Mark 14:58

οἰκοδομήσω ([3261][3262][3263][3264] etc.) rather than ἀναστήσω ([3265][3261] 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.

[3262] 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.
[3263] 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.

[3264] 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.

[3265] odex 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.

58. Ἡμεῖς ἠκούσαμεν αὐτοῦ. We ourselves heard Him. This characteristic fulness is again peculiar to Mk. The report of the words is in Mt. different and shorter; “I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.” How far the report of what the witnesses said has been influenced by the recollection of what Christ actually said, or by the interpretation of what He said, it is impossible to determine. It is not incredible that Christ’s remarkable utterance made two years before (John 2:19) was remembered, and was now brought up against Him in a perverted form. Of course Christ had not said that He would destroy the Temple. On the other hand it is possible that He had said something similar recently. His prediction of the destruction of the Temple (Mark 13:2) may have become known, and to a Jew that would seem to be blasphemy, for the Temple was the token of the Presence of God. Cf. Revelation 11:1-2. They did not see that in killing the Messiah they doomed the Temple to destruction. Cf. Acts 6:14, where Stephen’s saying on the subject is quoted against him. For διὰ τριῶν see on Mark 2:1, and for ἀχειροποίητον see on 2 Corinthians 5:1.