Mark 9:44 & 46 — the refrain of the undying worm
Mark 9:44 and 9:46 are missing in editions that read A, where the refrain appears only at verse 48; reading B repeats it three times. The difference preserves or omits the repeated refrain after the warnings.
What the APB prints.
Every witness, on the record.
What a blind committee did here.
The APB's translation committee works blind: it is never told it is translating the Bible, never given a book name or a verse number, and it never sees the witnesses above. Whatever it did at this verse, it did on the language alone — and its record is public.
“Included from the Faithlife/SBLGNT apparatus at Mark 9:45 as a traditional verse addition. Witnesses: Treg, RP.”
The blind committee record identifies the item as a traditional verse addition and records its source and witnesses. Its note states: > Included from the Faithlife/SBLGNT apparatus at Mark 9:45 as a traditional verse addition. Witnesses: Treg, RP. The pericope audit verdict is clean. The record describes an inclusion in the site's translation, not a decision between the competing readings.
The case for each reading.
If the refrain sounded once
Reading A places the refrain once, at verse 48. WH reads γέενναν with the refrain absent at 44 and 46, and its witness note associates WH and NA28 with a single sounding of the refrain at verse 48. The apparatus likewise places WH and NA28 together against the longer addition after Mark 9:45. On this presentation, the warnings lead forward without repeating the same line after each one. The wording at verse 48 remains the point at which the refrain sounds; what changes is whether it also occupies the numbered spaces 44 and 46.
If it tolled three times
Reading B gives the refrain three occurrences: at 44, 46, and 48. Treg reads the repeated material, and its witness note says that Treg and the Byzantine text repeat it after each warning. The apparatus records Treg and RP with an addition after Mark 9:45 that includes verse 46 and the refrain. The APB also prints the refrain at Mark 9:44 and Mark 9:46. In this arrangement, each warning receives the same closing toll, and the familiar verse numbers retain those repeated lines.
The supplied evidence shows two patterns: one sounding of the refrain at verse 48, or three soundings at 44, 46, and 48. It does not provide a basis here for settling between them. The difference changes repetition and the presence of the numbered lines, while the refrain at verse 48 remains in view. Broader doctrinal questions do not hinge on this single repeated placement; doctrines rest on many passages.
Asked plainly.
Why do some Bibles skip Mark 9:44 and 9:46?
They follow reading A, which has the refrain only at verse 48. Reading B repeats the refrain at verses 44, 46, and 48, preserving those numbered lines.
Which witnesses support the repeated verses?
Treg supports reading B, and the apparatus places Treg and RP with the addition after Mark 9:45. Its witness note also says Treg and the Byzantine text repeat the refrain.
Does the refrain disappear entirely in the shorter reading?
No. Reading A sounds the refrain once, at verse 48. The question is whether it is also repeated at verses 44 and 46.
More places where the manuscripts argue.
Witness readings for critical editions are quoted from the SBLGNT apparatus (CC BY 4.0); Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible). Readings of ancient manuscripts and versions are cited as published scholarly fact with their sources linked above. Nothing on this page declares a winner — the evidence is the point.
Weigh it yourself.
The registry doesn't tell you which reading is true. It puts every witness on one page, shows what a blind committee did with the same language, and leaves the verdict where it belongs — with the reader.