Luke 1:67-80 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Luke

Chapter 1

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67. και ζαχαριας ο πατηρ αυτου επλησθη πνευματος αγιου και επροφητευσεν[1] λεγων And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,

68. ευλογητος κυριος ο θεος του ισραηλ οτι επεσκεψατο και εποιησεν λυτρωσιν τω λαω αυτου “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people;

69. και ηγειρεν κερας σωτηριας ημιν εν τω[2] οικω δαυιδ του[3] παιδος αυτου and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David

70. καθως ελαλησεν δια στοματος των αγιων των[4] απ αιωνος προφητων αυτου as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been from of old,

71. σωτηριαν εξ εχθρων ημων και εκ χειρος παντων των μισουντων ημας salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;

72. ποιησαι ελεος μετα των πατερων ημων και μνησθηναι διαθηκης αγιας αυτου to show mercy to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant,

73. ορκον ον ωμοσεν προς αβρααμ τον πατερα ημων the oath which he swore to Abraham our father,

74. του δουναι ημιν αφοβως εκ χειρος των εχθρων ημων[5] ρυσθεντας λατρευειν αυτω to grant to us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,

75. εν οσιοτητι και δικαιοσυνη ενωπιον αυτου πασας τας ημερας [6] ημων in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

76. και συ [7] παιδιον προφητης υψιστου κληθηση προπορευση γαρ προ προσωπου κυριου ετοιμασαι οδους αυτου And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the face of the[8] Lord to prepare his ways,

77. του δουναι γνωσιν σωτηριας τω λαω αυτου εν αφεσει αμαρτιων αυτων to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins,

78. δια σπλαγχνα ελεους θεου ημων εν οις επεσκεψατο[9] ημας ανατολη εξ υψους because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the sunrise from on high has visited us,

79. επιφαναι τοις εν σκοτει και σκια θανατου καθημενοις του κατευθυναι τους ποδας ημων εις οδον ειρηνης to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

80. το δε παιδιον ηυξανεν και εκραταιουτο πνευματι και ην εν ταις ερημοις εως ημερας αναδειξεως αυτου προς τον ισραηλ And the child grew and became strong in spirit and was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

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[1] NA-Text reads “επροφητευσεν”, same verbal tense, different spelling, which is supported by codices א, A, B and Θ. The TR is supported by Theophylact. The spelling has been adjusted accordingly.

[2] NA-Text omits the definite article “τω”

[3] NA-Text omits the definite article “του”.

[4] NA-Text omits “των” and renders “his holy prophets from of old”.

[5] NA-Text omits “τω” and “ημων” and renders “from the hand of enemies”. The omission may have been caused by visual homoeoteleuton (των εχθρων ημων, thus missing the article and the pronoun). The inclusion is strongly supported by the collective witness of all text-types, all minuscules except 1546* that was later corrected to include these words, the versions and the fathers. And the inclusion is what has been preserved in the Latin scriptures as attested by the vulgate of Stuttgart and the Clementine vulgate and in the Greek scriptures as found in the Byzantine compilations PT, WPF³⁵ and the M-Text. The Complutensian Polyglot also read “our enemies” in both the Greek and the Latin columns, even though the definite article “τω” is missing in the Greek text.

[6] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “life” and render “all our days” (Gr.: “πασαις ταις ημεραις ημων”, Latin equivalent: “omnibus diebus nostris”). This omission is supported by papyrus 4, codices א A, B, C, D, L, R, W, Ψ, 0130, 0177, minuscules 565 and 1035, the Diatessaron and Irenaeus (Against heresies, 4:20:4). The inclusion is supported by codices Γ, Θ, 053, both family of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 28 and 1424, the Byzantine manuscripts, the Syriac Sinaiticus manuscript, Origen and Theophylact. The omission is supported by all text types and a good assortment of early witnesses. “life” was probably added to improve the meaning of the clause. “Life” has then been omitted from the Greek text and the translation, following the Byzantine reading in the accusative according to codices א, A, C, D, R, Ψ, 0130, 0177, Origen and Theophylact and not the dative from the NA-Text.

[7] NA-Text adds “δε” and renders “And you also”.

[8] NA-Text omits “the face of” and renders “you will go before the Lord”. This omission has the limited support of the Alexandrian text whereas the inclusion is supported by all text-types, including some Alexandrian majuscules.

[9] NA-Text reads “επισκεψεται” (future instead of aorist). 

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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. Vg-St: 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!