I’m pleased to announce that an article on the use of Isaiah 63–66 in Mark 5, cowritten by me and a former student, is now published:

Benjamin D. Giffone and Sage E. Wile: “No One Strives to Take Hold of You: Mark 5’s Echoes of Isaiah 63:7–66:17.” Neotestamentica 57.2 (2023): 229–243. DOI: 10.1353/neo.2023.a943176.

I am not permitted to post a PDF of this article, but if you contact me directly I will email it to you. Here is the abstract:

We highlight echoes of Isaiah 63:7–66:17 in Mark 5, amplifying and refining observations made by other scholars and adding other connections that we have identified. In this section of Isaiah, the people’s hardness of heart is connected to their state of ritual impurity. YHWH remains exasperated with those Israelites who persist in their hardheartedness but reaches out not only to faithful Israelites but also others outside Israel. Mark 5 exhibits echoes of Isa 63:7–66:17, in that moral and ritual reconciliation occurs between YHWH and wayward humans. This reconciliation takes place specifically when humans respond by “reaching out” to Jesus (YHWH incarnate), who continually reaches out to his people (as well as to the nations).

This article’s journey was long and winding, and Sage and I are excited to see it “in print.” Back in Fall 2021, Sage was a student in my course on the Book of Isaiah at LCC International University. One assignment was a short paper on a NT author’s use of Isaiah. Inspired by Rikki Watts’s excellent Isaiah’s New Exodus in Mark, Sage wrote about the woman with menorrhagia in Mark 5:25–34 and the connections to Isaiah 64:6 and the “polluted garment,” along with some other parallels in proximity.

After the term was over, I approached Sage about pursuing this topic further and developing her idea into an article. Along the way, both of us had opportunities to preach from Isaiah 63–66 and Mark 5 in our Lithuanian church. I’m very proud of Sage’s heartfelt sermon on Mark 5, with connections to her own health challenges. To this day, my daughter (who was eight years old at the time) says that Sage’s sermon is “her favorite sermon ever.”

After some back-and-forth with reviewers, it was accepted by Neotestamentica, the journal of the NTSSA. Due to internal publication delays, the time between final acceptance and actual publication was such that 1) the essay is published in what is called the 2023 issue, and 2) Sage’s name changed in the meantime–she got married to Dylan this summer!

I’m very proud of all that Sage has accomplished–having completed her bachelor’s in English language and literature, she is now a master’s student at Jerusalem University College. This is my first time coauthoring with a student, and it is very satisfying to see good ideas brought to fruition and presented to a wider audience. I was able to incorporate some of these insights into my forthcoming book, My Salvation Is Close At Hand.

Some professors are blessed to teach brilliant and creative bachelor’s students, who have the rare ability to challenge and inspire professors in our own work. Sage is one of those brilliant and creative thinkers, and her academic journey is off to a fantastic start.

We are grateful to David Wenkel, who gave us advice at different points along the way; and for Marius Nel, who affirmed that the idea was worthwhile and encouraged us to send it to Neotestamentica.