Yeshua in Context >> Cross , Hebrew Bible as Testimony , Passion Narratives >> Hebrew Bible in Mark's Passion Narrative
Hebrew Bible in Mark's Passion Narrative
I may add more references later. The presence of the Innocent Sufferer theme from the Psalms and Isaiah in the Marcan version of Yeshua's trial and crucifixion is a good thing for readers to recognize. Would that the language of the Psalms and Prophets should pervade our imagination and language as it did for some in Mark's time!
All Hebrew Bible verses (in bold) are given in the JPS translation (verse numbers in parentheses are Christian numbering). The Mark verses are from my favorite English version, the RSV (until the Delitzsch Hebrew-English version is released).
Psalm 69:22(21) They give me gall for food, vinegar to quench my thirst.
Mark 15:21-23 And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mingled with myrrh; but he did not take it.
Psalms 22:19(18) They divide my clothes among themselves, casting lots for my garments.
Mark 15:24-26 And they crucified him, and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour, when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews."
Isaiah 53:12 . . . And was numbered among the sinners, Whereas he bore the guilt of the many . . .
Mark 15:27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.
Psalms 22:9(8) Let him commit himself to the LORD; let Him rescue him, let Him save him . . .
Psalms 109:25 I am the object of their scorn; when they see me, they shake their head.
Mark 15:29-32 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads, and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!" So also the chief priests mocked him to one another with the scribes, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.
Psalms 22:2(1) My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?
Mark 15:33-39 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Elo-i, Elo-i, lama sabach-thani?" which means, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" And some of the bystanders hearing it said, "Behold, he is calling Elijah." And one ran and, filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down." And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"
Filed under: Cross , Hebrew Bible as Testimony , Passion Narratives