Manuscripts and Luke 2:14

What is The Original of Luke 2:14?

In Luke 2:14, we have two versions of the verse:

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men," (Luke 2:14 KJV).

“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased," (Luke 2:14 NASB1995).

We must remember a few things about the Bible; firstly, it is ancient. The newest books are more than 1,000 years old, and it is not like they had printers to make copies. Thus, we get what are called scribal errors. Simply, a scribe copies a book but makes a mistake with a letter or word. With this specific passage, the difference is between “ευδοκία_” and “εὐδοκίας”. This one letter, “ς”, changes the entire phrase, so, how do we know what is the original?

Textual critics help with that by looking at the age of manuscripts, patristic evidence(i.e. evidence from early Christians), and the popularity of the two versions.

Most textual critics have concluded that “ευδοκία” is the original word as we see this most often in early manuscripts and by the writings of the early church. As one writes: “A multitude of the heavenly host, as Luke records, and as I believe, praised God, saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men,” (Contra Celsum, Book I, Chapter 60).

Methodius of Olympus also writes: “And it is a proof of this, and an irrefragable(or irrefutable) argument, that at the novelty of thy supernatural child-bearing, the angels sang on earth, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men”. 

These two men are very early accounts (around 180-311 AD), so they help us greatly with this predicament. We recommend all readers of this article to continue to this article for more information: (here).

Works Cited:

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

Translated by Frederick Crombie. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04161.htm>.