Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Mark 11:33

33. [2611][2612][2613][2614][2615][2616][2617] omit ἀποκριθείς.

[2611] 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.

[2612] 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.

[2613] 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.

[2614] 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.

[2615] 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.

[2616] Codex Oxoniensis. 9th cent. Contains Mark, except Mark 3:35 to Mark 6:20.

[2617] 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.

33. Οὐκ οἴδαμεν. This profession of ignorance is more than equalled in baseness by the profession of loyalty to the heathen Emperor a day or two later (John 19:15). As Bede says, they feared stoning, but they feared the truth still more. These teachers of Israel (John 3:10), who pronounced the multitude to be accursed for its ignorance (John 7:49), declared that they themselves were ignorant whether one whom the multitude had accepted as God’s messenger had any commission from Heaven. Again we have aor. part. combined with pres. indic., as in Mark 11:22. Syr-Sin. again omits the aor. part.

Οὐδὲ ἐγὼ λέγω. Where would have been the use? If they did not accept John’s testimony to His Messiahship, His own testimony to it would have been of no avail. Their confession of ignorance was an abdication of their official position as teachers of the nation, and they had no right now to question His authority. Hence His silence before the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:61). He does not say Οὐδὲ ἐγὼ οἶδα, which would have been the exact rejoinder to their reply; and His οὐδὲ ἐγὼ λέγω suggests that they do know but refuse to tell.

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Mark 11:33

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