Mark 4:28

28. [806][807][808][809][810] omit γάρ. Cf. Mark 3:35. It is impossible to determine the original Greek for “the full corn”; perhaps πλήρη σῖτον ([811][812][813]2[814][815][816]) is right; but it may be a correction of πλήρης σῖτον ([817][818][806] 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.

[807] 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.
[808] 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.

[809] 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.

[810] 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.

[811] 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.

[812] 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.
[813] 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.

[814] 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.

[815] 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.
[816] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mark 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

[817] 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.

[818] n 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.

28. αὐτομάτη. First with emphasis; It is of herself that the earth beareth fruit. Similarly, αὐτομάτη ἠνοίχθη αὐτοῖς (Acts 12:10), the only other occurrence in N.T. Cf. τὰ αὐτόματα� (Leviticus 25:5), of that which grows without cultivation in the sabbatical year. Theophylact interprets this of the freewill of man; αὐτεξούσιοι γάρ ἐσμεν, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ προαιρέσει κεῖται τὸ τὸν σπόρον ἢ αὐξάνεσθαι ἢ μή. But Euthymius is probably right in saying that here only the righteous are signified, the good seed on good ground.

καρποφορεῖ. The crowning result of the soil’s action is stated first, and then the chief stages are noted.

πρῶτον χόρτον κ.τ.λ. First blade, then ear, then full corn in the ear. A.V. and R.V. thrice insert the art., without putting “the” in italics. Cf. Mark 3:32.

εἶτεν … εἶτεν. This very rare form of εἶτα is well attested here, although in Mark 4:17 we have εἶτα without variant. It occurs in a Messenian inscription of A.D. 91. It is said to be Ionic; Blass § 6. 2.

πλήρης σῖτον. With this reading πλήρης is indeclinable. See crit. note. If πλήρης σῖτος is the original reading, the nom. gives a sort of triumphant ring to the conclusion; “then there is the full corn in the ear.” Cf. the change to the indic in Mark 4:27.