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 Textus Receptus gives Jesus the active verb: I will liken him.
Variant class
Punctuation
2Textus Receptus
Greek reading
The exact TR reading has not yet been entered in the structured field.
Authorized Version
“Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man.” — Matthew 7:24
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 balance of external and internal evidence described in the entry; 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 7:24
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
Exegetical or interpretive consequence. The record does not establish that the variant by itself removes an entire Christian doctrine; explicit wording, exegesis, and cumulative testimony must be distinguished.
Bahnsen four-point examination
Arbitrariness
At Matthew 7:24, the critical choice avoids arbitrariness only to the extent that it states public manuscript, transcriptional, and intrinsic grounds. The critical text uses a passive: he shall be likened. Critics can point to Luke 6:47, where Jesus says, “I will shew you to whom he is like.” The critical form gives perfect grammatical symmetry.
Inconsistency
The criteria used at Matthew 7:24 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: No single doctrinal proposition is directly changed; the principal consequence is exegetical, historical, or cumulative.
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 manuscripts and Matthew’s internal contrast must decide which explanation carries more weight.
Internal and transcriptional evidence
The active Matthew reading may be harmonized toward Luke. A copyist who likes matched clauses can make verse 24 passive as well. Luke’s similar active wording may preserve the Lord’s repeated self-presentation rather than a scribe’s borrowing.
Reception and ecclesiastical use
The Textus Receptus gives Jesus the active verb: I will liken him. John William Burgon and Edward Miller, The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels.
Providential-preservation analysis
Providential preservation is not used as a substitute for evidence at Matthew 7:24. 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
The critical text uses a passive: he shall be likened. Critics can point to Luke 6:47, where Jesus says, “I will shew you to whom he is like.” The critical form gives perfect grammatical symmetry.
Conclusion
Luke’s wording matters, but parallel influence is not one-directional proof. If Matthew originally had the active, Luke confirms a form of the Lord’s self-comparison. If Matthew had the passive, Luke offers a source for change. The manuscripts and Matthew’s internal contrast must decide which explanation carries more weight.
The house does not stand because the builder’s execution is flawless. It stands because the foundation bears the storm. Doing Christ’s sayings is the shape of living faith resting on him. The active verb keeps the Lord himself at the center of both command and comparison.
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 7:24, the received text reads and its Authorized Version representation reads “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man.” — Matthew 7:24”. 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 7:24, the received Hebrew/Greek form is ; the Authorized Version represents it as “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man.” — Matthew 7:24”. 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 7:24, the received text reads and its Authorized Version representation reads “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man.” — Matthew 7:24”. 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
The Textus Receptus gives Jesus the active verb: I will liken him. The critical text uses a passive: he shall be likened. At verse 26, where the foolish builder appears, both read the passive.
“Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man.” — Matthew 7:24
The difference changes the paragraph’s voice, not its two foundations.
Critics can point to Luke 6:47, where Jesus says, “I will shew you to whom he is like.” The active Matthew reading may be harmonized toward Luke. The passive also has early support and may look less expected.
Yet the immediate source for change is even nearer. Verse 26 says the disobedient hearer “shall be likened unto a foolish man.” A copyist who likes matched clauses can make verse 24 passive as well. The critical form gives perfect grammatical symmetry.
The received asymmetry gives something else. Jesus personally identifies the wise builder: “I will liken him.” The fool’s collapse then speaks for itself under the passive verdict. That variation fits the authoritative first person that has filled the sermon—“I say unto you.”
Both builders hear. The difference is doing. Rock is not bare mental assent; it is Christ’s word received in obedient faith. The rain, flood, and wind expose foundations that sunshine concealed.
The passage does not teach sinless performance. The Beatitudes began with spiritual poverty. It teaches that grace does not leave Christ’s sayings outside the life.
The active reading has broad and early transmission and explains the passive through assimilation to verse 26. Luke’s similar active wording may preserve the Lord’s repeated self-presentation rather than a scribe’s borrowing.
“I will liken him” should remain. At the end of the sermon Jesus is not merely one item inside the comparison. He is the speaker who names wisdom, sends the storm of judgment, and demands that his words be done.
The two voices also give the paragraph a subtle moral contour. The wise hearer receives Christ’s personal commendation before the storm. The foolish hearer is handed over to the likeness his conduct has chosen. Matthew can create that difference without implying that anyone escapes Christ’s final judgment.
Luke’s wording matters, but parallel influence is not one-directional proof. If Matthew originally had the active, Luke confirms a form of the Lord’s self-comparison. If Matthew had the passive, Luke offers a source for change. The manuscripts and Matthew’s internal contrast must decide which explanation carries more weight.
The house does not stand because the builder’s execution is flawless. It stands because the foundation bears the storm. Doing Christ’s sayings is the shape of living faith resting on him. The active verb keeps the Lord himself at the center of both command and comparison.
Sources and further reading
- Matthew 5–7; Luke 6:46–49; James 1:22–25.
- Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, note on Matthew 7:24.
- John William Burgon and Edward Miller, The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels.
7Related materials
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- Record
- VAR-1034
- 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 7:24 — “I Will Liken Him” or “He Shall Be Likened”?,” VAR-1034, Confessional Bibliology Research Center, version 1.0-staging.
Revision history
- — Chris Thomas
- — Chris Thomas