Matthew 5:27-38 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Matthew

Chapter 5

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27. Ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη, Οὐ μοιχεύσεις. “You have heard that it was said [1], ‘You shall not commit adultery;’ 28. ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ βλέπων γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτὴν[2] ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ. but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29. Εἰ δὲ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου ὁ δεξιὸς σκανδαλίζει σε, ἔξελε αὐτὸν καὶ βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ. Συμφέρει γάρ σοι ἵνα ἀπόληται ἓν τῶν μελῶν σου καὶ μὴ ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου βληθῇ εἰς γέενναν. If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. 30. καὶ εἰ ἡ δεξιά σου χεὶρ σκανδαλίζει σε, ἔκκοψον αὐτὴν καὶ βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ, συμφέρει γάρ σοι ἵνα ἀπόληται ἓν τῶν μελῶν σου καὶ μὴ ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου βληθῇ[3] εἰς γέενναν And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you. For it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. 31. Ἐρρέθη δέ ὅτι[4] Ὃς ἂν ἀπολύσῃ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, δότω αὐτῇ ἀποστάσιον. “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce,’ 32. ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ἀπολύων[5] τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ παρεκτὸς λόγου πορνείας ποιεῖ αὐτὴν μοιχᾶσθαι[6] καὶ ὃς ἐὰν ἀπολελυμένην γαμήσῃ μοιχᾶται. but I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries her who has been divorced commits adultery. 33. Πάλιν ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη τοῖς ἀρχαίοις, Οὐκ ἐπιορκήσεις, ἀποδώσεις δὲ τῷ κυρίῳ τοὺς ὅρκους σου. “Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but you shall perform your oaths to the Lord,’ 34. ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν μὴ ὀμόσαι ὅλως, μήτε ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὅτι θρόνος ἐστὶν τοῦ θεοῦ, but I say to you, do not swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35. μήτε ἐν τῇ γῇ, ὅτι ὑποπόδιόν ἐστιν τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ, μήτε εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, ὅτι πόλις ἐστὶν τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως. nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36. Μήτε ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ σου ὀμόσῃς, ὅτι οὐ δύνασαι μίαν τρίχα λευκὴν ἢ μέλαιναν ποιῆσαι. Neither shall you swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37. Ἔστω δὲ ὁ λόγος ὑμῶν ναὶ ναί, οὒ οὔ. τὸ δὲ περισσὸν τούτων ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ ἐστιν. But let your word be ‘Yes, yes’; ‘No, no.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one. [1] NA-Text, M-Text and WPF35 omit “to the ancients”: א B D Byz Diatessaron Augustine (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Ch.19.3,21) Theophylact | TR: L Δ Θ 0233 ƒ13 33 579 892 1010 syrc syrh Irenaeus Origen Eusebiuspt Hilary Jerome Chrysostom Cyril Bede || Both readings are ancient. The inclusion here is possibly an accidental addition to the text due to the repetition of the same “to the ancients” found in verses 21 and 33. These words have been removed from the text. [2] NA-Text, P-Text, WPF35 and M-Text read “αυτην”: א B D Θ Byz Theophylact. The Greek text has been adjusted accordingly. [3] NA-Text reads “απελθη” (“go” instead of “should be cast”) and places the verb at the end of the verse, departing from the parallel construction with “ολον το σωμα σου βληθη εις γεενναν” in verse 29 and “ολον το σωμα σου βληθη εις γεενναν” in verse 30 to “ολον το σωμα σου βληθη εις γεενναν” in verse 29 and “ολον το σωμα σου εις γεενναν απελθη”. Besides, the evidence strongly suggests that this is a local reading crafted by some Alexandrian scribes, which is not reflected in codex L and the Sahidic Coptic version. [4] NA-Text, Vg-St and P-Text omit “οτι”: א B D | TR: Θ Byz Theophylact. The conjunction may possibly have been accidentally lost by visual homoeoarcton (οτι ος, thus missing “οτι”) or naturally added to the text. [5] NA-Text and Vg-St read “πας ο απολυων” (Latin equivalent: “omnis qui dimiserit”), which is literally translated as “everyone who divorces”: א B K L M W Δ Θ Π ƒ1 ƒ13 22 33 157 372 517 565 700 892 1071 1424 syrp syrh syrpal copsa arm Diatessaron Jerome. TR: D E G S U V Ω 0250 28 579 1010 Byz copsamss copbo geo Origen Chrysostom || The external support for the Alexandrian text is better. Also, the Byzantine text is showing signs of harmonization to the previous verse that read “ος αν απολυση”. Text adjusted. [6] NA-Text reads “μοιχευθηναι” (aorist instead of present).

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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!