Mark 2:13-17 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Mark

Chapter 2

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13. και εξηλθεν παλιν παρα την θαλασσαν και πας ο οχλος ηρχετο προς αυτον και εδιδασκεν αυτους And he went out again by the seaside, and all the multitude came to him, and he taught them.

14. και παραγων ειδεν λευιν τον του αλφαιου καθημενον επι το τελωνιον και λεγει αυτω ακολουθει μοι και αναστας ηκολουθησεν αυτω And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And rising up, he followed him.

15. και εγενετο[1] εν τω[2] κατακεισθαι αυτον εν τη οικια αυτου και πολλοι τελωναι και αμαρτωλοι συνανεκειντο τω ιησου και τοις μαθηταις αυτου ησαν γαρ πολλοι και ηκολουθησαν αυτω And it happened, as he was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many, and they followed[3] him.

16. και οι γραμματεις και οι φαρισαιοι ιδοντες αυτον[4] εσθιοντα μετα των τελωνων και αμαρτωλων ελεγον τοις μαθηταις αυτου τι[9] οτι μετα των τελωνων και αμαρτωλων εσθιει και πινει And when the scribes and[5] the Pharisees saw that he was eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to his disciples, “Why is it that he eats and drinks[6] with tax collectors and sinners?”

17. και ακουσας ο ιησους λεγει αυτοις [7] ου χρειαν εχουσιν οι ισχυοντες ιατρου αλλ οι κακως εχοντες ουκ ηλθον καλεσαι δικαιους αλλα αμαρτωλους And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners[8].”

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[1] NA-Text reads “γινεται” (present instead of second aorist)

[2] NA-Text omits “εν τω” (as he), possibly lost by phonetic homoeoteleuton (εγενετο εν τω, thus missing “as he”)

[3] NA-Text and Vg-St read “ηκολουθουν” (imperfect instead of aorist, Latin equivalent: “sequebantur”), which is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ, minuscule 565 and Bede. Codices A, C, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact support the “aorist”. Both are well supported.

[4] NA-Text and VgSt read “οτι εσθιει” (Latin equivalent: “quia manducaret”). The NA-Text is supported by codices B, L, minuscules 33 and 565, 4 old Latin codices and Bede. Papyrus 88, codices א, D, Θ and minuscule 892 are closer to the Alexandrian text by having “οτι” instead of “αυτον”. The Byzantine text is supported by codices (A), C, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, the Byzantine minuscules, 3 old Latin codices and Theophylact. Both are viable readings and they mean the same thing with a slight different nuance, the Byzantine being “saw him eating” versus the Alexandrian “saw that he is eating”.

[5] NA-Text reads “of” and renders “scribes of the Pharisees” (Gr.: “των φαρισαιων”), which is supported by papyrus 88^vid, codices א, B, L, W, Δ, 0130^vid, minuscules 28, 33, 124, 151 and 2427, the old Latin codex it^b, some manuscripts of the Bohairic Coptic version and the Palestinian Syriac version. “And” is supported by codices A, C, D, E, F, G, H, K, Σ, Θ, Π, 047, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 157, 180, 205, 565, 579, 597, 700, 892, 1006, 1009, 1010, 1071, 1079, 1195, 1216, 1230, 1241, 1242, 1243, 1253, 1292, 1342, 1344, 1365, 1424, 1505, 1546, 1646, 2148, 2174 and 2786, 10 old Latin codices (it^a, it^aur, it^c, it^d, (it^e), it^f, (it^ff2), it^l, it^q, and it^r1), the Byzantine minuscules, the Peshitta, the Harklean Syriac, some manuscripts of the Bohairic and Sahidic Coptic versions, the Gothic, the Armenian, the (Georgian) and the Ethiopic version, Bede and Theophylact. The Clementine vulgate, WPF³⁵ and the PT all read “and”. Only 0.2% of the Greek manuscripts read “of”. Even though the harder reading is certainly on the side of the NA-Text, it is even harder to understand how everybody in all those different transmission lines and versions collectively had the same idea of reducing the supposed original from “of” to “and”. The external support suggests rather that “of” was a local adjustment or error in some Alexandrian manuscripts with a limited influence on other manuscripts. Several of those witnesses misplace the “και” after “Φαρισαιων” and omit the definite article before “γραμματεις”, including codices א, L, Δ, 0130^vid, 33, 151 and 2427. So, without the definite articles and the “και” between scribes and Pharisees, the way is open for a textual emendation where “γραμματεις Φαρισαιοι και ιδοντες” becomes “γραμματεις των Φαρισαιων και ιδοντες” inspired by the parallel passage in Luke that reads “γραμματεις αυτων”.

[6] NA-Text omits “and drinks”. This omission was most likely caused by visual homoeoteleuton (εσθιει και πινει, thus missing “and drinks”). Or the omission may have come about by harmonization with the first part of the verse that mentions the eating only. Only 0.7% of the Greek manuscripts omit “and drinks”.

[7] NA-Text brackets “οτι”, which is silent in this context so that the meaning remains the same.

[8] NA-Text and VgSt omit “to repentance”. The omission is supported by papyrus 88, codices א, A, B, D, K, L, W, Y, Δ, Θ, Π, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscules 28, 157, 565, 579, 700, 892, 1342, 142 and 2427, 8 Latin codices (it^b, it^d, it^e, it^f, it^ff2, itⁱ, it^l and it^q), the Syriac versions, the Coptic versions, the Armenian, the Gothic version and Bede. The inclusion is supported by codices C, Γ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscules 2, 33 and 1071, the Byzantine minuscules, 3 old Latin codices (it^a, it^c and it^r1), the Palestinian Syriac version and Theophylact. Looking at the collective witness of the majuscules and the versions, it is evident that “to repentance” does not belong in the text. It was probably added here from Luke 5:32. Therefore, “to repentance” has been dropped from the text, following the NA-Text. See more details in the footnote on Matt. 9:13. As a side note, the Greek text in the Complutensian Polyglot, which is Byzantine, included these two words, whereas the Latin text in the parallel column omitted them.  

[9] NA-Text omits “τι” (why is it), probably caused by a parableptic error (τι οτι, thus missing “why”).

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Notes:

1. Text in red letters are places where the original reading in the Textus Receptus has been revised and corrected;

2. The English translation used as a reference is the WEB brought to conformity as literal as possible to the Textus Receptus. The end product though is not the WEB or a revised WEB and it should not be called WEB. The content of this post is freely available to everyone and it is not supposed to be copyrighted;

3. TR: Textus Receptus. This text is not copyrighted;

4. NA-Text: Nestle-Aland text commonly known as critical text;

5. M-Text: Majority Text;

6. VgSt: Vulgate of Stuttgart;  

7. WPF³⁵: Wilbur Pickering-family 35;

8. PT: Patriarchal Text, also known as Patriarchal Greek New Testament, published by the ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

9. The creator of the variant apparatus available in the VarApp kindly gave me permission to freely use the information contained in the material he put together.

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To God all the glory for the preservation of the scriptures! He reigns!