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18. [3586][3587] omit καὶ ἐν ταῖς χερσίν.
[3586] Codex Alexandrinus. 5th cent. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to King Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. The whole Gospel. Photographic facsimile, 1879.
[3587] Codex Bezae. 6th cent. Has a Latin translation (d) side by side with the Greek text, and the two do not quite always agree. Presented by Beza to the University Library of Cambridge in 1581. Remarkable for its frequent divergences from other texts. Contains Mark, except Mar 16:15-20, which has been added by a later hand. Photographic facsimile, 1899.
The question of the genuineness of the last twelve verses is discussed in the Introduction (pp. xliii ff.). The time has come when discussion ought not to be necessary. Writers and preachers might be allowed to assume that these verses are no part of the Gospel according to St Mark with as much freedom as they assume that the words about the Three Heavenly Witnesses are no part of the First Epistle of St John. There are cases in which the evidence on one side is so strong that no amount of evidence on the other side, however voluminous and imposing, can shake it; and this is one of them. The interesting facts pointed out by Professor A. C. Clark (The Primitive Text of the Gospels and Acts, pp. 73 f.) do not make the genuineness of these verses more probable.