Kata Markon

["James Crossley" <crossleyjames AT hotmail.com>]

I would like to develop some points concerning the background to Mark 7:3-4.

It is quite right that we should expect Jews among Mark's audience. This is 
linked to the use of the term 'community' which can now be seen,  in some 
cases,  as an anachronism. Christianity spread rapidly throughout the Roman 
world and the gospels may well have been distributed widely and therefore 
among Jewish and gentile people.  See Bauckham, ed., -The Gospels for All 
Christians-.

I should emphasise here that I do not use the term 'gentile Christianity' in 
the sense of 'pagan Christianity'.  I define gentiles as people who did not 
perceive themselves to be Jewish and were not percieved by others to be 
Jewish.  The terms 'Jew' and 'Jewish' can still be used because they imply 
people who perceived to be Jewish by others and by themselves (with 
ethnicity being the primary identity marker). This is of course a 
simplification of Jewish and non-Jewish identity because detailed discussion 
would require much more space & time.

The Johannine use of the term 'Jew' remains useful because it shows that it 
really did mean 'Jew'.  It not used particularly negatively when he uses it 
in the context of the passover of the Jews. John did use it negatively in 
other places but this does not mean that it could not be used descriptively 
or positively elsewhere,  as it is by Jews.  (I can't remember the 
references at the moment but I will find them).
I think the term Judeans is very misleading because it it has too many 
geographical connotations. The term IOUDAIOI would have to be explictly 
qualified if it meant Judeans. In Mark 7 it is primariy referring to people 
who would be perceived to be Jewish by other people and who would perceive 
themselves to be Jewish.  It is not used in a particularly polemical way;  
rather,  it is more descriptive. Mark is of course exaggerating but 
exaggeration is to be found elsewhere in the gospel (again I can't remember 
the precise references but one is quite early e.g. all the people bringing 
those in need of healing to Jesus).  A Jewish parallel can be found in the 
Letter of Aristeas referring to Jewish practices before prayer,  I think 
(again I'm working from memory and so I will need to confirm this).

As for scriptural references,  I think my argument remains plausible but I 
should make it a bit clearer. Scriptures are alluded to throughout,  for 
example,  the epistles,  the synoptic gospels, and John which has numerous 
very complex scriptural allusions (John also has a very strong case for a 
wide gentile audience because of its oppostition to Jews,  among other 
reasons).  These are rarely explained in the New Testament so we can infer 
that some people were familiar with Jewish scriptures.  It is also worth 
noting the people often called 'godfearers'.  These people were not 
ethnically Jewish but had some interest in Judaism.  They may well have 
attended synagogues and have been familiar with Jewish scriptures.  It does 
not matter if this was an oral tradition because a learning of Scripture 
remains.  The knowledge of Scripture is only one argument that people were 
not familiar with the details of halakhic observance and therefore required 
explanation.  It was noted in another response,  and quite rightly,  that it 
may have been unlikely that observant Jews and gentiles ate together.

Of course their may have been some gentiles who had little familiarity with 
scriptures but this is not so important for the background to Mark 7:3-4 
because the Jewish practice of handwashing & so on was not as famous as 
Jewish observance of the Sabbath or avoidance of non-kosher food. It did not 
require a knowledge of Jewish scriptures to know that many Jews observed the 
Sabbath or refuse to eat pork.

I think we can infer from the amount of Jewish assumptions made in Mark and 
the need for explanations in Mark 7:3-4 that there was a mixed audience of 
Jews and gentiles who were going to hear the gospel.

Yours,

James Crossley,
Dept. of Theology,
University of Nottingham,
U.K.

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