LIBRARY OF THE University of California. Class uc'.iERKl A FEW NOTES ON THE GOSPELS ACCORDING . TO ST. MARK AND. . . ST. MATTHEW BASED CHIEFLY ON MODERN GREEK . . BY ALEX. PALLIS W LIVERPOOL THE LIVERPOOL BOOKSELLERS' CO. LTD. 1903 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/fewnotesongospelOOpallrich A FEW NOTES ON THE GOSPELS ACCORDING TO ST. MARK AND ST. MATTHEW A FEW NOTES ON THE GOSPELS ACCORDING TO ST. MARK AND ST. MATTHEW BASED CHIEFLY ON MODERN GREEK By ALEX. PALLIS 1 LIVERPOOL THE LIVERPOOL BOOKSELLERS' CO. LTD; 1903 All Jiights Reserved GENgAL 'll'-= PREFACE When I was engaged in translating the Gospels into Romaic/ I had occasion to examine closely a number of passages which seemed to me to have been misinterpreted ; in some instances because the force of the Greek had been misunderstood, and in others because the text was corrupt. In the following pages will be found a few brief Notes in which some of these passages are discussed. So far as I know, the suggestions which I offer are now put forward for the first time. If, however, it should happen that any of them have been anticipated by others, I trust that the omission to acknowledge the fact will be ascribed not to unwillingness or negligence, but to the circumstance that, being a busy man, I have not had the leisure to read all the commen- taries which have been written on the Gospels. From my Notes it will be seen that my mother tongue can furnish many clues to New Testament problems. The spirit of ancient Greek has been preserved with comparative fidelity in its modern descendant, and I am convinced that a systematic study of the Scriptures in the light thrown on them by the Romaic would yield valuable results. To give only one example, a curious instance of the usefulness of Romaic in Biblical inter- pretation is afforded by John x. 24, tia^ ttotc rrjv ^xqv t^fi^av * H NEA AIA9HEH /car A rb BariKavb x^P^po-fpo /xeTa(/>pap.]j il iTi'a martyris^ ; assommd ; harcel^.") If, however, the investigation which I advocate is to be fruitful, it must be carried out in the immediate future. A strange disposition prevails among the wealthier classes in Athens to despise their own language, and to regard the use of French as a mark of gentility; this tendency is aped by their social inferiors, with the result that Romaic is rapidly becoming debased and adulterated with Gallicisms, and will soon lose those characteristics which link it to old Greek, and have invested it with such nobility and loveliness. Indeed, if this unfortunate fashion spreads as quickly as it has done of late years, only the lapse of a few generations will be required to cause Greek to become practically extinct.^ The present series of Notes relates only to passages in the Gospels according to St. Mark and St. Matthew, but I hope shortly to have an opportunity of dealing in the same way with the other two Gospels. * My countrymen fancy that contact with the Turks has spoilt their language. As a matter of fact, during the Turkish period Greek rather improved than suffered. Its misfortunes began after the formation of the Greek kingdom through the action of the Greeks themselves, who first attacked it with pedantic neologisms, and now strive for its ruin by the use of a foreign language. ST. MARK ST. MARK Mark i. 6 *'Ea66>i' dxpiSas Kal }UKi aypiOK. Many, probably, will agree with the view expressed in the Encyclopadia Biblica (v. "Husks," p. 2136): "Common sense tells us that locusts would not have been preferred by the Baptist as his habitual food to nourishment supplied by the soil." This observation derives considerable support from the fact that, in other instances where Jewish tradition represents men as having been driven into the desert either by stress of circumstances or by a passion for asceticism, their food is said to have been what the soil produced. Thus Bavow, an ascetic closely resembling the Baptist, is described by Josephus (F/V. 2) as Tpor]v T7]v avTo/xaros tfivofxivr^v Trpo(r€- p6fjL€vos. Again, Judas Maccabaeus, having retired into the desert, iv rots opea-i SU^rj crvv tois fier avTOv kol ttjv xoprwSrj rporiv a-iTovfievoL SiereXow (2 Macc. V. 27). Compare also 2 Esdr. ix. 26, And there I sat among the flowers^ and did eat of the herbs of the fields and the meat of the same satisfied me ; xii. 51, But I sat in the field seven days . . . and in those days I did eat only of the flowers of the fields and had my meat of the herbs. Also Dan. iv. 22, 30, koX yoprov ws )Soi;s ^o-^tc The writer in the EncycL BibL suggests that by d^ptScs carob pods are meant. If this interpretation were possible, it would no doubt remove 4 ST. MARK [I. 6 one difficulty; but there is no authority for oKpU as meaning anything except a locust^ and for a carob pod the Biblical word is KcpaTLov. Nor are the words ficAt aypiov less puzzling. Eat- able honey, according to Jewish tradition, was prized as a delicacy, and was not considered to be hard fare, such as the context evidently requires. Cp. Ex. iii. 8, cts y^v dya^^v — €ts yrjv piovaav yaXa koX fxcXi; Ezek. xvi. 19, o-c/xtSaXtv kol cAatov KOL fiiXt iipiofJLLcrd o"€ j Cant. iv. 11, Krjptov d-jroo'Td^ovo't X^^^V r}(Tlv — \€y€L'f 30, l6aXfiwv ; xxi. 31, varepos — Scvrcpos — co-^aTos; xxii. 10, wfiu)v — ya/^os; xxiv. 45, otKCTCtas — OepaTTCLas; Mark i. 26, (x)vrj(rav — Kpd^av ; iii. 30, dfiapTca^ — KpL(r€0)o)vrj €v Ty viJ/rjXfj rjKovaOrj. Now fieXt and K-qptov are synonyms in the Sacred Books (cp. Prov. xxiv. 13, <^ay€ /icXt, vuj dyaOov yap Krjpiov'j Cant. iv. 11, K-qpiov d7rocrrdt,ov(rL X^^^V ^®^> ^f^i^Vt etc.), and I suspect that Krfpiov stood once in the text; but, being a comparatively rare word in the sense of honey, it was replaced by its synonym /xcAt on grounds similar to that ad- duced by Origen in the case of 'Pafid. Further, I suggest that KrjpCov was a misreading of Kapirov (KAPnON — KHPION). Should I be right, the corruption must have occurred very early, certainly before the Gospel according to St. Matthew was compiled, perhaps in a copy made from the archetype itself. Such, indeed, were the circumstances under which the first books of the early Christians were written that misread- ings of this kind could hardly be avoided; for the narratives circulated in a community of men who were poor and could only afford cheap writing materials, — perhaps second-hand, faulty membranes and bad ink, — and who, being ill-educated, would probably neither write correctly nor, in copying, take such pains as a practised literary man would consider necessary. My conclusion, therefore, is that, instead of ta-Otov d/cptSas ^ ST. MARK [n. 7, 19 Kot fiOu aypLoVf the archetype read io-Omv . . . ptfas kol Kaptrov oiypLoy, that is, eating roots and wild fruit. With this sentence compare Strabo, 513, oX pXv ovv Iv rots v^crots ovk €xovt€s (TTTopLfxa 'PlZO^^yovo-t Kal ArPIOIlS XP^^^^' KAPHOIS. Mark 11. 7 OoTw XaXci. The force of this phrase has been missed. The meaning is, /le speaks at random^ outw being equivalent to the classical avTws (or sometimes ovtcds). The idiom has been preserved in modern Greek. See Vlachos, Ac^ikov 'EXXiyvoyaXXtKov, v. ero-i, "to ctTTtt cTo-i [<^p.], je I'ai dit sans consequence; j'ai parle en I'air." Mark ii. 19 Mt] Sui^aKTai 01 ulol toG vM^^lavo^ Iv ^ o v\}\i.^io% |X€t* auTwi' ^ori fijoreucii' ; I think that the meaning of the word wfiC)voioVf which cannot have been possible in a bride-chamber. The word, I believe, signifies a banquetifig-hall^ in which the wedding feast took place, perhaps also the wedding itself. Such halls are common in India at the present time. Weddings in that country are grand affairs, and are followed by very costly entertainments, on which the savings of many years' hard work are spent. To these feasts a great number of relatives and friends, or even all the caste fellows in the place, are invitfed ; and, as the private houses are small and totally inadequate for such large gatherings, public halls of a kind have been provided in which guests are entertained. It is evident from what we find in the New Testa- ment (see Matt. xxii. 2 ff.) that weddings in Palestine were also m. 14] ST. MARK f followed by great feasts, and I venture to suggest that, owing to circumstances similar to those which prevail in India, public halls must have existed in that country for the convenience of those who entertained. This interpretation of vv/x<^ojv is borne out by the passage quoted at the head of this paragraph, which states that the sons of the wfi<^v, namely, those who are in the wfio)Vi cannot be expected to abstain from eating and drinking ; in other words, that they are there for the purpose of eating and drinking. Should my view be correct, then viol tov wfufnovo^ must simply be interpreted, tke guests at a wedding. But, though the context seems to require the interpretation which I have submitted, there is no denying that vi;ft<^o>v, according to its formation, should mean a bride's quarters^ in which sense we find it in the only two passages of the Old Testament in which it occurs. It is a point, then, for further investigation, whether vvfjio)v has not displaced yctftos everywhere in the New Testament, as it has done apparently in Matt. xxii. lo, where Codex B gives on the margin the variant ya/x,os, written by the original scribe himself. Mark hi. 14 Kal iirolriaev 8(u8cKa 089 Kai dirooroXous ut^ojxaaei' ii^a Qov rov Si/awvos, in accordance with the parallel sentence which follows, ^laKinpov rov rov Ze/SeSaCov kol 'Icoavryv rov a8€\6v Tov *IaKw/?ov. These words were most likely rubbed off for the purpose of making room for the sentence, koI t\€iv — BaLfwvia. As, however, they consisted of fifty-two letters, and the sentence inserted of only thirty-five, there was a considerable space left blank, and I suggest that it was with the object of filling up this gap that the superfluous words icat liroC-qatv tous SuiScica were interpolated, this addition bringing up the spurious letters to fifty-six. Mark iv. 91 Mi^Tt €p)(€Tat 6 Xux»'os. The word tpx^rai is impossible, and has been condemned by several critics. D gives aTrrcTat, and it is such a sense that we require. I suspect that St. Mark used a Latin root and wrote apSerat (from ardeo). In St. Matthew we find the equiva-. lent of the Latin word, i.e. Katovcrt (v. 1 5). Mark iv. 27 Kal 6 aTTopos pXaora Kal }i.i\Kuv^Ta.i &% ouk otSei^ auTos. The words ws ov/c oTScv avros clash with the spirit of the passage, expressing as they do a certain surprise in the mind of the sower that the seed should grow and become a tree without any trouble being taken by him. The point of the parable, on the contrary, is that the sower, after sowing, reverts to his usual life in the certainty that the seed will do its work though he pays no further attention to it. I am, therefore, inclined to think that the text originally read, ws cKa^evScv (EKA0EYAEN— OYKOIAEN) avros, whilst he himself was sleep- ing. For the use of ws instead of cws, cp. John ii. 23, xii. 35, TTcptTraTCiTC a)S to ^a>s ct^ctc; xii. 36. ^) ST. MARK [VI. 20 Mark vi. 20 *0 Y^P 'HpwSrjs e<|>op€iTO t^i^ *\(advr\v ciSws auToi' ai'Spa SixaiOK Kal ayiOK, Kal auveTqpci. auTOF, Kal dKOuaas auTOu iroXXd i\ir6p€i, Kal T]S^(i)$ aUTOU tJKOUCI'. A good deal of confusion seems to have crept into this passage, of which traces exist in the variety of reading which has come down to us. Codex B omits the particle /cat before (rvv€rrjp€i. Again, some MSS. give cTrotct instead of ^opet. This was the reading before the translator of the Syr. Sin., whose rendering (according to Mrs. Lewis) is and many things that he heard from him he did. Then, an old Latin version gives quia ?nulta faciebat, and another quod multa faciebat. It is indis- putable that the passage presents serious difficulties. In the first place, there is no reason why Herod should fear John; nay, the fact that he seized and imprisoned him is a proof that he did not. We should have rather expected that, as is stated in the account given in St. Matthew, Herod, like the chief priests and the elders,^ feared the people, who revered John as a saint and a prophet, and was unwilling to exasperate the multitude by executing him. I incline to think that, where we now find *Itoar»7v, there was once a lacuna which was errone- ously filled in by that word instead of by ©xXov 09, and that the text originally ran thus, o yap 'HpwST/s I^o^^to tov oykov o^ €i8s. Lastly, with regard to the words koX d/covo-as avroO TroAAa i^Tropet, if what I have already urged is well founded, they cannot possibly stand in their present form, as the subject of rproptt would necessarily be 6 0^X09 ; nor can they stand even if we assume 'HpwSiys to be the subject, for there is no reason why Herod should be said to feel any agreeable surprise at John's discourses — and this is what the words must mean if they mean anything — if it is supposed that he had already acquired a conviction (etSwg) of the Baptist's righteous and saintly character. Moreover, the variety in the readings of our MSS., as shown at the beginning of this para- graph, adds considerably to the suspicious appearance of these words. What, however, was their original form I am quite unable to suggest. Mark vi. 21 Kal y€voii.i\n)^ fifiipas cuKaipov. The usual interpretation, and ivhen a convenient [it should be, an opportune\ day was covie^ is very wide of the mark. There was nothing in the day itself which made it specially oppor- tune for bringing about the Baptist's execution; it was by mere accident that the chance presented itself. Had the day been considered by Herodias as advantageous, we should have expected to find that everything had been arranged beforehand, and that her daughter would have promptly answered, there and then, Herod's question without going out to take her mother's advice. Now, the word evxatpos sometimes meant empty (see Sophocles' Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods)^ and in modern Greek c7/xat evKaipos means both 12 ST. MARK [VI. 56 / am empty and, by an extension of meaning, / am at leisure (see Vlachos, v. cvKatpos ... § qui a du loisir ; libre ... § vide ; creux). This second signification it must have also had even at the period when the Gospels were written ; for we find that its derivative cv/catpa> meant then to be at leisure (see Sophocles, v. €vKaipui)f a meaning which it still retains (see Vlachos, v. cvKaipw). Hence cvKaipos i^/jicpa is an empty day, a day without work, a day of leisure, and is a synonym of crxoA.^ { = a holiday, see Sopho- cles). Compare also Liddell and Scott, v. cvKaipia = a-xoXri. The words at the head of this paragraph mean therefore. And on a festival day. They were inserted in order to show how it chanced that the daughter of Herodias came out to dance, and through her dancing prevailed on Herod to behead the Baptist. Mark vi. 5Q Kai OTTou t.v cio-cTropeucTO, els K(ufj.a$ ^ els iroXcis >) ds dypous, €K Tais dyopais ^xiOcaaK tous dcrOci'ouKTas. I can understand a market-place in a town, or even in a hamlet; but how can there exist a market-place out in the aypoi or open country ? I have no doubt that instead of kv rats ayopais we must read cV rats dyviats (ArYIAlS— ArOPAI^), in the roads. This conjecture is strikingly borne out by the Syr. Sin. Codex, in which, according to the translation by Mrs. Lewis, we have Wheresoever Jesus entered into cities, or villages, or fields, or streets (I presume that the Syriac word for roads means also streets). That the Syr. Sin. gives both fields and streets may be accounted for by the circumstance that dyvtats stood as a correction on the margin of the Greek MSS. from which that version was made, and that the translator regarded the word not as a correction, but as an addition. A further confirmation of my view is to be found in the reading of Codex D, Iv rats TrAaTciats. Compare also Acts v. 15, wore Kat Vn. 8] ST. MARK fj €ts Ttts TrXttTcias iK€p€(,v Tous aa-Otvei^ koX riOivai — almost a repetition of the passage under consideration. Mark vii. 3 The word Trvyfifj can only mean fy or a;/V>4 fke Jisf; and to wash one's hands with one's fists must be considered, despite all the desperate efforts to prove the contrary, a most imperfect method of washing. Respecting the usual interpre- tation diligently, which is based upon a Syr. version. Dr. Bloomfield justly remarks, "It would seem that the Syr. translator rendered by guess, and, being in utter ignorance of the force of the word, rendered as well as he could.'* The Syr. Sin. translator, on the other hand, being at a loss how to translate, has chosen to ignore the word altogether. May not 'Twyfjirj be a corruption of either irqy^ — with fresh water from the well (cp. the classical x^pvv^i lai^aloi), or of the word injyaM With regard to the latter suggestion, I would refer to Hesychius, who states, "Tnyyatov to ocrrpaKov 6 koL dpSdviov bfjLOLU)^ Xcycrai." Now, ocrrpaKov means an earthen vessel^ and apSavtov a water- pot \ Tnjyaiov therefore would mean an earthen water- pot \ and should this word have existed in the passage which we are discussing it would signify a water- pot such as, according to John ii. 6, stood in every Jewish house, containing the water with which the inmates, before eating, or on entering the house after contact in the market-place with unclean persons or things, purified themselves. On palaeographic grounds, however, the reading m/y^ is much preferable. 14 ST. MARK [Vn. 11, 19 Mark vii. 11 Koppdv (o ioTi, hCtpov) o 6.v c| ^fiou w4>cXT)6t]s. The usual interpretation of this passage, Tkaf wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me^ is so contrived as to yield some sort of plausible meaning ; but the words in the text cannot, without undue straining, be thus construed. The straightforward rendering is, That wherewith thou mayst (or wilt) be profited by me ; and this sense obviously does not suit the context. The meaning required is, What I may owe you is Korban, which we obtain by writing 6€LXriTaL croi instead of w€Lk€L in Matt, xxiii. i6. Mark vii. 19 Kadapi^OK irdvTa rh. Ppupara. The meaning of /Sptofiara has been misunderstood in this passage. No doubt the usual signification of fipuifia is meat; but it also signifies rottenness^ being another form of )8po>/Aos or (less correctly) ppofios, which means stench. See Sophocles' Lexicon, in which the verb ppiofiio is also cited in the sense of to stink. These words are, of course, derived from PippuiaK^- a-Qai, to be eaten by worms. "^ And inasmuch as what is infested by worms is putrid and noisome, ySt^/xu/Acvos has come to mean rotten (Josh. ix. 5, /cat 6 apros avroiy — f>y/3os kcCL cvpoiTitiv Kol peppiofievos), offensive, and the nouns from the same root to mean rottenness, and then stench. In modern Greek the verb pp(siiL^ exists unaltered in the sense of to stink (Vlachos, "PpitifjiSi- sentir mauvais; puer"), whilst the noun, in the 1 iM»EAHeHS— 0*EIAHTAI20I. ^ Cp. Isa. li. 8, ws ipia Ppud-^ffovrai vwb arjrds. Vn. 26, Vni. 84-IX. 1] ST. MARK 'IS feminine form ppoifj^^ is a specific term for both sfencA and ^UA (Vlachos, "^pw/xa* mauvaise odeur, § salet^; ordure"). Thus KaOapi^ov iravra ra ppiofiara means w/iick thing (or circumstance) clears away all impurities. The syntax is clearly explained by Dr. Bloom field in accordance with Fritzsche's view. Mark vii. 26 'H Sc y^^ ^^ 'EXXtii'Is lupo^oiKiKicraok The only correct formation of the compound word both in classical and modem Greek, in so far as the copulative vowel is concerned, is '%vpo^owiKiav — avpLov, etc. Ta^v in the sense of avpiov or irpiiA (cp. the German Morgen) occurs likewise in Isa. Iviii. 8, totc payrja-eTai 7rpa>t/>tov (? 7rp Commentators justify the interrogative form by a reference to xi. 17. But the question in that passage implies an affirma- tion, whereas here it is put as though there were some hesitancy and doubt in the mind of Jesus ; and such a feeling is entirely inconsistent with the context. The words ov Sia tovto are corrupt, and should be changed into ovScvos tovtwv. Our Lord was asked whose wife the woman w^ould be, and he answers, S/ie shall be the wife of none of them. The corruption has been brought about by the practice which scribes had (i) of writing the numeral A instead of ir/atoro?, €1? (see Cobet, Variae Lectiones^ p. 122); and (2) of indicating a final N at the end of a line by a dash drawn over the preceding vowel. Thus the text originally had OYAATOYTO which was read OYAIATOYTO instead of 0YAEN02 T0YT12N. Mark xii. 38 *Ei' o-ToXai? ircpnTaTeii', The great Reioke conjectured o-roats; and this suggestion is now confirmed by the Syr. Sin. From a note printed on the margin of Mrs. Lewis's translation, I understand that this document uses the Greek word itself. 22 ST. MARK [XTV. 3, 41 Mark xiv. 3 I need not stop to prove the impossibility of rendering Tricmicrji either as genuine or liquid^ since others have already performed this task far more thoroughly than I could. I will at once say that the word which the Evangelist wrote was Trtco-riK^?. The word ttico-t^ or TrtcoriK^ is not recorded in dictionaries, nor have I been able to trace it in other books ; but we have (i) the verb Trtefw in the sense of to press (for the purpose of extracting), cp. Micah vi. 15, o-v tticVcis iXaiav kol ov fxrj dXci^ eXaioVj and (2) the noun TrtW/xa, respecting which ^phocles says, "7rt€cr/xa . . . extract in pharmacy {Diosco. i. 106)." In Geoponicon (xx. 28) we also find fjLvpo/3o\dvov TriW/na, though in this case the word denotes not the extract itself, but the pulp left after pressing. Thus an extract of vdpSo's would be vdpSov irUa-fia or vapSos TrtccTT^ (compare (rraKTYJ) ; and vap8o9 TrtcorriKq would mean exactly the same thing, though the adjective is formed as if it meant of an extracted kind. Cp. Ex. xxxvii. 21, ra vcjiavTCL KOL Ttt pa^iScvfa koX ra irotKtXTtKa (instead of TrotKiXra) ; cp. also Ex. XXX. 25, fivpov fivpeipLKOv ; 35, Ovfiiafia fxvp€\f/LK6v. What, of course, was poured over the head of our Lord was not the extract of vapSos itself, but oil which was strongly im- pregnated with an infusion of that perfume; it was a a-Kcvaa-Ca iXaiov -^Sva-fiaTos (Eccles. X. i). Mark xiv. 41 'Air^X^^y ^XOcv "i] &pa. It is enough^ the favourite rendering of d7rcx«, is derived from the Vulgate. But though the whole range of Greek literature has been ransacked in search of passages where ttTTcxct might signify sufficity only two examples have been XIV. 4lJ ST. MARK 2$ found, namely, Anacr. xxvii. 33, and Cyr. Hag. ii. 9. This dearth in the case of an expression in such frequent use as Enough is most extraordinary, seeing that it cannot be urged in this instance that a word belonging to vulgar Greek must have been constantly altered in our MSS. Even the passages discovered are hardly trustworthy. In Anacreon, Stephanus was most likely right in conjecturing aTrc^e; and in Cyril the context seems to require airix!^- Then again the attempt to explain how airix^i has come to mean sufficit has not proved a success. Besides, as the word is placed in the text, no reader or hearer could help connecting it with wpa, thus mis- understanding the whole passage as meaning the hour is distant (this being the usual sense of d7r€;)(ct), it has come. Why, moreover, should not the Evangelist have said apKci, so as not to occasion such a misunderstanding? Further, even if airix^L meant sufficit, it would not at all suit the context; and the explanations so far given are based upon guesses and far- fetched subtleties. Lastly, MSS. tradition varies considerably in this passage. I agree with M. Biljon that "lectio absurda est." Now, what is likely to have been written under the circumstances narrated in the Gospel ? Our Lord announces the approaching end of his life, and in the Scriptures such proclamations of impending great events are generally invested with additional solemnity by being twice, or even thrice, reiterated. Thus we have in Mark himself, i. 15, 7r€7rA>;pa)Tat 6 KaLp6pa. But how has the Latin version sufficit arisen? We have seen in my note on Mark i. 6 that in the. New Testament we constantly find words replaced by their synonyms. Now, a synonym of cVcoriy is 6dv€L in the sense of sufficit seem to have been traced hitherto; but this failure is not surprising if we consider how old is the art of tampering with colloquial Greek and replacing its peculiarities by classical words and forms. I may, in conclusion, add that the preceding phrase, KaOevSere ToXoLTTov KOL dvaTrav€(rO€, is badly translated by Sleep on now and take your rest. ToAoittoi/ is equivalent to ovv (just as in modern Greek), and the passage is well explained by Sophocles, V. XoLTTov, as implying a rebuke. It should be rendered, J^o ye then sleep and rest ? I.e. this is not a time for sleep and rest ; for, behold, the hour is come, and the Son of Man is betrayed. XrV. 61] ST. MARK 2$ Mark xiv. 51 NcaKUTKOS Tis uYci'. The usual interpretation of the words iirl yvfivovy over his naked body^ presupposes an ellipsis, the words understood being rov (TO)fjLaTo^; but no example has been adduced illustrative of this ellipsis, nor apparently does the phrase iirl yvfivov tov o-utfjLaTos occur elsewhere. In Greek, in order to convey the notion c/ose upon the skin^ the words h xp*e ^^ ^'^'' XP*^^^, or some similar combination, would have to be used, and such a phrase is in fact found in Lev. xvi. 4, 7r€ptcr/ccXc9 \lvovv eorai eirl TOV X/3WT09 avTov. Not Only is the expression iirl yvjxvov singular, but it is difficult to believe that any man would have adopted such peculiar outdoor attire as a mantle over his skin, which seems to imply that while in the house he was nude. Add to this, that if the incident really occurred as it is narrated in our present text, we should reluctantly have had to conclude that the only object of the young man in relating his curious adventure was to represent himself in a humorous light. The fact of the matter, however, is that the words iirl yvfjLvov are corrupt, and have assumed this form under the influence of yvfivos in ver. 52, which was wrongly taken in its literary sense as meaning nahed, whereas here it means without his cloak, t,e, yvfivos t^s ctlvSovo^. Liddell and Scott, v. yv/xvos, state : " In common language yvfivos meant lightly clad^ i.e. in the undergarment only (xtTojv), without the IfxaTLov." The correct reading, I have no doubt, is o-tvSova oltt Alyvn-Tov, i.e. a cloak of Egyptian linen. Cp. Ezek. xxvii. 7, Pvao-o^ fiera TrotKtXtas €^ AlyvTTTov. As is well known (see EncycL Biblica, v. " Linen "), the finer qualities of linen cloth (o-tv8a>i/ or ^va-a-os:) were the products of Egypt. What the Evangelist wished to convey 26 ST. MARK [XrV. 72 is now clear, namely, that he wore on the eventful night a cloak of Egyptian linen, and that he owed his escape to the sacrifice of this costly garment, which he left in the hands of the hostile crowd to wrangle over. The palseographical resemblance be- tween AHAirYnTOY (or AnErYHTOY) and EHirYMNOY is close enough to have caused the error if the writing had become faint, especially when the copyist was, as I suggest, under the influence of the yvfivbs close by. Mark xiv. 72 Kai l7riPaXCl)K IxXaic. The usual interpretation of imPaXfov, and when he thought thereon^ cannot possibly stand. Though cTrtjSaAAco (or iTn^dWo} TTjv Bidvoiav) is applicable to mental action, it does not mean merely to think on^ but to ponder over; and Peter had no need to ponder over the words of Jesus and argue out their application. He would be overcome with grief if only they suddenly flashed on his mind. I incline to think that tTrtjSaXwv means cVtySaXwi/ TO IfiaTLov or iTTipXrjfjLa, having drawn on his cloak ; that is, having drawn it over his head or face. In great grief it was usual with the Jews to cover their heads or faces (see Encycl, Bibl.^ v. "Mourning"). What has probably misled commentators is that classical Greek, in order to express this idea, would have used the middle voice, i.e, iiriPaXofieyo^, But see Gen. xxxviii. 14, trepU^aXf. to OepicTTpov kol c/caXXoTrwraTo. Similarly we find Deut. xxiii. 13, kol cTrayaywv KoXvj/^cts Tr]V da-xrjfioo-vvrjv (rov (a passage which has likewise been misunderstood). ST. MATTHEW ST. MATTHEW Matt. ii. 6 BT|OXc€fA, yrj 'louSa, ooSafAws eXaxtcm] ct iv rots •f\y€yL6s iroXiv iv vif/CL wKoBofjLTjfjLevrjv LX6d€ov €)^(lv to^lv KOL hioUrjaLv KoXrjv, It is not surprising, therefore, that in the parallel passages of St. Mark (iv. 21) and St. Luke (viii. 16) the saying does not appear. MA-rr. v. 28 nds 6 pX^iro)!' Y"*'^^'^^ irpos to ^iriOuixTJaai auT^i' rfin] i^oi\€u6dv€L rovs iinOv- fiovvras '7rpoyv(i)(r6yvaL = TrpoytvwcrKCTat Trpo rov riva lin6vpJri€rai avT^s. Cp. also Matt. vi. 8, oTSci/ yap 6 Trarrjp vfiwv tov ;(p«av €)(€r€ TTpb Tov dvol^at TO a-TOfia (so Codex D). MA'rr. VI. 5 ^iXoGaiK iy rais avvaytoyals Kal ^i^ Tais yuviais twi' TrXaTciui^ — irpoa€ux€ai'wai>' rots dKOpcutrois. No ostentation seems to be involved in the act of praying in a synagogue, where people congregate for devotional purposes ; but it would be a different thing to stand and pray in the road. I thought, therefore, at first that instead of oT;vaya>yars we should perhaps read dyvtats, a word which has in another place (Mark vi. 56) been corrupted. We should thus have streets and roads joined together as in Luke xiv. 21, cts Tas uXaTCias Kttl pvfias ', Isa. XV. 3, iv Tats TrXaTCtas atr^s kol iv Tais pvfxai^ avT^s. But for palaeographic reasons avvoxol^ is far 32 ST. MATTHEW [VI. 11, 22 more probable, and suits the context admirably, i.e. At the meeting-points and in nooks of the streets, or, in other words, everywhere in the streets. The scribe seems to have been led into error by carrying in his mind iv rats (rvvaywyats koX pv/xat? which he had just copied in ver. 2, where, however, crwaywyats is in its proper place. Mait. VI. 11 Tof apTO»' X\^^V TOK CTTIOUO'IOI'. Scaliger has already derived cTrtovVtov from cTrtcVai, and I hold it to be another form of the participle Irnovra, just as rreptova-Lov, €Kov(nov are alternative forms of ireptovTo, cKovra. It means which falls to our share, and has the same force as hti^oXKov and cTrtySoAXoi/ra in Luke XV. 12, to €7npdWov /xepo'S rrjs ovctas, and l Mace. X. 30, tov rifjiLcrovs tov Kapirov — tov cTTi^aAXovTo? ftot. In their intransitive sense iiTLpdWeLv and cTTteVat are often synonymous. Thus in respect of time they both mean to follow, to come on (cp. 2 Mace. xii. 38, t^s k^ho- fjLdSo