Mark 2:23

ὁδὸς ποιεῖν τίλλοντες ([346][347][348][349][350][351][352]), supported by ὁδοποιεῖν τίλλοντες ([353][354][355] rather than τίλλειν ([356] Lat-Vet.).

[346] 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.

[347] 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.
[348] 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.

[349] 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.

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

[351] 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.
[352] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mark 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

[353] 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.

[354] Codex Seidelianus I. 9th or 10th cent. Contains Mark 1:13 to Mark 14:18; Mark 14:25 to Mark 16:20.

[355] Codex Seidelianus II. 9th or 10th cent. Contains Mark 1:1-31; Mark 2:4 to Mark 15:43; Mark 16:14-20.

[356] 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.

23. Καὶ ἐγένετο … διαπορεύεσθαι. Contrast the constr. in Mark 1:9; Mark 4:4. Mt. places this incident much later, but Lk. agrees with Mk. For ἐν τοῖς σάββασιν see on Mark 1:21.

διὰ τῶν σπορίμων. Through the sown-lands, which the context shows to have been corn-fields; per sata (Vulg.). The word is rare, but is found in papyri.

ὁδὸν ποιεῖν. See crit. note. Not “to make a road,” although this is the usual meaning of the phrase, but “to make their way” (R.V. marg.), “to go onwards,” progredi, although the usual Greek for this is ὁδὸν ποιεῖσθαι (Judges 17:8). Ὁδοποία has been found in a papyrus of the third cent. B.C. Plucking ears would not make a path where there was none, and Jesus was walking in front of the disciples. Vulg. has praegredi for ὁδὸν ποιεῖν, which makes the disciples go in front. It is possible that what Mk means is “began, as they went along, to pluck.” In any case it is an instance of his superfluous fulness (cf. Mark 1:32; Mark 1:42); ὁδὸν π. is not needed after διαπορεύεσθαι, and it has no equivalent in Mt. or Lk. The Pharisees do not accuse the disciples of damaging property, or of making a path on the Sabbath; it is the plucking (to which Lk. adds “rubbing in their hands”) that is questioned. This was regarded as harvesting, which might not be done on the Sabbath. Plucking as one went along was allowed (Deuteronomy 23:25); but not on the Sabbath. Philo (Vit. Mo. ii. 4, M. 137) says that not a sprig or leaf might be cut, nor any kind of fruit gathered. As in Mark 1:5; Mark 1:13; Mark 1:39, we have a leading fact expressed by a participle, τίλλοντες.