John’s Reworking of Mark
A Study in Light of Ancient Compositional Practice
By (author) Elizabeth J. B. Corsar
Paperback (Forthcoming)
(December 2026)
ISBN: 9783161633584
6.1 x 9.13 inches
Price: $120.00
Did the author of John’s Gospel draw on Mark? Elizabeth J. B. Corsar situates this long-standing question within the compositional conventions of the ancient Mediterranean world and argues that John reworks Mark in ways that closely reflect established ancient practice.
Elizabeth J. B. Corsar addresses the perennial New Testament question of the relationship between the Gospel of John and the Synoptic Gospels, with particular attention to the Gospel of Mark. She identifies and illustrates the theory and practice of source reworking within ancient compositional culture and demonstrates that the author of John’s Gospel operates in a manner broadly analogous to this literary convention, especially in his reworking of Mark for the composition of his own Gospel. The study begins with an introductory chapter that surveys the history of scholarly debate concerning the relationship between John and the Synoptic Gospels, tracing the development of positions ranging from assumptions of Johannine independence to arguments for various forms of literary dependence, with a particular focus on Mark. To situate the present argument within its broader literary context, in the main part of the study, Corsar engages with a representative selection of ancient literary theorists and authors broadly contemporaneous with the Johannine milieu in order to assess the dominant compositional expectations and practices. Furthermore, in order to demonstrate more concretely the author’s use of such techniques of reworking, Corsar employs John 1-2 as a focused test case, comparing these chapters with parallel material in Mark’s Gospel.
1. John and Mark
1.1. Introduction
1.2. History of Research
1.3. Methodology
2. The Theory of Source Reworking in Antiquity
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Horace
2.3. Seneca
2.4. Longinus
2.5. Quintilian
2.6. Conclusion
3. The Practice of Source Reworking in Antiquity
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Plutarch
3.3. Tacitus
3.4. Josephus
3.5. The Gospel of Peter
3.6. Conclusion
4. John's Reworking of Mark
4.1. Introduction
4.2. The Prologue: John 1:1-18
4.3. John the Witness: John 1:19-34
4.4. The Disciples: John 1:35-51
4.5. The Wedding at Cana: John 2:1-11
4.6. The Incident in the Temple
5. Conclusion
5.1. The Aim of this Study
5.2. The Results of this Study
5.3. Prospects for Further Research
Born 1991; 2019 PhD from the University of Edinburgh; Director of Undergraduate Studies and Tutor in New Testament at St Padarn’s Institute, Cardiff.
- By (author) Elizabeth J. B. Corsar
Other Titles in this Series
John among the Other Gospels
The Reception of the Fourth Gospel in the Extra-Canonical Gospels
Volume 347
Mitleid und Erbarmen im Lukasevangelium
Ein Beitrag zu Ethik und Emotionsgeschichte des entstehenden Christentums in seinem antiken philosophischen und frühjüdischen Kontext
Der verborgene Vater im Matthausevangelium
Ein Beitrag zum Gottesbild und zur Gebetstheologie von Mt 6,1-6.16-18
Volume 617
Intercession of Jesus in Hebrews
The Background and Nature of Jesus' Heavenly Intercession in the Epistle to the Hebrews
Volume 585
Participation, Justification, and Conversion
Eastern Orthodox Interpretation of Paul and the Debate between Old and New Perspectives on Paul
Volume 442
Temporal Dimensions of the Apocalypse
Ancient Christian Reception and Contemporary Hermeneutical Reflections
Renaming Abraham’s Children
Election, Ethnicity, and the Interpretation of Scripture in Romans 9
Volume 421
Die heiligen Propheten, eure Apostel und ich
Metatextuelle Studien zum zweiten Petrusbrief
Volume 300
Animals in the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles
The Wild Kingdom of Early Christian Literature
Volume 247
Christologie und Existenz im Kolosserbrief
Exegetische und semantische Untersuchungen zur Intention des Kolosserbriefes
Volume 191
Diakonia im Neuen Testament
Studien zur Semantik unter besonderer Berucksichtigung der Rolle von Frauen
Volume 226
The Strength Needed to Enter the Kingdom of God
An Exegetical and Theological Study of Luke 16:16 in Context
Volume 485
Similar Books
Apocrypha, Magic, Liturgy
The Multiple Identities of Coptic Prayers in Late Antique and Early Islamic Egypt
Athanasius of Alexandria, Epistula ad episcopos Aegypti et Libyae
Old Slavonic Version and English Translation
Volume 261
Contesting Labeled Identities
The Sociology of Gentilics in Biblical and Northwest Semitic Literature
Cyril of Alexandria’s Christological Exegesis
Explorations of Partitive Exegesis in the Dialogues on the Trinity
Volume 70
Epiphanies of the Divine in the Septuagint and the New Testament
Fifth International Symposium of the Corpus Judaeo-Hellenisticum Novi Testamenti (CJHNT), 14-17 May 2015, Nottingham
Extracanonical Traditions and the Holy Land
Texts, Rituals, and Material Culture in Late Antique Palestine
From Joseph to Jesus
The Joseph Narrative as a Compositional Template from Old Greek Esther to the Gospel of Luke
Volume 125
Nicholas of Lyra’s Commentaries on the Gospels of Matthew and Luke
Franciscan Exegesis in a Time of Crisis
Paradise Lost in Transmission
The Return to Eden in the Apocalypse of Peter within Its Ethiopic and Early Christian Contexts
Punning in Odd or Elegant Constructions in Jeremiah
The Convergence of Linguistics, Rhetoric, and Textuality in the Hebrew Text of Jeremiah
