Distortion of the text of Matthew 27:35, and Christians’ adherence to Old Testament prophecies

 Matthew 27:35 distortion

And when they crucified him, they divided his clothes by casting lots.

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

introduction:

When you browse the Bible, specifically the Old Testament, you will not see any reference, near or far, to the character of Jesus that appeared in the New Testament. Christians have repeatedly tried to address this problem by creating an existence for Jesus in the Old Testament by attaching its texts to the character of Jesus, either a prophecy and we say that it was fulfilled in Jesus or words and we say that it refers to Jesus... etc. I wish they had not done this, because the Old Testament never spoke about God who would be incarnated in a human being and did not speak about the Redeemer who would come to bear the sins of humanity. Rather, it spoke about ordinary people sent by God, even the character of the Messiah that the Jews believe in and the Christians believe is Jesus.

She is just an ordinary person, not an incarnate god.

Text according to Al-Fandik's translation

And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among themselves, casting lots for them.

That what was spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled:

They divided my garments among themselves, and cast lots for my clothing .

Greek text ((received text))

1894 Scrivener Textus Receptus

δε αυτον διεμερισαντο κληρον ινα πληρωθη το ρηθεν υπο του προφητου The rest

και επι τον ιματισμον μου εβαλον κληρον

As we see, the text contains a quote from one of the Old Testament texts, which is found in Psalm 22, specifically in verse 18, where the Prophet David said, according to the faith of the believers in the Bible:

Vandyke translation:

18 They divide my garments among them, and cast lots for my clothing.

This quote indicates that even though the Prophet David used the first-person pronoun, he was not talking about himself, but rather about another person who would come in the future, and of course this person is Jesus.

In fact, the Christian community warmly encourages this particular psalm and believes that it is complete.

It revolves around the famous incident of Jesus' crucifixion.

But what do the ancient documents of the Bible tell us about this text?

Bruce Metzger says in his book Textual Commentaries on the New Testament:

Committee was impressed by the absence of the passage from early witnesses of the Alexandrian and the Western types of text (a ABDLWGP 33 71 157 565 700 892c itff2, l vgmss syrs, p, hmg, pal eth persP)

The Committee was surprised by the absence of this passage from early testimonies of the Alexandrian and Western texts.

He mentioned examples of ancient documents that do not contain this passage:

(a ABDLWGP 33 71 157 565 700 892c itff2, l vgmss syrs, p, hmg, pal eth persP)

The text is not found in important and early testimonies from manuscripts such as the Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, Alexandrian, Bayesian, Washingtonian, and others.

Text form from within manuscripts

With God's help and grace, we will show the text form from some manuscripts.

which does not have this section

Image of the text from the Sinaiticus Codex ( א ) (mid-fourth century AD)

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The text in the Sinaiticus manuscript ends at the word κληρον and is immediately followed by the beginning of text number 36, as shown in the picture.

κα ὶ καθ ή μενοι ἐ τ ή ρουν α ὐ τ ὸ ​​ν ἐ κε ῖ

Text according to Vatican manuscript ( B ) (mid-fourth century AD)

Same case, the clip is not available.

Text according to the Alexandrian manuscript ( A ) (mid-fifth century)

​

The clip is also missing.

Text according to the Pisa manuscript ( D ) mid-fifth century

​

The clip is not available.

Text according to the Washington Manuscript ( W )

mid 5th century

The clip is not available.

Late 13th century manuscript

Manuscript ( 2756 )

​

The clip is not available.

Adam Clarke's comment on the text:

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible
Adam Clarke, LL.D., FSA, (1715-1832)

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots - The whole of this quotation should be omitted, as making no part originally of the genuine text of this evangelist. It is omitted by almost every MS. of value and importance, by almost all the versions, and the most reputable of the primitive fathers, who have written or commented on the place.

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “They divided my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

This entire quote should be deleted as it does not represent any original part.

For the true text of this Gospel,

It is deleted from almost all important and valuable manuscripts, almost all copies.

And most of the famous early fathers who wrote or commented on this .

Thus we know that this passage was added to the Gospel of Matthew and became part of the Word of God.

without any real originality to it

This is a natural and recurring matter in the Bible.

Bible translations that simply quote the text without this inauthentic passage

Arabic translations:

Life translation

They crucified him, then divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots.

Good news translation

They crucified him, cast lots for his clothes, and divided them up.

Jesuit translation:

They crucified him and divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots.

English translations:

(ASV) And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments among them, casting lots;

(BBE) And when they had put him on the cross, they made division of his clothing among them by the decision of chance.

(CEV) The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross and gambled to see who would get his clothes.

(Darby) And having crucified him, they parted his clothes among themselves , casting lots.

(EMTV) And having crucified Him, they divided His clothes among themselves, casting lots.

(ESV) And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.

(GNB) They crucified him and then divided his clothes among them by throwing dice.

(GW) After they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice.

(ISV) After they had crucified him, they divided his clothes by throwing dice.

(Murdock) And when they had crucified him, they distributed his garments by lot.

(RV) And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments among them, casting lots:

(WNT) After crucifying Him, they divided His garments among them by lot,

Greek versions that included the Greek text

Without the distorted increase :

Greek text ((majority text))

Greek New Testament (Majority Text)

σταυρώσαντες​​​​​​​ βάλλοντες κλη ͂ ρον,

Nestle Land New Testament Text

Nestle-Aland 26th/27th edition

Greek New Testament

σταυρ ώ σαντες δ ὲ α ὐ τ ὸ ​​ν διεμερ ί σαντο τ ὰ ἱ μ ά τια α ὐ το ῦ β ά λλοντες κλ ῆ ρον,

Text of the Westcott and Hort New Testament

THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT:

WESTTCOTT-HORT

σταυρωσαντες 4717 V-AAP-NPM δε 1161 CONJ αυτον 846 P-ASM διεμερισαντο 1266 V-AMI-3P τα 3588 T-APN ιματια 2440 N-APN αυτου 846 P-GSM βαλλοντες 906 V-PAP-NPM κληρον 2819 N-ASM

Thus, by the grace and favor of God Almighty, we have proven the inauthenticity of this passage from the text of the Gospel of Matthew 27:35. Thus, we have proven a new link in the series of additional distortions that occurred in the Holy Book, which undoubtedly deserve the blows written in this book.

This passage is found in John 19:24.

Is it okay?

Vandyke translation:

Then they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but let us cast lots for it as to whose it shall be,” so that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:

“They divided my garments among themselves and cast lots for my clothing.” This is what the soldiers did.

Although it has been proven that the text of Matthew 19:24 was distorted, as we have seen.

For he who refuses to use his mind and who only wants to search for any straw that will save his faith from drowning in the sea of ​​darkness, you find him clinging to the existence of the prophecy passage - as he wants to call it - in the Gospel of John 19:24 and you find him shouting that the prophecy is true and there it is without a textual problem, referring to Jesus, and perhaps the writer of the Gospel of Matthew quoted it from the writer of the Gospel of John - as if this were a normal thing - as Adam Clarke stated in his interpretation.

We respond to this by saying that we are not trying to prove whether the prophecy - if this term is correct - is a fact attributed to Jesus or not, but we are trying to prove that the actual distortion occurred in the Holy Bible. The existence of the text in another place will not put the text of Matthew 27:35 in a better position, but rather this text will remain a witness to the distortion and to the mockery of the scribes by warning against adding anything to the word of the Lord, which was not written by the will of man but was written by holy men of God moved by the Holy Spirit. The truth is that it was written by the will of men, and whoever wants to add to the book adds, and whoever wants to take away takes away.

Application of prophecy to Jesus

Christians believe that the entire Psalm 22 speaks about Jesus.

Quoted from Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Albert Barnes (1798-1870)

That it might be fulfilled ... - The words here quoted are found in Psa_22:18. The whole psalm is usually referred to Christ, and is a most striking description of his sufferings and death .

These words are taken from Psalm 22:18, the entire psalm usually referring to Christ,

It is an accurate description of his suffering and death .

The truth is that applying this psalm to Christ will confirm that Christ did not come to be crucified and die, but rather he was praying to God to save him from this trap that the wicked had prepared for him:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me ? Far from my salvation, from the words of my groaning.

2 O God, I call in the day, but you do not answer; I call at night, but I have no rest .

3 And you are the Holy One who sits among the praises of Israel.

4 Our fathers trusted in you; they trusted, and you delivered them.

5 They cried to you, and were delivered; they trusted in you, and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and no man, a reproach to men and despised by the people.

7 All who see me mock me; they gape with the lips and shake the head, saying,

8 He trusted in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him deliver him, for he delights in him.

9 For you drew me from the womb; you made me trust at my mother's breasts.

10 On you I was cast from the womb; from my mother's womb you are my God .

11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near, for there is no helper.

12 Many bulls surrounded me; the mighty bulls of Bashan surrounded me.

13 They opened their mouths wide against me like a ravening and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water; all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it melts within my bowels.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; you have brought me to the dust of death.

16 For dogs have surrounded me; a company of evildoers has encompassed me; they have pierced my hands and my feet.

17 I can count all my bones; they look and stare at me.

18 They divide my garments among them, and cast lots for my clothing.

19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off; O my strength, hasten to help me .

20 Save my soul from the sword , my only child from the hand of the dog.

21 Save me from the mouth of the lion; answer me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.

23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him; glorify Him, you descendants of Jacob; and fear Him, all you descendants of Israel.

24 For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, nor has he hidden his face from him, but when he cried to him he heard .

25 My praise is of you in the great congregation; I will pay my vows before those who fear you.

26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord; your hearts shall live forever.

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall bow down before you.

28 For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He rules over the nations.

29 All the fat of the earth shall eat and worship; all who go down to the dust shall bow before him, and he that saveth not his soul.

30 The descendants will serve him; he will declare the Lord to the coming generation.

31 They will come and declare his righteousness to a people who will be born, that he has done it.

Notes on the Psalm:

1- He is talking about a person, not about an incarnate God.

2- This person fell into an ordeal (we will consider it the ordeal of crucifixion) and here he is praying fervently for the Lord to save him from this ordeal, for if he did not voluntarily offer himself to death and was not led to slaughter...

Like a sheep silent before its shearers.

3- This person was saved from death by the Lord because he said:

24 For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, nor has he hidden his face from him, but when he cried to him he heard .

This person's prayers were answered and God Almighty saved him from his ordeal.

Applying this psalm to Christ will never bring good, but will destroy the divinity of Christ on the one hand and the actual occurrence of the crucifixion on the other hand, and thus will destroy the doctrine of redemption that Christianity adopts and defends with all its might.

Therefore, there is no good at all that comes from this psalm for the Christian faith. It would have been better for the Gospel writers to completely distance themselves from the texts of the Old Testament because they would not serve Christian thought.

In any case, you will be against him.

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Finally, we ask God Almighty to guide us to goodness.

And to make our deeds purely for His sake

God Almighty said:

( O mankind, there has come to you a proof from your Lord, and We have sent down to you a clear light.

As for those who believe in God and hold fast to Him, He will admit them to mercy from Him and bounty and guide them to Himself on a straight path .

[Surah: An-Nisa - Verse 174: 175]