Aren’t Acts 2:38 and Matthew 26:28 different in some Greek texts?
Question:
I read your Acts 2:38 in comparison to Matthew 26:28. Problem is the King James version agrees it's the same in Greek, but the Nestle makes it more personal where it could read "for the remission of your sins". Even though I don't think that matters because it makes it more personal with the Nestle (I have a way older version book so I could be wrong; they could have changed it), but it gives the argument that it's not the same. If you know of where I could find the majority text and what it says, then I could use that to show that Nestle text is wrong, even though I think it proves a point anyways. Sorry, I just noticed it and had to mention it. God bless and hope you have an awesome day!
Answer:
The Majority Text is also known as the Byzantine Text and the Textus Receptus (the acknowledged text). The name Byzantine refers to the fact that documents behind it mostly originated out of the old Byzantine empire centered in Constantinople. The name Majority Text is because its wording represents about 80 to 90 percent of the existing manuscripts available.
The Greek wording of Matthew 26:28 is "touto gar estin to haima mou to tes kaines diathekes to peri pallon ekchunomenon eis aphesin hamartion." There is only one variation. Some manuscripts have ekchunnomenon in place of ekchunomenon. However, the phrase that we are interested in is the last three words: eis aphesian hamartion (literally "for remission of sins").
The Greek wording of Acts 2:38 is "Petros de ephe pros autous Metanoesate kai baptistheto hekastos humon epi to onomati Iesou Christou eis aphesin harmartion kai lepsesthe ten dorean tou hagiou pneumatos." There are several variations in this text, what was given is the Majority. Some manuscripts dropped ephe (literally, "said") and inserts phesin (literally "says") after Metanoesate ("repent"), but the alteration doesn't change the translation. The next change is epi in replaced with en, but again it doesn't impact the translation.
The big change is that a few (I counted 11 sources in my reference book) have eis aphesian ton hamation humon (literally, "for remission of the sins your") in place of eis aphesian hamartion (literally, "for remission of sins"). As you noted, it makes the phrase a bit more personal. The difference is that of "for the remission of sins" versus "for the remission of your sins." Yet, even with the difference in phrasing, it does not impact the point being made that eis is a preposition in Greek that is looking forward toward something. The fact is that in the majority of Greek texts, the two verses contain the same phrase and the translation of those two phrases should be held consistently the same.
