Mark 3:29

ἁμαρτήματος ([560][561][562][563], Latt. Memph. Arm. Goth, [ἁμαρτίας, [564][565][566] rather than κρίσεως ([567][568]2[569][570], Syrr.).

[560] 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.

[561] 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.

[562] 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.

[563] 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.
[564] 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.

[565] 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.

[566] 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.

[567] 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.
[568] 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.

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

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

29. βλασφημήσῃ εἰς. Cf. Acts 6:11; Daniel 3:29 (LXX. 96). The constr. is classical (Dem., Aesch.).

τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον. The Spirit, the Holy Spirit. The second art. puts a strong emphasis on ἅγιον, perhaps in opposition to the πνεῦμα� (Mark 3:30). Cf. Mark 13:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:8; Ephesians 4:30. The repeated art. in various expressions is freq. in Jn. See on John 4:9; John 8:31.

οὐκ ἔχει ἄφεσιν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Mt. expands this into οὐκ�, and the context here seems to show that the expansion is correct. The ἐξουσία of the Son of Man to forgive sins (Mark 2:10) in this case cannot be exercised; there is no repentance, and therefore no forgiveness. Jesus had repeatedly freed men from the obsession of spirits whom the Scribes themselves recognized as the agents of Satan. Such acts could not be evil; they were acts of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God. Yet, in order to destroy the influence of One whose teaching often condemned their traditions, the Scribes had declared that these acts of the Holy Spirit were the acts of the prince of the demons. Such monstrous perversity was evidence of a spiritual condition which was becoming hopeless—a condition of constant and deliberate preference of darkness to light. The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit did not consist in saying “He has Beelzebub,” or “He casts out demons by the help of Satan”; no single utterance could be said to be unpardonable. It was the state of heart which produced these utterances that was so perilous; and that state was known to Him who pronounced this stern warning. We have not got our Lord’s exact words (Dalman, Words, p. 147). The report of them which has come down to us in three different forms does not require us to believe that these Scribes were already guilty of unpardonable wickedness; but their being capable of these utterances shows that they were perilously near to this. Repentance is not said to be impossible for them; but so long as they maintained that manifestations of Divine beneficence were Satanic, their recovery was impossible.

No hint is given as to whether repentance and forgiveness are possible in the next world. The only safe course is to repent here and now. From Matthew 12:32 Bede draws as inference quasdam culpas in hoc saeculo, quasdam vero in futuro laxari; but the inference is precarious.

ἀλλὰ ἔνοχός ἐστιν. “But lies under the consequences of an act of sin which belongs to the sphere of the world to come” (Swete). Cf. 2Ma 13:6. In N.T. ὁ αἰών without οὗτος is sometimes used of this present life (Mark 4:19; Mark 11:14); in O.T., but not in N.T., this is also true of αἰώνιος. There is no need to say here to whom such an offender has to answer for such a sin (Matthew 5:21-22). It is the character of the sin itself that is emphasized. Note that αἰωνίου precedes its substantive, not follows, as in ζωὴ αἰώνιος, the only other connexion in which Mk uses the word (Mark 10:17; Mark 10:30). Elsewhere the gen. after ἔνοχος indicates either the penalty (Mark 14:64; Matthew 26:66; Hebrews 2:15), or that which is injured by the sin (1 Corinthians 11:27; cf. James 2:10). On εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα and αἰώνιος see App. [631] in the volume on S. John. On the difficult subject of the unpardonable sin see on 1 John 5:16; Westcott on Hebrews 6:1-8 and Historic Faith, pp. 150 f.; Agar Beet, The Last Things, pp. 246 f.; D.C.G. art. “Blasphemy.”

[631] Codex Basiliensis. 8th cent. At Basle.