Audience
Audience
The extrabiblical sources point to a Gentile Christian audience, probably in Rome.
The Roman destination of Mark’s gospel is simply an inference from its Roman provenance. If Mark wrote in Rome, he probably wrote to Romans. This is either stated or implied in the early traditions about the gospel, which have Mark recording the preaching of Peter for those who had heard the great apostle in Rome. As we have noted above, the many Latinisms of the gospel are compatible with, if not conclusive for, a Roman audience. That Mark writes to Gentiles seems clear from his translation of Aramaic expressions, his explanation of Jewish customs (such as the washing of hands before eating [7:3-4]), and, in the few texts he includes on the subject, his interest in the cessation of the ritual elements in the Mosaic law (see Mark 7:1-23, esp. v. 19; 12:32 34).