JW:
The subject of this Thread, the Markan use of clothing, fits in my other Award winning Thread here:
Is "Mark" a Simple Fish Story or Smooth Sualvific and Deboanerges? An Inventory of Markan Literary Technique.
but the subject of clothing in GMark is so pervasive that I think it deserves a dedicated Thread. A detailed article on the subject can be found here:
UNDRESSING JESUS IN THE GOSPEL OF MARK: A NARRATIVE-CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CLOTHING OF THE CHARACTER OF JESUS
Calogero A. Miceli
For starters, let's begin to break down the attire of GMark's successful Christ/Son of God candidate:
Verse | Word | Literal | Context | Theme | Spiritual | Commentary |
9:3
| 3022 [e] leuka λευκὰ white Adj-NNP | Jesus' clothes became extremely white | Heaven announces high up to Jesus' main disciples that Jesus' has heavenly authority | The entire Gospel consists of evidence being presented to Jesus' disciples regarding who/what he is. Here the evidence is directly from Heaven | The "evidence" from Heaven is revelation and not historical witness (per the narrative the supposed historical witnesses to this do not tell anyone about it). The extremely white clothing is a spiritual marker that identifies the revealed nature of Jesus = son of God (This is my beloved Son). | First use of the offending word which is often used in a religious context |
16:5
| 3022 [e] leukēn λευκήν, white, Adj-AFS | Female followers of Jesus witness a young man in the tomb who is wearing white | The young man proclaims the risen Jesus | The entire Gospel has a theme that none of Jesus' followers believed in his Passion mission. Here Jesus' male disciples don't even have enough faith/respect to even show up while some female followers receive potentially quality evidence for the Passion mission but don't believe it | Historical witness in GMark never follows spiritual authority | White traditionally represents purity/divine. These are the only two times "Mark" (author) uses the "white" description suggesting a connection in the narrative between Heaven revealing Jesus' proper identity in the first usage and a human witness accepting Jesus proper identity in the second usage. Nota Ben = GMark, as always, reveals its Separationist nature here (so to speak). It is "Jesus" that has been resurrected, not "the Christ". |
Joseph
ErrancyWiki