Philip W. Comfort on Luke 22:17–20

  

Luke 22:17–20

 

TR WH NU       ¹⁷ καὶ δεξάμενος ποτήριον εὐχαριστήσας εἶπεν· λάβετε τοῦτο καὶ διαμερίσατε εἰς ἑαυτούς· ¹⁸ λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν, [ὅτι] οὐ μὴ πίω ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ γενήματος τῆς ἀμπέλου ἕως οὗ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἔλθῃ. ¹⁹ καὶ λαβὼν ἄρτον εὐχαριστήσας ἔκλασεν καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς λέγων· τοῦτο ἐστιν τὸ σῶμα μου τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν διδόμενον· τοῦτο ποιεῖτε εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνάμνησιν. ²⁰ καὶ τὸ ποτήριον ὡσαύτως μετὰ τὸ δειπνῆσαι, λέγων· τοῦτο τὸ ποτήριον ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη ἐν τῷ αἵματι μου τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐκχυννόμενον.

“¹⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks for it, he said, ‘Take this and share it among yourselves. ¹⁸ For I tell you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the Kingdom of God comes.’ ¹⁹ Then he took a loaf of bread; and when he had given thanks for it, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ ²⁰ And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’ ”

𝔓⁷⁵ א A B C L T W Δ Θ Ψ f^,13 it^c syr^p cop^sa,

kjv nkjv rsv nrsv esv nasb niv tniv nebmg rebmg njb nab nlt hcsb net

 

variant 1          omit 22:19b–20, yielding this translation:

“¹⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks for it, he said, ‘Take this and share it among yourselves. ¹⁸ For I tell you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the Kingdom of God comes.’ ¹⁹ Then he took a loaf of bread; and when he had given thanks for it, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body.’ ”

D it^,d,i, Didache

nkjvmg rsvmg nrsvmg esvmg nasbmg neb reb nabmg nltmg hcsbmg netmg

 

variant 2          transposed order (22:19a, 17, 18)

“^19a Then he took a loaf of bread; and when he had given thanks for it, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body.’ ¹⁷Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks for it, he said, ‘Take this and share it among yourselves. ¹⁸ For I tell you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the Kingdom of God comes.’ ”

it^b,

none

 

variant 3          transposed order (22:19, 17, 18)

“¹⁹ Then he took a loaf of bread; and when he had given thanks for it, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ ¹⁷Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks for it, he said, ‘Take this and share it among yourselves. ¹⁸ For I tell you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the Kingdom of God comes.’ ”

syr^c

none

 

variant 4          transposed order (22:19, 20a, 17, 20b, 18)

“¹⁹ Then he took a loaf of bread; and when he had given thanks for it, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ ^20a And after supper, ¹⁷ he took a cup, and when he had given thanks for it, he said, ‘Take this and share it among yourselves; ^20b this is my blood of the new covenant. ¹⁸ For I tell you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the Kingdom of God comes.’ ”

syr^s

none

 

variant 5          shortened version (22:19–20)

“¹⁹ Then he took a loaf of bread; and when he had given thanks for it, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ ²⁰ And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’ ”

syr^p

none

 

All Greek manuscripts except D testify to the presence of Luke 22:19b–20 in the account of the Last Supper. Very likely, the Bezaean editor (D) was puzzled by the cup/bread/cup sequence, and therefore deleted this portion, but in so doing the text was left with the cup/bread sequence, contrary to Matt 26:26–28; Mark 14:22–24; and 1 Cor 11:23–26. As far as we know, the Bezaean order is found only in the Didache 9.2–3 and some Old Latin manuscripts. The other four variants show translators’ attempts to resolve the same problem of cup/bread/cup, but their deletions and transpositions produce the more usual bread/cup sequence. The Bezaean editor, Latin translators, and Old Syriac translators must not have realized that the cup mentioned in 22:17 was the cup of the Passover celebration, occupying 22:15–18. Going back to 22:16, it seems clear that the food of the Passover is implied when Jesus speaks of never again eating it until the kingdom of God is realized. Then, according to 22:17–18, Jesus passed around a cup of wine, again saying that he would not drink of it until the kingdom of God came. Thus, 22:16–18 has its own bread/cup sequence as part of the Passover meal. Following this, 22:19–20 has the bread/cup sequence of the new covenant.

 

All the translations except the neb and reb include this portion, though several provide a marginal note as to its omission. Tasker (1964, 422–423) provides a lengthy discussion as to why the translators of the neb did not include Luke 22:19b–20. The reb persists in leaving the shorter reading in the text. (Philip W. Comfort, New Testament Text and Translation Commentary: Commentary on the Variant Readings of the Ancient New Testament Manuscripts and How They Relate to the Major English Translations [Carol Stream, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2008], 231-32)