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
> “Then he suffered him.
Variant class
Omission / addition
2Textus Receptus
Greek reading
The exact TR reading has not yet been entered in the structured field.
Authorized Version
“Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water.” — Matthew 3:15–16
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.
Historical annotation witness
Erasmus’s Annotationes
Erasmus’s printed Greek text, his Latin annotation, and the Research Center’s evaluation are distinct evidence. Each edition remains separately identified because Erasmus revised the Annotationes across his five editions.
Not yet assessed. No inference about Erasmus’s silence has been made. A Latin annotation and translation will appear here only after an edition and exact locus have been verified.
The Erasmus annotation audit has not yet been completed for this locus. Do not infer from this status that Erasmus was silent.
Westminster and Dutch annotation witnesses
Westminster Annotations
Not yet assessed. No inference from silence is made.
Dutch Annotations
Not yet assessed. No inference from silence is made.
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 3 variation units within this record's range. The notes ground the relevant decisions in the weight and distribution of external attestation, scribal harmonization to a parallel passage; 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., notes on Matthew 3:15, 3:16, 3:16
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
Weakening of explicit biblical testimony
Exact proposition affected
The triune identity of the Father, the Son/Word, and the Holy Ghost.
Doctrinal analysis
Such changes often reflect Greek style rather than different theology.
Bahnsen four-point examination
Arbitrariness
At Matthew 3:15–16, the critical choice avoids arbitrariness only to the extent that it states public manuscript, transcriptional, and intrinsic grounds. Some critical witnesses omit unto him, while modern editors have not always treated the omission alike. Critics can call the pronoun a clarification: of course the heavens open to Jesus.
Inconsistency
The criteria used at Matthew 3:15–16 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
Weakening of explicit biblical testimony: Such changes often reflect Greek style rather than different theology.
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
The act is complete, and the heavenly witness follows without delay. Some critical witnesses omit unto him, while modern editors have not always treated the omission alike. John’s Gospel tells us that John the Baptist also saw the sign; Matthew places the vision around Jesus without denying the other witness.
Internal and transcriptional evidence
Some critical witnesses omit unto him, while modern editors have not always treated the omission alike. The broad transmission of unto him, its natural grammar, and its role in the scene favor its retention.
Reception and ecclesiastical use
John yields The Textus Receptus ends verse 15 with “then he suffered him.” The Textus Receptus says ἀνεῴχθησαν αὐτῷ οἱ οὐρανοί, “the heavens were opened unto him.”
Providential-preservation analysis
Providential preservation is not used as a substitute for evidence at Matthew 3:15–16. 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 omit unto him, while modern editors have not always treated the omission alike. Critics can call the pronoun a clarification: of course the heavens open to Jesus.
Conclusion
The baptism itself is not repentance from sin in Jesus. John hesitates because he knows the moral order: the lesser sinner needs baptism from the greater sinless One. Jesus enters the water “to fulfil all righteousness,” identifying with the people he came to save and beginning the public path that leads to the cross.
The variants should therefore be kept in proportion. A moved adverb can change emphasis, and a lost pronoun can narrow the scene. None turns the event into a private spiritual feeling. Water, opened heaven, descending Spirit, and the Father’s voice are public acts in the history of redemption.
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.
Canonical-status rule: Physical printing is not canonical inclusion. If an edition prints a passage in double brackets while judging it secondary or non-original, it disagrees with the received text concerning the identity and extent of inspired Scripture.
Status: Established
Immediate textual or doctrinal consequence
At Matthew 3:15–16, the received text reads and its Authorized Version representation reads “Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water.” — Matthew 3:15–16”. 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 card classifies the change as a weakening of explicit biblical testimony, not by itself as a formal denial of the larger doctrine.
Necessary reasoning chain
- At Matthew 3:15–16, the received Hebrew/Greek form is ; the Authorized Version represents it as “Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water.” — Matthew 3:15–16”. 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 3:15–16, the received text reads and its Authorized Version representation reads “Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water.” — Matthew 3:15–16”. 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 card classifies the change as a weakening of explicit biblical testimony, not by itself as a formal denial of the larger doctrine.
- 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
“Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water.” — Matthew 3:15–16
No major reading removes Jesus’ baptism or the Father’s voice. The differences lie in the people named, the placement of “straightway,” the articles around the Spirit, and one important phrase: were the heavens opened unto him?
John yields
The Textus Receptus ends verse 15 with “then he suffered him.” Some copies name John again or recast one pronoun. Matthew’s received pronouns are not vague in the scene. Jesus has answered; John yields. Repeating the names may help a public reader, but it is not needed to identify either man.
At verse 16, copies move “straightway” nearer the baptism or the ascent from the water. The received order ties it to Jesus’ coming up. The act is complete, and the heavenly witness follows without delay.
The Textus Receptus says ἀνεῴχθησαν αὐτῷ οἱ οὐρανοί, “the heavens were opened unto him.” Some critical witnesses omit unto him, while modern editors have not always treated the omission alike. The shorter sentence is smooth, and the event still occurs.
Critics can call the pronoun a clarification: of course the heavens open to Jesus. Yet Matthew’s word marks the Son as the one who sees the Spirit descending. John’s Gospel tells us that John the Baptist also saw the sign; Matthew places the vision around Jesus without denying the other witness.
A short pronoun between a verb and its subject is easy to lose or move. The broad transmission of unto him, its natural grammar, and its role in the scene favor its retention.
The articles in “the Spirit of God” also shift among copies. Such changes often reflect Greek style rather than different theology. The Spirit remains God’s Spirit, descending like a dove and coming upon the Son.
The passage is Trinitarian before any later creed comments on it. The Son stands in the water, the Spirit descends, and the Father speaks from heaven. Textual exactness serves that revelation, but no disputed article created it. Read the received movement as Matthew gives it: John yields; Jesus rises at once; the heavens open unto him; the Spirit descends; the Father owns his beloved Son.
“Unto him” also raises an interpretive question without forcing one answer. The pronoun may mark Jesus as the recipient of the opening, the seer of the Spirit, or both. Matthew’s wording does not say that no one else witnessed the sign. John 1 says the Baptist saw the Spirit and received it as God’s identifying sign. The accounts tell the same event from different lines of sight.
The baptism itself is not repentance from sin in Jesus. John hesitates because he knows the moral order: the lesser sinner needs baptism from the greater sinless One. Jesus enters the water “to fulfil all righteousness,” identifying with the people he came to save and beginning the public path that leads to the cross.
The variants should therefore be kept in proportion. A moved adverb can change emphasis, and a lost pronoun can narrow the scene. None turns the event into a private spiritual feeling. Water, opened heaven, descending Spirit, and the Father’s voice are public acts in the history of redemption.
Sources and further reading
- Matthew 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–11; Luke 3:21–22; John 1:29–34.
- Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, discussion of Matthew 3:15–16.
- Westminster Confession of Faith 2.3.
7Related materials
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- Record
- VAR-1012
- 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 3:15–16 — Jesus’ Baptism: “Him,” “Unto Him,” and the Opened Heavens,” VAR-1012, Confessional Bibliology Research Center, version 1.0-staging.
Revision history
- — Chris Thomas
- — Chris Thomas