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 4

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matthew.4.mt4Satan

ὕπαγε, σατανᾶ / ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, σατανᾶ

TEXTTRANSLATIONhigh confidence

Does Jesus say ‘Go away, Satan’ or ‘Get behind me, Satan’?

The shorter reading says simply ‘Go away, Satan.’ Many later witnesses add ‘behind me,’ likely assimilating Matthew’s wording to 16:23.

Why this default

The shorter ‘Go away, Satan’ is default because it has strong early support. ‘Behind me’ is readily explained as harmonization to Jesus’ later rebuke in Matthew 16:23.

Evidence

ExternalShort: א, B, C, D, Z, family 1 and important early versions; ‘behind me’: E, K, L, W, Δ, Θ, family 13 and the Byzantine tradition.

InternalA memorable phrase from 16:23 naturally expands the shorter command here; independent omission of ‘behind me’ across diverse early witnesses is less likely.

Project defaultGo away, Satan!

Project default · shorter early reading

Witnessesὕπαγε, σατανᾶ · א, B, C, D, Z, family 1, early versions
AlternativeGet behind me, Satan!

Expanded familiar reading

Witnessesὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, σατανᾶ · E, K, L, W, Δ, Θ, family 13, Byzantine tradition
AlternativeGo [behind me], Satan!

Fork visible in-line

WitnessesDisplay option · disputed words bracketed

Reference roleStandardized inspectable reference; manuscript forks are independently reopened.

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

← All Matthew 4 records

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.