The Jewish Annotated New Testament by Amy-Jill Levine Read Free Book Online

abrogation of the laws of Torah to facilitate a mission to the Gentiles without the law as Paul had done. What we do know is that at some point the Gospel became associated with Rome and with Pauline views of a Gentile mission and the abrogation of Jewish law.
    STRUCTURE AND GENRE
    The story of Jesus’ days in Jerusalem—the trial, crucifixion, and burial—are referred to as the passion narrative, and although Mark is sometimes characterized as a passion narrative with a long introduction, the Gospel as a whole is much more comprehensive in its structure than would be the case if the first ten chapters served merely as a prologue to the Passion.
1.1–15
Introduction
1.16–8.21
Enacting the kingdom of God
8.22–10.52
Passion predictions and radical social teachings
11.1–16.8
Passion narrative and death
    Scholars continue to debate the literary category of Mark. The “gospel genre” is not found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, rabbinic literature, or other Jewish sources. Although the contemporary Jewish philosopher Philo composed a long biography of Moses ( Life of Moses ), rabbinic literature interwove biographical episodes of important figures into the larger discourses on law and scripture. Various terms were used by Christians in the second century to describe the texts about Jesus—reminiscences, histories, gospels—but none of these terms goes back to the first century as a reference to a particular kind of book (“good news” or “gospel” in Mk 1.1 refers to the message or preaching, not the book of Mark as a whole). Some have argued in modern times that the Gospels were a new and distinctive type of writing invented by the followers of Jesus, but many scholars now argue that the Gospels, including that of Mark, are similar to ancient genres. The Gospels created longer and more connected narratives of their subject than were found in the stories of the rabbis, more in keeping with Greek ( bios ) and Roman biography. However, the usual ethos of an ancient biography was to present a continuing model of virtues. As a result, other scholars classify Mark (if not the other Gospels) not as a biography but as a kind of apocalyptic history based on biblical history.
    The contents of the book and its style have also suggested similarities to other genres as well. Central to Mark are the prophetic stances of John the Baptist and Jesus, and parallels to the biblical prophets are prominent (see annotations). Other aspects of Mark’s narrative have been compared to ancient novels and the epics of Homer. The heart of Mark’s narrative, however, is the depiction of the tragic end of a divinely favored figure—a messiah, Son of God, Son of Man—who is also very human. This depiction is influenced by Jewish traditions of the suffering servant (Isa 52–53), psalms of lament (e.g., Ps 22), and the persecuted righteous person (Wis 2–5). In keeping with these texts, Mark tells a story in which Jesus suffers a downward spiral of being abandoned by those around him. Jesus has a conflictual relationship with Pharisees, Herodians, and scribes, but it is often wrongly assumed that he is consistently embraced by others. Jesus is eventually rejected by all of “his people”—however that may be understood. He was rejected by Jews and Gentiles: family (3.19b–21), townspeople (6.1–6), Gentiles who witness his healing power (5.17), Peter (8.32; 14.71), disciples (14.50), chief priests and Sanhedrin, and the “crowd” influenced by them (ch. 14; 15.8,11,15), those who “passed by” (15.29), the two men crucified with him (15.32), and finally, even God (15.34).
    SOME KEY THEMES: IRONY AND THE “MESSIANIC SECRET”
    Mark, in keeping with many of the authors of the Jewish Scriptures, was a master of irony. Dramatic irony is the potentially profound reading experience that occurs when the audience knows things that the characters themselves do not perceive. Irony suggests that there is a real truth behind appearances: the