Luke 7:1-10 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Luke

Chapter 7

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1. επει δε[1] επληρωσεν παντα τα ρηματα αυτου εις τας ακοας του λαου εισηλθεν εις καφαρναουμ[2] And when he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum.

2. εκατονταρχου δε τινος δουλος κακως εχων ημελλεν τελευταν ος ην αυτω εντιμος Now a certain servant of a centurion, who was dear to him, was sick and at the point of death.

3. ακουσας δε περι του ιησου απεστειλεν προς αυτον πρεσβυτερους των ιουδαιων ερωτων αυτον οπως ελθων διασωση τον δουλον αυτου And when he heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant.

4. οι δε παραγενομενοι προς τον ιησουν παρεκαλουν αυτον σπουδαιως λεγοντες οτι αξιος εστιν ω παρεξει[3] τουτο And when they came to Jesus, they begged him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him,

5. αγαπα γαρ το εθνος ημων και την συναγωγην αυτος ωκοδομησεν ημιν for he loves our nation, and he built our synagogue for us.”

6. ο δε ιησους επορευετο συν αυτοις ηδη δε αυτου ου μακραν απεχοντος απο της οικιας επεμψεν προς αυτον ο εκατονταρχος[4] φιλους λεγων αυτω κυριε μη σκυλλου ου γαρ ειμι ικανος ινα υπο την στεγην μου εισελθης And Jesus went with them. But when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him[5], saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should come under my roof.

7. διο ουδε εμαυτον ηξιωσα προς σε ελθειν αλλ[6] ειπε λογω και ιαθησεται[7] ο παις μου For this reason I did not consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.

8. και γαρ εγω ανθρωπος ειμι υπο εξουσιαν τασσομενος εχων υπ εμαυτον στρατιωτας και λεγω τουτω πορευθητι και πορευεται και αλλω ερχου και ερχεται και τω δουλω μου ποιησον τουτο και ποιει For I am also a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

9. ακουσας δε ταυτα ο ιησους εθαυμασεν αυτον και στραφεις τω ακολουθουντι αυτω οχλω ειπεν λεγω υμιν ουδε[8] εν τω ισραηλ τοσαυτην πιστιν ευρον And when Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude who followed him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.”

10. και υποστρεψαντες οι πεμφθεντες εις τον οικον ευρον τον ασθενουντα δουλον υγιαινοντα And those who were sent, returning to the house, found that the servant who had been sick[9] was well.

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[1] NA-Text reads “επειδη”. Same meaning.

[2] NA-Text and Vg-St read “καφαρναουμ” (Latin equivalent: “Capharnaum”). For consistency, the Byzantine reading has been adopted (see footnote in Matt. 4:30).

[3] NA-Text reads “παρεξη” (second future middle deponent instead of future active).

[4] NA-Text reads “εκατονταρχης”. Same noun and declension with a different spelling.

[5] NA-Text omits “to him”. The evidence shows that this omission is local, probably to avoid superfluity in the text (sent friends to him, saying to him).

[6] M-Text reads “αλλ”, which is supported by codices א, D, Θ and Theophylact. The TR is supported by codex B. The contracted form has been adopted in the Greek text, following the M-Text.

[7] NA-Text reads “ιαθητω” (aorist imperative instead of future indicative). This is another local adjustment to the text supported by a few Alexandrian manuscripts only and reflected in Coptic versions. The future is widespread across all text-types, which includes codex Sinaiticus, the Latin scriptures and all the other versions, which is a strong sign of originality.

[8] M-Text reads “ουτε”. The TR is supported by codices א, B, Θ and Theophylact. Codex D reads “ουδεποτε”. The reading in the TR stands as the correct reading.

[9] NA-Text omits “who had been sick” (ασθενουντα). The inclusion is supported by all text-types. The Diatessaron is wrongly cited as a witness for the omission in the variant apparatus. It actually reads “and found that sick servant healed”. It is highly unlikely that everybody independently would have had the same idea of inserting the same word here without a parallel passage to suggest it. Verse 8 does not warrant a supposed addition by way of clarification, because nobody would confuse a general saying with the servant who was sick who had been mentioned in verses 2, 3 and 7. It is sufficiently clear in the context that this one servant is in view in this pericope. One possibility is that, very early, Alexandrian scribes adjusted the word order like this “ευρον τον δουλον ασθενουντα υγιαινοντα”, which made this word subject to accidental loss by parablepsis (ασθενουντα υγιαινοντα, thus missing “who had been sick”). Codex D has those two words side by side, exactly as I proposed here as the cause of this parabletic error.

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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!