1001 Errors in the Christian Bible

Mark -- Errors 245-251

#245

Mark 14: (KJV)

69 “And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.”

Compare to Matthew 26: (KJV)

71 “And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.”

Mark’s “a maid” above should be “the maid” as the Greek has the definite article and there is a “again” after “began to say to them” in the Greek. Most modern translations correctly translate here. Obviously KJV is trying to avoid the contradiction that according to “Mark” the same maid saw Peter twice while Matthew has predictably multiplied one maid into two.

#246

Mark 14: (KJV)

68 “But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.”

The earliest extant manuscripts lack “and the cock crew” which is needed here to support the statement in 14:72 that the cock crewed a second time. The textual variation here is likely caused by “Mark” apparently anticipating that “Matthew” would have two cock crows for Mark’s one and then Matthew faking Mark out by only having one.

#247

Mark 14: (KJV)

72 “And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.”

Compare to Matthew 26: (KJV)

75 “And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.”

According to “Mark” the cock was supposed to crow twice before Peter’s three denials and according to “Matthew” the cock was supposed to crow once before Peter’s three denials. Interestingly, the textual evidence indicates that Mark only described the cock crowing once. Maybe the other time was when the young man who was following Jesus lost his linen cloth?

#248

Mark 15: (KJV)

6 “Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired.”

There is no evidence outside the Christian Bible that at the time being described there was any annual tradition of releasing a prisoner at Passover.

#249

Mark 15: (KJV)

7 “And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.”

There’s no evidence outside the Christian Bible that the Romans ever released insurrectionist murderers.

#250

Mark 15: (KJV)

8 “And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them.”

Compare to Matthew 27: (KJV)

17 “Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?”

The Greek of Mark above is almost incomprehensible which may indicate that the idea of a prisoner release was his own invention and having no oral tradition to copy he had to compose himself revealing his grammatical ineptitude. You can assume from the context that he is describing a request from the crowd that Pilate release a prisoner. According to Matthew Pilate offered to release a prisoner without any request from the crowd. This is consistent with Matthew’s exaggeration of Mark where “the crowd” gets worse press and Pilate gets better.

#251

Mark 15: (KJV)

10 “For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.”

Compare to Matthew 27: (KJV)

18 “For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.”

In Mark the chief priests delivered Jesus. In Matthew it was “the crowd”. Guilt in “Matthew” has received manuscript destiny.

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