GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 9:46
The Images You Are About to See Are Disturbing
Some things are disgusting to watch—someone playing the fool, for example—and there are things difficult to look at—a fatal plane crash, for example. There is a new trend among newscasters preparing to broadcast disaster footage: they say, “The images you are about to see are disturbing.” It is legitimate to wonder why, then, they would broadcast such images if it were not to feed the appetite of those who take some pleasure in the pain of others.
In the Gospel of Mark, verses 9:44, 9:46, and 9:48 use nearly identical wording, which has sparked considerable debate among scholars. The King James Version (published in 1611) includes all three verses. The KJV translators—about forty in number—used the Textus Receptus translation completed by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam in 1516. In his translation, Erasmus drew from the Byzantine text, which dates from the fourth century. Since Erasmus’ work and the KJV translation, researchers have discovered scores of early New Testament manuscripts. Many early, reliable manuscripts do not contain verses 9:44 and 46; therefore, many biblical scholars believe these two verses were mistakenly or deliberately inserted by a copyist. All early biblical manuscripts were hand-copied until the first printed Bible in the 1450s. Consequently, some modern biblical translations omit verses 44 and 46.
Without being dogmatic, suppose a copyist was working on this passage where Jesus described the terrible consequences of rejecting the Father’s gift of forgiveness and redemption. He wanted to emphasize its horror, so he repeated Jesus’ words from Mark 9:48. This repetition might be akin to saying, “the images you are about to see are disturbing.” In Isaiah 66:24, which contains closely similar wording, the image is that of worms consuming dead bodies and burning—a dreadful sight. Thus, the copyist’s repetition may have been meant to convey that it is a terrible thing to let anything—hands, feet, or eyes—destroy one’s faith.
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