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
> “But wisdom is justified of her children.”
Variant class
Omission / addition
2Textus Receptus
Greek reading
The exact TR reading has not yet been entered in the structured field.
Authorized Version
“But wisdom is justified of her children.” — Matthew 11:19
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
What critics call the harder reading is therefore the received one at the level of image and grammar.
Translation or explanation
What critics call the harder reading is therefore the received one at the level of image and grammar.
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 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 Matthew 11:19
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 Matthew, 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
That is why no article should claim that the critical reading destroys the doctrine of justification. The doctrine of justification should remain outside this lexical contest. Importing later debates about faith and works into the noun choice obscures both readings and gives the variant more doctrinal weight than it bears.
Bahnsen four-point examination
Arbitrariness
At Matthew 11:19, the critical choice avoids arbitrariness only to the extent that it states public manuscript, transcriptional, and intrinsic grounds. Most recent critical editions say she is justified by her works. Modern editors often treat the agreement as scribal harmonization and prefer “works” as the reading less likely to have been copied from the other Gospel. A scribe or editor could replace the figurative children with the clearer works, making the proverb explain itself.
Inconsistency
The criteria used at Matthew 11:19 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: That is why no article should claim that the critical reading destroys the doctrine of justification. The doctrine of justification should remain outside this lexical contest. Importing later debates about faith and works into the noun choice obscures both readings and gives the variant more doctrinal weight than it bears.
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
A source-level external-evidence synopsis remains open; consult the full essay and cited apparatus.
Internal and transcriptional evidence
Modern editors often treat the agreement as scribal harmonization and prefer “works” as the reading less likely to have been copied from the other Gospel. A scribe or editor could replace the figurative children with the clearer works, making the proverb explain itself. What critics call the harder reading is therefore the received one at the level of image and grammar.
Reception and ecclesiastical use
The received text says wisdom is justified by her children. The received “children” has broad Greek support, early use, a clear link to the children of verse 16, and a ready explanation for its replacement by “works.”
Providential-preservation analysis
Providential preservation is not used as a substitute for evidence at Matthew 11:19. 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
Most recent critical editions say she is justified by her works. Modern editors often treat the agreement as scribal harmonization and prefer “works” as the reading less likely to have been copied from the other Gospel. A scribe or editor could replace the figurative children with the clearer works, making the proverb explain itself.
Conclusion
The nearby phrase “works of Christ” can exert a strong pull on a copyist. Replacing children with works turns an image into an explicit link and distinguishes Matthew from Luke. That may look like the harder Gospel-specific reading while actually being a contextual clarification.
The doctrine of justification should remain outside this lexical contest. Matthew is using courtroom language proverbially: wisdom is vindicated. Importing later debates about faith and works into the noun choice obscures both readings and gives the variant more doctrinal weight than it bears.
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 Matthew 11:19, the received text reads and its Authorized Version representation reads “But wisdom is justified of her children.” — Matthew 11:19”. The assessed critical reading is “What critics call the harder reading is therefore the received one at the level of image and grammar.”. 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 Matthew 11:19, the received Hebrew/Greek form is ; the Authorized Version represents it as “But wisdom is justified of her children.” — Matthew 11:19”. The assessed critical form is “What critics call the harder reading is therefore the received one at the level of image and grammar.”.
- 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 Matthew 11:19, the received text reads and its Authorized Version representation reads “But wisdom is justified of her children.” — Matthew 11:19”. The assessed critical reading is “What critics call the harder reading is therefore the received one at the level of image and grammar.”. 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
- 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
- German Bible Society — Interview with Hugh HoughtonCurrent critical-edition, ECM, or editorial documentation
Read the full research essay and its sources
“But wisdom is justified of her children.” — Matthew 11:19
Jesus ends his answer to a fault-finding generation with a proverb. The received text says wisdom is justified by her children. Most recent critical editions say she is justified by her works. Luke 7:35 reads “children,” and that parallel stands at the center of the dispute.
The image changes, but the point holds in either form. God’s wisdom is shown to be right by what it brings forth.
Children at the table
The passage begins with children in the markets calling to their fellows. The generation rejects John because he fasts and rejects the Son of man because he eats with publicans and sinners. They will neither mourn nor dance. Christ then answers their double standard: wisdom has children who recognize her, though the proud accuse every messenger she sends.
“Children” keeps that image alive. It also agrees with Luke. Modern editors often treat the agreement as scribal harmonization and prefer “works” as the reading less likely to have been copied from the other Gospel.
But Matthew has just spoken of “the works of Christ” in verse 2. A scribe or editor could replace the figurative children with the clearer works, making the proverb explain itself. The change would also avoid the mild strain of saying that a person is justified by her children. What critics call the harder reading is therefore the received one at the level of image and grammar.
What “justified” means here
Wisdom is not forgiven of sin. To justify in this sentence means to show or declare someone to be right. The lives shaped by God’s wisdom vindicate it. John’s ministry and Christ’s mercy were not contrary plans. The same divine wisdom sent the austere herald and the gracious bridegroom.
“Works” states the same truth from the side of deeds. That is why no article should claim that the critical reading destroys the doctrine of justification. The issue is Matthew’s figure, not Paul’s account of a sinner standing righteous before God.
The received “children” has broad Greek support, early use, a clear link to the children of verse 16, and a ready explanation for its replacement by “works.” Luke’s agreement may reflect the Lord’s repeated wording rather than a copyist’s hand. Matthew’s proverb should stand in its living form: wisdom is known by the family likeness of those she bears.
The two readings also invite different questions. Works direct the hearer to visible outcomes: what has divine wisdom done? Children direct the hearer to persons shaped by her: whom has wisdom formed? In context John and Jesus have gathered followers who receive God’s call despite the generation’s complaints.
The nearby phrase “works of Christ” can exert a strong pull on a copyist. Replacing children with works turns an image into an explicit link and distinguishes Matthew from Luke. That may look like the harder Gospel-specific reading while actually being a contextual clarification.
The doctrine of justification should remain outside this lexical contest. Matthew is using courtroom language proverbially: wisdom is vindicated. Importing later debates about faith and works into the noun choice obscures both readings and gives the variant more doctrinal weight than it bears.
Sources and further reading
- Matthew 11:2, 16–19; Luke 7:29–35; Proverbs 8.
- Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, note on Matthew 11:19.
- John William Burgon, The Revision Revised.
7Related materials
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- Record
- VAR-1047
- Status
- Preliminary
- Version
- 1.1-dossier
- Review
- Level B — Editorial synthesis
- Editor
- Chris Thomas
- Reviewer
- Independent reviewer pending assignment
- First date
- 2026-07-22 · Exact Day
- Last revised
- 2026-07-22
Evidence and editorial controls
- Verification
- Recovered project data; bibliographic and source-level verification remains record-specific. 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; cited sources retain their stated rights.
- Known limitations
- Staging record; independent review remains open.
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, “Matthew 11:19 — Wisdom Justified by Her Children or by Her Works?,” VAR-1047, Confessional Bibliology Research Center, version 1.0-staging.
Revision history
- — Chris Thomas
- — Chris Thomas