Mark Resources

We started the Gospel according to Mark a couple of weeks back. Have gotten some questions about useful resources for studying this gospel. The interesting thing about Mark- particularly in comparison to the other gospels- is that because the gospel is driven overwhelmingly by action, it means that the details of each scene- and in a lot of places the background to each scene is extremely important. Here is a short annotated list I've found helpful:

Traditional Commentaries

The Gospel of Mark, R.T. France - This is simply the best commentary on the gospel. It is technical, thick, heavy, whatever... it is excellent and opens ones' eyes to things in the text which have helped me get behind the action again and again.

The Gospel According to Mark, James Edwards - Edwards' commentary is in the Pillar series and has proven quite helpful the last two weeks.

Mark, Robert H. Stein - This commentary has provided some helpful insights not contained in France's or Edwards. It is a sound and thorough exposition of the greek text of Mark.

The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, Ben Witherington - Witherington does a great job of keeping the whole forest in view and helping you to not lose it for the individual trees. He fills in some nice gaps and is a great supplement to France.

The Victory According to Mark, Mark Horne - This is a small commentary which carries a fairly large whack. I find his willingness to mine the depths of metaphor and analogy with the Old Testament wonderful- if perhaps overextended in places. This little commentary has been a huge delight so far and helps, sometimes more so than Witherington, to see the broad direction of the Gospel.

Other:

The Gospel of Mark Study, Timothy Keller - This can be purchased from Redeemer Presbyterian Church's website (www.redeemer.com). Fantastic for personal study and small groups. Keller draws some excellent things from the text and I find him pulling together the above resources in mostly helpful ways.

Mark for Everyone, Tom Wright - Wright has written a series of commentaries on each of the New Testament books. His volumes on each of the gospels are extremely helpful, if at times pedantic. He is writing for everyone, though. At times the commentary jumps significant themes to not distract from something else he is trying to draw out. But I would recommend this volume to anyone wanting to help them as they read along the gospel.

or The Challenge of Jesus or Jesus and the Victory of God, N.T. Wright - Though not specifically dealing with Mark's gospel, these two volumes were among the most helpful things I read for understanding Jesus ministry historically and theologically. JVOG is massive, The Challenge of Jesus is a little more bite size. Both efforts are well rewarded. Where I find Wright's rhetoric on justification can be unnecessarily confusing or unhelpful at times, his work on Jesus and the gospels is extremely clarifying and helpful.

Divine Government, R.T. France - Excellent little volume on the Kingdom of God as it is specifically addressed in the Gospel of Mark. I got tired of France referencing this volume in his commentary and being unable to look up what he was talking about so I ordered it off Amazon. Small book, but very helpful.

There are some other volumes I've referenced so far, many of which are very helpful- but these should be great for getting anyone started.

Books, Mark