Gustavo Martin, «Procedural Register in the Olivet Discourse: A Functional Linguistic Approach to Mark 13», Vol. 90 (2009) 457-483
I will rely on insights from Halliday’s register theory to explain the Markan Jesus’ use of a functional variety of language I call procedural register. The identification of procedural register in the main section of the Olivet Discourse (vv. 5b-23) will be shown to reveal the rhetorical design of the discourse within a first temporal horizon, of direct relevance for the audience and addressing the disciples’ question (v. 4). The absence of procedural register in vv. 24-27 indicates the opening of a second horizon in the speech, lacking immediate impact for the audience and no longer addressing the disciples’ question.
Procedural Register in the Olivet Discourse 467
clauses, characteristic of the first section, are absent from the second
(vv. 24-27) and are picked up again in the final one, the interpretive key
to the speech, which contrasts by means of parable and simile, that
which is known and understood by means of road signs (first horizon,
vv. 5b-23) from that which is unpredictable and indeterminate, and
requires a state of constant vigilance (second horizon, vv. 24-27).
2. Road Signs and Tribulation: vv. 5b-23
The speech itself begins with a typical Markan construction: “And
Jesus began to say to them†(40). It seems self evident that, throughout
the section, Jesus is addressing his disciples, at least the four explicitly
mentioned in the narrative setting section: Peter and James and John
and Andrew (v. 4). However, Jesus is addressing his audience simply
by means of verb forms and pronouns in the second person plural,
beginning and ending the section with the imperative blevpete, watch
out! Three major sub-sections are discernible (vv. 5b-8; 9-13; 14-23)
each having as its thematic core a command to watch, a o{tan clause
(when…) and a number of imperatives by which Jesus prescribes
concrete behavior expected of the disciples at specific times.
Thus, the three subsections represent a triad, with each of its
members incorporating a command to watch out, a o{tan clause
indicating a future event(s) in need of interpretation, and one or more
imperatives by which Jesus prescribes the behavior he expects from the
disciples in response to the event(s) described. As mentioned above,
the abundance of imperatives has led many scholars to define the genre
of the section, or even the entire speech as paraenetic. However, the
summary above suggests this material is more than mere paraenesis.
As mentioned, we have here a combination of the o{tan clauses,
depicting concrete situations or events the disciples will be faced with,
and the associated imperatives, which builds up in relevance,
immediacy and intensity from the “look out†of v. 5, to the “watch out
for yourselves†of v. 9 to the “when…then†statement of verse 14, in a
subsection ending with the emphatic: “I have told you all things.†The
crescendo of this section was not missed by Lambrecht, who argues
correctly that the presence of tovte in v. 14 “increases the voltage†(41).
In fact, the emphatic “when…then†of v. 14 answers directly and
unmistakably the disciples’ question, providing the final and clearest
(40) See TAYLOR, The Gospel, 63; PRYKE, Redactional Style, 79.
(41) LAMBRECHT, Die Redaktion, 148.