A note on complex sentences in Mark’s gospel

Yes, you read the title correctly! Mark can write a complex sentence, though he doesn’t usually do so.

The following is some preliminary comment from my work on the Mark volume in the Baylor Handbook on the Greek NT series. It is only “first draft” at this point. The first paragraph is a draft of the note at 5:25, followed by the translation, and then additional material compiled in the process of writing the note (but which will not appear in the handbook).

Mark 5:25–28 is a long, complex sentence—much longer than is typical for Mark. Although often using short, direct sentences, Mark is capable of writing longer, well-crafted statements with multiple subordinate clauses (see also 3:14–19; 7:2–5; 13:14–16). Perhaps the most complex of these is 7:2–5, a sentence of over 80 words with 13 clauses of various types. More typical of Markan style is the paratactic, καί-linked clauses as seen, e.g., in 10:32b–34 with ten clauses, most of them linked by καί.

The kernel this sentence (5:25–28) is found in two parts at the beginning of v. 25 and the end of v. 27: γυνή … ἥψατο τοῦ ἱματίου αὐτοῦ (“a woman … touched his garment”). In between is a string of five aorist participles describing the woman or her action, and at the end is a subordinate clause that explains why she did what she did. To enable following the syntax, the translation given here is fairly formal, maintaining a single sentence and making the adjectival attributive participles modifying γυνή explicit by using multiple instances of the phrase “and who had.” I have supplied “this woman” at the beginning of v. 27 for clarity. On the long series of participles, see Robertson, 1105.

Current edition of the (fairly formal) translation:

25 A woman who had a twelve-year flow of blood 26 and who had suffered much at the hands of many physicians and who had spent all she had and who received no benefit at all, but who was getting worse instead, 27 [this woman,] hearing about Jesus, coming behind in the crowd, touched his cloak, 28 for she had said, “If I touch just his cloak, I will be healed.”

Finding the longest, most complex sentences in Mark was a challenge. With the help of the David Lang at Accordance I was able to identify the 7 longest sentences (all those with more than 50 words in them). It’s a complex search, but if you’re an Accordance user, you may be interested in the detailed instructions as to how to do it.

Here is some of the data as I manually sorted it. The seven longest sentences in Mark: 3:14–19; 5:2–5; 5:25–28; 7:2–5; 10:29–30; 10:32b–34; 13:14–16.

Mark 5:25–28
52 words, 10 clauses (καί, 4; ἀλλὰ, 1; ptcp, 2 +5 w/ conj; γάρ, 1; ὅτι, 1)

Καὶ γυνὴ οὖσα ἐν ῥύσει αἵματος δώδεκα ἔτη
καὶ πολλὰ παθοῦσα ὑπὸ πολλῶν ἰατρῶν
καὶ δαπανήσασα τὰ παρ᾿ αὐτῆς πάντα
καὶ μηδὲν ὠφεληθεῖσα
ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εἰς τὸ χεῖρον ἐλθοῦσα,
ἀκούσασα περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ,
ἐλθοῦσα ἐν τῷ ὄχλῳ ὄπισθεν
ἥψατο τοῦ ἱματίου αὐτοῦ·
ἔλεγεν γὰρ
ὅτι ἐὰν ἅψωμαι κἂν τῶν ἱματίων αὐτοῦ σωθήσομαι.

Mark 7:2–5
84 words, 13 clauses (including a parenthetical statement of 7 clauses; καί, 3; ὅτι, 1; τοῦτ᾿ ἔστιν, 1; γάρ, 1; ἐὰν μή, 2; ptcp, 1; rel pron, 1; διὰ τί, 1; ἀλλὰ, 1)

καὶ ἰδόντες τινὰς τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ
ὅτι κοιναῖς χερσίν, … ἐσθίουσιν τοὺς ἄρτους
τοῦτ᾿ ἔστιν ἀνίπτοις,
— οἱ γὰρ Φαρισαῖοι καὶ πάντες οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι … οὐκ ἐσθίουσιν,
ἐὰν μὴ πυγμῇ νίψωνται τὰς χεῖρας
κρατοῦντες τὴν παράδοσιν τῶν πρεσβυτέρων,
καὶ ἀπ᾿ ἀγορᾶς … οὐκ ἐσθίουσιν,
ἐὰν μὴ βαπτίσωνται
καὶ ἄλλα πολλά ἐστιν … βαπτισμοὺς ποτηρίων καὶ ξεστῶν καὶ χαλκίων καὶ κλινῶν
ἃ παρέλαβον κρατεῖν, … —
καὶ ἐπερωτῶσιν αὐτὸν οἱ Φαρισαῖοι καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς·
διὰ τί οὐ περιπατοῦσιν οἱ μαθηταί σου κατὰ τὴν παράδοσιν τῶν πρεσβυτέρων,
ἀλλὰ κοιναῖς χερσὶν ἐσθίουσιν τὸν ἄρτον;

Mark 10:32b-34 (a more typical syntax in Mark!)
53 words, 10 clauses (καί, 9; ὅτι, 1)

καὶ παραλαβὼν πάλιν τοὺς δώδεκα ἤρξατο αὐτοῖς λέγειν τὰ μέλλοντα αὐτῷ συμβαίνειν
ὅτι ἰδοὺ ἀναβαίνομεν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα,
καὶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδοθήσεται τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσιν καὶ τοῖς γραμματεῦσιν,
καὶ κατακρινοῦσιν αὐτὸν θανάτῳ
καὶ παραδώσουσιν αὐτὸν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν
καὶ ἐμπαίξουσιν αὐτῷ
καὶ ἐμπτύσουσιν αὐτῷ
καὶ μαστιγώσουσιν αὐτὸν
καὶ ἀποκτενοῦσιν,
καὶ μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἀναστήσεται.