For many people today the Gospel of Mark is the most basic Gospel: the shortest, the simplest, the least literary, and the earliest. This has certainly been the view of the majority of New Testament scholars since the middle of the nineteenth century (especially following the work of H.J. Holtzmann), and it endures even to today. The move to such an evaluation began already in the early part of the nineteenth century, however, when Mark’s Gospel came to the fore in synoptic studies for a number of reasons, some of them theological, some cultural, and some political. It is the contention of this commentary that, apart from the matter of length, these widespread and popular views of the Gospel of Mark are wrong, namely, that, in addition to being God’s Word and his address to his people, this Gospel is not basic, neither is it simple. It is not un-literary, neither is it the earliest. (from the Introduction)
James W. Voelz begins his commentary by examining the linguistic and literary features of Mark’s Gospel as well as traditional major isagogical issues. He then offers theological exposition of the first portion of Mark, from chapter 1 to 8:26.
