Mark 4:20

ἐκεῖνοι ([751][752][753][754][755]) rather than οὗτοι ([756][757][758]).

[751] 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.

[752] 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.

[753] 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.

[754] 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.

[755] 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.
[756] 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.

[757] 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.

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

20. καὶ ἐκεῖνοι. And those (R.V.). The change from οὗτοι … οὗτοι … ἄλλοι … οὗτοι (Mark 4:15-16; Mark 4:18) to ἐκεῖνοι marks the difference between the first three classes and the last, and the change should be kept in translation. A.V. has “these” in all five places. Here and Matthew 20:4, καὶ ἐκεῖνοι is found in the best MSS.; elsewhere (Mark 12:4-5, [Mark 16:11; Mark 16:13]) κἀκεῖνος prevails.

σπαρέντες. The change from imperf. (σπειρόμενοι) to aor. may have point. In the other cases the sowing never reached fruitful completion; the good soil was sown once for all successfully.

οἵτινες. “Who are of such a character as to”; cf. Mark 9:1; Mark 12:18.

παραδέχονται. Mk alone has this, and the compound occurs nowhere else in the Gospels; cf. Acts 15:4; Hebrews 12:6.

ἐν τριάκοντα. See on Mark 4:8. Here there is no question between εις and εν: we have to decide between ἕν, “one group,” or possibly “one seed,” and ἐν, “at the rate of.” The question is unimportant. Lk. omits the differentiation; with him it suffices to distinguish between fruitful and unfruitful. Christ could see in the hearts of His hearers counterparts of the different kinds of soils. Characteristically, Jerome gives 100 to the celibates, 60 to the widows, and 30 to the married; Augustine prefers martyrs, celibates, and married; and there are other guesses on similar lines. It is enough to recognize that there are differences among the fruitful. There is a Buddhist parable which is similar; “The best sort of land is like my monks and nuns … the medium sort like the lay associates … The bad sort is like the adherents of other religious societies. Even to them I preach my doctrine” (Clemen, Primitive Christianity, p. 322).

The interpretations of the parables of the Sower and of the Tares show us that, although each of Christ’s parables has only one main lesson, yet it is lawful to seek for meaning in some of the details. But it requires sober judgment to do this correctly; and it does not follow, because some details lend themselves to allegorical explanation, that therefore these meanings were intended by our Lord. Sanday, Outlines, pp. 68 f.