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
> “For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Variant class
Omission / addition
2Textus Receptus
Greek reading
The exact TR reading has not yet been entered in the structured field.
Authorized Version
“For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” — Matthew 9:13
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
No passage-specific Metzger synopsis has yet passed editorial verification for this record.
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
True theology does not make every occurrence original.
Bahnsen four-point examination
Arbitrariness
At Matthew 9:13, the critical choice avoids arbitrariness only to the extent that it states public manuscript, transcriptional, and intrinsic grounds. The critical text stops after “sinners.” No modern critical text turns Christ into a patron of unrepentance.
Inconsistency
The criteria used at Matthew 9:13 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: True theology does not make every occurrence original.
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 received phrase has broad Greek, versional, and patristic support. It also gives independent apostolic witness that Jesus framed his mission in these words. Luke’s agreement strengthens that gospel logic even where it complicates the manuscript judgment.
Internal and transcriptional evidence
Luke 5:32 contains the full phrase, so the case against Matthew’s longer reading is direct: a scribe may have completed the saying from Luke. The exact Lukan parallel makes harmonization possible. A short ending can arise when a copyist stops at the neat contrast “not righteous, but sinners.”
Reception and ecclesiastical use
— Matthew 9:13 The Textus Receptus ends with to repentance. The received phrase has broad Greek, versional, and patristic support.
Providential-preservation analysis
Providential preservation is not used as a substitute for evidence at Matthew 9:13. 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 stops after “sinners.” No modern critical text turns Christ into a patron of unrepentance.
Passage-specific evidence from consulted works
Core 0.6.3 supplied-source audit complete: 1 passage-specific note attached. Incidental citations and global-method sources are retained in the audit report rather than presented as local textual evidence.
Doctrinally Significant Variants ItemisedAttributed doctrinal and canonical-coherence argument
Anonymous compilation — supplied PDF pp. 4–5
Matthew 9.13b: It sets “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Matthew 9:13 KJV)” against “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. [The Critical Text omits 'to repentance'] (Matthew 9:13 NIV).” Its stated doctrinal argument is that The Alexandrian Text clearly downplays the fact that repentance is inextricably associated with the Gospel call, and that, in fact, without repentance, there is no real believing in the Gospel. It could well be that this omission was influenced by the prevalence of antinomian teachings of Alexandrian Gnostics like Basilides whose licentious errors we have already detailed in chapter six of this book,xv as well as by the prevalence of the teaching of other Alexandrian Gnostics like Carpocrates (who with Basilides taught wife- swapping).xvi In any case, the deletion of the words 'to repentance', both here and in Mark 2.17, appears to be systematic. The compilation appeals to The omission of the words 'to repentance' in the Nestle-Aland Text is supported by Codices Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, and Bezae. These same manuscripts also omit the words 'to repentance' in Mark 2.17. The inclusion of 'to repentance' in the Byzantine Text is supported by Chrysostom,xii Basil,xiii and Gregory Nazianzus.xiv It is also the universal reading of the Byzantine Text.
Editorial use: The compilation’s doctrinal inferences and witness claims are reported as its argument, not silently adopted as verified fact. Exact entailment is retained: weakening an explicit statement is not automatically a formal denial of the doctrine.
Conclusion
Matthew’s own conversion stands behind the meal. Jesus says “Follow me,” and the tax collector rises. The table that follows is not a pause before discipleship; it is part of the new allegiance, where mercy brings other sinners near the Physician. “To repentance” names what the narrative has just shown.
The phrase’s possible origin from Luke must still be weighed honestly. True theology does not make every occurrence original. Here the broad transmission, Matthean setting, and easy stop after “sinners” favor retention. The parallel is best heard as a second witness to the Lord’s full saying.
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 9:13, the received text reads and its Authorized Version representation reads “For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” — Matthew 9:13”. 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 9:13, the received Hebrew/Greek form is ; the Authorized Version represents it as “For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” — Matthew 9:13”. 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 9:13, the received text reads and its Authorized Version representation reads “For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” — Matthew 9:13”. 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
- Doctrinally Significant Variants Itemisedsupplied PDF pp. 4–5 — Attributed doctrinal and canonical-coherence argument
- 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
“For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” — Matthew 9:13
The Textus Receptus ends with to repentance. The critical text stops after “sinners.” Luke 5:32 contains the full phrase, so the case against Matthew’s longer reading is direct: a scribe may have completed the saying from Luke.
Jesus is eating with publicans and sinners when the Pharisees object. He answers with a physician, Hosea’s call for mercy, and his own mission. “To repentance” names the purpose of the call. He does not join sinners to bless their disease; he calls them out of it.
The shorter form still implies change. A physician comes to heal, and call in this setting is not an invitation to remain as one is. No modern critical text turns Christ into a patron of unrepentance.
Yet implication is not a reason to remove explicit words. The received phrase has broad Greek, versional, and patristic support. It fits Matthew’s first proclamation—“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”—and the moral contrast in the scene.
The exact Lukan parallel makes harmonization possible. It also gives independent apostolic witness that Jesus framed his mission in these words. Synoptic agreement cannot be treated as a fault by default.
A short ending can arise when a copyist stops at the neat contrast “not righteous, but sinners.” The phrase already sounds complete. “To repentance” may then be lost without leaving a grammatical wound.
The saying does not imply that some people are truly righteous and need no Christ. The Pharisees think themselves whole. Jesus answers according to that claim and exposes it. Those who know their sickness hear the Physician’s call.
The full received form keeps grace and change together. Christ comes for sinners as sinners, not after they heal themselves; he calls them to repentance, not to a renamed captivity. Luke’s agreement strengthens that gospel logic even where it complicates the manuscript judgment.
The physician image guards the order. Sick people do not become well enough to deserve a doctor before he comes. His coming aims at healing, not at declaring disease harmless. In the same way repentance is the fruit and direction of Christ’s call, never the price that induces him to call.
Matthew’s own conversion stands behind the meal. Jesus says “Follow me,” and the tax collector rises. The table that follows is not a pause before discipleship; it is part of the new allegiance, where mercy brings other sinners near the Physician. “To repentance” names what the narrative has just shown.
The phrase’s possible origin from Luke must still be weighed honestly. True theology does not make every occurrence original. Here the broad transmission, Matthean setting, and easy stop after “sinners” favor retention. The parallel is best heard as a second witness to the Lord’s full saying.
Sources and further reading
- Hosea 6:6; Matthew 3:1–2; 9:9–13; Luke 5:27–32.
- Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, note on Matthew 9:13.
- Westminster Confession of Faith 15.
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-1040
- 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. Supplied-source audit completed in Core 0.6.3. Accepted local notes were matched by canonical passage and manually bounded; source claims remain attributed where current apparatus verification is pending.
- Rights and access
- Original editorial synthesis; cited sources retain their stated rights.
- Known limitations
- Staging record; independent review remains open.
Links from this record
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Corrections and evidence submissions
No correction submission is presently attached to this record. Submit evidence or read the correction policy.
Chris Thomas, “Matthew 9:13 — “Sinners to Repentance”: Does the Gospel Call Include the Omitted Phrase?,” VAR-1040, Confessional Bibliology Research Center, version 1.0-staging.
Revision history
- — Chris Thomas
- — Chris Thomas