Dedicated to the memory of Professor Eduard Yechezkel Kutscher (1909-1971). |
Revised: 9 November 2022[1]
Table of Contents |
1. Introduction 2. Mark’s Freedom and Creativity 2a. Grammar 2b. Vocabulary |
The writing style of the author of the Gospel of Mark has long been regarded as idiosyncratic.[2] Mark’s pervasive use of the “historical present”[3] and its bizarre proliferation of the word εὐθύς are two well-known examples.[4] Despite its awkwardness, and indeed sometimes because of it, Mark’s Gospel has been regarded as the most primitive of the Synoptic Gospels and one of the sources for the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Robert Lindsey challenged this scholarly consensus of Markan Priority when he discovered the more Hebraic quality of Luke vis-à-vis Mark and vis-à-vis Matthew wherever Matthew was dependent on Mark. Lindsey concluded that Luke was the first of the Synoptic Gospels, that Mark reworked Luke, and that Matthew is based on Mark and one of the sources upon which Luke is based.[5]
Premium Members
If you are not a Premium Member, please consider becoming one starting at $10/month (paid monthly) or only $5/month (paid annually):
One Time Purchase Rather Than Membership
Rather than a membership, you may also purchase access to this entire page for $1.99 USD. (If you do not have an account select "Register & Purchase.")

- [1] Revised with the assistance of Joshua N. Tilton and Lauren S. Asperschlager. ↩
- [2] For abbreviations and bibliographical references, see “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.’” ↩
- [3] See Hawkins, 143-149; Taylor, 46-47; Randall Buth, “Mark’s Use of the Historical Present,” Notes On Translation 65 (1977): 13-28. ↩
- [4] In Mark εὐθύς (evthūs, “immediately”) occurs 41xx, compared to 7xx in Matthew, and 1x in Luke. ↩
- [5] See “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.’” ↩