Mark 6:30-44 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Mark

Chapter 6

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30. και συναγονται οι αποστολοι προς τον ιησουν και απηγγειλαν αυτω παντα οσα εποιησαν και οσα εδιδαξαν Then the apostles gathered to Jesus, and they told him all [1] that they had done and taught.

31. και ειπεν[2] αυτοις δευτε υμεις αυτοι κατ ιδιαν εις ερημον τοπον και αναπαυεσθε[3] ολιγον ησαν γαρ οι ερχομενοι και οι υπαγοντες πολλοι και ουδε φαγειν ευκαιρουν[4] And he said to them, “Come away into a deserted place, and rest awhile.” For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

32. και απηλθον εις ερημον τοπον [5] τω πλοιω κατ ιδιαν And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.

33. και ειδον αυτους υπαγοντας και επεγνωσαν αυτον πολλοι και πεζη απο πασων των πολεων συνεδραμον εκει και προηλθον αυτους και συνηλθον προς αυτον And they[6] saw them departing, and many recognized him[7] and ran there on foot from all the cities and they arrived before them and came together to him[8].

34. και εξελθων ειδεν ο ιησους πολυν οχλον και εσπλαγχνισθη επ αυτοις[9] οτι ησαν ως προβατα μη εχοντα ποιμενα και ηρξατο διδασκειν αυτους πολλα And coming out, Jesus[10] saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

35. και ηδη ωρας πολλης γενομενης προσελθοντες αυτω οι μαθηται αυτου λεγουσιν[11] οτι ερημος εστιν ο τοπος και ηδη ωρα πολλη And when it was already late, his disciples came to him and said, “This place is deserted, and it is now a late hour.

36. απολυσον αυτους ινα απελθοντες εις τους κυκλω αγρους και κωμας αγορασωσιν εαυτοις αρτους τι γαρ φαγωσιν ουκ εχουσιν Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat[12].”

37. ο δε αποκριθεις ειπεν αυτοις δοτε αυτοις υμεις φαγειν και λεγουσιν αυτω απελθοντες αγορασωμεν δηναριων διακοσιων αρτους και δωσομεν[13] αυτοις φαγειν But answering, he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?”

38. ο δε λεγει αυτοις ποσους αρτους εχετε υπαγετε και[14] ιδετε και γνοντες λεγουσιν πεντε και δυο ιχθυας And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”

39. και επεταξεν αυτοις ανακλιναι παντας συμποσια συμποσια επι τω χλωρω χορτω Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass.

40. και ανεπεσον[15] πρασιαι πρασιαι ανα εκατον και ανα πεντηκοντα And they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.

41. και λαβων τους πεντε αρτους και τους δυο ιχθυας αναβλεψας εις τον ουρανον ευλογησεν και κατεκλασεν τους αρτους και εδιδου τοις μαθηταις αυτου[16] ινα παραθωσιν[17] αυτοις και τους δυο ιχθυας εμερισεν πασιν And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and he gave to his disciples to set before them. And he distributed the two fish to all.

42. και εφαγον παντες και εχορτασθησαν And they all ate and were filled.

43. και ηραν κλασματων[18] δωδεκα κοφινους[19] πληρεις[20] και απο των ιχθυων And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.

44. και ησαν οι φαγοντες τους αρτους πεντακισχιλιοι ανδρες And those who ate the loaves[21] were [22] five thousand men.

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[1] NA-Text and VgSt omit “both” (Gr.: “και”), which is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ and Bede. The inclusion is supported by the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. “και” was probably added to mimic the second “και οσα” in the sentence. Therefore, it has been removed from the text following the NA-Text.

[2] NA-Text reads “λεγει” (present instead of second aorist)

[3] NA-Text reads “αναπαυσασθε” (aorist instead of present)

[4] NA-Text and M-Text read “ευκαιρουν”. Same word spelled differently. This spelling is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ and the Byzantine manuscripts. The TR is supported by Theophylact. The spelling has been corrected following the NA-Text and the M-Text.

[5] NA-Text adds “εν”.

[6] NA-Text, VgSt, WPF³⁵, PT and M-Text read “they” instead of “the multitude”. The omission of “οι οχλοι” is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ, Bede and Theophylact. It is evident that this addition does not belong in the original Greek text and has been removed from the text.

[7] NA-Text and VgSt omit “him”, which is supported by codices B*, D, Θ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹ and Bede. The inclusion is supported by codices E, F, G, H, S, V, Γ, Φ, Ω, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscules 2, 22, 157, 565 and 1071, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. Codex א reads “them”, which is the reading in WPF³⁵ and the PT. The article was possibly dropped by accident caused by visual homoeoteleuton (επεγνωσαν αυτον, thus missing “him”)

[8] NA-Text and VgSt omit “came together to him”, which is supported by codices א, B, L, W, Δ, Θ, 0187^vid, minuscules 13, 205, 579, 892, 1241, 1342 and 2427, 3 old Latin codices (it^aur, it^c and it^l), the Syriac Sinaiticus, the (Sahidic and Bohairic Coptic) versions, the Georgian², the Armenian, the Slavic version, the Arabic Diatessaron and Augustine. The inclusion is supported papyrus 84^vid, codices (A), (D), E, F, G, H, K, (N), Π, (Σ), (family of manuscripts ƒ¹³), minuscules (28), 33, (69), 157, 180, (565), 597, (700), (788), 1006, 1009, 1010, 1071, 1079, 1195, 1216, 1230, 1242, 1243, 1253, 1292, 1344, 1365, 1505, 1546, 1646, 2148, 2174, the Byzantine minuscules, 7 old Latin codices (it^b), (it^d), it^f, (it^ff2), (itⁱ), (it^q), (it^r1), the Peshitta, the Harklean Syriac, the Ethiopic and the Georgian¹ version and Theophylact. There is nothing in context or in the parallel passages that justifies the expansion. On the other hand, the omission is easily explained by a simple scribal error caused by parablepsis (και συνηλθον προς αυτον και, thus missing “came together to him”). Hort’s idea that this verse exemplifies his theory that the Byzantine reading “εκει και προηλθον αυτους και συνηλθον προς αυτον και” is the result of a conflation between the Alexandrian “εκει και προηλθον αυτους” and the Western “εκει και συνηλθον αυτου” does not find a solid ground here. There is no explanation for the “προς αυτον” found in the Byzantine text by a simple conflation between those two texts. Rather the three “και” in the same sentence explains more easily the other readings by parableptic errors. Codex D: “εκει και προηλθον αυτους και συνηλθον αυτου και”, thus resulting in “εκει και συνηλθον αυτου και”. Codex W: “εκει και προηλθον αυτους και συνηλθον προς αυτον και”, thus resulting in “εκει και”. And the Alexandrian text as above.

[9] NA-Text reads “αυτους”.

[10] NA-Text omits “Jesus”.

[11] NA-Text reads “ελεγον” (imperfect instead of present)

[12] Or “and buy themselves something to eat” (NA-Text and VgSt, Gr.: “αγορασωσιν εαυτοις τι φαγωσιν”, Latin equivalent: “emant sibi cibos quos manducent”), which is supported by papyrus 45, codices (א), B, (Θ), D, L, W, Δ, minuscules 28, 788, 892, 2427 and 2542, old Latin, the Syriac Sinaiticus version, the Coptic versions and Bede. The TR is supported by papyrus 84^vid, codices A, K, Π, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscule 33, the Byzantine manuscripts, the Peshitta, the Harklean Syriac version, the Diatessaron and Theophylact. Codex U, family of manuscripts ƒ¹ and minuscule 22 support the longer reading but without the word “bread”, which was possibly accidentally dropped by visual homoieuteleuton (εαυτοις αρτους, thus missing “bread”). The second part may have been lost by visual homoeoteleuton (φαγωσιν ουκ εχουσιν, thus missing “they have nothing”), which resulted in the reading: “αγορασωσιν εαυτοις αρτους τι γαρ φαγωσιν ουκ εχουσιν” with a subsequent removal of “γαρ” that would have appeared non-sensical, resembling a scribal error after the parableptic errors. Or the longer reading may be a made-up text based on parts of Matt. 15:32, Mark 8:2 and John 6:5. The attestation of the shorter reading is clearly superior, but it is hard to believe that Byzantine scribes would have created a text like this with no direct grounding in the immediate context or the importation of this whole text from a direct parallel passage. Also, the vulgate reads “buy themselves food to eat”. So, it has not exactly preserved the Alexandrian reading. For these reasons, the shorter reading has been relegated to the footnote, but it should be considered a viable and strong textual variant.

[13] NA-Text and VgSt read “δωσομεν” (future active indicative instead of second aorist active subjunctive, Latin equivalent: “dabimus”). The future is supported by papyrus 45, codices (א), A, B, (D), L, (N), Δ, (family of manuscripts ƒ¹³), minuscules 28, 33, 565, 892 and 1424. The present is supported by codices W, Θ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The future is better supported and has been adopted in the text.

[14] NA-Text omits “και”.

[15] NA-Text reads “ανεπεσαν”. Same verbal tense spelled differently.

[16] NA-Text brackets “αυτου” and renders “the disciples” as a possible reading. P-Text omits it. The omission is supported by codices א, B, L, Δ, 0187^vid, minuscules 33, 579, 892, 1241, 1424, 2427 and the old Latin codex it^d. The Sahidic Coptic and the Slavic versions are divided. The inclusion is supported by papyrus 45, codices A, D, E, F, G, H, K, N, W, Θ, Π, Σ, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 28, 157, 180, 205, 565, 597, 700, 1006, 1009, 1010, 1071, 1079, 1195, 1216, 1230, 1242, 1243, 1253, 1292, 1342, 1344, 1365, 1505, 1546, 1646, 2148, 2174, the Byzantine manuscripts, the old Latin codices it^a, it^aur, it^b, it^c, it^f, it^ff2, itⁱ, it^l, it^q and it^r1, the Syriac Sinaiticus, the Peshitta, the Harklean Syriac, the Ethiopic, the Gerogian version and Theophylact. The external evidence is strongly on the side of inclusion. The omission is likely the product of a scribal harmonization to the parallel passages in Matthew 14:19 and Luke 9:19 that omit the pronoun.

[17] NA-Text brackets “παρατιθωσιν” (present instead of second aorist).

[18] NA-Text reads “κλασματα” (accusative instead of genitive).

[19] NA-Text reads “κοφινων” (genitive instead of accusative), which is supported by papyrus 45, codices א, B, L, W, Δ, minuscule 892 and both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³. The TR is supported by codices A, D, Θ, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The TR is well supported and does not need correction.

[20] NA-Text reads “πληρωματα” (nominative masculine instead of accusative neuter), which is supported by papyrus 45, codices א, B, L, W, Δ, minuscule 892 and both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³. The TR is supported by codices A, D, Θ, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The TR is well supported and does not need correction.

[21] NA-Text brackets “the loaves” as doubtful. The VgSt omits it. The omission is supported by papyrus 45, codices א, D, W, Θ, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 28, 565, 700, 788 and 2542, 9 old Latin codices, the (Syriac Sinaiticus), the Sahidic Coptic and the Armenian version. Theophylact is cited in the apparatus as a witness for the omission, but this is incorrect. His Greek text contains “the loaves”. The Diatessaron is also wrongly cited for the omission, because Tatian added Matt. 14:21, not Mark 6:44 in the harmony. The inclusion is supported by codices A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L, N, Δ, Π, Σ, minuscules 13, 33, 157, 180, 579, 597, 828, 892, 1006, 1009, 1010, 1071, 1079, 1195, 1216, 1230, 1241, 1242, 1243, 1253, 1292, 1342, 1344, 1365, 1424, 1505, 1546, 1646, 2148, 2174, 2427, the Byzantine manuscripts, two old Latin codices, the Peshitta, the Harklean Syriac, the Bohairic Coptic, the Ethipic, the (Georgian), the Slavic version and Theophylact. What may have happened was that scribes felt that something was incorrect in verse 44 once verses 38 through 43 mention in context both the loaves and the fish. Then looking at the parallel passage in Matthew 14:21, they would have confirmed that loaves was not supposed to belong in the text and removed it, thinking that verse 44 should mention that the people ate both the loaves and the fish or simply say “ate” to not incur in the apparent inconsistency of saying that the people ate just one of those two kinds of food.

[22] NA-Text, M-Text, WPF³⁵, PT and VgSt and omit “about” (Gr.: “ωσει”). The TR reading is supported by family of manuscripts ƒ¹ and minuscule 28. The omission is supported by papyrus 45, codices A, B, D, L, M, W, Δ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscules 33, 162, 174, 579, 892, 1220, 1342, 2427, 2661, the Byzantine manuscripts, old Latin, the Peshitta, the Harklean Syriac, the Bohairic and Sahidic Coptic versions and Theophylact. It is evident that this adverb does not belong in the original text in the gospel of Mark and has been removed from the text. 

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