Mark 15:1-16:8: Repetitive Texture

The Gospel of Mark

Repetition that exhibits major characters and major topics in the discourse in Mark 15:1-16:8 creates the following pattern:

1:JesusPilate
2:Pilateking
4:Pilate
5:JesusPilate
8:Pilate
9:king
12:Pilateking
13:crucify
14:crucify
15:JesusPilatecrucified
18:king
20:crucify
21:cross
24:crucified
25:crucified
26:king
27:crucified
30:cross
32:kingcrucifiedcross
34:Jesus
40:Mary M.;Mary;Salome
43:JesusPilatekingdomJoseph
44:Pilate
45:Joseph
46:tomb
tomb
47:Mary M.;Mary
16:1Mary M.;Mary;Salome
16:2tomb
16:3tomb
16:5tomb
16:6Jesuscrucified
16:8tomb

This diagram shows that Jesus is a subject of central interest throughout Mark 15:1-16:8. In this context, nine references to Pilate and seven references to king or kingdom occur in 15:1-44. Eight references to crucifixion occur in 15:13-32, then an additional reference occurs in 16:6. Three references to women begin in 15:40 and extend through 16:1. Six references to a tomb begin in 15:45 and continue to the very end in 16:8. This clustering of repetitive data creates three major sets of rhetorical topics. First, there is repetition that features Jesus, Pilate, and kingship. Second, there is repetition that features crucifixion. Third, there is repetition of references to three women, Joseph of Arimathea, and Pilate that shifts the focus to a tomb which is empty in the final scene.


From V. K. Robbins, Exploring the Texture of Texts, (Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1996), pp. 8-9.

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