The Use of Scripture in the Markan Passion Narrative (The Library of New Testament Studies)

Book info: The Use of Scripture in the Markan Passion Narrative (The Library of New Testament Studies) (Hardcover, 344 pages) – T&T Clark, 2010. Language: English.

This work examines the effect of the use of scripture on the interpretation of the Markan passion narrative, Mark 14:1-15:47. In the methodically focused section which begins the work, Kelli O'Brien first defines the term allusion and the criteria by which allusions are established and then. She then tests the allusions suggested by previous scholars. For the trial and crucifixion scenes, only eleven references have sufficient verbal and other correspondence to be considered probable or certain allusions, out of the roughly 150 references suggested. The numbers for allusions in Mark 14:1-52 are similar. Demonstrable allusions are relatively few, too few to support the theory favoured by many that the passion narrative was constructed by means of allusions to Scripture. The work assesses the interpretive impact of the allusions on the Markan passion narrative, considering how those passages are treated in Jewish and Christian traditions potentially available to the author. Allusions interpret the Markan Christology, but they also interpret other aspects of the drama, such as the opponents in the Jewish trial and the offer of vinegary wine. Most importantly, allusions in the passion narrative indicate in what sense the author understood Jesus' death to be redemptive and that the "ransom" the Son of Man gives (Mark 10:45) is eschatological.

Editorial Reviews Review

“The serious scholarship so neatly presented will, however, provide useful norms of investigation and a quarry for further work.” ―Biblical Studies and Scripture

“O'Brien's monograph now stands as the benchmark for the use of Scripture in the Markan passion narrative, and all who execute studies of this sort here will have to reckon with her conclusions.” ―Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

About the Author Kelli O'Brien is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Regis University, Colorado, USA.

Chris Keith is Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society, Norway. He is the author of The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John and the Literacy of Jesus, a winner of the 2010 John Templeton Award for Theological Promise, and Jesus' Literacy: Scribal Culture and the Teacher from Galilee. He is also the co-editor of Jesus among Friends and Enemies: A Historical and Literary Introduction to Jesus in the Gospels, and was recently named a 2012 Society of Biblical Literature Regional Scholar.