407
49. Nas yap
πυρὶ ἁλισθήσεται, καὶ πᾶσα θυσία ἁλὶ ἁλισθήσεται.! το. καλὸν τὸ
ἅλας: ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅλας ἄναλον γένηται, ἐν tiv, αὐτὸ * ἀρτύσετε ; k Lk. xiv.
ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς Gas,” καὶ εἰρηνεύετε ἐν ἀλλήλοις.”
34. Col. iv. 6.
1 This last clause is omitted in BLA, many minusc. (Tisch., W.H., vide below).
2 ada in $ABDLA.
Salting inevitable and indispensable. ‘These verses appear only in Mk. as part of this discourse. The logion in ver. 50 corresponds to Mt. v. 13, Lk. xiv. 34-35.—Ver. 49 is a crux interpretum, and has given rise to great diversity of interpretation (vide Meyer, ad loc.). Three questions may be asked. (α) What is the correct form of the say- ing? (2) Was it spoken at this time by Jesus? (3) If it was, how is it to be connected with the previous context ? As to (1) some important MSS. ( and the new Syr. Sin.) omit the second half of the sentence, retaining only ‘every one shall be salted with fire”. D and some copies of the old Lat. omit the first part and retain the second. W. and H. retain only part1. Weiss and Schanz think that the text must be taken in its entirety, and that part 2 fell out by homoeoteleuton, or was omitted because of its difficulty. Holtzmann, Η. C., is in- clined to favour the reading of D. It is difficult to decide between these alterna- ‘tives, though I personally lean to the first of the three, not only because of the weighty textual testimony, but, as against D, on account of the startling character of the thought, salted with fire, its very boldness witnessing for its authenticity. As to (2) I think it highly probable that such thoughts as vv. 49-50 contain were spoken at this time by Jesus. The two thoughts, salting in- evitable and salting indispensable, were thoroughly apposite to the situation: a master teaching men in danger of moral shipwreck through evil passion, and unless réformed sure to prove unfit for the work to which they were destined. I cannot therefore agree with Holtzmann (H. C.) that Mk., misled by the word mvp in ver. 48, has brought in here a logion spoken at some other time. As to (3) I see no necessity to regard γὰρ, ver. 49, as binding us down to a close exclusive connection with ver. 48, re- quiring us to interpret ver. 49a thus: every one that does not cut off the offending member shall be salted by the fire of hell; itself quenchless, and not
Vv. 49-50.