Friday, October 15, 2010

The Title "Lord" in the Gospel of Mark

Andrea Mantegna, 1431-1506
(Image from Wikipedia)

Following up on yesterday's blog, I checked for "Lord" in the Gospel of Mark and found, if I've not miscounted, that it occurs 20 times, about 9 times referring to Jesus.

But the term does not seem to stand for "Yahweh" (יְהוָה), as a careful reading of Mark 12:35-37 implies:
12:35 Καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἔλεγεν διδάσκων ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ Πῶς λέγουσιν οἱ γραμματεῖς ὅτι ὁ Χριστὸς υἱὸς ἐστιν Δαβίδ

12:35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David?

12:36 αὐτὸς γὰρ Δαβὶδ εἶπεν ἐν τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ Εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου

12:36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

12:37 αὐτὸς οὖν Δαβὶδ λέγει αὐτὸν κύριον καὶ πόθεν υἱός αὐτοῦ ἐστιν καὶ ὁ πολὺς ὄχλος ἤκουεν αὐτοῦ ἡδέως

12:37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he [then] his son? And the common people heard him gladly.
The term "Lord" that is here applied to the Messiah is not "Yahweh" (יְהוָה), which does also occur, but "Adonai" (אדֹנִי), as shown by the Hebrew of Psalm 110:1, which was being interpreted as a Messianic prooftext:
110:1 לְדָוִד מִזְמֹור נְאֻם יְהוָה לַֽאדֹנִי שֵׁב לִֽימִינִי עַד־אָשִׁית אֹיְבֶיךָ הֲדֹם לְרַגְלֶֽיךָ׃

110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
But the Gospel of Mark nevertheless does appear, in Mark 11:9-10, to assimilate the "name of the Lord" to Jesus as Messiah:
11:9 καὶ οἱ προάγοντες καὶ οἱ ἀκολουθοῦντες ἔκραζον λέγοντες, Ὡσαννά Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου

11:9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed [is] he that cometh in the name of the Lord:

11:10 Εὐλογημένη ἡ ἐρχομένη βασιλεία ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου, τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Δαβίδ Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις

11:10 Blessed [be] the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
Here, we see that Jesus is described in Mark as coming in "the name of the Lord," which doesn't quite say that he bears that name as his own, but does imply that he bear's the Lord's authority. These two verses seem to allude to Psalm 118:26, where "Lord" translates "Yahweh" (יְהוָה):
118:26 בָּרוּךְ הַבָּא בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה בֵּרַֽכְנוּכֶם מִבֵּית יְהוָֽה׃

118:26 Blessed [be] he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
The Gospel of Mark therefore, perhaps consistent with what William Wrede called Mark's "Messianic Secret," only coyly links Jesus as Messiah to the title "Lord" with the meaning of "Yahweh" (יְהוָה).

As we've seen, then, the Gospel of John is much less coy about this linkage, claiming not merely the title but even the name . . .

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15 Comments:

At 10:18 AM, Blogger John from Daejeon said...

Well, here, back in your neck of the woods, you will find no lord or god.

Anyway, I figured you'd want to know that it will be released on dvd at the end of the month or you can download it now from the guys doing the devil's work at The Pirate Bay and other torrent uploaders.

It's quite a remarkable film.

 
At 10:52 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Thanks, I had heard about the film and seen the trailer. I'm almost afraid to watch it, given that I know, or knew, people like that from my teenage years, and many of them are now gone or wasted.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 12:00 PM, Blogger John from Daejeon said...

It's scary that things like this are happening all around us, but most people (especially the religious) seem to have blinders on and allow so many of our fellow men, women, and, most inexcusably, children to fall through the cracks of life. We usually call these "fellow human beings" the black sheep of our families, if we speak about them at all.

But this is a great movie that shows that even in the great and powerful United States of America, there are wars being won and lost every single day deep within its own borders.

I think you might even want to watch it with your children as a great learning tool about the realities of life after you've digested it first.

 
At 12:28 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Heck Jeff.

You may've seen the trailer (no, not my old one) but not all the people from your teenaged self (despite what you may've posted on the doggoned World-Wide Web (and thus Google) are gone.

Maybe wasted - but who's to say?

I'm gonna always be here. I'm gonna keep you up-to-date with what's happening in Mountain Home. I'm gonna keep giving Sun-Ae ammunition for her birthdays.

And (hopefully worse) I'm gonna keep that Baxter County Big Creek Old Guy Baptist preacher apprised of your whereabouts.

And your current email address.

JK

 
At 2:36 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

I'll probably watch, but it'll likely be too much for my kids.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 2:38 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Thanks, JK. I figured I could count on you.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 8:23 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

When you have time, you might also investigate passages such as John 10:24-33, where Jesus claimed to be one with the Father.

Also in John 8:54-58 where we read:

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. (John 8:58).

This is a reference to Exodus 3:13-14, when God said to Moses,
I AM THAT I AM.

The claims of Jesus to being the promised Messiah and equality with God the Father are pretty clear.

Cran

 
At 8:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And now my search for the mysterious and elusive JK has narrowed to north central Arkansas, possibly within a 50 mile radius of Salem, AR.

Keep talking!
I'll find you yet.

Cran

 
At 8:45 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Uncle Cran, I think that we see a clearly and consistently more explicitly theological reflection in John than in Mark or the other two synoptics, but Mark might already be alluding to Jesus as bearing the "Name" of the Lord.

Even in John, it's hard to prove since the text does not come out and state explicitly . . . though John 8:54-58 gets awfully close.

Thanks for the reminder.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 9:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well Cran,

I do travel quite a bit. Sometimes far afield, and stay away for extended periods.

JK

 
At 9:20 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Just stay far away from 'Baxterd' County, and you'll remain unfound out, JK.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 9:37 PM, Anonymous dhr said...

this all sounds like:

........ in the ga-a-a-a-rden... of... Gethsemaneeee...

 
At 9:51 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

JC Superstar. I remember.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 8:51 PM, Blogger John from Daejeon said...

Yeah, this film is pretty graphic in its realism and probably shouldn't be seen by too young a viewer (sadly, a lot of youngsters deal with the same subject matter on a daily basis in their real lives). However, Gracie's Choice is along the same lines (an older high school-aged sister doing whatever it takes to care for her younger siblings due to the twist of fate/god that provided the DNA that made their useless and self-destructive parents) but it can be watched be watched by younger viewers. Interestingly, "Gracie's Choice" first came to light as an "real-life" article in "Reader's Digest" before getting Movie of the Week treatment on the Lifetime Network.

 
At 9:47 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Thanks, John, for the link. I hadn't heard of that story or film.

Jeffery Hodges

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