The Title "Lord" in the Gospel of Mark

St. 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 . . .