Mark 14:30

30. [3160][3161][3162][3163] omit δίς, but it may be retained ([3164][3165][3166]2[3167][3168][3169][3170][3171]).

[3160] 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.

[3161] 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.

[3162] An asterisk denotes that the word is not found elsewhere in N.T., and such words are included in the index, even if there is no note on them in the commentary.

[3163] 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.

[3164] 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.
[3165] 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.

[3166] 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.

[3167] 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.

[3168] Codex Monacensis. 10th cent. Contains Mark 6:47 to Mark 16:20. Many verses in 14, 15, 16 are defective.

[3169] Codex Oxoniensis. 9th cent. Contains Mark, except Mark 3:35 to Mark 6:20.

[3170] 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.
[3171] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mark 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

30. Ἀμὴν λέγω σοι. The prediction of his almost immediate failure is made with great solemnity: λέγω σοι is in all four Gospels, and Lk. and Jn are quite independent of the other two and of one another. Lk. and Jn place the prediction in the supper-room, Mk and Mt. place it during the walk from the room to the Mount of Olives, and Lk.’s narrative differs considerably from Jn’s. Some suppose that there were three predictions, two in the room and one afterwards. It is unlikely that the prediction was repeated. These divergences about details are of little moment, and we have no means of determining which tradition is nearest to the actual facts. See on John 13:38.

σὺ σήμερον ταύτῃ τῇ νυκτί. The σύ, though omitted by [3327][3328][3329][3330] and Old Latin texts, is probably genuine; it answers to Peter’s confident ἐγώ. We have here another instance of Mk’s fulness, and of Mt. and Lk. each taking different parts of Mk’s full expression, Lk. having σήμερον and Mt. ταύτῃ τῇ νυκτί. See on Mark 1:32; Mark 1:42; Mark 15:26. According to Jewish reckoning the day had begun at sunset, and σήμερον would mean “before the next sunset.” “This night” therefore greatly abbreviates “to-day.” The denial will take place within a very few hours.

[3327] 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.

[3328] 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.

[3329] 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.

[3330] 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.

δίς. This may safely be regarded as original; see crit. note. It is confirmed by the Fayûm fragment, and the fact that Mt., Lk., and Jn mention only one cock-crowing makes omission more probable than interpolation. Travellers tell us that in the East cocks crow with extraordinary regularity at certain hours, about twelve, two, and five o’clock. Tristram, Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 221. But our Lord is not predicting the hours at which the denials will take place; nor is the obvious meaning, that before the cock crows a second time there will have been three denials, the only point. Our Lord foretells that the first cock-crowing will not stop the denials; in spite of this warning, Peter will still persist that he does not know Christ. The declaration, therefore, is pregnant with meaning, “Thou, who art so confident that thou at any rate wilt never be offended, within twenty hours, nay within six, wilt not only be offended, but wilt have denied Me, not once nor twice only, and that in spite of at least one warning signal.” Cf. ὅτε τὸ δεύτερον ὡ ἁλεκτρυὼν ἐφθέγγετο (Aristoph. Eccl. 390); Quod tamen ad cantum galli facit ille secundi (Juv. ix. 106). The form ἀλέκτωρ is more common in poetry, ἀλεκτρυών in prose, and the Fayûm fragment has ἀλεκτρυών here; it has also the more usual κοκκύζω of the crowing.

τρίς. In all four Gospels; and the Synoptics all have the strong compound ἀπαρνήοῃ, which occurs only in this connexion and in that of denying oneself (Mark 8:34 = Matthew 16:24); ἀρνέομαι is much more common (Mark 14:68; Mark 14:70; etc.).