From Anointing to Arrest. Some Observations on the Composition of Mark... 25 knew exactly what he was doing. One may describe the pattern of this episode as a central section, § 2, framed first by § 1.2 and § 3.1, and then again by an introduction, § 1.1 and a closing incident, § 3.2 - about the mysterious young follower who was almost caught. In the central section, measuring 200 = 8 x 25 s., one sentence of 25 s. stands out: v. 49a, where Jesus says: ‘Day after day I was with you in the temple ...’ The outer frame measures 104 = 8 x 13 s., and here v. 51a introduces the nameless young man in 13 + 13 s. 13.2.4 We make another, somewhat different survey, and in order to show some more of the internal proportions within the entire section, we add a few notes of very simple mathematics. Chart 9d. Mark 14:43-52: The Number of Syllables - Internal Proportions. § 1.1 Judas arrives Mark 14:43 57 .2 His plan 44 41 | 98 (7x14) 2.1 The arrest 45-46 40 .2 The High Priest's slave 47 40 | 80 (5x16) 3.1.1 Jesus speaks 48-49 12 « 56 » (″4x14⁇) 1.2 Flight of the disciples 50 11 2.2 A narrow escape 51-52 47 | 70 | 126 | 224 | 304 s. (5x14) (9x14) (14x16) (19x16) In § 1 and § 3 the aliquot part of fourteen syllables is used. In § 3 we read the words of Jesus (v. 48b-49, 28 words) in 56 s. and the framing text (v. 48a + v. 50 + v. 51-52) in 12 + 11 + 47 = 70 s. The full size of this scene, Mark 14:43-52, we remember, is 140 (= 10 x 14) words. The numerals, moreover, add up to fourteen (v. 48: 1 + 12; v. 47: 1). Together, the two outer paragraphs use (7 + 9) x 14 = 16 x 14 syllables, which is four times the size of the words of Jesus we find in v. 48b-49.45 The incidents of § 2, on the other hand, are told, as already noticed, in 40 + 40 = 80 or 5 x 16 syllables. That is: despite the difference in basic factors, 14 viz. 16 syllables, the outer parts and the central section share a common factor of 16 (syllables), and the sum-total of 304 (or 19 x 16) s. is made up of (14 x 16) + (5 x 16). The long opening sentence (v. 43), using 57 syllables, shares the aliquot part of nineteen (syllables) with the full size of the episode, i.e. 304 ( = 19 x 16 ) s., and, in a different way, also 45 In the parallel passage Matth 26:47-56 the function of the aliquot part of fourteen syllables is much more prominent: in v. 47-51, v. 52-54, v. 55-56 one counts 196 + 98 + 98 = 392 s. or (14 + 7 + 7) x 14 s. In Mark 14:43-52 one is surprised to find few, in fact only one textual unit based on the aliquot part of sixteen syllables: v. 51 uses 13 + 13 + 6 = 32 s. In Matth 26:47-56, however, there are, as far as I can see, no textual units of fourteen or twenty-eight syllables.