14 Joost Smit Sibinga Let us look now at the position of Mark 14:28 in relation to the size of all the words of Jesus in this section of the Passion Narrative, including the Amen-sayings. Again with the help of Chart 1, their sum-total of 765 s. may be surveyed as follows: Mark 14:6b-25: 440 27b-e: « 32 » | 472 28: « 21 » 30b-49: 272 | 293 | 765 syllables In modern terms, the golden mean of 765 falls at 472.77 and 292.23, and a division into a maior of 472 and a minor of 293, as we find it here, would seem to come very close. That is to say, from the formal point of view v. 28, the beginning of this minor, in one way or another marks a division of a certain importance. Not only in the immediate, but also in the wider context the principle of the golden mean is applied. In the larger context, Mark 14:28 occupies a position which in two respects is prominent: it is at the centre of one class of sayings of Jesus and marks the golden section in the full series, including the Amen-sayings. Mark 14:1-11: The Anointing at Bethany 9. At this point it is useful to remind ourselves that we have in no way completed the description of the formal aspects of the sayings of Jesus as they are presented in this section of Mark’s passion narrative. In fact the description so far is very incomplete. We illustrate this by a few observations and remarks on the pericope about the Anointing at Bethany, Mark 14:1-11. 9.1. Chart 1 states the size of the ‘Annex’ of the first Amen-saying recorded here (# 10 in the whole series of Mark’s gospel): there are 89 syllables in Mark 14:6b-8, preceding the 46 s. of 14:9. In more detail: Mark 14:6bc,d: « 5˙ 9; 11. = 25 7ab: 14 + 15, 10. = 39 8ab: 7˙ 11 + 7. » = 25 | 50 | 89 s. Clearly, Mark 14: 8 explains, why, as v. 6d says, ‘She [the unnamed woman] has done a beautiful thing to me’ [Jesus] (RSV). In the syllable structure v. 7, which contrasts the future and the actual situation by the prophecy ‘... you will not always have me’, is precisely in central position. So it stands out as the introduction to the dramatic events to come - of which Jesus is fully aware.