The following connectors help students and preachers of God’s Word know where the author is changing from one scene and theme to the next. These are like the “therefores” and “wherefores” in the Epistles.
1. “again” πάλιν
In 10:32 Mark uses πάλιν (temporal adverb) mostly to simply express repetition as “again.” Decker notes, however, there is a discourse use of πάλιν which provides textual cohesion at the discourse level when it links different episodes as in Mark 10:32. Decker states that πάλιν “marks a seam between two periscopes and, along with the geographical notation, serves to introduce the second.” In Mark 10:32, the geographic location is Mark’s first reference to Jerusalem in the second section and along with πάλιν introduces Jesus’ third prediction.
Here are some other examples of this use of πάλιν that Decker lists: Mark 2:1, 13; 3:1, 20; 4:1: 5:21: 7:14, 31; 8:1, 13; 10:1, 32; 11:27. Decker also notes that this is the view of Randall Buth in “Mark’s Use of Palin and Its Relationship to Discourse and Plot Analysis.” c (1976): 32: Buth states that πάλιν is used to help link two parts together and that these parts are not events that make up a periscope or episode, but that the parts are actually episodes themselves. In short, palin is a cohesion devise [which is used] within the book as a whole and helps to link together different episodes and macro-episodes.
2. “and” καί plus the historical present
The use of καί plus the historical present at the beginning (8:22a) καί ἔρχεται (present middle indicative) εἰς Βηθσαϊδάν (“and they came to Bethsaida”) and at end (11:1) καί ὅτε ἐγγίζουσιν εἰς ἰερουσαλήμ (“now when they drew near to Jerusalem”) helps mark this section. καί alone does not mark off the central section but added to the other markers helps the readers to see the second division.
About 64 percent of the sentences in Mark begin with καί. καί joins equal items that continue with no shift, whether that is a subsequent element in the story line, the same speaker, etc. (Decker, Rodney J. Mark 9-16, Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament, p. xxvii. Baylor University Press. Kindle Edition).
3. “Immediately” εὐθύς
What Jesus commanded his disciple to do in his first discipleship lesson ἀκολουθείτω μου (present active imperative) “follow me” in 10:52 the newly healed Bartimaeus εὐθὺς “immediately”[1] began to do ἠκολούθει (imperfect active, indicative). He “followed” him. The “and” in 10:46 (καί plus the historical present plus a new location) that begins the conclusion of the inclusion connects this miracle with the past section which includes Jesus’ previous discipleship lessons in his previous three predictions of his death. Bartimaeus is the epitome of Jesus’ three discipleship lessons.
1. Disciples deny themselves in following Jesus (8:34-38). Bartimaeus denies himself in 10:50: “and throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.” Joel F. Williams states that “Bartimaeus left behind what he possessed in order to be with Jesus, so that the beggar does what the rich man refused to do” (Other Followers of Jesus: Minor Characters as Major Figures in Mark’s JSNTSup 102. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1994, 156-157). Abraham Kuruvilla agrees: “The abandonment of the cloak may itself be a motif of symbolic value: all who are called to follow in this Gospel have to leave things behind, whether they be nets, boats, fathers, or livelihoods (1:18, 20; 2:14; 10:28). Indeed, the failed call in 10:17-22 is a case in particular of the refusal to give up possessions to follow Jesus in discipleship (10:21-22) (Mark: A Theological Commentary for Preachers, 235).
2. Disciples serve others in following Jesus even the most significant (9:36). Bartimaeus is an insignificant begging, blind man that people walk past and don’t even acknowledge.
3. Disciples humble themselves in following Jesus (10:42-45). Bartimaeus humbles himself and cries out to “Jesus, the Son of David” for mercy in 10:47. In 10:48, the crowd tried to silence Bartimaeus. It was the crowd attempting the “Messianic Secret” but Jesus refused to silence the humble and determined blind man who had the spiritual insight to recognize Jesus as the messiah.
4. “in the way” ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ
The majority of the seven times that Mark designates Jesus and his disciples on their journey:
ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ (“in the way”): 8:27
(ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ); 9:33
(ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ), 9:34
(ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ); 10:17
(εἰς ὁδὸν); (Notice this change from ἐν to εἰς is not in one of the passion predictions); 10:32
(ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ), 10:46
(παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν), 10:52
(ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ). The use of prepositions is fluid for sure. But in 10:46, he breaks his pattern and uses παρὰ with the accusative τὴν ὁδόν “beside the way.”
[1] Rodney Decker notes that Mark’s use of εὐθύς is massive. Mark uses εὐθύς 41 of the 51 occurrences in NT narratives. Decker explained that Mark used εὐθύς three different ways. The first use is found in the present text describing Bartimaeus’ result of having his blinded eyes opened.
1) Decker points out that εὐθύς can be used as an adverb. As an adverb, εὐθύς modifies a verb and expresses a short duration of time. This may be either a description of the short interval prior to the beginning of an action or it may describe the rapidity with which an action is performed and can be translates “quickly,” “as soon as,” or “at once,” and perhaps “immediately” as in Mark 4:29: “But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
2) Mark also uses καί εὐθύς and means “instantaneously...with an aorist verb (either an indicative or a participle) .... Mark in 1:42 uses καί εὐθύς to describe the instantaneous healing of a leper “Immediately the leprosy left him.”
3) As a conjunction, καί εὐθύς simply indicates the succession of events, and at times has no more force than καί alone (Temporal Deixis of the Greek Verb in the Gospel of Mark with Reference to Verbal Aspect, 73-74).
5. “But” (δὲ)
In 9:32, the disciples respond to the first prediction was Peter’s rebuke of Jesus. Here is a strong contrast. This time they were all speechless before Jesus (οἱ δὲ ἐσιώπων “but they kept silent”). “But” (δὲ) is more significant than καί because it is less frequently used (this δὲ was also preceded three times with καὶ). Although Mark overwhelmingly prefers καί as his clausal connective, δέ is used consistently to indicate some shift in the narrative (157 times) .... (καί is used in 376 of 583 sentences in Mark. Decker, Rodney J.. Mark 1-8.Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament, p. xxvi. Baylor University Press. Kindle Edition). By contrast, καί joins equal items that continue with no shift, whether that is a subsequent element in the storyline, the same speaker etc... Mark’s proportion shows both higher frequency of καί and a lower frequency of δέ, making his use of the less common δέ more noteworthy.