Gathering the Elect and Zechariah 2:10

Fourth, I examine Mark 13:27’s declaration of that which the Son of Man comes to do, namely, to gather the elect from the four winds. Mark 13:27 reads: καὶ τότε ἀποστελεῖ τοὺς ἀγγέλους καὶ ἐπισυνάξει τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς [αὐτοῦ] ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων ἀπ᾽ ἄκρου γῆς ἕως ἄκρου οὐρανοῦ. Scholars commonly attribute the “gathering from the four winds and from the corners of the

earth/heaven” either to Zech 2:10,374 _{or a combination of it with Deut 30:4.}375 _{As others have argued,} Zech 2:10376 _{should be considered a prominent allusion in Mark 13:27, for it contains all the ideas} conveyed in Mark, yet with more lexical and thematic parallels than other potential sources.377 _A comparison of the pertinent material will serve well.

372 _{With the exception of the word “power,” which translators rendered “might,” translation is by Cathcart and}

Gordon 1989, 223. The Aramaic is produced on the basis of Sperber’s (1962) critical text.

373 _{The following exemplify Hebrew usage of “hand/arm” for power: Ex 3:19; 6:1; Deut 5:15; 6:21; 32:36; Josh 8:20;}

2 Kgs 13:5; Prov 18:21.

374 _{See Beasley-Murray (1993, 432–34) who notes that it is the primary allusion in a combination with Deut 30:4.}

375 _{Lane (1974, 476) nods generally to the prophetic literature, citing Deut 30 and Zech 2, in addition to Isa 11:12,}

27:13; 56:8; Jer 23:3; 29:12; 31:8; Ezek 11:17; 20:34, 41; 28:25; 34:13. See also Marcus 2009, 909.

376 _{Subsequent discussion pertains to LXX/MT Zech 2:10–15 (ET 2:6–11).}

377 _{Contra Gaston (1970, 33) who says that the correspondence with LXX Zech 2:10 is “only accidental.” He deduces}

the latter on the basis of (1) the opposite rendering of MT Zech 2:10, (2) the commonness of the phrase “four winds” to express universality, and (3) the fact that no other NT text refers to Zech 2:10. His first objection, however, presumes to know what versions of the scriptures Mark had before him, which is an unfounded assumption. His second objection is questionable as this “commonplace” phrase is only used five times outside of Zechariah, and the collocation of “gathering” and “the four winds” is confined to Zech 2. His last objection simply does not bear on whether or not Mark is using Zech 2:10. By his logic, any scriptural text that is only alluded to once in the NT would be disregarded, or regarded as “accidental.”

176 Mark 13:27: ἐπισυνάξει τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων ἀπ᾽ ἄκρου γῆς ἕως ἄκρου οὐρανου Zechariah 2:10: διότι ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων τοῦ οὐρανοῦ συνάξω ὑμᾶς λέγει κύριος Deuteronomy 30:4 ἀπ᾽ ἄκρου τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἕως ἄκρου τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐκεῖθεν συνάξει σε

Each passage contains lexical parity, set in boldface above. Deut 30:4 contains ἕως ἄκρου τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, like Mark 13:27, and all three texts contain a future form of (ἐπι)συνάγω. But Mark 13:27’s ἐπισυνάξει . . . ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων . . . ἕως ἄκρου οὐρανου recalls most closely Zech 2:10’s ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων τοῦ οὐρανοῦ συνάξω. Five features distinct to Zech 2 suggest its prominence in Mark 13:27. First, Zech 2:10 and Mark 13:27 each use the phrase “from the four winds of heaven.” Second, the first clause of Zech 2:10 contains the command to “Flee!” (φεύγετε) before declaring that God will gather the people, which corresponds to Mark 13:14’s warning to “flee” (φευγέτωσαν) before depicting the “gathering” in 13:27. Third, Zech 2:14, but unlike Deut 30, claims that this “gathering from the four winds” will happen precisely at God’s coming. Zech 2:14b reads: διότι ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἔρχομαι καὶ

κατασκηνώσω ἐν μέσῳ σου λέγει κύριος. Thus the people will be gathered because God is coming to do so. Fourth, Zech 2:15 indicates that a consequence of God’s coming will be the joining of “many nations to the Lord.” This theme is consonant with the total picture in Mark that depicts “all the nations” being evangelized and so converting to the Lord. Fifth, Zech 2:15 declares that all of the above from Zech 2:10–15 – the theophany, the gathering from the four winds, and the inclusion of the nations – occurs on “that day” (τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ). The latter phrase, “that day” (τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης), is the term Mark 13:32 applies to the day the Son of Man comes with the angels and gathers the elect from the four winds. I address this latter point in detail in Section 5.12.7. Presently I note that this concentration of a number of themes and lexemes from Zech 2:10–15 in Mark 13 suggests that Mark 13:26–27 alludes to Zech 2:10–15.

An important inference can be drawn from the use of Zech 2. As argued, Mark combines Dan 7:13 and Zech 14:5 on the basis of the shared notion of “coming” to create the image of Jesus as the Son of Man (Dan 7:13) accomplishing the theophany of the Lord with his angels (Zech 14:5). Mark arguably additionally combines those texts with Zech 2:14 on the basis of the shared use of “come” (ἔρχομαι), from which the imagery of gathering the people of God from the four winds is taken. This combination creates the Markan mosaic of the Son of Man (Dan 7:13) coming with the angels (Zech 14:5) to gather the people from the four winds of heaven and earth (Zech 2:10, 14). On this account, Zech 2 does more

than merely add the phrase “from the four winds.” Instead it supplies the content of that which the Son of Man comes to do. In other words, imagery from Zech 14 and Zech 2 accounts for the meaning of the majority of the content in Mark 13:26–27.

5.12.7: “That Day”

Next, fifth, I examine more closely the phrase “that day.” The reference to “that day” in Mark 13:32 in contradistinction to “those days” of the tribulation in 13:14–19 is so notable that even France argues that it must refer to an event theretofore undisclosed. On the basis of the content of 13:32–37, he concludes that “that day” refers to Jesus’ parousia.378 _{I agree with his conclusion, but contend that to} distinguish the “coming” of 13:32–37 from the “coming” of 13:26 is a mistake. Conflating the “coming” of 13:32–37 with that of 13:26 does not in itself necessitate that the latter refer to the parousia, but it probably should require that the referent of 13:26’s “coming” be equivalent to that of 13:32–37. Thus I

take “that day” of 13:32 to refer to the day of the Son of Man’s coming with angels. I have already suggested the possibility that the phrase “that day” served as an exegetical

commonality between all the Zechariah prophecies utilized throughout Mark.379 _{Now I draw attention} both to the specific reference Zech 14 intends when it employs that phrase, and to its potential function in Mark’s discourse. While “that day” is a common phrase in scripture,380 _{in Zech 14, that phrase is used} eight times in twenty-one verses,381 _{and in each case it refers exclusively to the day of the coming of the} Lord with angels, and to events or conditions that will obtain “in that day.” As Mark uses Zech 14 and Zech 2 in his depiction of the coming of the Son of Man with angels, I propose he consonantly uses Zech 14’s designator to refer to that event. Additionally, the distinction in Zech 14 between “the days” or “a day”382 _{of tribulation and “that day” of the theophany is maintained in Mark 13, where “those days”} refer unambiguously and exclusively to the attack upon Judea/Jerusalem in 13:14–19, and “that day” is used exclusively as a designation for the coming of the Son of Man with angels.

378 _{France 2002, 501, 541–46.}

379 _{See Section 3.10.}

380 _{See e.g. Gen 15:18; Ex 8:22; Lev 22:30; Num 9:6; Deut 21:23; Josh 10:28; 1 Sam 9:24; Neh 12:43; Ps 145:4 (LXX;}

146:4 in MT); Isa 27:1.

381 _{Zech 14:4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 20, 21.}

382 _{MT Zech 14:1 says, “A day is coming . . .” (אב םוי), which LXX Zech 14:1 translates, “Days are coming . . .” (ἡμέραι}

ἔρχονται). Both of these uses are distinct from MT’s and LXX’s reference to “that day” (אוהה םויב; ἡ ἡμέρα ἐκείνη),

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