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 · 03 of 15 · Seven woes, not eight

Widows’ houses

Seven woes in the oldest Matthew. Eight if you copy Mark’s extra one in.

King James (1611)
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.
Berean Standard Bible
Not in the BSB main text. The woes continue at 23:13, 15.

The seam

  1. 01Seven woes

    Matthew 23:13

    The oldest Matthew goes 13 then 15. Seven woes, not eight. The skip in the numbers is a later eighth finding a chair.

  2. 02Mark already named the widows

    Mark 12:40

    They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These will receive greater condemnation. Mark’s sentence, still on the page.

  3. 03Luke says it too

    Luke 20:47

    The same woe, in the same week, in another Gospel. You do not need Matthew 23:14 to hear Him protect the widow.

In these copies

  • Byzantine majority
  • KJV, WEB

Not in these copies

  • Sinaiticus
  • Vaticanus
  • Bezae
  • early Alexandrian
  • BSB, ASV, NIV

Read it this way

Matthew 23 is a list of woes. The oldest copies have seven. They run 13, 15, 16 — the numbers skip 14 because a later eighth woe was slotted in, and the printers kept the slot. Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 already carry this woe: widows’ houses, long prayers, the greater condemnation.

A scribe who had just copied Matthew’s seven, and who knew Mark’s extra one, often wrote it among the others so none would be “missing.” That is not how you hide a saying of Jesus. That is how you make sure a saying you already have in Mark is also in Matthew.

Jesus still says it — in Mark and in Luke, in every Bible on this shelf. Matthew’s oldest copies simply never listed that woe here. Seven was the list He walked in this Gospel.

Still on the page: Mark 12:40 — They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.

Some sayA woe of Jesus was struck out.

Jesus still says it — in Mark and in Luke. Matthew’s oldest copies simply never listed that woe here.

  • KJV

    on the page

  • WEB

    on the page

  • BSB

    not printed

  • ASV

    not printed

Open Matthew 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.