Kata Markon

["K. Hanhart" <K.Hanhart AT net.HCC.nl>]

Ted Weeden offered the following seven guidelines to 
enable 
> us to determine the likely site of Mark's home community.

In my contribution  of March 4 I stated a number of premises which I
would list as follows:
1. that Papias and others offer a trustworthy tradition re. Roman
provenance of Mark unless internal 
evidence forces us to distrust their witness.
2. that Mark, composing an epilog, wrote a midrash on LXX Isa 22,16 and
33, 16.  HisGospel is not a "vita" 
but a Passover Haggadah to be read in the Passover season.
3. that therefore he doesnot want to convey the message to his christian
judean readers living in the diaspora
that Jesus' grave literally was discovered by some women to be empty. He
rather used the expression of Isaiah ' a tomb hewn from the rock' as a
metaphor for the temple to be destroyed and he had the women see in a
vision (anablepsasai, 16,4) the horror of the destruction of the temple,
just as the women saw in LXX Isa 32,9ff.
4. The recipients already believed that Jesus was raised from the dead
and was sitting "at the right hand". But
because of the trauma of 70 ( - Jerusalem fallen, the temple destroyed,
the hope of the parousia dashed -) they needed a new eschatological
perspective: the parousia had been DELAYED; but even the disaster of the
fall of Jerusalem and the new exile, would be turned to good: first the
Gospel must be preached to all nations! (13,10).
5. "...going before into Galilee" (16,7) points backwards to Jesus' own
mission to Judeans and Gentiles
in Galilea and points forward to the later mission of the ecclesia in
the diaspora = the Galil ha Goym. 
6. So the message was : death had been and would be turned to life.   
In light of the above  I would respond to your guidelines as follows: 

> The First Guideline
> 
> Markan allusions to his community's location in all likelihood are to be
> found where Mark exhibits accurate representation of geography, where he
> employs colloidal mapping, as Chapman argues, rather than cosmographical map
> ping.   For it is logical to assume that Mark knows best the geography of
> his home area.  He is less likely to err in his geographical mapping of the
> place where he lives than in areas remote from his home and only vaguely
> known by him.

If the author is the same one as John Mark of Acts 12, Mark's "home
area" is Jerusalem,
which in the time of his writing was already destroyed. He writes from
Rome (or if he had fled from there) 
in Alexandria. 

> The Second Guideline
> 
> Wherever the community is located, it must be at significant distance from
> the Mediterranean Sea.   It is very unlikely that either Mark or the members
> of his community have any firsthand experience or realistic awareness of the
> magnitude of the Mediterranean Sea.   If Mark, as Theissen has argued, were
> aware of the size of the Mediterranean Sea, he would not have made the
> mistake of calling Lake Gennesaret a "sea."   If there are bodies of water
> in the region of Mark's community, they must be of such diminutive size that
> by comparison Lake Gennesaret seemed like a sea to Mark, and likely to his
> community also.   Therefore we must look for Markan allusions to the site of
> his community in geographical settings whose remoteness from the
> Mediterranean Sea make it unlikely that Mark or members of that community
> would have any realistic knowledge about that body of water.

You are right that the term "sea of Galilee" is odd and thus arresting.
Mark used the principle of analogy. What Jesus did around the lake of
Kinnereth his followers would contionue to do around the Mediterranean
Sea in an analagous manner. They would "walk in the way of the JHWH",
the way Jesus had prepared.  In this case he conveyed this idea of
analogy between the ministry of Jesus and of his followers in the
diaspora by deliberately naming lake Kinnereth : "the sea". It is a play
with words used in midrash. Thus four disciples are called at the very
outset to 'fish for people' along the shore of the "sea" (1,16). These
ecclesia's (having been formed alongside the synagogues in the
diasapora: such as Alexandria Antioch, Corinth Ephesus Thessalonica Rome
etc) were mostly situated on the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. The
house of Simon in Kefarnaum served as model of these ecclesia's. F.i.
Jesus was planning 'to bypass' his disciples, when walking on the water
'to the other side' (6,48) and thus "going before them" into the
diaspora. It is a passover story (cf 16,7). 
I find this explanation of the odd name "sea" more in line with Mark's
post-70 Passover Haggadah than your
thesis that Mark was so backward an author that he didnot know the
difference between  lake Kinnereth and the Mediterranean sea. 

> The Third Guideline
> 
> Wherever the community is, it is likely located in a rural village setting.
> Therefore, we must seek the site of the community among the village settings
> Mark mentions in his narrative.

References to agriculture are clustered together in chpt 4 because the
first chapters 
are written in the setting of Shabuot, the feast of the harvest. Mark is
comparing 
the eschatological results of Jesus' ministry with the harvest of the
Word that was sown 
like a seed on the ground. There are also two feedings. As Nineham
proposes the 5000 were Judeans 
while the four thousand stood for the Gentiles.
 
> The Fourth Guideline
 
> It is most likely that the site of Mark's community is among those narrative
> places where Mark presents Jesus as actively engaged in critical theological
> issues- in particular, theological issues that the narrative gives every
> evidence of being of paramount importance to Mark, issues which he appears
> to be addressing in order to provide interpretation or "answers" to
> existential dilemmas facing his community.

This is true. The theological issues Jesus faces in Galilee in Mark's
narrative world are a replica
of the issues faced by the Markan community in the diaspora in the real
world. The ecclesia's were likely situated next to the synagogue, which
were guided by the Pharisaic sages, in the bewildering multicultural
world of  Hellenism.

> The Fifth Guideline
 
> Wherever the Markan community is located, it is likely in fairly close
> proximity to Galilee, if not in Galilee itself.    I state this for the
> following reason.  It is clear that Galilee for Mark is the center of his
> eschatological universe.  It is the Markan Mecca.   According to the Markan
> story, it is in Galilee that Jesus first proclaims the dawn of the kingdom.
> And it is in Galilee, according to the Markan Jesus (14:28; 16:7), where
> that final eschatological moment will occur in which he will be fully
> vindicated, glorified and empowered (13:24-26).  For Mark to have such an
> existential investment in Galilee as the place where the triumphant
> eschatological fulfillment takes place makes it hard to believe that his
> community would be located so far from Galilee that distance would prevent
> Mark and the members of his community from experiencing that eschatological
> moment firsthand.   Therefore we must look for Markan allusions to the site
> of his community among villages in his narrative which are within or in
> close proximity to Galilee.

See my all to brief exegesis of 14,28; 16,7 above. 

> The Sixth Guideline
> 
> The narrative places which meet the first five criteria and are not those
> that the historical Jesus is likely to have frequented are more likely to be
> the site of the Markan community.   I posit this on the following basis.  As
> Rohrbaugh (390) has pointed out with respect to Mark's narrative world: "We
> can be sure that at some points this narrative world corresponds with the
> real world of Jesus, while at others it most certainly does not."  A good
> example of the Markan narrative diverging from Jesus' real world and
> reflecting more closely the real world of Mark's own community is Mark 13.
> The events of that chapter clearly postdate the real world of the historical
> Jesus.  Thus: if, after applying the first five guidelines to the Markan
> narrative, some places which emerge as probable sites of Mark's community
> turn out to be places where the historical Jesus, according to critical
> analysis, is unlikely to have conducted his ministry, then it is in one of
> those particular places that the site of the Markan community is likely to
> be found.

Chapter 13 has been interpreted in many ways. I believe Mark is
wrestling here
with the traumatic events of the lost war. He now posits an interim
period on earth
sothat the gospel could be preached to all nations before the End. The
pre-70 
Passover Haggadah must have been written in the perspective of an
imminent parousia.
Mark revised this (lost) manuscript thoroughly into what we now call
canonical Mark. 
 
> The Seventh Guideline
> 
> Having followed the first six guidelines and having thus arrived at a likely
> geographical site of the Markan community, as alluded to by Mark in his
> narrative, that geographical site should be in relatively near proximity of
> the place of origin or a probable place of circulation of Mark's sources in
> order to account for how he would have gained access to those  sources.  The
> principle underlying this guideline is that one can better account for Mark'
> s access to a source if he is in close proximity to its place of origin or
> circulation than if he is at some remote distance from the source's
> geographical genesis or likely place of circulation.

The pre-70 haggadah likely was also read in Rome during Pesach, if
indeed Mark was with Peter
in that city. I see no reason why Rome would be a less likely place than
an ecclesia in "the villages 
of Caesarea Philippi". In fact, the word 'Caesarea' is an arresting
localization; it is
one of many Markan hints about the perimeters of Jesus' message of "the
kingdom at hand"; the kingdom would reach as far as Rome itself, even to
the end of the world. Not Rome had conquered the people of God but vice
versa Rome had been and would be conquered by God's Messiah. (Cf Mark's
extreme paradox of the confession of the Roman centurion, "truly this
man was God's Son", although this centurion headed in fact the execution
squad). 

I hope, this all too brief sketch will make clear that a modern haggadic
reading of
Mark would fit in with the classical tradition about Mark's provenance
based on Papias' testimony. 

cordially,    Karel Hanhart   













> Thanks for your most interesting & detailed suggested criteria for =
> finding the community's location within the Gospel text.  But I wonder =
> can we be quite so dismissive of the witness of Papias, Irenaeus etc. =
> whose ideas about the Gospels' origins may be based on something more =
> than wishful thinking, or mere speculation.  Certainly, their =
> "traditional" views need to be corroborated in some ways from the actual =
> text. But to offload them as utterly unfounded may turn out to be a =
> regrettable hubris, for which another generation of Bible scholars will =
> smile at us.
> IMHO, there is little worth in citing that "the tide of scholarly =
> opinion has begun to shift" in one direction or another. This is more =
> difficult to measure than sea-tides, and perhaps no more durable. =20
> In light of the wide diversity of views on the subject, the late Ray =
> Brown opined just four years ago that as we "cannot know precisely the =
> locale addressed by Mark" we had better focus on what can be deduced =
> about the addressees:  These consisted - at least in part - in part of =
> Greek speakers who did not know Aramaic, and lived in an area where =
> Latin had influenced Greek vocabulary; they needed at least some Jewish =
> customs to be explained to them (NT Intro, 163).  If all of this fits =
> with the area around Caesarea Philippi, then maybe..
> 
> BTW, have you documentation for placing Bethsaida "east of the Jordan"?  =
> Its ruins as now located are surely well to the west of where river =
> meets lake.
> _________________________________
> (Patrick Rogers,  Mount Argus,   Dublin 6W)
> 
> "Once you begin to lose your memory, just forget it!"
> 
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> <DIV>&gt; would appreciate any suggestions or critical feed =
> back&nbsp;&nbsp;&gt;=20
> Ted Weeden<BR>&gt; (Papias,&nbsp; etc., now discounted) for =
> information&gt;=20
> about Mark's community, </DIV>
> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
> <DIV>Thanks for your most interesting &amp; detailed suggested criteria =
> for=20
> finding the community's location within the Gospel text.&nbsp; But I =
> wonder can=20
> we be quite so dismissive of the witness of Papias, Irenaeus etc. whose =
> ideas=20
> about the Gospels' origins may be based on something more than wishful =
> thinking,=20
> or mere speculation.&nbsp; Certainly, their "traditional" views need to =
> be=20
> corroborated in some ways from the actual text. But to offload them as =
> utterly=20
> unfounded may turn out to be a regrettable <EM>hubris</EM>, for which =
> another=20
> generation of Bible scholars will smile at us.</DIV>
> <DIV>IMHO, there is little worth in citing that "the tide of scholarly =
> opinion=20
> has begun to shift" in one direction or another. This is more difficult =
> to=20
> measure than sea-tides, and perhaps no more durable.&nbsp; </DIV>
> <DIV>In light of the wide diversity of views on the subject, the late =
> Ray Brown=20
> opined just four years ago that as we "cannot know precisely the =
> <EM>locale=20
> </EM>addressed by Mark" we had better focus on what can be deduced about =
> the=20
> addressees:&nbsp; These consisted - at least in part - in part of Greek =
> speakers=20
> who did not know Aramaic, and lived in an area where Latin had =
> influenced Greek=20
> vocabulary; they needed at least some Jewish customs to be explained to =
> them=20
> <EM>(NT Intro</EM>, 163).&nbsp; If all of this fits with the area around =
> 
> Caesarea Philippi, then maybe..</DIV>
> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
> <DIV>BTW, have you documentation for placing Bethsaida "east of the=20
> Jordan"?&nbsp; Its ruins as now located are surely well to the west of =
> where=20
> river meets lake.</DIV>
> <DIV>_________________________________<BR>(Patrick Rogers,&nbsp; Mount=20
> Argus,&nbsp;&nbsp; Dublin 6W)</DIV>
> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
> <DIV>"Once you begin to lose your memory, just forget=20
> it!"<BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>
> 
> ------=_NextPart_000_002B_01BF82FC.E1E03540--
> 
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> 
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