By the Numbers: "Immediately" in the Gospel of Mark

Mark is a unique gospel for a number of reasons.

One, it is most likely the earliest of the four canonical gospels to have been written. Two, it was a gospel written by John Mark, but most likely the material in the gospel came from Peter. And, three, the subject for this article, it uses the Greek word εὐθὺς, which regularly means immediately or straightaway more than any other gospel.

In fact, Mark uses εὐθὺς (immediately) 41 times. The rest of the New Testament only uses εὐθὺς a total of 10 times (Matthew (5); Luke (1); John (3); Acts (1)). This means that for all the uses of εὐθὺς (immediately) in the New Testament (51), 80% of them occur in Mark’s gospel.

This would take more research—and I should probably dig into it—but my guess is that the majority use of εὐθὺς in Mark is unique even over any other word in the New Testament by comparison.

What does that mean for Mark’s gospel?

I’m not totally sure, but it does give us a peek into the type of story Mark (and ultimately, Peter) was telling. Based even solely on the frequent use of immediately, it’s clear that Mark is not like the contemplative John, nor is he like the detailed Luke, nor is he like the organized Matthew. Mark is different.

The story he’s telling about Jesus is one that moves quickly.