Matthew 18:29

Matthew 18:29
(KJV) And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
(1611 KJV) And his fellow seruant fell downe at his feete, and besought him, saying, Haue patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
(1587 Geneva Bible) Then his fellow seruant fell downe at his feete, and besought him, saying, Refraine thine anger towards me, and I will pay thee all.
(1568 Bishops Bible) And his felowe fel downe at his feete, and besought him, saying: haue pacience with me, and I wyll pay thee all.

Counterfeit Versions
(1881 RV) So his fellow-servant fell down and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee.
(1901 ASV) So his fellow-servant fell down and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee.
(AMP) So his fellow attendant fell down and begged him earnestly, Give me time, and I will pay you all!
(CEB) “Then his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I’ll pay you back.’
(CEV) The man got down on his knees and began begging, “Have pity on me, and I will pay you back.”

(CSB) “At this, his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’

(1899 Douay-Rheims) And his fellow servant falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
(ERV) “The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’
(ESV) So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’
(GNB) His fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’
(HCSB) “At this, his fellow slave fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
(JB Phillips) At this his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and implored him, ‘Oh, be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’
(THE MESSAGE) But he wouldn’t do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid.
(NASV) So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’
(NCV) “The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’
(2011 NIV) “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
(NLT) “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded.
(RSV) So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, `Have patience with me, and I will pay you.'
(2011 NAB-Roman Catholic) So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, `Have patience with me, and I will pay you.'
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) Therefore his fellow slave fell down and began to entreat him, saying, ‘Be patient with me and I will pay you back.’

Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
πεσων ουν ο συνδουλος αυτου εις τους ποδας αυτου παρεκαλει αυτον λεγων μακροθυμησον επ εμοι και παντα αποδωσω σοι

Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
πεσων ουν ο συνδουλος αυτου παρεκαλει αυτον λεγων μακροθυμησον επ εμοι και αποδωσω σοι

Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:

Omit “at his feet”
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century (Original)
D 05 - Bezae Cantabrigiensis - Fifth century
L 019 - Seventh century
Theta 038 - Ninth century

Omit “all”
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century (Original)
D 05 - Bezae Cantabrigiensis - Fifth century
Delta 037 - Ninth century

Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this verse

Includes “at his feet”
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century (Corrected)
K 017 - Ninth century
Gamma 036 - Ninth or Tenth century

Includes “all”
Stephanus (1550 A.D.)
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century (Corrected)
L 019 - Seventh century
Theta 038 - Ninth century
33 (Minuscule) - Ninth Century

Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
Omit “at his feet”
Greisbach, Johann - 1805
Lachmann, Karl - 1842
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871 (In the margin or in brackets)
Wordsworth, Christopher - 1856 revised in 1870
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

Omit “All”
Lachmann, Karl - 1842 (In brackets or margin)
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871
Wordsworth, Christopher - 1856 revised in 1870
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
This verse has suffered two swipes of the Gnostic ax. The first hit is the place where the man fell to beg for more time to pay the puny debt in contrast to the outstandingly large debt which was forgiven by the king. (Prov 22:7 KJV) The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. It was at the feet of his fellowservant which was exactly the same thing the other servant did before the king. By leaving this phrase out, it could seem the man fell in some other place rather than at his feet which was a sign of deference. The second hit was the removal of the word “all” which is a very important word in this verse. The servant who fell down before the king would have been unable to pay all the debt but this man had such a small debt which amounted to about 100 days work. Jesus is telling a parable of a servant and his king in the area of forgiveness. Forgiveness is a key trait of the Christian life and being able to forgive others should not be difficult for the Christian, especially since we have received forgiveness for the multitude of sins which God will no longer ever hold against us and therefore we should never hold any sins against other Christians, because they too have received the same total forgiveness.

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