Mark 13:14-23 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Mark

Chapter 13

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14. οταν δε ιδητε το βδελυγμα της ερημωσεως [το ρηθεν υπο δανιηλ του προφητου] εστως[1] οπου ου δει ο αναγινωσκων νοειτω τοτε οι εν τη ιουδαια φευγετωσαν εις τα ορη “But when you see the abomination of desolation, [spoken of by Daniel the prophet] [2] standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, 15. ο δε[3] επι του δωματος μη καταβατω εις την οικιαν μηδε εισελθετω[4] αραι τι εκ της οικιας αυτου and let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house[5], nor enter to take anything out of his house. 16. και ο εις τον αγρον ων[6] μη επιστρεψατω εις τα οπισω αραι το ιματιον αυτου And let him who is in the field not go back to take his garment. 17. ουαι δε ταις εν γαστρι εχουσαις και ταις θηλαζουσαις εν εκειναις ταις ημεραις But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who nurse infants in those days! 18. προσευχεσθε δε ινα μη γενηται χειμωνος And pray that it[7] may not happen in the winter. 19. εσονται γαρ αι ημεραι εκειναι θλιψις οια ου γεγονεν τοιαυτη απ αρχης κτισεως ης[8] εκτισεν ο θεος εως του νυν και ου μη γενηται For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be. 20. και ει μη κυριος εκολοβωσεν τας ημερας ουκ αν εσωθη πασα σαρξ αλλα δια τους εκλεκτους ους εξελεξατο εκολοβωσεν τας ημερας And unless the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. 21. και τοτε εαν τις υμιν ειπη ιδου[9] ωδε ο χριστος η ιδου εκει μη πιστευετε[10] And[11] then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ!’ or[12], ‘Behold, there!’ do not believe it. 22. εγερθησονται γαρ ψευδοχριστοι και ψευδοπροφηται και δωσουσιν σημεια και τερατα προς το αποπλαναν ει δυνατον και τους εκλεκτους For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even[13] the elect. 23. υμεις δε βλεπετε ιδου προειρηκα υμιν παντα But take heed. “Behold[14], I have told you all things beforehand. [1] NA-Text reads “εστηκοτα” (masculine instead of neuter). The masculine must be adopted in the text in case the reader opts for the omission of the clause discussed in the following footnote. [2] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “spoken of by Daniel the prophet”, which is supported by codices א, B, D, L, W, Ψ, minuscules 565, 700, 892 and 2427, the old Latin codices itd, itff2, iti, itn and itr1, the Syriac Sinaiticus, the Coptic versions, the Armenian, the Georgian version, Augustine quoting specifically from Mark (Latin “Marco vero ita: Cum autem videritis abominationem desolationis standem ubi non debet, qui legit intelligat”, letter 199:28) and Bede. The inclusion is supported by codices A, K, Δ, Θ, Π, (Φ), (family of manuscripts ƒ1), minuscules (28), (579) and (1424), family of manuscripts ƒ13, minuscules 22, 157, 1071, 1342, the Byzantine manuscripts, the old Latin codices itaur, itc, ite, itk, itl and itq, the Peshitta, the Harklean Syriac version, Cyril of Jerusalem (Gr.: “το βδελυγμα της ερημωσεως το ρηθεν υπο δανιηλ του προφητου εστως” from Mark and then “εν τοπω αγιω ο αναγινωσκων νοειτω” from Matthew, Catechetical lesson 15:9) and Theophylact. Hippolytus quoted Matthew 24:15 verbatim without the words “spoken of by Daniel the prophet” (Gr.: “το βδελυγμα της ερημωσεως εστως εν τοπω αγιω ο αναγινωσκων νοειτω”, Treatise on Christ and Antichrist, paragraph 62, 222-236 A.D). And then he goes on to say: “And Daniel says” and then puts together statements from Daniel 11:31, 12:1-13 and 11:11-12. The idea that this clause was imported from the gospel of Matthew is not an easy proposition. First, because Matthew uses the preposition “δια” whereas Mark uses “υπο” before the word “δανιηλ”. This is not what we would expect if scribes were transferring content from one gospel to another. And second, the spread nature of the Markan reading across Byzantine, Caesarean and Alexandrian manuscripts makes it less likely that in different transmission lines scribes would independently have had the same idea of copying content from Matthew and, all of them, just changed the same preposition. Both readings are ancient. Codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus and the catechetical lessons of Cyril of Jerusalem are all from the same period going from 325 to 350 A.D. The writings of Hippolytus though may be offering a window to understand why this clause is missing in some ancient manuscripts. Hippolytus omitted this clause, which is certain in Matthew. After the quote from the gospels, he then added information with material from the prophet Daniel. It is possible that Hippolytus is reflecting how some manuscripts or ancient harmonies in the 200’s organized the material from this passage, transferring the “spoken by the prophet Daniel” to the end of the verses and adding material from the book of Daniel, suggesting to subsequent scribes that that was meant to be a footnote. On the other hand, it is also possible that Cyril had in his manuscript a variant of the gospel of Matthew that was transferred to the gospel of Mark with the same preposition and that Hippolytus’ harmony may be more local with less influence on all those manuscripts that omit this clause. External evidence is more widespread and better on the side of the omission, but still the evidence for the inclusion is strong and widespread. These words have then been bracketed in the 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. [3] NA-Text brackets “δε”. The collective witness of majuscules of all text-types, including codex Sinaiticus, is decidedly against questioning a conjunction here as part of the text. [4] NA-Text reads “εισελθατω”. Same verbal tense spelled differently. [5] NA-Text omits “into the house”. The omission seems to be a local reading that shows up in Alexandrian majuscules. The inclusion is found in majuscules of all text types. [6] NA-Text omits “ων”, possibly caused by phonetic homoeuteleuton (αγρον ων, thus missing “ων”) [7] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “your flight” and renders “that it may not happen”. This omission is supported by codices א*, B, D, L, Nc, W, (Θ), 083, 0235, family of manuscripts ƒ13, minuscules 28, 565 and 2427, the old Latin codices, the Syriac Sinaiticus and some manuscripts of the Bohairic and Sahidic Coptic versions. The inclusion is supported by codices א2, A, Δ, Ψ, 0104, family of manuscripts ƒ1, minuscules 124, 157, 346, 700, 1071, 1342 and 1424, the Byzantine manuscripts, the old Latin codex (itk), the Peshitta, the Harklean Syriac, the Coptic versions, the Gothic version and Theophylact. This is likely an addition from the parallel passage in Matthew 15:20. The Greek text and the translation have been adjusted following the NA-text. [8] NA-Text reads “ην” (accusative instead of genitive). [9] NA-Text reads “ιδε” (aorist instead of second aorist), twice in the verse. Difference just in form. The meaning is the same. [10] NA-Text, PT and M-Text read “πιστευετε” (present imperative instead of aorist subjunctive), which is supported by codices א, B, D and the Byzantine manuscripts. The TR is supported by Theophylact. The Greek text has been adjusted following the NA-Text and the M-Text. [11] M-Text omits “And”, which is supported by the Diatessaron, codex Θ, part of the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The inclusion is supported by codices א, B, D, Bede and the part of the Byzantine manuscripts. This omission is likely due to harmonization to Matthew 24:23. It is not safe to adopt this omission in the text. [12] NA-Text, P-Text, WPF35 and Vg-St omit “or”, which is supported by codex א, Bede, part of the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. Codex B reads “και”. The TR is supported by the Diatessaron, codices A, C, D, Θ and part of the Byzantine manuscripts. This conjunction appears to be a natural addition to the text, perhaps inspired by the parallel passage in Matthew 24:23, but because of the excellent support in its favor, the conjunction has been maintained in the Greek text and the translation. [13] NA-Text omits “even”. [14] NA-Text omits “Behold”.

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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. Vg-St: 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!