Mark 11:9

9. [2530][2531][2532][2533][2534] omit λέγοντες.

[2530] 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.

[2531] 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.

[2532] 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.

[2533] 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.

[2534] 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.

9. οἱ προάγοντες. This might include the Jerusalem contingent, which on meeting Christ turned round and headed the procession.

ἔκραζον. This cry continued; the “earliest hymn of Christian devotion” (Stanley, Sin. and Pal. pp. 190 f.; his description of the scene is famed).

Ὡσαννά. “Save, we pray”; but the word seems to have become an expression of praise rather than of prayer. Lk. in choosing an equivalent that would be intelligible to Gentile readers takes δόξα and not σῶσον δή. Contrast Acta Pilati i. It is remarkable that Mk gives no translation of Hosanna; contrast Mark 5:41; Mark 7:34; Mark 15:22; Mark 15:34. This may be either because, like Rabbi (Mark 9:5), the word was so familiar, or because he himself was in doubt about the meaning. Psalms 118, which perhaps celebrates the Dedication of the Second Temple, and is certainly processional, was sung at the [2620] of Tabernacles, and the palm branches, waved by the crowd from Jerusalem, would easily suggest the ceremonies of that Feast. In the post-communion prayer in the Didache (x. 6) “Hosanna to the God of David” occurs, and some texts have “Hosanna to the Son of David,” from Matthew 21:9.

[2620] Codex Boreelianus. Once in the possession of John Boreel. 9th cent. At Utrecht. Contains Mk 1–41; Mark 2:8-23; Mark 3:5 to Mark 11:6; Mark 11:27 to Mark 14:54; Mark 15:6-39; Mark 16:19-20.

εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχ. κ.τ.λ. In these words all four agree. Originally they were a welcome to the pilgrim who comes to the Feast; but here they imply that “He who cometh” has a mission from God.