The gaps · 09 of 15 · A Latin extra
Two in the field
Even most Greek copies of Luke never had this line. Matthew already did.
Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Not in the BSB, WEB, or ASV main text.
The seam
01Two in one bed
Luke already has the pair at night. One taken, one left. The oldest copies then go to the grinding women, not to a field.
02Two women grinding
Same split. Luke’s two pairs. Matthew’s field is a third pair from another Gospel, written into some Latin Luke.
03Matthew’s field
Two men in the field; one taken, one left. The line is still on every page. Erasmus found it in the Latin and printed it as Luke 17:36.
In these copies
- Textus Receptus
- D, some Latin
- KJV
Not in these copies
- Sinaiticus
- Vaticanus
- majority of Greek copies
- BSB, WEB, ASV, NIV
Read it this way
Luke 17 has two in one bed, and two women grinding. The field pair is Matthew’s. Most Greek copies of Luke — including the Byzantine majority — never had 17:36. Erasmus put it in the printed Greek from the Latin, because the Latin had borrowed Matthew’s line so Luke would have the full set.
This is a KJV extra, not a modern deletion. WEB leaves it out. BSB leaves it out. ASV leaves it out. The saying lives in Matthew 24:40, in every Bible on this shelf. One taken, one left. The field is not gone from the Gospel. It was never Luke’s third pair in the oldest Greek.
When a post says “they took two men in the field out of Luke,” ask which Luke. It is the Latin one, and the printed one. It is not the Greek books the church had been reading.
Still on the page: Matthew 24:40 — Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
Some say“Two men in the field” was deleted.
This is a KJV extra, not a modern deletion. The saying lives in Matthew.
KJV
on the page
WEB
not printed
BSB
not printed
ASV
not printed