Page:The New Testament in the original Greek - Introduction and Appendix (1882).pdf/136

98 the sense, which harmonises with the earlier words but would hardly be suggested by them; and then  might suggest to the ear and perhaps to the mind, after which  would be inevitably read as ,  being in manifest contradiction to the contrast between  and : the tautology introduced might easily escape notice at first under the different phraseology, especially if  were taken to express the arrival subsequent to the running, though it was perceived afterwards, as we see by the omission of  in a, and of the whole clause in c, where ' stands for ' above.

138. As regards Intrinsic Probability, may be dismissed at once, on grounds virtually given already. Had been the only extant reading, it would have roused no suspicion: but when it has to be compared with, we cannot but notice the irrelevance of the repetition of  in composition with two different verbs not in immediate sequence, and the intrusiveness of  between the local and the personal endings of the journey expressed by  and ; the position of this clause can be justified only if  is inserted merely to account for the prior arrival, and in that case  is out of place. Nor is St Mark's characteristic abundance of detail to the purpose here, for his multiplication of accessory facts is at least equalled by his economy of words. Had he wished to introduce the only fresh point in, that conveyed by , the language natural to him would have been (or better ). But the truth is that this fresh point simply spoils the point of in v. 34; the multitude 'followed' (Matt, Luke) the Lord to the desert region, but the