Short Note on Mark 9:44, 46

The phrase "where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (ὅπου ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτᾷ, καὶ τὸ πῦρ οὐ σβέννυται) in Mark 9:44, 46 is absent in a number of translations (e.g., NRSV), while the phrase is retained in v. 48. As the NET's note to Mark 9:43 notes:

 

Most later MSS have Mar 9:44 here and Mar 9:46 after v. Mar 9:45: "where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched" (identical with v. Mar 9:48). Verses Mar 9:44 and Mar 9:46 are present in A D Θ ƒ¹³ Û lat sy^p,h, but lacking in important Alexandrian MSS and several others (א‎‏‎ B C L W Δ Ψ 0274 ƒ¹ 28 565 892 2427 pc co). This appears to be a scribal addition from v. Mar 9:48 and is almost certainly not an original part of the Greek text of Mark. The present translation follows NA²⁷ in omitting the verse number, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations.

 

Comfort notes that

 

Although it could be argued that these verses were omitted by scribes who considered the repetition to be unnecessary, such a deletion could hardly occur in manuscripts of such vast diversity as those that give witness to the absence of these verses. Contrarily, verses 44 and 46 were added as a sort of prophetic refrain that makes for good oral reading. Indeed, many textual variants entered the textual stream as the result of scribes enhancing the text for oral reading in the church. This is a classic example. (Philip W. Comfort, New Testament Text and Translation Commentary: Commentary on the Variant Readings of the Ancient New Testament Manuscripts and How They Related to the Major English Translations [Carol Stream, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2008], 133)