The texts of the Biblical citations in the Jawāhir al-asrār (Gems of the Mysteries)  and Kitāb-i īqān  (Book of Certitude).

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Stephen Lambden 1982 -- paper now under revision, 2006-7

The Greek Text of the New Testament

The so-called New Testament textus receptus 17th century and later versions.

The notion of a textus receptus ("Received text") as a single, authoritative, ancient, agreed upon text of the (canonical) New Testament is not a pre-medieval one and can be misleading. There never has been such a New Testament (= NT) text as a universal textus receptus since this term originated in the 17th century and indicates the first (or an early)  widely received printed Greek text of the New Testament. Versions of the textus receptus were never exactly modern critical editions accepted by all Christians or by all New Testament scholars: there never has been one single such NT Greek text.

The 1881 Textus Receptus of  F.H.A. SCRIVENER

ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ

The Gospel According to Matthew ^[1]

Matthew 24:29-31

      ²⁹     Εὐθέως δὲ μετὰ τὴν θλῖψιν τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐκείνων, ὁ ἥλιος σκοτισθήσεται, καὶ ἡ σελήνη οὐ δώσει τὸ φέγγος αὐτῆς, καὶ οἱ ἀστέρες πεσοῦνται ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ αἱ δυνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν σαλευθήσονται.

     ³⁰     καὶ τότε φανήσεται τὸ σημεῖον τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ· καὶ τότε κόψονται πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ὄψονται τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενον ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ μετὰ δυνάμεως καὶ δόξης πολλῆς.

     ³¹     καὶ ἀποστελεῖ τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ μετὰ σάλπιγγος φωνῆς ¹¹ μεγάλης, καὶ ἐπισυνάξουσι τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων ἀπ ̓ ἄκρων οὐρανῶν ἕως ἄκρων αὐτῶν.

    ___________

       11̠ Marg. om. φωνῆς

    Greek text from Scrivener's 1881 Textus Receptus. 1995 (electronic ed.). Logos Research Systems: Oak Harbor

Matthew 24:29-31 the Authorized or King James version (1611)

 

       29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

 

    How accurate the 1611 CE Authorized version (KJV) was considered by 19th NT scholars can be to some degree be known from the printing of the Revised version which was first published in 187X. There ADD

 

The fully pointed text taken from the Van Dyck Arabic version (1st ed. 1860s):

«وَلِلْوَقْتِ بَعْدَ ضِيقِ تِلْكَ الأَيَّامِ تُظْلِمُ الشَّمْسُ، وَالْقَمَرُ لاَ يُعْطِي ضَوْءَهُ، وَالنُّجُومُ تَسْقُطُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ، وَقُوَّاتُ السَّمَاوَاتِ تَتَزَعْزَعُ. ³⁰وَحِينَئِذٍ تَظْهَرُ عَلاَمَةُ ابْنِ الإِنْسَانِ فِي السَّمَاءِ. وَحِينَئِذٍ تَنُوحُ جَمِيعُ قَبَائِلِ الأَرْضِ، وَيُبْصِرُونَ ابْنَ الإِنْسَانِ آتِيًا عَلَى سَحَاب السَّمَاءِ بِقُوَّةٍ وَمَجْدٍ كَثِيرٍ. ³¹فَيُرْسِلُ مَلاَئِكَتَهُ بِبُوق عَظِيمِ الصَّوْتِ، فَيَجْمَعُونَ مُخْتَارِيهِ مِنَ الأَرْبَعِ الرِّيَاحِ، مِنْ أَقْصَاءِ السَّمَاوَاتِ إِلَى أَقْصَائِهَا.

Matthew 24:29-31a according to the Arabic text and Persian paraphrase of various mss. and editions of the Kitab-i iqan.

 

The lithograph editions

ADD

 

The 1934 Cairo revised edition.  

 و اينست نغمات عيسی بن مريم كه در رضوان انجيل بالحان جليل در علائم ظهور بعد فرموده در سفر اول كه منسوب بمتّی است در وقتيكه سئوال نمودند از علامات ظهور بعد جواب فرمود  :

 " و للوقت من بعد ضيق تلك الايّام تَظلم الشّمس و القمر لا يعطی ضؤَه و الكواكب تتساقط من السّماء و قُواة الارض ترتجّ  [20] ابن الانسان فی السّماء و ينوح كلّ قبائل الارض و يرون ابن الانسان آتياً علی سحاب السّماء مع قواة و مجد كبير و يرسل ملائكته مع صوت السّافور العظيم انتهی"

 

 

 

Literal translation (SL)

These are the melodies of Jesus, Son of Mary (naghamāt-i `Īsā' ibn Maryam), uttered in the Riḍvān of the Gospel (s) in glorious accents (riḍvān-i injil bi-laḥn-i jalīl) in the first Gospel designated as Matthew regarding the signs of the subsequent theophany (dar `ala'm-i zuhur),  at the moment when they [the disciples] enquired of the signs of the  forthcoming  theophany (az `alamāt-i ẓuhūr-i ba`ad):

"Regarding the time after the oppression of those days (ḍīq tilka al-ayyām)

 

Shoghi Effendi's translation

"These are the melodies, sung by Jesus, Son of Mary, in accents of majestic power in the Riḍvān of the Gospel, revealing those signs that must needs herald the advent of the Manifestation after Him. In the first Gospel according to Matthew it is recorded:

"And when they asked Jesus concerning the signs of His coming, He said unto them: "Immediately after the oppression [1] of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the earth shall be shaken: and then 25  shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet."[1] (KI: 23 USA ed.)

Fns. [1 Matthew 24:29-31.]  / [1] The Greek word used (Thlipsis) has two meanings: pressure [1] and oppression.  
 

 

Notes on the translations and the paraphrase.

 

the Persian paraphrase of the Arabic text of Matt 24:29-31a:

 ترجمهء آن بفارسی اينست كه

 بعد از تنگی و ابتلا كه همهء مردم را احاطه مينمايد شمس از افاضه ممنوع ميشود * يعنی تاريك ميگردد * و قمر از اعطای نور باز ميماند * و ستارههای سماء بر ارض نازل ميشوند * و اركان ارض متزلزل ميشود  در اينوقت ظاهر ميگردد نشانهای پسر انسان در آسمان يعنی جمال موعود * و ساذج وجود بعد از ظهور اين علامات     از عرصهء غيب بعالم شهود ميايد * و ميفرمايد در آن حين جميع قبيلهها كه در ارض ساكنند نوحه و ندبه مينمايند و می بينند خلايق آن جمال احديَّه را كه ميايد از آسمان در حالتی كه سوار بر ابر است با قوّت و بزرگی و بخششی بزرگ  و ميفرستد ملائكههای خود را با صدای سافور عظيم انتهی و در اسفار ثلاثهء ديگر كه منسوب بلوقا و مرقس و يوحنا است همين  عبارات مذكور است * و چون در الواح عربيَّه بتفصيل مذكور شد ديگر در اين اوراق متعرّض ذكر آنها نشديم و اكتفا بيكی از آنها نموديم * و علمای انجيل چون عارف [21]  بمعانی اين بيانات و مقصود مودعه در اين كلمات نشدند و بظاهر آن متمسك شدند - لهذا از شريعهء فيض محمديّه  و از سحاب فضل احمديّه ممنوع گشتند * و جهّال آن طائفه هم تمسك بعلمای خود جسته از زيارت جمال سلطان جلال محروم ماندند * زيرا كه در ظهور شمس احمديَّه چنين علامات كه مذكور شد بظهور نيامد * اينست كه قرنها گذشت

The translation of Shoghi Effendi:

"Rendered into the Persian tongue, the purport of these words is as follows: When the oppression and afflictions that are to befall mankind will have come to pass, then shall the sun be withheld from shining, the moon from giving light, the stars of heaven shall fall upon the earth, and the pillars of the earth shall quake. At that time, the signs of the Son of man shall appear in heaven, that is, the promised Beauty and Substance of life shall, when these signs have appeared, step forth out of the realm of the invisible into the visible world. And He saith: at that time, all the peoples and kindreds that dwell on earth shall bewail and lament, and they shall see that divine Beauty coming from heaven, riding upon the clouds with power, grandeur, and magnificence, sending His angels with a great sound of a trumpet.

Notes

Similarly, in the three other Gospels, according to Luke, Mark, and John, the same statements  26  are recorded. As We have referred at length to these in Our Tablets revealed in the Arabic tongue, We have made no mention of them in these pages, and have confined Ourselves to but one reference".
(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 23)