Matt 1:25 τον υιον αυτης τον πρωτοτοκον

A few witnesses (ℵ B Zvid 071vid 1 33 788 1192 1582* it mae1 [sy-c sa bo]) depart from the consensus and read simply υιον instead of τον υιον αυτης τον πρωτοτοκον, which latter expression Bengel (Apparatus, 93) and others suggest entered here from Luke 2:7, an explanation Whitney (1:58–61) calls "pure conjecture." The older nature of the longer reading is established by its presence in a completely Matthean sequence of Tatian's Diatessaron (2.1–7 = Matt 1:18–25), a fact openly conceded by Hort (Appendix, 8) and other critics such as von Soden (1:3) and corroborated by its appearance in the Latin translation of Ephrem's commentary, where it is quoted three times as primogenitum (cf. Mösinger, 25). Mill (Prolegomena, §18), Wettstein (1:239), Griesbach (1:17), Meyer (35), and others suggest that the shorter reading originated in a diligent but futile attempt to suppress the notion that Mary gave birth to more babies after Jesus was born (Griesbach logically suggests the same motivation behind the omission of πριν η συνελθειν αυτους in two manuscripts in 1:18). Fritzsche (55) calls this explanation absurd, arguing instead that the phrase was omitted on account of its clearly superfluous appearance, since the child of one expressly referred to as a virgin (1:23) would obviously be her firstborn. Griesbach plainly states that it appears less probable that the phrase was moved to this place from Luke 2:7, and additional evidence confirms his judgment. The probability is great that the appearance of τεξεται υιον not only once in 1:21 but again in 1:23 would have influenced a careless scribe to repeat the manner of expression upon the third appearance of the verb τικτω in so short a space, namely, she shall bear a son . . . she shall bear a son . . . she bore a son). Assimilation to the nearby context is always more probable than harmonization to a remote parallel, especially (so Whitney) if the error occurred in the earliest of times before Matthew's gospel travelled alongside others. Whitney further argues on grammatical grounds that Matthew at the very least would not have written υιον without the definite article after it appeared without such in 1:21 and 1:23 in anticipation of the son that was to be born, pointing to the addition of τον or αυτης or both by scribes who perceived the problem created by earlier scribes, and that πρωτοτοκον completes the idea that Joseph did not "know" Mary until after Jesus' birth, indicating, as is suggested elsewhere (Matt 12:46; 13:55, 56; Mark 6:3, etc.), that Joseph and Mary later had children together. Intrinsically, as Whitney states, the expression is "just what might be expected to have been written by this evangelist." The authenticity of τον υιον αυτης τον πρωτοτοκον is to be preferred not only because it has second-century attestation and remarkable internal arguments in its favor but primarily because of its presence in the overwhelming consensus of all Greek manuscripts (ca. 1450 manuscripts), including important representatives from every texttype (C D E K L M S U V W Γ Δ Π 087 565 892, etc.); thus the internal evidence merely corroborates the conclusion already called for by the external evidence due to the apparent habitual accuracy of the consensus Greek text.

Text und Textwert #4 results:

1    τον υιον αυτης τον πρωτοτοκον
04 05* 07 017 021 022 028 030 031 032 036 037 041 042 045 047 055 087 0211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24 26 27C 28 29 31 34 35 36 37 38 39 40S 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 63 65 66 67 68 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 80 83 84 86 89 90 98 100 105 106 107 108 109 111 112 113 114 116 117 118S 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135S 136 137 138 140 141 142 143 144 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 160 161 162 163 164 165 167 169 170 171 173 178 179 180 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 195 196 198 199 200 201 202 204 205 207 208 209 210S 211 212 213 214 215 217 218 219 220 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 240 243 244 245 246 247 248 251 259 260 261 262 263 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 293 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 303 304 305 306 310 324 329 330 331 333 334 335 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350S 351 352 353 354 355 358 359 360 361 363 364 365 367 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 379 380 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 399 402 405 406 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 418 419 420 422 423 428 431 438 439 440 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 461 470 471 472 473 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 500 501 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 527 528 529 530 532 534 535 537 543 544 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 560 561 563 564 565 566 568 569 571 573 574 575 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 591 592 594 596 597 600 645 649 651 652 655 657 660 662 663 664 666 668 672 676 677 679 680 683 684 685 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 696 697 699 700 703 706 707 708 709 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 736 737 738 740 741 744S 745 746 747 750 752 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 769 772S 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 785 786 787 789S 790 791 792 793 794S 795 796 797 798 799 801 803 804 805 806 808 809 811 817 818 819 820 822 824 825 826 827 828 830 833 834 835 836 837C 839 842 843 844 845 851 852 854 855 856 858 860 861 863 864 871 872 873 875 877 878 880 881 886 888C 889 890 891 892 893 895 896 899 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 931 932 933 934 935 937 938 939 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949 951 952 953 954 955 956 957 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 978 979 980 982 983 986 987 988 989 992 995 996 997 998 999 1000 1001 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021 1023 1024 1025 1026 1029 1030 1032 1033 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1042S 1043 1046 1047S 1048 1050 1052 1053 1054S 1056 1057 1058 1059 1060 1061 1062 1063 1064 1065 1068 1071 1072 1073 1074 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079 1080 1081 1082 1083 1084 1085 1086 1087 1088 1089 1090 1091 1092 1093 1095 1096 1097 1110 1111 1113 1114 1117 1118 1120 1121 1122 1123 1125 1126 1127 1131 1132 1133 1135 1136 1137 1138 1139 1144 1145 1146 1148 1149 1152 1155 1157 1158 1159 1160 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167 1168 1169 1170 1171 1172 1173 1174 1178 1179 1180 1181 1185 1186 1187 1188 1189 1190 1191 1193 1194 1195 1196 1197 1198 1199 1200S 1202 1203 1204 1205 1206 1207 1208 1209 1210 1211 1212 1213 1214 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 1221 1222 1223 1224 1225 1226 1227 1228 1229 1230 1232 1233 1234 1235 1236 1237 1238 1239 1240 1241 1242 1243 1247 1248 1250 1251S 1252 1254 1260 1261 1262 1263 1266 1268 1269 1272 1273 1278 1279S 1280 1281 1282 1288 1289 1290 1292 1294 1296 1297 1298 1299 1301 1302 1303 1305 1309 1310S 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 1317 1318 1319 1320 1321 1322 1323 1324 1325 1326 1327 1328 1329 1330 1331 1333 1334 1335 1336 1338 1339 1340 1341 1345 1346 1347 1350 1352 1353 1354 1355 1356 1357 1358 1359 1362 1364 1365 1367 1375 1377 1383 1384 1385 1386 1387 1388 1389 1390 1391 1392 1393 1394 1395 1396 1397 1398 1399 1401 1402 1403 1404 1406 1408 1409 1410 1413 1414S 1415 1416 1418 1420 1421 1422 1432 1434 1435 1436 1438 1439 1441 1442 1443 1444 1445 1446 1447 1448 1449 1450 1452 1453 1454 1455 1456 1457 1458 1460 1461 1462 1463 1464 1465 1466 1467 1468 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1479 1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 1485 1486 1487 1488 1489 1490 1491 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1501 1502 1503 1505 1506 1508 1510 1511 1519 1521 1528 1530 1531 1532 1533 1534 1535 1536 1538 1539 1540 1541 1542 1543 1545 1547 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1555 1556 1557 1558 1559 1560 1563 1570 1572 1573 1574 1575 1576 1577 1578 1579 1581 1582C 1583 1584 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589 1590 1591 1592 1594 1595 1597 1600 1601 1602 1603 1604 1605 1606 1609 1612 1613 1615 1617 1620 1622 1623 1625 1626 1628 1629 1630 1631 1632 1633 1634 1635 1637 1639 1640 1641 1642 1643 1645 1646 1647 1649 1652 1653 1659 1660 1661 1662 1663 1664 1665 1667 1668 1670 1671 1672 1676 1678 1679 1680 1682 1685 1686 1687 1688 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1695 1697 1698 1699 1700 1702 1703 1704 1713 1780 1797 1800 1802 1803 1804 1808 1813 1814 1816 1901 1966 2095 2097 2099 2100 2101 2107 2109 2112 2117 2118 2120 2122 2123 2126 2127 2131 2132 2133 2135 2139 2141 2142 2146 2147 2148 2159 2173 2174 2175 2176 2178 2181 2182 2191 2193 2195 2199 2201 2204S 2206 2207 2213 2215 2217 2220 2221 2223 2224 2229 2236 2238 2255 2260 2261 2263 2265 2266 2267 2273 2277 2280 2281 2283 2284 2287 2290S 2291 2292 2295 2296 2297 2301 2304 2306 2314 2315 2317 2321 2322 2323 2324 2328 2352 2354 2355 2356 2362 2367 2369 2370 2371 2372 2373 2374 2381 2382 2383 2386 2387 2388 2390 2394 2396 2397 2398 2400 2404 2405 2406 2407 2411 2414 2415 2420 2422 2426 2430 2439 2442 2444 2446 2450 2451 2452 2454 2458 2465 2467 2470 2472 2474 2476 2477 2478 2479 2482 2483 2487 2488 2490 2492 2494 2496 2497 2499 2502 2503 2507 2508 2509 2510 2511 2516 2518 2520 2521 2523 2524 2525 2528S 2530 2533 2539 2545 2546 2550 2554 2555 2557 2559S 2561 2562 2567 2571 2577 2578 2579 2581 2585 2590S 2591S 2592 2597 2598 2603 2604 2605 2606 2608S 2612 2613 2614 2615 2616 2620 2622 2623 2624 2633 2634 2635 2636 2637 2645 2646 2650 2651S 2653 2656 2658 2660 2665 2666 2670 2673 2676 2680 2684 2685 2687 2689 2691 2692 2693S 2694 2701S 2702 2705 2706 2707 2708 2709 2710 2713 2714 2715 2718 2721 2724 2726 2727 2728S 2729 2730 2734 2735 2737 2745 2749 2756 2757 2760 2765 2767 2770 2773 2774 2775 2780 2786 2788 2806 2808 2809 2810 2812 2831 2835 2836
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1446

1B    τον υιος αυτης τον πρωτοτοκον
30
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1C    τον υιον αυτοις τον πρωτοτοκον
837* 1546 2695
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 3

1D    τον υιον αυτου τον πρωτοτοκον
279 513
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 2

1E    τον υιον αυτος τον πρωτοτοκον
1374
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1F    τον υιον αυτης τον υιον αυτης τον πρωτοτοκον
27* 1291
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 2

1G    τον υιον αυτης πρωτοτοκον
888*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

2    υιον
01 03 035 1 33 788 1192 1582*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 8

3    τον υιον αυτης
1182
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

4    τον υιον τον πρωτοτοκον
05C2 019
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 2