Omissions in Acts 9:5-6

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⁵ And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

⁶ And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

(Acts 9:5-6, KJV)

Textus Receptus:

⁵ ειπεν δε τις ει κυριε ο δε κυριος ειπεν εγω ειμι ιησους ον συ διωκεις σκληρον σοι προς κεντρα λακτιζειν

⁶ τρεμων τε και θαμβων ειπεν κυριε τι με θελεις ποιησαι και ο κυριος προς αυτον αναστηθι και εισελθε εις την πολιν και λαληθησεται σοι τι σε δει ποιειν.

(Acts 9:5-6, Textus Receptus)

The underlined words above are omitted from the NA/UBS editions of the Greek text but are in the Textus Receptus.

Minuscule 629

While several web pages point to Minuscule 629 as having the Greek reading of Acts 9:6 the Greek is actually omitted.in that section. Most of verse 6 of the Textus Receptus reading is omitted in 629, but a space is left for it.

The Laudian Acts

"The Laudian Acts" does not contain the TR reading, although some of the reading of verse 5 is in verse 4, but the section in verse 6 is omitted.

Bruce Metzger

Bruce Metzger says about Acts 9:5,6:

"...After diokeis [persecute] (and omitting alla [but] of ver. 6) the Textus Receptus adds ... "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. (6) And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him. So far as is known, no Greek witness reads these words at this place; they have been taken from 26.14 and 22.10, and are found here in codices of the Vulgate..."

"...The spurious passage came into the Textus Receptus when Erasmus translated it from the Latin Vulgate into Greek and inserted it in his first edition of the Greek New Testament (Basel 1516)..." (A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, p. 362).

NA 27

"...E (6th century), 431 (12th century) and some other authorities have "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" at the end of verse 4..." (Nestle-Aland: Novum Testamentum Graece, 27th ed.).

Jay Green

J.P. Green (the editor of the MKJV and LITV) has a similar comment in the preface to his interlinear.:

"...Although it is admitted that Erasmus has added to his Received Text two or three readings from the Latin Vulgate, without Greek manuscript authority (e.g. Acts 9:5,6), and also one from the Complutension Bible has no Greek manuscript authority (1 John 5:7). We have not deleted these from the Greek text as supplied by the Trinitarian Bible Society, though we do not accept them as part of the true deposit of the Holy Scriptures..." (The Interlinear Bible, Vol. IV, p. xi).

Thomas Holland

Thomas Holland, in the section of his book, Acts 9:5-6 - "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks", in Crowned With Glory, has:

The phrase from verse five, "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks," is in the Old Latin and some Vulgate manuscripts. It is also in the Peshitta and the Greek of Codex E and 431, but in verse four instead of verse five. The passage from verse six that reads, "And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him" is in the Old Latin, the Latin Vulgate, and some of the Old Syrian and Coptic versions. These phrases, however, are not found in the vast majority of Greek manuscripts and therefore do not appear in either the Critical Text or the Majority Text. Yet, they are included in the Textus Receptus. On the surface the textual evidence looks weak. Why, then, should the Textus Receptus be accepted over the majority of Greek witnesses at this point? Because the phrases are preserved in other languages, and the internal evidence establishes that Christ in fact spoke these words at the time of Paul's conversion and are therefore authentic.

Acts chapter nine is not the only place in Scripture where the conversion of Paul is established. In Acts 22:10 and 26:14 we have the testimony of the Apostle himself. There, in all Greek texts, the phrases in question appear.

Acts 22:10 - And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.

Acts 26:14 - And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

When the apostle Paul recounts his conversion he cites the words in question. It is certain that the Holy Spirit inspired these words which should be included at Acts 9:5-6. We must conclude that these words were spoken when the event originally occurred. Although they have not been preserved in the Greek manuscripts at Acts 9:6, they have been preserved in the Latin manuscripts (ar, c, h, l, p, ph, t) as well as other translations (Georgian, Slavonic, Ethiopic). The greatest textual critic of all, the Holy Spirit, bears witness to their authenticity by including them in Acts 22:10 and 26:14.

A similar example may be noted in Matthew 19:17, although the textual evidence is much stronger there. The King James Version reads, "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Modern texts render "why callest thou me good" to "why do you ask me about what is good." Also, the reply of Christ, "there is none good but one, that is, God" is rendered "there is only one who is good."

This verse, as it stands in the King James, wonderfully establishes the deity of Jesus Christ. If only God is good and Christ is called good, He must be God. The Greek support for the reading of the KJV, as presented in the Traditional Text, is substantial. Among the uncials it is found in C and W (fifth century), K and D (ninth century) and a few others. It is the reading of the majority of Greek cursives and lectionaries. It is also the reading of the Old Latin, the Old Syriac, the Coptic, and other early translations. The textual evidence is much stronger than that of Acts 9:5-6. Similarly, this passage has additional references to determine what the original reading must be. Again the Holy Spirit comes to the aid of this textual problem by providing for us two other places where this event is cited. In both cases there is no textual variant in the places supporting the disputed passage.

Mark 10:18 - And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

Luke 18:19 - And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

In neither passage does the Lord say anything like, "Why do you ask me about what is good?" And, in both passages we find the noun "God." Therefore, we do not have to ask ourselves which reading in Matthew 19:17 is correct because the Holy Spirit has made it clear in additional passages which one is the correct reading. The same principle may be applied to Acts 9:5-6. Once again God bears testimony to His word. [1]

KJV Today

KJV Today has:

The words in their entirety are found only in one Greek manuscript, 629 (14th century), and Latin authorities: p (8th century), h (5th century), t (5th/6th century), vgcl). Syrus Harklensis (616 AD) has the reading except for "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks". E (6th century), 431 (12th century) and some other authorities have "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" at the end of verse 4 (Nestle-Aland: Novum Testamentum Graece, 27th ed.).

The words are not found in the earlier Greek manuscripts, but this passage has given rise to a number of early variants. In verse 5, C (5th century) and 1241 (12th century) adds "συ" in between "ει" and "κυριε". In between "δε" and "εγω", Sinaiticus (4th century), 81 (1044 AD), 945 (11th century), 614 (13th century) add "ειπεν"; E (6th century), Ψ (9th/10th century), 323 (12th century) add "κυριος προς αυτον"; L (9th century), 33 (9th century), 1241 (12th century), 1505 (12th century), 18 (14th century) add "κυριος ειπεν"; 424 (11th century) adds "κυριος". In between "ιησους" and "ον" Alexandrinus (5th century), C (5th century), E (6th century) adds "ο ναζωραιος".

Though all of these variants demonstrate that the verse had been tampered with, the addition of "ο ναζωραιος (of Nazareth)" in some early uncials is especially significant because this shows an early attempt to harmonize Acts 9:5 with Acts 22:8, which says, "And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest." In fact, Acts 9:5-6 as it appears in the majority of Greek manuscripts appears to be a harmonization of it with Acts 9:26:15-16:

Acts 9:5-6 in NA/UBS:

"...τίς εἶ, Κύριε; ὁ δέ Κύριος εἶπεν· ἐγώ εἰμι ᾿Ιησοῦς ὃν σὺ διώκεις· αλλὰ ανάστηθι...."

Acts 26:15-16:

"...τις ει κυριε ο δε ειπεν εγω ειμι ιησους ον συ διωκεις αλλα αναστηθι...."

It is possible that at an early stage the text of Acts 9:5-6 was made to harmonize with Acts 9:26:15-16 in the majority of manuscripts, and then later some scribes made further harmonizations with Acts 22:8 (as in Alexandrinus, C, E). This theory supposes that the original reading was lost in the majority of manuscripts only to be preserved primarily by the Latin stream; but there are in fact verses that are in the Sinaiticus (oldest Greek codex) that were later lost in the Byzantine Greek, but were preserved in Latin (e.g. “raise the dead” (Matthew 10:8), “the Jews” (John 3:25), “Church of God” (Acts 20:28), Doxology (Romans 16:25-27)), so it is theoretically possible for the Latin stream to preserve an ancient Greek reading that would be lost in later Greek readings.

Moreover, even the NIV, ESV and NASB prefer several Latin Vulgate readings over readings that are preserved in the originally inspired language. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. However, the NIV in Genesis 4:8 adds the line, "Let us go out to the field" from the Vulgate even though the line does not exist in the Hebrew. The NIV, ESV and NASB in 1 Chronicles 4:13 add "and Meonothai" from the Vulgate despite its nonexistence in the Hebrew. The NIV, ESV and NASB in 2 Chronicles 15:8 add "Azariah the son of" from the Vulgate despite its nonexistence in the Hebrew. Anybody who uses the NIV, ESV or NASB has no right to fault the KJV for including a line from the Vulgate.

Even if one were to doubt the KJV reading of Acts 9:5-6, he has no reason to doubt the historical fact stated therein. This exact conversation between Christ and Paul did occur, according to Acts 22 and 26. So even if a reader supposes that including this passage in Acts 9:6 is an error, the reader has no reason to doubt the truth of the passage. This is not a case where the stated historical fact is not supported by any original language text. For example, the NIV has Cain saying to Abel, "Let's go out to the field" in Genesis 4:8 based on non-Hebrew texts (i.e. Vulgate, Septuagint). The Hebrew does not have this reading in Genesis 4:8 and no other place in the Bible mentions this statement by Cain to Abel. KJV's Acts 9:6 is not such a case where a debatable historical fact is included. In conclusion: At most, one could accept the KJV reading as original presuming that non-Greek texts preserved the reading correctly against all Greek texts (except for one) that became corrupt in this place at a very early stage. But at the very least, even if one were to think that the KJV incorrectly inserts this passage in Acts 9:6, he has no reason to doubt the content. We can read Acts 9:6 and believe its content with certainty.

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“It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him,” in Acts 9:5-6? by KJV Today

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