Kata Markon

[JFAlward AT aol.com]

Dennis MacDonald:

<< Joe, I think it exceptional that the reference to the clothing of Jesus 
 gleaming like no earthly bleacher could produce (viz. a divine bleacher) in 
 the context of a transfiguration both in the Odyssey and Mark can be no 
 accident, especially in light of Jesus' command that the disciples not tell 
 anyone what they had seen, like Odysseus to Telemachus. None of the 
 examples you cite mentions a heavenly bleacher or a command to silence.
 By the way, it's good to hear from you again. >>
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Joe Alward:

It's nice to hear from you again, too, Dennis.

In a recent post in response to Neil Godfrey, I commented further on the 
"dazzling white" clothes Mark put on Jesus, so I will not repeat here the 
points I made there.  I would like, however, to pursue the messianic secret 
motif.

As partial support for your argument that Mark used not only the Old 
Testament, but also Homer, in his telling of the story of Jesus' 
transfiguration, you offer the command for secrecy made by both Odysseus and 
Jesus.  I do not find this at all extraordinary, given the many other times 
that Jesus called for silence or secrecy.  If Mark had had Jesus ask for 
secrecy only once--at the transfiguration, you might have a stronger case for 
mimesis.  However, Mark has Jesus request silence or secrecy at least seven 
times, including at the transfiguration at Mark 9:9.  These are found at 
1:34, 1:44, 3:12, 5:43, 7:36, 8:30, and 9:9.  Are we to believe that the 
request for secrecy in Mark 9:9 is more likely to have come from Homer than 
it is to have been merely a continuation of Mark's messianic secret theme?