Sorgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin (iii. 29): He spake with many parables, and without a parable he spake not (iv. 33, 34). Compareiii. 5, 27; v. 26; vi. 25; vii. 91. He employs over seventy words which are found nowhere else in the New Testament. We find him preserving the identical Aramaic words uttered by the Lord. In his Gospel alone occur Boaner- ges (iil. 17); Talitha cumi (v. 41); Korban (vii. 11); Eph- phatha (vii. 34); and Abba (xiv. 36). Writing for Romans we find him transferring certain Latin words into Greek, such as legio, legion (v. 9); centurio, Kevtupiwv, centurion, which else- where is éxatovtapyos—xns (xv. 39); guadrans, furthing (xii. 42) ; flagellare, to scourge (xv. 15) ; speculator, executioner (vi. 27) ; census, tribute (xii. 14); seatarius, pot (vii. 4); praetorium (xv. 16). Three of these, centurio, speculator, and seatarius are found in his Gospel only. He alwaysaddsa note of explanation to Jewish words and usages.
His style is abrupt, concise, and forcible; his diction less pure than that of Luke and John. Besides irregularities of construction which cannot be explained to the English reader, he employs many words which are expressly forbidden by the grammarians, and some of which are even condemned as slang. Such are éoydtas exe, is at the point of death (v. 23); xpadS8Ba- tos, bed (ii. 4, 9, 11, 12); povdpdaruos, with one eye (ix. 47); KorruBioTat, money-changers (xi. 15); Kopdcvov, maid (v. 41) ; opkivw, [ adjure (v. 7); pamucpa, a blow of the hand (xiv. 65) ; padisos, needle (x. 25).
I have described the characteristics of Mark at some length, because they lie peculiarly in the line of the special purpose of this book, which deals with individual words and phrases, and with peculiarities of diction, rather than with the exegesis of passages. Of this Gospel it is especially true that its pecu- liar flavor and quality cannot be caught without careful verbal study. It is a gallery of word-pictures. Reading it, even in the familiar versions, we may discover that it is, as Canon Westcott remarks, “essentially a transcript from life;” but nothing short of an insight into the original and individual words will reveal to us that the transcript itself is alive.
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