Mark 9:29

29. [1984][1985] k omit καὶ νηστείᾳ. Cf. 1 Corinthians 7:5.

[1984] 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.

[1985] 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.

29. Τοῦτο τὸ γένος κ.τ.λ. The reply is obscure in two particulars. 1. What γένος? Evil spirits of any kind? or those which render their victims deaf and dumb? 2. Who is to pray? The exorcist? or the victim’s friends? or the possessed person himself? Mt. gives a much simpler answer, which may be regarded as interpreting Mk, Διὰ τὴν ὀλιγοπιστίαν. To be effectual, prayer must be accompanied by faith, and the disciples who had proved powerless either had not prayed, or had prayed without faith. They may have thought that the power to heal was inherent in themselves, and that there was no need to pray; or they had had little trust that God would hear their prayer. Mt. sometimes gives his interpretation of Christ’s words as having been actually spoken; see on Mark 9:1; Mark 8:29.

ἐν προσευχῇ. See crit. note. The widely diffused addition και νηστείᾳ may be safely rejected as an early interpolation in the interests of asceticism. In Acts 10:30, νηστεύων καὶ is condemned on still stronger evidence ([2087][2088][2089][2090] and Versions), while the evidence against τῇ νηστείᾳ καὶ in 1 Corinthians 7:5 is overwhelming. Matthew 17:21 is an interpolation from Mark 9:29 after καὶ νηστείᾳ had been added. Here the internal evidence is as strong as the external. When a demoniac was brought to the disciples to be healed, were they to say, “We must first fast for so many hours”?

[2087] 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.

[2088] 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.
[2089] 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.

[2090] 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.