Church History & Theology: 2023

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Matthew 20:17-28 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Matthew

Chapter 20

17. Καὶ ἀναβαίνων ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα παρέλαβεν τοὺς δώδεκα μαθητὰς κατʼ ἰδίαν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς,

And going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples[1] aside on the way and he said to them,

18. Ἰδοὺ, ἀναβαίνομεν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, καὶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδοθήσεται τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσιν καὶ γραμματεῦσιν, καὶ κατακρινοῦσιν αὐτὸν θανάτῳ,

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death,

19. καὶ παραδώσουσιν αὐτὸν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν εἰς τὸ ἐμπαῖξαι καὶ μαστιγῶσαι καὶ σταυρῶσαι, καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀναστήσεται[2].

and will deliver him over to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And on the third day he will rise again.”

20. Τότε προσῆλθεν αὐτῷ ἡ μήτηρ τῶν υἱῶν Ζεβεδαίου μετὰ τῶν υἱῶν αὐτῆς, προσκυνοῦσα καὶ αἰτοῦσά τι παρʼ[3] αὐτοῦ.

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, worshipping and asking something of him.

21. Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῇ, Τί θέλεις; Λέγει αὐτῷ. Εἰπὲ ἵνα καθίσωσιν οὗτοι οἱ δύο υἱοί μου, εἷς ἐκ δεξιῶν σου καὶ εἷς ἐξ εὐωνύμων [σου] ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ σου.

And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right hand and one on your[4] left, in your kingdom.”

22. Ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν, Οὐκ οἴδατε τί αἰτεῖσθε. Δύνασθε πιεῖν τὸ ποτήριον ὃ ἐγὼ μέλλω πίνειν; ἢ τὸ βάπτισμα ὃ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι βαπτισθῆναι; Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, Δυνάμεθα.

But answering, Jesus said, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink or[5] be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? [6]” They said to him, “We are able.”

23. Καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Τὸ μὲν ποτήριόν μου πίεσθε, καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα ὃ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι βαπτισθήσεσθε, τὸ δὲ καθίσαι ἐκ δεξιῶν μου καὶ ἐξ εὐωνύμων μου οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν [7] δοῦναι, ἀλλʼ οἷς ἡτοίμασται ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός μου.

And[8] he said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with[9], but to sit on my right or my[10] left hand is not mine to give, but to those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

24. Καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ δέκα ἠγανάκτησαν περὶ τῶν δύο ἀδελφῶν.

And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers.

25. Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς προσκαλεσάμενος αὐτοὺς εἶπεν, Οἴδατε ὅτι οἱ ἄρχοντες τῶν ἐθνῶν κατακυριεύουσιν αὐτῶν, καὶ οἱ μεγάλοι κατεξουσιάζουσιν αὐτῶν.

But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.

26. Οὐχ οὕτως [11] ἔσται ἐν ὑμῖν. Ἀλλʼ ὃς ἐὰν θέλῃ ἐν ὑμῖν μέγας γενέσθαι ἔσται[12] ὑμῶν διάκονος,

It shall not be so among you. But whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.

27. Καὶ ὃς ἐὰν[13] θέλῃ ἐν ὑμῖν εἶναι πρῶτος, ἔσται ὑμῶν δοῦλος,

And whoever desires to be first among you, he shall be[14] your servant,

28. ὥσπερ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι, καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν.

even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

[1] NA-Text brackets “disciples”.

[2] NA-Text reads “εγερθησεται” (“be raised up” instead of “rise again”). Codex Vaticanus agrees with the Byzantine reading here.

[3] NA-Text reads “απ”, which can mean the same thing. Codices Sinaiticus and Ephraemi agree with the Byzantine text.

[4] NA-Text, M-Text, P-Text and WPF³⁵ add “σου” and render “on your left”: א B Byz Theophylact | TR: D W Θ ƒ¹ 22 33 565 it^aur it^c it^d it^e it^ff1 it^ff2 it^r1 vg^mss cop^mae arm Origen Jerome || The inclusion of “your” is well supported. It makes sense in this context to have the pronoun after “right” and “left”, but scribal addition to mimic the same pronoun after “right” cannot be ruled out. Textual critics from different perspectives have included the pronoun in the text, including Scholz, Griesbach, Wordsworth, Lachmann, Tregelles, Tischendorf, Alford, Hort, Baljon and von Soden. It is more prudent then to add the pronoun in the text.

[5] M-Text reads “or”: C E G H O W X Δ Σ Φ 0197 13 28 33 157 (180) 205 565 579 700 828 892 1006 1010 1071 1241 1243 1292 1342 1424 1505Byz (it^f) it^h it^q syr^p syr^h cop^bo(pt) eth^TH arm geo slav Origen^lat Chrysostom Theophylact || Text adjusted.

[6] NA-Text and Vg-St omit the sentence “and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”: א (B 085 πιειν) D L Z Θ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 22 788 pc it^aur it^b it^c it^d it^e it^ff1 it^ff2 it^g1 it^l itⁿ it^r1 vg syr^c syr^s cop^sa cop^mae cop^bo(pt) eth^pp Diatessaron Ambrose Jerome Augustine Speculum || TR: C E (G 579 πιειν) H O W X Δ Σ Φ 0197 13 28 33 (205 1424 πινω for μελλω πινειν) 565 579 700 828 1006 1010 1241 1243 1292 1342 1505 Byz Lect (it^f) it^h it^q syr^p syr^h arm geo² slav Marcus^{according to Irenaeus} Origen^lat || Jerome can be cited as a witness for the omission, but with caution because he omitted verse 22 altogether in his commentary on the gospel of Matthew. Nevertheless, there is no trace of the Byzantine reading in his commentary on verses 22 and 23. The addition here in verses 22 and 23 could be the product of scribal harmonization to the parallel passage in Mark 10:38-39 through the Diatessaron, but the issue is the that reading in Mark 10:38 and the Diatessaron are slightly different. Matthew reads “I am about to drink” (Gr.: εγω μελλω πινειν) and Mark “I drink” (Gr.: εγω πινω), which is not what we would expect if a scribe was copying the Markan text into Matthew. One possibility is that the shorter reading is the product of scribal error caused by parablepsis (και το βαπτισμα ο εγω βαπτιζομαι βαπτισθηναι λεγουσιν αυτω δυναμεθα και, thus missing “and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They said to him. We are able”). Then a scribe might have noticed that the answer from the disciples was missing and put “λεγουσιν αυτω δυναμεθα” back to the text at the end of the verse, which may have created the Alexandrian reading. Verse 23 without the mention of baptism in the previous verse would look like a half harmonization to Mark 10:39, which may have caused its removal as the copying process went on. It is significant that family of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³ have preserved the reference to baptism in verse 23 only. As a side note, the Greek text in the Complutensian Polyglot, which is Byzantine, is longer than the Latin text in the parallel column that follows the vulgate.

[7] NA-Text adds “τουτο” in brackets. Codices Vaticanus and Sinaiticus agree with the Byzantine text on the omission of this pronoun.

[8] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “And”: א B D Z Θ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 700 1424 pc vg syr^s syr^c syr^p cop^sa cop^mae | TR: C K L W Γ Δ 085 0197 33 565 579 892 1241 Byz it^h it^q syr^h cop^bo || Both are well supported. No need of correction.

[9] NA-Text and Vg-St omit the sentence “and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with”. See details in the footnote on verse 22.

[10] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “my” and renders “the left hand”: א B D Θ | TR: W Γ Δ 700 1010 1241 Byz it^c it^l syr Theophylact || Addition could have been motivated by internal harmonization or removal by simplification of the text, once there was a pronoun already mentioned with the right hand, leaving the second implicit in the text || No change to the text.

[11] NA-Text, P-Text and Vg-St omit “δε” (“however” in this context): א B D Θ Byz^pt Origen Jerome Theophylact | TR: C Byz^pt || Conjunction removed.

[12] NA-Text, M-Text, P-Text and WPF³⁵ read “εσται” (future indicative instead of present imperative): א^*(εστε) B C D (εστε) Θ Byz Chrysostom Theophylact | TR: א² L S 28 157 892 1010 || The future tense is supported by Alexandrian, Byzantine and Caesarean text-types. Besides, Matthew tends to be consistent with this verb by using the same tense in parallel sayings slightly modified (e.g. Matt. 5:22 and 6:21-23). Mark also was consistent by using the same pair “εσται / εσται” in the parallel passage in Mark 10:43-44. Greek text adjusted.

[13] NA-Text reads “αν”.

[14] NA-Text, P-Text, WPF³⁵ and Vg-St read “he will be” (Gr.: “εσται”, Latin equivalent: “erit”, future instead of imperative): p⁴⁵ א C D (εστε) Θ Byz^pt Jerome Theophylact | TR: B Γ 1424 Byz^pt || See footnote in verse 26.

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Notes:

1. Text in red letters are places where the original reading in the Textus Receptus has been revised and corrected;

2. The English translation used as a reference is the WEB brought to conformity as literal as possible to the Textus Receptus. The end product though is not the WEB or a revised WEB and it should not be called WEB. The content of this post is freely available to everyone and it is not supposed to be copyrighted;

3. TR: Textus Receptus. This text is not copyrighted;

4. NA-Text: Nestle-Aland text commonly known as critical text;

5. M-Text: Majority Text;

6. M-Text^RP- Majority Text compiled by Maurice Robinson & William Pierpont;

6. M-Text^HF- Majority Text compiled by Zane Hodges & Arthur Farstad;

7. Vg-St: Vulgate of Stuttgart;

8. WPF³⁵: Wilbur Pickering-family 35;

9. P-Text: Patriarchal Text, also known as Patriarchal Greek New Testament, published by the ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

10. The creator of the variant apparatus available in the VarApp kindly gave me permission to freely use the information contained in the material he put together.

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To God all the glory for the preservation of the scriptures! He reigns!

Friday, December 29, 2023

Matthew 20:1-16 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Matthew

Chapter 20

1. Ὁμοία γάρ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκοδεσπότῃ ὅστις ἐξῆλθεν ἅμα πρωῒ μισθώσασθαι ἐργάτας εἰς τὸν ἀμπελῶνα αὐτοῦ.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

2. Συμφωνήσας δὲ[1] μετὰ τῶν ἐργατῶν ἐκ δηναρίου τὴν ἡμέραν ἀπέστειλεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν ἀμπελῶνα αὐτοῦ.

And when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

3. Καὶ ἐξελθὼν περὶ [2] τρίτην ὥραν εἶδεν ἄλλους ἑστῶτας ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ ἀργούς.

And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.

4. Καὶ ἐκείνοις[3] εἶπεν, Ὑπάγετε καὶ ὑμεῖς εἰς τὸν ἀμπελῶνα, καὶ ὃ ἐὰν ᾖ δίκαιον δώσω ὑμῖν.

And he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’

5. Οἱ δὲ ἀπῆλθον. Πάλιν [4] ἐξελθὼν περὶ ἕκτην καὶ ἐνάτην[5] ὥραν ἐποίησεν ὡσαύτως.

And they went their way. Going out again about the sixth and the ninth hour, he did likewise.

6. Περὶ δὲ τὴν ἑνδεκάτην ὥραν ἐξελθὼν εὗρεν ἄλλους ἑστῶτας ἀργούς, καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Τί ὧδε ἑστήκατε ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἀργοί;

And about the eleventh hour[6] he went out and found others standing idle[7], and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’

7. Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, Ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἡμᾶς ἐμισθώσατο. Λέγει αὐτοῖς, Ὑπάγετε καὶ ὑμεῖς εἰς τὸν ἀμπελῶνα καὶ ὃ ἐὰν ᾖ δίκαιον λήψεσθε.

“They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ “He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’[8]

8. Ὀψίας δὲ γενομένης λέγει ὁ κύριος τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος τῷ ἐπιτρόπῳ αὐτοῦ, Κάλεσον τοὺς ἐργάτας καὶ ἀπόδος αὐτοῖς τὸν μισθὸν, ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ τῶν ἐσχάτων ἕως τῶν πρώτων.

“When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’

9. Καὶ ἐλθόντες οἱ περὶ τὴν ἑνδεκάτην ὥραν ἔλαβον ἀνὰ δηνάριον.

“And when those who were hired about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius.

10. Ἐλθόντες δὲ[9] οἱ πρῶτοι ἐνόμισαν ὅτι πλεῖονα λήψονται[10] καὶ ἔλαβον[11] καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀνὰ δηνάριον.

Then when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more, but they each received a denarius too.

11. Λαβόντες δὲ ἐγόγγυζον κατὰ τοῦ οἰκοδεσπότου

And when they received it, they grumbled against the master of the household,

12. λέγοντες ὅτι[12] Οὗτοι οἱ ἔσχατοι μίαν ὥραν ἐποίησαν, καὶ ἴσους ἡμῖν αὐτοὺς ἐποίησας τοῖς βαστάσασι[13] τὸ βάρος τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ τὸν καύσωνα.

saying, ‘These last have worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’

13. Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν ἑνὶ αὐτῶν, Ἑταῖρε, οὐκ ἀδικῶ σε. Οὐχὶ δηναρίου συνεφώνησάς μοι;

“But answering, he said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

14. Ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε. Θέλω δὲ τούτῳ τῷ ἐσχάτῳ δοῦναι ὡς καὶ σοί.

Take what is yours and go. I wish to give to this last one the same as to you.

15. Ἢ οὐκ ἔξεστίν μοι ποιῆσαι ὃ θέλω ἐν τοῖς ἐμοῖς; Ἢ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου πονηρός ἐστιν ὅτι ἐγὼ ἀγαθός εἰμι;

Or[14] is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what belongs to me? Or[15] is your eye evil because I am good?’

16. Οὕτως ἔσονται οἱ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι, καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι. Πολλοὶ γὰρ εἰσιν κλητοί ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί.

Likewise, the last will be first, and the first will be last. For many are called, but few are chosen[16].”

[1] M-Text, P-Text and WPF³⁵ replace this conjunction by “και” and places it before the verb: Byz Chrysostom Theophylact | TR: א B C D Θ || Erasmus 1^st and 5^th editions of the TR and then Stephanus and Beza’s revisions all read consistently “δε”, which is an Alexandrian reading that is well supported by the agreement of those 3 text-types and does not necessitate correction, especially because those two conjunctions in this context are interchangeable.

[2] M-Text, WPF³⁵, P-Text and NA-Text omit the definite article “την” before third hour: א B D Θ Byz Theophylact || Article removed.

[3] M-Text, WPF³⁵, P-Text and NA-Text read “και εκεινοις” instead of “κακεινοις”: Codices א B Θ Byz Theophylact | TR: C D || Greek text adjusted.

[4] NA-Text adds “δε” within brackets. Codex Vaticanus and the Byzantine manuscripts omit it.

[5] M-Text, WPF³⁵, P-Text and NA-Text read “ενατην” instead of “εννατην”: א B D Θ Byz Chrysostom | TR: Theophylact || Scrivener prefers “ενατην” and he has the evidence on his side here. Greek text adjusted.

[6] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “hour”: א B D Θ 085 700 892* Cyril Jerome | TR: C K W Γ Δ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 33 565 579 892^c 1241 1424 it Byz Diatessaron Bede Chrysostom Theophylact. The omission is possibly due to visual homoeoteleuton (ενδεκατην ωραν, thus missing “hour”).

[7] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “idle”: א B C² D L Θ 085 33 565 700 892 syr^s syr^c cop Origen | TR: C* K W Γ Δ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 579 1241 1424 Byz it^b it^f it^h it^q syr^p syr^pal syr^h Diatessaron Theophylact || If this word is an addition to the text, it is hard to explain how scribes in different transmission lines would have had the same idea of adding the same word here. If the impetus was harmonization to verse 3, we should see somewhere the addition of “marketplace”. There is also the risk of missed a word here by visual homoeoteleuton (εστωτας αργους, thus missing “idle”). This is not a safe correction to the text.

[8] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “and you will receive whatever is right”: א B D L Θ ƒ¹ 892* cop syr^s Cyril | TR: C K N W Γ Δ ƒ¹³ 22 33 174 346 565 579 700 892^c 828 1241 1424 it^f it^h it^q syr^p syr^h cop^bo Diatessaron Chrysostom Theophylact || The idea that a scribe created the end of verse 7 out of the end of verse 4 is highly unlikely because verse 4 reads “και ο εαν η δικαιον δωσω υμιν” (I will give you) whereas verse 7 reads “και ο εαν η δικαιον ληψεσθε” (you will receive). One possibility is that scribes felt that the phrase was not original or removed it for a public lesson because the master would have promised to pay “what is right” to both groups in verses 4 and 7. Then one group complains of unrighteousness on the part of the master as he paid his workers, who in turn defends his procedure on the basis of his own will, not proportionality based on the number of hours worked. As a side note, the Greek text in the Complutensian Polyglot, which is Byzantine, is longer than the Latin text in the parallel column.

[9] NA-Text replaces “δε” with “και” and places it at the beginning of the verse. Codex Sinaiticus agrees with the Byzantine arrangement.

[10] NA-Text reads “πλειον λημψονται”. Singular of “more” and a different spelling: B C* L N W Θ 085 ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 579 | TR: א C² K Γ Δ 33 565 700 892 1241 1424 Byz Chrysostom Theophylact || The TR does not need correction.

[11] NA-Text adds a definite article “το” in brackets.

[12] NA-Text omits “οτι”.

[13] NA-Text and P-Text read “βαστασασι”: א B Θ Theophylact | TR: D || This is a contracted form of the same verbal tense, but as the support for the contracted form is better, it has been adopted in the Greek text.

[14] NA-Text brackets “or” (Gr.: η). Codex Sinaiticus and Ephraemi agree with the Byzantine text on the inclusion of this word.

[15] NA-Text adds “or” at the beginning of the second question by replacing “ει” by “η”: א B D Θ Byz^pt | TR: Byz^pt Theophylact || The support for the Alexandrian reading is superior and has been adopted in the Greek text.

[16] NA-Text omits “For many are called, but few are chosen” at the end of the verse: The omission is found only in the Alexandrian majuscules א, B, L, Z, 085 which are reflected in the Sahidic Coptic version and some manuscripts of the Bohairic Coptic version, which is a clear sign of local scribal error. The Diatessaron is cited as a witness for the excision of the second part of the verse, but this is incorrect. The Arabic Diatessaron is actually a witness for the Byzantine reading. The inclusion of the second part of the verse is supported by majuscules of all text-types, including C, D, E, F, G, H, N^vid, O, W, Δ, Θ, Σ and 0300, both family of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, the majority of the minuscules including (28), 33, 157, 700, 892^mg, the Byzantine manuscripts, 13 old Latin codices including it^aur, it^b, (it^c), it^d, it^e, it^f, it^ff1, it^ff2, it^g1, it^h, (it^l), itⁿ and (it^q), all the Syriac versions, the middle Ӕgyptian Coptic, some manuscripts of the Bohairic Coptic version, the Armenian, the Ethiopic, the Georgian and the Slavic version, the Diatessaron, Chrysostom, Jerome, Bede and Theophylact. Most likely the omission of the second part of the verse happened by a scribal error caused accidently by visual homoeoteleuton (εσχατοι πολλοι γαρ εισιν κλητοι ολιγοι δε εκλεκτοι, thus missing the “For many are called, but few are chosen”).