Mark 3:31-35 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Mark

Chapter 3

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31. ερχονται[1] ουν η μητηρ αυτου και οι αδελφοι αυτου[2] και εξω εστωτες[3] απεστειλαν προς αυτον φωνουντες[4] αυτον Then[5] his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to him, calling him.

32. και εκαθητο οχλος περι αυτον και λεγουσιν[6] αυτω ιδου η μητηρ σου και οι αδελφοι σου εξω ζητουσιν σε And a multitude was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers [7] are outside looking for you.”

33. και απεκριθη αυτοις λεγων τις εστιν η[8] μητηρ μου η οι αδελφοι μου And he answered them, saying[9] “Who are my mother and my[10] brothers?”

34. και περιβλεψαμενος κυκλω τους περι αυτον καθημενους λεγει ιδε η μητηρ μου και οι αδελφοι μου And looking around at those who sat around him, he said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers!

35. ος γαρ αν ποιηση το θελημα του θεου ουτος αδελφος μου και αδελφη και μητηρ εστιν For[11] whoever does the will of God is my brother and [12] sister and mother.”

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[1] NA-Text reads “ερχεται” (singular instead of plural).

[2] NA-Text, Vg-St and P-Text add “αυτου” (his). The pronoun has been added to the text once the wording in the NA-Text is more widespread.

[3] NA-Text reads “στηκοντες” (present instead of perfect).

[4] NA-Text reads “καλουντες”. Those two verbs are interchangeable.

[5] NA-Text omits “Then”.

[6] NA-Text and Vg-St read “και λεγουσιν” (present instead of second aorist, Latin equivalent: “et dicunt”). This construction is supported by codices א, B, D, L and Δ. Codices A and Θ read “ειποντον δε”, which is closer to the Byzantine reading, which is supported by the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. Mark uses both forms, but the support for the Alexandrian reading is more definite whose reading has been adopted in the text.

[7] NA-Text adds in brackets and M-Text adds “and your sisters”. The inclusion is supported by codices A, D, E, F, H, M, S, U, Γ, Ω, minuscules 124, 180, 700, 954, 1006, 1010, 1195^c, 1216, 1230, 1242, 1243, 1253, 1344 and 1646, part of the Byzantine manuscripts, 7 old Latin codices (it^a, it^b, it^c, it^d, it^f, it^ff2 and it^q), the Gothic version, a marginal note in the Harklean Syriac version. The Slavic version is divided. The non-inclusion is supported by codices א, B, C, G, K, L, W, Δ, Θ, Π, Σ, 074, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 2, 28, 33, 157, 205, 372, 517, 565, 597, 892, 1009, 1071, 1079, 1195*, 1241, 1292, 1342, 1365, 1424, 1505, 1546, 1675, 2148, 2174, 2427, 2737, 2766 and 2786, part of the Byzantine manuscripts, 4 old Latin codices (it^aur, it^e, it^l and itr1), the Syriac Sinaiticus version, the Peshitta, the Harklean Syriac, the Sahidic Coptic, the Bohairic Coptic, the Armenian, the Ethiopic, the Georgian version, the Diatessaron, Bede and Theophylact. This addition does not belong in the text. In context, verses 31, 32, 33 and 34 reinforce that the dialogue was about his mother and his brothers being outside. The parallel passages in Matthew 12:46-50 and Luke 8:19-21 give unmistakenly the same report. Only in his conclusion he says that those who do the will of God, “he is my brother and sister and mother”, but this is just a general principle and not in any sense an affirmation that his sisters were meant to be mentioned as a separate group from his brothers in this context. The TR stands without need of correction.

[8] NA-Text reads “And answering them, he says”

[9] NA-Text reads “και”. Those are interchangeable in this context.

[10] NA-Text brackets “my” as doubtful.

[11] NA-Text brackets “For” as doubtful.

[12] NA-Text omits “my”. The omission is supported by codices א, A, B, D, L, W, Δ, Θ, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 28, 33, 565, 700, 892 and old Latin. The inclusion is supported by codices C, 074, the Byzantine manuscripts, all Syriac versions, Bede and Theophylact. The support for the omission excellent. On the other hand, “my” is omitted in the parallel passage in Matt. 12:50 whose 8 last words are the exact same in both passages. Nevertheless, it’s hard to imagine that everybody had the same idea of harmonizing those 2 texts in all those majuscules of diverse text-types. It’s easier to imagine that some copyists naturally added a personal pronoun after “sisters”, mirroring the presence of a personal pronoun after “brothers”. So, because it is not safe to go against such a strong evidence in favor of the omission, the text has been adjusted following the NA-Text.

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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. Vg-St: Vulgate of Stuttgart;  

7. WPF³⁵: Wilbur Pickering-family 35;

8. P-Text: 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!