Manuscript lens · variant unit

Rom 4:1 — προπάτορα / πατέρα

Rom 4:1 · reading in

Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν Ἀβραὰμ τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν εὑρηκέναι κατὰ σάρκα

BSB: “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has discovered?”

TR · Scrivener 1894: F. H. A. Scrivener, The New Testament in the Original Greek according to the Text followed in the Authorised Version (1894); public domain. Accents: "STEP Bible" (https://www.STEPBible.org). Data created by www.STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Accents rebuilt by AISBT from STEP Bible TAGNT (data). · BSB (public domain)

Printed reading

τὸν προπάτορα ἡμῶν

ton propatora hēmōn

our forefather

ℵ* · ℵc · A · B · C* · syrsch · cop · arm · aeth · Cyril · John of Damascus

SBLGNTNA28 🔒︎WHTreg

Alternative 1

τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν

ton patera hēmōn

our father

ℵa · C³ · D · E · F · G · K · L · P · it^d · it^e · it^f · it^g · vg · syr^p · Origen (Lat.) · Chrysostom · Euthalius · Theodoret · Theophylact · Oecumenius

ByzTR

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: τὸν προπάτορα ἡμῶν
Confidence: high (team scale)
Significance: minor
Byz / TR: τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν — open RP2018

Print προπάτορα with high confidence; Tischendorf 8 prints it too. ℵ A B C* agree, and πατέρα is assimilation to the usual title and to 4:12–18. The alternative πατέρα does not change the sense much: either way Abraham is the Jews' ancestor 'according to the flesh'.

Evidence

6 sources

Editions (checked 2026-10-30): SBLGNT, RP2018, TR (local files); WH/Treg/NA28 from the SBLGNT apparatus; NA28 by reference only. Sigla: as in STYLE_GUIDE §2.3. Minuscules are Gregory–Aland numbers, with Tischendorf's Pauline number once in parentheses ("Tisch."); * = first hand, superscript ᶜ (stored as c, e.g. Dc) = a later corrector (Tischendorf's notation); full key in src.tischendorf-8. Minuscules whose Gregory–Aland number is not verified are summarized, not listed. Tischendorf names mainly dissenting witnesses, so some majuscules on the other side are inferred from his silence.

SBLGNT, WH, Treg, NA28, and Tischendorf 8 (p. 379) read προπάτορα; RP2018 and TR read πατέρα.

Manuscripts (Tischendorf 8, vol. 2 (1872), p. 380, leaf n387): προπάτορα: ℵ (first hand and one later corrector) A B C*, four minuscules, syrsch, cop, arm, aeth, Cyril, John of Damascus. πατέρα: ℵ (corrector a) C (third corrector) D E F G K L P and most others, the Latin d e f g and vg, syr^p, Origen (Lat.), Chrysostom, Euthalius, Theodoret, Theophylact, Oecumenius. Tischendorf notes that the NT usually calls Abraham πατήρ (Luke 16:24, 30; John 8:53; Acts 7:2; Rom 4:12), while προπάτωρ is common in the Greek fathers.

Internal: προπάτωρ occurs only here in the NT. πατέρα matches 4:12, 16–18, where Abraham is father of all who believe, so a change to it is easy to explain.

SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 RP2018 Unlicense TR (Scrivener 1894) public domain Tischendorf⁸ public domain 🔒︎ NA28 Copyrighted Bible Scholarship & Tool CC BY 4.0

Rom 4:1 — προπάτορα / πατέρα

Rom 4:1 · reading in

Witnesses by century

Romans

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