Crux Interpretum in Mk 1:2bc. The Search for a Source

Abstract

The first citation of the OT in the Mk 1:2a is very challenging. Although the citation formula indicates the book of Isaiah as the source of the quotation, the text seems to be that of Ex 23:20/Mal 3:1. However, one of the most problematic issues is the use of the translation of the quotation: ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν σου. The future form κατασκευάσει does no occur in the LXX. Thus, where the first citation text comes from? Does it come from an early Christian source of which the first known evidence is Mk 1:2c? One has to keep in mind that the verb κατασκευάζω is elevated form the linguistic point of view (often used by Josephus Flavius or Philo of Alexandria). The text of the citation had a certain authority for all the Synoptics, who cite it, but there is a change in translation in Mark. It is argued in this research that ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν σου might be a NT writer’s translation of פנו דרך. Indeed, his fixed expression, which appears only three times in the Bible (Is 40:3; 57:14; 62:10), is rendered by Aquila (Is 40:3; 57:14) Symmachus (Is 62:10) and Theodotion (Is 40:3; 62:10) with the same cognate verb as in Mk 1:2, namely ἀποσκευάσατε τὴν ὁδόν. Analogously, Mark could render the translation in the same manner as they did.