Fear in this and last week's gospels
Meanings of Greek words
4.41 Why are you so fearful? – of Christians who out of cowardice give way under persecution
4.41 They feared – of those startled by a strange sight or occurrence; a great fear – terror.
5.33 the woman fearing and trembling – struck with fear of injury, (though here I agree with Hooker over Thayer. See below).
5.36 Do not fear – seized with alarm; only believe – impelled by inner and higher prerogative
5.38-39 Tumult – public uproar, hullabaloo, confusion
5.41 they were amazed – throw out of place, astound, and throw out of one’s mind; with amazement great – fear mixed with wonder, state of being out of one’s mind.
3 comments:
I know that this is hindsight, but I don't like your Greek interpretation of the word "fear." In all of my research, the word better translated as "timidity." The obvious conclusion being the question, rather than "why do you fear?- instead, "why'd ya wait so long to wake me? Haven't I proven faithful over all the powers of chaos and hopelessness? Seems to me that it is God who woos us into relationship through Jesus the Christ...our Lord, our friend.
I agree with you, the fear of the disciples of Jesus is often raw and at odds with my desire to focus on intimacy with him. I'm relying on Thayer for the interpretation, as much as I wanted to, I didn't take Biblical languages in college. Mark seems to like his emotions raw. I wonder what he's getting at in that.
Again, I think the focus should be on Jesus' action of intimacy toward us. I also feel that Mark's "raw emotions" reflect the author's sense of urgency in the gospel. In that regard, there is no longer time to dance around the issue, God's radical love for humanity is breaking into our history in a way which had never previously been considered...God's action is the key...the urgency, the import of the text. God is breaking all sorts of "rules" to get God's point across...i.e. God's good intentions for humanity.
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