Luke 9:54
 
Luke 9:54
(KJV) And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
(1611 KJV) And when his disciples, Iames and Iohn sawe this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that wee command fire to come downe from heauen, and consume them, euen as Elias did?
(1587 Geneva Bible) And when his disciples, Iames and Iohn sawe it, they saide, Lorde, wilt thou that we commaund, that fire come downe from heauen, and consume them, euen as Elias did?
(1526 Tyndale) When his disciples Iames and Iohn sawe yt they sayde: Lorde wilt thou that we comaunde that fyre come doune from heven and consume them even as Helias dyd?
 
Counterfeit Versions
(CSB) When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”
(NIV) When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?"
(NASV) When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"
(THE MESSAGE) When the disciples James and John learned of it, they said, "Master, do you want us to call a bolt of lightning down out of the sky and incinerate them?"
(AMP) And when His disciples James and John observed this, they said, Lord, do You wish us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did ?
(NLT) When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?”
(ESV) And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"
(CEV) When the disciples James and John saw what was happening, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy these people?"
(NCV) When James and John, followers of Jesus, saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and destroy those people?"[
(1901 ASV) And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we bid fire to come down from heaven, and consume them?
(HCSB) When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?"
(TNIV) When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?"
(RSV) And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to bid fire come down from heaven and consume them?"
(NAB-Roman Catholic) When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?"
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) When the disciples James and John saw this they said: “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and annihilate them?”
 
Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
idonteV de oi maqhtai autou iakwboV kai iwannhV eipon kurie qeleiV eipwmen pur katabhnai apo tou ouranou kai analwsai autouV wV kai hliaV epoihsen
 
Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
idonteV de oi maqhtai iakwboV kai iwannhV eipan kurie qeleiV eipwmen pur katabhnai apo tou ouranou kai analwsai autouV
 
Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following Manuscripts:
 
Omit his” and render “the Disciples”
P 45 - Third century
P 75 - Third century
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
1 (Minuscule) - Seventh century
 
Omit “even as Elijah did?”
P 45 - Third century
P 75 - Third century
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
L 019 - Seventh century
XI 040 - Sixth century
 
Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this verse
 
“Contains “his”
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century
D 05 - Bezae Cantabrigiensis - Fifth century
K 017 - Ninth century
L 019 - Seventh century
W 032 - Fourth/fifth century
Theta 038 - Ninth century
13 (Minuscule) - Eighth century
 
Contains “even as Elijah did”
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century
D 05 - Bezae Cantabrigiensis - Fifth century
W 032 - Fourth/fifth century
Theta 038 - Ninth century
1 (Minuscule) - Seventh century
13 (Minuscule) - Eighth century
33 (Minuscule) - Ninth Century
 
Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
 
Omit “his” and render “the disciples”
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857 (in margin or brackets)
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871 (in margin or brackets)
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
 
Omit “even as Elijah did?”
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871 (in margin or brackets)
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 Teachings
(2 Ki 1:10 KJV) And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
 
(2 Ki 1:12 KJV) And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
 
James and John were furious over the fact that the Samaritans would not let Jesus go into their village so they had asked the Lord if they should command fire to come down from Heaven and consume them. Now they did not ask this off the cuff but they asked if they should be like Elijah when he commanded fire to come down and consume the first two companies of 50 men. Some think this is where James and John received the name “Sons of Thunder.” They were probably looking at a total destruction like Sodom and Gomorrha. James and John did not realize that this was a different situation than in the time of Elijah. Ahaziah had suffered a serious injury when he fell through a lattice and instead of sending for Elijah to inquire of the Lord for him, he had chosen to inquire of Beelzebub, the god of Ekron. So Elijah told his messengers that because he chose to inquire of Beelzebub instead of the God of Heaven that he was going to die in his bed. Then Elijah had left the messengers and they returned to Ahaziah to deliver the message. Then Ahaziah inquired as to who this was and immediately he knew it was Elijah. Then Ahaziah dispatched a company of 50 men to bring Elijah back and the 50 men were there to bring him back by force but instead Elijah stated that if he was a man of God, then fire would come down and consume the company of men. This happened a second time. What was being shown here was that God was the God who could command fire to consume the enemies of His people plus He was showing Ahaziah that he was the real God with the real power who should have been consulted first about his condition.
 
The third company of soldiers came but the commander spoke nice to him and God told Elijah to go with them but he delivered the same message to Ahaziah that he did to his messengers, that he would die in his bed because he chose to seek the god of Ekron. We see here that the word of God to Ahaziah did not change even when delivered directly to him or to his messengers, the message was the same. It is like the King James Bible which does not change the message with every new version that comes off the publisher$ printing presses. The modern versions omit the part about this verse going back to the time of Elijah and this results in Christians missing out on the background. Jesus did not come to destroy the lives of people but the problem was that James and John were still living with the idea of instant judgment as seen in the Old Testament. Jesus was weaning them off this type of thinking by stating that they are not of the spirit of revenge or wrath but they will receive the Holy Spirit who will make them meek and loving, a total difference from the instant destruction mindset.
 
A Confusing Bonus
I wanted to include this section this week because of something I noticed which is prevalent in the modern versions. This week’s verse is a good example of why Christians who use multiple versions of the bible will only engender confusion in their own life via the footnotes.
 
(NKJV) Luke 9:54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”
 
Footnote: Luke 9:54 NU-Text omits just as Elijah did.
 
(ESV) Luke 9:54 - And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"
 
Footnote: Luke 9:54 Some manuscripts add as Elijah did
 
So if I was using the ESV and the NKJV for a study of this verse, I would be in a quandary. According to one version it should be omitted but according to the other version it should be added. So do I add it or do I omit it? (1 Cor 14:33 KJV) For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

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