Kata Markon

[Michael Turton <turtonm AT yahoo.com>]

> > I think that the tearing of the temple vale is a
> literary reference to
> > Mark 14:62-64.  The priest tore his robes (from
> top to bottom) and said
> > "blasphemy" at the wrong time.  And in Mark 15:38
> God tore his robe(from
> > top to bottom), which suggest that God was saying
> , "blasphemy" at the
> > right time.


Additionally, Mark 14:62-4 may well be midrashic
construction off of 2 Kings 11 (the writer of Mark
used 2 Kings that as a source for much of the Gospel).
 The entire scene runs...

 12 Jehoiada brought out the king's son and put the
crown on him; he presented him with a copy of the
covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him,
and the people clapped their hands and shouted, "Long
live the king!" 13 When Athaliah heard the noise made
by the guards and the people, she went to the people
at the temple of the LORD . 14 She looked and there
was the king, standing by the pillar, as the custom
was. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the
king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing
and blowing trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her robes and
called out, "Treason! Treason!" 15 Jehoiada the priest
ordered the commanders of units of a hundred, who were
in charge of the troops: "Bring her out between the
ranks and put to the sword anyone who follows her."
For the priest had said, "She must not be put to death
in the temple of the LORD ." 16 So they seized her as
she reached the place where the horses enter the
palace grounds, and there she was put to death. (NIV) 

Essentially, just as in this case, the true king is
recognized (perhaps in the Temple, in Mark, perhaps
not) by his enemies and then the recognizer tears his
robes and shouts, in one case Treason!, in the other
blasphemy!. It may be a generic parallel, but I
thought I'd point it out as a possible source.

2 kings 18-19 also offers a sequence of uttered
blasphemy resulting in torn robes. 

Michael Turton

Michael Turton
AFL Dept 
Chaoyang University
Taiwan Blog
http://michaelturton.blogspot.com/ 
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Historical Commentary on the Gospel of Mark
http://users2.ev1.net/~turton/GMark/GMark_index.html
"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words 
and actions of bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people." 
-- MLK


                
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