Mark 15:33

καὶ γενομένης ([3450][3451][3452][3453][3454][3455]) rather than γεν. δέ ([3456][3457][3458][3459][3460]) See on Mark 1:14.

[3450] 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.

[3451] 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.

[3452] 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.

[3453] 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.

[3454] 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.
[3455] 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.

[3456] 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.
[3457] 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.

[3458] Codex Monacensis. 10th cent. Contains Mark 6:47 to Mark 16:20. Many verses in 14, 15, 16 are defective.

[3459] Codex Oxoniensis. 9th cent. Contains Mark, except Mark 3:35 to Mark 6:20.

[3460] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mark 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

33. The divergence in the records here and at Mark 15:36 need not surprise us. Eyewitnesses in a time of excitement seldom agree exactly as to what they saw and heard, and exact agreement is a reason for suspecting collusion. Reports of what was said and done at the execution of John of Leyden at Münster in Jan. 1536, written by eyewitnesses immediately afterwards, differ widely as to what took place.

ὥρας ἕκτης. All three Synoptists say that the darkness began at the sixth hour and lasted till the ninth; and “over the whole land” (A.V., R.V.) is doubtless the meaning of ἐφʼ ὅλην τὴν γῆν. As in the case of Egypt (see Driver on Exodus 10:23), the darkness was local, and it may be ascribed to natural causes. At the Paschal full moon an eclipse would be impossible, and we need not suppose that Luke 23:45 means this. An eclipse is given as the cause in the Acta Pilati, but Origen points out the impossibility. Extraordinary darkness at noonday, extending for miles, is not a very rare phenomenon, and there is no sound reason for doubting the fact on this occasion, although some critics suggest that Amos 8:9, quoted by Irenaeus (IV. xxxiii. 12) as a prediction of it, caused the midday darkness to be imagined. The Gospel of Peter enlarges upon the completeness of the darkness. Granting the fact, it was inevitable that Christians should believe that in this case Nature was expressing sympathy with the sufferings of the Redeemer, or pronouncing the infliction of them to be a work of darkness, or predicting the fate of those who had tried to extinguish the Light of the World (Origen), or refusing to look upon a crucified Lord and aid by its light those who blasphemed Him (Jerome). We have no right to condemn such beliefs as certainly untrue. “If He thunder by law, the thunder is yet His voice.” See on Amos 8:9 and Godet on Luke 23:44-45. Syr-Sin. omits ἐφʼ ὅλην τ. γῆν.