Sárospataki Füzetek 20. (2016)

2016 / 2. szám - ARTICLES / STUDIEN - Jaap Doedens: Lierary Wormholes: Wild Animals and Angels in Mark 1:13

Jaap Doedens

I decided to take a closer look. It appears that Mark, in all his shortness, intended to describe more than only an idyllic picture of a wilderness scene. In view of Second Temple literature, it turns out that these short allusions in Mark may be intended to function as “literary wormholes” through which the reader can reach a different part of the symbolic universe.

Testament ofNaphtali

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is a collection of final sayings of the twelve sons of Jacob. On their deathbeds, they confess their sins, urge their children not to make the same mistakes, and often tell their descendants what will happen to their tribes in the future. The document as a whole is only extant in Greek,* 6 and is probably to be dated to the first quarter of the second century b.c.e.7 The extant text is usually viewed as Jewish in origin, but includes some Christian interpolations.8

In the Testament of Naphtali 8:4.6 the devil, the angels and wild animals are mentioned as follows:

4- ’Eav ouv «ai úpeíg épYáar|a0£ tö koAóv, eúAoYnaouaiv Cipő«; oi ávGpwnoi Kai oi öyyeAoi,

Kai ó Qzöq 5o^aa0r|a£Tai év toíc éBveaiv öi’ úpüv,

Kai ó öiaßoAoq cpeű^eiai ácp’ úpüv,

Kai tó 0ripía cpoßr)0naovTai úpöq,

Kai ó Kúpioq áYannaei úpaq,

Kai oi őyyeAoi ávGé^ovTai úpcöv.

(...)

6. Töv öé pn rroioüvTa tö koAóv,

KaTapáaovTai aÚTŐv Kai oi őyyeAoi Kai oi ávGpuinoi,

Kai ó ©£ő<; áöo^ríaei év toT^ eGvegiv öi’ aÚToű,

Kai ó öiößoAo<; oIkeioOtoi aútöv dog íöiov aKEüog,

and Kurt et al. (eds.): Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th revised edition, Stuttgart, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012, 878.

6 There are some Aramaic fragments from the Cairo Genizah and from Qumran, but, according to Kee, the Testaments were originally written in Greek, cf. Kee, H. C: "Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs" in Charlesworth, James H. (ed.): The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: Volume 1: Apocalyptic Literature, New York, Doubleday, 1983,777.

7 Bickerman dates its composition, based on historical data, between 330 and 140 b.c.e. He adds numismatic evidence, which points to either a date between 330-285, or between 200-150 b.c.e., and argues that the first quarter of the second century is the most probable date. Cf. Bickerman, Elias J.: The Date of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, JBL 69 no. 3,1950, 245-260.

8 De Jonge argued that the text is essentially Christian in origin, written by an author who used Jewish material for his composition. See Jonge, M. de: Christian Influence in the Testa ments of the Twelve Patriarchs, NT4 no. 3,1960,182-235, Jonge, M. de: Once More: Christian Influence in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, NT 5 no. 4,1962, 311-319, Jonge, M. de: The Transmission of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs by Christians, VC AT, 1993,1-28.

54 Sárospataki Füzetek 20. évfolyam 2016-2