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.

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chapter-level decision records generated from the live translation registry

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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 5

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matthew.5.mt5Enemies

ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ... / expanded clauses

TEXTTRANSLATIONhigh confidence

How long is Jesus’ command concerning enemies?

The earliest strong witnesses read ‘Love your enemies and pray for those persecuting you.’ Many later copies expand it with commands to bless, do good, and pray for those abusing you, paralleling Luke 6.

Why this default

The compact command is default because it is strongly supported and Matthew’s balanced wording is readily expanded from Luke 6:27–28 and familiar liturgical forms.

Evidence

ExternalShort form: א, B, family 1, 205, important early Latin, Syriac and Coptic witnesses; expanded form: D, K, L, W, Θ, family 13 and the Byzantine tradition.

InternalThe extra imperatives create a fuller, harmonized saying closely resembling Luke. Accidental loss of several separated clauses is less likely than expansion.

Project defaultLove your enemies and pray for those persecuting you

Project default · shorter early reading

Witnessesἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ... προσεύχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν διωκόντων · א, B, family 1, 205, early versions
AlternativeLove your enemies, bless those cursing you, do good to those hating you, and pray for those mistreating and persecuting you

Expanded later reading

WitnessesExpanded blessing/doing-good/mistreating clauses · D, K, L, W, Θ, family 13, Byzantine tradition
AlternativeLove your enemies [bless those cursing you; do good to those hating you] and pray for those [mistreating and] persecuting you

Fork visible in-line

WitnessesDisplay option · expansions bracketed

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.