Daniel’s Son Of Man In Mark: A Redefinition Of The Earthly Temple And The Formation Of A New Temple Community -- By: Robert S. Snow

Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 60:2 (NA 2009)
Article: Daniel’s Son Of Man In Mark: A Redefinition Of The Earthly Temple And The Formation Of A New Temple Community
Author: Robert S. Snow


Daniel’s Son Of Man In Mark: A Redefinition Of The Earthly Temple And The Formation Of A New Temple Community1

Robert Snow

This study attempts to build upon Professor Morna Hooker’s work, The Son of Man in Mark, in which she concludes that ‘the authority, necessity for suffering, and confidence in final vindication, which are all expressed in the Marcan [Son of Man] sayings, can all be traced to Dan. 7.’2 Starting with an analysis of the Son of Man [SM] in Daniel 7, the dissertation focuses on the priestly aspects of the SM and his presentation in the heavenly temple. In light of this particular OT background, Mark’s Son of Man redefines the sacred space of the temple around himself. Initially, the SM does so by manifesting the divine presence. However, the temple leaders eventually cause the SM to suffer and die, through which redemption for Jesus’ faithful followers is provided and a new temple community is formed. The SM’s manifestation of the divine presence and redemptive suffering death finds vindication at the appearance of the exalted priestly SM who comes in the context of a celestial temple.

The reuse of Scripture as it manifests itself in the OT alone, the so-called ‘rewritten Bible’, and the use of the OT by NT writers provides the methodological framework for this study. Christopher Stanley comments that ‘within the Jewish sphere … a long-standing tradition allowed for repeated reinterpretation and even rewriting of certain parts of the biblical record so as to draw out its significance for a later time.’3 In another examination of Paul’s use of Scripture, Richard Hays argues

that the OT functions as a metaphor in Paul’s intertextual reflections.4 Specifically, ‘… the great stories of Israel continue to serve for him as a fund of symbols and metaphors that condition his perception of the world, of God’s promised deliverance of his people, and of his own identity and calling.’5 The work of Hays and Stanley highlights some of the important features of the ways in which the OT functions in and is used by Paul. This methodology is applied to Mark’s use of the Danielic SM.

The Marcan SM has a number of specific associations or, in the words of Stanley, evinces ‘interpretative renderings’ which when viewed in light of You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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