The earliest such testimony is in the fragments (sadly all that we now have) of the work of Papias, bishop of Hierapolis at the beginning of the 2nd century. He reported that Mark was Peter’s interpreter (who presumably translated Peter’s Aramaic into Greek or Latin) and based his Gospel on Peter’s accounts of the activity and teaching of Jesus. I have argued that this claim is confirmed by the Gospel of Mark itself when we look carefully at the place and role of Peter within this Gospel. If Mark’s Gospel was closely associated with Peter, this would account for the high value that Matthew and
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