Re: Mark 1:11

Perry Robert Wiles (pwiles@extro.ucc.su.oz.au)
Tue, 10 Sep 1996 07:07:00 +1000

Yes - "required" was too strong. Mk 1:11 could be a dramatic aorist
with the focus falling on God's pleasure at Jesus submission to
baptism. But I think a timeless aorist is still most likely (I agree
the term gnomic is perhaps better reserved for axiomatic/proverbial
use etc - however it seems to be still used to cover timeless uses in
general eg Wallace, McKay, Young). I can say I delight in my wife with
no particular concern about when that delighting began and no
particular time reference in mind (though in reality of course it
obviously did have a beginning) - this seems to me to very nicely fall
into the timeless category. This seems to me to be the case also in Mk
1:11 ie the Father is expressing his pleasure and delight in his Son
as a statement of general fact, with no particular time reference on
view.

Thanks
Perry Wiles