Joel Marcus on the Sitz im Leben of Mark

The following article is now available on-line in PDF:

Joel Marcus, “The Jewish War and the Sitz im Leben of Mark,” Journal of Biblical Literature 111.3 (Fall 1992): 441-462. Clicke here to view.

The Use of the Old Testament in the New and Other Essays now on-line

Duke University Press have kindly allowed me permission to place online all the essays from the following Festschrift:

James M. Efird, editor, The Use of the Old Testament in the New and Other Essays: Studies in Honor of William Franklin Stinespring. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1972. ISBN: 0822302888. pp.332.


It contains two articles on the use of the OT in the New (always a popular subject) as well as contributions by renowned biblical scholars J.H. Charlesworth and W.D. Davies. Of note is the article on Gnostic exegesis of the OT. Click here for a full listing.

Charles H. Dyer on the Purpose for the Gospel of Mark

The following article is now available in PDF:

Charles H. Dyer, "The Purpose for the Gospel of Mark," Stanley D. Toussaint & Charles H. Dyer, eds., Essays in Honor of J. Dwight Pentecost. Chicago: Moody Press, 1986. Hbk. 0802423817. pp.49-62.

My thanks to Moody Publishers for their kind permission to place this article on-line.

Howard C. Bigg on the The State of the Q Hypothesis in 1988

The following article is now available on-line in PDF:

Howard C. Bigg, "The Present State of the Q Hypothesis," Vox Evangelica 18 (1988): 63-73.

This should prove useful to anyone studying Gospel origins.

F.F. Bruce on the Use of the Book of Zechariah in the Passion Narrative

The following article is now online in PDF:

F.F. Bruce, "The Book of Zechariah and the Passion Narrative," Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 43 (March 1961): 336-353.

Quotatle quote (I love the characteristic understatement here):

Even so, one may well hesitate to go so far as to find an echo of Zechariah ix-xiv in his statement that the high priest’s slave whom Peter wounded at Jesus’ arrest was called Malchus (John xviii. 10). It has been suggested in one of the most important studies of the Fourth Gospel to appear in recent years that John called the slave Malchus to show that the narrative of the arrest fulfilled Zechariah xi. 6, “I will cause men to fall each into the hand of his neighbour, and each into the hand of his king (malkô)”. But there is a basic appropriateness about John’s other allusions to Zechariah ix-xiv which is lacking here; no one fell into Malchus’ hand, and why, of all the people present, should the high priest’s slave be chosen to fulfil the prophecy about a “king”? It is more likely that the Evangelist tells us that the slave’s name was Malchus because he happened to know that Malchus, in fact, was his name.

Donald E. Cook on the Gospel Portrait of the Pharisees

The following article is now available in PDF:

Donald E. Cook, "A Gospel Portrait of the Pharisees," Review & Expositor 84.2 (Spring 1987): 221-233.

The Pharisees were an important group in Jewish society in the time of Jesus with whom both He and the early church interacted. It is interesting to read how the different Gospel writers each had their own take on them.

William Lane on Milestones in Markan Scholarship

The following article is now available on-line in PDF:

William L. Lane, "From Historian to Theologian: Milestones in Markan Scholarship," Review & Expositor 75.4 (Fall 1978): 601-617.

William Lane (author of the Commentary on Mark in the New International Commentary on the New Testament series) provides a brief but helpful summary of the history of Markan interpretation.