesus' biological mother from being his mother. 2) These Marys are doing God's will, following and anointing Jesus, and per "Mark's" Jesus' definition, they are his mother. 3) These Marys are doing what a mother is supposed to do, preparing their son for burial. 4) "Mark's" Jesus said that if you follow, you will receive multiple mothers. 5) The cruncher, as the Brits say, "Mark" has a style of giving the same name to important characters, the first, who meets a negative definition of discipleship, and the second who corrects. 6) Added to 5) is that "Mark" adds a contrived additional name, which is positive, to the corrector, Magdalene = high (Arimathea = best disciple).

I'm just guessing but I think Salome here is an unrelated literary touch. Salome is not where she is supposed to be and not being where you are supposed to be is a theme of GMark. Salome is not in the Herod story where she should be but at the tomb where she should not be.

Nota Ben = Do you still think the Mary of James and Joses was intended to be Jesus' mother? I think the addition of James and Joses was just intended to further the identification of Jesus' biological mother being replaced. Her sons of James and Joses were likewise replaced with an unrelated James and Joses.

In the big picture, as GMark is the original Gospel narrative, the above is the source of much confusion in subsequent Gospels regarding which women were at the (imaginary) tomb. As is typical, as the last major Gospel, GJohn moves all the way from just editing GMark to actively reacting to it, explicitly saying that Jesus' mother was at the tomb (and implying that her name was not even Mary!).

Bonus material for Solo = Only one major character in GMark is never given a replacement name corrector and "Mark" even explains why. Who?


Joseph

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EHlj5nAxJM

[Joseph D. L.]

Iss was the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, who was Osiris reborn.

The many Marys and Marthas, I think, serves to illustrate the contrived nature of these texts.

Isn't Salome also present in the Protoevangelium of James at the birth? I can't remember. If she is, then that answers why she is present at tomb. The virgin birth and empty tomb are apart of the same allegory.

That might give credence to the PEJames predating Mark, but again I can't remember so don't take me seriously.

[Ben C. Smith]

Nota Ben = Do you still think the Mary of James and Joses was intended to be Jesus' mother? I think the addition of James and Joses was just intended to further the identification of Jesus' biological mother being replaced. Her sons of James and Joses were likewise replaced with an unrelated James and Joses.

Yes and no. Yes in the sense that the Mary at the cross is not actually a second Mary in addition to Jesus' putative mother. No in the sense that the author necessarily had to have known who she was; he may not have known (or cared). The model I am working with allows for a lot of miscommunication of details along the way.

Also, I still suspect that the empty tomb story is an addition to the main passion narrative in the gospel of Mark, and all three mentions of this Mary are found in the addition.