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 syp,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)
