DWThe Direct WitnessAccount

The evidence beneath the English

Every consequential choice
leaves a record.

The published library was 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.

6,497

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 3

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matthew.3.mt3Baptized

ἐβαπτίζοντο

LEXICONCULTUREGRAMMARTRANSLATIONhigh confidence

What action did John perform in the Jordan?

Baptizō means dip, immerse, or wash. ‘Baptize’ preserves the established rite; ‘immerse’ exposes the physical image.

Why this default

‘Were being baptized’ is default because it preserves the established name of John’s rite and the imperfect’s repeated or ongoing action. ‘Immersed’ exposes the physical image but may settle questions of mode more narrowly than the narrative does, while ‘washed’ foregrounds purification and loses the rite’s distinctive term.

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 defaultwere being baptized

Project default · rite retained

Alternativewere being immersed

Physical action

Alternativewere being washed

Purification foregrounded

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 7c4cbee907fbc0e84976d6e78a615134e2288f8197ce8abcf67b0452155ddc84.

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.