Sárospataki Füzetek 20. (2016)

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

Literary Wormholes: Wild Animals and Angels in Mark 1:13

This allusion might mean that Mark intended to depict Jesus as the “true Israel”, who passed the test where Israel basically failed again and again. The reference in Mark 1:13 to the angels serving Jesus may allude to the fact that Israel in the desert was allowed to eat the “bread of the angels”.48 The period of Jesus being tempted during forty days as mentioned in Mark 1:13 may refer to the forty years that Israel dwelled in the wilderness. At first sight, this appears to be a rather arbitrary allusion, but the symbolical logic of the forty days standing for forty years becomes clearer when reading God’s decision in Num 14:

According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.49

In this way, the word “wilderness” became biblical shorthand for “going through a trial of loyalty”.50 From the Old Testament it was known that for Israel this test of faithfulness was not an unqualified success. In most cases they were putting God to the test.51 When Mark 1:13 describes that Jesus was in the wilderness forty days being tested (neipa^ópevo^) by the Satan, this test of Israel during forty years comes to mind. The following clause about Jesus being “with the wild animals” and about angels who “served him” clearly alludes to the fact that Jesus successfully underwent this test. This must have been clear for Mark’s readers, because they knew the connection between being faithful to God and not having to fear for wild animals. In the light of what is said above, it can be concluded that Mark 1:13 views Jesus as the Messiah, who acts as the representative of Israel. In him, God’s people stood the test of being faithful.

Mark: Let the Reader Understand

The question, therefore, remains: Does Mark 1:13 in its allusive way depict Jesus as a new Adam who restores paradise or as the one who represents Israel in a new Exodus? Not having to fear wild animals, or even being in peace with them, in combination with the presence of angels strongly points at Jesus as the Messiah who restores paradise. The mention of the wilderness, however, rather indicates that Mark wants to narrate how Jesus brings about a new Exodus; he is the personification of an Israel that does not fail the test. Both allusions, however, do not exclude, but rather complement each other. According to Jewish theology, “Abraham / Israel” was meant as a solution for “Adam / mankind”.52 This means that Israel was seen as “the true Adam” or the

48 Ps 78:22; Wis 16:20. See also Heil: Jesus with the Wild Animals in Mark 1:13, 74-75.

49 Num 14:34. See also Caneday: Mark's Provocative Use of Scripture in Narration, 30.

50 See Caneday: Mark's Provocative Use of Scripture in Narration, 31.

51 See e.g. Ps 106:14 ("ÉTTEÍpaaav töv Oeöv év ávúöpto"LXX Ps 105:14) Cf. Matt 4:7 and Luke 4:12.

52 Cf. Gén. RabAA:6, where it is stated that Abraham will redeem the sins of Adam. See Neusner, Jacob: Genesis Rabbah: The Judaic Commentary to the Book of Genesis: A New American Transla2016-2 Sárospataki Füzetek 20. évfolyam 63