Kata Markon

["Ted Weeden" <weedent AT atw.earthreach.com>]

Dear Stefan,

I received your original post and have read other replies but have not until
now been able to catch up things to reply myself.  My read of Mk 7:3-4 and
other references to IOUDAIOI is that IOUDAIOI is Mark's reference not to
"Jews" but to "Judeans."  Richard Horsley (GALILEE, 45 and ARCHAEOLOGY,
HISTORY AND SOCIETY IN GALILEE, 9, 25-28), drawing upon clues from Josephus,
has convinced me of that.   The "traditions of the elders" in Mk. 7:3 (along
with "many other traditions" in 7:4) is, as Horsley has pointed out, a
reference to the "laws of the Judeans,"  laws formulated by the Jerusalem
temple establishment for the social-economic-religious ordering of Judean
life, laws which the Jerusalem establishment tried to impose upon outlying
Jewish populations, beyond Judea, such as Galilee, in order to bring them in
line with the temple establishment's "great tradition" through their
retainers such as the scribes and Pharisees.  The Galilieans were
particularly resistant to Judean intrusion in their lives and organized
themselves according to their own 'liitle tradition," vestiges of which may
well go back to the northern kingdom (so Horsley).

Mark, in my view is a Galilean, whose community now resides in one of the
villages of Caesarea Philippi (See my recent Kata Markon post,
"Guidelines").  I think Mark's whole gospel is written from a
pro-Galilean/Anti-Judean bias, among other biases Mark has.   Mark reflects
his anti-Judean position  throughout his gospel.  For example, note it is
all of Judea and the people of Jerusalem who come to John to confess their
sins (1:5).  While Jesus, a Galilean, comes to be baptized by John, no other
Galilean does, nor any other non-Judean for that matter.  The inference?
The Judeans were the sinners needing to confess their sins, not the
Galileans?  Note also in 3:7f. how Mark distinquishes between the multitude
of Galileans and the great multitude of Judeans and others who come to
Jesus.  The multitude from Galilee  "follow" (Mark's term for discipleship)
Jesus, but the other multitude, including the Judeans, come to him because
they heard what he did.  Notice in 1:22 the crowd recognizes that Jesus
teaches with authority and not as the [Judean] scribes.  The [Judean]
scribes in 2:6 challenge Jesus for forgiving sins, what only God can do
through the priestly cult in Jerusalem.  Jesus takes unto himself, a
Galilean, the right to set aside Sabbath observance in response to human
need (2:28).  And so on.

From Mark's point of view, it is the Judean temple establishment who reject
Jesus and have him put to death (8:31 and passim).   And Jesus' cleansing of
the temple is intended in Mark as a frontal assault on the oppression and
corruption of the whole temple establishment.  The splitting of the veil of
the temple is in Mark's mind God's judgment against the Judean temple
establishment and the destruction of the temple God's coup de grace.   I
cannot produce the full argument here, but I think the name "Judas" (IOUDAS,
a play on IOUDAIA) and his role as the betrayer who conspires with the
Judean establishment to put Jesus to death (14:1-2, 9-10) is a Markan
contruct.  Prior to Mark I can find no reference or allusion to a tradition
suggesting that Jesus was betrayed by anyone, outsider or insider.  There is
no allusion in Q or Paul (PARADIDWMI is mistranslated in I Cor. 11:23 as
"betrayed.")  The betrayer tradition was created by Mark as part of his
anti-Judean polemic.   That tradition was then expanded upon by Matthew,
Luke and John (along with others I think John knew and used Mark when it
served his purpose).

Thus the Markan parathetical remark in 7:3-4 is for the information of
non-Jews and non-Judean Jews, as well, in his community located in one of
the villages of Caesarea Philippi.

Ted Weeden

----- Original Message -----
From: Stefan Lücking <stefan.luecking AT uni-muenster.de>
To: Kata Markon <gmark AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2000 3:46 PM
Subject: [gmark] Mark 7:3-4 and the readers of Mark


> The long explanation of Jewish purity customs in Mark 7,3-4 normally
serves
> as argument that the Markan readers are gentile Christians. But the
> uniqueness of this gloss within the gospel of Mark makes me doubt if it
> alone is sufficient proof for this thesis with its repercussions on the
> understanding of the whole Gospel.
> First of all, it is the only explanation of Jewish customs (by the author
> of Mark) I found in the whole Gospel. In other debates about Jewish
customs
> there are no such explanations.
> Second, the use of "all Jews/Judaeans" (PANTES hOI IOUDAIOI) is unique to
> the gospel and appears to me very unmarkan. Elsewhere, Mark uses the word
> "Judaeans" (IOUDAIOI) only in the mouth of gentiles (Pilate 15:2, 15:9,
> 15:12; the Roman soldiers 15:28) and in the Roman inscription on the cross
> whereas Jewish mockers use the expression "King of Israel" (15:32).
> Third, there are so many unexplained allusions to and suppositions from a
> Jewish background in the gospel of Mark, that I can hardly imagine how
> gentile Christians could understand large parts of the gospel (e.g., the
> prologue) if they had not been so deeply introduced into Jewish culture
> that it would not make any sense to speak of a "gentile" Christians (but
of
> Christian "proselytes" or so).
> Fourth, I don t see where problems which are specific for gentile
> Christians (as e.g. social relations to the gentile environment) are
> treated. Just compare the problems Paul discusses in 1 Corinthians.
> Monotheism is self evident as one side of the highest command (Mark
> 12:28-34), but there is no polemic against polytheism - apart from very
> subtle allusions to Scripture as in Mark 5:1-20. Typically Jewish
Christian
> problems, however, as the Sabbath, purity laws, the temple are treated
> throughout the gospel.
>
> So, I am really puzzled. For, on the one hand, Mark 7:3-4 is very strong
> evidence for gentile readers with few knowledge about Jewish life. On the
> other hand a lot of other indicators point to Jewish Christian readers.
> Now, I would like to ask: What can I do with this contradictory evidence
> concerning the readers of Mark? Related to this question are a couple of
> other questions: Is there any other evidence for gentile Christian readers
> in the Gospel of Mark? If so: how could these readers understand the
> allusions and hidden quotes from Scripture and other Jewish literature? On
> the other hand: if the Markan readers were Jewish Christian, how can the
> gloss in Mark 7:2-4 be explained?
>
> Thank you in advance for your answers.
>
> Stefan Lücking
> University of Münster, Germany
>
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