Mark 4:4

4. After τὰ πετεινά, [674][675][676][677][678] etc. omit τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (from Lk.).

[674] 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.

[675] 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.
[676] 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.

[677] 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.

[678] 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.

4. ἐν τῷ σπείρειν. “During the sowing” or as he sowed; cf. ἐν τῷ ἐλαύνειν (Mark 6:48). [869] has ἐν τῷ σπεῖραι, which would mean “after he had sowed.” Both constructions are freq. in Lk. Contrast the aor. Luke 2:27; Luke 9:36; Luke 11:37; Luke 14:1 with the pres. Luke 5:1; Luke 5:12; Luke 8:42; Luke 9:51Luke 9:29; Luke 9:33; ; Luke 9:51. For the constr. ἐγένετο … ἔπεσεν cf. Mark 1:9. Mt. and Lk. omit the superfluous ἐγένετο.

[869] 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.

ὃ μέν. Sc. σπέρμα. As in 1 Thessalonians 2:18; 1 Corinthians 5:3; Romans 7:12; Romans 10:1, no δέ follows. Winer, p. 719; Blass, § 77, 12.

παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν. Cf. Mark 2:13; Mark 4:1. Not “along the way,” but “by the side of the way”; so close to the path that it was trampled on (Lk.). The change of prepositions is graphic; παρά (Mark 4:4), ἐπί (Mark 4:5), εἰς (Mark 4:7). Mk has the sing. of the three failures, ὃ μέν, ἄλλο, ἄλλο, and the plur. of the one success, ἄλλα. What fell on the good ground was more abundant than what did not do so. This important distinction is lost in Mt. and Lk. Mt. has the plur. throughout and Lk. has the sing. throughout.