From: Steven Lo Vullo (slovullo@mac.com)
Date: Sat Apr 20 2002 - 14:45:31 EDT
on 4/16/02 5:06 AM, Ty Daniel Frost at tysbgreek@hotmail.com wrote:
> In his 1997 article _The strange silence of the Bible_ in Interpretation:
> Essays on Bible and Theology (51/1 | 5-19) D. Juel claims that even the
> confession of the centurion in 15.39 can be understood as sarcasm. Can
> anyone shed some light on sarcasm in greek of this era? When is sarcasm a
> possability? Is it purely contextual or are there gramatical clues?
I think it is more or less contextual. In the case of Mark 15.39, I think it
is *possible* to understand the centurion's words as sarcasm. But what makes
me think otherwise is hOUTWS (thus, in this way). It was the WAY in which
Jesus breathed his last (EXEPNEUSEN) that elicited the confession: "When the
centurion, who was standing right in front of him, saw *the way* he breathed
his last, he said, 'Truly this man was the Son of God!'" I think this points
us back to v. 37: hO DE IHSOUS AFEIS FWNHN MEGALHN EXEPNEUSEN ("And Jesus
uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last."). Since there was something in
the WAY Jesus cried out before he breathed his last that affected the
centurion, and since v. 37 tells us he "uttered a loud cry" before he
breathed his last, perhaps it was the sheer volume of the cry, a
supernatural loudness, that prompted the centurion's response. Or perhaps it
was the ability to cry out with such a loud voice after suffering from the
brutal pre-crucifixion treatment Jesus had received, as well as the
debilitating, asphyxiating effects of crucifixion. Or perhaps both. At any
rate, it is hard to explain why a Roman centurion would mock a man who was
already dead. What would be the point?
============
Steven Lo Vullo
Madison, WI
slovullo@mac.com
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