Mark 10:13

ἐπετίμησαν αὐτοῖς ([2197][2198][2199][2200][2201][2202]) rather than ἐπετίμων τοῖς προσφἑρουσιν ([2203][2204][2205][2206][2207][2208]).

[2197] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mark 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[2198] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mark 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[2199] Codex Ephraemi. 5th cent. A palimpsest: the original writing has been partially rubbed out, and the works of Ephraem the Syrian have been written over it; but a great deal of the original writing has been recovered; of Mark we have Mark 1:17 to Mark 6:31; Mark 8:5 to Mark 12:29; Mark 13:19 to Mark 16:20. In the National Library at Paris.

[2200] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mark 1:1 to Mark 10:15; Mark 10:30 to Mark 15:1; Mark 15:20 to Mark 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mark 16:8 and Mark 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

[2201] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.
[2202] Codex Athous Laurae. 8th cent. Like N and Σ, it is written in silver letters on purple vellum. Contains Mark 9:5 to Mark 16:20, and, as in L, the shorter ending is inserted between Mark 16:8 and Mark 16:9. As in Δ, the text of Mark is specially good.

[2203] Codex Alexandrinus. 5th cent. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to King Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. The whole Gospel. Photographic facsimile, 1879.

[2204] Codex Bezae. 6th cent. Has a Latin translation (d) side by side with the Greek text, and the two do not quite always agree. Presented by Beza to the University Library of Cambridge in 1581. Remarkable for its frequent divergences from other texts. Contains Mark, except Mark 16:15-20, which has been added by a later hand. Photographic facsimile, 1899.

[2205] Codex Purpureus. 6th cent. Full text in Texts and Studies v. No. 4, 1899. Contains Mark 5:20 to Mark 7:4; Mark 7:20 to Mark 8:32; Mark 9:1 to Mark 10:43; Mark 11:7 to Mark 12:19; Mark 14:25 to Mark 15:23; Mark 15:33-42. See below on Ψ.

[2206] Codex Monacensis. 10th cent. Contains Mark 6:47 to Mark 16:20. Many verses in 14, 15, 16 are defective.

[2207] Codex Oxoniensis. 9th cent. Contains Mark, except Mark 3:35 to Mark 6:20.

[2208] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mark 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

13. προσέφερον αὐτῷ παιδία. Mk and Mt. place this incident immediately after the discourse on divorce in a house at Capernaum, and Salmon (Human Element, p. 395) makes the attractive suggestion that the children of the house “were brought to Him to say goodnight, and receive His blessing before being sent to bed.” Lk. intimates that several parents brought their babes (τὰ βρέφη); and the disciples would hardly have interfered, if only the children of the house had been brought. Both Mk and Lk. say that the object was that the great Healer should touch the children, which Mt. enlarges into what He actually did; “that He should lay His hands on them and pray.” Cf. Genesis 48:14. Syr-Sin. here has “lay His hands on them.” For the subj. after a past tense see Winer, p. 360; the opt. is going out of use, and no example of the opt. after ἵνα is found in N.T. Both Mk (Mark 2:4) and Mt. (often) use προσφέρειν of bringing the sick to Christ, and ailments in children are common; even those who had no ailment would be honoured by His touch. A girl of twelve is called παιδίον (Mark 5:39; Mark 5:42), so that we need not think of all these children as babies; the point is that their being too young to comprehend His teaching is no reason for keeping them from Him. In the First Prayer Book of Edward VI. this passage was substituted in the Office for Baptism for Matthew 19:13-15, as clearer evidence of Christ’s love for children.

οἱ δὲ μαθηταὶ ἐπετίμησαν αὐτοῖς. See crit. note. To the disciples it seemed intolerable that the Master, whose strength was sorely tried by the number of adults whom He taught and healed, should be expected to attend to little children who had no need of any special attention.