Another Example from Early in the Common Era Where the Name 'Mark' is Only Preserved in a 'Subform'

We have been thinking about the possibility raised by von Harnack, Hilgenfeld, Schenke and others that the name 'Marcion' was a curious 'subform' (Nebenform) of Marcus or 'Mark.' It is easy for scholars to point out that 'Marcion' is a diminutive of Mark, but what does that mean in the real world? Was the founder of the so-called 'Marcionites' named Marcion or Mark?

It has long puzzled scholars that the Latin names 'Marcus' and 'Titus' are preserved in Samaritan Aramaic as Marqe and Tûte (Titus). Moshe Florentin, Professor of Hebrew and head of the section of Hebrew studies in the Department of Hebrew Culture at Tel Aviv University makes the suggestion that the reason that names from Greek and Latin have the suffix [e] in Samaritan Aramaic as in Marqe Tûte and others is that the they were taken over in the form of the vocative case.

It might be difficult for many to make sense of the significance of this explanation so I should take it step by step for my readers.

No one can know for certain when this 'Marcus' fellow lived, nor his father 'Titus,' but estimates range from the late first to the fourth century. For some reason, however the Samaritans always spell his name MRQH (using the English letter equivalents to the Hebrew). The 'H' or he (ה) is puzzling because it isn't what you would expect to replace the Greek -os and Latin -us in the nominative singular.

For instance the Latin name Vespanianus is preserved as 'Aspasyanos' in Soṭah 9.14. Elsewhere we see Titus preserved as 'Titos,' Severus rendered as 'Asverus' - the bottom line being that there is so reason for the Samaritans to consistently add the 'he' (ה) to the foreign names 'Marcus' and 'Titus.'

The vocative is the case of direct address. It is used when one person is speaking to another, calling out or saying their name, or generally addressing them. With many nouns, the case form of the vocative is the same as the nominative, but the context and function leave no question as to whether the person is being addressed or, alternatively, spoken about. (One should note that, obviously, the vocative is used most often in conjunction with the "second person" form of the verb).

For example: "... Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59). Here Stephen is directly addressing the Lord, so the form of "Lord Jesus" is in the vocative case. (Note that the verb "receive" is also in the second person, as would be expected).

It should be noted that while there are at least 128 uses of lord in the vocative in the Greek New Testament, there is no vocative case in Aramaic. What Florentin is suggesting - and it is pretty eye-opening even to consider how this might have occured - the names 'Marcus' and 'Titus' were preserved as Marqe and Tûte in Samaritan from the Samaritan people addressing these figures in the Latin or Greek vocative form. We must again emphasize that this case would only be used in an oral address.

Whatever the case, the important thing to see here is that 'Marqe' especially had a towering influence in Samaritanism - second only to Moses - and his name is preserved in a 'subform.' The idea that Irenaeus might have done the same with respect to 'Μαρκίων' - i.e. a figure named 'Marcus' who happens to end up having his name preserved in a 'subform' (albeit this time a Greek diminutive) - suddenly doesn't seem so strange.