Matt 3:6 Ιορδανη

     After Ιορδανη a considerable number of manuscripts add ποταμω (ℵ B C* M S W Δ Σ 0233 f1 33 205 346 579 1424 al q sy sa bo), a probable scribal harmonization to Mark 1:5, as indicated by Wettstein (1:259), Griesbach (1:24), Fritzsche (120), Bloomfield (Annotations, 2), Tischendorf (7th ed., 1:8), Meyer (72), von Soden (1:5), and others. Griesbach, echoing Wettstein and demonstrating his view on the Synoptic Problem, commends the "shorter and older" reading, saying it was unnecessary for Matthew, writing to men who were well acquainted with Palestinian matters, to mention that the Jordan was the name of a certain river, but that Mark, wishing to serve the interests of readers living far from Judea, intentionally clarified Matthew's words through additions of this kind both here and elsewhere. The same logic militates against those few versions (sy sa bo), which also were made for those who were more likely to have been unfamiliar with Palestinian topography. There is no good reason why all other manuscripts, including the oldest Old Latin manuscripts (4th and 5th cent.) and perhaps the oldest Coptic manuscript (mae1, ca. 400), would have deleted the word, if original, just as almost all Greek manuscripts left the word alone at Mark 1:5. Indeed, as may be expected, only a few manuscripts in Mark (D W Θ 565 700 a) harmonize that place to Matthew by omitting ποταμω, just as only a minority of the 1500+ Greek manuscripts available here harmonize this place to Mark.