Mark 1:8

8. Many texts ([68][69][70] etc.) insert ἐν before ὕδατι and before πνεύματι ἁγίῳ. The evidence for the latter insertion is stronger than that for the former, but in neither should it be made. R.V. retains ἐν in both places.

[68] 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.

[69] 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.

[70] Codex Guelpherbytanus. 6th cent. Contains Mark 1:2-11; Mark 3:5-17; Mark 14:13-24; Mark 14:48-61; Mark 15:12-37.

8. ἐγὼ ἐβάπτισα. He is addressing his baptized converts. Mt. and Lk. have βαπτίζω. They have μέν after ἐγώ, and some texts insert it here. The classical μὲν … δὲ … is comparatively rare in N.T.; only three or four times in Mk, and in some books (2 Thess., 1 Tim., Tit., 2 Peter, 1, 2, 3 Jn, Rev.) not at all. Jn has ἐν before ὕδατι, Mt. and Lk. before πνεύματι, Mk in neither place; see crit. note. Here we have dat. of the instrument; with water, with (the) Holy Spirit. There is no art and the Spirit is hardly personal; John would not think of a Person. In Mk the Baptist utters no warning about a judgment that is near at hand; there is no axe or fan or fire, and the mission of the Forerunner is almost immediately lost in that of the Messiah. But the effect of his teaching is seen long after his death; even at Ephesus, where St Paul found men ready to accept the Gospel, having previously known only the baptism of John (Acts 19:2), and in the zeal of Apollos (Acts 18:22-28).