Gospel of Mark Chapter 14

Historical Commentary on the Gospel of Mark

Chapter 14

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Mark 14:1-11

1: It was now two days before the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth, and kill him; 2: for they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be a tumult of the people." 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 flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4: But there were some who said to themselves indignantly, "Why was the ointment thus wasted? 5: For this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and given to the poor." And they reproached her.

6: But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you trouble her? 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 betray him to them. 11: And when they heard it they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

NOTES

v1-2: are Markan redaction, v2 harking back to earlier comments about Jesus' popularity being the reason that the Pharisees refrain from taking action (12:12).

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 flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.

v3: the location is in the probably fictional town of Bethany. Gundry (1993, p812) notes that flasks were often broken over the dead and left shattered in coffins.

v3: in the OT kings were annointed by prophets who were male. The writer reverses that convention to great effect here (Myers 1988, p359).

v3: The annointing with costly oil recalls the annointing of Aaron the high priest, whom the writer of Mark has recalled on other occasions in the Gospel. Psalm 133:2 describes it thus:

It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, upon the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!

v3: Sawicki (1992) writes:

Mark's text says that the woman "poured" the sweet ointment on Jesus's head (katecheen autou tes kephales). It does not use the expected verb, myrizo, to indicate that she rubbed, daubed, or slathered him with it. (This verb will be used later in Jesus's interpretation of the pouring as anointing: myrisai in v 8.) Yet in fact there was a custom among the Greeks according to which a woman threw something sweet over someone else's head. Mark's text alludes to that custom with the verb katacheo. Katachysmata, (literally "things dropped") means dessert food, sweet spicy treats, goodies. But the term also signifies the domestic ritual through which the senior wife would welcome a newcomer to her household.

Sawicki also observes that a compilation of later Jewish writings, the Mishnah, knows it is customary for women to wear perfume bottles containing nard, for it contains rules regarding them. .

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.

v7-8: contain a prediction of Jesus' own death. It is not necessarily supernatural, in that it contains no detailed features that would require supernatural knowledge. However, this prediction is made in response to an event most probably created off the Elijah-Elisha cycle, the annointing of Jesus.

v7: Donahue and Harrington (2002) state "In its more familiar translation, 'the poor you will always have with you,' this is one of the most misinterpreted verses in the NT" (p.387). According to their interpretation, the verse refers back to the instructions on how to treat the poor in Deut:15:1-11:

Deut15:11
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. (NIV)

Jesus' comments make more sense seen as a reference to this command to be good to the poor.

8: She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burying.

v8: Sawicki (1992) notes;

"Mark means to say that something good was done with Jesus, and at the same time by means of Jesus. Later Mark has: ho eschen epoi~sen (v 8), literally "that which was happening, she made/produced/did." The gist is not that "she did what she could"; but rather: "she made sense out of the situation." The verb poie~ describes creative, inventive work of any kind. It recalls the work of playwrights (poietai) or that of confectioners (hai demiourgoi, who at a banquet scene like Mark's are lurking just out of sight). The creation that becomes the nucleus of the gospel message is "her memory," mnemosynon autes, the memory of Jesus that is attributable to her because she designed it. Mark says that what she has created (ho epoiesen aute) will be discussed wherever the gospel is announced. This women's poietic production is no less than the identification of Jesus as Christ in terms of his death."

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."

v9: Crossan (1991, p416) has noted that one could make a much better case for the woman here being the author of Mark, than for the young man in 14:51-2. Her confession of Jesus' identity opens a frame that closes with the centurion's confession in 15:39. Though her memory will last forever, her name is never given. Markan irony again? Wills (1997, p117) points out that she is an ironic counterpart to the disciples, who do not understand (as usual). It should be added that the irony is increased because we know the disciples' names, while hers is not recorded.

10: Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11: And when they heard it they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

v10-11: "Judas." Judas occurs but three times in the Gospel of Mark, in once in Mark 3 and twice in Mark 14. Some exegetes, such as Helms, see this as a creation from Zech 11, but while Matthew's Judas is clearly partly related to that passage, the link is more tenuous in Mark. Mark's account is quite simple; note that Judas is not possessed by the devil, nor does he actually ask for money. Nor are we informed how Judas knew the chief priests were seeking to do away with Jesus quietly.

Mark scholar Ted Weeden (2001) summarizes the reasons why Judas' betrayal should be considered fiction in a short essay posted to the discussion group Kata Markon.

(1) Paul, whose letters predate the Gospel of Mark in most dating schemes, does not appear to have known of Judas' betrayal. 1 Cor 11:23, where Paul is often held to have said Jesus was "betrayed" in reality says only that he was "handed over or delivered up" (parededideto). The passage is often translated with the Gospels in mind. Weeden points out that it is strange that if a trusted disciple in the inner circle did betray Jesus, Paul does not use that information to attack the "false/super apostles" in 2 Cor. 10-13, particularly in 2 Cor. 11:13-15 (13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.(NIV)). Note how perfectly Judas would serve as an example here. Further, when Paul discusses the the resurrection appearances to various early Christian leaders in 1 Cor. 15, Paul cites "Peter and then to the Twelve"--- not "Peter and then to the eleven." Weeden argues that Paul's citation, which must date before the 50's, suggests that the Twelve are a coherent and faithful body of original disciples whose original integrity is in tact. Weeden sees the election held for Judas' replacement in Acts to be a fiction, invented to counter the invention of the story that an insider betrayed Jesus into the hands of his enemies. Note that while almost all exegetes believe that the famous passage in 1 Cor 15 where Jesus appears to the apostles is in fact genuine, some have argued that it is an interpolation and thus, this piece of evidence for Weeden's argument would fail. In fact, in addition to the arguments of Price, the fact that the passage contains a reference to the Twelve, the only one in the entire Pauline corpus, when it should say 11. Recognizing this as an "error," numerous ancient manuscripts have been corrected by scribes from "12" to "11."

(2) Other ancient Christian traditions that many scholars believe to be early, such as the Q traditions and the Gospel of Thomas, also do not appear to know the Judas story. Further, as Weeden observes, there is one Q saying, incorporated into Matthew, (19:28): where Jesus says "when the Son of the human shall sit on his throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." It is difficult to imagine how Jesus could be believed to have said that if the developers of this tradition had known of a betrayal by Judas. In Luke 22:21 Jesus sits down with the apostles and tells them that they will also sit on the twelve thrones judging the tribes of Israel.

(3) In addition to the lack of evidence from early Christian literature, the literary background of Mark is also a strike against Judas. The Gethsemane scene, as Weeden and many other scholars have noted, is built out of 2 Sam 15-17 and 2 Sam 20:4-10. In that sequence David is betrayed by his right-hand man, Ahithophel. Weeden argues that Mark modeled Judas after Ahithophel. In addition to the connections to the David epic, Weeden summarizes Shelby Spong's arguments for OT creation:

"....Among the interesting parallels between the two biblical stories Spong notes are the following (267): (1) Joseph was handed over "by a group of twelve who later became known as the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel," (2) in "both stories [the story of Joseph and the story of Jesus] the handing over or betrayal was into the hands of gentiles,' (3) in "both stories money was given to the traitors- twenty pieces of silver for Joseph, thirty pieces of silver for Jesus," and (4) "one of the twelve brothers of Joseph who urged the others to seek money for their act of betrayal was named Judah or Judas (Gen. 3726-27)."

Weeden, following Spong, also points to the traditional hostility between northern and southern Palestine, writing:

"Mark's choice of IOUDAS as the name of Jesus' betrayer was carefully designed, in my view, to symbolize the southern kingdom of Judah (IOUDAS) and its successor the province of Judea in Mark's day."

One does not have to buy into Weeden's argument on the location of the community of the Gospel of Mark in order to see the force of his comments.

v10-11: Weeden's analysis of the name IOUDAS raises another issue, the Markan polemic against the Jews. All of the canonical Gospel writers engage in polemics against the Jews to varying degrees. Although the majority of scholars hold that the Markan polemic against the Jews is not as strong as that of John or Matthew, certain evidence indicates that may not be the case. Here we see Judas in some way representing Judaism, surely a strong polemic against the Jews. In the sequence that the writer builds out of the Elijah-Elisha Cycle in Mark 12 and 13, the Jewish authorities are paralleled by the Priests of Ba'al. That is a powerful polemic, which may indicate a date when Jews and Christians had greater mutual animosity, well after 75. Against this, the writer may simply be heightening his portrayal of the evil of the Jewish ruling classes.

Jesus in Mark, while portrayed as superior to other Jewish teachers, still remains within established Jewish tradition. The Markan Jesus may have been critical of the Temple authorities, but no more so than other Jewish groups of the first century. The writer often portrays Jews in a positive light. For example, Jesus instructs his disciples not to interfere with an exorcist working in Jesus' name. Joseph of Arimathea, in the heart of Jesus' enemies on the Council, is portrayed as a righteous man looking for the Kingdom of God, who buries Jesus' body as Jewish law and custom demand. Jesus instructs the rich man to keep the Torah commandments and love God (Donahue and Harrington 2002, p36-7). Like so much else about the Gospel of Mark, the depiction of Jews in Mark resists a simple solution.

v10-11: Tom Shepard (1995) points out that in contrast to Judas, for whom Jesus is worth little, not even a fixed sum of cash, the woman annoints Jesus with a valuable and costly ointment, clearly showing how highly she values Jesus.

Historical Commentary

Once again, the Elijah-Elisha Cycle is the basis for the plot of the Gospel of Mark:

Mark 14:1-10	2 Kings 9:1-13
Jesus is in a house	Jehu is in a house
Jesus is annointed by the woman of Bethany	Jehu is annointed King over Israel
Some present rebuke old woman	Jehu's officers rebuke him

This pericope has a chiastic structure like many Markan pericopes. Because of the shifting targets in the second half of the chiasm, bracketing is difficult. Note how the speech of Jesus has the dual function of answering the disciples at one level, while talking directly to the reader at another level.

A	It was now two days before the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth, and kill him;
	B	for they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be a tumult of the people."
		C	And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.
			D	But there were some who said to themselves indignantly, "Why was the ointment thus wasted? For this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and given to the poor."
			D	And they reproached her.
		C	But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 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. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burying.
	B	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."
A	Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.

As Mack (1988) points out, Jesus is not dead, so the neither the woman nor the those objecting to her action could have known its significance. Such a significance exists only for the reader of the Gospel. The pericope is a construction aimed at the reader. Further, given that Jesus' prediction of his own death is based on an event that is probably created out of the Elijah-Elisha Cycle, and that the second section where Judas appears is based on the OT as well, nothing in this pericope indicates support for historicity.

Mark 14:12-25

12: And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb, his disciples said to him, "Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the passover?" 13: And he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, 14: and wherever he enters, say to the householder, `The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples?' 15: And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us." 16: And the disciples set out and went to the city, and found it as he had told them; and they prepared the passover. 17: And when it was evening he came with the twelve. 18: And as they were at table eating, Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one

who is eating with me."19: They began to be sorrowful, and to say to him one after another, "Is it I?" 20: He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 21: For the Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born." 22: And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." 23: And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24: And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25: Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

NOTES

12: And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb, his disciples said to him, "Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the passover?"

v12: follows the dating of v1. For the first time the writer shows concern with chronology. The author here has confused his Jewish customs. The Passover Meal was prepared on the day of rest prior to Passover, not during the day of Passover (which began in the evening, recall). Thus the meal served in v22-25 cannot be a Passover meal (Ludemann 2001, p94). This chronology is thus a creation of the writer's confused understanding of Jewish practices.

13: And he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him,

v13-16: These verses are a doublet of 11: 2-6, containing similarities in structure and vocabulary (Robbins 1976, Donahue and Harrington 2002, p393)

Mark 11:1-6	Mark 14:13-16
1: he sent two of his disciples	13: he sent two of his disciples
2: and he said to them .	and he said to them
and...you will find...	and...will meet you...
3: Say "The Lord...	14: Say... "The...
4: And they went away...	16: And they went out...
and they found...	and found...
6 as Jesus had said....	as he had told them...
and...	and...

v13: As Steve Carr (2004) observes, the writer of Mark states that the disciples were to be met by a man carrying a pitcher of water. Matthew 26:18 drops the idea that a Jewish man would do a woman's work.

17: And when it was evening he came with the twelve. 18: And as they were at table eating, Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me." 19: They began to be sorrowful, and to say to him one after another, "Is it I?" 20: He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 21: For the Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born."

	v17-21: contain a supernatural prophecy and are unhistorical.
	v17-21: the denigration of the disciples now reaches its climax as Judas goes off to betray Jesus even as Peter denies him.

20: He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.

v20: Usually see as a reference to Psalm 41:9 (LXX 40:5):

Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

But may also be related to Psalm 55 (Donahue and Harrington, p394):

12 If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. 13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, 14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God. (NIV)

v20: Price (2003, p184) points out that the reference to the Twelve in this verse is missing from Matthew and Luke and may be from the hand of a later redactor. This is significant because this is the only time in the Gospel of Mark in which the term "the Twelve" is found on Jesus' lips. All other instances occur in verses created by the writer of Mark.

v20: Jesus does not mention Judas by name. Nor is his departure indicated.

21: For the Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born."

v21: "better for that man...." The Jesus Seminar (Funk et al 1997, p117) argued that Jesus' words here consist largely of dialogue that would not have been able to survive transmission through the oral period. The one exception identified was the curse on the betrayer. This, however, the Seminar saw as a proverb likely to suit any number of contexts.

22: And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body."

v22-24: The whole idea of a ritual Last Supper is in essence a supernatural prediction of Jesus' own death, and is not likely to be historical. The similar passage in 1 Cor 11:23-25 accepts the meal as symbol but not fact: "[Paul] is a skilful, if sometimes free-swinging, rhetorician and he knows the difference between saying that Yehusa was put to death at Passover and that his death was iconically similar to the events of Pessah. He endorses the latter and implicitly rejects the former" (Akenson 2000, p203). Mack (1995) notes that communal meals with sacred overtones were common in the Hellenistic world.

"Of some importance for our understanding of early Christian practice is the fact that it was customary for an association to take the name of a patron deity ('The Fellowship of Hercules'; 'The Company of Dionysus') and to acknowledge the purpose of its gathering by making some reference to the god at the appropriate juncture. At the beginning of the meal was one such appropriate moment. Another was when a round of wine was poured and toasts were to be made. It was then that a small libation to the god was in order and some form of invocation could be uttered" (p89).

Mack (1988) also observes:

"The meal is important to the historian because it is the only story in the passion account for which there is evidence of a precursor within early Jesus Christ traditions. The evidence for a precursor is the account of the Lord's Supper in 1 Cor 11:23-26, a ritual text from the Hellenistic Christ cult. Mark's use of this cultic tradition is positive proof of his acquaintance with Hellenistic Christianity."(p275)

24: And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

v24: Almost a direct cite of Exodus 24:8

Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words." (NIV)

Some manuscripts of Mark add "new" before "covenant" but that is not generally accepted by scholars.

v24: Zechariah 9-14 figures prominently in the scenes before and after the Garden of Gethsemane. Here the verse may also reflect Zech 9:11:

As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. (NIV)

v24: as with the "Kingdom of God" there is no discussion in Mark about what the "covenant" mentioned here might mean. Aside from a remark about "ransom for many" there is little explanation in Mark about why Jesus had to die. To understand these cryptic comments requires an interpretive scheme that does not exist in Mark.

v24: Psalm 23:5 may also lie behind events in this sequence.

5: Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows. (RSV)

25: Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

v25: Doherty (1999, p251) identifies this as coming from Isaiah 25:6:

6 On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine- the best of meats and the finest of wines. 7 On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. (NIV)

Historical Commentary
The underlying structure is 1 Samuel 10:1-7, where an annointing is followed by a command to carry out a task which displays the prophet's amazing predictive power. In 1 Sam 10:1 Saul is annointed by Samuel, just as Jesus has just been annointed by the woman:

<>1: Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said, "Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their enemies round about. And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.

1 Sam 10:1 in the Septuagint has:

"You will reign over the LORD 's people and save them from the power of their enemies round about. And this will be a sign to you that the LORD has anointed you leader over his inheritance (NIV)

Jesus then commands the disciples:

Mark 14
13: And he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, 14: and wherever he enters, say to the householder, `The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples?' (RSV)

The basic parallel with 1 Sam 10:1-7 should be clear:

1 Sam 10:1-7
1: Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said, "Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their enemies round about. And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince over his heritage. 2: When you depart from me today you will meet two men by Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, `The asses which you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the asses and is anxious about you, saying, "What shall I do about my son?"' 3: Then you shall go on from there further and come to the oak of Tabor; three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three kids, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 4: And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. 5: After that you shall come to Gib'e-ath-elo'him, where there is a garrison of the Philistines; and there, as you come to the city, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. 6: Then the spirit of the LORD will come mightily upon you, and you shall prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 7: Now when these signs meet you, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. (RSV)

Not only is there a parallel in the structure here, but 1 Sam 10:2 even contains a reference to a father who is worried about his son, perhaps a hint from Mark about Jesus the Son and God the Father.

At the higher level, the author of Mark has organized the three boat trips of Jesus, three healings, and two feeding miracles and the last supper into progressive triadic structures (Klosinski 1988, p207-8).

This pericope is two chiastic structures, lumped together. The first chiasm has a neat doublet at its center, a Where? question:

A
Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.

B
And when they heard it they were glad, and promised to give him money.

C
And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

D
And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb, his disciples said to him, "Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the passover?"

D
And he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him,
and wherever he enters, say to the householder, `The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples?'

C
And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us."

B
And the disciples set out and went to the city, and found it as he had told them; and they prepared the passover.

A
And when it was evening he came with the twelve.

The second structure looks like this.

A
And when it was evening he came with the twelve.

B
And as they were at table eating, Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me."

C
They began to be sorrowful, and to say to him one after another, "Is it I?"

D
He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.

E
For the Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born."

E
And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body."

D
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.

C
And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

B
Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

A
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

At first glance these chiasms are difficult to grasp. But the writer has neatly balanced the two halves of each chiasm. First, overlapping geographical movement marks the border of each chiasm. The first half of each chiasm concerns betrayal, first by Judas, and then by all the disciples. The second half of each chiasm then matches Jesus' commitment to die to the the disciples' betrayal, producing some remarkable dramatic irony in the BCD brackets.

The literary structure, the strong presence of the OT, and the supernatural together indicate that there is no support for historicity from this pericope.

Mark 14:26-31

26: And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27: And Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away; for it is written, `I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.' 28: But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." 29: Peter said

to him, "Even though they all fall away, I will not." 30: And Jesus said to him, "Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times." 31: But he said vehemently, "If I must die with you, I will not deny you." And they all said the same.

NOTES.

26: And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

	v26: Most scholars start the famous Passion Narrative with this pericope or the next one. Since the early 1900s scholarship has argued that this story was constructed on the basis of a source, since, unlike the previous portions of the gospel, it is composed of continuous narrative, rather than pericopes. As redaction-criticism and narrative criticism rose to prominence, Mark was more and more seen as the creator of the story (Theissen and Merz 1998, p445-6).
	v26: The Mount of Olives is playing its expected role based on Zech 14:4 and current Jewish belief about where the Messiah would come from. The Mount of Olives, about 5 kilometers long, lies outside of Jerusalem along the Kidron valley. To get to there, one must pass over the brook of Kidron, which is in a ravine with steep sides. Mark has Jesus and the disciples doing this at night.
	v26: the Greek verb exelthon, from exerchesthai, is the same as used in the LXX of David's flight from Jerusalem in 2 Sam 15:16 (Donahue and Harrington 2002, p401).
	v26: as Raymond Brown (1994, p123) notes, the term "hymn" here most probably refers to a prayer after a meal, and not the hymns sung after the Passover meal. It would be odd of the writer of Mark not to include an explanation if this were a typical Jewish practice, when he does so elsewhere. In any case the singing of hymns after the Passover Meal is not attested to at that time, but only in the Mishnah at least 150 years later. Typically the hymns sung were Psalms 114-118. The writer cites Psalm 118 twice.
	v26: "and they went out." It was Passover custom to spend the night in the city; for that reason the boundaries of Jerusalem were temporarily enlarged for the festival. Mark shows no cognizance of this practice (Brown 1994, p124).

27: And Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away; for it is written, `I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'

v27: contains a reference to Zech 13:7:

"Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me," says the LORD of hosts. "Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.(RSV)

v27: The direct cite of Zech 13 here may recall the description of John the Baptist in Mk 1:1-8.

28: But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee."

v28: This prediction of an appearance in Galilee is a strong indicator that the current ending of Mark is truncated.

v28: Most exegetes see this verse and Mk 16:7 as having a very intimate relationship. Bultman, Dibelius, and Taylor all argued that 16:7 was a later insertion to harmonize with Matthew's account of Jesus appearing in Galilee, while other exegetes have taken the view that both are late insertions (see discussion in Brown 1994, p132). 14:28 is missing from the Fayum Fragment, a late second century text that seems to be harmonizing Matt and Mark.

29: Peter said to him, "Even though they all fall away, I will not." 30: And Jesus said to him, "Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times." 31: But he said vehemently, "If I must die with you, I will not deny you." And they all said the same.

v29-31: The author's classic theme of what clods the disciples of Jesus were has reached its height: they will deny even knowing Jesus, let alone understanding him.

30: And Jesus said to him, "Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times."

v30: the word "twice" may be an interpolation here. Some manuscripts omit it. However, the idea that dawn came only after the second cockcrow is found in Greco-Roman literature (Brown 1994, p137).

Historical Commentary

Jesus makes three prophecies, one after another, all presented as supernatural foreknowledge.

This pericope also has a chiastic structure.

A	And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
	B	And Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away; for it is written, `I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'
		C	But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee."
			D	Peter said to him, "Even though they all fall away, I will not."
			D	And Jesus said to him, "Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times."
		C	But he said vehemently, "If I must die with you, I will not deny you."
	B	And they all said the same.
A	And they went to a place which was called Gethsem'ane;

This chiasm should be very clear. The A brackets once again contain geographical movement. The B brackets have Jesus promising that all will betray him, and then they all deny that. In the C brackets Jesus' promise to see them after his death (kept) is contrasted to Peter's promise to stick with Jesus (failed). The D brackets contain the famous prophecy of Peter's denial. As with the previous pericopes in this chapter, once again the halves of the pericope contrast Jesus' commitment with the disciples' betrayal.

The presence of supernatural prophecy, OT construction, and Markan redaction all indicate that nothing in this pericope indicates historicity.

Mark 14:32-42

32: And they went to a place which was called Gethsem'ane; and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I pray." 33: And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34: And he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch." 35: And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36: And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt." 37: And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter,

"Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38: Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 39: And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40: And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer him. 41: And he came the third time, and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come; the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42: Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand."

NOTES

32: And they went to a place which was called Gethsem'ane; and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I pray."

v32: "Gethsemane" is yet another place name with no known referent. Brown (1994, p148-9) argues for its historicity on the grounds that its likely derivation, from the Hebrew/Aramaic Gat-semani ("oil press"), has no known theological significance.

v32: Raymond Brown (1994, p219-220) shows how this passage is actually a set of doublets:

Place: Mt. of Olives 14:32	Place: Gethsemane 14:32
Group of Disciples 14:32	Peter, James, John 14:33
Jesus moves away saying "sit here while I pray." 14;32	Jesus moves away saying "Remain here and keep on watching." 14:34
Jesus is greatly troubled 14:33	Jesus soul is sorrowful to death 14:34
Jesus prays that this hour might pass from him 14:35	Jesus prays that the cup may be taken from him 14:36
Jesus comes and find them sleeping 14:37	Jesus comes and finds them sleeping 14:40
"Simon, are you sleeping?" 14:37	"Do you go on sleeping, then?" 14:41
behond the Son of Man is given over 14:41	Behold the one who gives me over comes near 14:42

v32: Note that the writer does not specify where Gethsemane is; its location on the Mount of Olives is a deduction made by later readers.

33: And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.

v33: Psalm 55:

5 Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest (NIV)

v33: Many scholars have seen a parallel to the Transfiguration, where the same three disciples are taken to the mountain to witness Jesus transfigured as the Son of God. This identification is inverted here when Jesus refers to God as "Abba" or "father." In the former scene Peter does not know what to say and was afraid, while in the Garden the disciples'"...eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer him."

34: And he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch."

v34: Very close to the Septuagint version of Jonah 4:9. Various Psalms, including Ps 42:6,12, and Ps. 43:5. (Psalm 42:50 in the LXX), are also in evidence.

v34: In the context of Judas' betrayal, one might also note Sirach 37:2:

Is it not a sorrow unto death when your bosom companion becomes your enemy?

v34: Mary Ann Tolbert (1989) writes:

"Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane.....is a superb example of of what is technically called an "interior monologue," a narrative soliloquy used at a critical moment to dramatize internal struggle. Interior monologue and stream of consciousness are commonly found combined in extended format in modern narrative, and thus we may not recognize the important but sparing use of interior monologue in acient writings. Its earliest appearance can be found in Homer, but Apollonus Rhodius, Virgil, Ovid, and Xenophon of Ephesus also employed and developed the device."(p214)

35: And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

v35: Is the writer of Mark using the term "hour" in the eschatological context of 13:32, or does this usage of "hour" reflect only Jesus' anguish at his impending suffering and death.

36: And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt."

v36: There are no statements in Mark in which Jesus refers to God as "my father." There are 36 such statements in John. The Gospel does not provide witnesses to this scene, so the words here must be from the writer of Mark.

v36: perhaps "cup" is a reference to 1 Cor 10:16. Brown (1994), based on the work of earlier scholars, notes both an OT and a Near Eastern tradition of the wrath of gods either drunk or served in a cup to be drunk. The term "cup of death" is also found in some Aramaic targums (Brown 1994, p169).

v36: Socrates was another tekton and teacher of wisdom who also died from a poisoned cup he drank because he had to.

v36: "Abba" here strongly echoes Galations 4:6 and also Romans 8:14-17. The term has Jewish precedents. Tomson (2001) writes:

"There is a story from the first century BCE about Honi, 'the Circle Drawer', who, because of his powerful prayer, saw himself as being 'at home' with his heavenly Father and for this, just like Jesus, was viewed with suspicion by the Pharsaic leadership (m. Ta'an. 3.8; Josephus, Ant. 14:22). There is literal witness to this form of address, 'Father', in a rabbinic writing that also is related to the ancient Hasidic circles (S. El. R. 19. pp111-12)."(p138)

37: And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?

	v37: may be a continuation of the Jonah theme, reflecting the Septuagint Jonah 1:6, where the ship captain wakes Jonah up, surprised that he is sound asleep.
	v37: nowhere else in Mark does Jesus address Peter as "Simon."

38: Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

v38: echoing the "willing spirit" found in Psalm 51:12 (Senior 1987, p79)

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (NIV)

v38: the parallel with Mark 13:34-37 is strong, for after being admonished to watch, the disciples slept, and now the master has returned suddenly to rouse them, just as he had warned in Mk 13:34-7 (Brown 1994, p196).

v38: the distinction between "spirit" and "flesh" is Semitic in origin, and refers to two different perspectives of the human being as whole (Brown 1994, p198).

v38: Jeffrey Gibson (2001) suggested that this verse refers to Psalm 78:39-41, noting that

"What leads me to think this is not only the appearance within these verses of two of the key elements in Mk 14:38 ("testing", "flesh") but that the Psalm contains a history of God's steadfast willingness to be compassionate, forgive iniquity, and save Israel over and over again despite Israel's continued refusal after the Exodus to be true to the covenant, an unfaithfulness that is attributed to Israel's being 'but flesh'."

The verses run:

39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return. 40 How often they rebelled against him in the desert and grieved him in the wasteland! 41 Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel.

In keeping with the writer's preoccupation with plundered temples, there is a reference to the destruction of the first "tabernacle" at Shiloh which was destroyed. Additionally, the Psalm ends with a reference to David, whose story the writer is paralleling in the Gethsemane section.

Ted Weeden (2001), responding to Gibson, adds

Third, LXX: Ps.77:39-41 is the only LXX passage in which the terms or concepts SARC, PNEUMA, and PEIRAZEIN (77:41=EPEIRASAN) appear together in close textual proximity. And strikingly they appear in Ps. 77:39-41 in the exact reverse order (SARC, PNEUMA, PEIRAZEIN) to the way they appear in Mk. 14:38: PEIRASMON (substantive instead of psalmic verb PEIRAZEIN), PNEUMA, SARC). Fourth, these three terms or concepts appear nowhere else in close proximity to each other in the NT except in Mt. 26:41, in which case Matthew renders Mk.14:38 almost verbatim (substituting only EISELQHTE for Mark's ELQHTE). So the evidence is quite convincing that Mark has drawn upon the LXX: Ps. 77:39-41 for constructing Jesus' admonition to the disciples in 14:38.

40: And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer him.

v40: shows the disciples in their usual Markan framework, incompetently falling asleep.

41: And he came the third time, and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come; the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

v41: The opening clause is obscure: katheudete to loipon kai anapauesthe apechei. The verbs "sleep" and "rest" can be read several ways, as a plain statement of observation "You are still sleeping"; or as a question "Are you...?"; or as a command "Sleep...and take your rest." (Brown 1994, p207). Many scholars go with the second, for Luke, who copied Mark, has Why do you sleep?. The word apechei has many meanings but most apt is probably the fact that it is a technical term meaning "paid in full" that was written on bills in the Hellenistic world.

Historical Commentary

The Elijah-Elisha Cycle forms the skeleton of the narrative (Helms 1988, p109) while the Psalms supply the dialogue:

Mark 14:32-42	1 Kings 19:1-5
Jesus is pursued by the authorities	Elijah is pursued by Ahab and Jezebel
Jesus leaves his disciples behind	Elijah leaves his servant behind to wait for him
Jesus prays for deliverance from his task	Elijah prays for deliverance from his burdens
Jesus tells his followers to arise	An angel tells Elijah to arise
	After Helms (1988, p109)

In Luke, who borrowed this story from Mark, the parallels are even clearer, and Luke adds the angel and language from the Septuagint.

Like the Syro-Phoenician woman, this pericope will also sink any positive criteria of Jesus' historicity. Some exegetes argue that it is formed in the later Christian community as an edifying story of Jesus, while others argue that it must be historical because the idea of Jesus crying is offensive to his status as the Son of God. There is no way to choose between these two clashing criteria, one of historical interpretation, the other of Christological interpretation.

A second line to take is that the pericope is unhistorical because no one was with Jesus in Gethsemane, but that is clearly low-grade skeptical nonsense, for the disciples rejoin Jesus and the marks of tears and prayer would have been obvious to them. Since the disciples flee Jesus at this point, however, there is no way they could have known the content of Jesus' prayer. It is simply Markan invention.

The reality is that this pericope is shot through with OT construction-creation, based on weeping in the Psalms (Ludemann 2001, p98). One source if Psalm 22:24 (v25 in some translations)

For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. (NIV)

Another is Psalm 31:

22: And I -- I have said in my haste, `I have been cut off from before Thine eyes,' But Thou hast heard the voice of my supplications, In my crying unto Thee.(YLT)

Psalm 69 also plays a role:

3: I have been wearied with my calling, Burnt hath been my throat, Consumed have been mine eyes, waiting for my God.(YLT)

Helms (1988, p111) points out that Jesus has just finished the Passover meal, at which Psalms 113-188 were recited. Look at Psalm 116...

10   I have believed, for I speak, I -- I have been afflicted greatly.
11   I said in my haste, `Every man [is] a liar.'
12   What do I return to Jehovah? All His benefits [are] upon me.
13   The cup of salvation I lift up, And in the name of Jehovah I call.
14   My vows to Jehovah let me complete, I pray you, before all His people.
15   Precious in the eyes of Jehovah [is] the death for His saints.(YLT)

..which contains certain elements of the Gethsemane passage -- the cup (death to Jesus but salvation to all), calling out to God, and a reference to a death in faith.

The chiastic structure of this pericope is as follows:

A	And they went to a place which was called Gethsem'ane
	B	and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I pray."
		C	And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch."
			D	And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
				E	And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt."
					F	And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?
					F	Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
				E	And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.
			D	And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer him.
		C	And he came the third time, and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come; the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
	B	Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand."
A	And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

The parallels should be obvious.

The strong presence of the OT in this passage, both at the level of the details and at the structural level (see below), indicates that nothing in this pericope supports historicity.

Mark 14:43-52

43: And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44: Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I shall kiss is the man; seize him and lead him away under guard." 45: And when he came, he went up to him at once, and said, "Master!" And he kissed him. 46: And they laid hands on him and seized him. 47: But one of those who stood by drew

his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. 48: And Jesus said to them, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49: Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled." 50: And they all forsook him, and fled. 51: And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body; and they seized him, 52: but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

NOTES

43: And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

v43: Having moved the plot, Judas disappears here. The kiss, which is historically implausible (why would they need someone to identify Jesus, who was teaching publicly in the Temple?), may come from 2 Sam 20: 9-10, where another is betrayed by a kiss:

9 Joab said to Amasa, "How are you, my brother?" Then Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. 10 Amasa was not on his guard against the dagger in Joab's hand, and Joab plunged it into his belly, and his intestines spilled out on the ground. Without being stabbed again, Amasa died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bicri. (NIV)

Luke borrowed the story of the death of Judas from this passage (his language echoes the Greek of the Septuagint story), indicating an early Christian interest in it.