The copies

Witness

Matthew jumps a verse. The prayer stops. Two strokes decide God or He.

Walk the copies. KJV often keeps the longer reading. BSB follows the older books. When a post says theft, we show you the page. A missing verse is often still in Mark. This is not a decoder ring for villains.

The gaps

A line sits in the KJV and not in the oldest copy. It is often still in Mark or Luke.

01Fasting02Lost03Widows04Ears05Worm06Forgive07Numbered08Fire09Field10Barabbas11Angel12I believe13Goads14Silas15Grace

The joins

An Amen was added. A hard stop was kept. Sweat like blood is argued. A woman the church would not lose.

01Amen02Ending03Sweat04Woman

The words

The copies disagree on God or He, on blood, on three that testify, and on God or Son.

01Comma02Blood03God or He04Son of God05God or Son

The gaps · 10 of 15 · Barabbas without the note

Release one at the feast

Matthew and Mark already explain Barabbas. Luke’s oldest copies do not pause to say it.

King James (1611)
For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.
Berean Standard Bible
Not in the BSB main text.

The seam

  1. 01They cried out, Barabbas

    Luke 23:18

    Away with this Man. Release Barabbas to us. Luke already has the choice. The oldest copies do not pause to legislate the feast.

  2. 02Matthew explains the custom

    Matthew 27:15

    At the feast the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner. Still on the page. Luke’s later copies borrowed the note.

  3. 03Mark explains it too

    Mark 15:6

    Now at the feast he used to release one prisoner. Two Gospels already told you. Luke 23:17 is the third telling, in later books.

In these copies

  • Byzantine majority
  • KJV, WEB

Not in these copies

  • p⁷⁵
  • Vaticanus
  • A, L, T
  • BSB, ASV, NIV

Read it this way

Luke 23 already has Barabbas. The crowd cries for him. Pilate wants to release Jesus. The oldest copies do not stop to explain the custom. They assume you know it, or they assume you have read Mark.

Matthew 27:15 and Mark 15:6 already tell you: at the feast the governor used to release a prisoner. A later Luke copy added the note so a reader of Luke alone would understand why Barabbas is even on the table. That is a courtesy, written in. It is not the only place the custom lives.

Papyrus 75 does not have the verse. Vaticanus does not. BSB follows them. WEB and KJV print the courtesy. The custom is in the other Gospels. Luke’s oldest copies walk past the footnote and stay with the crowd.

Still on the page: Matthew 27:15 — At the feast the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner.

Some sayThey hid the custom of releasing a prisoner.

The custom is in the other Gospels. Luke’s oldest copies assume you know it.

  • KJV

    on the page

  • WEB

    on the page

  • BSB

    not printed

  • ASV

    not printed

Open Luke 23

The line the text already walks — that is Foretold. Words you already say out loud sit in Words with weight. Witness is when the copies do not match.