Mark 2:11

[266][267][268][269][270] 33 omit καί before ἆρον.

[266] 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.

[267] 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.

[268] 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.

[269] 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.

[270] 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.

11. Σοὶ λέγω. The emphatic pronoun marks the change of address from the Scribes to the sufferer. This change is quite different from the changes which want of power to keep the oratio obliqua through a long sentence sometimes produces, as in Mark 6:8-9. This speech, with its explanatory parenthesis, is as clear as literary skill can make it; and it is in the parenthesis, which is no part of Christ’s utterance, that the Evangelists have differences of wording, Mt. inserting his favourite τότε, and Lk. using his παραλελυμένῳ. Cf. Mark 11:32; Exodus 4:4-5.

ἔγειρε. See crit. note. Here comes the test of the man’s faith, which Christ knew to be sufficient, for He read his thoughts as easily as the thoughts of the Scribes. The man could give no proof of his belief that he had received forgiveness of his sins, but he could show his belief that he had received power to get up and walk. Like ἄγωμεν (Mark 1:38), ἔγειρε is intrans. Cf. Mark 3:3; Mark 10:49. Note the asyndeton; in the true text there is no καί before ἆρον. For ὕπαγε Lk. has πορεύου, a verb which is exceptionally freq. in his writings. It is quite in the narrative style of the O.T. that Mk. has the same fulness of expression here as in Mark 2:9; cf. 1 Kings 12:4; 1 Kings 12:9-10; 1 Kings 12:14; Daniel 3:5; Daniel 3:7; Daniel 3:10; Daniel 3:15. There is close similarity between Mark 2:11-12 and John 5:8-9.

εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου. Doubtless at Capernaum. There is no command to silence. Such a command would have had little meaning respecting a miracle wrought before such a multitude.