Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

There are, in fact, many important literary allusions in Mark 14, but here I’m going to focus on just one allusion, which explains a line of Mark 14 that has long baffled biblical scholars. The line in question is Mark 14:51—the fleeing of the naked man. There have been various speculations over the centuries about who the naked man is supposed to be. A common speculation is that the naked man is the author, “Mark”, himself.

However, as we shall see, the naked man is simply part of a literary allusion.

Mark 14:
10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11 When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him...
43 Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.’ 45 So when he came, he went up to him at once and said, ‘Rabbi!’ and kissed him. 46 Then they laid hands on him and arrested him. 47 But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 48 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.’ 50 All of them deserted him and fled.

51 A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked.

This literary allusion is best recognized using the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures, which is almost certainly what the author of the Gospel called Mark would have been using. What we see in this literary allusion is that it’s a fairly sparse allusion, spanning a lot of text. However, this same pattern is present in both the passage from Mark and in the passage being referenced from Amos 2, as we see below.

Amos 2:
4 Thus says the Lord; For three sins of the children of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away from him, because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept His ordinances, and their vain idols which they made, which their fathers followed, caused them to err.
5 And I will send a fire on Judah, and it shall devour the foundations of Jerusalem.
6 Thus says the Lord; for three sins of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away from him, because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for sandals,
7 in which to tread on the dust of the earth, and they have smitten upon the heads of the poor, and have perverted the way of the lowly; and a son and his father have gone into the same maid, that they might profane the name of their God.
8 And binding their clothes with cords, they have made them curtains near the altar, and they have drunk wine gained by extortion in the house of their God.
9 But I removed the Amorite from before them, whose height was the height of a cedar, and who was as strong as an oak, and I removed his fruit above and his root beneath.
10 And I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you about in the desert forty years, that you should inherit the land of the Amorites.
11 And I took of your sons for prophets, and of your young men to be nazirites. Are not these things so, you sons of Israel? Says the Lord.
12 But you gave the nazirites drink wine, and you commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
13 Therefore behold, I roll under you, as a wagon full of straw is rolled.
14 And flight shall perish from the runner, and the strong shall not hold fast his strength, and the warrior shall not save his life;
15 and the archer shall not withstand, and he that is swift of foot shall in by no means escape; and the horseman shall not save his life.
16 And the strong shall find no confidence in power: the naked shall flee away in that day, says the Lord.
—NETS

The reference to the last line of Amos 2 completes the allusion that is begun in Mark 14:10–11, which starts with Judas betraying Jesus for money, a reference to Amos 2 where it talks about the Jews betraying the righteous for silver. (A reference that the author of the Gospel of Matthew apparently did pick up on, evidenced by the fact that he changed the word “money” to “silver” when he copied from Mark to create his version of the story.)

As with many of the more obscure references in the Gospel of Mark, however, the line about the man fleeing naked was dropped from the other Gospels, because outside of serving as a literary allusion, it seems to make no sense. The only sensible explanation for the line about the naked man is that the line is part of this literary allusion. Thus, the naked man does not represent any real person; it is simply an element of a literary device.

neilgodfrey wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 2:02 pm But I am finally catching up with an approach to literary criticism that I have failed to fully understand or appreciate before and am attempting to work my way through it.

rgprice wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 1:57 am I believe that he explanation for this passage I provided in Deciphering the Gospels is by far the most coherent:

There are, in fact, many important literary allusions in Mark 14, but here I’m going to focus on just one allusion, which explains a line of Mark 14 that has long baffled biblical scholars. The line in question is Mark 14:51—the fleeing of the naked man. There have been various speculations over the centuries about who the naked man is supposed to be. A common speculation is that the naked man is the author, “Mark”, himself.

However, as we shall see, the naked man is simply part of a literary allusion.

Mark 14:
10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11 When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him...
43 Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.’ 45 So when he came, he went up to him at once and said, ‘Rabbi!’ and kissed him. 46 Then they laid hands on him and arrested him. 47 But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 48 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.’ 50 All of them deserted him and fled.

51 A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked.

This literary allusion is best recognized using the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures, which is almost certainly what the author of the Gospel called Mark would have been using. What we see in this literary allusion is that it’s a fairly sparse allusion, spanning a lot of text. However, this same pattern is present in both the passage from Mark and in the passage being referenced from Amos 2, as we see below.

Amos 2:
4 Thus says the Lord; For three sins of the children of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away from him, because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept His ordinances, and their vain idols which they made, which their fathers followed, caused them to err.
5 And I will send a fire on Judah, and it shall devour the foundations of Jerusalem.
6 Thus says the Lord; for three sins of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away from him, because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for sandals,
7 in which to tread on the dust of the earth, and they have smitten upon the heads of the poor, and have perverted the way of the lowly; and a son and his father have gone into the same maid, that they might profane the name of their God.
8 And binding their clothes with cords, they have made them curtains near the altar, and they have drunk wine gained by extortion in the house of their God.
9 But I removed the Amorite from before them, whose height was the height of a cedar, and who was as strong as an oak, and I removed his fruit above and his root beneath.
10 And I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you about in the desert forty years, that you should inherit the land of the Amorites.
11 And I took of your sons for prophets, and of your young men to be nazirites. Are not these things so, you sons of Israel? Says the Lord.
12 But you gave the nazirites drink wine, and you commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
13 Therefore behold, I roll under you, as a wagon full of straw is rolled.
14 And flight shall perish from the runner, and the strong shall not hold fast his strength, and the warrior shall not save his life;
15 and the archer shall not withstand, and he that is swift of foot shall in by no means escape; and the horseman shall not save his life.
16 And the strong shall find no confidence in power: the naked shall flee away in that day, says the Lord.
—NETS

The reference to the last line of Amos 2 completes the allusion that is begun in Mark 14:10–11, which starts with Judas betraying Jesus for money, a reference to Amos 2 where it talks about the Jews betraying the righteous for silver. (A reference that the author of the Gospel of Matthew apparently did pick up on, evidenced by the fact that he changed the word “money” to “silver” when he copied from Mark to create his version of the story.)

As with many of the more obscure references in the Gospel of Mark, however, the line about the man fleeing naked was dropped from the other Gospels, because outside of serving as a literary allusion, it seems to make no sense. The only sensible explanation for the line about the naked man is that the line is part of this literary allusion. Thus, the naked man does not represent any real person; it is simply an element of a literary device.

Kunigunde Kreuzerin wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 3:06 am Doesn't it seem obvious that these three verses are related in terms of language and content? Peter claims that they left everything to follow Jesus. But then everyone leaves Jesus and only one newcomer follows Jesus. It seems to me very difficult to overlook this. I could perhaps imagine sources all redacted by Mark at a common final editing level. But an interpolation?

neilgodfrey wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 2:22 pm One other little details worries me just a little -- Mark is not usually so "obvious" in his allusions to OT scripture. He's normally rather subtle and focuses on a certain theme. But this story of a young man fleeing naked seems too direct, too obvious and too clumsy an effort to remind readers of Amos and the "last days". Perhaps another thought.

neilgodfrey wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 2:17 pm The similarities are certainly clear. No doubt. But how to interpret them? What conclusions to draw? That's where I hesitate more than I once did. (I think of another text that I think is almost certainly a forgery, from that famous Clementine letter -- the forger had the images of a youth, naked, with Jesus.)

neilgodfrey wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 2:22 pm One other little details worries me just a little -- Mark is not usually so "obvious" in his allusions to OT scripture. He's normally rather subtle and focuses on a certain theme. But this story of a young man fleeing naked seems too direct, too obvious and too clumsy an effort to remind readers of Amos and the "last days". Perhaps another thought.