The Appendices to the Gospel according to Mark. 445 



determined in nearly all copies of the Gospel according to Mark; 

 whereas what follows, being but scantily current in some, but not in 

 all [copies], will be redundant [i.e. such as should be discarded], and 

 especially if it should contain a contradiction to the testimony of the 

 other evangelists." 



Eusebius, therefore, strictly interpreted, declares that the best and 

 largest number of Greek MSS concluded the Gospel with v. 8. This 

 testimony applies of course only to those MSS with which he was 

 himself conversant. However, it is significant that the Eusebian 

 Canons, according to the more ancient and trustworthy MSS, do 

 not include vs. 9—20, and that the Ammonian Sections also omit 

 them. 



The testimony of Eusebius is echoed nearly a century later by 

 Jerome in his work "Ad Hedibia." (120 Vail.) . This work was written 

 at Bethlehem in 406 or 407 A.D. After a question, which seems a free 

 presentation of that put into the mouth of Marinus by Eusebius, he 

 says : 



"Hujus quaestionis duplex solutio est ; aut enim non recipimus 

 jMarci testimonium, quod in raris detur evangeliis omnibus Graeciae 

 libris pene hoc capitulum non habentibus, praesertim quum diversa 

 atque contraria evangelistis ceteris narrare videatur ; aut hoc res- 

 pondendum," etc. 



Victor of Antioch ( f 400) seems also to echo this testimony of 

 Eusebius, and does not expound the last twelve verses in his commen- 

 tary on Mark, though in some editions a commentary and scholium 

 affirming the authenticity of these verses has been added from an 

 anonymous source. 



Burgon surmised that this witness of Eusebius was ultimately de- 

 rived from Origen, and Hort seems to agree, remarking that it would 

 carry the witness back to an earlier date, and a greater textual 

 authority. 



This seems to us most probable, since we have already seen that 

 the abbreviated form of the Gospel was apparently more prevalent 

 and persistent in Egypt than in other regions. On this hypothesis, 

 the real witness of these words of Eusebius is to the fact that the 

 largest number, and those the best in text, of the Greek MSS known to 

 Origen were in the abbreviated form. This is just what we would 

 have expected, since Origen would probably rank the authoritative 

 text of Alexandria above that of Rome, and be more familiar with 

 Egyptian than with western MSS. At the same time Eusebius would 

 not have used this statement unless it was measurably true in his 

 own day. 



