From: "Stevan Davies" Date: Fri, 26 Apr 1996 23:16:21 +0000 Subject: How I Know Mark Used Thomas Dear folks: I've said in a couple letters that I have basic reasons to think Mark used Thomas but that I wasn't ready to share them. Actually, the letters I've sent up to now should logically have followed this one. Now I am eager to share my basic ideas and to receive criticism. Here goes. The commonly held view is that Mark drew his sayings-of-Jesus from the oral tradition although some have theorized that the sayings in Mark 4 were taken from a collection of parables (but that theory is really just a nothing). If Mark drew sayings from the oral tradition then there should be NO particular patterns to be found in his use of sayings coincidentally occurring also in Thomas. For example, if you look for patterns in the Mark sayings (or Q sayings) that show up also in Thomas you will find NO patterns at all. I do not think you will find any patterns whatsoever in Thomas sayings that appear in Matthew or Luke. Further, one should bear in mind that the oral tradition had an awful lot of sayings in it (cf. Q sayings, Special Matthew and Special Luke sayings and above all(!) sayings we have no record of today). The oral tradition should not be biased toward Thomas sayings! That makes no sense. However, if there is non-random patterning to be found among the Thomas sayings that are also in Mark, one would strongly suspect that Mark used Thomas as a source for those sayings which he, Mark, then organized out of a conscious awareness that they were coming from a particular source. ======================================== Here is a breakdown of the sayings in Mark that are also in Thomas. I am ignoring for the time being Mark's central section 8:22-10:54 and the little apocalypse of chapter 13. I'll deal with those elsewhere. I have also eliminated the sections that are just about universally thought to be Markan redactional creations and I have eliminated miracle stories and stories of Jesus calling his disciples. I agree with Achtemeir that most, if not all, of Mark's miracle stories were taken from earlier written lists. Not to mention that few, if any, of them contain discreet "sayings." I'm concerned here with sayings, not with incidents. I'm open to objection, however, if you show that there are sayings that existed independently of miracle stories that are embedded in such passages. Or if there are other sayings that Mark drew from tradition that I've missed in the "miracles and teachings" chapters 1-8:21 and 11-12. The listing of sayings is a pretty ambiguous task and I'm sure my list will be revised with your help. ================================================== [I specify audiences and whether or not Mark labels the sayings as PARABLES or whether the TANACH is quoted or not.] 2:15-17 To Scribes of the pharisees: sick need physician GTh 2:18-20 To People: no fasting whilst bridegroom here GTh 2:21 no patching cloth GTh 2:22 new wine old wineskins 2:23-28 To Pharisees: TANACH and sabbath made for man 3:22-23 To Scribes: PARABLES kingdom divided GTh 3:27 and strong man's house GTh 3:28-30 and blasphemies against spirit GTh 3:31-35 To People: who are my mother and brothers [note that a separate Thomas chreia follows a PARABLES section] GTh 4:1-8 To People: PARABLES sower GTh 4:9 ears to hear GTh 4:21 lamp under bushel 4:24 measure you give you get GTh 4:25 him who has more given GTh 4:26-29 seed and harvest GTh 4:30-32 mustard seed GTh 6:1-6 To People: prophet without honor 6:7-11 To Disciples: missionary directions 7:1-13 To Pharisees: Corban etc. GTh 7:14-15 To People PARABLE: going in doesn't defile GTh 7:16-23 from within come evil thoughts 8:11-12 To Pharisees: no sign given [central section not considered here] 11:15-17 To Moneychangers: house of prayer TANACH GTh 11:22-25 To Disciples: faith moving mountain GTh 12:1-9 To Scribes etc.: PARABLES vineyard GTh 12:10-12 and TANACH cornerstone GTh 12:13-17 To Pharisees: Render to Caesar [note that a separate Thomas chreia follows a PARABLES section] 12:18-27 To Saducees: TANACH like angels in heaven 12:28-34 To Scribe: TANACH two great commands 12:35-37 Contra Lawteachers: TANACH Messiah not Davidson 12:38-40 Scribes devour widows property 12:41-44 To Disciples: Widows mite ===================================== I've got 32 units here. Eighteen are paralleled in Thomas and fourteen not. When Mark labels sayings in a discourse PARABLES eleven are in Thomas and only two are not (83 percent). When Mark specifies that Jesus is speaking to the People thirteen are also in Thomas and only one is not (92 percent). On the other hand, when Mark specifies that Jesus is speaking to or about Jewish leaders six are in Thomas and ten are not.. However, five of the former are in sections labeled PARABLES (or all six, depending on how you consider the continuation of a set of parables into 12:13-17). Only one time out of five is a TANACH quotation from Thomas and it is labled a PARABLE by Mark. (I think that in Thomas it is a proverb and wasn't recognized as a biblical quotation, ditto for the supposed Joel passage 21E "When the fruit ripened, he came quickly, his sickle in his hand, and he reaped it." which underlies Mark 4:26-29. Mark evidently found the former to be a TANACH passage and revised it accordingly, the latter he took to be a parable and revised accordingly. But his revision makes almost no sense and neither Matthew nor Luke made use of it). The TANACH passages are always directed against Jewish leaders. The Thomas sayings are grouped into consecutives of 3, 6 (skip one) 3, 2, 3 (leaving aside Markan redactional elements, e.g. those in chapter 4). Maybe Bob Schacht can tell me about statistical significance in regard to various factors mentioned above. Check out my numbers before you do; I can't count. ================================================= These considerations make it clear to me that Mark regarded Thomas as a mine of PUBLIC discourse and PARABLES. His use of Thomas materials is not random and it is used with a clear consideration of audience. Steve