Mara bar Serapion (), or "Mara son of Serapion", was a Syriac Stoic philosopher in the Roman province of Syria. He is only known from a letter he wrote in Aramaic to his son, who was named Serapion,The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament by Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum 2009 p. 110Evidence of Greek Philosophical Concepts in the Writings of Ephrem the Syrian by Ute Possekel 1999 pp. 29–30 in which he refers to the execution of "the wise king of the Jews", a phrase some scholars interpret as an early non-Christian reference to Jesus of Nazareth.
The letter indicates that Mara's homeland was Samosata, i.e. modern-day Samsat, Turkey (on the west bank of the Euphrates), but his captivity appears to have been in Seleucia, in modern-day Iraq (on the west bank of the Tigris River).The Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature edited by Frances Young, Lewis Ayres, Andrew Louth p. 168
Mara's captivity took place after the AD 72 annexation of Samosata by the Romans, but before the third century.The Middle East under Rome by Maurice Sartre, Catherine Porter and Elizabeth Rawlings (2005) p. 293 Most scholars date it to shortly after AD 73 during the first century.
The letter to his son
Mara's letter to his son begins with: "Mara, son of Serapion, to Serapion, my son: peace." The letter was composed sometime between 73 AD and the 3rd century. There were three cases when captives were taken from Samosata, in 72 AD by the Romans, in 161/162 by Parthians and in 256 by Sasanians and various scholars have presented arguments for each date. Robert Van Voorst (who himself thinks the letter was composed in the second century) states that most scholars date the letter to shortly after AD 73 during the first century.
The letter is preserved in a 6th- or 7th-century manuscript (BL Add. 14658) held by the British Library. Nineteenth-century records state that the manuscript containing this text was one of several manuscripts obtained by Henry Tattam from the monastery of St. Mary Deipara in the Nitrian Desert of Egypt and acquired by the Library in 1843. "The manuscripts arrived at the British Museum on the first of March 1843, and this portion of the collection is now numbered Add. 14,425–14,739." BL Add. 14,658 is included among these manuscripts.
Mara's religion A number of scholars such as Sebastian Brock,Sebastian Brock in The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 13 edited by Averil Cameron and Peter Garnsey (1998) p. 709 Fergus Millar,The Roman Near East, 31 B.C.–A.D. 337 by Fergus Millar p. 507 Ute Possekel, and Craig A. Evans, among others, state that Mara was a pagan.Craig A. Evans "Pagan sources" in Jesus and Philosophy: New Essays edited by Paul K. Moser (2008) Cambridge Univ Press pp. 51–52 Gerd Theissen states that Mara's reference to "our gods" indicates that he was neither a Jew nor a Christian, the letter stating:Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide by Gerd Theissen and Annette Merz (1998) p. 78Christianity and the Roman Empire: background texts by Ralph Martin Novak 2001 p. 38
Thou hast heard, moreover, concerning our companions, that, when they were leaving Samosata, they were distressed about it, and, as if complaining of the time in which their lot was cast, said thus: "We are now far removed from our home, and we cannot return again to our city, or behold our people, or offer to our gods the greeting of praise."
Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough state that Mara was unlikely to have been a Christian.Readings from the First-Century World by Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough (1998) Robert E. Van Voorst notes that the phrase "our gods" appears only once in a quotation of Mara's fellow captives, leaving open the possibility that Mara himself may have been a monotheist.Van Voorst, Robert E (2000). Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 53–56 Van Voorst adds two factors that indicate Mara was not a Christian, the first being his failure to mention the terms Jesus or Christ. The second factor (also supported by Bruce Chilton and Craig A. Evans) is that Mara's statement that Jesus lives on based on the wisdom of his teachings, in contrast to the Christian concept that Jesus continues to live through his resurrection, indicates that he was not a Christian.
Chilton and Evans also state that Mara's use of the term "wise king" to refer to Jesus, rather than a religious designation, indicates that his understanding of the events was formed through non-Christian sources.Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research edited by Bruce Chilton, Craig A. Evans 1998 pp. 455–457 They state that the term "king of the Jews" has never been seen in the Christian literature of antiquity as a title for Jesus.
Mara's philosophical stance The letter draws on Greek learning.Roman Syria and the Near East by Kevin Butcher (2004) p. 286
The last paragraph of Mara's letter states:
One of his friends asked Mara, son of Serapion, when in bonds at his side: “Nay, by thy life, Mara, tell me what cause of laughter thou hast seen, that thou laughest.” “I am laughing,” said Mara, “at Time: inasmuch as, although he has not borrowed any evil from me, he is paying me back.”
Ilaria Ramelli, who holds that Mara lived towards the end of the first century, states that his letter has strong stoic elements.Hierocles the Stoic: Elements of Ethics, Fragments, and Excerpts by Ilaria Ramelli (2009) pp. xx–xxii
See also Stoicism
References
External links
Text of the letter of Mara at Wikisource