Markan Discipleship according to Malachi: The Significance of μὴ ἀποστερήσῃς in the Story of the Rich Man (Mark 10:17—22)

Abstract

In Mark’s story of the rich man, an unnamed character asks Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (10:17) Jesus, in reply, appeals indirectly to the Decalogue with the curious addition of μὴ ἀποστeρήσῃς (“do not defraud/deprive/rob”). I propose that μὴ ἀποστeρήσῃς alludes specifically to Mal 3:5 as part of a broader intertextual relationship with Malachi that reinforces not only key themes of Jesus’ preaching (viz., repentance, faith, and eschatological reversal) but also his prophetic ability to detect inconspicuous wrongdoing. I will demonstrate a precedent in Mark for such a claim of intertextuality; the ensuing examination of the intertextuality of 10:17–22 will help inform a hermeneutic for its reading in Mark. Jesus’ “loving glare” notwithstanding (10:21), this hermeneutic will illuminate the interlocutor’s guilt throughout the story. Like Malachi’s compatriots, who cannot stand in the Lord ’s presence, Jesus’ questioner attempts to deprive the Lord and the poor of what is rightfully theirs.