Mark 9:1-13 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Mark

Chapter 9

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1. και ελεγεν αυτοις αμην λεγω υμιν οτι εισιν τινες των ωδε εστηκοτων οιτινες ου μη γευσωνται θανατου εως αν ιδωσιν την βασιλειαν του θεου εληλυθυιαν εν δυναμει And he said to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see kingdom of God come with power.”

2. και μεθ[1] ημερας εξ παραλαμβανει ο ιησους τον πετρον και τον ιακωβον και [2] ιωαννην και αναφερει αυτους εις ορος υψηλον κατ ιδιαν μονους και μετεμορφωθη εμπροσθεν αυτων And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them up on a high mountain, apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them.

3. και τα ιματια αυτου εγενετο[3] στιλβοντα λευκα λιαν ως χιων οια γναφευς επι της γης ου δυναται ουτως[4] λευκαναι And his garments became shining, exceedingly white, like snow[5], such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.

4. και ωφθη αυτοις ηλιας συν μωσει[6] και ησαν συλλαλουντες τω ιησου And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.

5. και αποκριθεις ο πετρος λεγει τω ιησου ραββι καλον εστιν ημας ωδε ειναι και ποιησωμεν σκηνας τρεις σοι μιαν και μωσει[7] μιαν και ηλια μιαν And answering, Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tents: one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

6. ου γαρ ηδει τι λαλησει[8] ησαν[9] γαρ εκφοβοι For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.

7. και εγενετο νεφελη επισκιαζουσα αυτοις και ηλθεν[10] φωνη εκ της νεφελης ουτος εστιν ο υιος μου ο αγαπητος αυτου ακουετε And a cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud [11], “This is my beloved Son. Hear him!”

8. και εξαπινα περιβλεψαμενοι ουκετι ουδενα ειδον αλλα τον ιησουν μονον μεθ εαυτων And suddenly, looking around, they saw no one anyone, except Jesus alone with themselves.

9. καταβαινοντων δε[12] αυτων απο[13] του ορους διεστειλατο αυτοις ινα μηδενι διηγησωνται α ειδον ει μη οταν ο υιος του ανθρωπου εκ νεκρων αναστη And as they were coming down from the mountain, he commanded them that they should tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

10. και τον λογον εκρατησαν προς εαυτους συζητουντες τι εστιν το εκ νεκρων αναστηναι And they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the “rising from the dead” meant.

11. και επηρωτων αυτον λεγοντες οτι λεγουσιν οι γραμματεις οτι ηλιαν δει ελθειν πρωτον And they asked him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

12. ο δε αποκριθεις ειπεν[14] αυτοις ηλιας μεν ελθων πρωτον αποκαθιστα[15] παντα και πως γεγραπται επι τον υιον του ανθρωπου ινα πολλα παθη και εξουδενωθη[16] And answering, he said to them, “Elijah indeed comes first, and restores all things. And how is it written about the Son of Man, that he should suffer many things and be despised?

13. αλλα λεγω υμιν οτι και ηλιας εληλυθεν και εποιησαν αυτω οσα ηθελησαν[17] καθως γεγραπται επ αυτον But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.”

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[1] NA-Text reads “μετα”. Same preposition, different spelling.

[2] M-Text (Robinson-Pierpont text only) omits “τον”. The omission is supported by codices A, B, N, Γ, Δ, Θ, 0131, minuscules 700, 892, 1010, 1241 and part of the Byzantine manuscripts. The inclusion is supported by papyrus 45, codices א, C, D, K, L, W, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules (28), 33, 565, 1424, part of the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. WPF³⁵ and the PT include the article. In Matthew 17:1 and Luke 9:28 there is an article before Peter only and no article before James and John. It is possible that Mark did not use the article before John if he was thinking of them as brothers as he wrote this verse. Also, scribes would be more prone to miss the articles before Peter and James due to parablepsis (ον-ον instead of ν-ν), but it did not happen. There is no apparent reason why this article in particular should have been missed, if the omission is not original. There is another instance in Mark 14:33 with articles before Peter and James and no article before John. It is more probable that the inclusion of the article here is a natural scribal addition to the text. The article has then been removed from the Greek text.

[3] M-Text reads “εγενοντο” (plural instead of singular), which is supported by the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The TR is supported by codices א, B and Θ. Codex D reads an apparent conflation between those two verbal tenses and cannot be used to support any side. The verbs in the parallel passages in Matt. 17:2 and Luke 9:29 are in the singular, but the wording is different and cannot explain a scribal correction based on parallel passages. Also, the support for the Byzantine text appears to be more local, which is a possible indication of local scribal adjustment.

[4] NA-Text and P-Text add “ουτως”, which is supported by codices א, B, C, L, N and Θ, the Sahidic Coptic, the Armenian and the Ethiopic version. The omission is supported by codex A, X, Γ, Π, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. Codex D reads “τις”. The inclusion is very well supported and has been adopted in the Greek text and the translation.

[5] NA-Text omits “like snow”. The support for the omission is good, but it is possible that it be the product of a visual homoeoteleuton (λιαν ως χιων, thus missing “like snow”). This omission cannot be safely adopted into the text.

[6] NA-Text reads “μωυσει”.

[7] NA-Text reads “μωυσει”.

[8] NA-Text reads “αποκριθη” (aorist passive deponent subjunctive instead of aorist active subjunctive, to answer), which is supported by codices B, C*, L, Δ, Ψ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscules 28, 33, 565, 700 and 892. M-Text and WPF³⁵ read “λαλησει” (future active indicative), which is supported by codices A, C, D, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³ and the Byzantine manuscripts. The vulgate reads “diceret” (imperfect active subjunctive). P-Text and TR read “λαληση”, which is supported by Theophylact. Codex Θ reads “ελαλει” (imperfect active indicative). Papyrus 45 and codex W read “λαλει” (present active indicative). Codex א and Origen read “απεκριθη” (aorist middle deponent indicative, to answer). The future is well supported. The Diatessaron does not support the future form of the verb “to say”. The Alexandrian “αποκρινομαι” appears to be out of place, perhaps an adjustment based on the same verb used in the previous verse when scribes noticed that those 2 verbs should be paralleled as an action and reaction flowing from the same source. The future tense of the Byzantine text appears to be the best alternative with good support from a variety of manuscript types and has been adopted in the Greek text.

[9] NA-Text reads “εγενοντο” (became instead of were).

[10] NA-Text reads “εγενετο”, most likely a scribal adjustment based on the parallel passage in Luke 9:35.

[11] NA-Text and M-Text omit “saying”, which is supported by codices א, B, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The inclusion is supported by codex D, reflected in the vulgate of Stuttgart and codex Θ. This word was likely imported from the parallel passage in Luke 9:35 and has been removed from the Greek text and the translation.

[12] NA-Text replaces “δε” by “και” and places it before the verb, which is supported by codices א, B, C, D, L, N, Δ, Ψ, minuscules 33 and 892. The TR is supported by codices A, W, Θ, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, the Byzantine manuscripts, the old Latin codex it^f, the Harklean Syriac version and Theophylact. Even though the external support for the NA-Text is better, the reading is not safe because this is the form used in Matt. 17:9 and may have been imported to Mark.

[13] NA-Text reads “εκ”.

[14] NA-Text reads “εφη” and renders “and he was saying to them”. Even though this reading is well supported, harmonization with Matthew in the Byzantine text does not need to be posited of necessity. Otherwise, the proper name “Jesus” would have been imported into the Markan text as well.

[15] NA-Text reads “αποκαθιστανει”. Same verbal tense written differently.

[16] NA-Text reads “εξουδενωθη”. Same verbal tense written differently.

[17] NA-Text reads “ηθελον” (imperfect instead of aorist).

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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!