Mark 8:33

καὶ λέγει ([1770][1771][1772][1773][1774]) rather than λέγων ([1775][1776][1777][1778]).

[1770] 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.

[1771] 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.

[1772] 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.

[1773] 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.

[1774] 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.
[1775] 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.

[1776] 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.

[1777] Codex Oxoniensis. 9th cent. Contains Mark, except Mark 3:35 to Mark 6:20.

[1778] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mark 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

33. ἐπιστραφείς. Midd. sense, as in Mark 5:30. This graphic touch, freq. in Lk., is in Mt. also. If Peter’s rebuke to Him was given privately, His rebuke to Peter must, for the sake of all, be given openly. It was as He turned that He saw the disciples, from whose company Peter had withdrawn Him. Without ἐπί (Acts 9:35; Acts 11:21) or πρός (Luke 17:4; Acts 9:40) after it, ἐπιστρέφ. means “turn round,” not necessarily “turn towards.” The other Evangelists use στραφείς of Christ’s turning to people. Vulg. spoils the effect of ἐπιτιμᾷν … ἐπετίμησεν by translating increpare … comminatus est. The latter is the usual translation.

Ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, Σατανᾶ. At the end of the Temptation Christ dismissed the evil one with Ὕπαγε, Σατανᾶ (Matthew 4:10). He recognizes Satan’s influence once more in Peter’s suggestion that the Messiah can accomplish His work without suffering and death, which is a repetition of the suggestions made in the wilderness. Mt. says expressly that Ὕπαγε … Σατανᾶ was addressed to Peter, and ὅτι οὐ φρονεῖς must be addressed to him. For the moment Peter has identified himself with Satan, and he is banished with similar decision and severity.

Bede tries to mitigate Peter’s error, which he thinks sprang de pietatis affectu and could not be attributed to the prompting of the evil one. He admires Peter’s taking the Master aside, ne praesentibus ceteris condiscipulis magistrum videatur arguere. He would give to “Satan” its original meaning of “adversary”; in this matter Peter’s wishes are opposed to Christ’s. Origen and Theophylact go still further from the true meaning when they interpret Ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου as signifying “Follow Me; conform to My will.”

The severity of the rebuke is explained by the severity of the temptation. Christ’s prayers during the Agony show what it cost Him to resist the suggestion that the triumphant Τετέλεσται could be reached without suffering, and that the Crown might be won without enduring the Cross. The Divine Δεῖ must be accomplished, but Christ’s human soul shrank from the accomplishment, and the thought of escaping it had a dire attractiveness. D.C.G. art. “The Character of Christ.”

οὐ φρονεῖς τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ. It was God’s will that His Son should suffer and die, and Peter was setting his love for his Master in opposition to God’s love for His Son and His sons. The Apostle who should have been a support had become an occasion of falling. It is a low type of human affection that forbids those who are loved to suffer in a righteous cause. Conformity to the mind of God is the only safe rule. Cf. Philippians 3:19. Excepting this Saying and Acts 28:22, φρονεῖν in N.T. is confined to the Pauline Epistles; Romans 8:5; Colossians 3:2. But the expression φρονεῖν τά is not specially Pauline; cf. 1Ma 10:20, and in Dem. Matthew 3 we have οἱ τὰ Φιλίππου φρονοῦντες.