Matthew 28:1-10 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Matthew

Chapter 28

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1. οψε δε σαββατων τη επιφωσκουση εις μιαν σαββατων ηλθεν μαρια[1] η μαγδαληνη και η αλλη μαρια θεωρησαι τον ταφον Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

2. και ιδου σεισμος εγενετο μεγας αγγελος γαρ κυριου καταβας εξ ουρανου [2] προσελθων απεκυλισεν τον λιθον [απο της θυρας] και εκαθητο επανω αυτου And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone [from the door][3] and sat on it.

3. ην δε η ιδεα[4] αυτου ως αστραπη και το ενδυμα αυτου λευκον ωσει[5] χιων His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

4. απο δε του φοβου αυτου εσεισθησαν οι τηρουντες και εγενοντο[6] ωσει[7] νεκροι And for fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men.

5. αποκριθεις δε ο αγγελος ειπεν ταις γυναιξιν μη φοβεισθε υμεις οιδα γαρ οτι ιησουν τον εσταυρωμενον ζητειτε And answering, the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified.

6. ουκ εστιν ωδε ηγερθη γαρ καθως ειπεν δευτε ιδετε τον τοπον οπου εκειτο ο κυριος He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord[8] was lying.

7. και ταχυ πορευθεισαι ειπατε τοις μαθηταις αυτου οτι ηγερθη απο των νεκρων και ιδου προαγει υμας εις την γαλιλαιαν εκει αυτον οψεσθε ιδου ειπον υμιν Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. Behold, I have told you.”

8. και εξελθουσαι[9] ταχυ απο του μνημειου μετα φοβου και χαρας μεγαλης εδραμον απαγγειλαι τοις μαθηταις αυτου And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring his disciples word.

9. [ως δε επορευοντο απαγγειλαι τοις μαθηταις αυτου] και ιδου ο[10] ιησους απηντησεν[11] αυταις λεγων χαιρετε αι δε προσελθουσαι εκρατησαν αυτου τους ποδας και προσεκυνησαν αυτω And [as they went to tell his disciples][12], behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” And they came and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.

10. τοτε λεγει αυταις ο ιησους μη φοβεισθε υπαγετε απαγγειλατε τοις αδελφοις μου ινα απελθωσιν εις την γαλιλαιαν κακει[13] με οψονται Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers that they should go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

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[1] NA-Text reads “μαριαμ” (indeclinable proper name instead of nominative singular feminine)

[2] NA-Text and Vg-St add “και” (Latin equivalent: “et”, which is translated as “and”). The inclusion is supported by codices א, B, the Diatessaron, Jerome and Chrysostom. Codices A, D, Θ, Dionysius of Alexandrian in the 200’s, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact support the non-inclusion. No need of correction.

[3] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “from the door”. The omission is supported by codices א, B, D, minuscules 700 and 892, the Syriac Sinaiticus and the Sahidic Coptic version, Dionysius of Alexandria and Jerome. The inclusion is supported by codices A, C, K, L, W, Δ, Γ, Θ, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 22, (28), 33, 157, 565, 579, 1010, 1241 and 1424, the Byzantine manuscripts, 3 old Latin codices (it^f, it^h and it^q), the Peshitta, the Harklean Syriac, the middle Ӕgyptian Coptic and the Bohairic Coptic version, the Diatessaron, Eusebius, Chrysostom and Theophylact. The preposition “απο” is not found in the parallel passage in Mark 16:3 as well as the addition “of the tomb” here in Matthew, which rules out possible harmonization to that passage. Harmonization to Matthew 27:60 is also not very likely because if that was the case, the Byzantine text would have to read “the door of the tomb”. On the other hand, the variation “from the door” and “from the door of the tomb” in the manuscripts supporting the inclusion is suggestive of secondary insertion. Besides, there is no reason for an omission, if these words are original. It is more prudent therefore to bracket these words given the strength of the external evidence in favor of the Byzantine text.

[4] NA-Text reads “ειδεα”. A different spelling, which is supported by codices A, B, C, D and some Byzantine manuscripts. The TR is supported by codex Θ, the Byzantine manuscripts, Dionysius of Alexandria (Epistle to Basilides, canon 1, 246-265 A.D), Chrysostom in the late 300's (homily 89 on the gospel of Matthew) and Theophylact. This word occurs only here in the New Testament. In all three occurrences in the LXX, it appears as “ιδεα” (see Gn. 5:3, Dan. 1:13, 15). Dionysius of Alexandria quoted Matthew 28:1-6 in the 200’s and he had the Byzantine “ιδεα”. Therefore, the Byzantine reading stands as the most ancient and the more correct.

[5] NA-Text reads “ωσ”. The support for this reading is good, but because internal harmonization in the verse with the first occurrence of “ωσ” cannot be ruled out, it is safer to not change the text here by maintaining the harder reading in the text. Same logic applies to the occurrence of this word in verse 4 in the Alexandrian text.

[6] NA-Text reads “εγενηθησαν” (passive deponent instead of middle deponent).

[7] NA-Text reads “ωσ”. See footnote in the previous verse.

[8] NA-Text omits “the Lord”.

[9] NA-Text omits “απελθουσαι”. Those two verbs are interchangeable.

[10] NA-Text and M-Text omit the definite article “ο”. The omission is supported by codices א, A, B, C, K, Δ, minuscules 28*, 565, 700, 892, 1010 and 1241, the Byzantine minuscules and Chrysostom. The inclusion is supported by codices D, L, W, Γ, Θ, 0148, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 28^c, 33 and 1424 and Theophylact. The TR is well supported and does not need correction.

[11] NA-Text omits “υπηντησεν”. Those two verbs are interchangeable.

[12] NA-Text and VgSt omit “And as they went to tell his disciples”. The omission is supported by codices א, B, D, W, Θ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscules 33, 69, 700, 788, 892, 1009, 1292, 1365, 1646 and 2680, 13 old Latin codices (it^a, it^aur, it^b, it^c, it^d, it^e, it^ff1, it^ff2, it^g1, it^h, it^l, itⁿ and it^r1), the Peshitta, the Palestinian Syriac, the Coptic versions, the Armenian, the Ethiopic^pp, the Georgian and the Slavic versions, Origen, Eusebius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Jerome, Augustine, Cyril of Alexandria and Chrysostom. The inclusion of the clause is supported by codices A, C, E, F, G, H, K, L, Δ, Π, Σ, Φ, 0148, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscules 28, 157, 180, 205, 565, 579, 597, 788, 828, 1006, 1010, 1071, 1079, 1195, 1216, 1230, 1241, 1242, (1243), 1253, 1342, 1344, 1424, 1505, 1546, 2148 and 2174, 2 old Latin codices (it^f and it^q), the Harklean Syriac, the Ethipic^ro, the Ethipic^TH and the Diatessaron and Theophylact. The clause may have been dropped accidentally by a scribal error caused by parablepsis (αυτου ως δε επορευοντο απαγγειλαι τοις μαθηταις αυτου, thus missing “And as they went to tell his disciples”), but it is hard to explain the widespread nature of the omission across all text-types, a diversity of versions and patristic witnesses in multiple places. It is more prudent to bracket this clause as doubtful. 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.

[13] M-Text reads “και εκει”, which is supported by codices א, Θ and part of the Byzantine minuscules. The TR is supported by codices B, D, part of the Byzantine minuscules, Chrysostom and Theophylact. Both are well supported, and they mean the same thing.

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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!