Mark 3:20

συνέρχεται πάλιν ὁ ὄχλος. The πάλιν looks back to Mark 3:7-8. The crowd, with the freedom of Orientals (Trench, Parables, p. 302n.; Tristram, Eastern Customs in Bible Lands, p. 36), came in and filled the house. These verses (20, 21) are preparatory to 31–35, which show who come next to the chosen Twelve; it is a circle which anyone can enter.

ὥστε μὴ … μηδέ. The authority for μηδέ is ample ([607][608][609][610][611][612][613][614] and μηδέ is required by the obvious meaning. With μήτε the sentence would mean “so that they were not able nor ate bread,” which is hardly sense; but in modern Greek the difference between μηδέ and μήτε seems to have vanished. Winer, p. 614. This was no solitary instance of the difficulty; Mark 2:2 and Mark 6:31 show that the pressure of the multitudes was a grave inconvenience. It hindered the training of the Twelve. As usual, it is omitted by Mt.

[607] 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.
[608] 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.

[609] Codex Cyprius. 9th cent. One of the seven uncials which have the Gospels complete, the others being אBMSUΩ. At Paris.

[610] 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.

[611] Codex Nanianus. 9th or 10th cent. Gospels complete.
[612] 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.
[613] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mark 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

[614] n asterisk denotes that the word is not found elsewhere in N.T., and such words are included in the index, even if there is no note on them in the commentary.

ἄρτον φαγεῖν. See on Mark 7:2; also Dalman, Words, p. 112.