Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Dissertations Graduate Research 2012 The Markan "Divorce" Pericope: an Exegesis Carlos C. Camarena Andrews University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations Part of the Biblical Studies Commons Recommended Citation Camarena, Carlos C., "The Markan "Divorce" Pericope: an Exegesis" (2012). Dissertations. 1666. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations/1666 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Research at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT THE MARKAN “DIVORCE” PERICOPE: AN EXEGESIS by Carlos C. Camarena Adviser: Robert M. Johnston ABSTRACT OF GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH Dissertation Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Title: THE MARKAN "DIVORCE" PERICOPE: AN EXEGESIS Name of researcher: Carlos C. Camarena Name and degree of faculty adviser: Robert M. Johnston, Ph.D. Date completed: April 2012 Problem Jesus pronounced one major saying on the question of "divorce" in the NT for which there are four independent reports: three in the Gospels (Matt 19: 1-9, Mark 10: 1- 12, and Luke 16:18) and one in Paul (1 Cor 7:10-16). The major accounts (Markan and Matthean)' though appearing to be similar, there are significant grammatical and syntactical differences and two vastly different ethnic foci (a Matthean-Jewish focus versus a Markan-Gentile one) so as to each merit independent analysis. Traditionally, however, the Church has mostly relied on the Matthean account to derive its theology on divorce and remarriage, even when Mark's account is widely considered to precede the lTbe Lukan account, though considered by many to be the most primitive, does not provide us with much context for it to warrant exegetical consideration. Matthean account. The tendency to conflate all divorce sayings in the Bible, and specifically in the NT, into one essential meaning creates insurmountable problems when such sayings are studied independently. Because no major study has specifically focused on the "divorce" logion as it appears in Mark, major questions related to Jesus' teaching on the subject still remain unanswered. Purpose The purpose of this dissertation is an attempt to make a contextual assessment of Jesus' teaching on "divorce" according to Mark in order to define its basic thrust within a Gentile community (in relation to Matthew's Jewish community) and to ellucidate a clearer picture of what the NT Jesus may have taught on the subject. Method This study is divided into six major chapters and an appendix. Chapter 1 gives a bird's-eye view into some of the modem scholarship regarding the "divorce" sayings in both Gospels. Chapter 2 focuses its attention on the locale of the Gentile audience of Mark, analyzing whether the purported Gentile-Roman audience could actually fit a Palestinian milieu. Chapter 3 considers the divorce practices among the Romans and analyzes whether those practices may have reached Palestinians via Roman influence. Chapter 4 considers a grammatical-syntactical structure and connectors that may identify the Markan peri cope (Mark 10: 1-12) as a unit, In this chapter I also analyze the crux word translated "to divorce" in the Gospels and show that Greek writers two centuries prior to the NT as well as a century after do not consistently use the term apo/l£i5to mean to divorce, and neither do modem translators. In chapter 5 I conduct an exegesis in which I analyze Jesus' statement based on the Mosaic legislation (Deut 24: 1-4) and the :raditional Jewish internretation of such legislation. I discuss unresolved issues in chapter -; and nresent the plausible interpretation of the Markan "divorce" saying. The appendix contains a historical analysis on the use of the crux word translated "to divorce": apo!t~i5 and its derivatives. Conclusions The unity of the Markan peri cope (Mark 10: 1-12), the historical context in which Mark places Jesus' "divorce" saying, the traditional Jewish interpretation of Deut 24: 1-4, and the generally known term used for divorce during NT times, all point to the probability that Jesus may have not been referring to the practice of divorce, but rather condemning the practice of desertion, specifically pointing to the house of Herod 'where Herodias left her husband and whose letter of divorce did not give her the right to divorce him, according to Jewish views, and an indirect attack to Herod's own expulsion of his Nabatean wife. If this study is to be of any value, it should point us to the importance of doing independent analysis of all texts/peri copes in which this subject may be found before making generalized statements or taking theological sides. Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary THE MARKAN “DIVORCE” PERICOPE: AN EXEGESIS A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by Carlos C. Camarena April 2012 © Copyright by Carlos C. Camarena 2012 All Rights Reserved THE MARKAN “DIVORCE” PERICOPE: AN EXEGESIS A dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy by Carlos C. Camarena APPROVAL BY THE COMMITTEE: __________________________________ ____________________________ Faculty Adviser, Director of Ph.D./Th.D. Program Robert M. Johnston Thomas Shepherd Professor of New Testament __________________________________ ____________________________ Richard M. Davidson Dean, SDA Theological Seminary Professor of Old Testament Denis Fortin __________________________________ W. Larry Richards Professor of New Testament __________________________________ _________________________ Date approved TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................... vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................... x Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 A Brief Modern History ........................................................................ 4 Did He Say It? ................................................................................. 7 Jesus and the Rabbis ....................................................................... 10 No Divorce—No Remarriage ......................................................... 14 For the Kingdom’s Sake ................................................................. 17 The Jesus Seminar........................................................................... 19 The Question of Grammar .............................................................. 20 Background to the Problem .................................................................. 21 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................... 29 Statement of Purpose ............................................................................ 29 Justification for the Study .................................................................... 30 Assumptions.......................................................................................... 31 Scope and Delimitations ....................................................................... 32 Methodology ......................................................................................... 33 2. THE GALILEAN-GENTILE AUDIENCE OF MARK ............................. 36 Introduction ........................................................................................... 36 The Gentile-Roman Audience of Mark ................................................ 37 Mark’s Other Non-Palestinian and Non-Roman Audience .................. 39 Mark’s Palestinian Audience ................................................................ 41 Hellenistic Influences in Galilee ........................................................... 42 Mark’s Use of Foreign Terms ............................................................... 53 Summary and Conclusions ................................................................... 57 3. MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE UNDER THE ROMANS: FIRST CENTURY BCE TO FIRST CE ..................................................... 61 Introduction ........................................................................................... 61 Marriage and Divorce Laws in Pre-Imperial Times ............................. 65 iii Marriage by Usus ............................................................................ 67 Marriage by Coemptio .................................................................... 72 Marriage by Confaerratio ............................................................... 74 Women’s Movement of the Late Republic ........................................... 77 Marriage and Divorce during Imperial Times ...................................... 81 Free Marriage and Concubinage ..................................................... 82 Fictitious Marriages ........................................................................ 86 The Age of Marriage ....................................................................... 87 The Decaying Status of Marriage Relationships ...........................