Re: kratew / Mark 3,21

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Mon Jan 03 2000 - 20:21:39 EST


<x-rich>At 7:48 PM +0100 1/3/00, storch@storchsites.de wrote:

>Hello everybody,

>

>I am pondering about Mark 3,21. Especially the word "kratew"
(krathsai) it

>is normally translated in a way that indicates, that Jesus? relatives
tried

>to violantely take him back home. (Some german translations are very

>explicit in this point).

>Is it also possible to translate, that they tried to hold him back
from his

>ministry? According to the STRONG?s Concordance this is a possible

>translation of kratew, but I didn?t find any translation that
translates

>this way.

>In this context it seems to make more sense for his relatives could
not lay

>hold on Jesus, for they could not enter the house.

I would agree that Charles Stevens that we can't say anything about the
INTENT of the family; yet in the context of this extraordinary Marcan
"triptych" (my own preferred descriptive term for the enclosure of one
pericope between two closely-related "framing" pericopae so that the
framing pericopae interpret the centerpiece and the centerpiece throws
light back upon frame) the impact of their action would effectively be
to "hinder" Jesus' activity. Note that 3:21: his family come to seize
Jesus because he is apparently out of his mind; 22-30 Scribes from
Jerusalem assert even worse: Jesus is subject to Satanic power, to
which Jesus replies with riddles about power disrupted and about
seizing control over "the strong one"; 31-35 news reaches Jesus that
his family are seeking him, to which he replies that his real family
are those in his company or those who do the will of God.

Without endeavoring to assert an interpretation as such, I would just
note that Mark's gospel lacks the sort of semi-sympathetic stance of
Jesus towards his family that other gospels suggest; in fact, Mark's
gospel is one of numerous stark contrasts and harsh (at least
superficially) judgments. I think that the use of the word KRATEW in
3:21 signals a theme of this whole sequence 3:21-35.

Here's what I think hits the nail on the head in L&N for the meaning of
KRATEW in Mk 3:21:

37.110 KRATEW; EPILAMBANOMAI; EPIBALLW TAS CEIRAS/ (EPI) (an idiom,
literally 'to lay hands on'); EKTEINW TAS CEIRAS EPIÖ (an idiom,
literally 'to stretch out hands upon'); PIAZW : to take a person into
custody for alleged illegal activity - 'to seize, to arrest.'

KRATEW; hO GAR hHRWDHS KRATHSAS TON IWANNHN EDHSEN AUTON KAI EN FULAKHi
APEQETO 'for Herod had ordered John's arrest, and had him tied up and
put in prison' Mt 14:3.

Carl W. Conrad

Department of Classics/Washington University

One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018

Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649

cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu

WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/

</x-rich>



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