Gospel of Mark

Authorship and date

An early Christian tradition deriving from

The Gospel of Mark was written in Greek, for a gentile audience, and probably in Rome, although Galilee, Antioch (third-largest city in the Roman Empire, located in northern Syria), and southern Syria have also been suggested.^[15][16]

The consensus among modern scholars is that the gospels are a subset of the ancient genre of bios, or ancient biography.^[17] Ancient biographies were concerned with providing examples for readers to emulate while preserving and promoting the subject's reputation and memory, and also included morals, rhetoric, propaganda and kerygma (preaching) in their works.^[18] Like all the synoptic gospels, the purpose of writing was to strengthen the faith of those who already believed, as opposed to serving as a tractate for missionary conversion.^[19] Christian churches were small communities of believers, often based on households (an autocratic patriarch plus extended family, slaves, freedmen, and other clients), and the evangelists often wrote on two levels: one the "historical" presentation of the story of Jesus, the other dealing with the concerns of the author's own day. Thus the proclamation of Jesus in Mark 1:14 and the following verses, for example, mixes the terms Jesus would have used as a 1st-century Jew ("kingdom of God") and those of the early church ("believe", "gospel").^[20]

Christianity began within

kingdom of God. Uniting these ideas was the common thread of apocalyptic expectation: Both Jews and Christians believed that the end of history was at hand, that God would very soon come to punish their enemies and establish his own rule, and that they were at the centre of his plans. Christians read the Jewish scripture as a figure or type of Jesus Christ, so that the goal of Christian literature became an experience of the living Christ.^[23] The new movement spread around the eastern Mediterranean and to Rome and further west, and assumed a distinct identity, although the groups within it remained extremely diverse.^[21]

Up until the 19th century the gospel of Mark was traditionally placed second, and sometimes fourth, in the Christian canon, as an abridgement of Matthew; the Church has consequently derived its view of Jesus primarily from Matthew, secondarily from John, and only distantly from Mark.^[24]

However, in the 19th century, Mark came to be viewed by many scholars as the

It is widely accepted that this was the first gospel (Marcan Priority) and was used as a source by both Matthew and Luke, who agree with each other in their sequence of stories and events only when they also agree with Mark.^[25] The hypothesis of Marcan priority continues to be held by the majority of scholars today, and there is a new recognition of the author as an artist and theologian using a range of literary devices to convey his conception of Jesus as the authoritative yet suffering Son of God.^[26]

Historicity

When in the 19th century it became widely accepted that Mark was the earliest of the gospels it was assumed that it was therefore the most reliable source for the

Structure

There is no agreement on the structure of Mark.

• Jesus is first announced as the Messiah and then later as the Son of God; he is baptised by John and a heavenly voice announces him as the Son of God; he is tested in the wilderness by
  kingdom of God
  .
• Jesus gathers his disciples; he begins teaching, driving out demons, healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, feeding the hungry, and giving sight to the blind; he delivers a long discourse in parables to the crowd, intended for the disciples, but they fail to understand; he performs mighty works, calming the storm and walking on water, but while God and demons recognise him, neither the crowds nor the disciples grasp his identity. He also has several run-ins with Jewish law keepers, especially in chapters 2–3.
• Jesus asks the disciples who people say he is, and then, "but you, who do you say I am?" Peter answers that he is the Christ, and Jesus commands him to silence; Jesus explains that the Son of Man must go to Jerusalem and be killed, but will rise again; Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus and God tells the disciples, "This is my son," but they remain uncomprehending.
• Jesus goes to Jerusalem, where he is hailed as one who "comes in the name of the Lord" and will inaugurate the "kingdom of David"; he drives those who buy and sell animals from the Temple and debates with the Jewish authorities; on the
  Son of Man
  in power and glory.
• A woman perfumes Jesus' head with oil, and Jesus explains that this is a sign of his coming death; Jesus celebrates
  Pilate
  , who has him crucified as one who claims to be "king of the Jews"; Jesus, abandoned by the disciples, is buried in a rock tomb by a sympathetic member of the Jewish council.
• The women who have followed Jesus come to the tomb on Sunday morning; they find it empty, and are told by a young man in a white robe to go and tell the others that Jesus has risen and has gone before them to Galilee; "but they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid".^[36]

Ending

The earliest extant Greek manuscripts of Mark, codices Vaticanus (which contains a large blank space in the column after 16:8) and Sinaiticus, end at Mark 16:8, with the women fleeing in fear from the empty tomb. The majority of recent scholars believe this to be the original ending,^[37] and that this is supported by statements from the early Church Fathers Eusebius and Jerome.^[38] The "shorter ending", found in a small number of manuscripts, tells how the women told "those around Peter" all that the angel had commanded and how the message of eternal life (or "proclamation of eternal salvation") was then sent out by Jesus himself; it differs from the rest of Mark both in style and in its understanding of Jesus and is almost universally considered a spurious addition; the overwhelming majority of manuscripts have the "longer ending", with accounts of the resurrected Jesus, the commissioning of the disciples to proclaim the gospel, and Christ's ascension.^[38] In deference to its importance within the manuscript tradition, the New Testament critical editors enclose the longer ending in brackets.^[39]

Theology

Gospel

The author introduces his work as "gospel", meaning "good news", a literal translation of the Greek "evangelion"^[40] – he uses the word more often than any other writer in the New Testament except Paul.^[41] Paul uses it to mean "the good news (of the saving significance of the death and resurrection) of Christ"; Mark extends it to the career of Christ as well as his death and resurrection.^[40] Like the other gospels, Mark was written to confirm the identity of Jesus as eschatological deliverer – the purpose of terms such as "messiah" and "son of God". As in all the gospels, the messianic identity of Jesus is supported by a number of themes, including: (1) the depiction of his disciples as obtuse, fearful and uncomprehending; (2) the refutation of the charge made by Jesus' enemies that he was a magician; (3) secrecy surrounding his true identity (this last is missing from John).^[42]

The failure of the disciples

In Mark, the disciples, especially the Twelve, move from lack of perception of Jesus to rejection of the "way of suffering" to flight and denial – even the women who received the first proclamation of his resurrection can be seen as failures for not reporting the good news. There is much discussion of this theme among scholars. Some argue that the author of Mark was using the disciples to correct "erroneous" views in his own community concerning the reality of the suffering messiah, others that it is an attack on the Jerusalem branch of the church for resisting the extension of the gospel to the gentiles, or a mirror of the convert's usual experience of the initial enthusiasm followed by growing awareness of the necessity for suffering. It certainly reflects the strong theme in Mark of Jesus as the "suffering just one" portrayed in so many of the books of the Jewish scriptures, from

Mark contains twenty accounts of miracles and healings, accounting for almost a third of the gospel and half of the first ten chapters, more, proportionally, than in any other gospel.[44] In the gospels as a whole, Jesus' miracles, prophecies, etc., are presented as evidence of God's rule, but Mark's descriptions of Jesus' healings are a partial exception to this, as his methods, using spittle to heal blindness^[45] and magic formulae,^[46] were those of a magician.^[47][48] This is the charge the Jewish religious leaders bring against Jesus: they say he is performing exorcisms with the aid of an evil spirit^[49] and calling up the spirit of John the Baptist.^[50][47] "There was [...] no period in the history of the [Roman] empire in which the magician was not considered an enemy of society," subject to penalties ranging from exile to death, says Classical scholar Ramsay MacMullen.^[51] All the gospels defend Jesus against the charge, which, if true, would contradict their ultimate claims for him. The point of the Beelzebub incident in Mark^[52] is to set forth Jesus' claims to be an instrument of God, not Satan.^[53]

Messianic secret

In 1901, William Wrede identified the "Messianic secret" – Jesus' secrecy about his identity as the messiah – as one of Mark's central themes. Wrede argued that the elements of the secret – Jesus' silencing of the demons, the obtuseness of the disciples regarding his identity, and the concealment of the truth inside parables – were fictions and arose from the tension between the Church's post-resurrection messianic belief and the historical reality of Jesus. There remains continuing debate over how far the "secret" originated with Mark and how far he got it from tradition, and how far, if at all, it represents the self-understanding and practices of the historical Jesus.^[54]

Christology

Christology means a doctrine or understanding concerning the person or nature of Christ.^[55] In the New Testament writings it is frequently conveyed through the titles applied to Jesus. Most scholars agree that "Son of God" is the most important of these titles in Mark. It appears on the lips of God himself at the baptism and the transfiguration, and is Jesus' own self-designation.^[56] These and other instances provide reliable evidence of how the evangelist perceived Jesus, but it is not clear just what the title meant to Mark and his 1st century audience.^[57] Where it appears in the Hebrew scriptures it meant Israel as God's people, or the king at his coronation, or angels, as well as the suffering righteous man.^[58] In Hellenistic culture the same phrase meant a "divine man", a supernatural being. There is little evidence that "son of God" was a title for the messiah in 1st century Judaism, and the attributes which Mark describes in Jesus are much more those of the Hellenistic miracle-working "divine man" than of the Jewish Davidic messiah.^[57]

Mark does not explicitly state what he means by "Son of God", nor when the sonship was conferred.^[59] The New Testament as a whole presents four different understandings:

1. Jesus became God's son at his resurrection, God "begetting" Jesus to a new life by raising him from the dead – this was the earliest understanding, preserved in Paul's Epistle to the Romans, 1:3–4, and in Acts 13:33;
2. Jesus became God's son at his baptism, the coming of the Holy Spirit marking him as messiah, while "Son of God" refers to the relationship then established for him by God – this is the understanding implied in Mark 1:9–11;^[60]
3. Matthew and Luke present Jesus as "Son of God" from the moment of conception and birth, with God taking the place of a human father;
4. John, the last of the gospels, presents the idea that the Christ was pre-existent and became flesh as Jesus – an idea also found in Paul.^[61]

However, other scholars dispute this interpretation and instead hold that Jesus is already presented as God's son even before his baptism in Mark.^[62]

Mark also calls Jesus "christos" (Christ), translating the Hebrew "messiah," (anointed person).^[63] In the Old Testament the term messiah ("anointed one") described prophets, priests and kings; by the time of Jesus, with the kingdom long vanished, it had come to mean an eschatological king (a king who would come at the end of time), one who would be entirely human though far greater than all God's previous messengers to Israel, endowed with miraculous powers, free from sin, ruling in justice and glory (as described in, for example, the Psalms of Solomon, a Jewish work from this period).^[64] The most important occurrences are in the context of Jesus' death and suffering, suggesting that, for Mark, Jesus can only be fully understood in that context.^[63]

A third important title, "

The term "Son of God" likewise had a specific Jewish meaning, or range of meanings,^[72] including referring to an angel, the nation of Israel, or simply a man.^[73][74] One of the most significant Jewish meanings of this epithet is reference to an earthly king adopted by God as his son at his enthronement, legitimising his rule over Israel.^[75] In Hellenistic culture, in contrast, the phrase meant a "divine man", covering legendary heroes like Hercules, god-kings like the Egyptian pharaohs, or famous philosophers like Plato.^[76] When the gospels call Jesus "Son of God" the intention is to place him in the class of Hellenistic and Greek divine men, the "sons of God" who were endowed with supernatural power to perform healings, exorcisms and other wonderful deeds.^[75] Mark's "Son of David" is Hellenistic, his Jesus predicting that his mission involves suffering, death and resurrection, and, by implication, not military glory and conquest.^[77] This reflects a move away from the Jewish-Christian apocalyptic tradition and towards the Hellenistic message preached by Paul, for whom Christ's death and resurrection, rather than the establishment of the apocalyptic Jewish kingdom, is the meaning of salvation, the "gospel".^[71]

Comparison with other writings

Mark and the New Testament

All four gospels tell a story in which Jesus' death and resurrection are the crucial redemptive events.

Christians of Mark's time expected Jesus to return as Messiah in their own lifetime – Mark, like the other gospels, attributes the promise to Jesus himself,[80] and it is reflected in the Pauline Epistles, the Epistle of James, the Epistle to the Hebrews and in the Book of Revelation. When return failed, the early Christians revised their understanding. Some acknowledged that the Second Coming had been delayed, but still expected it; others redefined the focus of the promise, the Gospel of John, for example, speaking of "eternal life" as something available in the present; while still others concluded that Jesus would not return at all (the Second Epistle of Peter argues against those who held this view).^[81]

Mark's despairing death of Jesus was changed to a more victorious one in subsequent gospels.

• The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27^[c] Not present in either Matthew 12:1–8 or Luke 6:1–5. This is also a so-called "Western non-interpolation". The passage is not found in the Western text of Mark.
• People were saying, "[Jesus] has gone out of his mind", see also Rejection of Jesus.^[83]
• Mark is the only gospel with the combination of verses in Mark 4:24–25: the other gospels split them up, Mark 4:24 being found in Luke 6:38 and Matthew 7:2, Mark 4:25 in Matthew 13:12 and Matthew 25:29, Luke 8:18 and Luke 19:26.
• The Parable of the Growing Seed.^[84]
• Only Mark counts the possessed swine; there are about two thousand.^[85]
• Two consecutive healing stories of women; both make use of the number twelve.^[86]
• Only Mark gives healing commands of Jesus in the (presumably original)
  Aramaic of Jesus
  .
• Only place in the New Testament where Jesus is referred to as "the son of Mary".^[89]
• Mark is the only gospel where Jesus himself is called a carpenter;^[89] in Matthew he is called a carpenter's son.^[90]
• Only place that both names
  his brothers and mentions his sisters;^[89] Matthew has a slightly different name for one brother.^[90]
• The taking of a staff and sandals is permitted in Mark 6:8–9 but prohibited in Matthew 10:9–10 and Luke 9:3.
• Only Mark refers to Herod Antipas as a king;^[91] Matthew and Luke refer to him (more properly) as a tetrarch.^[92]
• The longest version of the story of Herodias' daughter's dance and the beheading of John the Baptist.^[93]
• Mark's literary cycles:

• 6:30–44 – Feeding of the five thousand;
• 6:45–56 – Crossing of the lake;
• 7:1–13 – Dispute with the Pharisees;
• 7:14–23 – Discourse on Defilement^[94]

Then:

• 8:1–9 – Feeding of the four thousand;
• 8:10 – Crossing of the lake;
• 8:11–13 – Dispute with the Pharisees;
• 8:14–21 – Incident of no bread and discourse about the leaven of the Pharisees.

• Customs that at that time were unique to Jews are explained (hand, produce, and utensil washing): Mark 7:3–4.
• "Thus he declared all foods clean".
  NRSV
  , not found in the Matthean parallel Matthew 15:15–20.
• There is no mention of Samaritans.
• Jesus heals using his fingers and spit at the same time: 7:33; cf. 8:23, Luke 11:20, John 9:6, Matthew 8:16.
• Jesus lays his hands on a blind man twice in curing him: 8:23–25; cf. 5:23, 16:18, Acts 6:6, Acts 9:17, Acts 28:8, laying on of hands.
• Jesus cites the Shema Yisrael: "Hear O Israel ...";^[95] in the parallels of Matt 22:37–38 and Luke 10:27 the first part of the Shema^[96] is absent.
• Mark points out that the Mount of Olives is across from the Temple.^[97]
• When Jesus is arrested, a young naked man flees.^[98] A young man in a robe also appears in Mark 16:5–7, see also Secret Gospel of Mark.
• Mark does not name the High Priest.^[99]
• Witness testimony against Jesus does not agree.^[100]
• The cock crows "twice" as predicted.^[101] See also Fayyum Fragment. The other Gospels simply record, "the cock crew". Early codices 01, W, and most Western texts have the simpler version.^[102]
• Pilate's position (Governor) is not specified.^[103]
• Simon of Cyrene's sons are named.^[104]
• A summoned centurion is questioned.^[105]
• The women ask each other who will roll away the stone^[106]
• A young man sits on the "right side".^[107]
• Mark is the only canonical gospel with significant various alternative endings.^[e] Most of the contents of the traditional "Longer Ending" (Mark 16:9–20) are found in other New Testament texts and are not unique to Mark, see Mark 16#Longer ending of Mark (verses 9–20), the one significant exception being 16:18b ("and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them"), which is unique to Mark.

See also

• Acts of the Apostles (genre)
• Apocalyptic literature
• Gospel harmony
• Gospel of Mark (intertextuality)
• List of Gospels
• List of omitted Bible verses
• Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus
  (reference to Mark)
• Secret Gospel of Mark
• Textual variants in the Gospel of Mark
• Two-source hypothesis

Notes

References

Citations

1. ISBN 978-1-4335-6343-0. Archived
   from the original on 3 June 2021.
2. ^ "Bible Book Abbreviations". Logos Bible Software. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
3. ^ Boring 2006, pp. 44.
4. ^ Elliott 2014, pp. 404–406.
5. ^ Boring 2006, pp. 252–53.
6. ^ ^{a b} Leander 2013, p. 167.
7. ISBN 0-19-515462-2
   . Proto-orthodox Christians of the second century, some decades after most of the New Testament books had been written, claimed that their favorite Gospels had been penned by two of Jesus' disciples—Matthew, the tax collector, and John, the beloved disciple—and by two friends of the apostles—Mark, the secretary of Peter, and Luke, the travelling companion of Paul. Scholars today, however, find it difficult to accept this tradition for several reasons.
8. ^ Keith 2016, p. 92.
9. ^ Sanders 1995, pp. 63–64.
10. ^ ^{a b} Burkett 2002, p. 156.
11. ^ Telford 1999, p. 12.
12. ^ Bible Mark 2:1–3:6
13. ^ Bible Mark 13:1–37
14. ^ Boring 2006, pp. 13–14.
15. ^ Perkins 2007, p. 241.
16. ^ Burkett 2002, p. 157.
17. ^ Lincoln 2004, p. 133.
18. ^ Dunn 2005, p. 174.
19. ^ Aune 1987, p. 59.
20. ^ Aune 1987, p. 60.
21. ^ ^{a b} Lössl 2010, p. 43.
22. ^ Gamble 1995, p. 23.
23. ^ Collins 2000, p. 6.
24. ^ Edwards 2002, p. 2.
25. ^ Koester 2000, pp. 44–46.
26. ^ Edwards 2002, pp. 1–3.
27. ^ Joel 2000, p. 859.
28. ^ Williamson 1983, p. 17.
29. ^ Powell 1998, p. 37.
30. ^ Twelftree 1999, p. 68.
31. ^ Cole 1989, p. 86.
32. ^ Cole 1989, pp. 86–87.
33. ^ France 2002, p. 11.
34. ^ Edwards 2002, pp. 38–39.
35. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 209–31.
36. ^ Boring 2006, pp. 1–3.
37. ^ Edwards 2002, pp. 500–01.
38. ^ ^{a b} Schröter 2010, p. 279.
39. ISBN 3-438-06010-8
    .
40. ^ ^{a b} Aune 1987, p. 17.
41. ^ Morris 1990, p. 95.
42. ^ Aune 1987, p. 55.
43. ^ Donahue 2005, pp. 33–34.
44. ^ Twelftree 1999, p. 57.
45. ^ Bible Mark 8:22–26
46. ^ "Talitha cumi," 5:41, "Ephphatha," 7:34
47. ^ ^{a b} Kee 1993, p. 483.
48. ^ Powell 1998, p. 57.
49. ^ Bible Mark 3:22
50. ^ Bible Mark 6:14
51. ^ Welch 2006, p. 362.
52. ^ Bible Mark 3:20–30
53. ^ Aune 1987, p. 56.
54. ^ Cross & Livingstone 2005, p. 1083.
55. ^ Telford 1999, p. 3.
56. ^ Bible Mark 13:32
57. ^ ^{a b} Telford 1999, pp. 38–39.
58. ^ Donahue 2005, p. 25.
59. ^ Ehrman 1993, p. 74.
60. ^ Bible Mark 1:9–11
61. ^ Burkett 2002, pp. 68–69.
62. ISBN 978-0-310-53872-1
    .
63. ^ ^{a b} Donahue 2005, pp. 25–26.
64. ^ Edwards 2002, p. 250.
65. ^ Witherington 2001, p. 51.
66. ^ Donahue 2005, pp. 26–27.
67. ^ Daniel 7:13
68. ^ Bible Psalm 110:1
69. ^ Witherington 2001, p. 52.
70. ^ Burkett 2002, p. 69.
71. ^ ^{a b} Telford 1999, p. 155.
72. ^ Dunn 2003, pp. 709–10.
73. ISBN 0199730040
    page 698
74. ISBN 0195297709
    page 544
75. ^ ^{a b} Strecker 2000, pp. 81–82.
76. ^ Dunn 2003, p. 69.
77. ^ Telford 1999, p. 52.
78. ^ Hurtado 2005, p. 587.
79. ^ Burkett 2002, p. 158.
80. ^ Bible Mark 9:1 and 13:30
81. ^ Burkett 2002, pp. 69–70.
82. ^ ^{a b} Moyise 2013, p. unpaginated.
83. ^ Bible Mark 3:21
84. ^ Bible Mark 4:26–29
85. ^ Bible Mark 5:13
86. ^ Bible Mark 5:25, Mark 5:42
87. ^ Bible Mark 5:41
88. ^ Bible Mark 7:34
89. ^ ^{a b c} Bible Mark 6:3
90. ^ ^{a b} Bible Matthew 13:55
91. ^ Bible Mark 6:14, Mark 6:24
92. ^ Bible cf. Matthew 14:1; Luke 3:19, Luke 9:7
93. ^ Bible Mark 6:14–29
94. ^ Twelftree 1999, p. 79.
95. ^ Bible Mark 12:29–30
96. ^ Bible Deut 6:4
97. ^ Bible Mark 13:3
98. ^ Bible Mark 14:51–52
99. ^ Bible cf. Matthew 26:57, Luke 3:2, Acts 4:6, John 18:13
100. ^ Bible cf. Mark 14:56, Mark 14:59
101. ^ Bible Mark 14:72
102. ^ Willker, Wieland. "A Textual Commentary on the Greek Gospels. Vol. 2: Mark, p. 448" (PDF). TCG 2007: An Online Textual Commentary on the Greek Gospels (5th ed.). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
103. ^ Bible cf. Mark 15:1, Matthew 27:2, Luke 3:1, John 18:28–29
104. ^ Bible Mark 15:21
105. ^ Bible Mark 15:44–45
106. ^ Bible cf. Mark 16:3, Matthew 28:2–7
107. ^ Bible cf. Mark 16:5, Luke 24:4, John 20:12

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  .
• Roskam, H.N. (2004). The purpose of the Gospel of Mark in its historical and social context. Brill.
  ISBN 978-90-474-1394-3
  .
• Sanders, E (1995). The Historical Figure of Jesus. Penguin UK.
  ISBN 9780141928227
  .
• ISBN 978-1-4051-0825-6
  .
• Smith, Stephen H. (1995). "A Divine Tragedy: Some Observations on the Dramatic Structure of Mark's Gospel". Novum Testamentum. E.J. Brill, Leiden. 37 (3): 209–31.
  JSTOR 1561221
  .
• OCLC 863695341
  .
• ISBN 978-0-664-22336-6
  .
• Telford, William R. (1999). The Theology of the Gospel of Mark. Cambridge University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-521-43977-0
  .
• Theissen, Gerd (1992). The Gospels in Context: Social and Political History in the Synoptic Tradition. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.
• ISBN 978-0-8308-1596-8
  .
• ISBN 978-0-8028-4880-2
  .
• Williams, Guy J. (March 2013). Lawrence, Louise (ed.). "Narrative Space, Angelic Revelation, and the End of Mark's Gospel".
  S2CID 171065040
  .
• Williamson, Lamar (1983). Mark. John Knox Press.
  ISBN 978-0-664-23760-8
  .
• Winn, Adam (2008). The purpose of Mark's gospel. Mohr Siebeck.
  ISBN 978-3-16-149635-6
  .
• ISBN 978-0-8028-4503-0
  .

Further reading

• Beaver, Caurie (2009). Mark: A Twice-Told Story. Wipf and Stoc.
  ISBN 978-1-60899-121-1
  .
• ISBN 978-0-8091-3516-5
  .
• ISBN 978-0-06-197815-9
  .
• Ehrman, Bart D. (2005). Misquoting Jesus. Harper Collins.
  ISBN 978-0-06-085951-0
  .
• Ehrman, Bart D. (2009). Jesus Interrupted. Harper Collins.
  ISBN 978-0-06-117394-3
  .
• ISBN 978-0-8028-0680-2
  .
• Lane, William L. (1974). The Gospel According to Mark: The English Text with Introduction, Exposition and Notes. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
  ISBN 978-0-8028-2502-5
  .
• Levine, Amy-Jill (2001) [1998]. "Visions of kingdoms: From Pompey to the first Jewish revolt". In Coogan, Michael D. (ed.). The Oxford History of the Biblical World. Oxford University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-19-513937-2
  .
• ISBN 978-0-06-065375-0
  .
• Marcus, Joel (2002). Mark 1–8. Anchor Bible Series. Yale University Press.
• Marcus, Joel (2009). Mark 8–16. Anchor Bible Series. Yale University Press.
• ISBN 978-0-15-565726-7
  .
• Robinson, John A.T. (2000). Redating the New Testament. Wipf and Stock.
  ISBN 978-1579105273
  .
• ISBN 978-0-8006-2952-6
  .
• ISBN 978-0-8006-3123-9
  .
• Van Linden, Philip (1992) [1989]. "Mark". In Karris, Robert J. (ed.). The Collegeville Bible Commentary: New Testament, NAB. Liturgical Press. pp. 903–35.
  ISBN 978-0-8146-2211-7
  .
• Weeden, Theodore J. (1995). "The Heresy that Necessitated Mark's Gospel". In Telford, William (ed.). Interpretation of Mark. Continuum.
  ISBN 978-0-567-29256-8
  .
• Winn, Adam (2008). The Purpose of Mark's Gospel: An Early Christian Response to Roman Imperial Propaganda. Mohr Siebeck.
  ISBN 978-3161496356
  .

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Gospel of Mark.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gospel of Mark.

Online translations of the Gospel of Mark

• Bible Gateway 35 languages/50 versions at GospelCom.net
• Unbound Bible 100+ languages/versions at Biola University
• Online Bible at gospelhall.org
• Early Christian Writings: Mark in numerous English translations, on-line scholarly resources
• Mark on Wikisource (King James version)
• Bible: Mark public domain audiobook at LibriVox Various versions

Related articles

• Hist. Eccl. 3.39
• Mark's Gospel in 40 short studies
• A Brief Introduction to Mark
• Resources for the Book of Mark at The Text This Week
• An Online Textual Commentary on the Greek Gospels by Wieland Willker, including detailed text-critical discussion of the 300 most important variants of the Greek text (PDF, 411 pages) and the variant endings (PDF, 17 pages).
• Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture Gospel of Mark, Author Dr. Mary Healy

Gospel of Mark Synoptic Gospel
Preceded by Gospel of Matthew	Books of the Bible	Succeeded by Gospel of Luke