But whatever be the view we take of the precise origin of the first canonical Gospel, it was
universally received in the ancient church as the work of Matthew. It was our Matthew who is
often, though freely, quoted by Justin Martyr as early as a.d. 146 among the "Gospel Memoirs;" it
was one of the four Gospels of which his pupil Tatian compiled a connected "Diatessaron;" and it
was the only Matthew used by Irenaeus and all the fathers that follow.§ 81. Mark.
Commentaries.
George Petter (the largest Com. on M., London, 1661, 2 vols. fol.); C. Fr. A. Fritzsche (Evangelium
Marci, Lips., 1830); A. Klostermann (Das Marcusevangelium nach seinem Quellenwerthe für
die evang. Gesch., Göttingen, 1867); B. Weiss (Das Marcusevangelium und seine synopt.
Parallelen, Berlin, 1872); Meyer (6th ed. by Weiss, Gött., 1878); Joseph A. Alexander (New
York, 1858, and London, 1866); Harvey Goodwin (London, 1860); John H. Godwin (London,
1869); James Morison (Mark’s Memoir of Jesus Christ, London and Glasgow, 1873, second
ed., 1876, third ed., 1881, one of the very best Com., learned, reverential, and sensible); C. F.
Maclear (Cambridge, 1877); Canon Cook (London, 1878); Edwin W. Rich (Philad., 1881);
Matthew B. Riddle (New York, 1881).
Life of Mark
The second Evangelist combines in his name, as well as in his mission, the Hebrew and the
Roman, and is a connecting link between Peter and Paul, but more especially a pupil and companion
of the former, so that his Gospel may properly be called the Gospel of Peter. His original name was
John or Johanan (i.e., Jehovah is gracious, Gotthold) his surname was Mark (i.e., Mallet).^942 The
surname supplanted the Hebrew name in his later life, as Peter supplanted Simon, and Paul
supplanted Saul. The change marked the transition of Christianity from the Jews to the Gentiles.
He is frequently mentioned in the Acts and the Epistles.^943
He was the son of a certain Mary who lived at Jerusalem and offered her house, at great
risk no doubt in that critical period of persecution, to the Christian disciples for devotional meetings.
Peter repaired to that house after his deliverance from prison (a.d. 44). This accounts for the close
intimacy of Mark with Peter; he was probably converted through him, and hence called his spiritual
"son" (1 Pet. 5:13).^944 He may have had a superficial acquaintance with Christ; for he is probably
identical with that unnamed "young man" who, according to his own report, left his "linen cloth
and fled naked" from Gethsemane in the night of betrayal (Mark 14:51). He would hardly have
mentioned such a trifling incident, unless it had a special significance for him as the turning-pointMatthew wrote only a Hebrew collection of the discourses of our Lord, that an unknown hand at an early date added the narrative
portions, and another anonymous writer, before the year 70, made the Greek translation which was universally and justly, as far
as substance is concerned, regarded as Matthew’s work (pp. 14, 23). But these are an pure conjectures.(^942) Marcus, and the diminutive Marcellus (Little Mallet), are well known Roman names. Marcus Tullius Cicero wrote an
oration pro Marco Marcello.
(^943) Acts 12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37; Col. 4:10; 2 Tim. 4:11; Philem. 24; 1 Pet. 5:13.
(^944) There is no good reason for taking "son" here literally (with Credner), when the figurative meaning so fully harmonizes
with Scripture usage and with what we otherwise certainly know of Mark’s intimate relations to Peter both from the Acts and
from tradition. A daughter of Peter (Petronilla) is mentioned by tradition, but not a son. Clement of Alexandria says that Peter
and Philip begat children."
A.D. 1-100.