RT Article
T1 Mark as Ritual Narrative: Anointing, Memorial, and Genre Signifiers in Mark 14:3–9
JF The catholic biblical quarterly
VO 85
IS 3
SP 465
OP 484
A1 Wheatley, Paul D.
LA English
PB Catholic Biblical Association of America
YR 2023
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1861113331
AB In Mark 14:3-9 and its parallels, a woman anoints Jesus with μύρον, which Jesus interprets as an anticipation of his death. This article considers the ritual and cultic connotations of the use of μύρον ("ointment") and νάρδος ("spikenard") from Mark 14:3-9 in connection with the importance Jesus attaches to this woman's act in Mark 14:9: "Truly I say to you: Wherever the Gospel [ἐυαγγέλιον] may be proclaimed in all the world, indeed what this woman has done shall be spoken as a memorial of her." This declaration is significant for understanding the genre of Mark. Rudolph Bultmann’s observations about the Gospels’ cultic associations, directed less toward the question of their genre than to the question of their historiography, have largely gone unexplored in subsequent scholarship. In this article, I compare the use of μύρον and νάρδος in the LXX, MT, early midrashim on Song of Songs, and early Christian baptismal rituals. The findings suggest that the scriptural and ritual imagery in Mark 14:3-9 indicates that the Gospel uses ritual narration as a means of discourse with readers familiar with these rites.
K1 Mark 14:3–9
K1 Origen
K1 Anointing
K1 Baptism