Table Of ContentJohn’s Transformation of Mark
i
ii
John’s Transformation of Mark
Edited by
Eve-Marie Becker
Helen K. Bond
Catrin H. Williams
iii
T&T CLARK
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Copyright © Eve-Marie Becker, Helen K. Bond, Catrin H. Williams and contributors, 2021
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Becker, Eve-Marie, editor. | Bond, Helen K. (Helen Katharine),
editor. | Williams, Catrin H., 1964- editor.
Title: John’s transformation of Mark / edited by Eve-Marie Becker,
Helen K. Bond, Catrin H. Williams.
Description: London ; New York : T&T Clark, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Summary: “John’s Transformation of Mark brings together a cast of internationally recognised
biblical scholars to investigate the relationship between the gospels of Mark and John. In a
signifi cant break with the prevailing view that the two gospels represent independent traditions,
the contributors all argue that John both knew and used the earlier gospel. Drawing on recent
analytical categories such as social memory, ‘secondary orality,’ or ‘relecture,’ and ancient literary
genres such as ‘rewritten Bible’ and bioi, the central questions that drive this volume focus on how
John used Mark, whether we should speak of ‘dependence,’ ‘familiarity with,’ or ‘reception,’ and
whether John intended his work to be a supplement or a replacement of Mark. Together these
chapters mount a strong case for a reassessment of one of the key tenets of modern biblical
criticism, and open up signifi cant new avenues for further research”—Provided by publisher.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2020032744 (print) | LCCN 2020032745 (ebook) | ISBN 9780567691897 (pb) |
ISBN 9780567691934 (hb) | ISBN 9780567691903
(epdf) | ISBN 9780567691910 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Bible. John—Criticism, interpretation, etc. | Bible. Mark—
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Classifi cation: LCC BS2615.52 .J656 2021 (print) | LCC BS2615.52 (ebook) | DDC 226.5/066—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020032744
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020032745
ISBN : HB : 978-0-5676-9193-4
PB : 978-0-5676-9189-7
e PDF : 978-0-5676-9190-3
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Contents
Notes on Contributors vii
Acknowledgements xi
1 John’s Transformation of Mark: Introduction Eve-Marie Becker,
Helen K. Bond and Catrin H. Williams 1
2 John and Mark in the History of Research H arold W. Attridge 9
3 Th e Johannine ‘Relecture’ of Mark J ean Zumstein 23
4 ‘If John Knew Mark’: Critical Inheritance and Johannine
Disagreements with Mark C hris Keith 31
5 John’s ‘Rewriting’ of Mark: Some Insights from Ancient Jewish
Analogues Catrin H. Williams 51
6 Defi ning and Debating Divine Identity in Mark and John:
Th e Infl uence of Classical Language and Literature
George Parsenios 67
7 Parallel Traditions or Parallel Gospels? John’s Gospel as a
Re-Imagining of Mark Mark Goodacre 77
8 Beyond History: How John Transcends Mark and Ancient Historiography
Eve-Marie Becker 91
9 Th e Beginnings of Mark and John: What Exactly Should
Be Compared? Some Hermeneutical Questions and Observations
Christina Hoegen-Rohls 101
10 Jesus in Sharper Relief: Making Sense of the Fourth Gospel’s
Use of Mark 1.2–8 in John 1.19–34 S teve A. Hunt 121
11 John the Baptist in Mark and John: An Exercise in Comparison
Troels Engberg-Pedersen 135
12 How John ‘Rewrites’ Mark as Seen in John 5.1–18
Gilbert Van Belle 149
13 From the Expectation of the Imminent Kingdom to the Presence
of Eternal Life: Eschatology in Mark and John J ö rg Frey 169
14 Ethical Concepts in Mark and John: A Comparative Approach
Oda Wischmeyer 187
15 Th e ‘Speeches’ in Mark and John: Comparative Readings
Susanne Luther 203
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16 Th e Lost Temptation of Christ? John’s Philosophical Rewriting of Markan
Temptation Scenes K asper Bro Larsen 215
17 Th e Plot to Kill Jesus in Mark and John: Refl ections on the
Literary Relationship between Two Early Christian Th eological
Biographies of Jesus on the Basis of a Detail in Th eir Storytelling
Michael Labahn 229
18 Th e Triumph of the King: John’s Transformation of Mark’s
Account of the Passion H elen K. Bond 251
Bibliography 269
Index Ancient Sources 299
General Index 315
Contributors
Harold W. Attridge is the Sterling Professor of Divinity at Yale University Divinity
School. He has engaged in research on Hellenistic Judaism, the Epistle to the Hebrews,
Nag Hammadi texts and the Gospel according to John. Among his many publications
are F irst-Century Cynicism in the Epistles of Heraclitus (Scholars Press, 1976), Th e
Interpretation of Biblical History in the Antiquitates Judaicae o f Flavius Josephus
(Scholars Press, 1976), H ebrews: A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (Fortress,
1989), Th e Acts of Th omas (Polebridge, 2010) and Essays on John and Hebrews (Mohr
Siebeck, 2010). He was elected to be a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences in 2015.
Eve-Marie Becker is Professor of New Testament at the Westfä lische Wilhelms-
Universit ä t M ü nster and was previously Professor of New Testament exegesis at Aarhus
University. She is the author of a number of monographs on Paul and Mark and (early
Christian) literary history, including D er Begriff der Demut bei Paulus/Paul on Humility
(Mohr Siebeck, 2015/Baylor, 2020), Der Philipperbrief des Paulus (Narr Francke, 2020),
Das Markus-Evangelium im Rahmen der antiken Historiographie (Mohr Siebeck, 2006),
Der fr ü heste Evangelist (Mohr Siebeck, 2017) and Th e Birth of Christian History (Yale
University Press, 2017). She is currently working on a F r ü hchristliche Literaturgeschichte
(de Gruyter) and a commentary on P hilippians (Meyers KEK series).
Helen K. Bond is Professor of Christian Origins and Head of the School of Divinity at
the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on the social and political history of
Judaea under Roman rule, the historical Jesus, and the canonical gospels. She is the
author of a number of books, including P ontius Pilate in History and Interpretation
(Cambridge University Press, 1998), C aiaphas: Friend of Rome and Judge of Jesus?
(Westminster John Knox, 2004), Th e Historical Jesus: A Guide for the Perplexed
(Bloomsbury, 2012) and Th e First Biography of Jesus: Genre and Meaning in Mark’s
Gospel (Eerdmans, 2020). She is presently writing a commentary on Mark’s Gospel for
the Oxford Bible Commentary.
Troels Engberg-Pedersen was educated in Classics (Copenhagen, 1974) and ancient
and modern philosophy (Oxford, 1974–76). His fi rst doctoral dissertation ( DP hil)
addressed Aristotle’s ethics (1982); he then wrote on Stoic ethics (1990), and his second
doctoral dissertation ( DT heol) addressed Paul and Stoicism (2000). Until his
retirement in 2016 he was Professor of New Testament at the University of Copenhagen.
His research focuses on ancient philosophy, not least Stoicism, and the New Testament,
particularly Paul and John. Among his most recent publications are F rom Stoicism
to Platonism: Th e Development of Philosophy, 100 BCE –100 CE (editor, Cambridge
vii
viii Contributors
University Press, 2017) and J ohn and Philosophy: A New Reading of the Fourth Gospel
(Oxford University Press, 2017).
J ö rg Frey is Professor of New Testament Interpretation with special focus on Ancient
Judaism and Hermeneutics in the Faculty of Th eology at the University of Z ü rich, and
Research Fellow in the Department of Old and New Testament Studies at the University
of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. He is the author of several works,
including Die johanneische Eschatologie (3 vols; Mohr Siebeck, 1997–2000), Die
Herrlichkeit des Gekreuzigten / Th e Glory of the Crucifi ed One: Christology and Th eology
in the Gospel of John (Mohr Siebeck, 2013; Baylor University Press, 2018) and Th eology
and History in the Fourth Gospel: Tradition and Narration (Baylor University Press,
2018).
Mark Goodacre is the Frances Hill Fox Professor of Religious Studies at Duke
University, North Carolina. He earned his MA , MP hil and DP hil at the University of
Oxford. His research interests include the Gospels, the Apocryphal New Testament,
and the Historical Jesus. Goodacre is the author of four books, including G oulder and
the Gospels: An Examination of a New Paradigm (T&T Clark, 1996), Th e Case Against
Q: Studies in Markan Priority and the Synoptic Problem (Trinity Press International,
2002) and Th omas and the Gospels: Th e Case for Th omas’s Familiarity with the Synoptics
(Eerdmans, 2012). He is currently working on a book on John’s knowledge of the
Synoptic Gospels.
Christina Hoegen-Rohls studied Protestant theology, German studies and comparative
education in Munich and Z ü rich and is currently Professor for Biblical Studies (Old
and New Testaments) and their didactics at Westf ä lische Wilhelms-Universit ä t
M ü nster. Her main research areas are the Johannine Writings and Paul’s Letters, and
the history of the reception of the Bible in literature and arts. She is Area Editor
(Literature) of the Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception and is currently working
on a commentary on the Pastoral Letters ( KEK ; Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht). She is a
Research Fellow in the Department of Old and New Testament Studies at the University
of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
Steven A. Hunt has a PhD from the University of Sheffi eld and is Professor of New
Testament at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. In addition to a number of
professional articles and his technical work, R ewriting the Feeding of Five Th ousand:
John 6.1–15 as a Test Case for Johannine Dependence on the Synoptic Gospels (Peter
Lang, 2011), he also edited P erspectives on Our Father Abraham (Eerdmans, 2010) and
co-edited and contributed several chapters to the volume C haracter Studies in the
Fourth Gospel: Narrative Approaches to Seventy Figures in John (Mohr Siebeck/
Eerdmans, 2016). He is presently co-writing a commentary on John’s Gospel for the
Oxford Bible Commentary.
Chris Keith is Research Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at St Mary’s
University, Twickenham, where he also serves as the Director of the Centre for the
Contributors ix
Social-Scientifi c Study of the Bible. His research focuses on the book cultures of Second
Temple Judaism and early Christianity, sociological approaches to memory and
historiography, the Gospels, and the historical Jesus. He was a winner of the 2010 John
Templeton Award for Th eological Promise and his publications include Th e Pericope
Adulterae, the Gospel of John, and the Literacy of Jesus (Brill, 2009), J esus against the
Scribal Elite: Th e Origins of the Confl ict (rev. ed. T&T Clark, 2020) and Th e Gospel as
Manuscript: An Early History of the Jesus Tradition as Material Artifact (Oxford
University Press, 2020).
Michael Labahn is Extraordinary Professor at Martin-Luther-University in Halle-
Wittenberg, and Extraordinary Associate Professor at North-West University
(Potchefstroom Campus), South Africa. His primary research interests include Q, the
Johannine literature, the Book of Revelation, and the religious and cultural context of
early Christianity, early Christian ethics, and the reception of the Old Testament in the
New. He is the author of Jesus als Lebensspender: Untersuchungen zu einer Geschichte
der johanneischen Tradition anhand ihrer Wundergeschichten (de Gruyter, 1999),
Der Gekommene als Wiederkommender: Die Logienquelle als erz ä hlte Geschichte
(Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2010), and a selection of his essays on John have been
published in A usgew ä hlte Studien zum Johannesevangelium: Selected Studies in the
Gospel of John (ed. Antje Labahn; Peeters, 2017).
Kasper Bro Larsen is Professor of New Testament Studies at Aarhus University,
Denmark, and Research Fellow in the Department of Old and New Testament
Studies at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. He has
published widely in Johannine studies, especially on the relationship between John’s
Gospel and similar motifs in the wider Graeco-Roman literature. His publications
include Recognizing the Stranger: Recognition Scenes in the Gospel of John (Brill, 2008,
repr. 2012) and Th e Gospel of John as Genre Mosaic (ed., Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht,
2015).
Susanne Luther , Dr. habil., is Assistant Professor of New Testament, Faculty of
Th eology and Religious Studies, University of Groningen. Her main research interests
include speech ethics, ancient miracle stories, and the debate on fi ctionality and
factuality in early Christian literature. She is the author of Sprachethik im Neuen
Testament: Eine Analyse des fr ü hchristlichen Diskurses im Matth ä usevangelium, im
Jakobusbrief und im 1. Petrusbrief (Mohr Siebeck, 2015) and D ie Authentifi zierung der
Vergangenheit: Literarische Geschichtsdarstellung im Johannesevangelium (Mohr
Siebeck, 2020).
George Parsenios is Professor of New Testament at Princeton Th eological Seminary,
and Research Fellow in the Department Old and New Testament Studies of the
University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. His research explores the
interaction of early Christianity with classical literature, as well as the interpretation of
the New Testament in the early church. He is the author of Departure and Consolation:
Th e Johannine Farewell Discourses in Light of Greco-Roman Literature (Brill, 2005),
