Luke 4:1-13 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Luke

Chapter 4

---

1. ιησους δε πνευματος αγιου πληρης υπεστρεψεν απο του ιορδανου και ηγετο εν τω πνευματι εις την ερημον[1] And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness

2. ημερας τεσσαρακοντα[2] πειραζομενος υπο του διαβολου και ουκ εφαγεν ουδεν εν ταις ημεραις εκειναις και συντελεσθεισων αυτων υστερον επεινασεν for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days. And when they were ended, he afterward[3] was hungry.

3. και[4] ειπεν αυτω ο διαβολος ει υιος ει του θεου ειπε τω λιθω τουτω ινα γενηται αρτος And the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

4. και απεκριθη προς αυτον ο[5] ιησους λεγων γεγραπται οτι ουκ επ αρτω μονω ζησεται ο[6] ανθρωπος αλλ επι παντι ρηματι θεου But Jesus answered him, saying[7], “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God[8].’”

5. και αναγαγων αυτον ο διαβολος εις ορος υψηλον εδειξεν αυτω πασας τας βασιλειας της οικουμενης εν στιγμη χρονου And leading him up on a high mountain, the devil[9] showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

6. και ειπεν αυτω ο διαβολος σοι δωσω την εξουσιαν ταυτην απασαν και την δοξαν αυτων οτι εμοι παραδεδοται και ω εαν θελω διδωμι αυτην And the devil said to him, “I will give you all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

7. συ ουν εαν προσκυνησης ενωπιον εμου[10] εσται σου πασα[11] If you, then, will worship before me, it will all be yours.”

8. και αποκριθεις αυτω ειπεν ο ιησους [υπαγε οπισω μου σατανα] γεγραπται προσκυνησεις κυριον τον θεον σου και αυτω μονω λατρευσεις And answering, Jesus said to him,“[Get behind me, Satan!][12] It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve.’”

9. και[13] ηγαγεν αυτον εις ιερουσαλημ και εστησεν αυτον[14] επι το πτερυγιον του ιερου και ειπεν αυτω ει [15] υιος ει του θεου βαλε σεαυτον εντευθεν κατω And he led him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here,

10. γεγραπται γαρ οτι τοις αγγελοις αυτου εντελειται περι σου του διαφυλαξαι σε for it is written, ‘He shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you;’

11. και [16] επι χειρων αρουσιν σε μηποτε προσκοψης προς λιθον τον ποδα σου and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

12. και αποκριθεις ειπεν αυτω ο ιησους οτι ειρηται ουκ εκπειρασεις κυριον τον θεον σου And answering, Jesus said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

13. και συντελεσας παντα πειρασμον ο διαβολος απεστη απ αυτου αχρι καιρου And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

---

[1] NA-Text reads “εν τη ερημω” (preposition “in” in the dative case instead of accusative).

[2] NA-Text reads “τεσσερακοντα”. Same word, different spelling.

[3] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “afterward”. This omission is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ and Bede. The inclusion is supported by codex A, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The Diatessaron adds “in the end” in a conflation with the parallel passage in Matthew 4:2. This word may have been lost by parablepsis (αυτων υστερον επεινασεν, thus missing “afterward”). This is not a safe correction to the text.

[4] NA-Text and Vg-St read “δε”, which is placed after the verb (Latin equivalent: “autem”), which is supported by codices א, B, D and Bede. The TR is supported by codex Θ, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The meaning is the same.

[5] NA-Text and P-Text add the definite article before the proper noun “Jesus”, which is supported by codices א, B, D and Θ. The omission is supported by the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The inclusion of the article and the word order has been adjusted following the NA-Text.

[6] M-Text omits the definite article “ο”, which is supported by the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact.  The inclusion is supported by codices א, B, D and Θ. The TR is well supported and does not need correction.

[7] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “saying”, which is supported by codices א, B, D and Bede. The inclusion is supported by codex Θ, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The parallel passage in Matthew 4:4 omits “saying”. This is not a safe correction to the text.

[8] NA-Text omits “but by every word of God”. This omission is found in Alexandrian majuscules, which is a sign of editing of the text at a local level. The idea that this is an addition from the Septuagint in Deuteronomy 8:3 or the parallel passage in Matthew 4:4 is not likely because both passages read “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”. Only 0.4% of the Greek manuscripts omit this clause.

[9] NA-Text omits “on a high mountain, the devil” likely due a scribal error caused by visual homoeoteleuton (αυτον ο διαβολος εις ορος υψηλον, thus missing “on a high mountain, the devil”). The support for this omission is found in majuscules of Alexandrian type only, which is an indication of an error at a local level.

[10] NA-Text, WPF³⁵ and M-Text read “εμου”, which is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ and the Byzantine manuscripts. The TR is supported by Theophylact. The Greek text has been adjusted following the NA-Text and the M-Text.

[11] NA-Text, PT, WPF³⁵ and M-Text read “πασα”, which is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The Greek text has been adjusted following the NA-Text and the M-Text.

[12] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “Get behind me, Satan”. The omission is supported by codices א, B, D, L, W, Ξ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, minuscules 33, 579, 700, 892*, 1241 and 2542, the Syriac Sinaiticus, the Peshitta, the Sahidic Coptic version and Bede. The Bohairic Coptic version is divided. The inclusion is supported by codices A, Θ, Ψ, 0102, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, the Byzantine manuscripts, old Latin, the Harklean Syriac version and Theophylact. Justin Martyr quoted these words, but we don’t know from which gospel. External evidence is strong on both sides. These words may have been added to the text from the parallel passage in Matthew 4:10 in the Byzantine text. There is no apparent reason for a removal, but because of the strength of the external evidence, it has been kept within brackets in the text. The “γαρ” found in the TR and the P-Text is not well supported and has been removed from the Greek text. As a side note, the Complutensian Polyglot added this clause in the Greek column, which is Byzantine and omitted it in the Latin column.

[13] NA-Text reads “δε”, which is placed after the verb. The meaning is the same.

[14] NA-Text omits “αυτον” (him).

[15] NA-Text, WPF³⁵, PT and M-Text omit the definite article “ο”, which is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The article has been removed from the Greek text following the NA-Text and the M-Text.

[16] M-Text omits “οτι”, which is supported by codices D, Γ, Δ, 0102, minuscule 700, the Byzantine manuscripts, the old Latin codices, the Syriac Sinaiticus, the Peshitta, the Sahidic Coptic, part of the Bohairic Coptic version and Theophylact. The inclusion is supported by codices א, B and Θ. There are two possibilities to account for this omission. One is visual homoieuteleuton (οτι επι, thus missing “οτι”) or removal to avoid superfluity once this conjunction is found at the beginning of the citation of psalm 91:11 in the previous verse. But external evidence is against those two possibilities. It is more probable that it was added to mimic the wording in the previous verse before the citation of the psalm. This word has then been dropped from the Greek text following the M-Text. 

 ----

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.

---

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