The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Paperback)

~ Ben Witherington III (Author) "Though not a part of the original text of this Gospel, this superscript tells us three important things..." (more)
Key Phrases: inbreaking dominion, chreia form, disclosure moments, Mark's Gospel, New York, Grand Rapids (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This book 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 fresh new perspective on the earliest Gospel.

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 463 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802845037
• ISBN-13: 978-0802845030
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #217,813 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just Like Sitting in on one of Ben's classes!, September 15, 2008

By	Marc Axelrod (Potter, Wi USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I took Dr. Witherington's class on the Gospel of Mark about 14 years ago, and so this book was a great refresher for me. The great strength of this book is that it comments on the entire Gospel of Mark, but reads like an engrossing investigative report. Ben begins with a 60 page discussion of introductory issues related to Mark. He believes that this was the first of the four gospels to be written and that the intended original audience was the Gentile Christian community in Rome in the wake and in the dust of Emperor Nero's harsh persecution of the church in the mid to late 60s A.D.

Ben sees this gospel as an ancient biography of Jesus with Christ himself as the main character. He notes that Mark spends approximately 40% of the gospel on the last week of Jesus' life. For Dr. Witherington, the key verses of this Gospel are 8:27-30, where Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, and 10:45, where Jesus explains that He has come to give His life as a ransom for many. This is important because ancient biographies often focus on the lasting impact of both the life and the death of the subject.

Dr. Witherington holds to largely conservative evangelical stances on critical issues related to the Gospel of Mark. I appreciated the explanation of how Jesus ministered in Jewish lands in the first six chapters and then reprised many of his miracles in Gentile lands (the feeding of the 4000) to give a preview of the future scope of the gospel.

This book is very well written with a lot of exciting exposition and application. You will learn how Jesus being driven into the wilderness in Mark 1 and being with ther wild animals echoes the experience of King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. The exception is that Jesus is being presented as the TRUE and rightful king of the world.

You will also learn how Jesus' rebuke of the wind and the waves in Mark 4 is very similar to how Jesus rebukes demon spirits, showing his authority over both the spirit world and the physical world.

You will learn how the inbreaking of God's kingdom in the person and ministry of Jesus spells the end of certain aspects of the Mosaic law (Mark 7). You will also see how the blind man in Mark 10 and the woman who gave her two mites in Mark 12, and the woman who anointed Jesus' feet in Mark 14 are shown to be model disciples who follow Jesus and do an even better job of it than the Twelve.

Ben teaches that Mark 13 was mostly fulfilled in the years 30-70 AD, except of course for His coming in power and glory.

Ben contends that Mark didn't intend to end his gospel at 16:8, and that the original ending didn't survive. Shards of it may be preserved in Matthew's gospel.

But I've always felt that 16:8, whether the intended ending or not, was the perfect cliffhanger ending. It has the women disciples running away in fear, not knowing what had happened. It leaves the would be disciple with these questions: Will I follow Jesus in faith like the model disciples mentioned earlier? Or will I turn away in fear and uncertainty?

I'm also tempted to qualify the ancient biography classification by calling this a "specialized" biography. It not only answers the question "Who is Jesus," it also answers the question "Why it is worth it to follow Jesus down the path of sacrificial service and suffering?" The answer of course is that a. he has authority over sin, sickness, spirits, and society and b. We will be massively rewarded in this life and in the life to come if we follow Jesus in faith.

I should also say that this commentary doesn't have the typical structure of a more traditional verse by verse commentary. I would say it's more paragraph by paragraph. Some verses receive close exegetical, individual treatment, some have added excurses, other passages are skimmed over more generally. You will have to read closely to find information on a particular verse.

But it is much more interesting to pick up and read than the average commentary, and it will enrich your understanding of Mark's Gospel. I also like the Bridging the Horizons sections that apply the text to the world today (I wish more commentaries did this, and did it as well as this one does). Like all of Dr. Witherington's work, this book is interesting, informative, solid and illuminating. Thumbs up!

5.0 out of 5 stars The Gospel of Mark, July 23, 2008

By	Joann Farrell - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As always, this author provides in-depth information. Engaging enough for students and clear enough for the average person.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Intresting but not a major work, August 28, 2009

By	Fabfan "jude777" (Brandon, MS USA) - See all my reviews

Dr. Witherington is one of the rising stars in conservative theology today, and is an amazingly prolific writer (he seems to produce books as quickly as most pastors produce sermons). I guess because of that I expected more from this commentary. I simply did not find much new in this work. Most of Dr. Witherington's observations are what any astute layperson would arrive at on their own. If you are new to reading Mark then this book would probably be of some help in that it will introduce you to major themes and ideas. On the other hand, if you are moderately conversant with modern Markan scholarship, and you are looking for more insight, as well as a more detailed reading of the text, you would do better to look elsewhere. In particular I would suggest either Morna Hooker's superb "The Gospel According to St. Mark", or Ched Myer's challenging "Binding the Strong Man, A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus". Both offer much more serious scholarship and research.