Kata Markon

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

Marc Axelrod wrote:

> I wasn't aware that I had conveyed any information concerning the genre of
> Mark. Whether or not one sees Mark as haggadic literature doesn't preclude
> an attempt at the exegesis of the relevant texts under discussion. But now
> that you bring it up, I find it interesting and provocative. What parallels
> do you see in Mark's gospel with the haggadic literature of the day?

Marc,

a) Given the hypothesis that Mark was indeed the 'John Mark' of the Second
Testament which Papias implied,
he must have been a Judean (ioudaios), born and raised in Jerusalem. [For a
better historical approach to the Gospels, I am using a literal translation of
the Greek word 'ioudaios' to indicate a First Century Jew.]
b) If he were a Judean he celebrated Pesach in the night of Nisan 15. A
Christian Judean [for want of a better term]
no doubt commemorated the cruel death of his Master on a Cross during Pesach.
Appropriate passages must have
been read during the passover season including the "First day" of Shabuoth
(Pentecost) of the so called priestly calendar,
that is Easter Sunday.
c) The haggadic approach to the Gospels is relatively new. But studies of the
Gospels in the framework of the Judean
festive season have been published, for instance P. Carrington, A. Jaubert,  
J.
van Goudoever, M.D. Goulder.
J. Bowman was the first one I believe to define the genre of Mark as a "New
Christian Jewish Passover Haggadah".
Interesting and enlightening are the observations of the Jewish scholar D. 
Daube
on the subject of the 'Seder' in Mark 12.
Cordially,  Karel