Sunday, May 27, 2007

Luke 3.30 and Mark 6.3 (Matthew 13.55)?

Again, with the genealogy...

During this morning's service, my attention was drawn to the brothers of Jesus. We read Mark 6.3: "Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" I recalled that Luke does not mention this list. Matthew does, though swapping the order of the last two names (13.55). But I did note that in Luke's genealogy, four names very similar to these show up in the same sequence as Mark's (though descending in chronology). Luke 3.30: "...the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam...". The Greek names:

Mark.................Luke

Iakwbou.............Iwnam
Iwsetos..............Iwseph
Iouda.................Iouda
Simwnos.............Sumewn

I have asserted elsewhere (
here and here) that Luke's genealogy is deliberately arranged. I have not yet come to any conclusion as to why. I affirm Lukan priority. Because it is quite apparent to any caferful reader of Luke's genealogy that he arranged his list, and because Luke's list doesn't jive with Matthew's (which is most probably artificial as well, given his arrangement), I wonder if perhaps there is an indication somewhere which reveals the reason for it, or the significances of his names. I wonder if perhaps Mark realized the significance of at least this portion of Luke's list, and inserted that significance here in Mark 6.3. Notice that Luke only names males and Mark doesn't list a single sister's name, only vaguely referring to them. Perhaps he realized the significance of this portion of Luke's list and realized that there were no female names and inserted what he could based on what he knew. This is pure conjecture, I realize. And I will keep it under that status, pending evidence forwarding the argument. I just thought it worth mentioning.

[I have thought that Matthew preceded Mark as well. But, if it be possible that an inkling of what I've said can be true, and if Mark did take from Luke, and given Matthew's skewing of the order here and Mark's harmony with Luke's list, it seems more likely that Matthew followed Mark. So, regarding this instance, and assuming Lukan priority, the order seems Luke-Mark-Matthew.]

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