Luke 20:19-26 - Revision of the Textus Receptus

The gospel according to Luke

Chapter 20

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19. και εζητησαν οι αρχιερεις και οι γραμματεις επιβαλειν επ αυτον τας χειρας εν αυτη τη ωρα και εφοβηθησαν τον λαον εγνωσαν γαρ οτι προς αυτους την παραβολην ταυτην ειπεν And the chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him that very hour, but they feared the people[1]—for they knew he had spoken this parable against them.

20. και παρατηρησαντες απεστειλαν εγκαθετους υποκρινομενους εαυτους δικαιους ειναι ινα επιλαβωνται αυτου λογου εις το[2] παραδουναι αυτον τη αρχη και τη εξουσια του ηγεμονος And they watched him and sent out spies, who pretended to be righteous, that they might trap him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the power and authority of the governor.

21. και επηρωτησαν αυτον λεγοντες διδασκαλε οιδαμεν οτι ορθως λεγεις και διδασκεις και ου λαμβανεις προσωπον αλλ επ αληθειας την οδον του θεου διδασκεις So they asked him, saying, “Teacher, we know that you say and teach what is right, and show no partiality[3], but truly teach the way of God.

22. εξεστιν ημιν[4] καισαρι φορον δουναι η ου Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

23. κατανοησας δε αυτων την πανουργιαν ειπεν προς αυτους τι με πειραζετε But perceiving their craftiness, he said to them, “Why do you tempt me?[5]

24. δειξατε[6] μοι δηναριον τινος εχει εικονα και επιγραφην αποκριθεντες δε ειπον[7] καισαρος Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” And answering, they said, “Caesar’s.”

25. ο δε ειπεν αυτοις[8] αποδοτε τοινυν τα καισαρος καισαρι και τα του θεου τω θεω And he said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

26. και ουκ ισχυσαν επιλαβεσθαι αυτου ρηματος εναντιον του λαου και θαυμασαντες επι τη αποκρισει αυτου εσιγησαν And they were not able to trap him in his words before the people. And marveling at his answer, they were silent.

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[1] M-Text and WPF³⁵ omit “the people”, which is supported by the Byzantine manuscripts. The TR is supported by codices א, A, B, C, D, Θ and Theophylact. This omission is most certainly a copyist error in the Byzantine transmission line and this is because the other transmission lines along with the Latin scriptures and a minority of Byzantine manuscripts have preserved this word in the text. The cause is possibly visual homoeuteleuton (εφοβηθησαν τον λαον, thus missing “the people”).

[2] NA-Text reads “ωστε”. Those can be used interchangeably.

[3] Gr.: “do not receive a face”.

[4] NA-Text reads “ημας” (accusative instead of dative), which is supported by codices א, A, B, L, family of manuscripts ƒ¹³, minuscules 33 and 1241. The dative is supported by codices C, D, W, Θ, Ψ, family of manuscripts ƒ¹, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. No need of correction.

[5] NA-Text omits “why do you tempt me?”. If there was a harmonization to Matthew 22:18 or Mark 12:15 to create the Byzantine reading, we would expect to find the word “hypocrites” or “hypocrisy”. This is a simplification or a scribal error found primarily in the Alexandrian transmission line reflected in the Coptic versions. The Byzantine, the Caesarean and the Western text types along with the Latin scriptures and the Syriac versions all read “why do you tempt me?”. It is highly unlikely that everybody in all other transmission lines would have the same idea of adding the same clause to the verse without any other element of the parallel passages.

[6] NA-Text and P-text read “δειξατε”, which is supported by codices א, A, B, D and Θ (διξατα). The TR is supported by codex C, the Byzantine manuscripts and Theophylact. The intensifier found in the Byzantine verb has been dropped following the NA-text.

[7] NA-Text reads “οι δε ειπαν”, which drops “answering” from the text.

[8] NA-Text reads “προς αυτους”. Same meaning.

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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. M-Text^RP - Majority Text compiled by Maurice Robinson & William Pierpont;

6. M-Text^HF - Majority Text compiled by Zane Hodges & Arthur Farstad; 

7. Vg-St: Vulgate of Stuttgart;  

8. WPF³⁵: Wilbur Pickering-family 35;

9. P-Text: Patriarchal Text, also known as Patriarchal Greek New Testament, published by the ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

10. 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!