Jesus’ Death and the Temple in the Gospel of Mark

The Death of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark

The purpose of my last few months of research has been to explore, within the narrative of the gospel of Mark, the link between Jesus’ death and the Temple.  This link is clearly to be seen at the surface level of the passion narratives where the  Temple and the  cross are fused together in the closing stages of the Markan narrative. For instance, Jesus at his trial, which leads directly to his execution, is  falsely accused of saying that he would destroy the Temple sanctuary ( ναὸν) and replace it with another (14:58). This accusation is repeated during the crucifixion  in the form of mockery  (15:29) and at the point of death the link between Jesus’ death and the Temple is made explicit, ‘for a single instant…. we [the reader] are transplanted from Golgotha to the Temple area, and then back to Golgotha’ when the veil of the Temple was torn (ἐσχίσθη)  in two (15:38).

The attached paper (click on title above)  seeks to explore these themes.

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Critical Review of Pitre’s ‘Jesus, the Tribulation and the End of Exile’

Here is a review and critique of Brant Pitre’s ‘Jesus, the Tribulation and the End of Exile’

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

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The Tribulation and Second Temple Judaism: Dale Allison

Dale Allison ‘The End of the Ages Has Come’ (1985), writing twenty five years before Pitre(2005), seeks to show, amongst other things, that the ‘New Testament contains texts in which the death of Jesus is interpreted as belonging to the great tribulation and in which his resurrection is set forth as marking the onset of the general resurrection of the dead’¹.

Before analysing the New Testament, he seeks, in Chapter Two, to examine aspects of Jewish eschatology for tribulation themes. He does this by asking a number of questions.

• When will the tribulation come?

• Who will suffer?

• How long will the tribulation last?

The following table seeks to tabulate his results and conclusions

When will the tribulation come?
The Tribulation in Present	Testament of Moses, esp ch 8,9	‘The author of the book thought that his time, the time of Antiochus, the time of Taxo, stood immediately before the appearance of God;s kingdom throughout all creation, when there would be no more Satan. The woes presently experienced were thought to be the woes, the last woes, and soon to be followed by renewal.’2
	1 QH III,7-10	The essenes ‘understood their own sufferings to signal the advent of the tribulation upon the new age.’3
	4 Ezra 5:1-13,50-55; 6:21-24	‘the time for divine visitation has come, the seer and his readers know themselves to be suffering the tribulation that must come before the Messiah’s advent.’4
	m.Sota 9:15	‘the pangs of the Messiah are here more than a prospect; they have revealed themselves in contemporary circumstances’5
The Great Tribulation is yet to come	1 Enoch 91-105	‘So although the present (the seventh week, by the author’s reckoning) may be miserable for those who fear God, it is in truth the wicked who should wail and weep, for the eighth week are coming when sinners will suffer God’s judgement in the great tribulation.’6
	Syriac Baruch (ca 100AD)	‘the messianic woes are also future yet imminent’
	Apocalypse of Abraham	‘If Israel has suffered and suffers, and if the heathen are now in command, the end, which is fastly approaching, will see the heavy hand of divine chastisement pass from the people of God to the nations.’7
	T. Levi 4:1, Adam and Eve 29:7, b. Sanh. 98B and b.Sabb. 118a	‘In these passages we run across instances where the prospect of a great tribulation, is not a prominent tenet, or conspicuous belief that draws much attention but, rather, somehting taken over from tradition and mentioned only in passing.’8
The great Tribulation is past	Jubilees 23:31	‘The author of Jubilees, then, encouraged in his optimism by good turns of fortune, could well have hoped that tribulation belonged tot he past and that God was ushering in a new time.’9
Who will Suffer?
The Saints Suffer	Daniel 7:21-22, Jub 23:1-31, As. Mos. 9:1-7, etc	‘the trend of these texts, from various times and places, is clear. The righteous will be tested and suffer affliction at the end. The Most High will not spare the faithful until the turning point.’10
The Wicked Suffer	Syriac Baruch, 4 Ezra 9:7-8, Apoc. Abraham 29, 1 Enoch 91-105,	‘Woes are always and exclusively directed against the nations that sin against God.’11
The saints may suffer	Liv. Pro. Dan. 21,Melkita 16:25.
How long will the tribulation last?	A week, 7 years, Daniel 12Rabbinic Sources: No estimation 1QM 40 Years 1 Enoch 91-105, Sib. Or. III 532-51, Liv Po. Hab 14, etc: No explicit duration	‘Our survey uncovers no agreement. The length of the great tribulation was variously estimated—from a few years to more than forty; and most texts simply do not broach the subject.’12

Allison examination has revealed great diversity on the topic of the tribulation Jewish Texts.

‘The results of this chapter serve to accent the variegated nature of Jewish eschatological expectation as is attested in the ancient literature.’¹³ Some texts treat the tribulation as a ‘central theme’, for some a ‘marginal conviction’, and other a ‘conspicuously absent belief.’

Allisons conclusions which stress diversity can be compared with that of Pitre.

1EAHS 3 Emphais my own

2EAHS 8

3EAHS 11

4EAHS 13

5EAHS 14

6EAHS 16

7EAHS 17

8EAHS 17

9EAHS 19

10EAHS 20

11EAHS 21

12EAHS 23-24

13EAHS 25

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‘Return from Exile’: Brant Pitre v N.T Wright

In his life death and ministry Jesus was seeking the restoration of Israel and the ‘return from exile.’ Yet how are we to understand the phrase ‘return from exile’. The following is an excerpt from an essay I am working on which shows how Brant Pitre challenges N.T Wright’s position.

( C) Return from Exile

As previously mentioned, Pitre builds upon and critiques the work of N.T. Wright. In an Excurses at the end of Chapter 1 Pitre

‘makes a fundamental distinction between what I mean by ‘the End of Exile,’ and the meaning of similar phrases in the work of N.t. Wright’¹

It is impossible to overstate the importance of the distinction being made as it allows some of the most serious criticisms of N.T. Wright’s ‘Return from Exile’² hypothesis to be on target whilst allowing his general thesis to be pursued in a more nuanced form. Wright’s position on the ‘return from exile’ is that,

‘Most Jews of this period [Second Temple period], it seems, would have answered the question ‘where are we?’ in language which reduced to its simplest form, meant, we are still in exile. They believed that, in all the senses which mattered, Israel’s exile was still in progress. Although she had come back from Babylon, the glorious message of the prophets remained unfulfilled, Israel still remained in thrall to foreigners; worse Israel’s god had not returned to Zion.³

Pitre understands that Wright is saying three things.

1. 1. 1. ‘The Babylonian exile had not ended.’

      2. ‘The exile no longer refers to the geographical expulsion and captivity of the Jews’

      3. ‘Wright appears to be simply equating ‘the Jews’ of the Second Temple Period with all ‘Israel’.

For Pitre, Wright has overlooks the significant fact that even during the Second Temple period, the greater portion of Israel remained in Exile.’ ⁴as one must factor in the Assyrian Exile of the ten northern tribes had not come to an end.

Pitre offers his own reworking of Wright’s above quoted summary of his ‘return from exile’ position, thus highlighting the similarities and differences of their respective positions.

‘Most Jews of this period [the Second Temple period], it seems, would have answered the question ‘where are we?’ with the response: ‘we have returned to the land, but the rest of Israel is still in exile; the lost ten tribes of the northern kingdom have not yet returned.’ They believed that, in all senses which mattered, Israel’s exile, which had begun with the deportation to Asyrria, was still in progress. Although the Judean exiles had come back from Babylon, the rest of Israel had not yet returned from being scattered by the Assyrians; hence, the glorious message of the prophets regarding the ingathering of all twelve tribes remain unfulfilled. The lost ten tribes of Israel still remained scattered among the nations.’⁵

For Pitre, Wright has the ‘right insight but the wrong exile’.⁶ Pitre defends his position by citing numerous biblical and intertestamental texts. The following quote from Josephus illuminate the discussion of second temple hopes and aspirations.,

Wherefore there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers. ⁷

1JTEE 31

2Wright, N. T, and N. T Wright. Jesus and the Victory of God. London: SPCK, 1996. xvii-xviii, 126-127, 203-204,248-50, also Wright, N.T. The New Testament and the People of God: Christian Origins and the Question of God v. 1. SPCK Publishing, 1992. 268-272. When faced with various criticisms on his ‘return from exile’ hermeneutic he responds in ‘In Grateful Dialogue’ Jesus & the Restoration of Israel: A Critical Assessment. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press.

3NT&POG 268-269 quoted by Pitre with his italics in JTEE 32

4JTEE 34

5JTEE 35

6JTEE 35

7 Josephus, Flavius ; Whiston, William: The Works of Josephus : Complete and Unabridged. Peabody : Hendrickson, 1996, c1987, S. Ant 11.133

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Pitre and Second Temple Judaism

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I am currently doing a thorough study of Jesus, The Tribulation and the End of Exile (JTEE)  by Brant Pitre. Here are some reflection on his work on tribulation themes within Second Temple Judaism. Any comments?

(a) Historiography and Second Temple Judaism

Due to a lack of serious scholarship in this area Pitre is to be applauded for offering a serious study which seeks to ‘trace the development and shape of the concept of eschatological tribulation in late Second Temple Judaism.’¹ E.P Sanders criticisms against Schweitzer may well have been correct when levelled against his use of sources², but can no longer, in the light of Pitre, be used to criticise some of his conclusion, as Pitre demonstrates, in the words of one reviewer,

‘successfully that the nexus of tribulation, the end of exile, and the coming of Messiah is present within enough strands of Second Temple Jewish literature to establish the plausibility of Jesus himself merging these themes in his own person and work.³

Pitre studies and examines texts dated from 200BC to 30AD. These dates are not arbitrary but are timebound as the ‘chosen time frame time frame is bound on one end by the earliest Jewish apocalypses and on the other by the lifetime of Jesus himself. ‘⁴

These texts, those composed between 200BC to 30AD, seventeen in all, are studied to answer the following questions.

• • • How is the eschatological tribulation depicted in any given text?

    • What is the precise literary context in which the tribulation is described or referred to?

    • Is the tribulation in question explicitly messianic?

    • What (if any) scriptural basis is provided for the expectation of the tribulation?

    • Is there any connection between the eschatological tribulation and the restoration of Israel and the end of Exile?

These texts include Epistle of Enoch. Testament of Moses and documents from the Dead Sea Scrolls.⁵ From these texts, usually an analysis of a section from within the document as a whole, Pitre draws the following conclusions.

1.The tribulation is tied to restoration of Israel and the End of Exile.

2.A righteous remnant arises during the tribulation.

3.The righteous suffer and/or die during the tribulation. This sometimes includes the suffering and/or death of a messianic figure.

4.The tribulation is tied to the coming of the Messiah, sometimes referred to as the ‘Son of Man’

5.There is a tribulation precedes the final judgement.

6.The tribulation is depicted as the eschatological climax of Israel’s exilic sufferings, often through the imagery of the Deuteronomic covenant curses.

7.The tribulation has two stages (1) the preliminary stage, and (2) the Great tribulation.

8.The tribulation precedes the coming of the eschatological kingdom

9.An eschatological tyrant, opponent, or Anti-Messiah arises during the tribulation.

10.Typological images from the Old Testament are used to depict the tribulation

11.The tribulation is tied to the ingathering and/or conversion of the Gentiles.

12.The tribulation has some kind of atoning or redemptive function.

13.The Jerusalem Temple is defiled and/or destroyed during the tribulation.

14.The tribulation precedes the resurrection of the dead and/or a new creation⁶

A number of questions are raised by Pitre’s methodology at this point.

1. Pitre, in limiting his study to texts produced between 200BC and 30AD, fails to include an analysis of the Hebrew Bible/Septuagint in his study.⁷ In one sense we can understand that he wants to look at later texts to show the development of tribulation ideas in second temple Judaism, yet we are faced, on the hand, with limited knowledge of the influence and reception history of texts such as Testament of Moses and the texts uncovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls. To be on more solid ground regarding the beliefs on the tribulation in ‘common’ or ‘mainstream’ Judaism we would be better placed in seeing tribulation themes as being found in the Hebrew Bible/Septuagint. By this I mean that although the canon was not necessarily fixed —there are no hard and fast lines delimiting God’s words.—⁸ , it is not possible to make a historical reconstruction of ‘tribulation’ beliefs without exploring the rich resources of the law and the prophets.

   Pitre offers an insightful understanding of tribulation themes in the Testament of Moses. This work, undoubtedly, is useful for understanding the mindset/worldview for its author and initial readers. However, we simply do not know how widely read this text was, and whether its opinions were accepted by Judaism at large. Or to look at another text, we may say that the Pitre’s study of the War Scroll found at Qumran, shows us the view of tribulation from this community, but this view cannot then be placed on Common Judaism, for the relationship between a sectarian group and those outside of it is complex, with both similarities and differences.

   However, if tribulation themes, although developed in 2^nd temple Judaism, are found in the law and the prophets, we can be more confident that the theme of tribulation may have been common theological currency in the ‘average’ second temple worldview. Pitre impressively has shown us the route which could be followed, but a thorough study of Law, and most definitely the prophets, would be useful.

   In my own study I have found that the curses of Deuteronomy may provide a seedbed from which later apocalyptic and tribulation themes can grow, and that once in the prophets the theme of tribulation, in one guise or another is present. For instance the book of Malachi, dated to the fourth of fifth century BC, which I will return to in discussion of the Lord’s prayer, offers a prophetic look to the arrival of the ‘day of the Lord’. OF interest to us is the fact that this text is post-exilic, perhaps contemporary to Nehemiah, and looks to a day, because of the unfaithfulness of God’s people, of reckoning.

English Translation of MT “For behold, rthe day is coming, sburning like an oven, when tall the arrogant and tall evildoers uwill be stubble. The day that is coming ushall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
English Translation of LXX9 For, behold, a day comes burning as an oven, and it shall consume them; and all the aliens, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that is coming shall set them on fire, saith the Lord Almighty, and there shall not be left of them root or branch.	LXX διότι ἰδοὺ ἡμέρα κυρίου ἔρχεται καιομένη ὡς κλίβανος καὶ φλέξει αὐτούς, καὶ ἔσονται πάντες οἱ ἀλλογενεῖς καὶ πάντες οἱ ποιοῦντες ἄνομα καλάμη καὶ ἀνάψει αὐτοὺς ἡ ἡμέρα ἡ ἐρχομένη έγει κύριος παντο κράτωρ καὶ οὐ μὴ ὑπολειφθῇ ἐξ αὐτῶν ῥίζα οὐδὲ κλῆμα 10

In the recently published book by Pate, C. Marvin, and Douglas Welker Kennard. Deliverance Now and Not Yet: The New Testament and the Great Tribulation¹¹ we find an analysis of the book of Isaiah and Zechariah for themes of tribulation. Pate and Kennard in dialogue with Dale Allison state

‘Allison does not take into consideration the Old Testament, especially Isaiah 24-27, Zechariah and Daniel¹²…In failing to do this, Allison overlooks the key issue regarding the tribulation.’¹³

It is this criticism of Pate and Kennard which can be levelled against Pitre’s work. ¹⁴

Pate and Kennard may offer us a further insight into the concept of tribulation in the first century, but their discussion is brief and they ask different questions of the texts than Pitre. They are concerned to show whether atonement is mimetic or vicarious in the texts, whereas Pitre uses the ‘return from exile’ hermeneutic. To take this discussion further, for those in support of Pitre’s basic thesis, a full analysis the ‘law and the prophets’ for tribulation themes is necessary and urgent. As will be shown in the discussion of the Lord’s prayer this study could enhance our understanding of key gospel texts.

1. Pitre has correctly brought out themes of tribulation in second temple literature but we may note, although this does not undermine his approach, that some texts which may refer to the tribulation have not been included in his study. For instance Wisdom of Solomon 3:5-6 and 19:22 have been read, by Pate and Kennard, as ‘reorientating of the eschatological idea that the godly will undergo the Messianic Woes at the end of time to a Hellenistic setting.‘¹⁵ Pitre does not discuss them, they read as follows,

   1. 1. 1. But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,

And no torment shall touch them.

^2 In the eyes of fools they seemed to die;

And their departure was accounted to be their hurt,

^3 And their going from us to be their ruin:

But they are in peace.

^4 For though in the sight of men they be punished,

Their hope is full of immortality;

^5 And having borne a little chastening, they shall receive great good;

Because God tested them, and found them worthy of himself.

^6 As gold in the furnace he proved them,

And as a whole burnt offering he accepted them.

^7 And in the time of their visitation they shall shine forth,

And like sparks among stubble they shall run to and fro.

^8 They shall judge nations, and have dominion over peoples;

And the Lord shall reign over them for evermore.

^9 They that trust on him shall understand truth,

And the faithful shall abide with him in love;

Because grace and mercy are to his chosen,

And he will graciously visit his holy ones. (Wisdom 3 1-9)¹⁶

3) Pitre has demonstrated that an ‘expectation of messianic tribulation can be found in a diverse range of various genres of Jewish literature from the period.’¹⁷ Yet, we must be careful, as Pitre is, not to overstate our case. Although Pitre has found tribulation themes across a range of literature we are not in the position to state whether this was a theme with ‘normative’,'mainstream’ Judaism, or if it is a theme how prominent was it? Did the average Jew await/worry about/pray about the tribulation? Did Jesus wait the tribulation? Such a question cannot be easily answered, although we may, on the basis of Pitre’s work, say that it is appropriate to construct a ‘tribulation’ hypothesis, which seeks verification from the gospel data.

1JTEE 2 On reading Chapter 2 JTEE one is reminded of the the survey which was conducted by Sanders, E. P. Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion. Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1977, A previous attempt at clarifying 2^nd temple Judaic views on the tribulation was recently put forward by Dale Allison who, prior to Pitre, offered the most systematic and well argued treatment of eschatological tribulation devoting a chapter to the ‘Great Tribulation in Jewish Literature’. See Allison, Dale C. End of the Ages Has Come: Early Interpretation of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus. Fortress P.,U.S, 1985.   Chapter 2

2‘What is wrong with Schweitzer’s reconstruction is immediately clear:….his hypothesis does not arise naturally from the study of the texts but seems to be imposed upon them, and the dogma which he ascribes to Jesus may not even in fact even be thoroughly grounded in the contemporary Jewish expectation. The expectation of sufferings before the Messiah comes, for example, which is absolutely critical to Schweitzer’s hypothesis, may not precede the two wars with Rome, and numerous other elements of his eschatological scheme may be queried.’ Sanders, E. P. Jesus and Judaism. London: SCM Press, 1985, 23,

3Page 5 review of Pitre by Matthew S. Harmon Grace Theological Seminary Winona Lake, Indiana, “Review of Biblical Literature.” http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5514&CodePage=3825,5514.

4Pitre JTEE 23

5The full list is 1 Enoch 93:1-10;91:11-17, 1 Enoch 91-107, The Book of Daniel, The Book of Dreams , The book of Jubilees, The Third Sibylline Oracle, the Psalms of Solomen, The Testament of Moses, 1QH, 4Q171, 4Q174 & 4Q177, 1QS, CD, 1 QM, 4Q246, 1 Enoch 37-71

6Pitre JTEE 127-129

7Ibid 41 fn. 1 this hold true for his overview of second temple themes but in his interaction with the Jesus Traditon he makes links and notices allusions/echoes with the Old Testament.

8‘Many Jews and not a few early Christians percieved God’s word in the words of the Apocrypha. During the time of Jesus, there was no closed and clearly defined canon of sacred writings.’ James Charlesworth in the Forward to Desilva, David Arthur. Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance. Baker Academic, 2002.

9English Translation of the Greek Septuagint Bible The Translation of the Greek Old Testament Scriptures, Including the Apocrypha. Compiled from the Translation by Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton 1851

10Septuaginta : With morphology. Stuttgart : Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1996, c1979, S. Mal 3:19-20

11Pate, C. Marvin, and Douglas Welker Kennard. Deliverance Now and Not Yet: The New Testament and the Great Tribulation. Peter Lang Pub Inc, 2003.

12Pitre does offer some discussion of the book of Daniel but only because he assigns it a late date

13Pate, C. Marvin, and Douglas Welker Kennard. Deliverance Now and Not Yet: The New Testament and the Great Tribulation, 33-34 with pages 34-37 looking at Isaiah, 37-39 Zechariah, 39-41 at Daniel

14Also of inetrest to us from Pate and kennard is their discussion of 2 and 4 Maccabees, books which Pitre fails to include in his study, which can be read successfully, in my opinion, against a tribulation backdrop. See 42-51

15Pate, C. Marvin, and Douglas Welker Kennard. Deliverance Now and Not Yet: The New Testament and the Great Tribulation 56-57

16Charles, Robert Henry (Hrsg.): Apocrypha of the Old Testament. Bellingham, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2004, S. 1:538-539

17 JTEE 128

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