Dependence of Mark upon Matthew (Continued)

9. Summary: Character Profile of the Writer of Mark

A clear view of the attitudes, capabilities and theology held by the writer of Mark can be gained from a summary of the types of alterations he made to Matthew. This summary includes the changes and redactions discussed in previous Secs. 3-7, plus the relevant Markan words, phrases and verses that are absent from Matthew as extracted from a list by Stoldt.[1] I have placed them all in the 13 categories below, along with the number of cases in each category.

1. Markan awareness of Matthew indicated by careless editing........... 65
2. Fictitious added details................................................................... 46
3. Change for the sake of change (less specific than category 2).......... 44
4. Improvements to Matthew to make passage easier to understand.... 37
5. Slurs against Jewish disciples and Jewish people alike..................... 29
6. Special material available only to the writer of Mark........................ 21
7. Reverential or christological upgrades to Matthean text.................... 16
8. Jesus as authoritative, in command and/or fearless........................... 13
9. Promoting a gentile theme................................................................. 6
10. Promoting the written gospel (Mk 1:15, 8:35, 10:29, 13:10, 14:9)... 5
11. Jesus treated with special dignity (Mk 3:9, 4:38, 11:2, 14:15).......... 4
12. Anti-Judaistic passage (12:32,34)............................. ..................... 1
13. Scribal assimilation (Mk 12:41-44)................................................. 1

Category 3 is the most incomplete, as many dualisms or pleonisms have been omitted. This category fits an underlying motivation of making the text of Mark be different from just a mere translation of Hebraic Matthew. Except for category 13, only category 6 above reflects well or honorably upon the writer of Mark by present-day standards. Category 13 refers to Mk 12:41-44, which has all the appearances of a somewhat later scribal assimilation taken from Lk 21:1-4.

REFERENCES

1. Stoldt, Hans-Herbert, History and Criticism of the Marcan Hypothesis, D. L. Niewyk, Transl., (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1980), pp. 11-17.

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