Matthew 22:1-14 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Matthew

Chapter 22

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1. και αποκριθεις ο ιησους παλιν ειπεν αυτοις εν παραβολαις λεγων And answering, Jesus again spoke to them in parables, saying, 2. ωμοιωθη η βασιλεια των ουρανων ανθρωπω βασιλει οστις εποιησεν γαμους τω υιω αυτου “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who made a wedding feast for his son, 3. και απεστειλεν τους δουλους αυτου καλεσαι τους κεκλημενους εις τους γαμους και ουκ ηθελον ελθειν and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4. παλιν απεστειλεν αλλους δουλους λεγων ειπατε τοις κεκλημενοις ιδου το αριστον μου ητοιμασα[1] οι ταυροι μου και τα σιτιστα τεθυμενα και παντα ετοιμα δευτε εις τους γαμους Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’ 5. οι δε αμελησαντες απηλθον ο[2] μεν εις τον ιδιον αγρον ο δε εις[3] την εμποριαν αυτου But neglecting it, they went away, one to his own farm, another to his business; 6. οι δε λοιποι κρατησαντες τους δουλους αυτου υβρισαν και απεκτειναν and the rest seizing his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7. ακουσας δε[4] ο βασιλευς [5] ωργισθη και πεμψας τα στρατευματα αυτου απωλεσεν τους φονεις εκεινους και την πολιν αυτων ενεπρησεν But when the king heard it, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8. τοτε λεγει τοις δουλοις αυτου ο μεν γαμος ετοιμος εστιν οι δε κεκλημενοι ουκ ησαν αξιοι “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9. πορευεσθε ουν επι τας διεξοδους των οδων και οσους εαν[6] ευρητε καλεσατε εις τους γαμους Go therefore to the exits of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the wedding feast.’ 10. και εξελθοντες οι δουλοι εκεινοι εις τας οδους συνηγαγον παντας οσους[7] ευρον πονηρους τε και αγαθους και επλησθη ο γαμος ανακειμενων And those servants went out into the highways and gathered all, as many as they found, both bad and good, and the wedding was filled with guests. 11. εισελθων δε ο βασιλευς θεασασθαι τους ανακειμενους ειδεν εκει ανθρωπον ουκ ενδεδυμενον ενδυμα γαμου “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who was not wearing a wedding garment, 12. και λεγει αυτω εταιρε πως εισηλθες ωδε μη εχων ενδυμα γαμου ο δε εφιμωθη and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13. τοτε ειπεν ο βασιλευς τοις διακονοις δησαντες αυτου ποδας και χειρας [αρατε αυτον και] εκβαλετε εις το σκοτος το εξωτερον εκει εσται ο κλαυθμος και ο βρυγμος των οδοντων Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, [take him away and][8] cast him into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14. πολλοι γαρ εισιν κλητοι ολιγοι δε εκλεκτοι For many are called, but few chosen.” [1] NA-Text reads “ητοιμακα” (perfect instead of aorist) [2] NA-Text reads “ος” (relative pronoun instead of definite article). Twice in the verse. [3] NA-Text reads “επι” (“on” instead of “into”). [4] M-Text and WPF35 replaces “δε” by “και” and places it before the verb. The TR is supported by codices א, B, L, Θ, both families of manuscripts ƒ1 and ƒ13, minuscules 33, 700 and 892*, the Peshitta, the Curetonian Syriac, the Syriac Sinaiticus and the Coptic versions. The M-Text is supported by codices C, W, 0102, the Byzantine manuscripts, 4 old Latin codices and the Harklean Syriac version, Jerome (Latin: “et respondens Jesus dixit”) and Theophylact. Both are well supported and mean the same thing. [5] M-Text, P-Text and WPF35 add “εκεινος” (that). The omission is supported by codices א, B, L, Θ, both families of manuscripts ƒ1 and ƒ13, 700 and 892*, the Peshitta, the Curetonian Syriac, the Syriac Sinaiticus and the Coptic versions, the Diatessaron and Jerome. The addition is supported by codices C, D, W, 0102, minuscule 33, the Byzantine manuscripts, 4 old Latin codices, the Harklean Syriac version and Theophylact. The inclusion of this pronoun appears to be a scribal addition to the text for the sake of a public lesson. This is not a safe correction to the text. [6] NA-Text and P-Text read “εαν” instead of “αν”, which is supported by codices א, B, part of the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. “αν” is supported by codices D, Θ and part of the Byzantine manuscripts. “εαν” has been adopted in the Greek text following the NA-Text. [7] NA-Text and VgSt read “ους” (Latin equivalent: quos). The relative pronoun is supported by codices א, B*, D, 0161vid and family of manuscripts ƒ13, the Diatessaron and Jerome whereas the Byzantine reading is supported by codices B2, C, L, W, Θ, 085, 0102, family of manuscripts ƒ13, the Byzantine minuscules, the old Latin codices collectively and the Harklean Syriac version and Theophylact. The Alexandrian reading appears to be a reduction from a more complex construction (all as many as) to one that would have been more natural to scribes (all that). Also, visual homoeoarcton should not be ruled out (οσους, thus missing “οσ”). A scribe noticed the error in codex Vaticanus and corrected it back to the harder reading in the 500’s or 600’s. [8] NA-Text and VgSt omit “take him away and”. The omission is supported by codices א, B, L, Θ, 085, both family of manuscripts ƒ1 and ƒ13, minuscules 22, 700 and 892, 4 old Latin codices (itaur, itf, itg1 and itl), the (Peshitta), the Coptic versions, the Diatessaron, Origen (De Principiis, 2:5:2, in Latin), Chrysostom (homily 43 on acts and homily 10 on 2nd Corinthians) and Jerome (commentary on Matthew 22:13). The inclusion of “take him away” is supported by codices C, D, E, M, Φ, W, 043, 0102, 11 old Latin codices (ita, itb, itc, itd, ite, itf, itff1, itff2, ith, itq and itr1), the (Syriac Sinaiticus) and the (Curetonian Syriac), minuscules 565 and 1241, the Byzantine minuscules and the (Harklean Syriac version), Irenaeus (Against heresies 4:36:5), Hilary (commentary on Matthew, Ch. 22), Jerome (letter 14, Latin: “tollite illum, ligatis minibus et pedibus et mittite eum in tenebras exteriores) and Theophylact. Codex D is reflecting here the early text used by Irenaeus in the 100’s that contains “take him away”. Parableptic error could explain the missing text in the Alexandrian text (αρατε αυτον και εκβαλετε, thus missing “take him away and”) with a subsequent addition of the missing pronoun after the verb “cast out”, but the problem with that is that there is a strong and collective witness from different transmission lines with early attestation omitting this portion. On the other hand, “take him away and” is not a necessary addition to clarify the meaning of the passage and there is nothing in the context or parallel passages that offer material for harmonization. The best way then to honor the evidence is to bracket this clause. As a side note, the Greek text in the Complutensian Polyglot, which is Byzantine, includes this clause, whereas the Latin text in the parallel column omits it, following the vulgate.  ---- 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. VgSt: Vulgate of Stuttgart;   7. WPF35: Wilbur Pickering-family 35; 8. P-Text: Patriarchal Text, also known as Patriarchal Greek New Testament, published by the ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. 9. 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. --- To God all the glory for the preservation of the scriptures! He reigns!