Moving Mountains in the New Testament

The following is a section which didn't make it into the final edit of an paper I've written. It was an important part of my process but didn't really contribute to the (overlong) final article. So it had to go. But I put a fair bit of work and thought into it, and who knows it might be useful to someone somehow. It also gives you a bit of a taster for my forthcoming article! (aren't you lucky?!)

image credit: https://youthguytad.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/moving-mountains/

          Mountain Moving Elsewhere in the NT

The interpretation of Mark 11:23 is complicated by mountain moving and related traditions elsewhere in the New Testament.[1] This is most apparent when early readers of Mark adapt Mark’s traditions or employ similar traditions from a different source. As Samuel Sandmel suggests, “Mark in many treatments is explained incorrectly because Matthew and Luke (and John) are read with him.”[2] It is critical, therefore, to be aware of the distinctives of the Matthean and Lukan variations of the saying so as not to read these unconsciously into Mark.

a)      The Synoptic Parallels

In the closest parallel in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus does not promise his disciples the ability to move “this mountain,” but to move a “this mulberry tree” (συκάμινος, Luke 17:5-6).[3] For this horticultural miracle, faith need only be “as a mustard seed,” nothing is said of undoubting hearts. The assonance between συκῆ and συκάμινος is intriguing but of unclear significance.[4] Likewise, there is no clear connection between Luke 17:6 and Mark’s mustard seed parable (4:30-32).[5] That said, in the Lukan context of 17:1-10 the theme is forgiveness, and the disciples’ request for an increase in faith is in response to the challenge of forgiving a repentant brother seven times a day. Thus, Luke’s tree-moving saying provides a double parallel not only for Mark 11:23 but for the whole of 11:22-25, in that it connects faith and forgiveness. However, in Mark the instruction to forgive comes after the exhortation to faith. Luke’s image of planting a tree in the sea “is a paradoxical image […] designed to graphically and hyperbolically illustrate that faith can do the amazing.”[6] It is likely that Luke’s “say to this mulberry tree” preserves a tradition from Q,[7] the latter of which appears in Matthew, apparently combined with Mark’s version (Matt 17:19).[8]

In Matthew 17:14-20, it appears that the Matthean evangelist has added the Lukan Mulberry moving saying (Luke 17:6) to the end of a significantly truncated version the story of the exorcism of the boy from Mark 9:14-29, probably in replacement of the “all things are possible” of Mark 9:23 which is excised. But the mulberry tree is transfigured into a mountain, presumably influenced by Mark 11:23.[9] Here, in contrast to both Mark and Q sources, there is no sea, only general relocation. In doing so Matthew not only “enhances the theme of faith,”[10] but radically changes the context in which both Mark and Luke’s sayings occur. Mark’s Jesus asks for undoubting faith (11:24) but Matthew’s only requires a mustard seed. Luke’s Jesus hyperbolically extols the power of faith to forgive others, while Matthew’s Jesus turns the exorcism into a prompt to discuss wonderworking faith where “nothing is impossible for you” (οὐδὲν ἀδυνατήσει ὑμῖν. Matt 17:20).[11]

Matthew also contains a truncated version of the fig tree curse and mountain moving dialogue from Mark (21:18-22).[12] After cursing the fig tree and it instantly withering, Matthew’s Jesus tells his disciples that with undoubting faith they may also curse fig trees, but that this is just a starting point, and that they could even speak to “this mountain” to move it (Matt 21:21). Thus Matthew inserts an  explicit connection of escalation between the fig tree cursing and the mountain moving.[13] Moreover, standing in such a relation to an event which has just transpired, Matthew’s mountain moving here is apparently literal.

In Luke there is also a fruitless fig tree (συκῆ), not as a miracle but in a parable (Luke 13:6-9). Rather than a judgement already made, Luke’s parable signals a grace period in which the tree might still bear fruit. In the Lukan context it is presented as a parable of the possibility of repentance in the face of impending judgement.[14] In Mark there is an actual fig tree which stands withered as a symbol of a judgement already made.

The other Synoptic Gospels, as early readers of Mark 11:23, have either radically transformed the saying (Matthew) or ignored it in favour of another similar tradition (Luke). Consequently, their evidence for Mark’s meaning is limited. As I will argue, Matthew’s focus on literal wonderworking and Luke’s absurd hyperbole do not lead us to the most compelling reading of the Markan text.

b)     Parallels in 1 Corinthians and Revelation

Paul’s use of the mountain moving motif in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 occurs within his discussion of orderly and mutually-edifying worship within the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12-14). He lists a number of spiritual gifts, all of which are revealed to be worthless without love. The list appears to mix gifts that were in operation within the Corinthian Church with those which are hyperbolic. The gifts of tongues and prophecy are expected to function in the Corinthians' own gatherings (1 Cor 14:26; cf. 13:1-2). Paul boasts later about giving over his body to hardship (2 Cor 11:16-33; cf. 1 Cor 13:3). However, his suggestion that someone might “fathom all mysteries and knowledge” (1 Cor 13:2) is likely to be hyperbolic.[15] The two remaining expressions appear to connect with dominical tradition, “faith that can move mountains” (1 Cor 13:2) and “if I give away all my possessions” (1 Cor 13:3; compare Matt 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 14:33; 18:22).[16] For Paul, these two may describe possible spiritual gifts. It is possible to give away all your possessions and it is possible to have great faith (even if no one is claiming to have moved mountains).[17] However, the extremity of these expressions suggests hyperbole.[18] Moreover, while in Mark 11:23 Jesus’ words are for all his disciples, in 1 Corinthians 13 this level of faith is a gift only given to some. Luke’s Jesus asks for faith as a mustard seed (17:6), and Mark’s Jesus asks for undoubting faith (11:23), but with Paul it is not clear whether mountain-moving faith is a matter of type (as a mustard seed) or purity (untainted by doubt), his point is simply that even such effective faith requires love to be meaningful.[19]

Alongside mountain moving in the Synoptics and Paul it should also be noted that the moving of mountains is part of the apocalyptic imagery of the Revelation to John. In Revelation 8:8, “The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea.” This language here (ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν) is very close to Mark 11:23 (βλήθητι εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν). In Rev 16:20 shortly after the assembly of the world’s kings at Harmageddon (i.e. Mount Megiddo, 16:16) the description of the final destruction of Babylon includes, “every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found.” However, no one addresses the mountains in Revelation and neither is prayer associated with these eschatological events. Instead, they unfold according to the trumpets and bowls administered by angels. Thus, it seems unlikely that John of Patmos has a dominical saying in mind here and more likely has in mind Jeremiah’s prophecy against Babylon: “I am against you, O destroying mountain, says the Lord . . .  [I will] make you a burned-out mountain” (Jer 51:25).[20] In the LXX this oracle of Jeremiah has similar language and phrase construction to Revelation 8:8,^[21] while the prophecy against “Babylon” in Revelation 16:20 provides an obvious thematic connection.

Outside of the Synoptic Gospels then, we have NT mountain-moving expressions in both a hyperbolic usage (1 Cor 13:2) and an eschatological usage (Rev 8:8). These correspond to the main interpretive options typically given for Mark’s use of the expression in 11:23. However, I find neither of these options satisfactory. Firstly, these interpretive options create inconsistencies in Mark’s presentation of Jesus’ teaching and example. Second, these interpretations do not take into account a distinctive feature of Mark’s mountain moving saying, that the mountain is to be spoken to. As I will argue, this motif serves to connect the saying with scriptural prophetic texts where mountains are spoken to and opens up a third possibility that has not to my knowledge been considered in the literature, that the mountain to be moved is a scriptural metaphor for human opposition. This third possibility coheres with the minority view of Christopher Marshall who argues that “Mark uses ‘this mountain’ as a figure for the unbelieving temple system as such, with its hostile ruling authorities and entrenched resistance to the message and demands of Jesus.”[22] That is, Marshall argues that it is the human opposition of the temple leadership that is in view in the mountain language. However, Marshall does not buttress his argument here with any scriptural background, a consideration which appears determinative for most interpreters. Consequently this study will arrive at the same conclusion as Marshall, but from a different direction, that of scriptural background.

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[1] The parallel traditions in the Gospel of Thomas (48, 106) are likely derivative, and little use in informing Mark’s usage here. See, Ferdinand Hahn, “Jesu Wort vom bergeversetzenden Glauben,” ZNW 76, no. 3/4 (1985): 152–53.

[2] Samuel Sandmel, “Prolegomena to a Commentary on Mark,” in New Testament Issues, ed. Richard Batey (London: SCM, 1970), 52.

[3] Bock, Luke 9:51-24:53, 1391.

[4] Duncan Derrett (“Moving Mountains and Uprooting Trees (Mk 11: 22; Mt 17:20, 21:21; Lk 17:6),” Bibbia e Oriente 30 [1988]: 240) states without support that the συκάμινος is a fig-sycamore (Ficus sycomorus). However, he may be correct. Lexicons list συκάμινος (Luke 17:6) as black mulberry (Morus nigra), but every time it is used in the LXX it translates שׁקמה, which is a fig-sycamore (1 Kings 10:27; 1 Chr 27:28; 2 Chr 1:15; 9:27; Ps 77:47; Isa 9:9). Perhaps Luke here is following LXX usage? I leave such questions for others to solve.

[5] On the mustard seed, see particularly, James W. Scott, “The Misunderstood Mustard Seed Matt 17:20b; Luke 17:6,” Trinity Journal 36 (2015): 25–48; also, Hahn, “Jesu Wort,” 159–60.

[6] Bock, Luke 9:51-24:53, 1391.

[7] Davies and Allison, Matthew 8-18, 726.

[8] Pesch, Markusevangelium, 2:205; Craig A. Evans, Mark 8:27–16:20, WBC 34b (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson, 2001), 48.

[9] For a thorough discussion of the ways Matt alters Mark’s text see, Davies and Allison, Matthew 8-18, 720, 729.

[10] Evans, Mark 8:27–16:20, 48.

[11] Bock, Luke 9:51-24:53, 1390.

[12] William David Davies and Dale C. Allison, Matthew 19-28, ICC (London: T&T Clark, 1997), 147–48.

[13] Davies and Allison, 153.

[14] Bock, Luke 9:51-24:53, 1209–10.

[15] Especially in the light of 1 Cor 13:12.

[16] Maureen Yeung, Faith in Jesus and Paul: A Comparison with Special Reference to “Faith That Can Remove Mountains” and “Your Faith Has Healed/Saved You,” WUNT 2. 147 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2002), 22, 30–31.

[17] Notably, Paul employs the plural here, in contrast to the Synoptics’ consistent use of the singular “this mountain/mulberry tree,” which serves to give it a more proverbial character. Neither does Paul mention speaking to mountains which may call into question any tradition-historical connection between the mountain moving sayings in Mark 11:23 and 1 Cor 13:2.

[18] Rabbinic use of the expression “moving mountains” may provide some background to this expression in the New Testament, as discussed by David Garland, 1 Corinthians (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2003), 613–14; however, I am not convinced it provides a useful parallel (especially as the direction of influence could easily be the reverse). And, as shown by Yeung (Faith, 22), the NT pairing of the phrase with “faith” is distinctive.

[19] Hahn, “Jesu Wort,” 152; Yeung, Faith, 24–25.

[20] In a parallel passage, Rev 18:21, “a stone like a great millstone” is thrown into the sea and explicitly interpreted as Babylon, and thus supports the interpretation of the mountain in 8:8 as an “evil kingdom” ( G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, NIGTC [Cambridge: Eerdmans, 1999], 476); Contra Craig Koester (Revelation, AYB [London: Yale University Press, 2014], 449) who considers, “Rev 8:8 is not mainly about the destruction of a mountain or city but concerns the sea.” His point about the focus of 8:8-9 is well taken, but it hardly vitiates the identification of the mountain as Babylon, even if it is hurled from heaven (something which is not explicit in the text, but Koester infers from 8:7, 10 and 12).

[21] Compare ὡς ὄρος μέγα πυρὶ καιόμενον (Rev 8:8) with ὡς ὄρος ἐμπεπυρισμένον (LXX Jer 28:25 (= MT 51:25)).

[22] Christopher D. Marshall, Faith as a Theme in Mark’s Narrative, SNTSMS 64 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 169.