A Textual Commentary On The Greek NT

Matthew 6:33

Matthew 6:33 th.n basilei,an @tou/ qeou/# kai. th.n dikaiosu,nhn auvtou/ {C}

The textual data are susceptible of quite diverse evaluations. On the one hand, according to the opinion of a minority of the Committee, the reading that best explains the rise of the other readings is that supported by a (B) it¹ al, inasmuch as the addition of tou/ qeou/ (or tw/n ouvranw/n) after basilei,an seems to be an altogether natural supplement, which, if present originally, would not have been deleted. (The transposition of dikaiosu,nhn and basilei,an in B is perhaps the result of the desire to suggest that righteousness is prerequisite to participation in the kingdom; compare Matthew 5:20.)

On the other hand, a majority of the Committee was impressed by the prevailing usage of Matthew, who almost never employs basilei,a without a modifier (the instances in Matthew 8:12; Matthew 13:38; Matthew 24:7, Matthew 24:14 were regarded as special exceptions), and explained the absence of a modifier in several witnesses as due to accidental scribal omission. In view of these conflicting interpretations, it was thought best to include the words in the text but to enclose them within square brackets.

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A Textual Commentary On The Greek NT

Matthew 6:33

Old Testament

New Testament