The Appendices to the Gospel according to Mark. 425 



1. Is this a true saying of Jesus ? 



Since it does not agree with his words or his spirit we conclude that 

 it is not. Since we possess only a Greek translation of the sayings 

 Jesus uttered in the Aramaic, all arguments must rest on a foundation 

 more or less insecure, nevertheless most scholars will agree : 



a) Jesus would scarcely have spoken of "the limit of the years of 

 the power of Satan." 



b) Instead of twv aij.aprrjaavTwv Jesus would have said twv aixap- 



c) The expression •j7roG--p£(pcoG-!,v dc, ty)v yXrfizicc/ would scarcely 

 have been used by Jesus for repentance or conversion. It reminds 

 us of the Johannine phraseology, but possesses no N.T. parallel. It 

 is quite unlike the simple and direct expressions of the Synoptic 

 Gospels. 



d) The expression to " inherit the spiritual and incorruptible glory 

 of righteousness" is "quite foreign to the New Testament, and to the 

 words of Jesus most of all" (Goodspeed). The center of the ex 

 pression "the glory of righteousness" is, it is true, simple, but scarcely 

 like a word of Jesus. 



e) As to the rhetoric in this logion, we may conclude with Gregory, 

 " Ich glaube die meisten werden bereit sein mit mir zu sagen, daB das 

 Knappe, Kernige, Unmittelbare, Unvermittelte, das Ziel scharf und 

 schnell Treffende, das wir in den durch die vier Evangelisten iiber- 

 heferten Aussagen Jesu finden, hier sich in keiner Weise zeigt." (Das 

 Freer-Logion, p. 61.) 



A word study of this section reveals both its dependence on our 

 Gospels and its unlikeness to them. 



^O aicov ouTTOi; reminds us of 6 vuv aiwv and its contrast : aiwv 6 

 iji7^>.wv in the Synoptists and Paul ; and saco is used in the same 

 writings. Uvsu^xa is common in Mark ; aT^yjsOiav reminds us of John, 

 and BixawiT'JvY] of Paul. As to "the power of Satan" compare Luke 

 10 : 19 ; Col. 1 : 13. With "the limit of the years ... of Satan" com- 

 pare John 12:31; 16:11. With "sin no more" compare John 

 5: 14. Atjvap.^ is used of the power of God, (see Matt. 22:29; 

 Mark 12 : 24 ; Luke 22 : 69) but never by Paul and the Synoptists is 

 the expression "the power of Christ" used. TTCoffTrpsfpoj is found in 

 Acts 13 : 34 ; 2 Pet. 2 : 21, but not in this sense. It is never used in 

 the N.T. of conversion but a parallel with Imo-Tecpw is found in 

 Acts 26 : 18. 



The words opo?, Betv6<;, and Tcpoo-Xsyo) are never found in the N.T. 



The expression opo? 7:£X>.Yipo)Tai is as strange one, as is also "to 

 inherit the spiritual and incorruptible glory of righteousness in 



