Mark 13:14

14. [2937][2938][2939][2940][2941] omit τὸ ῥηθὲν ὑπὸ Δ. τ. πρ. ἑστηκότα ([2942][2943][2944] rather than ἑστηκός ([2945][2946]) or ἑστός ([2947][2948][2949]), from Mt.

[2937] 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.

[2938] 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.

[2939] 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.

[2940] 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.

[2941] Codex Athous Laurae. 8th cent. Like N and Σ, it is written in silver letters on purple vellum. Contains Mark 9:5 to Mark 16:20, and, as in L, the shorter ending is inserted between Mark 16:8 and Mark 16:9. As in Δ, the text of Mark is specially good.

[2942] 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.

[2943] 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.

[2944] 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.

[2945] 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.

[2946] Codex Athous Laurae. 8th cent. Like N and Σ, it is written in silver letters on purple vellum. Contains Mark 9:5 to Mark 16:20, and, as in L, the shorter ending is inserted between Mark 16:8 and Mark 16:9. As in Δ, the text of Mark is specially good.

[2947] 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.
[2948] 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.
[2949] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mark 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

14. Ὅταν δὲ ἴδητε. Christ is still dealing with the disciples’ second question, What warning signal will there be? Thus far He has said no more than that a great deal will happen before the end comes. Now He tells them that the intrusion of “the abomination of desolation” into “a holy place” (Mt.), will be a warning to believers to leave Judaea. According to O.T. usage, βδέλυγμα means any idolatrous object, whether person or thing, such as must excite disgust and abhorrence in every Jew (1 Kings 21:26; 2 Kings 16:3; etc.). “The abomination of desolation” means that which causes desolation by bringing disaster and ruin. As Mt. points out, the phrase comes from Daniel (Mark 11:31; cf. Mark 9:17; Mark 9:27; Mark 12:11; and see on 1Ma 1:54; 1Ma 1:59). Heathen Rome is here indicated.

ἑστηκότα. See crit. note. The temptation to correct the faulty grammar would be great, esp. to ἑστός, which Mt. has here. But ἑστηκότα is no slip of the pen. The masc. shows that the βδέλυγμα is regarded as a person, either in fact or by personification. Cf. καὶ τότε φανήσεται ὁ κοσμοπλάνος (Didache xvi. 4). We may understand the Roman general or the Roman army. Loisy suggests “Satan, or his instrument,” Antichrist, which is not probable. Syr-Sin. has “the sign of the abomination of desolation standing where it ought not,” which is right as interpretation.

ὅπου οὐ δεῖ. Mt. makes this more definite by writing ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ, “in a holy place,” which may mean the Holy Land (2Ma 2:18).

ὁ�. Let him that readeth understand. Readeth what? The parenthesis is in Mt. also, but not in Lk. In Mt. the meaning might be “he that readeth the passage in Daniel,” for Daniel has just been mentioned as the source of the quotation. But that meaning is much less possible here, for neither Daniel nor any other writing has been mentioned, and Mk could hardly expect Gentile readers to know that the allusion was to Daniel. It is much more probable that in the parenthesis we have, not Christ’s words calling attention to those of Daniel, but the Evangelist’s words calling attention to those of Christ. At the time when he was writing, the signal which Christ had indicated seemed to be in preparation; the Romans had not yet laid siege to Jerusalem, but it was probable that they would do so, and the abomination might soon be in a holy place. Therefore Christians in Judaea, when they read this Gospel, ought to be preparing for flight. If this is correct, the date of the Gospel can hardly be later than A.D. 67. Lk. omits the parenthetical remark; when he wrote, the destruction of Jerusalem had taken place and the warning would be meaningless. Cf. Revelation 1:3, where ὁ� must refer to the reader of that writing.

τότε οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ … τὰ ὄρη. These important words are the same in all three. The tradition as to the counsel given by the Lord was constant. “Judaea” sometimes, esp. in Lk., means “the Land of the Jews,” Palestine; but here it probably means “the province of Judaea,” as everywhere else in Mk (Mark 1:5; Mark 3:7; Mark 10:1), and “the mountains” are the mountains of Judaea. In 1Ma 2:28, Mattathias and his sons ἕφυγον εἰς τὰ ὄρη, forsaking all that they had in the city. The mountains of Judaea were full of eaves and recesses, whence Mattathias carried on a guerrilla warfare against the forces of Epiphanes. These retreats had often been hiding places for Israel. Eusebius (H. E. iii. 5) tells us that the Christians in Jerusalem received a revelation before the war, in consequence of which they fled to Pella in Peraea, the modern Tabakât Fahil. Pella is not in the mountains, but in the valley of the Jordan, so that this warning cannot have been invented afterwards to fit the facts. The Christians may have felt that they were not safe in the mountains, and may have fled on across the Jordan to Pella. Moreover, the story in Eusebius refers to the Christians in Jerusalem; Christ’s warning is given to all those in Judaea. Lawlor (Eusebiana, Lect. i.) has shown that both Eusebius and Epiphanius probably got what they have to tell us about the flight to Pella from Hegesippus, who may have known some of the fugitives.