Mark 10:46-47, One Man or Two? Part I of II

Posted on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

//Matthew tells the same story, but with a difference:

Matthew 20:30, Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

Which version is historically correct? One blind man or two?

Answer: you’re missing the point, if you ask this question. In both Matthew and Mark, this story of Jesus’ healing the blind is prefaced by the story of the sons of Zebedee, James and John, who wanted to sit on the left and right of Jesus when Jesus came into his glory. Matthew, in retelling the story of Bartimaeus, picks up on the context, and uses his literary liberty to turn the passage into a spiritual lesson. In Matthew, the story of one blind man, Bartimaeus, has become the story of two blind men … and the two men are James and John.

More on one becoming two in a couple days …