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Mark the Evangelist (Mārcus; Μᾶρκος; Μαρκοϲ) is the author to whom the Gospel of Mark is ascribed.

This Mark is usually identified with the "Mark" and the "John, called Mark" mentioned at various points in the New Testament. Ancient sources report that Mark compiled his Gospel from the preaching of Peter in Rome, and that he founded the Church of Alexandria, which regards him as its first pope. Christian tradition has long venerated Mark as a saint and martyr.

Gospel authorship


The Gospel according to Mark, as it is always titled in the early manuscripts, is unanimously ascribed in patristic testimony to a certain Mark, an interpreter of Peter who compiled his Gospel from the preaching of Peter in Rome.

The earliest extant record of this attribution is a fragment of Papias (c. 100), citing "the Elder" (i.e., John):

Likewise, Justin Martyr cites Mark's Gospel as the "memoirs of Peter", and Papias is echoed in summary by Irenaeus, Tertullian , and Origen.

Clement of Alexandria (c. 195), citing "the tradition of the earliest elders", records that many of Caesar's knights who heard Peter preaching in Rome entreated Mark, who had followed Peter for a long time, to put what they had heard into writing, so Mark did so and provided copies to those who requested. After this initially private circulation, Peter learned of this Gospel through a revelation of the Spirit and then sanctioned it for use in the churches.

Clement's Letter to Theodore—the authenticity of which is much disputed—speaks of Mark producing a second edition of his Gospel, the Secret Gospel of Mark. According to this letter, after Peter's death, Mark brought his notes to Alexandria and there composed "a more spiritual Gospel" including secret material suitable only for "those being perfected", which he left to the Church of Alexandria.

Modern scholars are divided on the extent to which the patristic accounts can be trusted. The attribution of the Gospel to such an obscure figure as Mark is hard to explain if not authentic. Some see the connection to Peter, however, as a fabrication serving to enhance the Gospel's apostolic authority, while others see the internal evidence of the Gospel as supportive of an eyewitness source and of Peter in particular.

Identification
The name Mark was at this time the most common name in the Roman world. Thus, it has long been debated which occurrences of this name in the New Testament refer to the same person.

Papias, Clement, and others corroborate their accounts of the Gospel's origin by citing Peter's First Epistle: "She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark." (This "Babylon" is understood by Eusebius and others as a thinly veiled reference to Rome, while later sources saw it as Babylon of Egypt.) Some scholars have further argued that Mark was a contributive amanuensis of this epistle.

The other New Testament references to "Mark" are all associated with Paul and Barnabas. Paul extends greetings from Mark, he elsewhere requests, "Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service," and he elsewhere extends greeting from Barnabas' cousin Mark, "about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him." In Acts, a certain "John, called Mark" accompanies Barnabas, and is at times simply called John. The apostles gathered at the house of Mary, mother of John Mark.

Most scholars regard all these as a single Mark, and a majority regard this Mark as identical with the Evangelist. A few scholars further suggest that John Mark was author of some or all of the Johannine literature ascribed to "John".

In lists of the seventy disciples, Mark the Evangelist is always included. In the version ascribed to Hippolytus, however, three Marks are distinguished: "Mark the Evangelist, Bishop of Alexandria", "Mark cousin of Barnabas, Bishop of Apollonia", and "Mark, who is also John, Bishop of     Bibloupolis".

Medieval sources identify the Evangelist with the young man who fled naked during the arrest of Jesus, mentioned only in Mark's Gospel.

Others have identified the Evangelist with the man carrying a jar of water, who led the way to the room of the Last Supper, and hence also with the servant at Cana who poured the water that Jesus turned to wine.

Life
Hippolytus (c. 230) refers in passing to the Evangelist as "Mark the Stumpy-fingered" (colobodactylus). Old Latin prologues also know this epithet and explain it in two different ways: that his fingers were disproportionately short, or that he cut off his thumb to disqualify himself from Levitical priesthood. North proposes that it originates from murcus, a term for Italian soldiers who amputated their thumbs to dodge military service, playing on the Evangelist's name.