Luke 24:4
(KJV) And it came to pass, as they
were much perplexed
thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
(1611 KJV) And it came to passe, as
they were much perplexed
thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.
Counterfeit Versions
(1881 RV) And it came to pass, while they were
perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel:
(1901 ASV) And it came to pass, while they were
perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel:
(AMP) And while they were perplexed and wondering what
to do about this, behold, two men in dazzling raiment suddenly stood beside
them.
(CEB) They didn’t know what to make of this. Suddenly,
two men were standing beside them in gleaming bright clothing.
(CEV) and they did not know what to think. Suddenly
two men in shining white clothes stood beside them.
-
(CSB) While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by
them in dazzling clothes.
- (ERV) They did not understand this. While they were
wondering about it, two men in shining clothes stood beside them.
(ESV) While they were perplexed about this, behold,
two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
(GNB) They stood there puzzled about this, when
suddenly two men in bright shining clothes stood by them.
(HCSB) While they were perplexed about this, suddenly
two men stood by them in dazzling clothes.
(JB PHILLIPS) While they were still puzzling over
this, two men suddenly stood at their elbow, dressed in dazzling light.
(LB) They stood there puzzled, trying to think what
could have happened to it. Suddenly two men appeared before them, clothed in
shining robes so bright their eyes were dazzled.
(THE MESSAGE) They were puzzled, wondering what to
make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over
them, stood there.
(NEW AMERICAN BIBLE- Revised Edition - Roman Catholic)
While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments
appeared to them.
(NASV) While they were perplexed about this, behold,
two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing;
(NET) While they were perplexed about this, suddenly
two men stood beside them in dazzling attire.
(NIRV) They were wondering about this. Suddenly two
men in clothes as bright as lightning stood beside them.
(NIV) While they were wondering about this, suddenly
two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.
(NLV) While they wondered about what had happened,
they saw two men standing by them in shining clothes.
(NLT) As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly
appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.
(RSV) While they were perplexed about this, behold,
two men stood by them in dazzling apparel;
(VOICE) They didn’t know what to think. As they stood
there in confusion, two men suddenly appeared standing beside them. These men
seemed to glow with light.
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) While they were perplexed
about this, look! two men in shining garments stood by them.
Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
και εγενετο εν τω
διαπορεισθαι αυτας περι τουτου και ιδου δυο ανδρες επεστησαν
αυταις εν εσθησεσιν αστραπτουσαις
Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
και εγενετο εν τω απορεισθαι αυτας περι τουτου και
ιδου ανδρες δυο επεστησαν αυταις εν εσθητι αστραπτουση
Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus -
Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century
D 05 - Bezae Cantabrigiensis - Fifth century
L 019 - Seventh century
P 75 - Third Century
Manuscripts which agree with the Textus
Receptus for this verse
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
K 017 - Ninth century
W 032 - Fourth/fifth century
Gamma 036 - Ninth or Tenth century
Delta 037 - Ninth century
Theta 038 - Ninth century
13 (Minuscule) - Eighth century
Published Critical
Greek Texts with Corruptions
Reads “perplexed” instead of “much perplexed”
Lachmann, Karl - 1842
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871
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
Weiss, Bernhard - 1894
Von Soden, Freiherr - 1902
Affected Teaching
The word used in the modern versions carries with it
the meaning of perplexed or doubt. The group that came to the tomb on Sunday
morning to properly prepare the body of Jesus for permanent burial had seen that
the stone was rolled away. So they entered in and saw the two angels in shining
apparel. This caused them to be “much perplexed” which is beyond the meaning of
the word in the modern versions. If you walked into a tomb and saw two men
sitting there in shining apparel, you would be way beyond perplexed, you would
definitely be much perplexed. Their wonderment and questions were very soon to
be answered because when they had gone into the tomb, they had seen what looked
like two men dressed in shining garments. It must have been a shock to them to
see that Jesus was gone but these two men who were actually radiating a glow
were there instead. The words “much perplexed” carries with it the meaning of
“going through all possible solutions but finds no way out.” In other words, the
women had gone over every possible scenario in their minds and could not come to
a solution as to what happened to the body of Jesus or who the two men were. The
words “much perplexed” in English is actually one word in the Greek. What the
modern version editors did was to actually truncate the true meaning of this
word by leaving the word “much” out.
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