Parabolic Resonance in the Gospel of Mark: Language, Metaphor, and Meaning Restricted; Files Only

Abstract

           This dissertation offers a literary analysis of parables in Mark’s gospel—specifically, those in 2:18-22, 3:23-27, 4:1-34, and 12:1-12—that highlights their metaphorical and intratextual roles. Despite the countless works in both Markan and parables studies, no book-length study specifically on Mark’s parables exists, and most interpretations of Mark’s parables either focus on their role in historical-Jesus research or otherwise take little account of their context in a literary work. By contrast, in this dissertation I use approaches from philosophy of language and metaphor theory to show that Mark’s parables consistently play complex roles both within the context of the gospel’s narrative and as a part of Mark’s broader authorial address.

           Specifically, in this dissertation I argue that Mark intends the parables to create metaphorical interactions both with one another and with various other elements of his narrative that reinterpret the meanings of both. I term the former set of parable-to-parable relationships “metaphoric resonance,” and I call the latter, parable-to-narrative connections “metaphoric commentary,” arguing that the cumulative results of both these re-orderings are new perceptions of key thematic elements in Mark’s gospel (the kingdom of God, Jesus’s passion, and post-resurrection realities) that also situate them in relationship to Mark’s audience’s world.

           In the conclusion of the dissertation, I indicate two possible implications of the study. First, I suggest that Mark uses the parables’ complex literary structures to present a theological portrait of a Jesus who always speaks from and to a world beyond Mark’s audience’s grasp. Second, I suggest that an understanding of the complicated re-ordering roles of the parables provides a key to understanding Mark’s gospel as similarly intended to re-order the lives of Mark’s hearers—that is, I specify a way of understanding the gospel of Mark as parabolic. In these suggestions as well as in the exegeses, I hope to have shown new ways of understanding how Mark’s language functions as a whole.

Table of Contents

Preface           1

Introduction   4

I.         Justification and Purpose of the Study          4

II.       Distinctive Features of the Study      8

III.      Modern Interpretation of the Parables of Mark         11

A.       Parable Scholarship    11

1.        Historical Approaches 12

2.        Literary Approaches  25

3.        Eclectic Approaches  35

4.        Conclusion: Parable Scholarship and Parables in Mark        48

B.       Markan Parables in Interpretations of Mark  49

1.        Ched Myers    50

2.        Mary Ann Tolbert      54

3.        Conclusion: Mark’s Parables and Literary Interpreters of Mark       60

IV.      Conclusion: the Usefulness of the Study      60

Chapter 1: Approaches to the Parables from Analytic Philosophy of Language      62

I.         Introduction   62

II.       Philosophers of Language     64

A.       Gottlob Frege: Sense and Reference 64

1.        The Sense-Reference Distinction      64

2.        Sense, Reference, and Mark’s Gospel           68

B.       P. F. Strawson 72

1.        Sentences, Expressions, Uses, and Utterances          72

2.        Uses, Utterances, Speakers, and the Gospel of Mark 74

C.       J. L. Austin    76

1.        Locutions, Perlocutions, and Illocutionary Force      76

2.        Illocutionary Force and the Gospel of Mark 80

D.       H. P. Grice     82

1.        Cooperativity, Conversational Maxims, and Conversational Implicature    82

2.        Maxims, Implicature, and the Gospel of Mark          86

E.        Roman Jakobson        88

1.        Combination, Selection, and the Metaphoric and Metonymic Poles 88

2.        The Poetic Function, the Metonymic Pole, and Mark’s Gospel        92

III.      Conclusion: Analyzing the Language of Markan Parables   93

Chapter 2: Approaches to the Parables from Metaphor Theory        95

I.         Introduction   95

II.       Interpreters of Metaphor        98

A.       Aristotle         98

1.        Introduction   98

2.        Definitions: Theory of Metaphor and Theory of Language  98

3.        Criticisms of Aristotle: An Assessment         102

4.        Conclusion: Essential Categories for the Conversation        106

B.       I. A. Richards 107

1.        Introduction: An Interanimation Theory of Metaphor          107

2.        Definitions: Theory of Language and Theory of Metaphor  108

3.        Conclusion: The First Interaction Theorist    111

4.        Richards and the Gospel of Mark      111

C.       Max Black      112

1.        Introduction: A More Nuanced Interaction Theory   112

2.        Definitions     112

3.        Conclusion: A Clearer Interaction Account  117

4.        Black and the Gospel of Mark           118

D.       Monroe Beardsley     119

1.        Introduction: Metaphor and Language          119

2.        Definitions     119

3.        Conclusion: Metaphors, Language, and Reality        124

4.        Beardsley and the Gospel of Mark    124

E.        Paul Ricoeur  125

1.        Introduction   125

2.        Definitions: Semantic Fields, Reference, Expression, Structure, World, and the Redescription of Reality 126

3.        Conclusion: Metaphors and the World          129

4.        Ricoeur and the Gospel of Mark        129

F.        John Searle     131

1.        Introduction   131

2.        Definitions: Literal Meaning, Speaker Meaning, Sentence Meaning, Truth Conditions, and Background Assumptions      131

3.        Conclusion: Searle, Metaphors, and Pragmatism      133

4.        Searle and the Gospel of Mark          134

G.       Eva Feder Kittay        134

1.        Introduction   134

2.        Definitions: Language As Expressive, Context-Dependent, and Systematic; Criteria for Metaphor; First- and Second-Order Meaning     135

3.        Conclusion: Ambiguity, Metaphor Theory, and Semantic Fields     139

4.        Kittay and the Gospel of Mark          142

H.       George Lakoff and Mark Johnson     143

1.        Introduction   143

2.        Metaphor in Everyday Speech           144

3.        Conclusion: Examples of Cognitive Metaphors        146

I.         Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner   146

1.        Introduction: Metaphor and Human Cognition         146

2.        Definitions: Conceptual Blending and Mental Spaces          147

3.        Conclusion: Turner, Fauconnier, and Semantic Analysis of Metaphors       149

4.        Fauconnier, Turner, and the Gospel of Mark 150

III.      Metaphors: A Working Understanding and Approach          150

A.       Introduction   150

B.       Identification 151

C.       Interpretation 155

D.       Resonating Metaphors           160

E.        Metaphoric Commentary       162

Chapter 3: Mark 2:19-22       165

I.         Introduction   165

II.       Structure        169

A.       Introduction   169

B.       Macrostructure: Mark 1:16-3:19        170

C.       Macrostructure: Meaning       175

D.       Microstructure: Mark 2:18-22           178

III.      Interpretation 181

A.       Mark 2:19-20 181

B.       Mark 2:21-22 188

1.        Mark 2:21      191

2.        Mark 2:22      200

IV.      Conclusion: Mark 2:19-22, the Message of Jesus, and the Kingdom of God           206

Chapter 4: Mark 3:23-27       208

I.         Introduction   208

II.       Structure        215

A.       Introduction   215

B.       Macrostructure: Mark 3:9-4:2 216

C.       Macrostructure: Meaning       225

D.       Microstructure: Mark 3:23-27           229

III.      Interpretation 232

A.       Interpretation 1: Satan Does Not Cast Himself out   232

1.        Mark 3:23      232

2.        Mark 3:24-26 233

3.        Mark 3:27      235

B.       Incongruities and Ambiguities: Odd Features of 3:23-27     238

1.        Introduction   238

2.        Mark 3:23      238

3.        Mark 3:24-26 241

4.        Mark 3:27      243

5.        Broader Incongruity in Mark 3:23-27 245

C.       Mark 3:23-27 Reconsidered: Jesus’s Divided Kingdom       247

1.        Mark 3:23      248

2.        Mark 3:24-26 248

3.        Mark 3:27      250

D.       Metaphorical Functions of 3:23-27   251

IV.      Conclusion: Divided Kingdoms and Jesus’s Passion in Mark’s Gospel       263

Chapter 5: Mark 4:1-34         265

I.         Introduction   265

II.       Structure        270

A.       Macrostructure: Mark 3:9-6:31          270

B.       Microstructure: 4:1-34           277

C.       Microstructure: Meaning       280

III.      Interpretation 283

A.       Mark 4:1-2     283

B.       Mark 4:3-9     284

C.       Mark 4:10-13 286

D.       Mark 4:14-20 290

E.        Mark 4:21-25 293

F.        Mark 4:26-29 300

G.       Mark 4:30-32 304

H.       Mark 4:33-34 309

IV.      Conclusion: Mark 4:1-34 and Transformative Reading        309

Chapter 6: Mark 12:1-12       312

I.         Introduction   312

II.       Structure        316

A.       Macrostructure 1: Mark 11:1-12:12   317

B.       Macrostructure 1: Meaning    321

C.       Macrostructure 2: 12:1-13:2  326

D.       Macrostructure 2: The Meaning        329

E.        Microstructure: 12:1-12         334

III.      Interpretation 335

A.       Mark 12:1-5   335

B.       Mark 12:6-9   338

C.       Mark 12:10-11           349

D.       Mark 12:12    355

IV.      Conclusion: The Beloved Son, the Temple, and the Ideology of Israel        356

Conclusion: Markan Parables, the Markan Jesus, and the Purpose of Mark’s Gospel         357

I.         Introduction   357

II.       Approaches to the Parables    358

A.       Philosophy of Language        358

1.        Frege  358

2.        Strawson        359

3.        Austin 360

4.        Grice  362

5.        Jakobson        363

6.        Conclusion: Philosophy of Language and Approaches to Parables  365

B.       Metaphor Theory       365

1.        Focus and Frame        366

2.        Vehicle and Tenor      367

3.        Resonating Metaphor 369

4.        Metaphoric Commentary       370

5.        Conclusion: Mark’s Parables and Metaphor Theory 371

III.      The Content of Mark’s Parables        371

A.       The Kingdom of God 372

B.       The Passion    374

C.       The Resurrection and Post-Resurrection Life 376

D.       Conclusion: An Assimilation of Worlds and the Parables’ Call       379

IV.      Directions for Further Study 379

A.       Markan Parables and the Words of the Markan Jesus           379

B.       Mark’s Gospel and the Parabolic Genre        382

Appendix: That All Might Seek the Lord: The Meaning of Mark 1:37-38   389

Bibliography  398

About this Dissertation

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Religion
Subfield / Discipline	New Testament
Degree	Ph.D.
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Philosophy Religion, Biblical Studies Theology
Keyword	Seed Sower Parable Crucifixion Cloth Mark Parables Jesus Wineskins Kingdom of God Satan Philosophy of language Theology Passion Gospel of Mark Vineyard Strong man Christology Metaphor Mustard Seed
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Kraftchick, Steven J., Emory University
Committee Members	Corrigan, Kevin, Emory University Robbins, Vernon K., Emory University Hylen, Susan, Emory University

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