Mark 11:1-11 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Mark

Chapter 11

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1. και οτε εγγιζουσιν εις ιερουσαλημ[1] εις βηθφαγη[2] και βηθανιαν προς το ορος των ελαιων αποστελλει δυο των μαθητων αυτου And when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples

2. και λεγει αυτοις υπαγετε εις την κωμην την κατεναντι υμων και ευθεως[3] εισπορευομενοι εις αυτην ευρησετε πωλον δεδεμενον εφ ον ουδεις ουπω[4] ανθρωπων κεκαθικεν[5] λυσαντες αυτον αγαγετε[6] and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you. And as soon as you have entered it, you will find a colt tied, on which no man has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.

3. και εαν τις υμιν ειπη τι ποιειτε τουτο ειπατε οτι[7] ο κυριος αυτου χρειαν εχει και ευθεως[8] αυτον αποστελλει[9] [10] ωδε And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it;’ and he will send it here immediately.”

4. απηλθον δε[11] και ευρον [12] πωλον δεδεμενον προς την[13] θυραν εξω επι του αμφοδου και λυουσιν αυτον And they went away, and found a colt tied at the door outside in a place where two ways met, and they untied it.

5. και τινες των εκει εστηκοτων ελεγον αυτοις τι ποιειτε λυοντες τον πωλον And some of those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”

6. οι δε ειπον[14] αυτοις καθως ενετειλατο[15] ο ιησους και αφηκαν αυτους And they told them just as Jesus had commanded, and they let them go.

7. και ηγαγον[16] τον πωλον προς τον ιησουν και επεβαλον[17] αυτω τα ιματια αυτων και εκαθισεν επ αυτω[18] And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments on it, and he sat on it.

8. πολλοι δε[19] τα ιματια αυτων εστρωσαν εις την οδον αλλοι δε στοιβαδας[20] εκοπτον εκ των δενδρων και εστρωννυον εις την οδον And many spread their garments on the road, and others were cutting down branches from the trees[21] and spreading them on the road[22].

9. και οι προαγοντες και οι ακολουθουντες εκραζον λεγοντες ωσαννα ευλογημενος ο ερχομενος εν ονοματι κυριου And those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying[23], “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

10. ευλογημενη η ερχομενη βασιλεια του πατρος ημων δαυιδ ωσαννα εν τοις υψιστοις Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David [24]! Hosanna in the highest!”

11. και εισηλθεν εις ιεροσολυμα [25] εις το ιερον και περιβλεψαμενος παντα οψιας ηδη ουσης της ωρας εξηλθεν εις βηθανιαν μετα των δωδεκα Then he entered the temple in Jerusalem. And when he had looked around at everything, as the hour was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

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[1] NA-Text reads “ιεροσολυμα”.

[2] M-Text reads “βηθσφαγη”, which is supported by codices, B², G, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscule 1241 and the Byzantine manuscripts. The TR is supported by codices א, A, (B*), C, (L), W, Ψ, Θ and family of manuscripts ƒ¹³ and Theophylact. The support for the TR is superior.

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

[4] NA-Text and VgSt add “ουπω” (Latin equivalent: “adhuc”, English: “ever”), which is supported by codices א, B, C, K, L, W, Δ, Ψ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscule 892, old Latin, Origen, the Harklean Syriac version. Codex A and minuscule 1241 read “πωποτε”, which is a synonym of the Alexandrian “ουπω” found in the parallel passage in Luke 19:30. The omission is supported by codices D, Θ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹ and the Byzantine manuscripts. This word was likely missed in the Byzantine transmission line by visual homoeoarcton (ουδεις ουπω, thus missing “yet”). The text has been adjusted following the NA-Text.

[5] NA-Text reads “εκαθισεν” (aorist instead of perfect).

[6] NA-Text and Vg-St read “λυσατε αυτον και φερετε” (imperative / imperative instead of participle / imperative, Latin equivalent: “solvite illum et adducite”), which is supported by codices א, B and Origen in the 200’s. The TR is supported by codices A, D, Θ, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The parallel passage in Luke 19:30 reads like the Byzantine text, which points to harmonization in multiple transmission lines, probably because the verb “φερετε” appeared to scribes to be in disagreement with both parallel passages in Matthew 21:2 and Luke 19:30. The Alexandrian reading is therefore very strong and possibly reflecting the original reading.

[7] NA-Text omits “οτι”.

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

[9] NA-Text, VgSt, WPF³⁵, PT and M-Text read “αποστελλει” (future instead of present). The future tense is supported by codices א, A, B, C, D, E, F, H, K, L, U, X, Σ, Δ, Θ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscules 28, 157, 565, 579, 892, 1009, 1010, 1071, 1216, 1230, 1241, 1242, 1243, 1253, 1342, 1344, 1365, 1424, 1505, 1646, 2148, 2174 and 2427, the old Latin codices itaur itb (itc) itd itk (itl), the Syriac Sinaiticus, the Peshitta, the Palestinian Syriac, the Harklean Syriac, the Gothic, the (Georgian), the Sahidic Coptic, the Ethiopic, the (Slavic) version and Origen. The present tense is supported by codices G, W, Π, Ψ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscules 180, 205, 597, 700, 1006, 1079, 1195, 1292, 1546, the old Latin codices (it^a), it^f, (it^ff2), itⁱ and (it^q), the Bohairic Coptic and the Armenian version, Origen and Theophylact. The future tense has a much better support and has been adopted in the Greek text.

[10] NA-Text adds “παλιν” and renders “he will send it back here”. Origen quoted Mark 11:1-12 in his commentary on the gospel of John and the word “back” is not found there (Gr.: “και ευθως αυτον αποστελει ωδε”, Book 10, chapter 15). Verses 1 to 6 contains the full quote. Also, the fact that this word appears in different positions in different manuscripts, suggests a secondary insertion.

[11] NA-Text and Vg-St replace “δε” with “και” and places it at the beginning of the verse. This arrangement is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ, Origen and Bede. The TR is supported by codices A, C, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The Alexandrian arrangement is very well supported. The meaning is the same.

[12] NA-Text and M-Text (Robinson-Pierpont text only) omit the definite article “τον”, which is supported by codices A, B, D, K, L, W, Γ, Ψ, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 565, 700, 892, 1010, 1241 and 1424, part of the Byzantine manuscripts, Origen and Theophylact. The TR is supported by codices א, C, Δ, Θ, minuscule 28 and part of the Byzantine manuscripts. In context, this word is written without the article in verse 2 and with the article in verses 5 and 7, which may have confused scribes. The addition of the article came probably from verse 5, the closest occurrence of the word “colt” in context. It’s more logical that the disciples find “a colt”, a less specific term for a first encounter and then the next occurrences bring definite articles, once the animal is known and becomes more definite in the narrative from the disciples standpoint. Therefore, the article has been removed from the Greek text following the NA-Text and the M-Text.

[13] NA-Text omits the definite article “την”

[14] NA-Text reads “ειπαν”. Same verb spelled differently.

[15] NA-Text reads “ειπεν” (“said” instead of “commanded”).

[16] NA-Text reads “φερουσιν”. The verbs are interchangeable. The Alexandrian verb is in the present tense instead of second aorist.

[17] NA-Text and Vg-St read “επιβαλλουσιν” (present instead of second aorist, Latin equivalent: “inponunt”, which is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ, Origen and Bede. The TR is supported by codex A, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. Byzantine scribes may have changed this verbal tense, thinking that the verbs “bring” and “throw” should be in the same verbal tense as the evangelist unfolded two actions following from the same event. The Alexandrian present tense is a strong variant.

[18] NA-Text reads “αυτον” (accusative instead of dative). Mark uses both the accusative and the dative with this preposition.

[19] NA-Text replaces “δε” with “και” and places it at the beginning of the verse. Same meaning.

[20] NA-Text replaces “στιβαδας”. Same word, different spelling.

[21] NA-Text reads “which they had cut from the fields” (Gr.: “κοψαντες εκ των αγρων”). This is a local reading found in Alexandrian majuscules. There was no harmonization to Matthew 21:8 in the other transmission lines because the wording is different in the parallel passages.

[22] NA-Text omits “and spreading them on the road”, which, in all likelihood, is a parableptic error in Alexandrian majuscules (και εστρωννυον εις την οδον και, thus missing “and spreading them on the road”). Only 0.4% of the Greek manuscripts omit this last clause. Lastly, Origen in the 200’s had a similar sentence “εστρωσαν εις την οδον” after the Alexandrian “κοψαντες εκ των αγρων” (Commentary on the gospel of John, Book 10, chapter 15), whose omission may also be explained by a scribal error, in this case, caused by phonetic homoeoteleuton (κοψαντες εκ των αγρων εστρωσαν εις την οδον, thus missing “spread them on the road”). 

[23] NA-Text omits “saying”.

[24] NA-Text and VgSt omit “that is coming in the name of the Lord”, which is supported by codices א, B, C, D, L, U, W, Δ, Θ, Ψ, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 28, 565, 579, 700, 892, 1342, 2427, old Latin, the Syriac Sinaiticus, the Peshitta, the Coptic versions, the Armenian, the Georgian version and Origen. The inclusion is supported by codices A, K, M, N, Γ, Π, minuscules 2, 118, 157, 1071, 1424, the Byzantine manuscripts, 2 old Latin codices (it^f and it^q), the Harklean Syriac and the Gothic version. This is likely a liturgical addition in the Byzantine text inspired either by the parallel passages in Matthew 21:9 and Luke 19:38 or the previous verse. This clause has been removed from the Greek text and the translation following the NA-Text. It is worth noting that the Greek text of the Complutensian Polyglot, which is Byzantine, included this clause, whereas the Latin text in the parallel column omitted it, following the vulgate. 

[25] NA-Text and VgSt omit “ο ιησους και” and render “Then he entered the temple in Jerusalem”, which is supported by codices א, B, Θ, Origen and Bede. Codex D reads “και” without the proper noun. The TR is supported by the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The Byzantine text added the pronoun noun to emphasize that the blessed one who comes in the name of the Lord is Jesus. The Greek 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. 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!