Character Profile: Who Was John Mark?

How to cite this article: David Flusser, “Character Profile: Who Was John Mark?” Jerusalem Perspective (2013) [https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/22132/].

This essay was originally composed as a companion to Robert Lindsey’s article “My Search for the Synoptic Problem’s Solution (1959-1969).”

John Mark is the supposed author of the second Gospel in the New Testament. He was evidently a Cypriot Jew and a member of the first Christian community in Jerusalem. He became Paul’s companion in his missionary journeys, quarreled with him, returned to Jerusalem and finally went with Peter to Rome where he met Paul again and was reconciled with him. According to a Christian tradition, he was buried in Alexandria, but his body was finally brought to Venice and buried in the famous San Marco church. His symbol in Christian art is a lion, and this animal became the emblem of the Venetian republic.

• ^[1] Robert L. Lindsey, A Hebrew Translation of the Gospel of Mark (Jerusalem: Dugith Publishers, 1969 [1st ed.]; 1973 [2d ed.]. xxvi + 162 pp. [Preface to the 2nd ed., pp. v-xxvi. Foreword by David Flusser, pp. 1-8. Introduction, pp. 9-84. Greek text and Hebrew trans., pp. 85-159.]). ↩
• ^[2] This article originally appeared on page 11 of the Friday, October 24, 1969 Jerusalem Post Magazine [the weekend supplement]. ↩