DWThe Direct WitnessAccount

The evidence beneath the English

Every consequential choice
leaves a record.

John, Mark, Matthew, and Luke were developed through direct Greek analysis, lexical work, and manuscript comparison. Where surviving witnesses materially disagree, the competing Greek readings and their effect on English remain open to the reader.

1,738

chapter-level decision records generated from the live translation registry

1

public provenance schema, designed to remain machine-readable and auditable

SBLGNT

standardized inspectable Greek reference edition

Textual basis

SBL Greek New Testament

Edited by Michael W. Holmes. The project's standardized, publicly inspectable Greek reference edition. It is not presented as retroactive proof that every existing chapter originated from one uniform printed edition.

This is an honest reference claim, not a retroactive claim that all completed work began from one uniform printed edition. Material manuscript forks remain independently documented at the reading they affect.

SBLGNT project · Text and apparatus · License

Translation record

Matthew 12

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matthew.12.mt12Mercy

ἔλεος θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν

LEXICONINTERTEXTETHICSTRANSLATIONhigh confidence

How directly should Hosea’s contrast be rendered?

The saying literally contrasts desired mercy with sacrifice.

Why this default

‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’ is default because it directly preserves the Hosea contrast and Matthew’s repeated wording. ‘I want mercy’ is plain English, while ‘covenant mercy’ supplies the Hebrew relational background.

Evidence

ExternalNo separate external-evidence note is recorded for this stable-text decision.

InternalThe decision record relies on the stated lexical, grammatical, or translation rationale.

Project defaultI desire mercy and not sacrifice

Project default · direct wording

AlternativeI want mercy, not sacrifice

Plain English

AlternativeI desire covenant mercy rather than sacrifice

Hebrew background exposed

Reference roleStandardized inspectable reference; manuscript forks are independently reopened.

Revision historyNo decision-level revision has been recorded since the provenance ledger was introduced.

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Record integrity

One registry drives both the reader and this record.

The manifest is regenerated from the translation source before every production build. Its source digest is 450adc54c1fc782fbae5e9ed6a640a2ae0e3be080722ac134c84e1248c2a312a.

Decision-level revision history begins with this ledger. Earlier development is not reconstructed into false precision; future material changes can be appended to the relevant record with their reason and date.