Mark 14:43-50 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Mark

Chapter 14

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43. και ευθεως[1] ετι αυτου λαλουντος παραγινεται ιουδας εις [2] των δωδεκα και μετ αυτου οχλος πολυς μετα μαχαιρων και ξυλων παρα των αρχιερεων και των γραμματεων και των πρεσβυτερων And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, came—and with him a great[3] multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders.

44. δεδωκει δε ο παραδιδους αυτον συσσημον αυτοις λεγων ον αν φιλησω αυτος εστιν κρατησατε αυτον και απαγαγετε[4] ασφαλως Now he who betrayed him had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I will kiss, that is he. Seize him and lead him away under guard.”

45. και ελθων ευθεως[5] προσελθων αυτω λεγει ραββι και κατεφιλησεν αυτον And when he had come, immediately he came to him and said [6], “Rabbi! [7]” and kissed him.

46. οι δε επεβαλον [8] τας χειρας αυτων[9] και εκρατησαν αυτον And they laid their hands on him and seized him.

47. εις δε τις[10] των παρεστηκοτων σπασαμενος την μαχαιραν επαισεν τον δουλον του αρχιερεως και αφειλεν αυτου το ωτιον[11] But a certain one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

48. και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν αυτοις ως επι ληστην εξηλθετε[12] μετα μαχαιρων και ξυλων συλλαβειν με And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take me?

49. καθ ημεραν ημην προς υμας εν τω ιερω διδασκων και ουκ εκρατησατε με αλλ ινα πληρωθωσιν αι γραφαι I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”

50. και αφεντες αυτον παντες εφυγον And they all left him and fled.

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[1] NA-Text reads “ευθυς”, same word spelled differently.

[2] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “ων” (being), which is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ and Theophylact. This is probably a scribal addition to the text. This verb has been removed from the Greek text.

[3] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “great”. The Clementine vulgate disagrees with the vulgate of Stuttgart and adds it to the text. The omission is supported by codices א, B, L, Θ, Ψ, 083, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscules 565, 1342 and 2427, the old Latin codices it^a, it^aur, it^f, it^ff2 and it^q, the Harklean Syriac, the Coptic versions, the Armenian and the Gothic version. The inclusion is supported by codices A, C, D, W, Δ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscules 22, 124, 346, 700, 892 and 1424, the Byzantine manuscripts, the old Latin codices it^c, it^d, it^k and it^l, the Syriac Sinaiticus, the Peshitta and Theophylact. The addition can be explained by harmonization to the parallel passage in Matthew 26:47 or the removal by a scribal accident caused by visual homoeuteleuton (οχλος πολυς, thus missing “great”). This word has then been maintained in the text.

[4] NA-Text and Vg-St read “απαγετε” (present instead of second aorist, Latin equivalent: “tenete”), which is supported by codices א, B and D. The aorist is supported by codex Θ (απαγαγεται), the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The reduction may have been caused by a parableptic error (απ-αγ-αγ-ετε, thus missing “γα”). The present tense is not a safe correction to the text.

[5] NA-Text reads “ευθυς”, same word spelled differently.

[6] M-Text adds “him”, which is supported by Theophylact. Codices א, B, D and Θ support only one pronoun. The confusion arose probably in virtue of the position of the pronoun “αυτω” in some manuscripts after “προσελθων” and some after “λεγει”, which lead Byzantine scribes to suppose that there should have been pronouns in both positions, thus wrongly duplicating the pronoun before and after the verb “said”.

[7] NA-Text and Vg-St omit the second occurrence of “Rabbi”. The single occurrence is supported by codices א, B, C*, D, L, W, Δ, Θ, Ψ, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 22, 579, 1342 and 2427, the old Latin codices it^d, it^f, it^ff2, it^l, it^q and it^r1, the Syriac Sinaiticus and the Bohairic Coptic version. The double “Rabbi” is supported by codices A, E, G, H, S, Y, Ω, 0116, minuscules 2, 157 and 700, the old Latin codices it^a, it^aur, it^c, the Sahidic Coptic, the Georgian² version and Theophylact. The Clementine vulgate also reads like the Byzantine text. The support for the single “Rabbi” is more widespread. Mark never uses the double “rabbi” in his gospel and the parallel passage in Matthew has a single “rabbi” and because it reads “Greetings, Rabbi”, the single Rabbi is less likely to be the product of scribal harmonization here. A parableptic error (ραββι ραββι, thus missing “Rabbi”) is obviously a possibility, but it is less likely that important witnesses like codices א, B and L in the Alexandrian transmission line, the Western text of codex D along with its Latin part (it^d) and codices W and Θ along with both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³ in the Caesarean transmission line all made the exact same mistake. Therefore, the text has been adjusted following the NA-Text.

[8] NA-Text omits “επ αυτον”, which is supported by codices א, B, C, D, L, N, W, Δ, Θ, Σ, Ψ, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 565, 700 and 892, the old Latin codices it^a, it^k and it^q. The inclusion is supported by codices A, K, old Latin and the Byzantine manuscripts. The evidence is showing that “on him” was supplied to complete the sense in the text. But in koine Greek, one pronoun can be connected to multiple verbs. The “αυτον” at the end of the verse meant to provide a pronoun to both the verb “επεβαλον” and the verb “εκρατησαν” in this sentence. This supplement has been removed from the Greek text, following the NA-Text.

[9] NA-Text reads “αυτω” (dative singular instead of genitive plural).

[10] NA-Text brackets “τις” that may have been skipped by visual homoeoarcton (τις των, thus missing “τις”) or removed thinking that this qualification belongs only to the fleeing young man of verse 51.

[11] NA-Text reads “ωταριον”. Same word spelled differently.

[12] NA-Text reads “εξηλθατε”. Same verbal tense spelled differently. 

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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!