Gospel o Mark

The Gospel o Mark is the seicont beuk in The New Testament an is jaloused bi mony scholars tae be the auldest o The Gospels.

(Aw Biblical quotes in this airticle haes been taen frae W.L Lorimer's translate.)

Componin

Scriever

Tho the Gospel is anonymous it haes been associate wi a chiel cried Mark syne the seicont century. Juist wha this Mark wis haes been a soorce o muckle debate amang scholars for a gey lang while - some scholars haes sugeestit that he coud be the John Mark o Jerusalem that kythes in Acts an vaiges wi Paul an Barnabus the lenth o Perga, tho ithers says there's nae raison tae jalouse that he maun be a chiel frae The New Testament syne Mark (an variations o it sic as Marcus) wis gey ordinar in the Greco-Roman warld at thon time. Forby, shots haes been haed at identifeein Mark wi a callant that kythes in the Gospel itsel, at the time o Jesus' reestin:

Syne the hail o his disciples forhoued him an scoured awà. The' war ae callan, tho, at ey huid efter Jesus. He wis cled in nocht but a linnen hap, an they claucht hauds o him. But he wan lowse o their grips, an awà he ran scuddie-bare, laein his hap i their haunds. (Mark 14:51-52)

This, houmsome'er is conjectur, juist, an maist scholars daesna gree that the callant abuin an the scriever is the ae body.

Influence o Peter

Mark haes lang been associate wi Saunt Peter, an mony early Kirk scholars jaloused he haed a pairt in its componin. In his History o the Kirk, Eusebius attreebutes the follaein tae Papais, a Kirk Faither o the early seicont century:

Mark, haein become the interpreter o Peter, scrieved doun accurate aw that he minded - tho no raicordin in reddin whit wes said an duin bi Christ. Fer neither did he hear the Laird, nor did he follou Him; bot efter, as I said, [attended] Peter, wha adaptit his commaunds tae the needs [o his hearers] bot haed nae ettle tae gie a redded upcast o the Laird's oracles. Sae than Mark didnae mak a mistak whan he syne scrieved doun sum things as he minded thaim; fer he made it his ettle no tae miss out oniething that he heard , or tae set doun onie fauss statement. (History o the Kirk: III, 39)

He later gangs on tae scrieve:

Efter they [the apostles ] wes deid Mark, the disciple an interpreter o Peter - he set furth tae us in scrievin thae things whilk Peter haed taucht ... (History o the Kirk: V, 8)

The feck o scholars taks the first survivin lines o the Muratorian Fragment (? c. 170) tae refer tae Mark:

...bot at sum he [? Mark] wes tae haund, an sae he set them doun. (Fragmentum Muratorianum)

Maist scholars hauds that thir lines refers tae Mark bein "tae haund" whan Peter wis teachin.

The lang associe o the Gospel wi Peter leads mony scholars tae jalouse that Mark wus at the very least makkin uiss o some soorces that gaes back sae faur as Petrine tradeetions - i.e tradeetions anent the life an darg o Jesus that cam til the Kirk throu Peter or his follaers. Certaint in pairts o Mark Peter is ane o the few that wad hae kent whit we happenin (as ane o three witnesses tae the Transfeeguration in chaipter nine, for exemplar).

Date an steid o componin

Maist scholars hauds that The Gospel o Mark is the auldest o the fower Gospels, an that the scrievers o baith Matthew an Luke teuk muckle o their material frae it.

Tho minorities argie fer baith earlier an later dates, the feck pits the componin o Mark at atween the late 60s an the early 70s AD. Maist jalouse it isna likely tae be later gin, as is aften hauden, aither Matthew or Luke wis scrieved aboot 80; that gie it a date efter aboot 75.

Some scholars threaps that the auldest fragment o the Gospel comes frae some time afore 68, tho the fragment that they pynt tae (kent as 7Q5) is anerly the size o a postage staump, an canna be positively identifee'd as bein frae Mark.

As for the steid o componin, it can be said for certaint that Mark's oreeginal readers wis frae the Hellenic warld (see the wey that he explains it in Jewish customs an Aramaic phrases), an maist scholars (baith auncient an modren) grees that he set futh his wark somewhaur in Italy, aiblins in Rome itsel. Mark maks twa-three mistaks in his descreeptions o the geography o Palestine, sugeestin that he himsel wisna fameeliar wi it, tho he wis awmaist certaint o Jewish extraction, he wis aiblins no a native o Palestine.

Mark's soorces

Tho is haes lang been thocht that Peter wis in some wey inrowed in the componin o the Gospel, the idea that he wis personally inrowed in helpin Mark isna hauden tae bi mony scholars the day. Mark wad hae haed access tae oral tradeetions in the kirk that relatit tae Jesus. Maist o thaim wad hae circulate independent o contex, an wis redd intil their contexs bi Mark tae suit theological pynts that he wis makkin (pittin an accoont o Jesus healin a blind man efter a section anent the speeritual blindness o the disciples, for exemplar).
The quaisten o hou faur back thir oral tradeetions gaes is aye a maiter o debate amang scholars, an is aften based on linguistic grunds, as weel as tryin tae wirk oot whit, gin ony, effect later kirk theology haed on the development (phaseological an theological) o thir tradeetions afore Mark eeditit thaim an pit thaim in their current contexs. It shoud be merkit that, tho Mark haes uised eeditorial skeel in placin an introducin the pieces o tradeetion, he aften seems tae be haundin on the aulder tradeetions athoot modifeein their content ower muckle.

Style

Mark's Greek is semple, but fluent. It haes mony Semitisms (that indicates Mark micht hae been a Jew) an aften explains Jewish customs an Aramaic wirds (indicatin a Gentile readership). He uises the phrase "an syne" gey aften , that aften gies his wark a quick, awmaist braithless atmosphere. The focus o Mark is aften tae be revealed in the actions an no the teachins o Jesus. Tho some sections o teachin is recordit, Mark's conception o Jesus is for ordinar seen throu wunners an the like.

Soorces

The New Testament in Scots - pitten ower intae Scots bi W.L. Lorimer
Saint Mark (commentary) - D.E. Nineham
The History of the Church - Eusebius
Selections from Early Christian Writers - ed. H.M. Gwatkin

See an aa

Fremmit airtins

Bible Gateway 35 languages/50 versions at GospelCom.net
Unbound Bible 100+ languages/versions at Biola Varsity
Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897 Archived 2007-10-22 at the Wayback Machine: mainstream Protestant scholarskip o the 19t yearhunner summed up for the average reader.
Michael A. Turton's Historical Commentary on the Gospel of Mark A detailed commentary on The Gospel o Mark.