Mark 9:3

3. [1845][1846][1847][1848][1849] omit ὡς χιών (Matthew 28:3) and insert οὕτως before λευκᾶναι (characteristic fulness).

[1845] 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.

[1846] 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.

[1847] 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.

[1848] 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.

[1849] 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.

3. στίλβοντα. Here only in N.T.; in LXX. of the gleaming of polished metal (Nahum 3:6; 1Ma 6:39; etc.).

λίαν οἷα γναφεὺς κ.τ.λ. See crit. note. Again we have a fulness of description which is in Mk alone, but he omits the brightness of Christ’s face. Γναφεύς occurs nowhere else in N.T. Cf. ἄγναφος (Mark 2:21; Matthew 9:16), and the paradoxical ἐλεύκαναν αὐτὰς ἐν τῷ αἵματι τοῦ� (Revelation 7:14).

ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Not superfluous; it contrasts earthly with heavenly whiteness. Syr-Sin. omits λίαν … λευκᾶναι.