Mark and Isaiah

[robert j]

Kunigunde Kreuzerin wrote in another thread,

Isaiah is used here more as an “internal” part of Mark´s story and not only as an echo in the background. The allusion is not only an allusion, it enables the understanding of Mark.

Mark’s reveals the overall theme of his story in his opening line,

"Beginning of the announcement of good news (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου) of Jesus Christ, as it has been written in Isaiah the prophet." (Mark 1:1-2a).

Most investigators understand the phrase, "as it is written in Isaiah the prophet", as an introduction to the citations from the Jewish scriptures that follow. But the citations that follow are derived from Exodus (23:20) and Malachi (3:1). It's not until verse three that Marks cites Isaiah (40.3).

I agree with those investigators that see Mark's opening line as a stand-alone statement --- a separate unit from the citations of scripture that follow --- a statement that Mark’s entire tale, including the death and implied resurrection of Jesus, constituted the beginning of the good news.

But Mark imagined much of his beginning --- he brought Paul’s story of a heavenly Christ spirit down to earth in recent times --- as an allegory, a parable, a tale with a human Jesus that was more accessible to everyone.

And here is the announcement of good news and glad tidings to which the author of gMark was referring, in verbal form, as written in Isaiah --- from the Jewish scriptures in the Greek, Mark's primary scriptural source. I’ve left out quite a bit of important material for the sake of being more concise. A link to Isaiah from the Septuagint (NETS) is here ---

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/ ... s-nets.pdf

"Go up on a high mountain, you who bring good tidings (ευαγγελιζόμενος) to Zion. Lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings (ευαγγελιζόμενος) to Jerusalem. … See, the Lord comes with strength … He will tend his flock like a shepherd and gather lambs with his arm and comfort those that are with young." (Isaiah 40:9-11).

"Therefore my people shall know my name in that day, because I myself am the one who speaks: I am here, like season upon the mountains, like the feet of one bringing glad tidings (ευαγγελιζόμενου) of a report of peace, like one bringing glad tidings (ευαγγελιζομένου) of good things. Because I will make your salvation heard … And the Lord shall reveal his holy arm before all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation that comes from God." (Isaiah 52:6-7 and 52:10).

"The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news (ευαγγελίσασθαι) to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind … " (Isaiah 61:1).

These are the good tidings, the glad tidings, the good news in Isaiah to which Mark was referring --- good tidings in which Mark's predecessors found a heavenly Lord, their Christ.

And along with the good tidings, a suffering savior can also be found in Isaiah,

"… And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a child, like a root in a thirsty land … This one bears our sins and suffers pain for us … But he was wounded because of our acts of lawlessness and has been weakened because of our sins … by his bruise we were healed. All we like sheep have gone astray … and the Lord gave him over to our sins. And he, because he has been ill-treated, does not open his mouth; like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before the one shearing it, so he does not open his mouth … and he bore the sins of many, and because of their sins he was given over." (Isaiah, chapter 53).

I suspect that most Jews, as well as believers in the Christ in Mark's time, were quite familiar with the good tidings in Isaiah --- these were likely popular and well known passages. Mark painted a picture worth a thousand words --- just with his opening line.

robert j.

[neilgodfrey]

Mark’s reveals the overall theme of his story in his opening line,

"Beginning of the euaggelion (announcement, glad tidings, good news) of Jesus Christ, Son of God, as it has been written in Isaiah the prophet." (Mark 1:1-2a).

Most investigators understand the phrase, "as it is written in Isaiah the prophet", as an introduction to the citations from the Jewish scriptures that follow. But the citations that follow are derived from Exodus (23:20) and Malachi (3:1). It's not until verse three that Marks cites Isaiah (40.3).

Rikki Watts (Isaiah's New Exodus in Mark) points out that Mark's opening scriptural quoatations are the first instance of one of the most notable features of Mark's style: chiasm.

He opens with a reference to Isaiah the prophet and then closes with the verses from Isaiah. In between he inserts lines from Malachi and Exodus. As in the other sandwiched episodes, this is an apparent request to the reader to interpret the middle bit through the context of the outer layer (or the other way around or both in light of each other - forget the detail, sorry). So the Exodus and Malachi passages are being reinterpreted as fulfillments of Isaiah's prophecy.

[robert j]

neilgodfrey wrote,

Rikki Watts (Isaiah's New Exodus in Mark) points out that Mark's opening scriptural quoatations are the first instance of one of the most notable features of Mark's style: chiasm.

He opens with a reference to Isaiah the prophet and then closes with the verses from Isaiah. In between he inserts lines from Malachi and Exodus. As in the other sandwiched episodes, this is an apparent request to the reader to interpret the middle bit through the context of the outer layer (or the other way around or both in light of each other - forget the detail, sorry). So the Exodus and Malachi passages are being reinterpreted as fulfillments of Isaiah's prophecy.

Perhaps I overstated my point when I wrote that Mark's opening line was, “a separate unit from the citations of scripture that follow”. But whether or not Mark intended his first line as part of a chiastic structure, I still believe that Mark intend the line to be global --- to introduce, describe, and encompass his entire tale.

robert j.

[neilgodfrey]

neilgodfrey wrote,

Rikki Watts (Isaiah's New Exodus in Mark) points out that Mark's opening scriptural quoatations are the first instance of one of the most notable features of Mark's style: chiasm.

He opens with a reference to Isaiah the prophet and then closes with the verses from Isaiah. In between he inserts lines from Malachi and Exodus. As in the other sandwiched episodes, this is an apparent request to the reader to interpret the middle bit through the context of the outer layer (or the other way around or both in light of each other - forget the detail, sorry). So the Exodus and Malachi passages are being reinterpreted as fulfillments of Isaiah's prophecy.

Perhaps I overstated my point when I wrote that Mark's opening line was, “a separate unit from the citations of scripture that follow”. But whether or not Mark intended his first line as part of a chiastic structure, I still believe that Mark intend the line to be global --- to introduce, describe, and encompass his entire tale.

robert j.

I don't disagree. I was only pointing to what I think is an interesting detail about the way Mark accomplishes this introduction, how he collates passages from such diverse contexts into a theme to introduce his narrative.

[Charles Wilson]

Rikki Watts (Isaiah's New Exodus in Mark) points out that Mark's opening scriptural quoatations are the first instance of one of the most notable features of Mark's style: chiasm.

Hello Neil-

http://www.michaelturton.com/Mark/GMark_chiasm.html

Not to be argumentative here but if Mark 1: 1 - 3 is an interpolation then the Chiastic Structure has been interrupted by this interpolation for a later purpose. That is, the Chiastic Structure is the great feature of Mark and it provides its own test to show that someone else - who did not know of Chiastics - wrote the first three verses.

Your mileage may vary.

CW

[neilgodfrey]

Rikki Watts (Isaiah's New Exodus in Mark) points out that Mark's opening scriptural quoatations are the first instance of one of the most notable features of Mark's style: chiasm.

Hello Neil-

http://www.michaelturton.com/Mark/GMark_chiasm.html

Not to be argumentative here but if Mark 1: 1 - 3 is an interpolation then the Chiastic Structure has been interrupted by this interpolation for a later purpose. That is, the Chiastic Structure is the great feature of Mark and it provides its own test to show that someone else - who did not know of Chiastics - wrote the first three verses.

Your mileage may vary.

CW

I'm not confident that Michael's chiasm analysis is valid. I think some of his chiasms are a bit forced to make the larger pattern work and I don't know of any other example of ancient literature that was ever composed that way. Other analyses have produced other chiasmic patterns so I think the process is far more subjective than we might like to think. Some of the patterns can only be rationalized by subjective secondary associations with keywords. My suspicion is that Michael has seen too much skill in Mark's gospel than is warranted -- although he might have a better chance of proving his point if he could explain thematic/narrative/theological reasons for each of the examples he postulates.

But some of his chaismic patterns depend on the original Mark being different from what we are reading. That may be so, but it cannot be used to justify the chiasms without circularity. Other reasoning, some of it less theoretical, suggests that the original ending of the gospel should indeed be at 16:8; other arguments point to Secret Mark being found in the body of the Gospel; we also have reasons to think that the Gospel has been redacted by "proto-orthodox" and the original gospel had quite a different tone or theological appearance. So there are questions Michael's suggestion needs to overcome, I think.

Mark was far more than a crude collator of traditions etc, but I don't think he was a ground-breaking genius, either.

[Charles Wilson]

Thank you,

CW

[Kunigunde Kreuzerin]

I suspect that most Jews, as well as believers in the Christ in Mark's time, were quite familiar with the good tidings in Isaiah --- these were likely popular and well known passages. Mark painted a picture worth a thousand words --- just with his opening line.robert j.

Agreed. P.Oxy. 76.5073 should be a good proof of this thesis

[TedM]

I'm not confident that Michael's chiasm analysis is valid.

I think some people with good imaginations see things that aren't really there. Structures that do exist also may be just normal ways of communicating. You say something, you support it, then you repeat in summary, etc.. It's very common. If the author WAS employing a sophisticated structure, in such a case it is still JUST a device. I don't see that it is overly relevant to the question of historicity. Style is not incompatible with history.

And while I'm at it, neither is the use of sources such as Isaiah or the Psalms. One ould say that these sources form the basis of a story, or one could say that these sources were used to support events that actually occurred. Or one could say it is a combination. I would point out that passages that are deemed 'questionable' as far as being Messiac prophecies that are still used to apply to Jesus might be an example of finding a scripture to support a historical event as opposed to being used to create a story. Of course the judgement as to what would have been questionable 2000 years ago is in the eye of the beholder, and even then any given author can't be held to the same standard.

[Charles Wilson]

http://books.google.com/books?id=RsVnE0 ... an&f=false

CW