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
> “They be blind leaders of the blind.”
Variant class
Punctuation
2Textus Receptus
Greek reading
The exact TR reading has not yet been entered in the structured field.
Authorized Version
“They be blind leaders of the blind.” — Matthew 15:14
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
No distinct NA28 reading has been entered; the received and NA28 texts may agree at this unit.
Translation or explanation
The received and current critical texts may agree at this unit; consult the full essay for any versional or apparatus-only variation.
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 the weight and distribution of external attestation, the likelihood that the competing form is a scribal correction or emendation; the printed confidence rating represented here is {C}. 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 15:14
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
Christ has just exposed a religion that honors God with lips while teaching human commands as doctrine.
Bahnsen four-point examination
Arbitrariness
At Matthew 15:14, the critical choice avoids arbitrariness only to the extent that it states public manuscript, transcriptional, and intrinsic grounds. Some critical witnesses read simply, “They are blind guides,” and the usual critical text marks the second “blind” as uncertain. That rhythm gives a critic an argument for addition. The critical brackets honestly show uncertainty, but uncertainty in an edition is not a reason for uncertainty in the pulpit.
Inconsistency
The criteria used at Matthew 15:14 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: Christ has just exposed a religion that honors God with lips while teaching human commands as doctrine.
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
Some critical witnesses read simply, “They are blind guides,” and the usual critical text marks the second “blind” as uncertain.
Internal and transcriptional evidence
That rhythm gives a critic an argument for addition. A scribe may have expanded “blind guides” to match the proverb that follows. Repetition also gives an argument for omission.
Reception and ecclesiastical use
— Matthew 15:14 The Textus Receptus gives Jesus’ saying in a full pair: the Pharisees are blind leaders of blind people. Rank, tradition, and confidence cannot turn darkness into light.
Providential-preservation analysis
Providential preservation is not used as a substitute for evidence at Matthew 15:14. 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
Some critical witnesses read simply, “They are blind guides,” and the usual critical text marks the second “blind” as uncertain. That rhythm gives a critic an argument for addition. The critical brackets honestly show uncertainty, but uncertainty in an edition is not a reason for uncertainty in the pulpit.
Conclusion
“Let them alone” must therefore be joined to the warning that follows. Christ is not commanding indifference toward those being led. He tells the disciples not to organize truth around the Pharisees’ offense or treat every uprooted plant as salvageable by flattery. The proverb itself is an act of rescue for hearers.
The repeated blind also makes the saying memorable in oral use. Removing one occurrence gives a cleaner opening but weakens the chain that carries the noun into the ditch. Matthew’s full cadence serves both warning and memory.
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 15:14, the received text reads and its Authorized Version representation reads “They be blind leaders of the blind.” — Matthew 15:14”. The assessed critical reading is “The received and current critical texts may agree at this unit; consult the full essay for any versional or apparatus-only variation.”. 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 15:14, the received Hebrew/Greek form is ; the Authorized Version represents it as “They be blind leaders of the blind.” — Matthew 15:14”. The assessed critical form is “The received and current critical texts may agree at this unit; consult the full essay for any versional or apparatus-only variation.”.
- 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 15:14, the received text reads and its Authorized Version representation reads “They be blind leaders of the blind.” — Matthew 15:14”. The assessed critical reading is “The received and current critical texts may agree at this unit; consult the full essay for any versional or apparatus-only variation.”. 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
“They be blind leaders of the blind.” — Matthew 15:14
The Textus Receptus gives Jesus’ saying in a full pair: the Pharisees are blind leaders of blind people. Some critical witnesses read simply, “They are blind guides,” and the usual critical text marks the second “blind” as uncertain.
No reader can miss the meaning in either form. The full wording, however, makes the fall belong to both guide and follower.
A proverb built in pairs
“If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” The second half of the verse repeats blind twice without dispute. The opening phrase prepares that balance: blind leaders of the blind; blind leading blind; both falling.
That rhythm gives a critic an argument for addition. A scribe may have expanded “blind guides” to match the proverb that follows. Repetition also gives an argument for omission. When the same word stands close together, an eye can pass from the first occurrence to the next. A copyist may also shorten what seems redundant.
The received expression ὁδηγοί εἰσι τυφλοὶ τυφλῶν does more than decorate the line. The final genitive identifies the people being led. Without it, Jesus condemns the teachers; with it, he also describes those who trust them. Their following is not innocent merely because an expert went first.
Christ has just exposed a religion that honors God with lips while teaching human commands as doctrine. The disciples warn that the Pharisees are offended. Jesus does not trim the truth to win them back. Every plant the Father did not plant will be rooted up. “Let them alone.”
That command is not a ban on warning their hearers. The proverb is the warning. A blind guide needs sight, and a blind follower needs another guide. Rank, tradition, and confidence cannot turn darkness into light.
The full received form has broad support and belongs to the cadence and logic of the sentence. The critical brackets honestly show uncertainty, but uncertainty in an edition is not a reason for uncertainty in the pulpit. Matthew’s words are plain: blind leaders gather blind followers, and the ditch receives them both.
The metaphor assigns responsibility on both sides. Teachers answer for guiding without sight; followers answer for entrusting themselves to darkness. A religious title cannot transfer moral agency from the person who chooses whom to follow.
“Let them alone” must therefore be joined to the warning that follows. Christ is not commanding indifference toward those being led. He tells the disciples not to organize truth around the Pharisees’ offense or treat every uprooted plant as salvageable by flattery. The proverb itself is an act of rescue for hearers.
The repeated blind also makes the saying memorable in oral use. Removing one occurrence gives a cleaner opening but weakens the chain that carries the noun into the ditch. Matthew’s full cadence serves both warning and memory.
Further reading
- Matthew 15:1–20; Matthew 23:16–26; Luke 6:39–40.
- Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, note on Matthew 15:14.
- John William Burgon, The Revision Revised.
7Related materials
Open a group to follow connected articles, books, biographies, media, research notes, variants, or downloads. Research Center relationships use permanent record IDs; external items retain their actual link.
- Record
- VAR-1056
- 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 15:14 — “Blind Leaders of the Blind”: Has the Description Been Shortened?,” VAR-1056, Confessional Bibliology Research Center, version 1.0-staging.
Revision history
- — Chris Thomas
- — Chris Thomas