Mark contains four anecdotes about women cast in a Greco-Roman literary form, the chreia, well known to the evangelist and his readers (5:24-34; 7:25-30; 12:41-44; 14:3-9). Chreiai, called "pronouncement stories" by form critics, were regarded as "useful for life" by the ancients. Chreiai about women usually related examples of "feminine" virtues and attitudes, but Mark's four women show exemplary qualities of faith, discipleship and insight which would have been useful for Christians in general, not just for Christian women.
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