Chapter Three
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Luke 23:34
"then Jesus said, Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do.."
"a deliberate
excision by copyists who, considering the fall of Jerusalem to be proof that
God had not forgiven the Jews"?
Text missing in many important early manuscripts
Though this text
was in the 16th century Greek text from which the KJV was
translated, this text is missing in many important early manuscripts.
Some scholars believe that the text was in the original text; even those
who believe that it was not in the original text still believe that the
text represents an original tradition about Jesus at his crucifixion.
The textual commentaries below are representative of a variety of highly
qualified scholarly conclusions on the subject. They appear in the
reverse chronological order of the date of publication of the resource.
(www.bibletexts.com/verses/v-luk.htm)
- The Revised
English Bible (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1996,
includes the following footnote:
Some
witnesses omit Jesus said, 'Father...doing.'
- The New
American Bible (World Catholic Press, 1987, includes the following
footnote:
This portion
of v 34 does not occur in the oldest papyrus manuscript of Lk and in
other early Greek manuscripts and ancient versions of wide
geographical distribution.
- Jesus and the
New Age according to St. Luke: A Commentary on the Third Gospel, by
Frederick W. Danker (St. Louis: Clayton Publishing, 1972, page 237)
comments:
The prayer in
vs. 34 is in such harmony with the spirit of Luke's gospel and his
picture of Jesus that it is difficult to question its authenticity.
Yet is even more difficult to account for its omission in a number
of manuscripts. It has indeed been argued that the prayer was
omitted because of a conviction that the destruction of Jerusalem
was God's judgment for the crucifixion, but a similar omission does
not appear at Acts 2:38-39, where forgiveness is proclaimed to
Israel. It is more probable that the prayer uttered by Stephen (Acts
7:60) suggested a parallel utterance for the passion account. Also,
in its present position it interrupts Luke's sketch of the mockery
and destroys the dramatic impact of the word addressed to the
repentant outlaw (vs. 43). In vs. 43. If the words were originally
included by Luke, they inform the reader that Jesus did not threaten
his executioners, as the condemned were accustomed to do, but rather
accepted his death as a faithful witness should. Thus in the
Martyrdom of Isaiah (5:14) the prophet is praised for neither crying
aloud nor weeping when he was sawn apart. By contrast, the psalmist
cries for vengeance (Psalm 69:22-28; see on Luke 23:46).
- Black's New
Testament Commentaries: The Gospel According to St. Luke, by A.R.C.
Leaney (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1966, page 284) comments:
Father,
forgive them. The words have the support of S* A C Old Latin vg
syr. cur and pesh, Mcion Iren Or Aug, and their omission in other
MSS. may be due to the conviction, common in Gentile Christian
circles, that God did not forgive the Jews for the crucifixion, but
punished them for it by the destruction of Jerusalem. Cf. Origen,
Contra Celsum, vii. 42. Luke is in the main following Mark
closely here, and the words ascribed by him to the Lord may well be
due to his own pen, the motive being to show that the prisoner
himself did not condemn the Romans for their part in his execution.
(Cf. Acts iii. 17; xiii. 27; 1 Cor. ii. 8.)
- Westminster
Pelican Commentaries: Saint Luke, by G.B. Caird (Philadelphia:
Westminster, 1963, page 251) comments:
The prayer of
Jesus is omitted by Codex Vaticanus, Codex Bezae, and other
important manuscripts, but it is well attested in other manuscripts,
and most modern textual critics accept it as a genuine part of the
text. It could be taken to refer either to the Roman soldiers or to
all those responsible for the crucifixion. In the light of Acts
3:17, 19; 7:59f. it is probable that the sentence stood in the
original text of Luke and that Luke himself took it to refer to the
Jews. It has been suggested that the prayer may have been excised
from an early copy of the Gospel by a second-century scribe who
thought it incredible that God should pardon the Jews and, in view
of the double destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and 135, certain
that he had not in fact done so.
- Bruce Metzger, in
A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Second Edition
(New York: United Bible Societies, 1994, pages 154, writes:
The absence of
these words from... early and diverse... witnesses is most
impressive and can scarcely be explained as a deliberate excision by
copyists who, considering the fall of Jerusalem to be proof that God
had not forgiven the Jews, could not allow it to appear that the
prayer of Jesus had remained unanswered. At the same time, the
logion, though probably not a part of the original Gospel of Luke,
bears self-evident tokens of its dominical origin, and was retained,
within double square brackets, in its traditional place where it had
been incorporated by unknown copyists relatively early in the
transmission of the Third Gospel.
Luk 23:34
- My 180:28
- My 270:19
- Un 44:4
Dr. James F. Davis
"Another hesitation Alexandrian text proponents have in accepting
the critical text double brackets is the lack of parallels in other gospels
by which one could make a claim of assimilation. In fact it is difficult to
come up with a reason why the disputed text would be included in Luke if not
original and authentic. However, in support of the statement's authenticity,
some have reasonably proposed that Jesus' statement was intentionally
omitted by some scribes since it communicates an extremely gracious position
of forgiving the Jewish (and/or Roman) authorities for their unjust act.
This graciousness may have been untenable for some. Also, in view of the
destruction of the Temple and the Roman squashing of the Jewish revolt in 70
A.D. it may have been considered by some scribes that Jesus' prayer went
unanswered (i.e., judgment came instead of forgiveness). Both of these
possibilities offer a more reasonable explanation for intentional omission
than an a case for intentional addition." (Father
Forgive Them)
Ralph Bruce Terry
"The words that are omitted are enclosed by double brackets in the
UBS text, which means that the UBS Textual Committee felt that they were not
originally written by Luke. The fact that they are quoted by second century
writers such as Justin Martyr and Irenaeus and are found in the second
century Diatessaron, an early harmony of the four gospels by Tatian, is
proof that they are quite old. But unless one says that they were omitted by
copyists who thought that the destruction of Jerusalem meant that Jesus'
prayer was unanswered, the fact that they are missing from several early
manuscripts of different types of ancient text would seem to indicate that
they were not originally present. However, their age indicates that they may
be regarded as true scripture which has come to find its place here in the
canon." (Textual Variants)
T.L. Hubeart
The first half of this verse is
bracketed in certain modern versions, such as NRSV--in fact, UBS 4th ed.
marks both this omission and that of
Luke 22:43-44 as
being level "A," indicating that "the text [i.e., the omission] is certain."
This despite the impressive testimonies from several church fathers and
manuscripts testifying to both (including in both cases Irenaeus in the 2nd
century).
Clearly the early church regarded this saying of the Lord as authentic;
indeed, Burgon cites a great many more names (in The Revision Revised,
pp. 83-5) and considers the passage supported by "a torrent of Testimony
from every part of ancient Christendom" (ibid, p. 85). Also, internal
evidence that Jesus did utter this appears at Acts 7:60, where the dying
Stephen clearly speaks with this saying of the Lord in mind. (It should also
be noted that Theodoret ["Ecclesiastical History," Book V, ch. 4, in
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, Vol. 3], writing of the
martyrdom of Eusebius, cites these last words of Stephen in tandem with this
saying of Jesus, so that the link was clearly seen even in antiquity.)
After such impressive evidence, one can only wonder at the folly and
conceit of the UBS editors in considering the inauthenticity of the present
passage "certain"! For my part, I believe that the Lord said what
is attributed to Him, and that the attribution is from the hand of Luke. "
(Luke 23:34)
St. Aurelius
Augustine
"Let them be turned backward and put to
shame that wish me evil." "Turned backwards." Let us not take this in a bad
sense. He wishes them well; and it is His voice, who said from the Cross,
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Wherefore then doth
he, say to them, that they should return "backwards"? . (Exposition
of Ps. 40, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 8.)
Chrysostom (375)
"For indeed . . . great miracles
did He show forth, when lifted up, turning aside the sunbeams, bursting the
rocks, raising the dead, frightening by dreams the wife of him that was
judging Him, at the very judgment showing forth all meekness (which was of
power not less than miracles to gain them over), forewarning them of
countless things in the judgment hall; on the very cross crying aloud,
"Father, forgive them their sin." (Homily LXXIX on Matthew,
Nicene and Post-Nicene, series 1, Vol. 10.)
Expanded Ignatius
"And let us imitate the Lord, "who, when He was reviled, reviled not again;"
when He was crucified, He answered not; "when He suffered, He threatened
not;" but prayed for His enemies, "Father, forgive them; they know not what
they do." (Ch. 10 in the "Long Recension" to the Ephesians
[explained by Michael W. Holmes (Apostolic Fathers, p. 82) as "an
expanded version of the original letters [by Ignatius, c. 110 A.D.] created
in the fourth century"], Ante-Nicene, Vol. 1.)
Hippolytus of Rome
"Wherefore "they that sit in the
gate spoke against me," for they crucified me without the gate. "And they
that drink sang against me," that is, (they who drink wine) at the feast of
the passover. "But as for me, in my prayer unto Thee, O Lord, I said,
Father, forgive them," namely the Gentiles, because it is the time for favor
with Gentiles." ("Expository Treatise against the Jews,"
Ante-Nicene, Vol. 5.)
St. Irenaeus of Lyons
"And from this fact, that He exclaimed
upon the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," the
long-suffering, patience, compassion, and goodness of Christ are exhibited,
since He both suffered, and did Himself exculpate those who had maltreated
Him." ("Against Heresies," Book III, Ch. 18, Ante-Nicene
Fathers, Vol. 1.)
St.
Jerome
"I can return bite for bite, if I like;
when hurt myself, I can fix my teeth in my opponent. I too have had a
liberal education. . . . But I prefer to be a disciple of Him who says, "I
gave my back to the smiters... I hid not my face from shame and spitting."
When He was reviled He reviled not again. After the buffeting, the cross,
the scourge, the blasphemies, at the very last He prayed for His crucifiers,
saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." I, too,
pardon the error of a brother." ("Letter 50: To Domnio," Nicene
and Post-Nicene, series 2, Vol. 6.)
Pseudo-Clementines
"For the Teacher Himself, being nailed
to the cross, prayed to the Father that the sin of those who slew Him might
be forgiven, saying, "Father, forgive them their sins, for they know not
what they do." They also therefore, being imitators of the Teacher in their
sufferings, pray for those who contrive them, as they have been taught."
(Clementine Homilies," Homily XI, Ch. 20, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.
8).
Philip Mauro
(1921)
"The prophecy of the Seventy Weeks is manifestly an account,
given beforehand, of the second period of the national existence of the
Jewish people. They were to last as a nation only long enough to fulfill the
Scriptures, and to accomplish the supreme purpose of God, in bringing forth
the Messiah, and. putting Him to death. The time allotted for this was 490
years. This being accomplished, God had no further use for Israel.
His dealings thenceforth were to be with another people, that “holy
nation” (1 Peter 2:9), composed of all who believe the gospel, and who
“receive” the One Who was rejected by “His own” (John 1:11–13). Yet the
predicted judgment did not immediately follow; for Christ prayed for His
murderers in His dying hour, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what
they do” (Luke 23:34). In answer to that prayer the full probationary period
of forty years (AD 30 to AD 70) was added to their national existence,
during which time repentance and remission of sins was preached to them in
the Name of the crucified and risen One, and tens of thousands of Jews were
saved." (Seventy
Weeks, p. 32)
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