The Gospel of Mark

This commentary examines the Gospel of Mark through the literary concepts of intratextuality and intertextuality. "Intratextuality" involves reading Mark as Mark, by Mark. It looks to the final form of the Gospel rather than its sources or literary history: its favored words, images, literary devices, forms structures, characterization, and plot. Particular attention to Mark's distinctive vocabulary and themes reveals the Gospel as a unified literary production. "Intertextuality" invites examination of the relationship between texts and a textual tradition. Here the commentary broadens the view to include materials not usually classified as "texts" (e.g., archaeological data) and shows the links of the text of the Gospel of Mark to these other materials as well as to literature, including the Old Testament, and to the life of the Markan community and the Christian community today.