Luke 23:17
 
Luke 23:17
(KJV) For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.
(1611 KJV) For of necessitie hee must release one vnto them at the Feast.
(1587 Geneva Bible) For of necessitie hee must haue let one loose vnto them at the feast.
(1526 Tyndale) For of necessite he must have let one lowse vnto them at that feast.
 
Counterfeit Versions
(CSB) Omitted
(NIV) Omitted
(NASV) [Now he was obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner.]
(THE MESSAGE) Omitted
(NLT) Omitted
(ESV) Omitted
(CEV) Omitted
(NKJV) (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).
(NCV) [Every year at the Passover Feast, Pilate had to release one prisoner to the people.]
(HCSB) [For according to the festival he had to release someone to them.]
(RSV) Omitted
(NAB-Roman Catholic) Omitted
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) Omitted
 
Footnotes
NASV - Early mss do not contain this v
NKJV - NU-Text omits verse 17.
NCV - Some Greek copies do not contain the bracketed text.
HCSB - Other mss omit bracketed text
NAB [17] This verse, "He was obliged to release one prisoner for them at the festival," is not part of the original text of Luke. It is an explanatory gloss from Mark 15:6 (also Matthew 27:15) and is not found in many early and important Greek manuscripts.
 
Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
anagkhn de eicen apoluein autoiV kata eorthn ena
 
Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
Omitted
 
Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:
P 75 - Third century
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
K 017 - Ninth century
L 019 - Seventh century
T 029 - Fifth century
PI-041 - Ninth century
 
Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this verse
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
D 05 - Bezae Cantabrigiensis - Fifth century
W 032 - Fourth/fifth century
Gamma 036 - Ninth or Tenth century
Delta 037 - Ninth century
Theta 038 - Ninth century
1 (Minuscule) - Seventh century
13 (Minuscule) - Eighth century
 
Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
Omit entire verse
Lachmann, Karl - 1842 (in brackets or margin)
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871 (in brackets or margin)
Weiss, Bernhard - 1894
Westcott and Hort - 1881
Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941
Nestle-Aland - 1979 - Twenty Sixth Edition
Nestle-Aland - 1993 - Twenty Seventh Edition
United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition
 
Affected Teaching
This verse probably met the knife of Marcion who mutilated the book of Luke. This verse is found in the other three gospels and is in the Byzantine text (450 A.D - 1450 A.D.) which means it was removed by someone. It speaks of the freeing of Barabbas and the fact that Pilate had to release a prisoner at the Passover. It was more of a custom than a right but if he did not do it, there would have been much more of an uproar and his position as Governor would have been in jeopardy if he could not keep a stable peace in that region. This verse is a connector which gives the reason why Pilate released one prisoner. Pilate was hoping that they would call for the release of Jesus but it backfired and they chose Barabbas. There is no reason why this verse should have been omitted. The fact that it is in the Byzantine Text tells us it is a valid verse because the Byzantine text postdates P 75 by about 200 years and Vaticanus by about 100 years and was probably contemporary with Alexandrinus. Once again the evidence surfaces for the existence of two manuscript lines. One underlying the King James Bible and the other underlying the modern versions.

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