Matthew 13:18-30 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Matthew

Chapter 13

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18. Ὑμεῖς οὖν ἀκούσατε τὴν παραβολὴν τοῦ σπείραντος[1]. “Hear, then, the parable of the sower:

19. Παντὸς ἀκούοντος τὸν λόγον τῆς βασιλείας καὶ μὴ συνιέντος, ἔρχεται ὁ πονηρὸς καὶ ἁρπάζει τὸ ἐσπαρμένον ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ παρὰ τὴν ὁδὸν σπαρείς. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the wayside.

20. Ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ τὰ πετρώδη σπαρείς, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τὸν λόγον ἀκούων καὶ εὐθὺς μετὰ χαρᾶς λαμβάνων αὐτόν, And what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,

21. οὐκ ἔχει δὲ ῥίζαν ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἀλλὰ πρόσκαιρός ἐστιν. Γενομένης δὲ θλίψεως ἢ διωγμοῦ διὰ τὸν λόγον, εὐθὺς σκανδαλίζεται. yet he has no root in himself but is temporary. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

22. Ὁ δὲ εἰς τὰς ἀκάνθας σπαρείς, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τὸν λόγον ἀκούων, καὶ ἡ μέριμνα τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου καὶ ἡ ἀπάτη τοῦ πλούτου συμπνίγει τὸν λόγον, καὶ ἄκαρπος γίνεται. And what was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this[2] world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

23. Ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν τὴν καλὴν[3] σπαρείς, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τὸν λόγον ἀκούων καὶ συνιών, ὃς δὴ καρποφορεῖ, καὶ ποιεῖ ὃ μὲν ἑκατὸν, ὃ δὲ ἑξήκοντα, ὃ δὲ τριάκοντα. And what was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

24. Ἄλλην παραβολὴν παρέθηκεν αὐτοῖς, λέγων, Ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ σπείραντι[4] καλὸν σπέρμα ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ αὐτοῦ, He put before them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field,

25. ἐν δὲ τῷ καθεύδειν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἦλθεν αὐτοῦ ὁ ἐχθρὸς καὶ ἐπέσπειρεν[5] ζιζάνια ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σίτου καὶ ἀπῆλθεν. but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away.

26. Ὅτε δὲ ἐβλάστησεν ὁ χόρτος καὶ καρπὸν ἐποίησεν, τότε ἐφάνη καὶ τὰ ζιζάνια. But when the blade sprang up and produced grain, then the tares also appeared.

27. Προσελθόντες δὲ οἱ δοῦλοι τοῦ οἰκοδεσπότου εἶπον αὐτῷ, Κύριε, οὐχὶ καλὸν σπέρμα ἔσπειρας ἐν τῷ σῷ ἀγρῷ; Πόθεν οὖν ἔχει [6] ζιζάνια; And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where have the tares come from?’

28. Ὁ δὲ ἔφη αὐτοῖς, Ἐχθρὸς ἄνθρωπος τοῦτο ἐποίησεν. Οἱ δὲ δοῦλοι ειπον[7] αυτω Θέλεις οὖν ἀπελθόντες συλλέξωμεν[8] αὐτά; “He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ “And the servants said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’

29. Ὁ δὲ ἔφη[9] Οὔ, μήποτε συλλέγοντες τὰ ζιζάνια ἐκριζώσητε ἅμα αὐτοῖς τὸν σῖτον. “But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares, you uproot the wheat with them.

30. Ἄφετε συναυξάνεσθαι ἀμφότερα μέχρι[10] τοῦ θερισμοῦ, καὶ ἐν [11] καιρῷ τοῦ θερισμοῦ ἐρῶ τοῖς θερισταῖς, Συλλέξατε πρῶτον τὰ ζιζάνια καὶ δήσατε αὐτὰ εἰς δέσμας πρὸς τὸ κατακαῦσαι αὐτά, τὸν δὲ σῖτον συναγάγετε εἰς τὴν ἀποθήκην μου. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

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[1] NA-Text and P-Text read “σπειραντος” (aorist participle instead of present participle): א* B W 33 | TR: א² C D K L N Γ Δ Θ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 565 579 700 892 1241 1424 cop Byz Theophylact | The support for the present participle is widespread across all text types and has been maintained in the text.

[2] NA-Text omits “this” and renders “the cares of the world”.

[3] NA-Text reads “την καλην γην”. The meaning remains the same.

[4] M-Text reads “σπειροντι” (aorist instead of present): C D K L Γ Θ ƒ¹ 565 700 1010 1241 1424 Byz | TR: א B N W Δ ƒ¹³ 28 33 892 cop Theophylact || Both are well supported.

[5] NA-Text and Vg-St read “επεσπειρεν” (Latin equivalent: “superseminavit”). א B N Θ ƒ¹ 33 1010 1241 Jerome | TR: C D K L W Γ Δ ƒ¹³ Byz 565 579 700 892 1424 Theophylact. Both readings are ancient and have been received and preserved in the church. The Alexandrian verb clarifies that the tares were sowed upon what was sowed previously and it has preserved the harder reading that could not have been the product of harmonization to the 13^th chapter of the gospel of Matthew or the parallel passage in Mark. Therefore, the Greek text has been adjusted following the NA-Text, even though this is not a translatable difference in English.

[6] NA-Text, P-Text, WPF³⁵ and M-Text omit the definite article “τα”: B D Byz | TR: א L Θ ƒ¹³ 28 1424 Theophylact. The definite article appears to be a scribal harmonization to the previous and the following verse, which include the definite article. Article dropped.

[7] NA-Text reads “λεγουσιν” (present instead of aorist).

[8] M-Text and WPF³⁵ read “συλλεξομεν” (future indicative instead of aorist subjunctive): Byz | TR: א B D Theophylact || No need of correction.

[9] NA-Text read “φησιν” (present instead imperfect).

[10] NA-Text read “εως”. The meaning is the same.

[11] NA-Text, P-Text, WPF³⁵ and M-Text omit the definite article “τω” before “καιρω” (time): א¹ B D W Θ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ Byz || Article dropped.

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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!