Texts in Conversation
In Mark 5, Jesus travels to Gentile land and heals a man near tombs, his first healing outside Jewish land. This may allude to Isaiah 65, where God says he is available to those who had not been seeking him, with restoration offered to all people.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Isaiah 65:1
Septuagint
1 I became manifest to those who did not seek me; I was found by those who did not ask for me: I said, Look, I am here, to a nation, who did not call on my name. 2 I have stretched forth my hands all day to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who did not walk in a true way, but after their sins. 3 This is the people that provokes me continually in my presence; they offer sacrifices in gardens, and burn incense on bricks to demons, which do not exist. 4 They lie down to sleep in the tombs and in the caves for the sake of dreams, even they that eat swine's flesh, and the broth of their sacrifices: all their vessels are defiled: 5 who say, Depart from me, do not draw near to me, for I am pure. This is the smoke of my fierce anger, a fire burns with it continually. 6 Look, it is written before me: I will not be silent until I have repaid them into their lap,
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Mark 5:1
New Testament
1 So they came to the other side of the lake, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 Just as Jesus was getting out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came from the tombs and met him. 3 He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For his hands and feet had often been bound with chains and shackles, but he had torn the chains apart and broken the shackles in pieces. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Each night and every day among the tombs and in the mountains, he would cry out and cut himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him. 7 Then he cried out with a loud voice, “Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of the Most High God! I implore you by God—do not torment me!” 8 (For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of that man, you unclean spirit!”) 9 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 He begged Jesus repeatedly not to send them out of the region. 11 There on the hillside, a great herd of pigs was feeding.
Date: 60–75 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... According to the cross references to other biblical passages listed in the footnotes of the UBSGNT for Mark 5, we do not find any mention of the book of Isaiah. And yet for this section of the 'three wondrous signs' (Mark 4:35-5:43), there is an important allusion to Trito-Isaiah in the story of the healing of the Gerasene demoniac (Mark 5:1-20). More than twenty-five years ago, H. Sahlin suggested that this story contained a historical nucleus - the curing of a possessed man to which details have been added to bring out the religious meaning. He maintains that the original narrative has been rebuilt with elements from the text of Isaiah 65. One example given by Sahlin is the opening verse in Isaiah 65:1, 'I was ready to be approached by those who did not consult me, ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, I am here, I am here,' to a nation that did not invoke my name'. This text originally was intended as a reproach against the Jews as the note in the Jerusalem Bible at Isaiah 65:1 indicates. But Sahlin points out how well this verse has a thematic link with Mark 5:1 where Jesus travels to the other side of the lake. This is the first time in Mark that Jesus is in the territory of the gentiles-among a people who have not been calling upon God's name. When Jesus arrives in this region, it is as though he [God's envoy] were saying: 'I am here!' ..."
Richard Schneck, Isaiah in the Gospel of Mark I-VIII (Vallejo, CA: BIBAL, 1994), 137–145.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,