by Sarah Ruden
*183 The whip for punishing criminals had leather thongs with lead beads or bone fragments on the ends. Jewish law limited the number of blows to forty, but the Romans had no limit.
*184 A Roman-era building—identified here as the provincial governor’s headquarters—excavated next to the Tower of David Museum in the Old City of Jerusalem is one of few extant sites that can with reasonable certainty be linked with the life of Jesus.
*185 Purple dye was expensive, and the color was associated with high rank. Greeks and Romans used garlands and not metal crowns as marks of civic honor.
*186 This is an eerie documentary touch, identifying the man by hometown and family members, and probably referring to the regulation that allowed soldiers to enlist provincial civilians as porters for journeys of limited length. The vertical stake could be planted in the regular place of execution, so that only the horizontal crosspiece would have to be carried there.
*187 By tradition the crucifixion site is the location of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This would have been beside a busy thoroughfare, from which travelers were meant to see what was happening.
*188 A narcotic combination; myrrh still retains its reputation as a painkiller.
*189 The titulus, regular at crucifixions.
*190 See Verse 14:48 above. Verse 28 here is excised from the standard Greek text as spurious. It quotes Isaiah 53:12 and reads, “And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘He was counted among the lawless.’ ”
*191 The left side, considered ill-omened, was given euphemistic or apotropaic (for warding off evil) designations.
*192 Again, the literal “three days” represent two by inclusive reckoning.
*193 From Psalms 22:1, but this is an Aramaic version.
*194 Very probably, if ironically, the sour wine or vinegar belongs to the Roman soldiers; it was their regular refreshment on duty.
*195 The preoccupying concern at this climactic moment is with Elijah, the prophet repeatedly identified with Jesus. Elijah ends his earthly life with a visible and glorious journey into heaven (2 Kings 2:9–12).
*196 The Holy of Holies in the Temple, the room considered to contain God’s actual power and presence, was kept untouched and covered.
*197 The centurion, a division commander, is probably in charge of the proceedings.
*198 Despite Mary Magdalene’s later reputation, there is no evidence of a lurid past for her. Jesus’ women followers were apparently women of independent means (see Luke 8:2–3), probably widows.
*199 This is perhaps the same Sanhedrin that has passed judgment on Jesus.
*200 Many sorts of work, including burial of the dead, were banned on the Sabbath. Furthermore, Deuteronomy 21:22–23 forbids corpses of the executed ever to be hung on display overnight. Does Joseph volunteer to manage this ritually delicate situation? He, and not a traditional contingent of women, initially prepares the body. This is, at any rate, a rich man’s burial, in a laboriously carved-out, permanent space that Jesus appears to have all to himself.
*201 Perhaps Jesus was buried so quickly that there was no time to properly prepare his body, apparently the work of women exclusively at this period in Judea, as it was in Greece. Or they did not dare approach when he was buried at the behest and expense of an important man?
*202 Early Greek manuscripts have two different endings to the Gospel of Mark, the shorter one within these brackets, and without verse numbers; and a longer one, also within brackets, which follows.
*203 A woman demoniac would have been differentiated sharply from other women, and this may be at the root of the persistent but unsubstantiated stories that she was a prostitute.
*204 This passage is one version of the so-called Great Commission for evangelization.
*205 This probably looks forward to the Pentecost miracle narrated in Acts 2:1–13: Jesus’ ethnically disparate followers become mutually intelligible at a mass gathering after his death.
*206 An odd miracle, unless it recalls Moses’ healing bronze snake figure, lifted on a pole (Numbers 21:4–9).
The Good News According to Maththaios
Chapter 1
1 A roll of the line of births up to Iēsous the Anointed, the son of David, the son of Abraam.
2 Abraam fathered Isaak, Isaak fathered Iakōb, Iakōb fathered Ioudas and his brothers, 3 Ioudas fathered Fares and Zara from Tamar, Fares fathered Esrōm, Esrōm fathered Aram, 4 Aram fathered Aminadab, Aminadab fathered Naassōn, Naassōn fathered Salmōn, 5 Salmōn fathered Boes from Rachab, Boes fathered Iōbēd from Routh, Iōbēd fathered Iessai, 6 Iessai fathered David the king.
David fathered Solomōn from the wife of Ourias, 7 Solomōn fathered Roboam, Roboam fathered Abia, Abia fathered Asaf, 8 Asaf fathered Iōsafat, Iōsafat fathered Iōram, Iōram fathered Ozias, 9 Ozias fathered Iōatham, Iōatham fathered Achaz, Achaz fathered Ezekias, 10 Ezekias fathered Manassēs, Manassēs fathered Amōs, Amōs fathered Iōsias, 11 Iōsias fathered Iechonias and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babulōn.
12 After the exile to Babulōn, Iechonias fathered Salathiēl, Salathiēl fathered Zorobabel, 13 Zorobabel fathered Abioud, Abioud fathered Eliakim, Eliakim fathered Azōr, 14 Azōr fathered Sadōk, Sadōk fathered Achim, Achim fathered Elioud, 15 Elioud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, Matthan fathered Iakōb, 16 Iakōb fathered Iōsēf the husband of Maria, from whom Iēsous, called the Anointed, was fathered.
17 So all the generations from Abraam until David were fourteen, and from David to the exile to Babulōn fourteen, and from the exile to Babulōn to the Anointed One fourteen generations.*1
18 The birth of Iēsous the Anointed One happened this way. When his mother Maria had been betrothed to Iōsēf, but before they came together, she was found to have a child in her womb through the holy life-breath. 19 Now Iōsēf her man, being decent and not wanting to make a public spectacle of her, planned to let her go discreetly.*2 20 But when he had thought carefully about these things, look, a messenger of the lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Iōsēf son of David, don’t be afraid to take Maria as your wife, since what has been fathered in her is from the holy life-breath. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to call him by the name Iēsous; he will rescue his people from their offenses.”*3 22 All of this happened to fulfill what was spoken by the lord through the prophet, who said,
23 “Look, a young girl will have a child in her womb and will give birth to a son,
And they will call him by the name Emmanouēl,”
the translation of which is “with us is god.”*4 24 When Iōsēf awakened from sleep, he did as the lord’s messenger had commanded him and took her as his wife, 25 but he did not become familiar with her*5 until she had given birth to a son. And he called him by the name Iēsous.
Chapter 2
1 When Iēsous had been born in Bēthle’em in Ioudaia*6 in the days of Hērōdēs the king,*7 look, diviners from where the sun rises appeared at Hierosoluma, 2 saying, “Where is the king of the Ioudaioi who has been born? We did see his star at its rising*8 and have come to prostrate ourselves before him.”*9 3 But when the king Hērōdēs heard, he was agitated, and so was the whole of Hierosoluma along with him; 4 and he gathered together all the high priests and the people’s scholars, and questioned them as to where the anointed one was supposed to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bēthle’em in Ioudaia: here is in fact what’s been written about it by the prophet:
6 “And you, Bēthle’em, land of Iouda,
Are by no means the least among the leaders of Iouda:
Out of you will come a leader
Who will shepherd my people Israēl.”*10
7 Then Hērōdēs, on the sly, called in the diviners and found out from them at what time precisely the star had begu
n to shine, and 8 he sent them to Bēthle’em, saying, “Travel there and make careful inquiries about where precisely the child is, and when you find him, bring the news back to me, so that I can go prostrate myself before him too.” 9 Once they’d heard the king, they traveled there, and—look—the star they had seen at its rising went ahead of them until it came to stand over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star there, their joy was heaped on joy, in great abundance. 11 And coming into the house, they saw the child with Maria its mother, and falling down they prostrated themselves before it and opened their boxes of valuables and presented it with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.*11 12 Then, receiving in a dream a divine warning not to return to Hērōdēs, they withdrew by another route to their own country.
13 But once they had withdrawn, look, a messenger of the lord appeared in a dream to Iōsēf, saying, “Get up and take the child and its mother and escape to Aiguptos and stay there until I tell you otherwise. Hērōdēs is about to search for the child to do away with it.” 14 Then he got up, took the child and its mother at night, and withdrew into Aiguptos, 15 and he stayed there until the death of Hērōdēs, for the fulfillment of what had been spoken by the lord through the prophet, who said,
“Out of Aiguptos I have called my son.”*12
16 Then Hērōdēs, seeing that he had been tricked by the diviners, was overwhelmed by fury, and sent people to do away with all the boys in Bēthle’em and the whole surrounding district who were two years old and younger, according to the precise time he had found out from the diviners. 17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through Ieremias the prophet when he said,
18 “A sound in Rama was heard,
Of crying and loud lamenting:
It was Rachēl crying for her children,
And she didn’t want to be comforted,
Because they are gone.”*13
19 But after Hērōdēs met his end, look, a messenger of the lord appeared in a dream to Iōsēf in Aiguptos, 20 saying, “Get up, take the child and its mother and travel to the land of Israēl: those who were seeking to take the child’s life have died.” 21 He got up, took the child and its mother, and went to the land of Israēl.*14
22 But when he heard that Archelaos was king in Ioudaia in place of his father Hērōdēs, he was afraid to go there. Receiving a divine warning in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilaia. 23 And arriving there, he settled in a town called Nazaret, for the fulfillment of what was spoken through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazōraios.*15
Chapter 3
1 In those days Iōannēs the baptizer arrived, [and] in the wasteland of Ioudaia he proclaimed 2 this message: “Change your purpose, because the kingdom of the skies has come near.”*16
3 This in fact was the man spoken of through Ēsaïas the prophet, who said,
“The voice of someone shouting in the wasteland:
‘Prepare the lord’s road!
Make his beaten paths straight!’ ”*17
4 Now as for himself, Iōannēs had clothing made from camel hair, and an animal-skin belt covering his groin, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 At that time, the inhabitants of Hierosoluma and all of Ioudaia and everyone who lived in the region around the Iordanēs made their way to him, 6 and they were baptized in the river Iordanēs by him when they acknowledged their offenses.
7 When he saw many of the Farisaioi and Saddoukaioi coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You viper hatchlings! Who warned you to run from the anger that’s coming? 8 So produce a harvest that’s fit for a new purpose, and 9 don’t presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraam as our father!”—because I say to you that God can raise up offspring for Abraam from these stones. 10 Already the ax is poised at the roots of the trees: so every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water so that you can change your purpose, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am; I’m not fit to carry his sandals; he’ll baptize you with the holy life-breath, and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he’ll clean his threshing floor out completely and gather the grain together in his barn, but he’ll burn the chaff in a fire that can’t be put out.”
13 Then Iēsous came from Galilaia to Iōannēs at the Iordanēs to be baptized by him. 14 But Iōannēs tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, but you come to me? 15 Iēsous answered by saying to him, “Let me go ahead for now, since it’s fitting for us to satisfy in this way everything that rectitude requires.” Then Iōannēs let him go ahead. 16 As soon as Iēsous had been baptized and come up from the water, look, the skies opened [to him] and he saw [the] life-breath [of ] god coming down as if it were a dove [and] alighting on him; 17 and look, there was a voice out of the skies saying, “This is my beloved son, in whom I’ve taken delight.”*18
Chapter 4
1 Then Iēsous was led into the wilderness by the life-breath to be tested by the slanderer.*19 2 And since he didn’t eat for forty days and forty nights, he was starving afterward. 3 And the one who was testing him came near and said to him, “If you’re god’s son, tell these stones to becomes loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered by saying, “It’s been written: a person is not to live by bread alone, but by every command that comes out of god’s mouth.”*20
5 Then the slanderer took him into the holy city and stood him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you’re god’s son, throw yourself down. It’s been written, you know, that
“ ‘He’ll assign your care to his messengers,
And in their arms they’ll lift you,
So that you never slam your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Iēsous told him, “It’s been written in turn: ‘You are not to test the lord your god.’ ”*21
8 The slanderer took him to another place, a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, 9 and he told him, “I’ll give you all these things if you fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Iēsous said to him, “Get out of here, satanas! It’s in fact been written, ‘You are to worship the lord your god and serve him alone in his rites.’ ”*22 11 Then the slanderer left him, and, look, messengers came to him and tended to him.
12 Once he heard that Iōannēs had been handed over,*23 he withdrew into Galilaia; 13 then, leaving Nazara, he went and settled in Kafarnaoum beside the sea in the region of Zaboulōn and Nefthalim, 14 for the fulfillment of what was spoken through the prophet Ēsaïas when he said,
15 “Land of Zaboulōn and Nefthalim,
The road beside the sea, across the Iordanēs,
Galilaia of the other nations:
16 The people sitting in darkness
Has seen a great light,
And for those sitting in death’s land and shadow,
Light has dawned.”*24
17 From then on Iēsous began to proclaim this message: “Change your purpose, since the kingdom of the skies has come near.”
18 Walking by the sea of Galilaia, he saw two brothers, Simōn who was called Petros*25 and Andreas his brother, casting a net into the sea, as they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Come, follow me, and I’ll turn you into fishers for human beings.” 20 And right away they left their nets and followed after him. 21 And walking on from there, he saw two other brothers, Iakōbos the son of Zebedaios and Iōannēs his brother, in the boat with Zebedaios their father, putting their nets in order, and he called them. 22 And right away they left the boat and their father and followed him.
23 And he traveled around the whole of Galilaia, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and debility among the people.
24 Then the news of him went out to the whole of Suria, and they brought him everyone who was
unwell, suffering from all kinds of diseases and other torments, [and] those possessed by demons and the moonstruck*26 and the paralyzed, and he cured them. 25 And large crowds followed him from Galilaia and the Ten Cities and Hierosoluma and Ioudaia and the region across the Iordanēs.*27
Chapter 5
1 Seeing the crowds, Iēsous climbed up the mountain. Once he’d taken a seat there, his students came up to him, 2 and he opened his mouth to speak and taught them, saying,
3 “Happy are those destitute in the life-breath,*28
because theirs is the kingdom of the skies.
4 Happy are those who mourn,
because they will be comforted.*29
5 Happy are the gentle,
because they will be heirs of all the earth.
6 Happy are those starving and parched for justice,
because they will have as much as they can eat.
7 Happy are those who show mercy,
because they will be shown mercy.
8 Happy are those who are pure at heart,
Because they will see god.
9 Happy are the makers of peace,*30