Matius 18:26

18:26 Then the slave threw himself to the ground ¹  before him, saying, ²  ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything.’

Matius 18:29

18:29 Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ³  ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’

Matius 28:14

28:14 If ⁴  this matter is heard before the governor, ⁵  we will satisfy him ⁶  and keep you out of trouble.” ⁷ 

[18:26]  ¹ tn Grk “falling therefore the slave bowed down to the ground.” The redundancy of this expression signals the desperation of the slave in begging for mercy.

[18:26]  ² tc The majority of mss (א L W 058 0281 Ë^1,13 33 Ï it sy^p,h co) begin the slave’s plea with “Lord” (κύριε, kurie), though a few important witnesses lack this vocative (B D Θ 700 pc lat sy^s,c Or Chr). Understanding the parable to refer to the Lord, scribes would be naturally prone to add the vocative here, especially as the slave’s plea is a plea for mercy. Thus, the shorter reading is more likely to be authentic.

[18:29]  ³ tn Grk “begged him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[28:14]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[28:14]  ⁵ tn Here ἐπί (epi) followed by the genitive = “before,” especially in the language of lawsuits (BDAG 363 s.v. 3).

[28:14]  ⁶ tc ‡ αὐτόν (auton, “him”) is found after πείσομεν (peisomen, “we will satisfy”) in the majority of witnesses, though it seems to be motivated by a need for clarification and cannot therefore easily explain the rise of the shorter reading (which is found in א B Θ 33 pc). Nevertheless, English style requires the pronoun. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[28:14]  ⁷ tn Grk “and you will not have to be worried” = “we will keep you out of trouble.”