마가복음 결말의 ‘세 여자 이야기’와 여자 제자 집단 ― 마가복음 15:40-16:4과 사복음서 비교

Abstract

Until now, most New Testament scholars have considered the theme of the ending of Mark’s gospel to be about Jesus' passion, death, and resurrection. This also led to the idea that the conclusion of Mark, ending in the silence and fear of the women, was grammatically peculiar and abrupt in terms of style and narration, and has produced many arguments over the centuries. In addition the three women, who are the key to the ending, have been interpreted negatively as people who did not tell Peter and the disciples of Jesus about the resurrection. However, the main character from 15:40 to 16:8, which is the ending of Mark, is the three women, and the main events and narrative also play out and finish with the three women. That is the theme of the ending of Mark’s gospel is the story of Three women. The reader receives the final events and message of Mark differently depending on how he or she views the subject of its ending. Noteworthy in particular is that the three women, who are described as the sole witness of the Crucifixion of Jesus and the first transmitter of the news of the Resurrection in the end of Mark, are introduced not as individuals but with the another ‘women’s group’. Moreover the emphasis on the group-ness of these three women stands out uniquely in Mark as opposed to the other gospels. In short, Mark, unlike the other gospels, reveals the existence and situation of a group of women disciples through the theme of 'The Story of Three Women,' and at the end, it intends to deliver a certain message to the reader. This paper examines the situation and behavior of a group of female disciples, symbolized by the three women in Mark’s Gospel, by comparing the chapters of the other three gospels which reveal the women’s story most intensively. The specific scope of the study is Mark 15:40-16:4.