Kata Markon

[Khbonnell AT aol.com]

"Mark:  The Backstory," Part 2 -- There will be a Part 3 due to the inability of AOL e-mail to carry more than a cettain amount ot text.

V.  The Aftermath

    When there have been conquests of one people by another and the religion of the conquerors is imposed on the land, the gods of the conquered often become demons in the dominant religion.  This has been the pattern in other Near Eastern situations, as well as the one under discussion here.  A contributing factor in their demonic anonymity is the command in Exodus 23:13: "Take heed of all that I [Yahveh] have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let such be heard our of your mouth."  In the Christian texts they are referred to as "spirits," especially as "unclean spirits," and as "demons."  

1.  Mark 1:23-27 – 23. "And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; 24. And he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth [Nazarene]?  Have you come to destroy us, the Holy One of God..'  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent and come out of him!'  26.  And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying, with a loud voice, came out of him.  27.  And they were all amazed so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What is this,?  A new teaching!  With authority he commands even unclean spirits, and they obey him.'"
    This "unclean spirit" can be identified with Baal Hadad, known for his crying with a loud voice.  Verse 3:22 seems to belong here:  22. " And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem, said, ‘He has Beelzebul and by the prince of the demons he casts out demons.'" "Beelzebul" would have been Baal of Zebul, Zebul being the base for the eponym Zebulun, the Israelite tribe whose allotment is hinted at in Genesis 49:13, "Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea, and a haven for ships, and his border [shall be] at Sidon,"   and in Deuteronomy 33:18-19, ". . . he [Moses] said, ‘Rejoice, Zebulun in you going out; and Issachar, in your tents. They shall call people to the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness; for they shall such of the abundance of the seas and of treasures hid in the sand.'" The tribal allotments of Joshua 13-19 place the actual occupied area between the sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea, seven miles west of the former and ten miles easterly of the latter, south of a line drawn from the north end of the sea of Galilee and extending south about fifteen miles (Reader's Digest Atlas of the Bible, p. 82).  This area is in the province of Galilee in which  much of Jesus' early activities take place and includes the town of Kanah (Cana).  
    The King James Version has "Beelzebub," which is a different deity altogether, "Lord of the Fly."  Hebrew for "fly" is zebub which is used once in the plural in Ecclesiates 10:1.  2 Kings 1 uses "Baalzebub" four times.  Baalzebub was the god of Ekron, a city on the southern coastal plain, one of the five chief cities of the Philistines.  The KJV "beelzebub" is beelzeboul, "beelzebul."
    This action by Jesus is not recognized immediately by those in the synagogue for what it is represented, but they ask if it is a "new teaching," a new doctrine.  Then they say that with authority he commands the unclean spirits, and they obey him.

2.  Mark 1:29-31 – 29.  And without pause he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.  30. Now Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her.  31. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she served them.
    This is still on the Sabbath (1:21), so for her to have served them would have violated the prohibition against work on the Sabbath.  This would have been the wife of a man named Jonas (Matthew 16:17 and John 1:42), the Greek form of the Hebrew Jonah [yod-vav cholem-nu kamets gadol-heh], the subject of the prophetic book of Jonah.  He would have therefore been a Greek speaker; he named one of his sons with the Greek form of the Hebrew Simeon, Simon, and the other with the fully Greek name, Andrew (andrea, "manly").  Although of an Israelite, his wife may not have been, even a Canaanite.  Though to please him she may have observed the Law and rested on the Sabbath (in a "fever" to show she was observant).  Jesus' action here, taking her by the hand and lifting her to her feet, gave her leave to abandon the pose and to assume the Canaanite role of servant to an Israelite.

3.  Mark 1:32-34  – 32. That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.  33.And the whole city was gathered together about the door.  34. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
    Unlike Simon's mother-in-law, the citizens observed the Sabbath.  That the demons knew him is notable.

4.  Mark 2:21-22 – 21. "No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; if he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.  22. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but new wine is for fresh skins."
    This references the actions of the Gibeonites, in preparing to meet Joshua, who "took worn-out sacks upon their asses, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes, and the told Joshua, "These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold they are burst; and these garments and shoes of ours are worn out."  Patched garments and burst wineskins were the Canaanites' means of deception, but no one was using these to deceive in Jesus' day.  These two verses do not fit logically in the text.  They do not answer the previous question about why his disciples do not fast as do John's, even as interpreted by apologists, that Jesus' gospel was "unshrunk patch" or "new wine" that would "tear away from" or not fit "the old wineskins" of Judaism.  If they were meant to answer a question from "the people," that question has disappeared from the text.

5.  Mark 3:1-6 – 1. And he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand.  2. And they watched him to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.  3. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come here."  4. And he said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?"" But they were silent.  5. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hadrness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand," He stretched it out and his hand was restored.  6. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
    This follows on 2:23-28 as a dispute over cures on the Sabbath, which Jesus' response asks his accusers if doing good on the Sabbath is lawful.  But the affliction, the withered hand has another Torah connection, that of Yahveh's bringing the Israelites out from Egyptian bondage "with a stretched out arm" (Exodus 6:6) , "by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm" (Deuteronomy 4:34, 5:15, 11:2, 26:8, 1 Kings 8:42, 2 Chronicles 6:32, Psalm 89:10, 13, 98:1, 136:11-12).  
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6.  Mark 3:11 – 11. "And whenever the unclean spirits beheld him, they fell down before him and cried out, ‘You are the son of the god.'  And he strictly ordered them not to make it known."
    Since "spirits" are supposed to be invisible, their falling down before him does not make sense unless we make it read, "whenever those having unclean spirits . . ."  Since they are remnants of Canaanitism, the god they would recognize Jesus as being the son of would be a Canaanite god.  His request for silence about him is reminiscent of secrets of mystery cults.              

7.    Mark 3:13, 19b-36 – 13.  "And he goes up into the mountain, and calls whom he wanted . . .["and they came to him" – change of tense from "historic presence" to the perfect indicates the listing of the disciples is an insert into the text] 19b.  and they/he come/comes to a building; 20. And  a crowd gathers, so that they are not able so much as to eat bread.  21.  And having heard, those belonging to him went out to lay hold of him, for they said, ‘He is beside himself.'  *22.  And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem, said, ‘He has Beelzebul and by the prince of the demons he casts out demons.'*  23.  And having called them, he said to them in parables, ‘How can an adversary [satan] cast out an adversary [satan]?  24.  And if a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand, 25 and if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  26 And if an adversary rises up against himelf and is divided against himelf, he cannot stand.  27.  No one is able to plunder the goods of a strong man, having entered his house, unless he first binds the strong man.  Then he will plunder his house.'"
    The story here has been broken up and had extraneous material added, so that it seems a jumble of fragments.  Sorting it out can be done.  The reference to not being able to eat bread is to Ezekiel 22:9, in which eating on mountains is listed among unacceptable behaviors.  "High places" were the sites of shrines and altars to the Canaanite gods (Leviticus 26:30, Numbers 21:28, 22:41, 33:52, Deuteronomy 12:2, 1 Samuel 9:12-13, 1 Kings 12:32, 13:2, 13:32-33, 23:5, 8-9, 15, 19, 20, Psalm 78:58, Jeremiah 19:4-5, 32:34-35, Ezeliel 6:1-6, et al.)  Following the example of the Canaanites, the Israelites also used high places for their rites (1 Kings 3:2-4), as did Solomon in his apostascy (1Kings 11:7).  It can be inferred that virtually the top of every hill in Palestine had a shrine or temple dedicated to one Canaanite god or another.
    Verse 21 deserves an explanation: What would make those associated with Jesus conclude that he was "beside himself"?  His having entered a Canaanite temple!  Omitting verse 22, we are given a reason for Jesus' bizzare behavior: He is out to break up the hold that Canaanism has had on errant Israelites, the "lost sheep of the house of Israel."  He is out to plunder from the "house" of "the strong man," i.e., Baal Hadad, whom he must first bind (Driver, 4,28-33, p, 73), those Israeites who have taken to making devotions to him.
            Continuing the text: 3:28 – 28. "Truly, I say to you, all shall be forgiven the sins of the sons of men, and the blasphemies they have uttered; 29.  But whoever should blaspheme against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness into the age but is liable for the age's judgment." 30. Because they said, ‘He has an unclean spirit," 31. then come his brothers and his mother; and standing outside, sent to him, calling him.  32.  A crowd sat around him; and they said to him, ‘Behold, your mother and our brothers outside seek you.'  33.  And he answered them, saying, ‘Who is my mother or my brothers?'  34. And having looked around at those who were sitting around him, he says, ‘Behold my mother and my brothers, for whoever shall do the will of God, he is my brother and my sister and my mother.'"
    In verse 28, he speaks of those he "plundered" from the house of Baal, whose acts of acknowledging that god included what would be considered "blasphemy" by the Jews, with the one reservation.  His mother and brothers do not enter the temple for an obvious reason: They are observant Jews.
    
8.  Mark 4:35-41 – 35. "And he says to them [the twelve, 4:10] on that day, it having become late, ‘Let us pass over to the other side.' [Across from the Galilean shore.]    36.  And having sent the crowd away, they took themselves [to be] with him in the boat since he was already there. *And other small boats were with him.* 37.  And a violent wind story comes, and the waves beat on the boat so that it filled quickly.  38.  And he was at the stern sleeping on a cushion.  And they rouse him and say to him, ‘Teacher, is it no concern of yours that we perish?'  39.  Having been aroused, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Silence!  Be quiet!'  And the wind fell and there was great calm.  40.  And he said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful? How is it that you do not have faith?'  41.  And they felt great fear, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?'"
    Here Jesus assumes the role of Baal Hadad as a storm god.  The cushion serves as the cloud upon which Baal rides. The line about other small boats being with him makes no sense at all.

9.   Mark 5:1-20 – 1.  And they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.  2.  And having left the boat, he was immediately met by a man with an unclean spirit out of the tombs 3.  in which he dwelt,   And not even with chains could anyone bind him, 4. because often he had been bound with fetters and chain, but the chains  had been torn apart by him, and the fetters shattered..  No one was able to subdue him. 5. And continually night and day in the mountains and in the tombs he was crying and cutting himself with stones.  6. And seeing Jesus from afar, he ran and did homage to him, 7.  Crying with a loud vice he said, "What's with me and you, Jesus, son of the most high god?  I abjure you by the god, do not torment me.  8.For he was saying to him, "Come, unclean spirit, out of the man.  9. And he asked him, "What is your name?"  And he answered, "Legion is my name, for we are many."  10.  And he pleaded with him not to send him out of the country.  11.  Now there was on the mountains a great herd of swine feeding; 12. And all the demons plead with him, saying, "Send us into the swine, so that we can enter into them."  13. And Jesus immediately allowed them.  And, having gone out, the unclean spirits went into the swine and the herd rushed down the bank into the sea (now there were about two thousand), and they were drowned in the sea.  14.  Those who fed the swine fled and told about it in the city and the country, and those there went to see what had happened.  15. And they come to Jesus and the one [who had been] possessed by demons sitting and clothed and of sound mind, him who had the legion, and they were afraid.  16.And those that had seen it told how it had happened to him who was possessed by demons and about the swine.  17.  
And they began to ask him to leave their land.  18.  And when he had gotten into the boat, he who had been possessed by demons asked that he might be with him.  19.  But Jesus did not permit him {to do so] but says t o him, "Go to your own house and tell them how much the Lord did and pitied you."  20. And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and all wondered.
    
    This pericope seems to have been muddled by those not seeing the story for what it was, editing it, leaving out some lines.  
           Across from the northwest shore of the sea of Galilee lay the  allotment to the Israelite tribe of Gad, and even though it had fallen to the Greeks under Alexander the Great over three hundred years previously, it still maintained some identity with its earlier occupiers.  The name "Gadarenes" has the "Gad" as its base.  Recall Jacob's "blessing" on this tribe (Genesis 49:19): "Gad, a raiding troop [*gadud*] shall raid him; and he shall press on [their] heel."  A few miles from the shore was the city of Gadara, apparent capital of the region.  The parallel stories in Matthew 8:28 and Luke 8:26 speak of Gerasenes, another town about thirty miles southeast of Gadara.  This must be an error because there is no body of water large enough to be called a sea nor close enough for the pigs to drown in. 
    Several elements tie this to the Canaanite saga of Baal Hadad: His dwelling in tombs reflect the imprisonment in the land of Mot, the god of death.  Compare vs. 3-4 with Hadad, lines 31-33:  "I will fasten tight the chain / on Baal's feet, I will fasten tight the . . . / and the circlet of a pair of fetters [upon him]."  Verse 5 with Baal vi, l 19: "he gashed his cheeks and his chin . . . " which is repeated as an act of Anat, Baal I Of Baal l 3, "she gashed her cheeks and chin . . ."  Also re verse 5: Anat "went to and fro and scoured every rock to the heart of the earth (and) every mountain" (Baal iv, l. 26-27) and "I did scour . . . every mountain . . ." (III, ii, ls. 15-16)
    The "spirit" gave its name as legeon/legion "Legion" (5:9).  This is a Latin word, derived from legere, "to gather," and used by Greek writers after Roman conquest. It is equivalent of gadud, Hebrew for "troop," as in Genesis 49:19.   The request, recognizing Jesus' authority over him, not to send him out of the country seems strange Why the demon would fear that has no basis unless he "belonged" elsewhere.
    The theme of this myth has parallels in those of Greece and Rome.  In Greek mythology, Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, was abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld and death.  Demeter, in grief fo her daughter, searched over the earth "crying over the mountains") trying to find her, and in the meantime withheld her gifts of fertility over the earth, until Zeus commanded Hades to release Persephone, which he would do if she hadn't eaten anything.  But she had eaten a few pomegranate seeds, so she was compelled to spend part of the year as Hades' wife.  The Romans called her Proserpina but changed the myth very little.

Mark 6:30-44 – The feeding o the five thousand and its prologue is a midrash on the nourishment of the twelve tribes of Israel on the five books of Moses.  This is later to be contrasted with the didrash on the feeding of the Canaanites with the their seven god pantheon.

10.  Mark 6:45. – And immediately he made his disciples to get into the boat and go before to the other side to Bethsaida while he would dismiss the crowd.  46.  And having taken his leave of them, he went off up the mountain to pray.  47.  And it became late, and the boat was in the midst of the sea, and he was alone on the land.  48.  He saw them laboring in the rowing, for the wind was against them; and about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea, and would have passed by them.  49.  But they saw him walking on the sea, and thought it was an apparition and cried out, 50. For all saw him and were troubled.  And immediately he spoke with them, and says to them, "Be of good courage.  It is I.  Fear not.  51.  And he went up to them into the boat, and the wind fell.  And they were amazed beyond measure and wondered,  52.  For they understood not about the loaves, for their hearts were hardened.

    The walking on the sea reflects Baal Hadad's victory over Yam, the god of the sea.  This has been represented in bas reliefs showing Hadad striding over waves of the ocean.
    The connection between the multiplication of the loaves (Mark 6:30-44) and Jesus' walking on the sea is not obvious, although the writer of Mark intended it to be understood.  Just why not understanding about the loaves would keep the disciples from being amazed about Jesus walking on the sea is a puzzle.

11.   Mark 7:24-30 – 24.  And thence having risen, he went away into the area of Tyre and Sidon, and having entered the building, he wanted no one to know of it.  But he could not be hid.  25.  For having heard of him a woman, who had a daughter with an unclean spirit, came and fell at his feet.  26.  Now she was a Greek, Syrophenician by origin, and she asked him that he should cast the demon out of her daughter.  27.  But Jesus said to her, " Let the children first be fed, for it is not proper to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs."  28.  And she answered and said to him, "Yes, Lord, for even the little dogs under the table eat of the crumbs of the children."  29.  And he said to her, "Because of what you say, depart; for the demon has gone from you daughter."  30.  And having gone back to her house, she found the demon was gone, and the daughter lying on the bed.                                                                                                                 
    This pericope may be modeled on the story of Elijah, told in I Kings 17:8-24, with an illusion to the fate of Jezebel (I Kings 16:30-31,  – ).  Elijah is told to go to Zarephath, which was in the jurisdiction of Sidon, and between it and Tyre.  This is probably the site implied by the writer of Mark.  His description of the woman as being "Syrophoenician" is a bit odd.  That Zarephath was in the area of Phoenicia (Obadiah 20) could have been the intent, but "Syria" is east of the Jordan.  Since the writer of Matthew, in his reframing of the story (15:21-28), makes the woman a Canaanite, definitely not a "Greek," it may be questioned as to what he found in his text of Mark at this point.  He often condenses Mark, but does not change the meaning.  It can be inferred that his text read something like, "of Zareptath in Greek Phoenicia."  Both Syria and Phoenicia were part of Alexander's empire that fell to Seleucus, one of Alexander the Great's generals, and  they were under that dynasty until 64 BCE.. So it is possible that a person could be of that double identificaton.
    The story progresses with Jesus telling the woman, "Let the children first be fed, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."  Matthew's writer saw a need to justify this reference to "the children [of Israel]" by preceding it with, "I [Jesus] was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."  She replies, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."  Matthew's writer rephrases this to reflect the status of Canaan vis-a-vis Israel: "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs east the crumbs that fall from the master's table."  This recognition of the her subservience, a show of "faith," lifts the burden of devotion to the Canaanite gods she has imposed on her daughter.  The story behind this pericope emerges: The woman is a "god-fearer," who attends the local synagogue, while making her daughter conform with local Canaanite practice.  She comes to see that it is all right for her daughter to be open to the word of "God."

12.  Mark 8:1-10, 13-21 – 1. [In the Gentile area of Decapolis (7:31)]  In those days a the crowd being very large and not having anything that they might eat, he called his disciples to him, and says to them, 2. "I am moved with compassion on the crowd because they have kept with me for three days and have not had anything they may eat. 3.  And if I send them away fasting, they will faint along the way, for some of them have come from far away." 4. And his disciples answered him,,"From where could anyone be able to satisfy these with bread in a desert?"  5.  And he asked them, "How many loaves have you; and they said, "Seven.."  6.  And he ordered the crowd to lie on the ground, and having taken the seven loaves, giving thanks he broke and gave to his disciples that they might set it before them.  And they set it before the crowd.  7.  And they had a few fish; and, having blessed, he desired to set thee before them also.  8.  And they ate and were satisfied.  And they took up more than seven baskets of fragments.  9.  And those that had eaten were about four thousand, and he sent them away.  10.  And without pause, he got into a boat with his disciples . . . [Omit Pharisees in Dalmanutha, which would be in Jewish territory, location not determined.] 13.  And he left them and got into a ship to depart again to the other side.  14.  Now they [the disciples] had forgotten to take bread, and, except for one loaf, they did not have any with them in the boat.  15.  And he charged them, saying, "See, take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  16.  And they reasoned with one another, saying, "Because we do not have loaves."  17.  And Jesus knowingly says to them, "Why do you reason because you have no loaves?  Do you not perceive or understand?  Have you hardened your hearts?  18.  Having eyes,  do not you see, and having ears do you  not hear?  And don't you remember?  19.  When I broke the five loaves into five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  They say to him, "Twelve." 20.  "And when the seven into the four thousand, how many baskets filled with the fragments you took up?"   And they said, "Seven." 21.  And he said to them, "Why do you not understand?"                                                                                               
    Who was being fed is the message of the two feedings of the crowds.  The answer is in the numbers, as Jesus tells his disciples.  The first group of five thousand is in the Jewish areas is fed with five loaves, which is stand for the Five Books of Moses, the Torah.  The result is the twelve baskets of fragments, the Twelve Tribes of Israel.  The second group of four thousand is in the Gentile area of the Decapolis.  They are fed with the seven chief gods of the Canaanites.  The result is the seven baskets representing those same seven gods. These would be the seven unclean spirits driven from Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9 and Luke 8:2).  The warning about the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod does not make sense unless there is a tie involving unlikely recognition of the repressed religion.

13.  Mark 9:14-29 – 14.  When they [Jesus, Peter, James, and John] came to the [other] disciples they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes in discussion with them.  15. And seeing him all the crowd immediate were greatly amazed and, running to him, saluted him.  16.  And he asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  17.  And one of the crowd answering said, "Teacher, I brought to you my son who has a dumb [shouting] spirit; 18.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and gnashes his teeth, and he is withering away.  And I spoke to your disciples that they may cast it out, but they had no power [to do it]."  19.  But he answered him says, "O unbelieving people!  Until when shall I be with yo?  Until when shall I bear with you?  Bring him to me."  20.  And they brought him to him.  And seeing him the spirit immediately threw him into convulsions and threw him down on the ground; he roalled and foamed.  21.  And he asked his father, "How long a time has it been that this has been with him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  22.   And often it cast him into the fire and into water, trying to destroy him.  But if you can do anything to help us, have pity on us."  23.  And Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  24.  And immediately crying out with tears, the father of the child said, "I believe, Lord, I believe; help me with my unbelief."  25.  But seeing the crowd gathering, Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Dumb [shouting] spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again."  26.  And having cried out, and many convulsions, it came out, leaving him as if dead., so that may said he was dead.  27.  But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him up, and he arose.
    28.  And when he entered into a house, his disciples asked him apart, "Why were we not able to cast it out?"  29.  And he said to them, "This kind cannot go out except by prayer and fasting."

    The most incomprehensible part of this story is the closing line.  The only action by Jesus that could be called a "prayer" is his demand that the spirit come out of the boy.  There was certainly no fasting.  Certain manuscript threads do not have "and fasting," probably because copyists found no evidence of it in the story itself.
         
14.  Mark 11:12-24 – 12.   And in the morning as they left Bethany, he was hungry. 13.  Seeing a fig-tree in the distance, having leaves, he went to it in hope of finding something on it.  And when he got to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14..  And in response, Jesus said to it, "No more will anyone eat of your fruit."  And his disciples heard it.  
    15.  And they came to Jerusalem; and having entered the temple Jesus began to drive out those selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves, 16. and he would not let anyone carry a vessel through the temple. 17.  And he taught, saying to them, "Has it not been written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations?  But you have made it a den of robbers.'" 18.  The scribes and the chief priests heard it, and they sought how they could destroy him; for they feared him because all the crowd was moved by his teaching.   19.  And when evening came he went out of the city.
    20.  And in the morning, passing by, they saw the fig-tree dried up from the roots.  21.  And having remembered, Peter says to hm, "Rabbi , see the fig-tree that you cursed is dried up."  22.  And Jesus, answering, says to them, "Have faith in God.  23.  For truly I say to you, that whoever shall say to this mountain ‘Be taken away and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says takes place, there shall b be to him whatever he shall say.  24.For this reason I say to you, all things that you ask praying, believe that your receive, and it shall be to you."

    The fig-tree represents the Canaanites who still dwell amongst Israel (Ps 105:33. 1 K 4:25, 2 K 18:31, Isa 36:16, Jer 5:17, Ho 2:12, Joel 1:72:22, Amos 4:9, Mic 4:4, Hag 2:19, Zech 3:10), just as the vine represents Israel, and includes the descendants of the Canaanites of Gibeon who were  the temple servants.  Jesus' actions in the temple were against the temple servants,  those who bought and sold, the money changers and those who sold doves, and those who carried pots of water and boxes of firewood through out the temple. The last action would have required Jesus' presence for hours.  The citation (11:17) is from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11, both of    which have contexts involving the temple.  In the figure of the fig-tree, the drying up showed that the presence of the Canaanites was countered.  Jesus refers to "this mountain" by which he indicates the temple mount and the Canaanite presence on it.

15.  Mark 14:3-10 – 3. And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the jar and poured it over his head.  4. But there were some who said to themselves indignantly, "Why was this ointment thus wasted?  5. For this ointment might have been sold for ore than three hundred denarii, and given to the poor."  And they reproached her.  6. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you trouble here?  She has done a beautiful thing to me.  7. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will not always have me.  8. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burying.  9. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her."
    10.  Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to deliver him up to them."
    Since this scene precedes Judas' going to the chief priests, there must be something in it that motivates Judas to act.  The attribution of the question in verse 4-5 to Judas in John 12:4-5 may be appropriate, but it is the anointing that is important in Jesus' elaboration.  Anointing of a sacrificial animal has been essential in many cultures, as well as bestowing a kiss upon it.