sotto voce

Constantine had to believe that Malchus was completely healed, anyway.

JoeWallack

JW:
"Mark" is the original here and does not say "Peter".

http://biblos.com/mark/14-47.htm

Strong's	Transliteration	Greek	English	Morphology
1520 [e]	heis	εἷς	one	Adj-NMS
1161 [e]	de	δέ	moreover,	Conj
5100 [e]	tis	τις	a certain	IPro-NMS
3588 [e]	tōn	τῶν	of those	Art-GMP
3936 [e]	parestēkotōn	παρεστηκότων	standing by,	V-RPA-GMP
4685 [e]	spasamenos	σπασάμενος	having drawn	V-APM-NMS
3588 [e]	tēn	τὴν	the	Art-AFS
3162 [e]	machairan	μάχαιραν	sword,	N-AFS
3817 [e]	epaisen	ἔπαισεν	struck	V-AIA-3S
3588 [e]	ton	τὸν	the	Art-AMS
1401 [e]	doulon	δοῦλον	servant	N-AMS
3588 [e]	tou	τοῦ	of the	Art-GMS
749 [e]	archiereōs	ἀρχιερέως	high priest,	N-GMS
2532 [e]	kai	καὶ	and	Conj
851 [e]	apheilen	ἀφεῖλεν	cut off	V-AIA-3S
846 [e]	autou	αὐτοῦ	of him	PPro-GM3S
3588 [e]	to	τὸ	the	Art-ANS
5621 [e]	ōtarion	ὠτάριον	ear.	N-ANS

As you know "Mark" has a primary theme of discrediting the supposed historical witness disciples. Here he is going for the symbolic connection of when the disciples abandon Jesus they are cut off from him. They go in different directions, so to speak. The supposed literal mess left over is secondary.

If you must try to make it plausible less absurd, you can reduce the fiction meter a level or two by reversing expectations and having the striker be a member of the arresting party and the victim being with Jesus but not "with him". This solves more problems than it creates not to mention what's so hard to believe about an employee of a Priest hanging out in a Park at night known to be frequented by men.


Joseph

ErrancyWiki

aa5874

No way!!!! People of the Roman Empire had to believe what Constantine told them to believe or suffer the consequences.

Solo

Only Luke has this perhaps because he did not understand Mark's allusion to Isa 51:4 and Gal 4:21 in the verse. Note the casual appearance and anonymity of the assailant, and the seeming nonsequitur of the next verse (14:48), in which Jesus complains about the lawlessness of the arrest.

Best,
Jiri

sotto voce

Only Luke was a doctor.

aa5874

Who was Luke?? There is no person called Luke in gLuke and no person called Luke who was a doctor when the ear was severed.

Diogenes the Cynic

The healing of the ear is only in Luke, and is obviously not a realistic solution for me.

Putting things into more broad terms (and this is probably what I should have done in the first place), are there any decent HJ theories as to why Jesus' followers would not have been arrested with him. It's my understanding that the Romans customarily killed everybody involved with nascent insurgencies, not just the leader.

Roger Pearse

Because they'd legged it into the trees. What else would you do, faced with a bunch of mean-looking guys in a dark wood, carrying torches, hammers, nails, and kissing strange blokes?

Jesus: "Where is everyone?"

Disciples vanishing into the undergrowth (faintly): "Right behind you, revered leader."

Centurion: "Grab everyone who looks suspicious."

Soldier: "Funny ... they've all gone..."

sotto voce

As are a lot of other supernatural healings. It's what one expects of him, mentioning this, which was not germane to the dramatic story of the arrest, which is already packed with subtle meaning that few appreciate. Luke was particularly interested in outcomes for the poor, the outcast and the sick. It wasn't just professional interest, it was evidently a matter of basic human sympathy, for him, allied to an educated, professional desire to produce a complete and coherent account for professional people.

That's true, they did, but they had no reason to suppose that Jesus and his party of ordinary artisans and associated women travelling round the country doing good, and urging non-violence, were insurgents! That this party survived for three years without suppression by twitchy Romans is witness to its apolitical, non-threatening nature.

Sheshbazzar

There are none. The books mythical stories are the the only evidence for themselves.
Christianity has always wanted the world to drink their Kool-Aid without ever asking what's in it.