Aramaic Sources of Mark’s Gospel

This is the first book to use all the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls to reconstruct original Aramaic sources from parts of Mark’s Gospel. The scrolls have enabled the author to revolutionise the methodology of such work, and to reconstruct whole passages which he interprets in their original cultural context. The passages from which sources are reconstructed are Mark 9.11-13; 2.23-3.6; 10.35-45; and 14.12-26. A detailed discussion of each passage is offered, demonstrating that these sources are completely accurate accounts from the ministry of Jesus, from early sabbath disputes to his final Passover. An account of the translation process is given, showing how problems in Mark’s text arose from the difficulty of translating some Aramaic expressions into Greek, including the notoriously difficult ‘son of man’. A very early date for these sources is proposed, implying a date of c. 40 CE for Mark’s Gospel.