Matthew 18:1-6 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Matthew

Chapter 18

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1. Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ προσῆλθον οἱ μαθηταὶ τῷ Ἰησοῦ, λέγοντες, Τίς ἄρα μείζων ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν; In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2. Καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος ὁ Ἰησοῦς παιδίον ἔστησεν αὐτὸ ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν And calling a child to himself, Jesus[1] set him in their midst

3. καὶ εἶπεν, Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐὰν μὴ στραφῆτε καὶ γένησθε ὡς τὰ παιδία, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

4. Ὅστις οὖν ταπεινώσει[2] ἑαυτὸν ὡς τὸ παιδίον τοῦτο, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ μείζων ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν. Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5. Καὶ ὃς ἐὰν δέξηται παιδίον τοιοῦτον[3] ἓν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ἐμὲ δέχεται. And whoever receives a child like this in my name receives me,

6. Ὃς δʼ ἂν σκανδαλίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τούτων τῶν πιστευόντων εἰς ἐμέ, συμφέρει αὐτῷ ἵνα κρεμασθῇ μύλος ὀνικὸς περὶ[4] τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ καὶ καταποντισθῇ ἐν τῷ πελάγει τῆς θαλάσσης. but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him that a donkey’s millstone[5] were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

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[1] NA-Text omits “Jesus”.

[2] NA-Text, M-Text, WPF³⁵ and P-Text read “ταπεινωσει” (future indicative) instead of “ταπεινωση” (present subjunctive): א B D Θ Byz Theophylact | Greek text adjusted.

[3] NA-Text reads “τοιουτο”. Same word spelled differently.

[4] NA-Text reads “περι” (around): א B L N Z 0281 28 579 892 Origen (Commentary on Matthew Book 13 Ch. 17) Theophylact. M-Text, P-Text and WPF³⁵ read “εις” (into): K W Γ Δ Θ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 1241 Byz Chrysostom | TR: D 565 1424. The parallel passages in Mk 9:42 and Lk 17:2 also read “περι τον τραχηλον”. The NA-Text is well supported, but its reading could be the product of scribal harmonization to the parallel passages in the gospels. On the other hand, the M-Text reading seems to be too hard. The Septuagint and the New Testament have both “περι τον τραχηλον” and “επι τον τραχηλον”, but no instance of “εις τον τραχηλον”. Having weighed all witnesses and internal considerations, the Greek text has been adjusted following the NA-Text.   

[5] A millstone turned by a donkey, by implication a heavy millstone beyond the man handling ability.

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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!