Mark’s father’s name

Peter was probably John Mark's biological father. In his epistle he clearly states that he is. Also, doesn't it make since that after escaping from death row the first place he would go is...his very own home? Acts 12 suggests that he was hesitant to return out of fear that he would be jeopardizing the lives of the people he knew to be there. After determining he had an opportunity to go there undetected he did so to let Mary and the others know he survived. After this, he departed with the intention of making his presence known elsewhere drawing danger away from the house.

It's no surprise , the apostles would gather at Mary and Mark's house, when there is no mention of Mark's dad being alive, and the apostles were taught to take care of any widows, and their children. Peter and the others were in the fishing industry so most likely taking care -caringly being good mentors and role models to Mark while bringing food / fish to Mary.

Mark’s father’s name?

Neither the Scriptures nor tradition tells us who is St. Mark's father. Thus his name remains unknown to this day.

Mark the Evangelist (Latin: Mārcus; Greek: Μᾶρκος, romanized: Mârkos; Coptic: Ⲙⲁⲣⲕⲟⲥ Markos; Hebrew: מרקוס‎ Marqos) is the traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark. Mark is said to have founded the Church of Alexandria, one of the most important episcopal sees of early Christianity. His feast day is celebrated on April 25, and his symbol is the winged lion.

Mark's identity

According to William Lane (1974), an "unbroken tradition" identifies Mark the Evangelist with John Mark, and John Mark as the cousin of Barnabas. However, Hippolytus of Rome in On the Seventy Apostles distinguishes Mark the Evangelist (2 Tim 4:11), John Mark (Acts 12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37), and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10; Phlm 1:24). According to Hippolytus, they all belonged to the "Seventy Disciples" who were sent out by Jesus to disseminate the gospel (Luke 10:1ff.) in Judea.

According to Eusebius of Caesarea (Eccl. Hist. 2.9.1–4), Herod Agrippa I, in his first year of reign over the whole of Judea (AD 41), killed James, son of Zebedee and arrested Peter, planning to kill him after the Passover. Peter was saved miraculously by angels, and escaped out of the realm of Herod (Acts 12:1–19).

Peter went to Antioch, then through Asia Minor (visiting the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, as mentioned in 1 Peter 1:1), and arrived in Rome in the second year of Emperor Claudius (AD 42; Eusebius, Eccl, Hist. 2.14.6).

Somewhere on the way, Peter encountered Mark and took him as travel companion and interpreter. Mark the Evangelist wrote down the sermons of Peter, thus composing the Gospel according to Mark (Eccl. Hist. 15–16), before he left for Alexandria in the third year of Claudius (43).

According to the Bible, Mark went to Cyprus with Barnabas after the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:39).

According to tradition, in AD 49, about 19 years after the Ascension of Jesus, Mark travelled to Alexandria and founded the Church of Alexandria – today, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, and the Coptic Catholic Church claim to be successors to this original community. Aspects of the Coptic liturgy can be traced back to Mark himself.[8] He became the first bishop of Alexandria and he is honored as the founder of Christianity in Africa.

According to Eusebius (Eccl. Hist. 2.24.1), Mark was succeeded by Annianus as the bishop of Alexandria in the eighth year of Nero (62/63), probably, but not definitely, due to his coming death. Later Coptic tradition says that he was martyred in 68.

Biblical and traditional information

According to the Coptic tradition, Mark was born in Cyrene, a city in the Pentapolis of North Africa (now Libya). This tradition adds that Mark returned to Pentapolis later in life, after being sent by Paul to Colossae (Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24. Some, however, think these actually refer to Mark the Cousin of Barnabas), and serving with him in Rome (2 Tim 4:11); from Pentapolis he made his way to Alexandria.[28][29] When Mark returned to Alexandria, the pagans of the city resented his efforts to turn the Alexandrians away from the worship of their traditional gods. In AD 68, they placed a rope around his neck and dragged him through the streets until he was dead.

Veneration

The Feast of St Mark is observed on April 25 by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. For those Churches still using the Julian Calendar, April 25 according to it aligns with May 8 on the Gregorian Calendar until the year 2099. The Coptic Orthodox Church observes the Feast of St Mark on Parmouti 30 according to the Coptic Calendar which always aligns with April 25 on the Julian Calendar.

Where John Mark is distinguished from Mark the Evangelist, John Mark is celebrated on September 27 (as in the Roman Martyrology) and Mark the Evangelist on April 25. - Mark the Evangelist

As for the name of the Evangelist "Mark":

The second Gospel was written by St. Mark, who, in the New Testament, is sometimes called John Mark. Both he and his mother, Mary, were highly esteemed in the early Church, and his mother's house in Jerusalem served as a meeting place for Christians there.

But the name 'Mark' never appears in the Old Testament. So as placed by André Müller and Ilana Halupovich it may not be a Jewish or Christian name.

The name Mark or Marcus is commonly regarded as a contraction of the Latin words martius or martialis, meaning of Mars or belonging to Mars, but although this is certainly the case for the unbiblical name Martin, it's not for the personal name Marcus.

The word marcus is part of a threesome of words, explained by Isidore of Seville in his Etymologies (also known as Origins): "The marcus is a rather large hammer, called marcus because it is larger and stronger for striking. The martellus is medium-sized. The marculus is a very small hammer"

The name Mark or Marcus was one of the most popular names of the old world, especially after emperor Marcus Aurelius instituted the Marcianus, which means "of Marcus" and which denoted a priest who performed the sacred rites instituted in honor of the emperor Marcus Aurelius. The Biblical Mark, however, was almost certainly a Jew, and his name was undoubtedly associated with that of Judas Maccabeus (from the Hebrew noun maqqebet, meaning hammer), the famous second century leader of the Maccabean revolt against the Romans. - Is "Mark" a Christian name or Jewish name?

John Mark's surname is actually Marcus, I Peter 5:13, a Roman name, so presumably his father was a Roman. There may have been implications in that, since Mary is an Hebrew name and there is a question of why Mary, presumably a Jewess, would marry a Roman and not a Jew.

The name of John Mark's father is not recorded in scripture, only his mother.

Peter speaks of John Mark in a fatherly way, I Peter 5:13 again, and one wonders if the Roman father was separated from the family and that Peter was a surrogate father to John Mark.

Paul tells us that John Mark's mother, Mary, was the sister of Barnabus, Colossians 4:10, and of course we know that Barnabus had an altercation, Acts 15:38, with Paul regarding John Mark going back to Jerusalem, Acts 13:13, during the first missionary journey of Paul leading Paul not to want him on the next journey and the parting of the ways taking place between Paul and Barnabus.

But Luke says, Acts 11:24, that Barnabus was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit. So it is a lesson that even good men may part company, one from another.

In the end, Paul commends Mark requesting Timothy, II Timothy 4:11, to bring him as he was 'profitable for the ministry' and, of course, he subsequently wrote a book received into the canon of scripture.

Perhaps Mark is the young man which he alone mentions who fled away unclothed when Jesus was arrested, the young man leaving his cloak in the hands of his would-be captors, Mark 14:52.

Then again, Mark is the only one to mention, Mark 16:5, a young man, clothed in white in the empty sepulchre after Jesus' resurrection so there is an allusion there to recovery and service in the context of both the fleeing young man and Mark turning back from the work of evangelism.

And maybe there is further cause for Mark being chosen to write the gospel account if it is the case that his mother had backslidden in taking a Roman as a husband. Here again, perhaps there is a message of recovery in Christ from every failure.

The only other name mentioned in scripture in connection with the household of Mary and her son John Marcus is Rhoda, Acts 12, the young girl who did not, at first, let Peter in when the angel released him from prison.

It is interesting, also, to note that the prayer was being made by a gathered company for Peter in prison and it was the household of Mary and her son John Mark wherein the prayer meeting was taking place.