- Martijn Linssen rightly pointed out that the pious women in Mark are condemned to silence because only so Mark could explain why the empty tomb story (absent in *Ev) didn't receive the attention that it would have deserved only with the his [of Mark] gospel.
- Another case of muteness as evidence of anti-marcionism is Luke 1:18-20, where Zechariah indulging in a (Marcionite) skepticism about the fulfilling of OT prophecies is punished by muteness:18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
- Another case is Mark 4:33-34:
33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
The last clause was necessary for Mark, since only so Mark could neutralize the implication in *Ev: that Jesus didn't even instruct on everything the his own disciples.
This fear by Mark is corroborated by the his addition of the "explanation" of the Parable of Sower (Mark 4:11-15) which is really a mere repetition of it, useful only to reassure the reader that yes, Jesus "explained everything" to his disciples, pace Marcion. Since this explanation was widely known to have been absent in *Ev, then Mark reported that it happened "when he was alone with his own disciples", therefore none, not even Marcion, could deny that the disciples were not instructed on everything by Jesus.
Statistics: Posted by Giuseppe — Wed May 01, 2024 2:25 am