[B-Greek] Mark 1.14

Mark Goodacre M.S.Goodacre at bham.ac.uk
Fri Nov 7 08:35:24 EST 2003


On 6 Nov 2003 at 5:51, Carl W. Conrad wrote:

> All this is certainly plausible, Mark, but 

The "but" and what comes after suggest that I should interpret this 
use of the word "plausible" in line with the immediate context as 
meaning something like "possible" or "plausible-sounding but 
unconvincing".  Is there a difference of nuance, I wonder, between 
American and British uses of the word plausible?

> (a) it's no longer a
> question about what the text must mean but rather, as you say, of
> translation and interpretation--not matters that can be resolved by
> analysis of the Greek text as a Greek text, but rather matters that
> depend upon how one understands the immediate and broader context of a
> text whose Greek sense is already reasonably clear,

Yes, though I'd want to add that I'd be wary of too marked a 
distinction between "analysis of the Greek text as a Greek text" and 
"translation and interpretation" -- but that's a perennial.

> and (b) I'm not
> sure it's compelling. Is JnBpt not engaged in proclamation of the
> EUAGGELION?

No, not according to Mark.  I think for Mark John is preparing the 
way of the Lord;  it's pre-gospeling if there is such a thing.  

> How are you understanding EUAGGELION IHSOU CRISTOU in Mk
> 1:1?

I'd take it as an objective genitive, Gospel of Jesus Christ i.e. the 
gospel concerning him, which involves more than just the gospel that 
he preached.

>  EUAGGELION appears relatively rarely in Mk: Mark 1:1,14-15; 8:35;
> 10:29; 13:10; 14:9; 16:15 (I wouldn't count 16:15), and only once with
> TOU QEOU. So, although I think it's plausible, it really doesn't seem
> compelling to me. -- 

As above, I'm intrigued by your use of "plausible" and "compelling", 
which I would more nearly equate than distinguish, though I'd also 
have "compelling" as stronger than "plausible".  Anyway, the fact 
that EUAGGELION doesn't occur again with TOU QEOU is exactly my point 
-- that Jesus has received the gospel "from God" in 1.14 and 
subsequently Mark talks about the content of and preaching of that 
gospel, not its origin.

Mark
-----------------------------
Dr Mark Goodacre                 mailto:M.S.Goodacre at bham.ac.uk
  Graduate Institute for Theology & Religion 
  Dept of Theology                  
  University of Birmingham      
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  Birmingham    B29 6LQ  UK      fax: +44 121 415 8376
  
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