Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Mark 14:21 - 14:21

Online Resource Library

Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | Download

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Mark 14:21 - 14:21


(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)

This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

21. ὁ μὲν υἱὸς … παραδίδοται. Here again all three have almost exactly the same words, and they are doubtless original. Oba 1:7 or Mic 7:6 might have been quoted with effect; but Christ’s words have no parallel in O.T. For μὲν … δὲ …, which is rare in Mk, cf. Mar 14:38 and Mar 12:5.

ὑπάγει. This expresses better than πορεύεται (Lk.) that the going is a going away (Joh 6:67), and such is departure from this life (Joh 7:33; Joh 13:3; Joh 16:5; Joh 16:10; Joh 16:17). Moreover, the verb implies the voluntariness of His departure; τὸ ἑκούσιον ἡ λέξις ἑρμηνεύει (Victor). Hence καθὼς γέγραπται expresses the exact agreement between His voluntary action and the Father’s revealed will.

οὐαὶ δὲ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ. But alas for the man; see on Mar 13:17. The οὐαί expresses lamentation over a condition so awful. God’s decrees respecting the Son of Man did not require the treachery of Judas. Of his own free will he committed a sin which brought about the fulfilment of the decrees in a particular way, and for that he is condemned. Again and again Christ had tried to win him back; Mar 4:19, Mar 9:50, Mar 10:23, Mar 11:17, Mar 12:43, Mar 14:7 record words which might have influenced Judas, and which in some cases may have been meant for him. This statement of the lamentable condition of ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος (Mar 12:7), and this proof that he is still treated with consideration (for he sees that Christ knows of his guilt and yet does not name him), are his Master’s last efforts to waken his conscience.

διʼ οὗ. In all three; Judas is Satan’s instrument (Luk 22:3; Joh 13:2; Joh 13:27) in causing the death of the Messiah.

καλὸν αὐτῷ … ἐκεῖνος. Not in Lk. It is possible to interpret thus; “It were good for the Son of Man if Judas had not been born.” But the interpretation is inadmissible. Christ is not speaking of His own fears, but of the fearful condition of Judas. A man may so misuse his life as to make it a curse instead of a blessing. As Jerome (on Mt.) says; simpliciter dictum est, multo melius est non subsistere quam male subsistere. Cf. Mar 9:42 and Enoch xxxviii. 2. The repetition of ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος closes the utterance with a mournful cadence; “good were it for him if he had not been born—that man.” Cf. Mar 2:20. Syr-Sin. omits the cadence. The departure of Judas may perhaps be placed here. It is impossible to determine whether he partook of the Eucharist or not.