Mark 2:26

26. πῶς before εἰσῆλθεν should probably be omitted with [365][366] t. [367] Lat-Vet. Syr-Sin. omit ἐπὶ Ἀβιάθαρ�.

[365] 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.

[366] 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.

[367] 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.

26. τὸν οἶκον τ. θεοῦ. Judges 18:31; cf. 1 Samuel 1:7; 1 Samuel 1:24; 1 Samuel 3:15. In 1 Samuel 21:1-6 it is not stated that David entered the House of God, but it is just possible that the expression includes the τέμενος or sacred enclosure in which the Tabernacle stood. The Tabernacle was then at Nob, which was probably a little [404] of Jerusalem.

[404] 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.

ἐπὶ Ἀβιάθαρ�. When Abiathar was high-priest (R.V.). Cf. Luke 3:2; Luke 4:27; Acts 11:28. [405][406] 33 insert τοῦ before ἀρχ., which would mean “in the time of Ab., who was high-priest,” without limiting the date to the duration of the high-priesthood. Mt. and Lk. omit the date, which is erroneous, for Ahimelech was the high-priest who gave David the shewbread. Syr-Sin. omits the date here. The error may be compared with that of Matthew 23:35, and in both cases we probably have a slip of the Evangelist (or of a very early copyist), who inserted a note of his own into our Lord’s words and made a mistake in doing so. No date is required here. Conjectures that both high-priests had both names, or that ἐπὶ Ἀβ. may mean “in the passage about [407] (cf. Mark 12:6), are unsatisfactory. Here, as in the coupling of a prophecy from Malachi with one from Isaiah, as if both were from Isaiah (Mark 1:2), Mt. and Lk. omit what is erroneous in Mk.

[405] 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.
[406] 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.

[407] odex 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.

τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς τηροθέσεως. The bread or The loaves of the setting forth, panes propositionis (Vulg.). This expression occurs Exodus 40:23; 1 Chronicles 9:32; 1 Chronicles 23:29. Other names in LXX. are ἀρ. τοῦ προσώπου, “of the Presence of God” (1 Samuel 21:6), τῆς προσφορᾶς, (1 Kings 7:28), ἄρ. ἐνώπιοι (Exodus 25:30), or οἱ διὰ παντός, “the perpetual loaves” (Numbers 4:7); cf. 2 Chronicles 13:11; 2 Chronicles 29:18. In Hebrews 9:2 we have ἡ πρόθεσις τῶν ἄρτων. See Deissmann, Bib. St. p. 157. “Shewbread” appears first in Coverdale (A.D. 1535), probably from Luther’s Schaubrote. Hebrew has few adjectives expressing such attributes, and hence the freq. use of the gen. Twelve loaves were placed on “the pure table” and renewed every Sabbath. Similar offerings of twelve or thirty-six loaves were made by other Semitic nations in the sacrifices to their gods as food for the gods to eat. To the Jew they signified the Presence of God and His perpetual acceptance of worship.

οὐκ ἔξεστιν. Leviticus 24:9 says that this bread is for Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place. This οὐκ ἔξεστιν was therefore stronger than the οὐκ ἔξεστιν in Mark 2:24, and yet Ahimelech allowed an exception to be made. Only here and Luke 6:4; Luke 20:22, does ἔξεστιν c. acc. et infin. occur in N.T. Contrast Mark 6:18; Mark 10:2; Mt. here has the dat., and [408][409][410] against [411][412][413] have the dat. in Mk. Bede thinks that allowing David and his followers to eat the priests’ bread may point to the fact that omnes filii Ecclesiae sacerdotes sunt.

[408] 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.
[409] 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.

[410] 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.

[411] 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.

[412] 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.

[413] 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.

ἔδωκεν καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ. This also is not stated in 1 Samuel 21, but it may be inferred from David’s asking for five loaves, and from his assuring Ahimelech that the wallets of his followers were Levitically clean. Thus David allowed his followers, as the Son of David allowed His followers, to do what usage forbade.