Matthew 28:11-20 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Matthew

Chapter 28

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11. πορευομενων δε αυτων ιδου τινες της κουστωδιας ελθοντες εις την πολιν απηγγειλαν τοις αρχιερευσιν απαντα τα γενομενα Now while they were going, behold, some of the guards came into the city and told the chief priests all the things that had happened.

12. και συναχθεντες μετα των πρεσβυτερων συμβουλιον τε λαβοντες αργυρια ικανα εδωκαν τοις στρατιωταις And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,

13. λεγοντες ειπατε οτι οι μαθηται αυτου νυκτος ελθοντες εκλεψαν αυτον ημων κοιμωμενων saying, “Say that his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept.

14. και εαν ακουσθη τουτο επι του ηγεμονος ημεις πεισομεν αυτον και υμας αμεριμνους ποιησομεν And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him[1] and make you secure.”

15. οι δε λαβοντες τα αργυρια εποιησαν ως εδιδαχθησαν και διεφημισθη ο λογος ουτος παρα ιουδαιοις μεχρι της σημερον[2] And taking the money, they did as they were told. And this saying has been spread among the Jews to this day.

16. οι δε ενδεκα μαθηται επορευθησαν εις την γαλιλαιαν εις το ορος ου εταξατο αυτοις ο ιησους Now the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.

17. και ιδοντες αυτον προσεκυνησαν οι δε εδιστασαν And when they saw him, they worshipped [3], but some doubted.

18. και προσελθων ο ιησους ελαλησεν αυτοις λεγων εδοθη μοι πασα εξουσια εν ουρανω και επι [4] γης And coming near, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

19. πορευθεντες ουν μαθητευσατε παντα τα εθνη βαπτιζοντες αυτους εις το ονομα του πατρος και του υιου και του αγιου πνευματος Therefore[5] go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20. διδασκοντες αυτους τηρειν παντα οσα ενετειλαμην υμιν και ιδου εγω μεθ υμων ειμι πασας τας ημερας εως της συντελειας του αιωνος teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always until the end of the age.” [6].

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[1] NA-Text brackets “him”.

[2] NA-Text adds “ημερας” in brackets. VgSt adds “diem”. The inclusion of “day” is supported by codices B, D, L, Θ, minuscule 569, 13 old Latin codices, the Palestinian Syriac, the Armenian, the Georgian and the Slavic version, Origen^lat, Chrysostom, Jerome and Augustine. I was not able to find any reference to verse 15 in Chrysostom’s homily 90. The apparatus may be wrong by citing him as a witness to the inclusion. The non-inclusion is supported by codices א, A, E, F, G, H, K, W, Y, Δ, Π, Σ, 074, 0148^vid, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 28, 33, 157, 180, 205, 565, 579, 597, 700, 892, 1006, 1010, 1071, 1241, 1243, 1292, 1342, 1424, 1505, the Byzantine minuscules, 1 old Latin codex and the Ethiopic version, the Diatessaron, Origen^gr and Theophylact. Matthew wrote the word “σημερον” 8 times in the gospel and in no instance, it was followed by the word “day”. In Matt. 11:23 he uses the same “μεχρι της σημερον” without “ημερας” following both in the Byzantine and Alexandrian texts. Therefore, the inclusion of “day” at the end of the verse has likely not come from Matthew’s pen.

[3] NA-Text and VgSt omit “him”. The omission is supported by codices א, B, D, minuscule 33, 13 old Latin codices (it^a, it^aur, it^b, it^c, it^d, it^e, it^f, it^ff1, it^ff2, it^g1, it^h, it^l and itⁿ), Eusebius, Jerome and Chrysostom. The Palestinian Syriac version is divided. The inclusion is supported by codices A, K, W, Δ, Γ, Θ, Π, 074, 0148, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 22, 28, 157, 346, 565, 579, 700, 892, 1009, 1010, 1071, 1079, 1195, 1216, 1230, 1241, 1242, 1253, 1344, 1365, 1546, 1646, 2148 and 2174, the Byzantine minuscules, the old Ltin codex it^q, the Peshitta, the Ethiopic, the Harklean Syriac, the Bohairic and Sahidic Coptic versions, the Armenian and the Georgian versions, the Diatessaron, Didymus the Blind and Theophylact. The pronoun was probably added here under the influence of the pronoun accompanying the same verb in verse 9. Therefore, the pronoun has been dropped from the text.

[4] NA-Text adds in brackets a definite article before “γης”. The support for the omission is much better and includes codex Sinaiticus.

[5] M-Text omits “Therefore”. The omission is supported by codices א, A, 0148, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscules 28, 69, the Byzantine minuscules, Irenaeus^lat, Chrysostom and Theophylact. The Bohairic Coptic version is divided. The inclusion is supported by codices B, D (“νυν” possibly a copyist error from “ουν”), W, Δ, Θ, 074, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscules 33, 565, 892, 1010 and 1241, old Latin, the Syriac versions, the Coptic versions, the Diatessaron (“now”, same reading as codex D) and Jerome. With strong versional support decidedly in favor of the inclusion plus good support from majuscules of different text-types, it is safer to not change the text here.

[6] NA-Text and VgSt omit “Amen”. The omission is supported by codices א, A*, B, D, W, 074, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscule 33, 8 old Latin codices, some manuscripts of the Palestinian Syriac, the Coptic versions, the Armenian, the Georgian¹, the Georgian^B, the Ethiopic^pp, Ethiopic^TH, the Diatessaron, Origen^vid, Chrysostom, Jerome, Cyril of Alexandria and Theophylact. The Bohairic Coptic version is divided. The inclusion is supported by codices A², E, F, G^supp, H, K, Δ, Θ, Π, Σ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscules 28, 118, 157, 180, 205, 565, 579, 597, 700, 892, 1006, 1009, 1010, 1071, 1079, 1195, 1216, 1230, 1241, 1242, 1243, 1253, 1292, 1342, 1344, 1365, 1424, 1505, 1546, 1646, 2148 and 2174, the Byzantine minuscules, 6 old Latin codices, the Peshitta, the Harklean Syriac, some manuscripts of the Palestinian Syriac, the Ethiopic^ro, the Ethiopic^ms and the Georgian^A versions. It is possible that the omission came about by influence of the Diatessaron. Given that Mark 16:16 follows Matthew 28:20, the “amen” is not found between those two texts in Tatian’s harmony of the gospels. On the other hand, “amen” is a common addition at the end of some letters in the New Testament. Early patristic witnesses and early codices support the non-inclusion here. Therefore, this word has been dropped from the text following the NA-Text.   

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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!