Matthew 26:1-13 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Matthew

Chapter 26

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1. και εγενετο οτε ετελεσεν ο ιησους παντας τους λογους τουτους ειπεν τοις μαθηταις αυτου And it happened that when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples,

2. οιδατε οτι μετα δυο ημερας το πασχα γινεται και ο υιος του ανθρωπου παραδιδοται εις το σταυρωθηναι “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

3. τοτε συνηχθησαν οι αρχιερεις και οι γραμματεις και οι πρεσβυτεροι του λαου εις την αυλην του αρχιερεως του λεγομενου καιαφα Then the chief priests and the scribes[1] and the elders of the people were assembled in the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas.

4. και συνεβουλευσαντο ινα τον ιησουν δολω κρατησωσιν[2] και αποκτεινωσιν And they took counsel together that they might take Jesus by deceit and kill him.

5. ελεγον δε μη εν τη εορτη ινα μη θορυβος γενηται εν τω λαω But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be a riot among the people.”

6. του δε ιησου γενομενου εν βηθανια εν οικια σιμωνος του λεπρου Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,

7. προσηλθεν αυτω γυνη αλαβαστρον μυρου εχουσα βαρυτιμου και κατεχεεν επι την κεφαλην[3] αυτου ανακειμενου a woman came to him having an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table.

8. ιδοντες δε οι μαθηται [αυτου] ηγανακτησαν λεγοντες εις τι η απωλεια αυτη But when his[4] disciples saw this, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste?

9. ηδυνατο[5] γαρ τουτο πραθηναι πολλου και δοθηναι [6] πτωχοις For this [7] might have been sold for much and given to the poor.”

10. γνους δε ο ιησους ειπεν αυτοις τι κοπους παρεχετε τη γυναικι εργον γαρ καλον ειργασατο[8] εις εμε But Jesus, knowing this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for me.

11. παντοτε γαρ τους πτωχους εχετε μεθ εαυτων εμε δε ου παντοτε εχετε For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.

12. βαλουσα γαρ αυτη το μυρον τουτο επι του σωματος μου προς το ενταφιασαι με εποιησεν For in pouring this ointment on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.

13. αμην λεγω υμιν οπου εαν κηρυχθη το ευαγγελιον τουτο εν ολω τω κοσμω λαληθησεται και ο εποιησεν αυτη εις μνημοσυνον αυτης Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be spoken of as a memorial of her.”

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[1] NA-Text and VgSt omit “and the scribes”. The omission is supported by Papyrus 45, א, A, B, D, L, Θ, 089, 0293, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 33^vid, 565, 700, 892 and 1424, 8 old Latin codices (it^a, it^aur, it^b, it^d, it^ff1, it^g1 and it^l), the Syriac Sinaiticus and the Coptic versions and Jerome. The inclusion is supported by codices K, Π, Δ, 0133, 0255, the Byzantine minuscules, 6 old Latin codices (it^c, it^f, it^ff2, it^h, it^q and it^r1), the Peshitta and the Harklean Syriac version, the Diatessaron, Chrysostom and Theophylact. The Byzantine compilations WPF³⁵ and the PT also include “and the scribes”. The Alexandria texts and other manuscripts influenced by this transmission line like the vulgate, codex D and Θ may be showing an early scribal error caused by parablepsis (αρχιερεις και οι γραμματεις και οι, thus missing “and the scribes”). Harmonization with the parallel passages in Mark 14:1 or Luke 22:2 is not very likely, otherwise we would have a text reading “the chief priests and the scribes” with the omission of “and the elders”. Natural addition of “and the scribes” is also not very likely, otherwise we would have seen a good number of witnesses in the Byzantine transmission line adding “and the pharisees” like in codex W. It’s easier to think of a simple parabletic error than addition of material that is not coming from the surrounding context or the parallel passages. In this case, the Byzantine copies should correct the copies influenced by Alexandrian sources. As a side note, the Greek text in the Complutensian Polyglot, which is Byzantine, included this clause whereas the Latin text in the parallel column omitted it, following the vulgate.

[2] NA-Text, M-Text, WPF³⁵, PT and VgSt transpose “κρατησωσιν δολω” to “δολω κρατησωσιν”. (Latin equivalent: “dolo tenerent”). The transposition is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ, Chrysostom, Jerome and Theophylact. This transposition has been adopted in the Greek text.

[3] NA-Text reads “της κεφαλης” (genitive instead of accusative).

[4] NA-Text and VgSt omit “his” and renders “the disciples”. This omission is supported by papyri 45^vid and 64, codices א, B, D, L, Θ, 089, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscules 33, 700 and 892 and the Coptic versions, Jerome and Bede. The inclusion is supported by codices A, W, 0133, 0255, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, the Byzantine minuscules, 3 old Latin codices (it^c, it^f and it^q), the Syriac versions and some manuscripts of the Sahidic Coptic version, Chrysostom and Theophylact. There is no strong element in the text, or the context based on Matthew’s writing style pointing decisively in any direction. The external support for the Alexandrian reading is better, but not enough to make the reading certain on external evidence only due to the inclusion of the article in the Syriac versions, some manuscripts in the Sahidic Coptic version, the Caesarean family ƒ¹ that normally supports the Alexandrian text and 3 old Latin codices in disagreement with Jerome’s text. It is then more prudent to bracket the article in the Greek text.

[5] NA-Text reads “εδυνατο”, same verbal tense spelled differently.

[6] M-Text adds the definite article “τοις” (Hodges-Farstad text in the footnote). The omission of the article is supported by codices א, B, L, Θ, 089, 0133, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 33, 565, 892 and Theophylact. The Byzantine minuscules are divided. The inclusion of the article is supported by codices A, D, K, W, Γ, Δ, 0255, minuscules 28, 700, 1010, 1241, 1424 and Chrysostom. The parallel passage in Mark 14:5 adds the article. It is possible that the article is original being subsequently lost by parableptic error (τοις πτωχοις, thus missing the definite article “τοις”) or the addition a correction based on the parallel passage in Mark. The widespread nature of the omission, which is the harder reading, across the Byzantine, the Alexandrian and Caesarean transmission lines, makes it more probable. Therefore, the Greek text remains unchanged here.

[7] NA-Text and VgSt omit “ointment”. The omission is supported by codices א, A, B, D, L, W, Δ, Π, 0293, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscules 517, 565, 892 and 1675, old Latin, the Syriac versions and the Coptic versions, the Diatessaron and Jerome. The inclusion is supported by codices E, F, G, H, K, Γ, 0255, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscules 22, 28, 33, 579, 700, 1241, 1424, the Byzantine minuscules and 2 old Latin codices, Chrysostom and Theophylact. Ointment was probably added for clarification purposes in the context of a public lesson. Therefore, this noun has been omitted both in the Greek text and in the translation.

[8] NA-Text reads “ηργασατο”, same verbal tense spelled differently.

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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. 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.

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To God all the glory for the preservation of the scriptures! He reigns!