Complete textual-variant dossier
Adverse entailment established
Sections distinguish readings, edition history, evidence, theological consequences, and the Research Center's evaluation. CBGM is an analytical tool; editorial committees—not the software—make textual decisions.
1Passage and issue
Passage
Issue
The received text locates the preaching in Galilee. The critical text reads Judea, a term that may denote the wider Jewish land but sits unexpectedly before Luke narrates the Galilean ministry in detail.
Variant class
Substitution or composite variation
2Textus Receptus
Greek reading
“He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.”
Authorized Version
“And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.” — Luke 4:44
Edition note
The Research Center uses the received Greek text underlying the Authorized Version as its baseline; edition-specific differences are recorded when the variation unit requires them.
3NA28 baseline and critical-text rationale
NA28 baseline reading
“He was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”
Translation or explanation
“He was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”
Metzger’s report of the UBS committee
Metzger reports the UBS4 committee's treatment of the variation unit. The note grounds the relevant decision in scribal harmonization to a parallel passage, the likelihood that the competing form is a scribal correction or emendation, the comparative difficulty of the readings; the printed confidence rating represented here is {B}. This is a controlled synopsis rather than a quotation.
Locator: Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed., note on Luke 4:44
ECM / CBGM evidence and editors
No passage-specific ECM/CBGM editorial explanation is attached to this record. Official method sources describe the CBGM as a set of coherence procedures, not a decision-maker: editors define variation units and local stemmata and evaluate pre-genealogical, genealogical, and stemmatic coherence together with transcriptional, intrinsic, and other philological evidence.
4UBS6 and intended NA29 revision
UBS6 retains the NA28 / UBS5 Greek main-text wording in Luke, so no main-text change is shown for this passage. The separate project ledger covers Acts, Mark, and Revelation.
No change row is attached to this passage.
UBS6 is published, and the German Bible Society identifies its Greek main text as identical to the intended NA29 main text. The complete NA29 volume and its apparatus remain forthcoming. Project-ledger rows retain their source and verification statements until they are checked against the published UBS6 text and, when available, the NA29 apparatus.
5Doctrinal and four-point analysis
Effect class
Exegetical or interpretive consequence
Exact proposition affected
No single doctrinal proposition is directly changed; the principal consequence is exegetical, historical, or cumulative.
Doctrinal analysis
Another could replace an abbreviated or damaged place-name with the more prominent Judea, especially under the influence of Luke’s Jerusalem-centered theology or a marginal geographical gloss. The summary matters because Luke’s geography is theological without ceasing to be real.
Bahnsen four-point examination
Arbitrariness
At Luke 4:44, the critical choice avoids arbitrariness only to the extent that it states public manuscript, transcriptional, and intrinsic grounds. Editorial status: Preliminary record accepted for staging; independent review remains pending. The critical text says “the synagogues of Judea.” — Luke 4:44 On a modern map the critical reading feels premature.
Inconsistency
The criteria used at Luke 4:44 must be applied to comparable readings as well. A principle such as age, difficulty, brevity, or coherence cannot be decisive here and quietly reversed elsewhere merely to escape a historical, grammatical, or theological difficulty.
Consequences
Exegetical or interpretive consequence: Another could replace an abbreviated or damaged place-name with the more prominent Judea, especially under the influence of Luke’s Jerusalem-centered theology or a marginal geographical gloss. The summary matters because Luke’s geography is theological without ceasing to be real.
Preconditions of intelligibility
The argument presupposes stable authorship, meaningful language, objective logical norms, transmissible evidence, and a coherent account of how Scripture can be received and identified by the church. The analysis tests whether the method can make those conditions intelligible without reducing the text to an indefinitely revisable editorial construct.
This framework examines an argument and its conditions; it does not claim to read an editor's private motives.
6Argument for the received reading
External and historical evidence
Ancient writers sometimes use it for the land of the Jews as a whole.
Internal and transcriptional evidence
A scribe could conform Luke to the Synoptic parallels and substitute Galilee.
Reception and ecclesiastical use
The received text says “the synagogues of Galilee.”
Providential-preservation analysis
Providential preservation is not used as a substitute for evidence at Luke 4:44. It supplies the confessional context in which manuscript transmission, broad reception, and the church's actual possession of Scripture are evaluated together.
Canonical coherence with the rest of Scripture
Canonical coherence remains an explicit test: a proposed reading must make grammatical and theological sense within the immediate context and the rest of Scripture. No conflict is asserted merely because two editions differ; the claimed incoherence must be demonstrated at this passage.
Canonical-coherence verdict
The Authorized Version is retained where its representation of the TR forms a coherent reading within the immediate context and the rest of Scripture. Any competing form must demonstrate an equal or better canonical fit rather than merely invoke an edition or method label.
Response to the principal critical argument
Editorial status: Preliminary record accepted for staging; independent review remains pending. The critical text says “the synagogues of Judea.” — Luke 4:44 On a modern map the critical reading feels premature.
Conclusion
The received Galilee should be retained. It best fits the immediate itinerary and requires no unusually broad use of a provincial name. The rival remains possible if “Judea” is heard as the Jewish land, so it should not be branded a geographical blunder.
The summary matters because Luke’s geography is theological without ceasing to be real. The word begins in Galilean synagogues, moves toward Jerusalem, and in Acts travels outward from Jerusalem to the nations. At this stage the preacher is still traversing Galilee, declaring that the kingdom of God has come near.
Logical entailment
The Authorized Version serves as the faithful English representation. The preservation claim applies immediately to the authentic Hebrew and Greek texts—not to an English translation as though it were the inspired source.
Status: Established
Immediate textual or doctrinal consequence
At Luke 4:44, the received text reads “He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.” and its Authorized Version representation reads “And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.” — Luke 4:44”. The assessed critical reading is “He was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”. The immediate consequence is that the critical text no longer states the received wording at this locus. The immediate local effect is exegetical or interpretive; this argument does not claim that a distinct Christian doctrine disappears from the verse.
Necessary reasoning chain
- At Luke 4:44, the received Hebrew/Greek form is “He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.”; the Authorized Version represents it as “And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.” — Luke 4:44”. The assessed critical form is “He was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”.
- The received and critical forms are not the same at this locus. Therefore, if the competing critical form is original, the received form is secondary rather than the authentic wording at this place. The immediate consequence is: At Luke 4:44, the received text reads “He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.” and its Authorized Version representation reads “And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.” — Luke 4:44”. The assessed critical reading is “He was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”. The immediate consequence is that the critical text no longer states the received wording at this locus. The immediate local effect is exegetical or interpretive; this argument does not claim that a distinct Christian doctrine disappears from the verse.
- If the received form at this place is secondary rather than original, then the authentic Hebrew/Greek text was not kept pure at this place in the received textual tradition; therefore the unqualified confessional preservation claim must be denied or redefined.
Ultimate preservation consequence
If the competing reading is original and the received reading is secondary, then God did not preserve and keep pure the authentic text at this place in the received textual tradition. The unqualified confessional claim that Scripture was kept pure in all ages must therefore be denied or redefined.
Sources
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1647)Chapter 1, section 8 — Governing confessional preservation claim
- F. H. A. Scrivener, The New Testament in the Original Greek according to the Text followed in the Authorized VersionReceived Greek reading
- German Bible Society — UBS6 publications and relation to NA29Current critical-edition, ECM, or editorial documentation
- German Bible Society — The Sixth Edition of the Greek New TestamentCurrent critical-edition, ECM, or editorial documentation
- INTF — Online Tools for the ECMCurrent critical-edition, ECM, or editorial documentation
Read the full research essay and its sources
Passage: Luke 4:44
Received reading: “He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.”
Principal competing reading: “He was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”
Editorial status: Preliminary record accepted for staging; independent review remains pending.
Jesus has left Nazareth, taught in Capernaum, healed Simon’s mother-in-law, and ministered to crowds. When he departs for other cities, Luke summarizes the circuit. The received text says “the synagogues of Galilee.” The critical text says “the synagogues of Judea.”
“And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.” — Luke 4:44
On a modern map the critical reading feels premature. Jesus does not turn decisively toward Jerusalem until later, and Luke 5 continues around the lake. Matthew and Mark place comparable preaching throughout Galilee. Those features make “Galilee” the natural geographical summary—and also make it the obvious scribal correction.
“Judea” can carry a broader meaning than the southern province. Ancient writers sometimes use it for the land of the Jews as a whole. Luke may therefore close the first preaching section with a programmatic term that anticipates a mission extending through the country. In Luke 23:5 Jesus’ accusers say that he taught “throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee,” showing that the terms can be related without being identical.
The received location is nevertheless precise. The towns just named are Galilean, the next narratives remain there, and Luke is capable of distinguishing Galilee, Samaria, and Judea when the distinction matters. “Galilee” does not look like a clumsy simplification; it reads like an accurate regional close.
Copying permits more than one route. A scribe could conform Luke to the Synoptic parallels and substitute Galilee. Another could replace an abbreviated or damaged place-name with the more prominent Judea, especially under the influence of Luke’s Jerusalem-centered theology or a marginal geographical gloss. Early support for Judea proves antiquity, not necessarily accuracy.
The received Galilee should be retained. It best fits the immediate itinerary and requires no unusually broad use of a provincial name. The rival remains possible if “Judea” is heard as the Jewish land, so it should not be branded a geographical blunder.
The summary matters because Luke’s geography is theological without ceasing to be real. The word begins in Galilean synagogues, moves toward Jerusalem, and in Acts travels outward from Jerusalem to the nations. At this stage the preacher is still traversing Galilee, declaring that the kingdom of God has come near.
Sources and further reading
- Matthew 4:23; Mark 1:35–39; Luke 4:14–5:11; 23:5; Acts 10:37.
7Related materials
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- Record
- VAR-2078
- Status
- Preliminary
- Version
- 1.1-dossier
- Review
- Level B — Editorial synthesis
- Editor
- Chris Thomas
- Reviewer
- Independent reviewer pending assignment
- First date
- 1st century · Date Range
- Last revised
- 2026-07-22
Evidence and editorial controls
- Verification
- Passage, principal readings, and stated editorial comparison checked against Scrivener’s received Greek text and the SBLGNT text and apparatus; exhaustive manuscript collation remains open. Metzger commentary entries were matched by exact passage where present; ECM/CBGM rationale is passage-specific only when an official editorial explanation is cited. Ledger rows are identified as UBS6 / intended NA29 data but retain their row-level verification caveats pending direct collation.
- Rights and access
- Original editorial synthesis. Biblical readings are short scholarly quotations; cited editions and digital witnesses retain their stated rights and access conditions.
- Known limitations
- This staging record summarizes the principal variation unit and representative evidence. It is not a fresh collation of every extant manuscript, version, lectionary, or patristic citation.
Links from this record
No public outgoing links are recorded.
Records that cite or connect here
No public backlinks are recorded.
Corrections and evidence submissions
No correction submission is presently attached to this record. Submit evidence or read the correction policy.
Chris Thomas, “Luke 4:44 — Galilee or Judea? Locating the Synagogues of Christ’s Preaching,” VAR-2078, Confessional Bibliology Research Center, version 1.0-staging, last revised 2026-07-22.
Revision history
- — Chris Thomas