The Son of Man behaving beastly: Reading Jesus and the wild animals of Mark 1:13 with Daniel 4

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Abstract

The temptation narrative in Mark's gospel contains an unusual detail absent from the counterpart traditions in Matthew and Luke. In Mk 1.13 Jesus is described as being ‘with the wild animals.’ Several Hebrew Bible texts and typologies have been suggested to explain this unique Markan feature, however none has gained widespread support. This article takes a different approach and investigates this enigmatic Markan phrase by focusing on the description of Nebuchadnezzar in the Greek editions of Daniel 4. While a connection between these biblical texts has been suggested before, this paper will expand upon such observations through a more detailed comparison of several key features of these texts. It will be shown that, due to these connections, it is probable that Mark's reference to wild animals is a comment on the behaviors exhibited by Jesus by living in the wilderness.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)401-416
Number of pages16
JournalJournal for the Study of the New Testament
Volume46
Issue number3
Early online date22 Nov 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2024

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Jesus
  • animals
  • Mark
  • wilderness
  • Nebuchadnezzar
  • behavior

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