An Achimaas Journey
There, a weeping David, fleeing from his usurping son Absalom, heads up the Mount of Olives and sends three of his allies Sadoc, Achimaas and Jonathan, back to Jerusalem. He, too, heads up the mountain to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he will be overcome with sorrow. He leaves three disciples behind as he retreats into the recesses of the garden.
David finds himself mocked and harassed by one Shimei, a partisan of Saul’s dynasty. He curses the fallen king, and David’s man Abishai offers to chop the mocker’s head off, but David forestalls him, musing that apparently God has bidden Shimei to curse David, given the situation. So as they slink along in silence, Shimei continues to pelt the refugees with rocks. Here we find more elements underlying Mark’s story. Abishai is the prototype of the unnamed disciple of Himwho does attempt to behead Malchus in the arresting party. Shimei, another form of Shimeon or Simon, is the prototype for Simon who denies him repeatedly, his stony missiles suggesting “Peter” as well. God having assigned Shimei to utter curses on David has become, in Mark’s version, Jesus’ prediction of Peter’s denials, as well as Peter’s calling down curses on himself in the high priest’s courtyard.
But what of His’ prayer? That Mark is creating, not reporting, is evident from the fact that he has eliminated from the scene anyone who might have listened in on it. Mark derived the contents of the prayer from one of the traditional Passover hymns, which he has had Jesus sing at the close of the supper, “My distress was bitter. In panic I cried, ’How faithless all men are!’... I will take in my hand the cup of salvation and invoke the LORD by name... A precious thing in the LORD’s eyes is the death of those who die faithful to him”.
Judas’ betraying kiss would seem to derive from Samuel, where Joab, backed up by armed men, greets Amasa as a brother, kisses him, then stabs him. This identification, Helms notes, is secured once we realize that Luke has modeled his version of Judas’ miserable death upon that of Amasa. When Judas died, “he burst open, so that his entrails poured out. He who is stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, remains the most likely clue to the origin of the fleeing young man who loses his sole garment to escape naked.
David finds himself mocked and harassed by one Shimei, a partisan of Saul’s dynasty. He curses the fallen king, and David’s man Abishai offers to chop the mocker’s head off, but David forestalls him, musing that apparently God has bidden Shimei to curse David, given the situation. So as they slink along in silence, Shimei continues to pelt the refugees with rocks. Here we find more elements underlying Mark’s story. Abishai is the prototype of the unnamed disciple of Himwho does attempt to behead Malchus in the arresting party. Shimei, another form of Shimeon or Simon, is the prototype for Simon who denies him repeatedly, his stony missiles suggesting “Peter” as well. God having assigned Shimei to utter curses on David has become, in Mark’s version, Jesus’ prediction of Peter’s denials, as well as Peter’s calling down curses on himself in the high priest’s courtyard.
But what of His’ prayer? That Mark is creating, not reporting, is evident from the fact that he has eliminated from the scene anyone who might have listened in on it. Mark derived the contents of the prayer from one of the traditional Passover hymns, which he has had Jesus sing at the close of the supper, “My distress was bitter. In panic I cried, ’How faithless all men are!’... I will take in my hand the cup of salvation and invoke the LORD by name... A precious thing in the LORD’s eyes is the death of those who die faithful to him”.
Judas’ betraying kiss would seem to derive from Samuel, where Joab, backed up by armed men, greets Amasa as a brother, kisses him, then stabs him. This identification, Helms notes, is secured once we realize that Luke has modeled his version of Judas’ miserable death upon that of Amasa. When Judas died, “he burst open, so that his entrails poured out. He who is stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, remains the most likely clue to the origin of the fleeing young man who loses his sole garment to escape naked.
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