Nathanael Vette, “The Son of Man and the Sea: Hydromachy and Conquest in Mark’s Sea Voyages,” JSNT (2024), 18.
By conquering the ‘country of the Gerasenes’, Mark’s Jesus appears to be fulfilling long-held Jewish hopes for the region by reclaiming the land for Israel. But unlike the Manassites and Hasmonaeans, who had failed to purge Gilead of its foreign elements, Jesus makes good on his conquest by cleansing the country of its impurities, thereby liberating its inhabitants – symbolised by the restored demoniac, who unlike the woman from Syrophoenicia (Mk 7.26) is not explicitly marked as a gentile but is presented as a native of the country, perhaps a Gileadite who had been polluted by non-Jewish elements in the region. With this, Mark’s Jesus follows the ancient Israelite practice of purifying reconquered lands, idealised in the cleansing of Gog in Ezek. 39.11–29 and put into practice by Judas Maccabaeus after his reconquest of Judaea: ‘Then Judas with the ready assistance of his brothers and others drove the enemy out of the country, and made an end of those of his countrymen who had violated their fathers’ laws, and purified the land of all pollution (καἱ ἐκαθάρισεν ἀπὸ παντὸς μιάσματος τὴν γῆν)’ (Josephus, Ant. 12.286).
The Amateur Exegete 
Hello Ben, I would like to know how I can find a comprehensive list of scholars who have worked on both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Ideally, this would include both current scholars and those who are no longer active or have passed away. Are there any resources or databases where such information can be found?
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You know, I’m not aware of any such list, though it would be handy to have. However, I’m not sure one could even be compiled given how many people have in the last 150 years of critical scholarship worked in the field of biblical studies. I cannot imagine it would be less than 10,000 and likely more.
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