In the
previous post, we saw that although Daniel Wallace has claimed (in Perspectives on the Ending of Mark: 4 Views, published by Broadman & Holman) that five
manuscripts – minuscules 138, 264, 1221, 2346, and 2812 – contain a simple
asterisk alongside Mark 16:9-20 to convey scribal doubt about the passage, 138 contains a note – part of the Catena in Marcum – that affirms the legitimacy of
the passage, and the asterisk it displays is merely a marker for the unnumbered
section of text that begins at verse 9.
We also saw that 138 contains diple-marks – marks intended to convey
that the text they accompany are Scripture – alongside Mark 16:9-20.
Today,
let’s take a look at the next two manuscripts in Dr. Wallace’s list of
manuscripts which, he claims, contain a simple asterisk next to Mark 16:9-20 to convey
scribal doubt: 264 and 1221.
Page-views
of GA 264 can be accessed at the Gallica website; it is at the Bibliothèque nationale de
France and is
catalogued as Greek MS #65.
Alongside Mark
16:9 (on fol. 127, numbered on the page as 117), there is an asterisk, sure
enough. There is also a rubric at the
top of the page (accompanied by a dot-lozenge), stating that the fourth [sic] Gospel-reading for the morning (an alternative way of referring to the
Heothina-series) is on the page. The
asterisk appears at the beginning of the lection identified in the rubric.
Similarly, when we turn in 264 to the
page that contains Mark 11:12, there is a rubric at the top of the page,
consisting of the title for the thirty-third chapter of the book – “About the Withered Fig Tree.” And, in the outer margin of the page next to
the beginning of the thirty-third chapter (i.e., Mark 11:12 ), there is an asterisk.
Similarly, when we turn in 264 to the
page that contains Luke 18:2, there is a rubric at the top of the page,
beginning with the title for the sixty-first chapter of the book – “The Unjust
Judge.” And in the outer margin of the
page next to the beginning of the sixty-first chapter of the book (i.e., Luke
18:2), there is an asterisk.
Similarly, when we turn in 264 to the
page that contains Luke 19:29, there is a rubric at the top of the page,
consisting of the title for the sixty-eighth chapter of the book – “The
Colt.” And in the outer margin of the
page next to the beginning of the sixth-eighth chapter of the book (i.e., Luke 19:29 ), there is an asterisk.
Similarly, when we turn in 264 to the
page that contains Mark 14:12, there is a rubric at the top of the page,
beginning with the title for the forty-fifth chapter of the book – “The Passover.” And in the outer margin of the page next to
the beginning of the forty-fifty chapter (i.e., Mark 14:12 ), there is an asterisk.
I leave it to my readers to discern
whether these asterisks were (a)
intended to convey doubt about the genuineness of Mark 16:9, and Mark 11:12, and Mark 14:12, and Luke 18:2, and Luke 19:29, or (b) part of the lectionary apparatus, intended to show the
lector the beginning of the section which was mentioned in the rubric at the
top of the page.
 |
| Page-view 111 of Minuscule 1221 |
What about GA 1221? This manuscript is in the library at St.
Catherine’s Monastery near Mount Sinai , catalogued as Greek manuscript #184. Its
online page-views at the Library of Congress’ website, though black and
white, are crisp and clear.
Even if only the portion of 1221
that contains the Gospel of Matthew had survived, we could reasonably deduce
that when this manuscript was pristine, it contained Mark 16:9-20, because in the
upper margin of the last page of Matthew, there is a rubric for the first
selection in the Heothina-series
of eleven readings about the resurrection – the third of which is Mark
16:9-20. A manuscript with any part of the series denoted would have the rest as well. But no deduction is needed,
because the
beginning of Mark 16:9 is plainly displayed on page-view 111.
There is no asterisk accompanying
Mark 16:9-20 in GA 1221. At the top of
the page, there is the rubric for the third Heothinon, along with its
incipit: “The third reading about the resurrection – ‘At that time, Jesus rose
from the dead early.’” At the
beginning of the lection named in the rubric, we find a dot-lozenge. In addition, on each side of the dot-lozenge,
there is the τελος-symbol signifying the end of the preceding lection, and the
αρχη-symbol signifying the lection’s beginning.
Other such uses of the dot-lozenge
can be found in 1221 at the following places; you can consult the pictures of the pages with these passages by following the embedded links:
● Before Mark
2:13 (the beginning of chapter 6, for which the rubric appears in the lower
margin),
 |
| Close-up: a dot-lozenge separates Mk. 16:8 and 16:9 in 1221, between "stop" and "start" symbols. |
● Halfway
through Mark 5:24 (the beginning of chapter 13, for which the rubric
appears in the lower margin),
● Halfway
through Mark 6:7 (the beginning of chapter 14, for which the rubric appears
in the upper margin).
● In Luke
1:24,
● Before
Luke 1:26 (which is especially notable because the τελος-symbol and αρχη-symbol appear here the same way they
appear between Mark 16:8 and 16:9),
● At the
beginning of Luke 2:1 (the beginning of chapter 1, for which the rubric
appears in the upper margin),
 |
| A dot-lozenge separates Luke 1:25 and 1:26 in 1221, between "stop" and "start" symbols. |
● At the
beginning of Luke 2:42 (where, again the dot-lozenge is bracketed by a
τελος-symbol and αρχη-symbol – and then appears
another, smaller dot-lozenge), and
●
At the beginning of Luke 3:1 (the beginning of chapter 5, for which the rubric
appears in the lower margin).
Obviously, the dot-lozenge in 1221
between Mark 16:8 and 16:9 is not an asterisk, any more than the other dot-lozenges
are – and, like the others, it has nothing to do with expressing scribal
doubt.
Next: Fact-checking Wallace about GA 2346, 2812, and 137.
Great work!
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