Mark’s leper --- through the shared Miriam --- is Paul.
I first made this claim a few years ago, and my conviction has only grown stronger. This is an expanded and revised analysis.
Mark Used Numbers 12 to Construct His Story of the Leper
There are six direct points of contact between these short passages, 6 phrases each here from GMark and from Numbers ---
Numbers 12:9-15 (LXX) | Mark 1:40-45 |
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… Mariam was leprous like snow ... the anger (οργή) of the Lord’s wrath was against them ... And Moses cried out to the Lord ... ... saying, "O God, I beg you, heal her!” ... Mariam was cleansed ... Let her be separated |
And a leper comes to Him [Jesus] ... And [the Lord] having been moved with anger (ὀργισθεὶς) ... ... calling out to Him [the Lord] ... ... and kneeling down and saying to Him, "if you are willing, you are able to cleanse me." ... and he was cleansed ... He immediately sent him away |
... why so angry young man?
What stands-out the most in these six clear parallels --- in these two very short passages --- is the anger of the Lord in both. The anger makes sense in Numbers, with the Lord (God) angry because Mariam and Aaron spoke against Moses. But the anger of the Lord (Jesus) seemingly directed at the leper seems odd, and has spawned reams of commentary. And some ancient scribes didn't like it to the point of emendation, changing the anger to compassion.
The majority of MSS have the term “moved with compassion (σπλαγχνισθεὶς)” rather than “moved with anger (ὀργισθεὶς)” in Mark 1:41. But a few important MSS have “moved with anger”. I think that Mark's direct use of Numbers 12 provides the solution to these competing textual variants in Mark 1:41. Recognizing Numbers 12 as the source material for Mark provides the definitive evidence for the difficult reading of "moved with anger" as original.
One can only speculate why the author of GMark chose to include the anger of the Lord with his thematic borrowing from Numbers 12. Such an emotion seems unexpected at this point in Mark's story.
Paul the Leper?
The author of GMark drew on Numbers 12 for his story of the leper. But Paul as the leper?
At first blush I suspect most would think "no way, why would the author of GMark present Paul as a leper?" --- especially if Mark was a follower of Paul. When actually, it becomes much more likely that Mark WOULD present Paul as a leper BECAUSE he was a follower of Paul.
The author of GMark, as a Paulinist insider, would have been aware of Paul's self-designation and association with the sinful leprous ektroma found in Numbers 12. Portraying Paul as the leper was appropriately humbling, but not disparaging. The author of GMark paid homage to Paul. Mark constructed a paean of sorts reflecting Paul's very own humbling journey --- an imaginative tip-of-the-hat to the story Paul had told about himself as having been a persecutor and sinful ektroma before having been cleansed by the grace of God via revelation and set upon his path to spread the word.
The concept of a leprous ektroma as used by Paul --- in the sense of sinning or doing evil against God --- can be traced back in time in a Jewish context ---
The Jewish Scriptures ---
… Mariam was leprous like snow … And Aaron said to Moses, “I beg you, Sir, do not lay extra sin upon us, because we were ignorant in that we sinned. Do not let her be like unto death, like an ektroma coming out of a mother’s womb… " (Numbers 12:9-12, LXX)
The Jewish Philo, a near contemporary of Paul, expanded on the concept ---
Philo, Allegorical Interpretation I, XXIV (76);
But, though always in labour, it never brings forth. For the soul of the worthless man is not calculated by nature to bring anything to perfection which is likely to live. But everything which it appears to bring forth is found to be abortive and immature. "Eating up the half of its flesh, and being like a death of the Soul." [from Numbers 12:12] On which account that holy word Aaron entreats the pious Moses, who was beloved by God, to heal the leprosy of Miriam, in order that her soul might not be occupied in the labour of bringing forth evil things. And in consequence he says: "Let her not become like unto death, as an ektroma proceeding out of the womb of her mother, and let her not devour the half of her own Flesh. [from Numbers 12:12-13]
But, though always in labour, it never brings forth. For the soul of the worthless man is not calculated by nature to bring anything to perfection which is likely to live. But everything which it appears to bring forth is found to be abortive and immature. "Eating up the half of its flesh, and being like a death of the Soul." [from Numbers 12:12] On which account that holy word Aaron entreats the pious Moses, who was beloved by God, to heal the leprosy of Miriam, in order that her soul might not be occupied in the labour of bringing forth evil things. And in consequence he says: "Let her not become like unto death, as an ektroma proceeding out of the womb of her mother, and let her not devour the half of her own Flesh. [from Numbers 12:12-13]
Paul ---
And last of all, as the ektroma, he was seen by me also … because I persecuted the assembly of God. (1 Corinthians 15:8-9)
Drawing on Numbers 12, Paul associated himself with Miriam and the leprous ektroma because like Miriam who spoke against God's attendant Moses, Paul claimed that he had persecuted the assembly of God.
Paul's free and generative use of his scriptural source materials was certainly not lost on his protege, the author of GMark. I think it's a serious mistake to underestimate Paul's creative and generative use of the scriptures, and Mark's use and knowledge of Paul, and Mark's use of the scriptures, and Mark's cleverness.
Mark Wove His Web
Paul incorporated several concepts from Numbers 12 into his own backstory, and we catch glimpses of that backstory in Paul's letters to the Galatians and the Corinthians. The author of GMark then used Numbers 12 as an outline or framework to construct his passage on the leper --- knowing full-well that his mentor Paul had self-identified as the leprous ektroma in Numbers 12 . When passages from these texts are compared, a web of interrelationships are revealed ---
Numbers 12 --- selected verses 12:1-15 (LXX) | Paul --- verses from Galatians and 1 Corinthians | Mark 1:40-45 --- in order |
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And Mariam and Aaron spoke against Moses (12:1) And Aaron said to Moses, "I beg you, sir, do not lay extra sin upon us, because we were ignorant in that we sinned" (12:11) "Do not let her be like unto death, like an ektroma (έκτρωμα) coming out of a mother’s womb” (12:12) |
I persecuted the assembly of God to an extreme degree and tried to destroy it. (Gal 1:13) [Like Miriam, Paul was ignorant and he sinned] Last of all, as the ektroma (ἐκτρώματι) he was seen by me also ... because I persecuted the Assembly of God. (1 Cor 15:8-9) | |
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… And the Lord … said to them, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet of you for the Lord, in a vision I will be known to him, and in sleep I will speak to him." (Numbers 12:5-6) |
... the gospel having been preached by me, is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but by a revelation of Jesus Christ. (Gal 1:11-12) | |
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The anger (οργή) of the Lord’s wrath was against them, and … Mariam was leprous like snow (12:9-10) And Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, "O God, I beg you to heal her!” (12:13) |
And a leper comes to Him [Jesus], calling out to Him and kneeling down and saying to Him, "if you are willing, you are able to cleanse me." And having been moved with anger (ὀργισθεὶς), having stretched out His hand (1:40-41) | |
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And the Lord said to Moses ... "Let her be separated for seven days outside the camp, and afterwards she shall enter." And Mariam was kept apart outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not set out until Mariam was cleansed (12:14-15) |
But when God ... having called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles. (Gal 1:15-16) I went away into Arabia and returned again. (Gal 1:17) [Paul separated himself in the land of Moses, and returned cleansed --- Paul believed that Mt Sinai was in Arabia, see Galatians 4:25] |
He touched him and says to him, "I am willing, be cleansed." And immediately the leprosy departed from him and he was cleansed. And having admonished him, He immediately sent him away (1:41-43) |
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I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood (Gal 1:16) |
And He says to him, "See that you speak nothing to anyone" (1:44) | |
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I went up again to Jerusalem … to those esteemed ... (Gal 2:1-2) ... and set before them the gospel that I proclaim (Gal 2:2) |
“but go, show yourself to the priest (1:44) and offer for your purification what Moses commanded^^^, for a testimony to them.” (1:44) | |
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... those esteemed to be pillars gave to me ... the right hands of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles ... (Gal 2:9) Paul went out and spread the word after his calling by the grace of God and his cleansing in the land of Moses ... and then with a stamp of approval after his later mini-drama with the Pillars. |
Having gone out, he began to proclaim freely and to spread the word. (1:45) |
^^^ Leviticus 13 and 14
I think these multiple, 2 and 3-way correspondences go well beyond what could reasonably be attributed to coincidence. The implication then is the author of GMark is once again demonstrated to be clever and devious. I certainly don't think that Mark expected the majority of readers to realize that the leper in his tale represented Paul's own journey. But rather I think this passage reinforces the understanding that the author incorporated some insider whimsy for his fellow Paulinists, and that he was prone to crafting wheels-within-wheels, weaving-in layers.
... go, show yourself to the priest
Why at the end did Mark send the man to the priest? Jesus had already cleansed the leper, so why were the rituals of the priest still required?
In partial agreement with some of the scholarship here, I think the Jesus in Mark's story had to send the cleansed leper to the priest so the man could be accepted back into society. The actual cleansing process for lepers is found in Leviticus 13. Jesus satisfied those long and drawn out scriptural procedures, typically conducted by the priests, with just a touch and an immediate cleansing --- thereby exhibiting his superiority.
However, there were additional requirements in the scriptures. In Leviticus 14, the purification rituals necessary for a cleansed leper to perform before re-entering society are described. And it was only the priest who could declare a leper to be cleansed before the necessary follow-up rituals could be conducted.
In similar fashion to Paul reluctantly telling the story of going up to Jerusalem to present his announcement of good news to the Pillars for review and to be granted authority among the Gentiles, I think the author of GMark reluctantly sent the man to the priest so he could be declared cleansed, and to follow the rituals before going out and spreading the word.
I think Mark's ambivalence is also exhibited in the Greek phrase εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς in Mark 1:44 that can readily be seen as meaning in this context “for a witness or testimony against them”. This interpretation is supported by Mark’s use of the very same phrase in verse 6:11, where the connotation as a polemic is clearly implied. In part, Mark used the leper as a witness to the superiority of Jesus over the old Mosaic system.
Mark was promoting the superior authority of Jesus --- with his ability to cleanse immediately (Mark 1:42) --- as opposed to the old, long, drawn-out, and detailed Mosaic quarantine and cleansing process at the hands of the priests. (Leviticus 13).
And Mark is echoing Paul from 2 Corinthians --- the veil of “the old covenant” is “removed in Christ”. (2 Cor 3:10-16).
robert j
