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

The gospel according to Matthew

Chapter 20

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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].”

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[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”).

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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!