The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (2001 Witherington), book

Ben Witherington, The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001).

Abstract

"This commentary offers the first sustained attempt to read the Gospel of Mark both as an ancient biography and as a form of ancient rhetoric. Ben Witherington applies to Mark the socio-rhetorical approach for which he is well known, opening a new perspective on the earliest Gospel that also emphasizes Mark's theological and ethical interests and purposes. Based on a fresh translation of the Greek text, Witherington's commentary makes clear Mark's focus on the identity of Jesus, on the importance of knowing who he is - the Christ, the Son of God - in order to properly understand why he had to die ... Written when the fledging Christian faith was experiencing a major crisis during the Jewish war, Mark provides us with the first window on how the life and teachings of Jesus were presented to a largely non-Jewish audience. According to Witherington, the structure of Mark demonstrates that this Gospel is biographically focused on the identity of Jesus and the importance of knowing who he is--the Christ, the Son of God. This finding reveals that Christology stood at the heart of the earliest Christians' faith. It also shows how important it was to these earliest Christians to persuade others about the nature of Jesus, both as a historical figure and as the Savior of the world ... Among the valuable features of this commentary are special sections designed to help modern readers of Mark apply the text to life today and excurses that highlight technical topics for scholars and more advanced Bible students."--Publisher description.

Contents

The genre of Mark -- The rhetoric of Mark -- Mark's sources -- Mark's style and facility with Greek -- The authorship and audience of the earliest gospel -- Mark in its social context -- The structure of Mark's gospel -- Mark's Christology, the Messianic secret, and Mark's ending -- The contours of Mark's Christology -- Mark on discipleship -- Mark as story -- Point of view -- The commentary -- The superscript -- News of new beginnings (1:1-15) -- The call of the fishermen (1:16-20) -- The sabbatical plan (1:21-28) -- Healings at home and on the road (1:29-45) -- The controversial Christ (2:1--3:6) -- Preview and review (3:7-12) -- The creation of a ministering community, the forsaking of family and neighbors (3:13--6:6a) -- The tests of discipleship; the trials of God's anointed one (6:6b--8:38) -- Transfigured glory and transformed disciples (9:1--10:52) -- Long day's journey into night, part 1 (11:1--13:37) -- Long day's journey into night, part 2 (14:1--15:47) -- The end of the beginning of the Gospel (16:1-8).

External links

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