Matthew 25:1-13 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Matthew

Chapter 25

---

1. τοτε ομοιωθησεται η βασιλεια των ουρανων δεκα παρθενοις αιτινες λαβουσαι τας λαμπαδας αυτων[1] εξηλθον εις απαντησιν[2] του νυμφιου “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

2. πεντε δε ησαν εξ αυτων φρονιμοι και [3] πεντε μωραι And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

3. αιτινες[4] μωραι λαβουσαι τας λαμπαδας αυτων[5] ουκ ελαβον μεθ εαυτων ελαιον Those who were foolish, taking their lamps, took no oil with them,

4. αι δε φρονιμοι ελαβον ελαιον εν τοις αγγειοις αυτων μετα των λαμπαδων αυτων[6] but the wise took oil in their[7] vessels with their lamps.

5. χρονιζοντος δε του νυμφιου ενυσταξαν πασαι και εκαθευδον While the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

6. μεσης δε νυκτος κραυγη γεγονεν ιδου ο νυμφιος ερχεται εξερχεσθε εις απαντησιν αυτου But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold! The bridegroom is coming[8]! Come out to meet him[9]!’

7. τοτε ηγερθησαν πασαι αι παρθενοι εκειναι και εκοσμησαν τας λαμπαδας αυτων[10] Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.

8. αι δε μωραι ταις φρονιμοις ειπον[11] δοτε ημιν εκ του ελαιου υμων οτι αι λαμπαδες ημων σβεννυνται And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’

9. απεκριθησαν δε αι φρονιμοι λεγουσαι μηποτε ουκ[12] αρκεση ημιν και υμιν πορευεσθε δε μαλλον προς τους πωλουντας και αγορασατε εαυταις But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you. But[13] go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves.’

10. απερχομενων δε αυτων αγορασαι ηλθεν ο νυμφιος και αι ετοιμοι εισηλθον μετ αυτου εις τους γαμους και εκλεισθη η θυρα And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut.

11. υστερον δε ερχονται και αι λοιπαι παρθενοι λεγουσαι κυριε κυριε ανοιξον ημιν Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’

12. ο δε αποκριθεις ειπεν αμην λεγω υμιν ουκ οιδα υμας But answering, he said, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’

13. γρηγορειτε ουν οτι ουκ οιδατε την ημεραν ουδε την ωραν Therefore watch, for you do not know the day nor the hour.[14]

---

[1] NA-Text reads “εαυτων”. The meaning is the same.

[2] NA-Text reads “υπαντησιν”, slightly different nuance for the same “meeting”.

[3] NA-Text omits the definite article before the second occurrence of “five”. The article is omitted by the collective witness of codices א, B, D, Θ and Chrysostom. The second occurrence of the article has then been removed from the text.

[4] NA-Text and VgSt add a conjunction at the beginning of the verse (NA-Text reads “αι γαρ” instead of “αιτινες” and VgSt reads “sed”). The NA-Text text is supported by codices א, B and Jerome. Codex D reads “αι ουν”, which is closer to the NA-Text. The Diatessaron starts the verse with “and”. The Byzantine minuscules, Chrysostom and Theophylact support the TR reading. Codex Θ lacks this part possibly due to parablepsis. There seems to be an instability at the beginning of this verse that prevents the amalgamation of a collective and strong witness from challenging the Byzantine reading found in the TR.

[5] NA-Text and M-Text read “αυτων”, which is supported by codices B, C, D, E, G, K, W, Y and Theophylact. The TR is supported by codices Z, Π, 0133, 0249, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 28, 565 and 892. “εαυτων” is possibly an error due to the proximity with another “εαυτων” at the end of the verse. The Greek text has then been adjusted accordingly.

[6] NA-Text reads “εαυτων”.

[7] NA-Text omits “their” and renders “the vessels”.

[8] NA-Text omits “is coming”, which is possibly the result of a parableptic distraction (ερχεται εξερχεσθε, thus missing “is coming”).

[9] NA-Text brackets “him”.

[10] NA-Text reads “εαυτων”.

[11] NA-Text reads “ειπαν”, same verbal tense spelled differently.

[12] NA-Text reads “ου μη”, which is also a negation.

[13] NA-Text and VgSt omit “But”. The omission is supported by codices א, B and D, Jerome and Bede. The inclusion is supported by codex Θ, the Diatessaron, Chrysostom, the Byzantine minuscules and Theophylact. It is more probable that Matthew would have used the conjunction here as he had done in Matt. 10:6 and 10:28 by combining an imperative with “rather” made with the verb plus “δε μαλλον”. Plus, a possible scribal error caused by visual homoeoteleuton is another element in favor of the inclusion of the conjunction here (πορευεσθε δε, thus missing “But”).

[14] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “in which the Son of Man is coming”. The omission is supported by Papyrus 35, codices א, A, B, C*, D, L, W, X, Y*, Δ, Θ, Π*, Σ, Φ, 047, 0136, 0211, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscules 22, 33, 157*, 174, 205, 372, 565, 597*, 892, 1219, 1424*, 1604, 2145*, 2737, Old Latin, the Syriac versions, the Coptic versions, the Armenian and the Georgian versions, the Diatessaron, Origen^lat, Hilary, Athanasius, Chrysostom, Jerome and Augustine. The inclusion is supported by codices C^c3 (corrector 3 added this clause to codex Ephraemi in the 9^th century), E, F, G, H, Y^mg, Γ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscules 1^c, 28, 157^c, 180, 543, 579, 597^c, 700, 1006, 1010, 1071, 1241, 1243, 1292, 1342, 1424^c, 1505, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The Palestinian Syriac, the Ethiopic^TH and the Slavic versions are divided. It is evident that the shorter reading is more ancient and more widespread. Even Chrysostom, the earliest representative of the Byzantine text here in the late 300’s, supports the shorter reading. The longer reading is possibly the result of a liturgical adjustment so a lesson could not end abruptly at “nor the hour”. Therefore, the accretion “in which the Son of Man is coming” has been removed from the text, following the NA-Text. As a side note, the Greek text in the Complutensian Polyglot, which is Byzantine, contained this clause that was omitted in the parallel column containing the Latin text.

----

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. PT: 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!