Historical and Geographical Setting
Introduction
Click here for the introduction.
Source 1: Excerpt from Hellenistic History and Culture edited by Peter Green © 1993
The book may be accessed here:
You will want to use pages 238-250 as this is only a book
preview and a few of the pages will not be visible. This is fine, and normal.
You’ll be able to get a very good understanding from the available material.
Feel free to create your own discussion questions or to use
these as a way to further engage the material from the book.
Source 2: A Map of the
Major Trade Routes in Israel During the Time of Jesus
The map can be accessed here:
This is an admittedly basic map. However, it can be used to
illustrate in a relatively clear manner where the routes and roads that Jesus
would have probably used for traveling the Holy Land would have been located
and where the would have gone.
Source 3: A Modern Map
of Israel
The map can be accessed here:
Once you’ve pulled up Google Maps simply type “Israel” in
the search area and Google will bring up a modern map of Israel. This is useful
for several reasons. First, it will provide you with an accurate idea of the
distances between the places where Jesus ministered as many of those places are
still around today such as Capernaum, Jerusalem, the Sea of Galilee, etc.
Second, by using the Satellite option on Google Maps it’s possible to get a
reasonably good approximation of what the land looks like today and, with a
little imagination, it’s pretty easy to get an idea of what the land was like
back then too.
Conclusion
The
importance of history cannot be underestimated when considering an in depth
study of source material that is as old as the Gospel of Mark. In many ways the
Gospel of Mark is, in and of itself, a very valuable historical artifact along
with the rest of the Gospels and the other books of the Bible as well for that
matter. It’s not possible to divorce the Gospel of Mark or any of the other
books of the Bible from their historical context any more than it is possible
for a single forward to win a soccer game all by themselves. Just as the sport
of soccer is a team activity that requires all of the players working together
towards the same goal of winning the match so too is the Gospel of Mark a part
of the tapestry of context in which it was written, a context that it cannot
simply be conveniently separated from even though many people do take that
exact approach to their study of the scriptures. A full and complete
understanding of the Biblical text must, necessarily, come from a thorough and
complete understanding of the historical and geographical context in which that
text was produced along with an understanding of the accompanying social,
political, economic, and even military factors that may have affected the text
when it was produced. To take a look at the text solely in a vacuum is to try
and gain an understanding of it without having at least a partial grasp of all
of the pieces of that text and what make that text what it is.
Composed by Sean McCormack
