The Son of Man Behaving Beastly: Reading Jesus and the Wild Animals of Mk 1.13 with Dan. 4

Abstract

The temptation narrative in Mark’s gospel contains an unusual detail absent from the counterpart traditions in Matthew and Luke. In Mk 1.13, Jesus is described as being ‘with the wild animals’. Several Hebrew Bible texts and typologies have been suggested to explain this unique Markan feature; however, none has gained widespread support. This article takes a different approach and investigates this enigmatic Markan phrase by focusing on the description of Nebuchadnezzar in the Greek editions of Dan. 4. While a connection between these biblical texts has been suggested before, this paper will expand upon such observations through a more detailed comparison of several key features of these texts. It will be shown that, due to these connections, it is probable that Mark’s reference to wild animals is a comment on the behaviors exhibited by Jesus by living in the wilderness.

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