Solo

The story of the paralytic in Mark (2:1-12) has given the learned exegets all sorts of headaches. Most prefer to see the lowering of the sick man through a removed roof to Jesus as simply a dramatic effect emphasizing the faith of the man's friends. The issue however seems to be the lack of decency of those standing around Jesus in not ceding ground to someone in more urgent need of care than themselves.

Mk 2:3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
Mk 2:4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay.
Mk 2:5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven."

TMK, only Robert M. Price attempted to interpret the salvific mechanics as a haggadic midrash on the falling accident of King Ahaziah from 2 Kings 1:2-17. His suggestion was ridiculed by Bart Ehrman in 'Did Jesus Exist'.

Interestingly, the method of delivering the patient to Jesus (and the oppressive crowd) are excised in Matthew (9:1-7) and Luke (5:17-26). Any ideas what the Markan setup signified and why it did not make by the reformers of his gospel ?

Best,
Jiri

aa5874

Again, you have PRESUMED gMark is an historical account when the event as describle must be absolute fiction.

It would have been far easier to make Jesus go through the door of the house than to LIFT the roof off.

Please, please, please!!!! Please explain how the removal of the roof of a house could have made the entrance of Jesus any easier???

Was the Sick man THROWN over the walls of the building??? How high were the Walls of the House???

Come on!!!!

gMark is a Myth Fable of antiquity that was compatible with those ACCEPTED by the Greeks and Romans.

stephan huller

I think aa is fucking nuts. Here's a suggestion. The primary meaning of παράλυσις is "secret" or "illicit doing" according to Liddell. I've always had a suspicion this material was related to the withered hand narrative too

outhouse

fiction to emphasise how large a crowd had gathered.

again trying to build a charactor that competes with roman emporers that drew large crowds.

aa5874

Please, we can NO longer PRESUME gMark is history. This is UNACCEPTABLE at any level.

Please, examine Mark 2. It is obvious that for the roof to have been dismantled and the sick to have been LIFTED over the walls that this implies that in fact there was EASY access to the house.

The dismantling and Removal of the roof would have needed more than one person to have EASY access to the house.

Please, we are NOT going to acheive any thing on BC&H if people do NOT want to do history but speculate about obvious Myth Fables.

stephan huller

Another thing people dont know. according to a very old Hebrew interpretation a roof is what makes a building a building. The dositheans objected to the temple because it had a roof. a place of worship was acceptable if it was impermanent (= sukkah) but four walls and a roof crossed the line

stephan huller

Here is the reference from the Panarion " There is also a place of prayer in Shechem, in what is now called Neapolis, outside the city about two miles in the plain, which has been copied by the Samaritans, who imitate the Jews in everything, and which is shaped like a theatre and thus is open to the sky." My professor located the place to be a high mound facing gerizim where the narrative with the Samaritan woman took place (whom Jerome identifies as a dosithean named photi from the gospel according to the Hebrews?).

The reason that the people were taking off the roof perhaps was because the recognized Jesus as God in their house of worship? It was now a sacred place because of god's presence?

Logical

aa: The issue raised by the OP has nothing to do with the historicity of the gMark account. Even if it's not history, the question stands regarding the significance of the details of the story.

Regarding the OP itself: I don't see the mystery. This seems like a story with a little bit of comedic imagery injected in it, and the moral of the story is that Jesus rewards those who don't give up on seeking him and believing in him despite the circumstances.

sotto voce

'"And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths."' Lk 10:15 NIV

stephan huller

Epiphanius relates the open air synagogues to Christian practices and acts http://books.google.com/books?id=S3Q...html_text&cd=1