Mark 9:42-50 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Mark

Chapter 9

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42. και ος αν[1] σκανδαλιση ενα των μικρων τουτων των πιστευοντων εις εμε[2] καλον εστιν αυτω μαλλον ει περικειται λιθος μυλικος[3] περι τον τραχηλον αυτου και βεβληται εις την θαλασσαν “But whoever causes one of these[4] little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

43. και εαν σκανδαλιζη σε η χειρ σου αποκοψον αυτην καλον σοι[5] εστιν κυλλον εις την ζωην εισελθειν η τας δυο χειρας εχοντα απελθειν εις την γεενναν εις το πυρ το ασβεστον And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands to go into hell[6], into the unquenchable fire,

44. οπου ο σκωληξ αυτων ου τελευτα και το πυρ ου σβεννυται where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ [7]

45. και εαν ο πους σου σκανδαλιζη σε αποκοψον αυτον καλον εστιν σοι εισελθειν εις την ζωην χωλον η τους δυο ποδας εχοντα βληθηναι εις την γεενναν εις το πυρ το ασβεστον And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that will never be quenched[8],

46. οπου ο σκωληξ αυτων ου τελευτα και το πυρ ου σβεννυται where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’

47. και εαν ο οφθαλμος σου σκανδαλιζη σε εκβαλε αυτον καλον σοι εστιν μονοφθαλμον εισελθειν εις την βασιλειαν του θεου η δυο οφθαλμους εχοντα βληθηναι εις την γεενναν του πυρος And if your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire[9],

48. οπου ο σκωληξ αυτων ου τελευτα και το πυρ ου σβεννυται where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’

49. πας γαρ πυρι αλισθησεται και πασα θυσια αλι αλισθησεται For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt[10].

50. καλον το αλας εαν δε το αλας αναλον γενηται εν τινι αυτο αρτυσετε εχετε εν εαυτοις αλας[11] και ειρηνευετε εν αλληλοις Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.”

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[1] M-reads “εαν”, which is supported by Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The TR is supported by codices א, B, D and Θ. No need of correction.

[2] NA-text brackets “εις εμε”. The collective witness of the majuscules, including codex Vaticanus, the minuscules, the versions and the fathers is overwhelmingly against questioning “in me” as part of the word of God.

[3] NA-text reads “μυλος ονικος” (great millstone).

[4] M-text omits “these”, which is supported by codices K, L, Ψ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscule 892, Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The TR is supported by codices א, B, D and Θ. This word may have been missed in some manuscripts by visual homoeoteleuton (“μικρων τουτων” or “τουτων των”, thus missing “these”). This is not a safe correction to the text.

[5] NA-Text reads “σε”.

[6] Greek: Gehenna (also in verses 45 and 47).

[7] NA-Text omits verses 44 and 46. The omission of verse 44 is supported by codices א, B, C, L, W, Δ, Ψ, 0274, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscules 28, 205, 565, 892, 1365, 2427, the old Latin codex it^k, the Syriac Sinaiticus, the Palestinian Syriac, the Coptic versions, the Armenian and the Georgian version. The inclusion is supported by codices A, D, E, F, G, H, K, N, X, Θ, Π, Σ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscules 157, 180, 579, 597, 700, 1006, 1009, 1010, 1071, 1079, 1195, 1216, 1230, 1241, 1242, 1243, 1253, 1292, 1342, 1344, 1424, 1505, 1546, 1646, 2148 and 2174, the Byzantine manuscripts, 11 old Latin codices (it^a, it^aur, it^b, it^c, it^d, it^f, it^ff2, itⁱ, it^l, it^q and it^r1), the Peshitta, the Harklean Syriac, the Gothic, the (Ethiopic) and the Slavic version, the Diatessaron, Basil, Augustine and Theophylact. Irenaeus should not be cited as a witness for the inclusion because it cannot be established that he was quoting verse 44 or 46 from the gospel of Mark (Against Heresies, 3:32:2). Basil should be double-checked to see if he is specifically quoting verse 44 or 46 from Mark. Augustine quotes the whole passage in the city of God, including verses 44 and 46 (Book 21, chapter 9). The Diatessaron quotes Mark 9:44 and omits verse 46 because Tatian chose Matthew 18:8 as the preceding verse in the harmony where both hand and foot are combined. So, it is misleading to quote the Diatessaron as a witness for the omission in verse 46. Chrysostom and other fathers used to quote this verse from Isaiah or the gospel of Mark, but, in many instances, it cannot be established that they were quoting verses 44 and 46. This omission has not been preserved in the two main branches of the church. Both Latin through the vulgate of Stuttgart and the Clementine vulgate and Greek compilations through the M-Text, PT and WPF³⁵ indicate that those verses have been received, preserved and used in two different manuscript traditions. The Diatessaron reflecting a text from the 100’s demonstrates that the Latin and Greek scriptures are reflecting an earlier text that included those verses. Codex W shows signs of Alexandrian influence by the non-inclusion of those 2 verses, but the influence was limited because codex Θ preserved them. There are a couple of possibilities that may explain the absence of these verses primarily coming from Egyptian manuscripts. A first possibility is a copyist error caused by parablepsis in one of those two verses (το πυρ το ασβεστον οπου ο σκωληξ αυτων ου τελευτα και το πυρ ου σβεννυται, thus missing verse 44 or 46). Then once one verse was missed, it was just natural that the other would be seen as an intrusion into the text by not reflecting the same parallel in verses 43-44 and 45-46. The parallel passage in Matthew 18:8-9 would have then confirmed to scribes that the addition should be removed from the text by harmonization with the passage in Matthew. The Armenian and Georgian manuscripts may be displaying that this error began to creep slowly in Caesarean manuscripts once only verse 44 is absent from the Georgian version and both verses are absent in the Armenian version. Another possibility is that scribes thought that verses 44 and 46 had been imported from verse 48. Then reading verses 43 and 45, they would have noticed that “the unquenchable fire” had already been mentioned in the previous verse so that verses 44 and 46 would have looked like unnecessary repetitions of the same idea that would have belonged only in verse 48. Then looking at verse 47, they would have noticed that the “the unquenchable fire” had not been mentioned in the previous verse so that it would have made sense for them to keep the quote from Isaiah 66:24 only in verse 48. Another possibility is that verses 44 and 46 were removed for a public lesson to avoid unnecessary repetition of the same words three times with the most solemn and terrifying idea that can ever go through a human mind. In conclusion, these verses are therefore ancient and widespread across different text types and versions and should not be removed from the text.

[8] NA-Text omits “into the fire that will never be quenched”.

[9] NA-Text omits “of fire”, possibly due to a parableptic error (του πυρος οπου, thus missing “of fire”) or the tendency to remove some repetitions in this text. Only 1.2% of the Greek manuscripts omit those two words that are present both in Byzantine and Latin manuscripts.

[10] NA-Text omits “and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt”, likely due to a parableptic error (αλισθησεται και πασα θυσια αλι αλισθησεται, thus missing “and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt”).

[11] NA-Text reads “αλα”. Same word, 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. 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!