Why does the NWT omit Mt 23:14?

by Splash 7 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  Splash

  MT 23:14 does not appear in the NWT, but does appear in many other translations:

  (ASV) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, even while for a pretence ye make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive greater condemnation.

  (DRB) Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour the houses of widows, praying long prayers. For this you shall receive the greater judgment.

  (ISV) "How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows' houses and say long prayers to cover it up. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation!

  (KJV) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

  (LITV) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour the houses of widows, and pray at length as a pretext. Because of this you will receive more abundant judgment.

  (MKJV) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and pray at length as a pretense. Therefore you shall receive the greater condemnation.

  (NWT) (OMITTED TEXT)

  (Webster) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

  (YLT) `Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye eat up the houses of the widows, and for a pretence make long prayers, because of this ye shall receive more abundant judgment.
• 

  Iamallcool

  Great Question (bookmarking)
• 

  Iamallcool

  Can anyone call Brooklyn to ask that question?
• 

  VM44

  Question:

  How come every single Bible I have ever seen (I mean every kind, every version, every one) has a verse missing. The verse is Matthew 23:14 . It's like it doesn't exist, the Bible goes 13 then 15 but no 14. Look at any Bible and I can almost guarantee that it is not there!

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  Answer:

  You will find the verse in the footnotes on that page in the versions that do not include it in the main text. The reason some of the modern versions remove it is discussed in the NET Bible: "The most important mss (Aleph B D L Z Θ Ë1 33 892* pc and several versional witnesses) do not have 23:14 “Woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ property, and as a show you pray long prayers! Therefore you will receive a more severe punishment.” Part or all of the verse is contained (either after v. 12 or after v. 13) in W 0102 0107 Ë13 Ï and several versions, but it is almost certainly not original. The present translation follows NA27 in omitting the verse number as well, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations. Note also that Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 are very similar in wording and are not disputed textually."

  Basically, some the older manuscripts that are felt to be more reliable don't have this verse. The question then is did someone long ago forgot to copy it and the omission got repeated in several manuscripts, or did someone accidently copy a note a person made from one of the parallel accounts. Since it is close to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 , a number of scholars lean toward the accidental insertion theory.

  Since it is debated, there are different ways it is handled. The more conservative versions: the New King James Version, the New American Standard Bible, the English Standard Version, and the Holman Christian Standard note the dispute with brackets around the text or a footnote. The more liberal versions: The New International Version, the Revised Standard Version, the New Revised Standard Version, and the New Century Version leave the verse out, but put it in their footnotes.

  Whichever way is the actual truth, the point to remember is that it doesn't make much difference. As noted, it is in the parallel accounts of Mark and Luke, so no information is being lost or added.
• 

  blondie

  Other English translations [edit]

  O = omitted in main text.
  B = bracketed in the main text – The translation team and most biblical scholars today believe were not part of the original text. However, these texts have been retained in brackets in the NASB and the Holman CSB. [25]
  F = omission noted in the footnote.
  B+F = bracketed in the main text and omission noted in the footnote.

  Bible translation

  Passage

  NIV

  NASB

  NKJV

  RSV

  NRSV

  ESV

  NCV

  TLB

  REB

  HCSB

  AMP

  CEB

  CJB

  CEV

  ERV

  GW

  EXB

  GNT

  Knox

  LEB

  MSG

  Mounce

  NET

  NIrV

  NLV

  NLT

  OJB

  Matthew 9:34

  F

  Matthew 12:47

  O

  F

  F

  F

  F

  O

  F

  F

  F

  F

  Matthew 17:21

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  F

  F

  B

  F

  O

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  F

  Matthew 18:11

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  F

  F

  B

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  Matthew 21:44

  F

  O

  F

  F

  F

  B

  F

  O

  F

  F

  F

  F

  O

  F

  Matthew 23:14

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  F

  B

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  Mark 7:16

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  F

  B

  F

  O

  O

  O

  F

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  Mark 9:44

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  F

  B

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  Mark 9:46

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  F

  B

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  Mark 11:26

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  F

  B

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  B

  Mark 15:28

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  F

  F

  B

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  B

  Mark 16:9–20

  F

  B

  F

  F

  F

  B

  F

  F

  B

  F

  B

  F

  F

  B

  F

  B

  B

  B

  B

  Luke 17:36

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  F

  B

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  Luke 22:20

  F

  F

  F

  O

  F

  Luke 22:43

  F

  B

  F

  O

  F

  B

  F

  F

  F

  B+F

  B

  F

  Luke 22:44

  F

  B

  F

  O

  F

  B

  F

  F

  F

  F

  B+F

  B

  F

  Luke 23:17

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  F

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  B

  Luke 24:12

  O

  F

  F

  O

  F

  Luke 24:40

  F

  F

  F

  F

  F

  John 5:4

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  F

  F

  B

  O

  O

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  B

  O

  B

  John 7:53–8:11

  F

  B

  F

  O

  F

  B

  F

  F

  B

  F

  B

  B+F

  B

  Acts 8:37

  O

  B

  F

  O

  F

  F

  O

  F

  F

  B

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  B

  O

  B

  Acts 15:34

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  B

  Acts 24:7

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  F

  B

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  B

  Acts 28:29

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  F

  B

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  B

  Romans 16:24

  O

  B

  F

  O

  O

  F

  O

  F

  B

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  F

  O

  O

  O

  O

  O

  B

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bible_verses_not_included_in_modern_translations
• 

  Vidqun

  For those interested in the fine detail:

  23:13 Ο?α? δ? ?μ?ν … ε?σελθε?ν . {A}

  That ver. 14 is an interpolation derived from the parallel in Mk 12:40 or Lk 20:47 is clear (a) from its absence in the earliest and best authorities of the Alexandrian and the Western types of text, and (b) from the fact that the witnesses that include the passage have it in different places, either after ver. 13 (so the Textus Receptus) or before ver. 13. [1]

  23:14 omit verse {A}

  Verse 14 is not included in the earliest and best manuscripts of the Alexandrian and the Western types of text. Copyists have clearly added it from the parallel text in Mark 12:40 or Luke 20:47; this is confirmed by the fact that some copyists added it before v. 13, and others added it after v. 13. [2]

  ---

  {A} {A} The letter {A} signifies that the text is certain.

  [1] Metzger, B. M., & United Bible Societies. (1994). A textual commentary on the Greek New Testament, second edition a companion volume to the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament (4th rev. ed.) (50). London; New York: United Bible Societies.

  [2] Omanson, R. L., & Metzger, B. M. (2006). A Textual Guide to the Greek New Testament: An adaptation of Bruce M. Metzger's Textual commentary for the needs of translators (41). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.
• 

  Splash

  What great, insightful responses, thank you!

  So what we're saying then, is that the NWT adheres to the highest standards and oldest texts when rendering its' translation.

  Splash.
• 

  Vidqun

  A huge criticism levelled against the New World Translation Committee is that they used the antiquated Westcott & Hort text (1881). In the Introduction to the Nestle-Aland text (26th edition), Aland says the following:

  From the perspective of our present knowledge, this local-genealogical method (if it must be given a name) is the only one which meets the requirements of New Testament textual tradition. The results are any but identical with those of Westcott-Hort, as the occasional ironic reference to the Standard Text as ‘Westcott-Hort redivivus’ would have it. This text (cf. App. II, p. 717 ff.) differs from the text of Westcott-Hort in numerous and quite significant points. Besides, the whole manuscript scene has changed radically since their day. The manuscript basis for Westcott-Hort’s work dates from IV century; the text of the II century could be reconstructed only by inference from agreements of the Western text (meaning the V century Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis) with the Old Syriac and the Old Latin. Today the early papyri provide a wide range of witnesses to the text of about 200 A.D., and these are Greek witnesses. The view is becoming increasingly accepted today that neither Codex Bezae nor the Old Syriac derives directly from the II century. Similarly, the idea of a “Neutral text” has been retired. Neither Codex Vaticanus nor Codex Sinaiticus (nor even p75 of two hundred years earlier) can provide a guideline we can normally depend upon for determining the text. The age of Westcott-Hort and of Tischendorf is definitely over!