Matthew 13:31-43 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Matthew

Chapter 13

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31. Ἄλλην παραβολὴν παρέθηκεν αὐτοῖς, λέγων, Ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν κόκκῳ σινάπεως, ὃν λαβὼν ἄνθρωπος ἔσπειρεν ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ αὐτοῦ, He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field, 32. ὃ μικρότερον μέν ἐστιν πάντων τῶν σπερμάτων, ὅταν δὲ αὐξηθῇ, μεῖζον τῶν λαχάνων ἐστὶν καὶ γίνεται δένδρον, ὥστε ἐλθεῖν τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ κατασκηνοῦν ἐν τοῖς κλάδοις αὐτοῦ. which indeed is the smallest of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.” 33. Ἄλλην παραβολὴν ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς. Ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ζύμῃ, ἣν λαβοῦσα γυνὴ ἐνέκρυψεν[1] εἰς ἀλεύρου σάτα τρία ἕως οὗ ἐζυμώθη ὅλον. He spoke another parable to them. “The kingdom of heaven is like a leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” 34. Ταῦτα πάντα ἐλάλησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐν παραβολαῖς τοῖς ὄχλοις, καὶ χωρὶς παραβολῆς οὐδὲν[2] ἐλάλει αὐτοῖς, Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes, and he did not speak to them without a parable, 35. ὅπως πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ τοῦ προφήτου, λέγοντος, Ἀνοίξω ἐν παραβολαῖς τὸ στόμα μου, ἐρεύξομαι κεκρυμμένα ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου[3] that it might be fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet [4], saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.” 36. Τότε ἀφεὶς τοὺς ὄχλους ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν. Καὶ προσῆλθον αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ, λέγοντες, Φράσον[5] ἡμῖν τὴν παραβολὴν τῶν ζιζανίων τοῦ ἀγροῦ. Then he[6] left the multitudes and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” 37. Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Ὁ σπείρων τὸ καλὸν σπέρμα ἐστὶν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. And answering, he said to them[7], “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38. Ὁ δὲ ἀγρός ἐστιν ὁ κόσμος, τὸ δὲ καλὸν σπέρμα, οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ υἱοὶ τῆς βασιλείας. Τὰ δὲ ζιζάνιά εἰσιν οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ πονηροῦ, The field is the world, and the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. But the tares are the sons of the evil one 39. ὁ δὲ ἐχθρὸς ὁ σπείρας αὐτά ἐστιν ὁ διάβολος. Ὁ δὲ θερισμὸς συντέλεια τοῦ[8] αἰῶνός ἐστιν, οἱ δὲ θερισταὶ ἄγγελοί εἰσιν. and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40. Ὥσπερ οὖν συλλέγεται τὰ ζιζάνια καὶ πυρὶ κατακαίεται[9], οὕτως ἔσται ἐν τῇ συντελείᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου. Therefore, as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of this[10] age. 41. Ἀποστελεῖ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ, καὶ συλλέξουσιν ἐκ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ σκάνδαλα καὶ τοὺς ποιοῦντας τὴν ἀνομίαν, The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and those who do iniquity, 42. καὶ βαλοῦσιν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν κάμινον τοῦ πυρός. Ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων. and will cast them into the furnace of fire. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43. Τότε οἱ δίκαιοι ἐκλάμψουσιν ὡς ὁ ἥλιος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῶν. Ὁ ἔχων ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκουέτω. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear[11], let him hear. [1] M-Text and WPF35 read “εκρυψεν”: Byz Chrysostom (homily 46) Theophylact | TR: א B D Θ Clement of Alexandria (Stromata, Book 5, Ch. 12) Byzmss || The first part of the verb may have been lost in Byzantine manuscripts by visual homoeoarcton (ενεκρυψεν, thus missing “εν”), though some Byzantine manuscripts preserved the verb “ενεκρυψεν”. [2] NA-Text and P-Text read “ουδεν” (nothing), thus rendering “he spoke nothing to them without a parable”: א* B C W Δ ƒ13 1010 itf syrh copsa | TR: א2 D K L Γ Θ 0233 ƒ1 33 565 579 700 892 1241 1424 Byz copbo Theophylact || The Byzantine text shows signs of harmonization to the parallel passage in Mark 4:34. Greek text and translation adjusted accordingly. [3] NA-Text brackets “κοσμου” (of the world). The collective witness of the majuscules, the minuscules and the versions is overwhelmingly against questioning this word as part of the text. [4] Tischendorf, and Hort after him, added “Isaiah” to the text on the authority of codex Sinaiticus. The proper noun is also found in Θ ƒ1 ƒ13 33 vgmss mssaccording to Eusebius mssaccording to Jerome. And Jerome says that he found some manuscripts which read “Asaph”, which are not extant. But textual critics have in general rejected this reading. And the proper name was removed from codex Sinaiticus by a scribe in the 300’s or 400’s. This is clearly a copyist error because this prophecy is found in psalm 78 that was written by Asaph, not Isaiah. The canon of the harder reading should not be applied to scribal blunders like this found in a few manuscripts against the collective witness from the rest against a minority of manuscripts. This canon should rather be used only when there are readings equally viable and well supported by a diversity of good witnesses.   [5] NA-Text reads “διασαφησον” (declare). [6] NA-Text, P-Text, WPF35 and Vg-St omit “Jesus”: The omission is supported by codices א B D ƒ1 syrs syrc Origen (commentary on the gospel of Matthew, Book 10, Ch. 1) Jerome | TR: C K L W Δ Θ 0233 ƒ13 Byz 33 565 579 892 1241 itf ith itq syrp syrh Diatessaron Chrysostom Theophylact || The proper noun was likely inserted for clarification purposes, as Jesus will begin to speak to his disciples in another context. Therefore, the proper noun “Jesus” was replaced by “he” in the translation and the proper noun “ο ιησους” dropped from the Greek text. [7] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “to them”. א B D 892* 1424 copmae copbo Jerome | TR: C K L W Γ Δ Θ ƒ1 ƒ13 33 565 579 700 892c 1241 Byz itc itf ith itq syr copsa(mss) copbo(mss) Diatessaron Chrysostom (homily 47) Theophylact || The Clementine vulgate disagrees with the vulgate of Stuttgart by adding “to them”, reflecting the division within the Latin tradition. Matthew uses the “answering, he said” 41 times in the gospel with or without the indirect object, which may have confused the scribes of the Alexandrian codices and codex D. Given the preponderance of the external evidence for the inclusion of “to them”, it is more prudent to keep it in the text to better reflect what the universal church has received, used and preserved. [8] NA-Text omits the definite article “του” before “age”. [9] M-Text, P-Text and WPF35 read “burn” instead of “burn up”: C Chrysostom Theophylact | TR: א, B, D Origen || It was probably accidently dropped by visual homoeoarcton (κατακαιεται, thus missing “κατα”). [10] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “this”, thus rendering “of the age”: א B D Γ 22 892 1582 pc ita itaur itb itc itd ite itff1 itff2 itg1 itk itl vg syrc syrs copsa copmae arm eth Irenaeuslat Irenaeuslat Hilary Lucifer Cyril | TR: C K L P W X Δ Θ Π 0106 0233 0242 0250 ƒ1 ƒ13 28 33 565 579 700 1009 1010 1071 1079 1195 1216 1230 1241 1242 1253 1344 1365 1546 1646 2148 2174 Byz Lect itf ith itq syrp syrh copsa(mss) copbo copfay geo Diatessaron Chrysostom Theophylact || The NA-Text reading is likely showing the result of scribal harmonization to the preceding verse that reads “the end of the age”. [11] NA-Text and the Vg-St omit “to hear”. This reading is the result of either visual homoeoarcton (ακουειν ακουετω, thus missing “to hear”) or a scribal misunderstanding of the phrase, thinking of possible tautology. The external evidence against this reading is very strong from the overwhelming weight of the collective witness of the majuscules, minuscules, the versions, including old Latin codices, the Clementine vulgate in disagreement with the vulgate of Stuttgart  and Latin fathers including Jerome.

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[1] NA-Text brackets “κοσμου” (of the world). The collective witness of the majuscules, the minuscules and the versions is overwhelmingly against questioning this word as part of the text.

[2] Tischendorf added “Isaiah” to the text on the authority of codex Sinaiticus. The proper noun is also found in Θ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 33 vg^mss mss^{according to Eusebius} mss^{according to Jerome}. And Jerome says that he found some manuscripts which read “Asaph”, which are not extant. But textual critics have in general rejected this reading. And the proper name was removed from the codex by a scribe in the 300’s or 400’s. This is clearly a copyist error because this prophecy is found in psalm 78 that was written by Asaph, not Isaiah. The canon of the harder reading should not be applied to scribal blunders like this found in a few manuscripts against the collective witness from the rest against it. This canon should rather be used only when there are readings equally viable and well supported by a diversity of good witnesses.

[3] NA-Text reads “διασαφησον” (declare).

[4] NA-Text, P-Text, WPF³⁵ and Vg-St omit “Jesus”: The omission is supported by codices א B D ƒ¹ syr^s syr^c Origen (commentary on the gospel of Matthew, Book 10, Ch. 1) Jerome | TR: C K L W Δ Θ 0233 ƒ¹³ Byz 33 565 579 892 1241 it^f it^h it^q syr^p syr^h Diatessaron Chrysostom Theophylact || The proper noun was likely inserted for clarification purposes, as Jesus will begin to speak to his disciples in another context. Therefore, the proper noun “Jesus” was replaced by “he” in the translation and the proper noun “ο ιησους” dropped from the Greek text.

[5] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “to them”. א B D 892* 1424 cop^mae cop^bo Jerome | TR: C K L W Γ Δ Θ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 33 565 579 700 892^c 1241 Byz it^c it^f it^h it^q syr cop^sa(mss) cop^bo(mss) Diatessaron Chrysostom (homily 47) Theophylact || The Clementine vulgate disagrees with the vulgate of Stuttgart by adding “to them”, reflecting the division within the Latin tradition. Matthew uses the “answering, he said” 41 times in the gospel with or without the indirect object, which may have confused the scribes of the Alexandrian codices and codex D. Given the preponderance of the external evidence for the inclusion of “to them”, it is more prudent to keep it in the text to better reflect what the universal church has received, used and preserved.

[6] NA-Text omits the definite article “του” before “age”.

[7] M-Text, P-Text and WPF³⁵ read “burn” instead of “burn up”: C Chrysostom Theophylact | TR: א, B, D Origen || It was probably accidently dropped by visual homoeoarcton (κατακαιεται, thus missing “κατα”).

[8] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “this”, thus rendering “of the age”: א B D Γ 22 892 1582 pc it^a it^aur it^b it^c it^d it^e it^ff1 it^ff2 it^g1 it^k it^l vg syr^c syr^s cop^sa cop^mae arm eth Irenaeus^lat Irenaeus^lat Hilary Lucifer Cyril | TR: C K L P W X Δ Θ Π 0106 0233 0242 0250 ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 28 33 565 579 700 1009 1010 1071 1079 1195 1216 1230 1241 1242 1253 1344 1365 1546 1646 2148 2174 Byz Lect it^f it^h it^q syr^p syr^h cop^sa(mss) cop^bo cop^fay geo Diatessaron Chrysostom Theophylact || The NA-Text reading is likely showing the result of scribal harmonization to the preceding verse that reads “the end of the age”.

[9] NA-Text and the Vg-St omit “to hear”. This reading is the result of either visual homoeoarcton (ακουειν ακουετω, thus missing “to hear”) or a scribal misunderstanding of the phrase, thinking of possible tautology. The external evidence against this reading is very strong from the overwhelming weight of the collective witness of the majuscules, minuscules, the versions, including old Latin codices, the Clementine vulgate in disagreement with the vulgate of Stuttgart  and Latin fathers including Jerome.

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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!