Elijah Hixson
Both Peter Head and Wayne Cornett have discussed scribal habits in Mark’s Gospel in Sinaiticus,70 but there
are differences between them regarding several singular readings. Regarding the
omission in Mark 1:32-34, Head regards it as a singular omission of sixteen words,
because of an omission in Codex Washingtonianus.71 On the other hand, Cornett
considers it an omission of eighteen words.72 Regarding Mark 15:46, Head considers the
singular to be a harmonization to Matthew 27:60,73 while Cornett sees it as a
harmonization to Matthew 27:33.74 Additionally, the overlap of Cornett and Jongkind
reveals some differences. Jongkind sees the reading of Sinaiticus at Luke 12:29 as a
harmonization both to context and to Matthew 6:31,75 but Cornett understands it as a
harmonization both to context and to Matthew 6:25.76 Jongkind sees the singular in
Sinaiticus at Luke 2:2 as an editorial reading,77 but Cornett sees it as a word order
variation with the addition of a moveable-ν.78 Although it is still possible to see general
trends in scribal habits across multiple studies, works that are undertaken by different
scholars betray the subjective judgments of their authors and cannot be compared as if
they are empirically equal.
70Peter M. Head, “The Gospel of Mark in Codex Sinaiticus: Textual and Reception-Critical
Considerations,” TC 13 (2008): 1–38; Wayne E Cornett, “Singular Readings of the Firsthand Scribe of
Codex Sinaiticus in the Gospels” (Ph.D. diss., Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, 2009).
71Head, “The Gospel of Mark in Codex Sinaiticus,” 25.
72Cornett, “Singular Readings,” 63.
73Head, “The Gospel of Mark in Codex Sinaiticus,” 23.
74Cornett, “Singular Readings,” 77.
75Jongkind, Scribal Habits of Codex Sinaiticus, 230.
76Cornett, “Singular Readings,” 96.
77Jongkind, Scribal Habits of Codex Sinaiticus, 232.
78Cornett, “Singular Readings,” 83