Luke 2:41-52 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Luke

Chapter 2

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41. και επορευοντο οι γονεις αυτου κατ ετος εις ιερουσαλημ τη εορτη του πασχα And his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover.

42. και οτε εγενετο ετων δωδεκα αναβαντων[1] αυτων [εις ιεροσολυμα] κατα το εθος της εορτης And when he was twelve years old, they went up [to Jerusalem][2] according to the custom of the feast;

43. και τελειωσαντων τας ημερας εν τω υποστρεφειν αυτους υπεμεινεν ιησους ο παις εν ιερουσαλημ και ουκ εγνω ιωσηφ και η μητηρ αυτου and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and his mother[3] did not know it,

44. νομισαντες δε αυτον εν τη συνοδια ειναι ηλθον ημερας οδον και ανεζητουν αυτον εν τοις συγγενεσιν[4] και εν[5] τοις γνωστοις but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day’s journey, and they looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances.

45. και μη ευροντες αυτον[6] υπεστρεψαν εις ιερουσαλημ αναζητουντες[7] αυτον And when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for him.

46. και εγενετο μεθ[8] ημερας τρεις ευρον αυτον εν τω ιερω καθεζομενον εν μεσω των διδασκαλων και ακουοντα αυτων και επερωτωντα αυτους And it happened that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

47. εξισταντο δε παντες οι ακουοντες αυτου επι τη συνεσει και ταις αποκρισεσιν αυτου And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

48. και ιδοντες αυτον εξεπλαγησαν και προς αυτον η μητηρ αυτου ειπεν τεκνον τι εποιησας ημιν ουτως ιδου ο πατηρ σου καγω οδυνωμενοι εζητουμεν σε And when they saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Behold, your father and I were looking for you in great distress.”

49. και ειπεν προς αυτους τι οτι εζητειτε με ουκ ηδειτε οτι εν τοις του πατρος μου δει ειναι με And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?”

50. και αυτοι ου συνηκαν το ρημα ο ελαλησεν αυτοις And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them.

51. και κατεβη μετ αυτων και ηλθεν εις ναζαρεθ[9] και ην υποτασσομενος αυτοις και η μητηρ αυτου διετηρει παντα τα ρηματα ταυτα[10] εν τη καρδια αυτης Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

52. και ιησους προεκοπτεν [11] σοφια και ηλικια και χαριτι παρα θεω και ανθρωποις And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

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[1] NA-Text omits “to Jerusalem”, which is supported by codices א, B, D, L, W, minuscules 579 and 1241, the Syriac Sinaiticus, the Peshitta, the Coptic versions and the Diatessaron. The omission is supported by codices A, C^vid, K, N, Δ, Θ, Ψ, 0130, minuscules 33, 565, 700, 892, 1424, 2542, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, the Latin codices, the Harklean Syriac, the Bohairic Coptic version and Theophylact. It is possible that “to Jerusalem” was added for clarification here or removed to avoid superfluity once Jerusalem had been already mentioned in the previous verse. It is more prudent to bracket these words in the Greek text and the translation.

[2] NA-Text reads “αναβαινοντων” (present instead of second aorist).

[3] Or “his parents” (NA-Text and Vg-St, Latin equivalent: “parentes eius”), which is supported by codices א, B, D, L, W, Θ, minuscules 1, 13, 33, 157, (700) and 1241, the old Latin codices it^a and it^e, the Syriac Sinaiticus, a note in the margin of the Harklean Syriac version, the Sahidic and Bohairic Coptic versions and Bede. The TR is supported by codices A, C, X, Γ, Δ, Λ, Π, Ψ, 0130, minuscules 28, 543, 565, 892, 1071 and 1424, the old Latin codices, the Peshitta, the Harklean Syriac version and some manuscripts of the Bohairic Coptic version, the Diatessaron and Theophylact. The external support for the Alexandrian reading is better. The Byzantine reading has been maintained in the main text though due to the risk of harmonization to verse 41 that read “his parents” where the same “οι γονεις” is employed. Also, verse 41 talks about “his parents”, verse 42 “he” with verse 43 being more specific about identifying Jesus by name and the parents by giving the father’s name and the spouse associated with him following a natural progression in the narrative. In that sense, “parents” appears to be an interruption in the way the narrative is growing from the less to the more specific characters. The “he” becomes the “boy Jesus” and “his parents” becomes “Joseph and his mother”.

[4] NA-Text reads “συγγενευσιν”. Same word, different spelling.

[5] NA-Text omits “εν”.

[6] NA-Text and Vg-St omit the pronoun “αυτον”. This omission is supported by codices א, B and D. The inclusion is supported by codex Θ, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. This pronoun may have been removed for being considered redundant once the same pronoun appears at the end of the verse that can work as indirect object for both verbs or missed in a parableptic error caused by visual homoeoteleuton (αυτον υπεστρεψαν, thus missing “him”).

[7] NA-Text reads “αναζητουντες”, which is supported by codices א², B, C, D, L, W, Θ, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 33, 892 and 1241. The TR is supported by codices א*, A, Ψ and 0130. The support for the Alexandrian verb is superior. The verb has been adjusted following the NA-Text, even though this change does not affect translation.

[8] NA-Text reads “μετα”. Same word, different spelling.

[9] M-Text reads “ναζαρετ”. See footnote in Mark 1:9.

[10] NA-Text omits “ταυτα” and renders “all the sayings”. This omission is likely the result of a parableptic error caused by visual homoeoteleuton (ρηματα ταυτα, thus missing “these”). A scribe noticed the error in codex Sinaiticus and corrected it in the 600’s.

[11] NA-Text adds in brackets “εν τη” on a weak support of codices א and L.

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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!