Date of Award

10-18-2023

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Theology

First Advisor

Christopher Skinner

Abstract

Amid scholarly studies both of the miracle stories of the Markan Jesus and of the characterization of the Markan Jesus, little attention has been given to the role of Jesus’s emotions as portrayed in those accounts—though references to Jesus’ emotions appear quite frequently in the Gospel of Mark. This dissertation seeks to fill this lacuna through a detailed analysis of the portrayal of Jesus’s compassion (σπλαγχνίζομαι) in the Markan miracle stories. I first examine the accounts of other miracle workers from ancient Greco-Roman and Jewish literature to discover how emotions feature in the depictions of miracle workers likely known in Mark’s first-century context. I then provide a detailed analysis of the term σπλάγχνον and cognates as employed in ancient Greco-Roman and Jewish literature in the Second Temple period, including the development of the verb form σπλαγχνίζομαι. Next, using a narrative-critical approach, I examine the miracle stories in Mark’s Gospel in which σπλαγχνίζομαι occurs. It will be argued that the use of this emotion term serves a role in the Markan characterization of Jesus, showing the Markan Jesus to be one who enters the suffering of humanity prior to the cross and who provides the paradigm for his followers—and the Markan audience—in others-oriented service and in responding to encountered human need. It will further be argued that this portrayal of the miracle worker Jesus was exceptional in the known accounts of ancient miracle workers.

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