MAUK 



look place appears from Col. iv. I": Phil. 24: 2 

 Tim 11 II. where Mark i* referred to by the 

 a;--!..- a. a ux ful frllow worker. Another chapter 

 in Mark - life i indit-nted in I Peter, v. 13, w heie he 

 mentioned as a companion of the apoxtlc !' t.-i in 

 lUbylon, unlcw indeed, as baa been done by some 

 interpreters, we take ' Marcus my .M ' in a literal 

 MM, in which ca*e, of course, a different person is 

 referred to. \Ve -i>..uld not naturally think of 

 interpreting Rahylon here as meaning l:.uiii. " 

 it not for subsequent ecclesiastical tradition which 

 usually (peaks of Mark as the -disciple and inter- 

 preter'' of Peter, and mentions Koine as the scene of 



-.iHiurs till the martyrdom of the latter about 

 64 A n This tradition] in turn, is not easily 

 brought into agreement with the very generally 

 accepted statement of Kucbiu, that Mark from 

 Rome went to Alexandria, where, after proclaiming 

 the gospel lie bad written, he was succeeded in the 

 pastoral office by Animianus in the eighth year of 

 Nero (03 A.D. -. Thm last date is given as his death 

 year in the Koman breviary. A further tradition 

 peaks of Mark as having preached in other parts 

 of Italy besides Koine, and especially at Aipiilcia. 

 On the strength of this tradition the Kni|x'ror 

 Heraclius in U'-".' A. D. sent the patriarchal chair 



\lc\andria to t.'rado, whither the Aijuileian 

 natriarrli.it.- had previously been removed. The 

 Veni-tiaii legend of the translation of the relics of 

 k from Alexandria to Venice (q.v.) in the'.Kh 

 century i* denied by Tillemont, and rests on very 

 inadequate evidence. He U sometimes spoken of 

 as having suffered martyrdom, but by none of the 

 older authorities nor by the Koman breviary. His 

 feast day is April AY' In medieval art Mark is 

 symboli-cd by the lion. Various New Testament 

 books have I--.-M attributed to him by individual 

 modem criiic-< i Kpistle to Hebrews, Epistle of 

 Jnde, and, more recently, the Apocalypse, in whole 

 or in part). For the traditions, l H >th earlier and 

 later, regarding Mark, see Molinus, De Vita et 

 Liliifiiii' N. Mum Kiiiinirli.itir ( Koine, 1864). 



THBOOCPKLAOOOROIIfa In \l \KK. -Two distinct 

 accounts of tin- origin of this gospel, both of them 

 in. -lit - fi om earlier tradition, were formulated 

 respectively bv Augustine and by Jerome; lioth 

 gained general curiency throughout the AVestern 

 Church, and no dilliculty with regard to either of 

 tin-in was expressed for many centuries. Angus- 

 tine's view (see GOSPELS) was that Mark merely 

 followed and abridged Matthew, Jerome's that he 

 wrote at the direct dictation of Peter. Modern 

 critici.in accept-, neither. ( 1 ) The germs of Augus- 

 tine's account are found in Irena-im (end of 2d cen- 

 tury ), who says that Matthew had already written 

 his impel before Mark began his, and in Ch-iin-ut 

 of Alexandria (cirai 210 A.I).), who has it that the 

 two gospels containing the genealogies were com- 

 posed first, and implies that Mark nod seen tin-in 

 both. Mark's dependence on Matthew was first 

 controverted towards the end of the 1 8th century 

 ( Koppe, Storr), and his priority to Uith Matthew 

 and Luke waa aigned for and illustrated with 

 much cogent detail by Wilke and Weisse in two 

 independent, works in 1838. Raiir and his school 

 continued to defend the traditional view so far at 

 least as to maintain that the second gospel wan 

 a late conciliatory combination of Matthew and 

 with the khioiiitism of the one and the 

 Paulinism of the other left out. Hut Kwald again 

 claimed priority for Mark, and bin view, support. -.1 

 at the time by Hitachi and by many others since, 

 my now be regarded as, subject to certain qualifi- 

 cations, mierally accepted on all hands. Among 

 the consideration, that have led to this condition 

 are certain peculiarities of language and phrase- 

 ology in which Mark is confessedly Ten refined and 

 ' than Lake or even Matthew. It U held 



to be unlikely that in course of Imrrowing the more 

 vulgar M\ h- of e\pre -ion should be substituted for 

 the more iHilite. Ay.-iin. the graphic, vivid, and 

 abrupt style of Mark ( i-h I-.N use of the 



historical present and by other feature*) is not that 

 of a mere abbreviator or cop\ ist. Further, the pro- 

 gress of the narrative, which materially dillers 

 fiom that in Matthew and in Luke, i- now held to 

 represent, probably, the actual older of the facts 

 more nearly. The natural course of a gradual 

 development in the life and work of JCKIIS. in his 

 own sell consciousness, and in the estimation of 

 others, can IN- traced more clearly in Mark than in 

 any of the other gos|>els. The manner and degree 

 in which the supernatural element is jiresenteil 

 also held to In-token the earlier narrative. Certain 

 expressions too, which might ! supposed stumbling 

 to faith, are pu-sent in Mark, but absent from the 

 others, having either liecn struck out altogether or 

 modified M ai to bring them more into accordance 

 with accepted views. (Compare, e.g., Mark. \i. ~> 

 with Matt. xiii. ;'iS; also Mark, i. :!-' :4 with Matt, 

 viii. lt> and Luke, iv. 40, 41.) In short, its naivete, 

 directness, and simplicity prove the comparative 

 originality of Mark. (2) Jerome's account ran be 

 tiaced back in its beginnings to I'apias (' 

 140 A. Ii.), who we learn from Kusebiiis was once 

 told by John 'the ]uesbytei ' ( not the apostle John), 

 perhaps about 90 A.I)., that 'Mark, having become 

 the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately 

 everything be remembered of the things thai were 

 cither said or done by Chi ist. not. however, in order. 

 For neither did be bear the Lord, nor did he follow 

 Him; but afterwards, as I said, [followed] 1'eter, 

 who adapted bin instructions to the needs [of bis 

 hearers], but had no design of giving a connected 

 account of the oracles of the Lord. ' ' 80 then,' 

 adds 1'apias, ' Mark made no mistake, while be 

 thus wrote down some things ns he remembered 

 them ; for he made it his one care not to omit any- 

 thing he had henrd, or to set down any false state- 

 ment therein.' It i* here clearly Implied thai M.-uk 

 bad only his memory to relv on at the time of 

 his writing, Peter being no longer within reach. 

 Clement of Alexandria ( limited by Kuscbius) is the 

 first who knows that Mark wrote In-fon I 1 . 

 death, but also informs ns that be wrote without 

 Peter's knowledge. Eusebius in another place, 

 probably by a lapse of memory, seems to make 

 Clement say that Peter afterwards cave the work 

 his sanction. Origen states that Mark wrote, 'Peter 

 showing him the way.' but the phrase does not 

 necessarily imply dictation. 



Modern ctitirs readily recognise a certain basis of 

 truth in the ecclesiastical tradition as to Peter's con- 

 nection with Mark's gospel. Clearly all that mr.kes 

 for its first-hand character makes also for its Pctrine 

 oiigin. Much of what it contains, both in sub. 

 stance and in manner, betokens the eye witness, and 

 such an eye-witness as Peter, or at least one of the 

 three most intimate disciples. The earlier part of 

 the narrative centres mainly round Capernaum and 

 Peter's house there. Among the most important 

 turning-points in it are Pi-td's call and I'clei ' 

 confession. But the gospel is not all equally prim- 

 ary. A large portion of what set-ins in it to be 

 secondary might indeed be explained in some 

 decree were ii permissible to hold that Peter's own 

 recollections had Ix-en modified in the course of 

 thirty years' brooding relied ion on the real signili- 

 cancc of the great personality he had followed 

 during those brief months of earthly discipleship, 

 and (as he would in later rears feel) had at first so 

 imperfectly understood. The history when looked 

 back ujnin might well assume to liim a different 

 aspect in memory and Imagination from that which 

 it had worn while he was actually passing through 

 the scenes with mind and heart only half -opened to 



