Luke 11:1-13 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Luke

Chapter 11

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1. και εγενετο εν τω ειναι αυτον εν τοπω τινι προσευχομενον ως επαυσατο ειπεν τις των μαθητων αυτου προς αυτον κυριε διδαξον ημας προσευχεσθαι καθως και ιωαννης εδιδαξεν τους μαθητας αυτου Now it happened, that he was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

2. ειπεν δε αυτοις οταν προσευχησθε λεγετε πατερ [ημων ο εν τοις ουρανοις] αγιασθητω το ονομα σου ελθετω η βασιλεια σου [γενηθητω το θελημα σου ως εν ουρανω και επι της γης] And he said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘[Our] Father [who is in heaven][1], hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come. [Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven][2].

3. τον αρτον ημων τον επιουσιον διδου ημιν το καθ ημεραν Give us each day our daily bread.

4. και αφες ημιν τας αμαρτιας ημων και γαρ αυτοι αφιεμεν[3] παντι οφειλοντι ημιν και μη εισενεγκης ημας εις πειρασμον [αλλα ρυσαι ημας απο του πονηρου] And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation [but deliver us from evil][4].’”

5. και ειπεν προς αυτους τις εξ υμων εξει φιλον και πορευσεται προς αυτον μεσονυκτιου και ειπη αυτω φιλε χρησον μοι τρεις αρτους And he said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

6. επειδη φιλος μου παρεγενετο εξ οδου προς με και ουκ εχω ο παραθησω αυτω for a friend of mine[5] has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,’

7. κακεινος εσωθεν αποκριθεις ειπη μη μοι κοπους παρεχε ηδη η θυρα κεκλεισται και τα παιδια μου μετ εμου εις την κοιτην εισιν ου δυναμαι αναστας δουναι σοι and answering from within, he will say, ‘Do not bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give to you’?

8. λεγω υμιν ει και ου δωσει αυτω αναστας δια το ειναι αυτου φιλον δια γε την αναιδειαν αυτου εγερθεις δωσει αυτω οσων[6] χρηζει I say to you, although he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

9. καγω υμιν λεγω αιτειτε και δοθησεται υμιν ζητειτε και ευρησετε κρουετε και ανοιγησεται υμιν “And I say to you, ask and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you.

10. πας γαρ ο αιτων λαμβανει και ο ζητων ευρισκει και τω κρουοντι ανοιγησεται[7] For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

11. τινα δε εξ[8] υμων τον πατερα αιτησει ο υιος αρτον μη λιθον επιδωσει αυτω η[9] και ιχθυν μη αντι ιχθυος οφιν επιδωσει αυτω “And what father among you, if a son asks for bread, will give him a stone?[10] Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?

12. η και εαν αιτηση ωον μη[11] επιδωσει αυτω σκορπιον Or if he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion?

13. ει ουν υμεις πονηροι υπαρχοντες οιδατε δοματα αγαθα διδοναι τοις τεκνοις υμων ποσω μαλλον ο πατηρ ο εξ ουρανου δωσει πνευμα αγιον τοις αιτουσιν αυτον If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

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[1] NA-Text and Vg-St read “Father” instead of “Our Father who is in heaven”, which is supported by papyrus 75, codices א, B, minuscules 1, 700, 1342, the old Latin codex it^aur, the Syriac Sinaiticus, Tertullian^vid, Origen and Bede. Codex L, the Armenian version and Cyril of Alexandria (confirmed by the sense in his commentary as he compared the wording in Matthew and Luke) read “our Father”. The full clause is supported by codices A, C, D, E, F, G, H, K, P, W, X, Δ, Θ, Π, Ψ, 070, families of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscules 28, 33^vid, 157, 180, 205, 565^supp, 579, 597, 892, 1006, 1009, 1010, 1071, 1079, 1195, 1216, 1230, 1241, 1242, 1243, 1253, 1292, 1344, 1365, 1424 ,1505 (1546), 1646, 2148, 2174, the Byzantine manuscripts, the old Latin codices (it^a), (it^c), (it^ff2), (itⁱ), it^b, it^d, it^e, it^f, it^l, it^q, it^r1(vid), the Curetonian Syriac, the Peshitta, the Harklean Syriac, the Sahidic Coptic, the Bohairic Coptic, the Ethiopic, the Georgian, the Slavic version, the Diatessaron and Theophylact. Tertullian is not a strong witness for the Alexandrian reading because in his book 4 against Marcion, he does not quote this verse, but simply asks: “to whom can I say, ‘Father’?”, referring to the subject of our prayers as he went through the gospel of Luke in his treatise against Marcion (Against Marcion, book 4, chapter 26). And Epiphanius does not accuse Marcion of having tempered with this verse (Panarion, Against the marcionites, Ch. 42). Origen in the 200’s is properly cited in the apparatus as a witness for the Alexandrian reading as he points out in his treatise on prayer the different readings in Matthew and Luke for the Lord’s prayer. So, Papyrus 75 and Origen confirm that this reading is very ancient. Yet, Cyril of Alexandria’s manuscript was not the same, which is an indication of variation in Egypt. On the other hand, the full clause is overwhelmingly found in Greek manuscripts of multiple text types. The Latin scriptures that preserved the shorter reading have several manuscripts containing the full clause along with the Western codex D, which may suggest that Jerome shortened this clause in his revision of the Latin vulgate, based on what he found in the writings of Origen. The Sahidic Coptic version that normally attests Alexandrian readings, this time has the longer reading along with almost all versions. Minuscule 1241 that so closely adheres to codices א and B has the longer reading here. So, even though harmonization to Matthew 6:9 or liturgical memory can explain the longer reading, it is not prudent to remove this clause all together and go against such a strong level of attestation in its favor. Therefore the longer reading has been bracketed to represent the tension between internal and external evidence from Greek manuscripts. The shorter reading is what the Latins had been reading in their churches for at least a millenium, so it is not wrong to allow for both readings here. As a sidenote, the Greek column in the Complutensian Polyglot, which is Byzantine, included this clause while the Latin column omitted it.

[2] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven”. See previous footnote with some variation here, but notice that codex Sinaiticus does not omit this clause.

[3] NA-Text reads “αφιομεν”. Same verbal tense spelled differently.

[4] NA-Text and Vg-St omit “but deliver us from evil”. See footnote in verse 2 with the difference that the Sahidic Coptic, the Armenian and the Georgian version support the omission here. The omission is a valid textual variant.

[5] M-Text and WPF³⁵ omit “of mine”, which is supported by the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The inclusion is supported by codices א, B, D (μοι), Θ and the Latin scriptures. No need of correction.

[6] M-Text and WPF³⁵ read “οσον” (accusative instead of genitive), which is supported by codex D and the Byzantine manuscripts. The TR is supported by codices א, B, Θ and Theophylact. No need of correction.

[7] NA-Text reads “ανοιγ[ησ]εται” and renders “is open” as a possible alternative.

[8] NA-Text, P-Text and Vg-St add “εξ” (Latin equivalent: “ex”) and render “what father among you”, which is supported by codices א, B, D and Θ. The omission is supported by the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The preposition has been added to the text, following the NA-Text.

[9] M-text, P-Text, WPF35 and Vg-St read “η”, which is translated as “Or” (Latin equivalent: “aut”), which is supported by codices א, A, C, D, E, G, H, K, L, W, X, Δ, Θ, Π, Ψ, both families of manuscripts ƒ¹ and ƒ¹³, minuscules 28, 33, 157, 180, 205, 597, 700, 892, 1006, 1009, 1010, 1071, 1079, 1195, 1216, 1230, 1243, 1253, 1292, 1342, 1344, 1365, 1424, 1505, 1546, 2148, 2174, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. It is evident that this is an error in the Textus Receptus that has been corrected following the NA-Text and the M-text.

[10] NA-Text omits “for bread, will give him a stone? Or” and renders “if a son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?”. The longer reading is well supported by all text types, including codex Sinaiticus, and the Latin scriptures.

[11] NA-Text omits “εαν… μη” and renders “or will ask for an egg” and removes the negative in the last clause.

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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!