20 Joost Smit Sibinga ‘But Jesus said’ (v, 6a), the four central words in a scheme of 92 + 4 + 92 = 188 words, help to define the compass of the literary unit as Mark 14:1-11. As for the syllable analysis, the name Jesus (ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς, v. 6a, 4 syllables) is central both in Mark 14:3-9 and in 14:1-11, and so for the question of a pre-Markan stage of the narrative this last observation is inconclusive. On a smaller scale, the central position of v. 7 within v. 6b-8 (the first ‘annex’ saying - see § 9.1) and of v. 8b within v. 7-9 (the argument Jesus provides for his defence of the unnamed woman - see § 9.3) is evident and in both cases this position helps the understanding of text and context. The last few observations concern the spoken part of the little episode, and here too it is obvious that they have no relevance for the frame. But on the whole it should be clear that the design we describe covers all of Mark 14:1-11, not just v. 3-9. It stands to reason that we are not in favour of the suggestion that by declaring Mark 14:1-2 + 10-11 part of a pre-Markan passion narrative one touches upon something of a certain historical or documentary value. There may well have been such documents, and there is the temptation to speculate about them. Mark, however, appears to have reshaped the material he used in a very thorough way and in doing so must have reworded and rephrased it beyond recognition. 12.1 So far we have dealt mainly with the words spoken by Jesus in Mark 14:1-52. The Survey offered in Chart 2 allows us to define the size of the rest of this section, i.e. the N(arrative) and the spoken part of the text classed as ‘D(iscourse) of others’: 890 + 145 = 1035 syllables. Again, the aliquot part of twenty-three appears: 1035 = 3² x 5 x 23 or 15 x 69. That is to say, the full text of Mark 14:1-52 is comprised of the D(iscourse) of Jesus, 765 or 15 x 51 syllables, plus the rest, being 15 x 69. Evidently, the sum-total of 1800, or 120 x 15 syllables, divides into (51 + 69) x 15. So, when the reader of Mark 14 at the beginning happens to notice that v. 1 and v. 9 each use 46 s., as does v. 7-8a; that, moreover, in v. 3 and v. 4-5 we have 69 s. + 69 s. (see above, § 9.2 and 3), this has a bearing on the way the entire story up to and including the arrest of Jesus is organized.38 12.2 At Mark 14:25/26, that is after the Last Supper, the sum-total of 1800 s. divides, as indicated in Chart 2, into (13 + 12) x 72 s. This means that the 74 s. of our item # (6), Mark 14:24b-25, including the Amen- saying (c), spoken at the Last Supper, are almost exactly at the centre of the entire passage: 862 + « 74 » + 864 = 1800 s. At the same point the 38 Note also that Judas’ arrangement with the authorities in Mark 14:44bc is worded in « 9 + 14 » = 23 s.