Question
What do the earliest Greek manuscript witnesses show about Luke 22:43–44, the verses that describe an angel strengthening Jesus in Gethsemane and his sweat becoming like drops of blood?
Short Answer
The governed evidence is divided, not a simple count of manuscripts on one side.
At the traditional junction between Luke 22:42 and Luke 22:45, several major early witnesses do not encode continuous Greek text for verses 43–44 in the INTF TEI transcriptions used in this cycle: P75, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Alexandrinus, and Codex Washingtonianus (which explicitly marks «omissio» at those verse anchors). In those reads, Luke 22:42 is followed by Luke 22:45 without the angel-and-sweat account in between.
Other witnesses in the same inventory do encode the passage at that location. Codex Sinaiticus TEI includes the Greek for 22:43–44 in first-hand rdg elements. Codex Bezae TEI includes the full wording at the traditional Lukan location.
P69 preserves Luke 22:41 and resumes at 22:45 on surviving fragments; it is classified here as a fragment non-witness (physical extent gap), not as proof that a scribe intentionally omitted the verses.
That pattern shows materially different transmission at an identifiable junction. It is not reducible to “more manuscripts omit than include” without naming which witnesses, which layers (first hand versus corrector markup versus catalog sigla), and what each layer actually encodes.
How This Article Uses Evidence
Manuscript Witness separates four layers readers often collapse together.
What transcriptions encode as the documentary word stream or verse structure. For Luke 22:42–22:45, the strongest reads in this cycle are INTF NTVMR TEI transcriptions for P75, P69, Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, Alexandrinus, Washingtonianus, and Bezae. Those files are authoritative catalog transcriptions read directly in the research pass. Wording such as “the INTF TEI transcription encodes…” reflects that layer. These transcriptions are not a substitute for every reader’s independent inspection of every facsimile image, and this draft did not add new image collation beyond those transcriptions.
What catalogs and critical apparatuses report. Metzger’s textual commentary and the Nestle-Aland–tradition apparatus display on GreekNewTestament.net summarize many witnesses, omission lists, marked inclusion, relocation patterns, and patristic citations. Those are catalog and scholarly reporting layers.
What textual criticism may reasonably infer. Scholars weigh agreement among witnesses, narrative flow, patristic data, and transmission hypotheses. Reasonable inference must be labeled as inference, not as though it were ink on a particular leaf.
What the evidence does not establish. Surviving manuscripts do not prove autograph wording. Neither presence nor absence of Luke 22:43–44 should be treated as independently proving or disproving a Christological doctrine; biblical theology must come from the biblical text as a whole, not from a single variant in isolation.
The Passage and the Junction Under Discussion
In modern reference Bibles, Luke 22:43–44 usually stands between Jesus’ prayer that the cup pass from him (22:42) and his rising from prayer and finding the disciples sleeping (22:45). The immediate manuscript question for early Greek witnesses is narrower: in a given transcription, does continuous text (or explicit verse anchors with Greek words) for 22:43–44 appear between 22:42 and 22:45 at the traditional Lukan location?
Answering that question requires checking each witness on its own terms, including fragment extent, empty verse anchors, local omission notes, and—where present—apparatus markup inside the TEI file.
P75 (Hanna Papyrus 1)
P75 is an early third-century papyrus codex with substantial Lukan text.
The INTF TEI transcription (docID 10075), read directly in the research cycle, encodes Luke 22:42, then empty verse anchors B03K22V43 and B03K22V44 with no Greek words, then B03K22V45 continuing the narrative. That is transcription-direct evidence that this papyrus, as catalogued, does not contain continuous text for 22:43–44 at the traditional junction.
Metzger’s Luke 22:43–44 entry lists P75 among witnesses absent the verses in his catalog summary. That aligns with the TEI junction read but does not replace it; the TEI structure remains the primary documentary basis for P75 in this inventory.
Codex Vaticanus (GA 03)
Codex Vaticanus is a fourth-century Greek codex extensive in the Gospels.
The INTF TEI transcription (docID 20003) shows continuous text running from B03K22V42 directly to B03K22V45 with no B03K22V43 or B03K22V44 ab elements or intervening words at the traditional location. That is transcription-direct omission-at-junction evidence for Vaticanus as encoded in this catalog.
DigiVatLib provides images of Vat.gr.1209; the research inventory notes that facsimile collation was not used to upgrade beyond the TEI transcription in this cycle. Metzger’s apparatus likewise lists Vaticanus (B) among manuscripts lacking the verses—catalog reporting consistent with the TEI read.
Codex Alexandrinus (GA 02)
Codex Alexandrinus is a fifth-century majuscule with full Greek New Testament text in many books.
Unlike the passion pericope adulterae case, Alexandrinus does supply readable Lukan text at this stretch. The INTF TEI transcription (docID 20002) encodes Luke 22:42, then empty B03K22V43 and B03K22V44 anchors with no Greek text, then B03K22V45. That is a readable continuous-text witness that skips 22:43–44 at the junction in the governed TEI read—not a lacuna caused by missing leaves.
Metzger’s omission list includes Alexandrinus (A) among witnesses absent the verses at this location, which matches the TEI junction pattern in catalog summary form.
Codex Washingtonianus (GA 032, W)
Codex Washingtonianus is a fourth-century majuscule often discussed alongside Sinaiticus and Vaticanus because of its early date and mixed text.
For Luke 22:43–44, the INTF TEI transcription (docID 20032) encodes B03K22V43 and B03K22V44 with local notes «omissio» only—no Greek verse text—between 22:42 and 22:45. That makes W an explicit omission witness at the locus in the governed TEI, not a witness that copies the angel-and-sweat wording there.
Metzger’s external-evidence summary places W in the opening list of manuscripts absent Luke 22:43–44, alongside witnesses such as P75, A, and B. That is catalog omission reporting aligned with the TEI «omissio» notes.
P69 (GA P69) — Fragment Non-Witness
P69 is a small papyrus fragment sometimes cited in discussions of Luke’s Passion narrative.
The INTF TEI transcription (docID 10069) shows extant material for Luke 22:41 and a resume at 22:45, with no surviving leaf material for 22:42–22:44 in the encoded fragment sequence. That physical extent gap means P69 cannot testify to whether a scribe included or omitted 22:43–44 at the junction.
P69 is therefore classified in this inventory as a fragment non-witness, not as an omission witness comparable to P75 or Vaticanus. Omitting P69 from “early manuscripts omit the verses” headcounts is not evasion; it reflects what the fragment actually preserves.
Codex Sinaiticus (GA 01) — Three Layers to Keep Separate
Sinaiticus is a fourth-century majuscule among the most extensive early New Testament manuscripts. Luke 22:43–44 is one of the most discussed variants in the corpus because inclusion, TEI apparatus markup, and Nestle-Aland–tradition sigla must not be conflated.
Proposition A — First-hand wording in the TEI word stream
The INTF TEI transcription (docID 20001), proposition A, records that within B03K22V43 and B03K22V44 the rdg elements with type="orig" and hand="firsthand" encode Greek for the angel strengthening Jesus and the sweat like drops of blood between 22:42 and 22:45. On the documentary layer of the first-hand reading as encoded, Sinaiticus includes Luke 22:43–44 at the traditional junction.
Proposition B — TEI apparatus markup (encoding structure only)
The same Sinaiticus TEI file, proposition B, documents apparatus markup at these verses:
- B03K22V43 and B03K22V44 each contain one
<app>with threerdgelements:hand="firsthand"(Greek text),hand="corrector1"(empty element, no<w>children), andhand="corrector2"(Greek text parallel to the first-hand reading). - B03K22V42 contains a separate word-level
<app>on «τουτο» (first-hand «τουτο» versus empty corrector1rdg).
This article describes that structure as TEI encoding. Empty corrector1 rdg elements are recorded as encoded markup; they are not treated here as proof that a corrector physically erased, deleted, rejected, or omitted the verses on the parchment. Likewise, Greek text in corrector2 rdg elements is not described as a corrector “restoring” verses that had disappeared from the manuscript; it is parallel encoded text in the apparatus layer.
Readers must not infer physical scribal acts solely from empty XML elements without image-level verification.
Proposition C — Nestle-Aland–tradition catalog sigla (separate from TEI hand labels)
The Nestle-Aland–tradition apparatus display for Luke 22:43 (GreekNewTestament.net), proposition C, lists inclusion sigla including Sinaiticus (א) and a separate omission entry for Sinaiticus corrector hand א¹. That is catalog hand distinction in an edition tradition.
This inventory does not claim that INTF TEI @hand="corrector1" equals apparatus siglum א¹. That identity mapping has not been established in this research cycle. Propositions A, B, and C are held side by side without collapsing them.
Facsimile marginal marks — not verified here
Facsimile-level marginal critical signs (asterisk, obelus, umlaut, etc.) at Luke 22:43–44 in Codex Sinaiticus were not verified from authoritative images in this cycle. Metzger reports asterisk or obelus marking in witnesses that contain the passage (catalog summary); those reports are scholarly/catalog reporting, not fresh facsimile observation in this draft. The governed inventory keeps INTF TEI and catalog layers separate from any unverified mark claim.
Codex Bezae (GA 05)
Codex Bezae is a Greek-Latin manuscript in the Western stream, often important for inclusion readings where Alexandrian witnesses omit.
The INTF TEI transcription (docID 20005), transcription-direct in this cycle, encodes full Greek for B03K22V43–44 at the traditional Lukan location—the angel and bloody-sweat account. That makes Bezae a primary inclusion witness in the governed TEI reads alongside Sinaiticus first-hand encoding.
Metzger’s same entry reports asterisk or obelus marking in witnesses that contain the passage, with Bezae among the sigla in his footnote discussion. That marking language is catalog commentary on witnesses that include the text; it is not treated here as mark-by-mark facsimile verification for Bezae or Sinaiticus.
Catalog Summaries Beyond the Direct Transcriptions
Where TEI transcriptions exist for a witness, they take priority for that witness in this article. For the wider tradition, Metzger’s Luke 22:43–44 entry supplies three distinct catalog claims used in the inventory:
Omission lists. Metzger lists absence of the verses in early diversified witnesses including P75, Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, and Washingtonianus among others. That is catalog omission reporting. It corroborates the TEI junction pattern for those witnesses but does not substitute for reading each TEI file.
Marked inclusion where the passage is present. Metzger reports that witnesses which contain the passage sometimes bear asterisk or obelus marking in his summary (with Bezae and other sigla in his footnote list). This article reports that as catalog evidence about marking among containing witnesses, not as direct observation of marks on Sinaiticus images in this cycle.
Patristic citations. Metzger records patristic citations (Justin, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Eusebius, and others) as evidence that the account circulated anciently. Patristic data can demonstrate historical circulation; it does not establish biblical authority for a specific Greek wording and must not outrank the Greek manuscript evidence inventory for junction reads. No appeal to later church tradition, denomination, creed, or theological system is used here to settle the variant.
The GreekNewTestament.net apparatus display (NA-tradition) for Luke 22:43 lists inclusion with א and omission with א¹, A, B, W, and other sigla in separate entries—catalog hand and witness lists that align with proposition C above without mapping TEI corrector hands to א¹.
Relocation (Catalog Level Only)
Metzger’s entry also reports that Family 13 and several lectionaries transfer Luke 22:43–44 to after Matthew 26:39, and that some lectionaries also transfer Luke 22:45. That is a specific catalogued relocation pattern in a defined manuscript family and liturgical witnesses.
It must not be read as implying that relocation was universal or broadly characteristic of the entire Gospel transmission stream. It cautions that the variant history includes more than presence or absence at the 22:42→22:45 junction alone—without expanding this draft into a survey of every relocated witness.
Narrative Flow (Textual Inference, Not Manuscript Proof)
Textual inference (labeled as such): In witnesses whose TEI transcriptions omit 22:43–44 at the junction—P75, Vaticanus, Alexandrinus, and Washingtonianus—the encoded sequence runs from Luke 22:42 directly to 22:45 without the angel-and-sweat vocabulary in between.
That observation describes a narrative seam visible when comparing encoded junctions. It is not manuscript proof of which wording is original, and it is not Christological proof. It does not manufacture a definitive autograph conclusion from the available inventory.
What Textual Criticism May Infer (Stated Carefully)
From the governed inventory, reasonable scholarly observations include:
- Materially different transmission exists at Luke 22:42–22:45 among early Greek witnesses named above.
- Strong omission-at-junction evidence appears in TEI reads for P75, Vaticanus, Alexandrinus, and Washingtonianus.
- Strong inclusion evidence appears in Sinaiticus first-hand TEI encoding and Bezae TEI encoding at the traditional location.
- Sinaiticus requires layered description (first-hand text, TEI apparatus markup, NA catalog sigla) rather than a single slogan about “Sinaiticus omits” or “Sinaiticus includes.”
Moving from those observations to “the autograph certainly lacked or contained 22:43–44” requires additional arguments (wider witness pools, internal evidence weighed as inference, patristic history) that exceed what this inventory alone verifies. Early witness age supports early attestation of each pattern where attested; it does not automatically prove original form.
What the Evidence Does Not Mean
The manuscript and catalog record does not settle every question readers bring to Luke 22:43–44.
It does not prove that no early Christian knew the angel-and-sweat account. Omission from a given manuscript’s encoded junction is evidence about that witness’s text at that location, not a complete history of circulation.
It does not use P69 as an omission witness when fragments do not cover the junction.
It does not equate empty TEI corrector1 rdg elements with physical erasure on Sinaiticus, or corrector2 Greek with historical “restoration” of lost verses.
It does not equate TEI @hand="corrector1" with apparatus א¹ without established mapping.
It does not claim direct observation of Sinaiticus marginal asterisks, obeli, or umlauts at this locus from facsimile images in this cycle.
It does not treat patristic citations as superior to Greek manuscript transcriptions for establishing wording at the junction.
Finally, neither presence nor absence of Luke 22:43–44 should be presented as independently proving or disproving Christological doctrine (for example, the reality of the Incarnation or the human experience of Jesus in Gethsemane). Those theological questions belong to exegesis of Scripture as a whole. Denominational arguments are out of scope for this manuscript-evidence study.
Conclusion
Luke 22:43–44 in early Greek witnesses is a genuine passage-level variant with divided documentary evidence at the traditional junction.
P75, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Alexandrinus, and Codex Washingtonianus omit continuous text (or mark «omissio») for 22:43–44 between 22:42 and 22:45 in governed INTF TEI transcriptions. Codex Sinaiticus TEI encodes the verses in the first-hand reading stream while also documenting separate TEI apparatus layers and, in Nestle-Aland–tradition catalog form, separate inclusion (א) and omission (א¹) sigla—without collapsing those layers. Codex Bezae includes the full Greek at the traditional location. P69 is a fragment non-witness, not an omission tally.
Metzger’s catalog summaries add omission lists, marked inclusion among containing witnesses, patristic circulation data, and a Family 13 / lectionary relocation pattern after Matthew 26:39—each at the appropriate catalog level. Facsimile marginal marks in Sinaiticus remain unverified here.
The strongest evidence-based conclusion this draft can draw from the governed inventory is therefore:
Early Greek manuscript and catalog evidence is materially divided on Luke 22:43–44 at the 22:42→22:45 junction: several major witnesses omit or mark omission in TEI transcriptions, while Sinaiticus (first-hand TEI) and Bezae include the wording; layered Sinaiticus reporting and catalog sigla must be kept distinct; the inventory establishes how named witnesses transmit the passage, not by itself autograph certainty or Christological doctrine from this variant alone.
Sources
Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung. NTVMR workspace, P75 (docID 10075). TEI transcription for Luke 22:42–22:45 junction (empty B03K22V43/V44).
Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung. NTVMR workspace, P69 (docID 10069). TEI transcription for Luke 22:41–22:45 fragment extent.
Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung. NTVMR workspace, Codex Sinaiticus (docID 20001). TEI transcription for Luke 22:43–44 first-hand wording and apparatus markup.
Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung. NTVMR workspace, Codex Vaticanus (docID 20003). TEI transcription for Luke 22:42–22:45 junction.
Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung. NTVMR workspace, Codex Alexandrinus (docID 20002). TEI transcription for Luke 22:42–22:45 junction.
Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung. NTVMR workspace, Codex Washingtonianus (docID 20032). TEI transcription with «omissio» notes at B03K22V43–44.
Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung. NTVMR workspace, Codex Bezae (docID 20005). TEI transcription for Luke 22:43–44 inclusion.
Vatican Apostolic Library. DigiVatLib, MS Vat.gr.1209. Images for Codex Vaticanus (GA 03); catalog context for B.
Bruce M. Metzger. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (2nd ed.), Luke 22:43–44. BiblePlus commentary entry. Omission lists, marked inclusion, patristic citations, Family 13 relocation (catalog summary).
Luke 22:43 critical apparatus (Nestle-Aland tradition sigla). GreekNewTestament.net, Luke 22:43. Inclusion with א; omission entry with א¹, A, B, W (catalog reporting).