Acts 13:18

And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness.

And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness, [ etropoforeesen (G5159)]. This reading has indeed excellent support, ['Aleph (') B C D G H, etc.; the Vulgate; the Peshito Syriac (margin); and of the fathers, Chrysostom, Theophylact, etc.] But the other reading-given in the margin of our English Bible, and differing from the former by only one letter [ etrofoforeesen (G5159)], which means: 'carried,' 'tended,' or 'cherished' them (as a nurse the infant in her bosom) - has nearly equal external evidence [A C E, a number of cursives, and both Syriac versions], while the internal evidence in its favour seems conclusive. For the apostle is not here setting forth (as was Stephen's great object) the ingratitude and rebellion of Israel in the wilderness, but making it his object in every verse to point out how much God had done for them. Besides, in Deuteronomy 1:31 - where Moses says, "thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son" - the word used by the Septuagint is the very one here employed by the apostle, according to the corrected text (compare Numbers 11:12). We confidently conclude, therefore, with nearly all good critics, that this is the true reading.