Luke 5:27-39 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Luke

Chapter 5

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27. και μετα ταυτα εξηλθεν και εθεασατο τελωνην ονοματι λευιν καθημενον επι το τελωνιον και ειπεν αυτω ακολουθει μοι And after these things he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office. And he said to him, “Follow me!”

28. και καταλιπων απαντα[1] αναστας ηκολουθησεν[2] αυτω And leaving everything, he rose up and followed him.

29. και εποιησεν δοχην μεγαλην [3] λευις αυτω εν τη οικια αυτου και ην οχλος τελωνων πολυς και αλλων οι ησαν μετ αυτων κατακειμενοι And Levi made a great feast for him in his house. And there was a great crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining at table with them.

30. και εγογγυζον οι φαρισαιοι και οι γραμματεις αυτων προς τους μαθητας αυτου λεγοντες δια τι μετα των[4] τελωνων και αμαρτωλων εσθιετε και πινετε And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

31. και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν προς αυτους ου χρειαν εχουσιν οι υγιαινοντες ιατρου αλλ[5] οι κακως εχοντες And answering, Jesus said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick do.

32. ουκ εληλυθα καλεσαι δικαιους αλλα αμαρτωλους εις μετανοιαν I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

33. οι δε ειπον[6] προς αυτον δια τι[7] οι μαθηται ιωαννου νηστευουσιν πυκνα και δεησεις ποιουνται ομοιως και οι των φαρισαιων οι δε σοι εσθιουσιν και πινουσιν And they said to him, “Why do the disciples of John often fast and make prayers, likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink?”

34. ο δε [8] ειπεν προς αυτους μη δυνασθε τους υιους του νυμφωνος εν ω ο νυμφιος μετ αυτων εστιν ποιησαι νηστευειν[9] And he said to them, “Can you make the sons of the bridechamber fast while the bridegroom is with them?

35. ελευσονται δε ημεραι και οταν απαρθη απ αυτων ο νυμφιος τοτε νηστευσουσιν εν εκειναις ταις ημεραις But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”

36. ελεγεν δε και παραβολην προς αυτους οτι ουδεις επιβλημα ιματιου καινου επιβαλλει[10] επι ιματιον παλαιον ει δε μηγε και το καινον σχιζει[11] και τω παλαιω ου συμφωνει[12] το επιβλημα[13] το απο του καινου And he also told a parable to them. “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old garment, or else he tears the new, and also the piece from the new does not match the old.

37. και ουδεις βαλλει οινον νεον εις ασκους παλαιους ει δε μηγε ρηξει ο νεος οινος τους ασκους και αυτος εκχυθησεται και οι ασκοι απολουνται And no one puts new wine into old wine skins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.

38. αλλα οινον νεον εις ασκους καινους βλητεον και αμφοτεροι συντηρουνται But new wine must be put into fresh wine skins, and both are preserved[14].

39. και[15] ουδεις πιων παλαιον ευθεως θελει νεον λεγει γαρ ο παλαιος χρηστοτερος[16] εστιν And no one having drunk old wine immediately[17] desires new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”

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[1] NA-Text reads “παντα”.

[2] NA-Text reads “ηκολουθει” (imperfect instead of aorist).

[3] NA-Text, P-Text, WPF³⁵ and M-Text omit the definite article “ο” before the proper noun “Levi”, which is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ and the Bzyantine manuscripts. The inclusion of the article is supported by Theophylact. The article has been removed from the Greek text following the NA-Text and the M-Text.

[4] NA-Text, P-Text, WPF³⁵ and M-Text add the definite article “των”, which is supported by codices א, B, D, Θ and the Bzyantine manuscripts. The omission of the article is supported by Theophylact. The article has been added to the Greek text following the NA-Text and the M-Text.

[5] NA-Text reads “αλλα”. Non-contracted form of the same conjunction.

[6] NA-Text reads “ειπαν”, same verbal tense, different spelling.

[7] NA-Text omits “δια τι”, thus turning the question into a statement. This is a local adjustment to the text, found in Alexandrian majuscules and reflected in the Coptic versions and is the result of an internal harmonization in this pericope. In verse 30, the scribes and pharisees ask a question with “δια τι”. In verse 31, Luke says “And answering, Jesus said to them”. Alexandrian scribes then would have concluded that the absence of the same “answering” in verse 34 would have been an indication that there shouldn’t be a question with “δια τι” in verse 33, thus removing those two words from the text. The collective witness of majuscules of all text types, including the original reading in codex Sinaiticus, the minuscules, the fathers and the versions is overwhelmingly against this scribal adjustment found in the NA-Text.

[8] NA-Text adds the proper noun “ιησους” (Jesus).

[9] NA-Text reads “νηστευσαι” (aorist instead of present), which is likely a scribal conformation to the verbal tense of the precending verb “ποιησαι”. This is a local adjustment found in some Alexandrian majuscules.

[10] NA-Text reads “ουδεις επιβλημα απο ιματιου καινου σχισας επιβαλλει” and renders “no one tears a piece from a garment and puts it on an old garment”.

[11] NA-Text and P-Text read “σχισει” (future instead of present), which is supported by codices א, B and D. The present is supported by codex Θ, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. No need of correction.

[12] NA-Text reads “συμφωνησει” (future instead of present).

[13] NA-Text and P-Text read “το επιβλημα” with the addition of “το”, which is supported by papyrus 4^vid, codices א, B, C, L, W, Θ, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 33, 579, 700, 892, 1241, 1424, 2542 and Theophylact. The TR is supported by codex D. M-Text and WPF³⁵ omit “επιβλημα”, which is supported by codices A, Ψ and the Byzantine manuscripts. This omission in the Byzantine text is likely due to a scribal error caused by parablepsis (το επιβλημα το, thus missing “the piece”). This error in the Byzantine text strongly suggests that the “το” missing in the TR is original. Therefore, the text has been adjusted following the NA-Text and the PT.

[14] NA-Text omits “and both are preserved”. This omission in the Alexandrian transmission line can be either the product of a parableptic error (και αμφοτεροι συντηρουνται και, thus missing “and both are preserved”; or και αμφοτεροι συντηρουνται, thus missing “and both are preserved”) or harmonization to the parallel passage in Mark 2:22, which reads verbatim the Lukan text. Harmonization to Matthew 9:17 is less likely because the verb in Matthew is different and it was not transferred to Luke. Only 1.1% of the Greek manuscripts omit this clause that is supported by all text-types, the Latin scriptures and the collective witness of the versions including the Harklean Syriac, the Armenian, the Georgian, the Slavic, the Gothic, the Peshitta and some manuscripts of the Bohairic Coptic version. Also, the Diatessaron reflecting a text from the 100’s includes this clause.

[15] NA-Text brackets “και”. The support against this omission is vert robust and includes the original reading in codex Sinaiticus.

[16] NA-Text reads “χρηστος” (“good” instead of “better”). It makes more sense that Luke would have used the comparative degree “χρηστοτερος” (better) by comparing the quality of new and old wines. Luke used “χρηστος” (good) in Luke 6:35 to mean that God is good once there was no comparison between God and another person. The reading found in the NA-Text is possibly the product of a parableptic error (χρηστοτερος, thus creating accidentally the word “χρηστοτερος”), which may have passed unnoticed once the resulting word is not non-sensical in this context. There is no reason in context or a parallel passage for the expansion of the short word and it is hard to believe that Byzantine, Caesarean and some Alexandrian scribes would all have had the same idea of crafting the same modified word. An accidental error in the Alexandrian transmission line is much more probable.

[17] NA-Text omits “immediately”. One possibility is that scribes felt that “immediately” does not fit a proverb that is meant to function as a general rule, meaning, if someone drinks old wine, he does not desire new at any time, not just right after one drinks it. The inclusion of this adverb is supported by Alexandrian, Byzantine and Caesarean majuscules, the Latin scriptures and the Syriac versions. It highly unlikely that everybody would have had the same idea of inserting the same word at the same place without anything in the immediate context to suggest it and the absence of a parallel passage in Mark and Luke. This word evidently belongs in the original 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. Vg-St: Vulgate of Stuttgart;  

7. WPF³⁵: Wilbur Pickering-family 35;

8. P-Text: 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!