Manuscript lens · variant unit

John 1:13 — οἳ … ἐγεννήθησαν / ὃς … ἐγεννήθη

John 1:13 · reading in

οἳ οὐκ ἐξ αἱμάτων οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκὸς οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρὸς ἀλλʼ ἐκ θεοῦ ἐγεννήθησαν.

BSB: “children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.”

SBLGNT: SBL Greek New Testament (SBLGNT). Copyright 2010 by the Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Source: https://github.com/LogosBible/SBLGNT Apparatus sigla removed for display. · BSB (public domain)

Printed reading

οἳ … ἐγεννήθησαν

hoi … egennēthēsan

who … were born (believers)

𝔓⁶⁶ · 𝔓⁷⁵ · ℵ · A · B · C · L · Θ · Ψ · f¹ · f¹³ · 𝔐 · syr^c

SBLGNTNA28 🔒︎ByzTR

Alternative 1

ὃς … ἐγεννήθη

hos … egennēthē

who … was born (Christ)

it^b · Irenaeus (lat) · Tertullian

Witnesses by century

Witness-dates timeline: pending sourcing. The dates are not yet backed by a sourced witness registry, so the timeline is hidden; the witnesses for each reading are listed above.

Decision

✓ Approved

Printed: οἳ … ἐγεννήθησαν
Confidence: high (team scale)
Significance: meaning
Byz / TR: οἳ … ἐγεννήθησαν — open RP2018

Print the plural οἳ … ἐγεννήθησαν. All editions agree, so there is no Byz/TR divergence. The record is kept because the singular has theological interest and early Latin support.

Evidence

10 sources

External: the plural is the reading of the Greek tradition. The list is representative, not a full collation. The Curetonian Syriac also has the plural (Burkitt 1:423). The singular is attested in Latin sources: - Irenaeus applies the verse to Christ's birth (Haer. 3.16.2; 3.19.2; ANF 1, translated from the Latin). - Tertullian, Carn. Chr. 19 (ANF 3), says the text is singular and accuses Valentinian "tamperers" of making it plural. - Uncertain The Old Latin b reading comes from standard apparatus reports. We have not checked it in Itala (reference only).

Internal: the plural follows naturally from ὅσοι … τοῖς πιστεύουσιν (1:12). The singular is best explained as a second-century Christological adjustment toward the virgin birth. Matt 1:18–25 and Luke 1:26–38 teach the virgin birth without depending on this reading.

SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 RP2005 public domain RP2018 Unlicense TR (Scrivener 1894) public domain 🔒︎ NA28 Copyrighted Irenaeus public domain Tertullian public domain 🔒︎ Itala IV Copyrighted Evangelion da-Mepharresh public domain Bible Scholarship & Tool CC BY 4.0