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Edition 12 You May Leave Your Wife - Jesus Said So 6/15/19

One of many interesting textual variants between two noteworthy ancient New Testament manuscripts can be found in Matthew 19:29. The fourth century Codex Vaticanus (located in Rome) renders the verse:

καὶ πᾶς ὅστις ἀφῆκεν οἰκίας ἢ ἀδελφοὺς ἢ ἀδελφὰς ἢ πατέρα ἢ μητέρα ἢ τέκνα ἢ ἀγροὺς ἕνεκεν τοῦ ὀνόματός μου, ἑκατονταπλασίονα λήμψεται καὶ ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσει.

Codex Sinaiticus (Fourth Century, London) reads:

καὶ πᾶς ὅστις ἀφῆκεν ἀδελφοὺς ἢ ἀδελφὰς ἢ πατέρα ἢ μητέρα ἢ γυναῖκα ἢ τέκνα ἢ ἀγροὺς ἕνεκεν τοῦ εμου ὀνόματός , ἑκατονταπλασίονα λήμψεται καὶ ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσει.

The verse quotes Jesus Christ listing precious posessions His followers should be willing to leave behind. They include parents (πατέρα, μητέρα) and children(τέκνα) as well as property items(οἰκίας, ἀγροὺς). The significant variant is the wife (γυναῖκα). Sinaiticus includes her and Vaticanus does not. Obviously, something was changed in the transmission from some common antecedant document. That document is lost, but since the two manuscripts are in overwhelming general agreement, that variant and others indicate that the common source may be considerably older than either of them.

Manuscripts

Aleph (Hebrew letter א), also called codex Sinaiticus, is a copy of the New Testament, about 1700 years old, handwritten in Greek.  It contains all the books of the New Testament. It is located in London.

 A, also called codex Alexandrinus, is a copy of the New Testament, about 1600 years old, handwritten in Greek.  It contains all the books of the New Testament except the Revelation.  It is located in London.

B, also called codex Vaticanus, is a copy of the New Testament, about 1700 years old, handwritten in Greek.  It contains all the books of the New Testament except Revelation.  It is located in Rome.

Byz (abbrev. for Byzantine), represents a large number of New Testament Greek copies, about 900 years old.  They contain all the books of the New Testament.  Differences between the copies are minor.  They are located in various places.