Luke 20:5

Luke 20:5
(KJV) And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?
(1611 KJV) And they reasoned with themselues, saying, If wee shall say, From heauen, he will say, Why then beleeued yee him not?
(1587 Geneva) And they reasoned within themselues, saying, If we shall say, From heauen, he will say, Why then beleeued ye him not?
(1526 Tyndale) And they thought with in them selves sayinge: yf we shall saye from heave: he will saye: why then beleved ye him not?

Counterfeit Versions
(1881 RV) And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why did ye not believe him?
(1901 ASV) And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why did ye not believe him?
(CEB) They discussed among themselves, “If we say, ‘It’s of heavenly origin,’ he’ll say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’
(CEV) They talked this over and said to each other, “We can’t say that God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn’t believe John.

(CSB) They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him? ’

(ERV) The priests, the teachers of the law, and the Jewish leaders all talked about this. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe John?’
(ESV) And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’
(HCSB) They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’
(THE MESSAGE) They were on the spot, and knew it. They pulled back into a huddle and whispered, “If we say ‘heaven,’ he’ll ask us why we didn’t believe him;
(NASV) They reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’
(NIRV) They talked to each other about it. They said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’
(NIV) They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’
(NLT) They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John.
(RSV) And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’
(VOICE) Chief Priests, Religious Scholars, and Elders (conferring together): 5 If we say it was from God, then He’ll ask us why we didn’t believe John.
(2011 NAB - Roman Catholic) They discussed this among themselves, and said, “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) Then among themselves they drew conclusions, saying: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why is it YOU did not believe him?’

Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
οι δε συνελογισαντο προς εαυτους λεγοντες οτι εαν ειπωμεν εξ ουρανου ερει δια τι ουν ουκ επιστευσατε αυτω

Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
οι δε συνελογισαντο προς εαυτους λεγοντες οτι εαν ειπωμεν εξ ουρανου ερει δια τι ουκ επιστευσατε αυτω

Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
L 019 - Seventh century
R 027 - Sixth century
Gamma 036 - Ninth or Tenth century
Delta 037 - Ninth century
Theta 038 - Ninth century

Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this verse
Stephanus (1550 A.D.)
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century
D 05 - Bezae Cantabrigiensis - Fifth century
K 017 - Ninth century
M 021 - Ninth century
Q 026 - Fifth century
PI-041 - Ninth century
1 (Minuscule) - Seventh century

Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
Omit “then”
Lachmann, Karl - 1842 (in the margin or in brackets
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Westcott and Hort - 1881
Weiss, Bernhard - 1894
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
Von Soden, Freiherr - 1902
Hodges and Farstad - Majority Text 1982 as corrected in 1985

Affected Teaching
The word “then” in the Greek is a conjunction. A conjunction connects two phrases or two sentences or two thoughts. The religious leaders did not answer Jesus immediately when He posed the question to them concerning the origin of John’s baptism? Instead they reasoned among themselves and set up a scenario that if they said it was “from Heaven” (thought 1) then “why didn’t they believe it” (thought 2). Without the conjunction it is just a straight question with no pondering or comparative thought.

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