Kata Markon

["Jeffrey B. Gibson" <jgibson000 AT home.com>]

JFAlward AT aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 3/17/01 12:30:26 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> sblack AT axionet.com writes:
>
>  Perhaps the sword wielding follower in 14:47 is meant to be held
>  together in comparison with the fleeing naked young man of 14:51.
>
> ==============
> I think that without some controls, speculation will run rampant and nothing
> of consequence will be accomplished.  Mark made extensive use of the Old
> Testament in creating his stories about Jesus, as has been demonstrated
> repeatedly on this list.  I suggest that before we start guessing about why
> Mark had the servant's ear cut off, we should first thoroughly search the 
> Old
> Testament for the allusion Mark might have been intending.  In this case,
> Mark appears to be using Ezekiel:
>
> "I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in
> fury. They will cut off your noses and your ears.." (Ezekiel 23:25)

Several  questions. First, on what grounds do you assume, as you seem to do,
that anything and everything in GMark has an OT background? Second, is there 
any
indication that Mark is at all inclined to use Ezekiel? Third, is there any
indication that Matthew or Luke understood the Markan text to be based in, or 
an
allusion to, Ezekiel? Fourth,  are you aware of just how much your guiding 
thesis
smacks of the work of Rendle Harris and his assertions on Testimonia. Fifth, 
are
you aquatinted with C.H. Dodd's and Barnabas Lindars' work in which Harris'
thesis was shown to be less than compelling?

Then, of course, there's the gnawing little fact that Mark does not mention
noses, let alone "ears" and that the ears and noses cut off in Ezekiel belong 
to
Jerusalem and Samaria  and are snipped off by a coterie of Gentile nations who
are hardly acting to defend themselves or what they hold dear.  But for the 
sake
of argument, let's assume that Mk. 14:47 is an allusion to Ezekiel 23:25. 
Where
does that get us? How does that help us to understand what's going on in the
story of which the allusion is reputedly a part?

Yours,

Jeffrey Gibson


--
Jeffrey B. Gibson, D.Phil. (Oxon.)
7423 N. Sheridan Road #2A
Chicago, Illinois 60626
e-mail jgibson000 AT home.com