An Interesting Quote on the Gospel of Mark

Quote sourced from Ijaz Ahmed

"One final note is due concerning the Gospel of Mark. Ironically, the earliest gospel has not been preserved in very many early manuscripts. And to add to the irony (and mystery), Mark is traditionally said to have taken his gospel with him to Egypt (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.16)—and yet there are hardly any early extant copies of Mark among the many discoveries of manuscripts in Egypt. The earliest copy of Mark is preserved in 𝔓45, but it is not a very faithful copy.

In the book of Mark especially, the scribe of 𝔓45 exerted many personal liberties in making a text that replicated more the thought of his exemplar than the actual words. As is well known, 𝔓45 has marked affinities with the fifth-century manuscript, W. The more ''normal" text of Mark is preserved in one early fourth-century manuscript, 𝔓88, and two later fourth-century manuscripts, א and B. Until there are more discoveries of early copies of Mark, it is difficult to reconstruct the early history of the text." - New Testament Text and Translation Commentary, Philip W. Comfort, xviii.

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