From: WINBROW@aol.com
Date: Sat Aug 26 1995 - 12:49:16 EDT
Bruce Terry wrote,
"Carlton and Carl have been discussing a rather interesting question about
the
differences between the gospel writers in the Synoptic Apocalypse. I, at
least, am interested, so I will jump in and give my two cents worth.
For those unfamilar with the questions, I lay them out below in two columns.
Question #1 Question #2
Matt. 24:3
POTE TAUTA ESTAI KAI TI TO SHMEION
when will these things be and what [will be] the sign
THS SHS PAROUSIAS
of your advent
KAI SUNTELEIAS TOU AIWNOS;
and of the full end of the age?
Mark 13:4
POTE TAUTA ESTAI KAI TI TO SHMEION
when will these things be and what [will be] the sign
hOTAN MELLHi TAUTA SUNTELEISQAI PANTA;
whenever all these things are going
to be fully ended?
Luke 21:7
POTE OUN TAUTA ESTAI KAI TI TO SHMEION
when, therefore, will these things be and what [will be] the sign
hOTAN MELLHi TAUTA GINESQAI;
whenever these things will happen?
As all can see, the first question about time is the same in all three
accounts. The TAUTA seems in context to refer to the previous statement of
Jesus that the stones of the temple would all be thrown down. It is the
second question about the sign which is different in each of the three
gospels.
Matthew's second question seems clearly to refer to the second coming, both
by
his use of PAROUSIAS, which is often a technical term for the second coming
of
Jesus, and the phrase SUNTELEIAS TOU AIWNOS, used elsewhere in Matthew for
the
end of the world. Interestingly, just as the disciples' questions are
clearly
blocked out in Matthew, so he also presents Jesus's answer in blocks
alternating between the destruction of the temple and the second coming.
Luke's second question seems clearly to continue the reference to the
throwing
down of the stones of the temple by his use of TAUTA. Also interestingly,
Luke moves most (not all) of the second coming material blocked off by
Matthew
to a place by itself in Luke 17, with the result that most of Luke 21 is
about
the desolation of Jerusalem, not about the second coming.
Mark's second question is the most interesting, and I take its confusing form
to mean that it is most like the original question of the disciples. He uses
the word TAUTA to tie it in with the discussion of the destruction of the
temple, and he also uses the apocalytic verb SUNTELEISQAI "to be fully
ended,"
which is used in the Greek Daniel in 11:36 and 12:7 (the cognate noun used by
Matthew is found in Dan. 9:27; 11:36; 12:4, 13). I take this confusion of
vocabulary and topics to mean that the disciples were confused; they
apparently thought that the temple was only going to be destroyed at the end
of the world, a situation that has proven not to be the case. Jesus's
discourse can be read coherently as a warning not to make this mistake: the
two events are different and distinct, although the fulfillment of the first
points to the ultimate fulfillment of the second."
Bruce has made some good observations. There is no doubt that Matthew in his
wording of the second question has made clear that he (whoever he be/she be)
understands the dialogue to include ideas about parousia.
But does Mark so understand it? Carl has rightly related this question to
Mark's whole purpose and he understands the time frame of Mark to be in the
context of the Jewish/Roman war. I tend to think that Mark was interested in
separating these events from messianic and apocalyptic speculation of the
type that Josephus clearly indicates was going on among the Jews. I would
accept the thesis of Beasley-Murray that Mark is a compilation of sources and
thus the emphasis is Mark's. An article has just come out that I am eager to
study carefully. Stephen H. Smith of England contributed an article to
Novvum Testamentum entitled A Divine Tragedy: Som Observations on the
Dramatic Structure of Mark's Gospel. He refers to some earlier studies that
have suggested the the structure of Mark was influenced by the form of the
Greek tragedy. I am not sure yet that I can agree with this but I have long
felt that Mark sought to get his readers to embrace the world mission of the
gospel by the way he told the story.
Carlton Winbery
Fogleman Prof. NT & Greek
LA College, Pineville, LA
(318) 487-7241 Fax (318) 487-7425 off. or (318) 442-4996 home
Winbrow@aol.com or Winbery@andria.lacollege.edu
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