Mark 8:1-10 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Mark

Chapter 8

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1. εν εκειναις ταις ημεραις παλιν πολλου οχλου οντος και μη εχοντων τι φαγωσιν προσκαλεσαμενος τους μαθητας αυτου λεγει αυτοις In those days, there was again[1] a great multitude, and having nothing to eat, he[2] called his[3] disciples and said to them,

2. σπλαγχνιζομαι επι τον οχλον οτι ηδη ημεραι[4] τρεις προσμενουσιν μοι και ουκ εχουσιν τι φαγωσιν 8“I have compassion on the multitude, because they have stayed with me now three days and have nothing to eat.

3. και εαν απολυσω αυτους νηστεις εις οικον αυτων εκλυθησονται εν τη οδω τινες γαρ αυτων απο[5] μακροθεν ηκασιν[6] And if I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint on the way, for[7] some of them have come from afar.”

4. και απεκριθησαν αυτω οι μαθηται αυτου [8] ποθεν τουτους δυνησεται τις ωδε χορτασαι αρτων επ ερημιας And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these with bread here in the wilderness?”

5. και επηρωτα[9] αυτους ποσους εχετε αρτους οι δε ειπον[10] επτα And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.”

6. και παρηγγειλεν[11] τω οχλω αναπεσειν επι της γης και λαβων τους επτα αρτους ευχαριστησας εκλασεν και εδιδου τοις μαθηταις αυτου ινα παραθωσιν[12] και παρεθηκαν τω οχλω And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves. Having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before them. And they set them before the multitude.

7. και ειχον ιχθυδια ολιγα και ευλογησας ειπεν παραθειναι[13] και [14] αυτα And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said to set them also before them.

8. και[15] εφαγον και εχορτασθησαν και ηραν περισσευματα κλασματων επτα σπυριδας And they ate and were filled. And they took up seven baskets of broken pieces that were left over.

9. ησαν δε οι φαγοντες ως τετρακισχιλιοι και απελυσεν αυτους And those who had eaten[16] were about four thousand. Then he sent them away.

10. και ευθεως[17] εμβας εις το πλοιον μετα των μαθητων αυτου ηλθεν εις τα μερη δαλμανουθα And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and came into the region of Dalmanutha.

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[1] NA-Text and VgSt read “παλιν πολλου” (Latin equivalent: “iterum turba multa”) instead of “παμπολλου” and render “in those days, there was again a great multitude” instead of “in those days, there was a very great multitude”. The NA-Text is supported א, B, D, G, L, M, N, W, Δ, Θ, Σ, Φ, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 28, 33, 565, 579, 892, 1071, 1342, 1424, old Latin, the Syriac Sinaiticus, the Coptic, the Armenian and the Georgian version and Bede. The TR is supported by codices A, K, Π, X, Γ, 0131, minuscules 2, 22, 118, (157), 700 and 1010, the Byzantine manuscripts, the old Latin codex it^q, the Harklean Syriac version and some manuscripts of the Sahidic and Bohairic Coptic version and Theophylact. The Alexandrian reading is widespread across all text types and more widespread when it comes to the versional evidence. “παμπολλου” could be a scribal error, possibly a misreading of the preceding word that started with “πα” or the Alexandrian “παλιν” a scribal change from a rare word that appears nowhere in the New Testament or the Septuagint. The Byzantine text has preserved the harder reading, but the attestation for the Alexandrian reading is better and has been adopted in the Greek text following the NA-Text.

[2] NA-Text and VgSt omit the proper name “Jesus”, which is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ and Bede. The inclusion of the proper name is supported by the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The proper noun was probably added to clarify that it is Jesus who is going to start the dialogue with his disciples. Therefore, the proper name has been removed from the Greek text.

[3] NA-Text and Vg-St omit the pronoun “his” and render “the disciples”. The omission is supported by codices א, D, L, N, 0131, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, manuscripts 28 and 892, the Harklean Syriac, the Bohairic Coptic version and Bede. The inclusion is supported by codices A, B, W, Θ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, the Byzantine manuscripts, the Syriac Sinaiticus, the Peshitta, the Sahidic Coptic version, some manuscripts of the Bohairic Coptic version and Theophylact. Mark typically adds the pronoun (or proper noun) after “disciples” in Greek (See Mark 2:15, 16, 23, 3:7, 3:9, 4:34, 5:31, 6:1, 6:29, 6:35, 6:41, 6:45, 7:2, 7:5, 7:17, 8:4, 6, 10, 27, 33, 34, 9:18, 9:28, 9:31, 10:10, 23, 46, 11:1, 11:14, 12:43, 13:1, 14:12, 14:13, 14:14, 14:16, 14:32 and 16:7). The only exceptions are Mark 9:14, 10:13 and 10:24. The omission cannot be explained by intentional omission due to the proximity of two pronouns because in 8:34 the same scribes have not removed the second in a very similar wording “τοις μαθηταις αυτου ειπεν αυτοις”. The more plausible explanation is that the constant use of “his disciples” in Mark may have created enough memory so as to distract scribes from what was actually written in their exemplars. So, even though the pronoun has been maintained in the text, the Alexandrian variant is strong and viable.

[4] NA-Text and M-Text read “ημεραι” (nominative instead of accusative), which is supported by codex א, D and Θ. Codex B reads “ημεραις”. The Byzantine manuscripts are divided. Theophylact supports the TR. The Greek text has been corrected following the NA-Text and the M-Text.

[5] NA-Text and P-Text add “απο”, which is supported by codices א, B, D and Θ. The omission is supported by the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The preposition may have been lost by visual homoeoarcton (αυτων απο, thus missing “απο”). The preposition then has been put back to the text, following the NA-Text.

[6] M-Text reads “ηκουσιν” (present instead of perfect), which is supported by codices K, Π, 0131, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscule 157 and the Byzantine manuscripts. The TR is supported by codices א, A, D, N, W, Θ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscules 28, 33, 69, 124, 565, 579, 700, 1071, 1241, 1424 and 2542, the Sahidic Coptic, the Gothic version and Theophylact (ηκασι). The support for the TR is spread across all text-types and should be preferred over the M-Text.  

[7] NA-Text text reads “and” (Gr.: “και”).

[8] NA-Text adds “οτι”.

[9] NA-Text reads “ηρωτα”.

[10] NA-Text reads “ειπαν”. Same verbal tense spelled differently.

[11] NA-Text reads “παραγγελλει” (present instead of aorist).

[12] NA-Text and P-Text read “παρατιθωσιν” (present instead of second aorist), which is supported by codices א and B. The second aorist is supported by codices D, Θ, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The second aorist stands as the best reading.

[13] NA-Text and VgSt read “παρατιθεναι” (aorist passive instead of second aorist active), which is supported by codices א¹, B, D, L, Δ, minuscules 124, 700, 892 and 2427, old Latin, the Bohairic Coptic and the Palestinian Syriac. The TR is supported by codices A, N, W, Θ, Φ, Σ, 0131, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 28, 157, 346, 565, 1071, 2542, the Byzantine manuscripts, the Peshitta, the Gothic version, the Harklean Syriac, the Armenian, the Syriac Sinaiticus and Theophylact. The support for the TR is very good.

[14] NA-Text reads “ταυτα”.

[15] NA-Text and Vg-St read “και”, placing it before the verb at the beginning of the verse (Latin equivalent: “et”), which is supported by codices א, B, C, D, L, W, Δ, Θ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscules 28, 33, 565, 700, 892 and the Bohairic Coptic version. The TR is supported by codices A, 0131, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, the Byzantine manuscripts, the Harklean Syriac and the Sahidic Coptic version. Even though the Alexandrian arrangement aligns with the parallel passage in Matthew 15:37, the evidence in its favor is very strong. It is not safe to posit that everybody in all those transmission lines had all the same idea to change this arrangement. The Byzantine arrangement may have been created for stylistic reasons here. Therefore, the arrangement has been adjusted following the NA-Text.

[16] NA-Text omits “those who had eaten”. This is a local error reflected in Alexandrian majuscules.

[17] NA-Text reads “ευθυς”. Same adverb, different spelling.

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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. 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!