The Markan Proskuneo (Mark 5:6; 15:19) as Anti-Roman Motif in Mark’s Gospel

Abstract

The Roman provenance of the Gospel according to Mark is not in doubt, and the reapplication of some concepts reserved for the Roman emperor to the person of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel is well documented. The article considers that the act of proskuneo, rendered to the Roman emperor as a divine being during the time of the writing of Mark’s Gospel, has been applied by Mark to serve an anti-Roman program. The passages where the Gerasene demoniac prostrates before Jesus (Mark 5:6) and where the Roman soldiers make a mock reverence to Jesus (Mark 15:19) are considered from both exegetical and historical perspectives.