Symbolism 2: The great silence, 4:39, is in the Hellenistic philosophy of Epicurus

and later in the whole ancient philosophy a symbol for the mental balance, which is the goal of the philosophical instruction.

The calming of the storm, which is described as an actual event, is therefore of the same character. If this is so, one may ask: Does Mark commit the reader to the interpretation as historical narrative or parable?

Or does the evangelist give his audience a freedom of interpretation to choose one or the other? Is the reader allowed to decide whether to see the story as real or as a parable?

Narrative technique: In Mark, every word is carefully chosen, none is too many.

1. Symbolism: The first poetic device is symbolism. We are forced to ask ourselves the question: Is what is signified what is meant?

In the parables of Mark 4 this is obviously not the case, a parable points beyond itself to another, more difficult to understand matter.

But what is parable, what is history? Is the stilling of the storm, which crowns and concludes the parable chapter, a historical account or a parable?

(to be continued)