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gmark - Re: Judas and Jesus

gmark AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Kata Markon

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Ted Weeden" <weedent AT atw.earthreach.com>
  • To: "Kata Markon" <gmark AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Judas and Jesus
  • Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 09:53:59 -0600

Joe Alward wrote on February 26:
On another matter, Ted wrote, "It cannot be accidental either that Mark chose
a betrayal kiss as the sign Judas gave the arresting party to identify
Jesus."  He notes that Funk/Jesus Seminar states that Absalom "launched his
revolt by exchanging a kiss with David (2 Sam 14:33)."

However, that's not exactly what happened at 14:33: "Then the king summoned
Absalom, and he came in and bowed down with his face to the ground before the
king. And the king kissed Absalom." There was no "exchanging a kiss."  It was
the one to be betrayed--David--who did the kissing, not the other way around.

Ted also notes that "Absalom, who engineered the conspiracy against his
father David, 'stole the hearts of the men of Israel' from his father (15:6),
by this cunning practice:  'whenever a man came near him to do obeisance to
him, he would put out his hand, and take hold of him and kiss him.' (15:5).
It is clear to me that Mark's idea to have Jesus betrayed by a kiss came from
Absalom's betrayal kisses."  

But, I can't agree there, either.  The correspondence Mark would have been
looking for is not there in Absalom's kisses.  He never kissed his father,
whom he betrayed, and the men he embraced and kissed certainly weren't
betrayed.  Absalom kissed people to get them to like him, not so he could
hurt them.

Thus, there is no record of Absalom kissing a person who's then betrayed by
him.  Furthermore, the model for Mark's Judas is Ahihophel, David's
counselor. A better model for Judas' betrayal kiss would by Joab, who
embraced Amasa, kissed him, then stabbed him in the belly.
 
 



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