An experiment: The original Gospel of Mark?—Chp. 9

As noted in the Introduction, two texts of the relevant chapter in the Gospel of Mark are presented here. The first is a short, hypothetical “core”—the first draft of an UrMark reconstructed according to the criteria below.

At the bottom of this post is the entire Chapter 9 in the RSV English translation. Both the short and the longer forms of the chapter are color coded. In order to separate out later Catholic accretions from the earlier Jewish Christian “core,” I have employed the following criteria:

The criteria used for color coding are discussed here. The resultant color coding is as follows:

[Contained in the Hebrew Gospel / UrMark]

Green: Possible/probable, or amended in UrMark.

STAGE 1: Gnostic. To c. 50 CE. “Jesus” is the saving gnosis.
                           Black: May contain historical elements going back to Yeshu ha-Notsri.
                           [Blue] Logia/parables of Yeshu.

STAGE 2a: Jewish Christian. [Brown] C. 50–c. 150 CE. “Jesus” is a divine spiritual entity sent from Yahweh indwelling any worthy human through the grace of God/obedience to God. But the first in whom the Jesus dwelled (the prophet Yeshu ha-Notsri by my reckoning) was known as “the first-begotten Son” of God, the “Christ” (Messiah; NTA I:177.2). This messiah was only a model for emulation, not the unattainable figure of later Christianity. Possessing the Jesus (which we can all do, and should do) enables repentance and the forgiveness of sins. The spirit Jesus is divine, but the humans in whom the Jesus dwells are not.

[Not in the Hebrew Gospel / UrMark]

STAGE 2b: Pauline/Marcionite. [Purple] C. 50–c. 150 CE. “Jesus” is a divine spiritual entity sent from the immaterial God (not the God of creation) indwelling any worthy human through the grace of God/obedience to God. The death on the cross of a prophet (“Jesus Christ”) in the distant past was a cosmic event of human redemption. Jesus is divine, but the human(s) in whom it dwells are not. Belief is required.

STAGE 3: Catholic Christianity. [Red] C. 150+. “Jesus of Nazareth” is the savior of the world. Gnosis, repentance, and forgiveness of sins have been superseded. “Jesus Christ” was both divine and human. Belief is required.      (Red underlined: Catholic and anti-Marcionite.)

The comprehensive UrMark, cumulatively updated after each installment, is found here.
The cumulative (color coded) Gospel of Mark, also updated after each installment, is found here.


The Hebrew Gospel / UrMark: Chp. 9

[1] And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come.” [Realized eschatology through the acquisition of gnosis.—RS]

[2] And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves; and he was transfigured before them,
[3] and his garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
[4] And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses; and they were talking to Jesus.

[33] And they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”
[34] But they were silent; for on the way they had discussed with one another who was the greatest.
[35] And he sat down and called the twelve; and he said to them,
“If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

[40] “For he that is not against us is for us.”

[41] For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward.” [This is the first in a series of sayings teaching the spiritual law of karma.—RS]

[42] “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

[43] “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
[45] And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.
[47] And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,
[48] where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”


The Gospel of Mark: Chp. 9
(Revised Standard Version)

[1] And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.” [“With power” is a Stage 3 addition referring to Jesus of Nazareth, as opposed to the previous salvation through gnosis.—RS]

[2] And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves; and he was transfigured before them,
[3] and his garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
[4] And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses; and they were talking to Jesus.

[5] And Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
[6] For he did not know what to say, for they were exceedingly afraid.
[7] And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”
[8] And suddenly looking around they no longer saw any one with them but Jesus only.
[9] And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of man should have risen from the dead.
[10] So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.

[11] And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?”
[12] And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things; and how is it written of the Son of man, that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
[13] But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”

[14] And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd about them, and scribes arguing with them.
[15] And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed, and ran up to him and greeted him.
[16] And he asked them, “What are you discussing with them?”
[17] And one of the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a dumb spirit;
[18] and wherever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”
[19] And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”
[20] And they brought the boy to him; and when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.
[21] And Jesus asked his father, “How long has he had this?” And he said, “From childhood.
[22] And it has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us.”
[23] And Jesus said to him, “If you can! All things are possible to him who believes.”
[24] Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
[25] And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again.”
[26] And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse; so that most of them said, “He is dead.”
[27] But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
[28] And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”
[29] And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

[30] They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he would not have any one know it;
[31] for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”
[32] But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask him.

[33] And they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”
[34] But they were silent; for on the way they had discussed with one another who was the greatest.
[35] And he sat down and called the twelve; and he said to them,
“If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

[36] And he took a child, and put him in the midst of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them,
[37] “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

[38] John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.”
[39] But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me.

[40] For he that is not against us is for us.

[41] For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward.”

[42] “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

[43] “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
[45] And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.
[47] And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,
[48] where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”

[49] “For every one will be salted with fire.
[50] Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its saltness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

 Chapter 8          Chapter 10 

About René Salm

René Salm is the author of two books on New Testament archeology and manages the companion website www.NazarethMyth.info.

Comments

An experiment: The original Gospel of Mark?—Chp. 9 — 1 Comment

  1. Mk 9:49 is nonsensical, but this problem may be caused by the poor legibility of a scroll. Couchoud points out (here pages 13–16) a Latin manuscript, reading omnis autem substantia consumitur. “Substantia” corresponds to “oysia” in Greek, and it is easy to mistake a capital omicron for a capital theta–whence oysia can be misread as thysia, sacrifice. The levitical laws (Lev. 2:13) prescribe the usage of salt for sacrifices, which caused the substitution of “salted” (halisthesetai) for “consumed” (analothesethai).

    Riesenfeld, paraphrased by van Eysinga (Verklaring van het Evangelie naar Matthaeus), wrote about the usage of plates of salt in ancient stoves for accelerating the kindling of fire, and about those plates wore down with usage, motivating Matthew’s addition to the verse.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *