But the whole of the problem does not by any means lie on the surface. All that _appears_ is that the five oldest uncials are not trustworthy witnesses; which singly, in the course of 12 verses separate themselves from their fellows 33 times: viz. A, twice;—א, 5 times;—B, 6 times;—C, thrice;—D, 17 times: and which also enter into the 11 following combinations with one another in opposition to the ordinary Text:—A C, twice;—א B, 10 times;—א D, once;—C D, 3 times;—א B C, once;—א B D, 5 times;—א C D, once;—B C D, once;—A א C D, once;—A B C D, once;—A א B C D, once. (Note, that on this last occasion, which is the _only_ time when they all 5 agree, _they are certainly all 5 wrong_.) But this, as was observed before, lies on the surface. On closer critical inspection, it is further discovered that their testimony betrays the baseness of their origin by its intrinsic worthlessness. Thus, in Mk. ii, 1, the delicate precision of the announcement ἠκούσθη ὅτι ΕἸΣ ΟἾΚΟΝ ἘΣΤΙ (that “_He has gone in_”), disappears from א B D:—as well as (in ver. 2) the circumstance that it became the signal for many “_immediately_” (א B) to assemble about the door.—In ver. 4, S. Mark explains his predecessor’s concise statement that the paralytic was “brought to” our SAVIOUR,(72) by remarking that the thing was “_impossible_” by the ordinary method of approach. Accordingly, his account of the expedient resorted to by the bearers fills one entire verse (ver. 4) of his Gospel. In the mean time, א B by exhibiting (in S. Mark ii. 3,) “bringing unto Him one sick of the palsy” (φέροντες πρὸς αὐτὸν παραλυτικόν,—which is but a senseless transposition of πρὸς αὐτόν, παραλυτικὸν φέροντες), do their best to obliterate the exquisite significance of the second Evangelist’s method.—In the next verse, the perplexity of the bearers, who, because they could not “_come nigh_ Him” (προσεγγίσαι αὐτῷ), unroofed the house, is lost in א B,—whose προσενέγκαι has been obtained either from Matt. ix. 2, or else from Luke v. 18, 19 (εἰσενεγκεῖν, εἰσενέγκωσιν). “The bed WHERE WAS the paralytic” (τὸν κράββατον ὍΠΟΥ ἮΝ ὁ παραλυτικός), in imitation of “the roof WHERE WAS” Jesus (τὴν στέγην ὍΠΟΥ ἮΝ [ὁ Ἰησοῦς], which had immediately preceded), is just one of those tasteless depravations, for which א B, and especially D, are conspicuous among manuscripts.—In the last verse, the _instantaneous rising_ of the paralytic, noticed by S. Mark (ἠγέρθη εὐθέως), and insisted upon by S. Luke (“_and immediately he rose up_ before them,”—καὶ παραχρῆμα ἀναστὰς ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν), is obliterated by shifting εὐθέως in א B and C to a place where εὐθέως is not wanted, and where its significancy disappears.