The Appendices to the Gospel according to Mark. 431 



If this very attractive hypothesis be adopted, it supports our theory 

 that in Egypt there were at various times various endings to Mark. 

 Knowing this fact, an Egyptian scribe would feel more free to take 

 hberties with the last section of the Gospel than any other, since for 

 him the tradition which supported it was neither ancient nor uni- 

 versal. Therefore to the last twelve verses, which he knew found 

 their way into the Alexandrian text at a late date, some unknown 

 scribe made an addition from a writing known to him. 



While the date of the original writing seems to be early, judged 

 by internal considerations ; though apparently later than the compo- 

 sition of the Longer Conclusion, since it shows a more developed, a 

 more speculative handling of the Gospel tradition, — probably be- 

 fore the beginning of the third century, — the date of the insertion 

 of this logion into the Longer Conclusion seems relatively late, per- 

 haps during the fourth century. It must have been prior to 415 A.D. 

 when Jerome speaks of it in his writing. Either it was generally 

 recognized as an interpolation by the scribes, and therefore not copied 

 by them, or else it found a private or purely local circulation. 



5. As to the significance of the Freer MS for textual criticism, it 

 furnishes us with another witness to the fact that during the second, 

 third, and fourth centuries it was generally known that something 

 was the matter with the end of Mark's Gospel, and therefore the 

 scribes were accustomed to treat this section with greater freedom 

 than they employed toward the remainder of the Gospel. This tradi- 

 tion of doubtful authority seems most strong and persistent in Egypt. 

 Therefore this latest and most important of recent discoveries con- 

 firms what we have learned from other witnesses concerning the 

 textual transmission of the appendices of the Gospel according to 

 Mark in that country. 



Freer Logion Bibliography. 



Sanders, Henry A., Biblical World, Feb. 1908, pp. 138—142 ; American 



Journal of Archaeology, Mar. 1908, pp. 49—55. 

 GooDSPEED, Edgar J., Biblical World, Mar. 1908, pp. 218-226. Criticism 



of the text. 

 Harnack, A., Theologische Literaturzeitung, Mar. 14, 1908. coll. 168—170. 

 VON SoDEN, H., Die Christhche Welt, May 14, 1908, coll. 482-486. 

 KuNZE, Johannes, Theologisches Literaturblatt, Leipzig, Feb. 28, 1908, p. 11. 

 Schmidt, Carl, Theologische Literaturzeitung, Leipzig, May 3, 1908, coll. 



359, 360. 

 Crum, Egyptian Exploration Fund Archaeological Report, 1907—8, p. 62, 

 SwETE, H. B., The Guardian, May 1, 1908; Expository Times, June, 1908. 



Editorial. 



