Matthew 19:17
 
Matthew 19:17
(MLV) And he said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except one – God: but if you will to enter into eternal life, keep the commandments.
(KJV) And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
(1611 KJV) And he said vnto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandements.
(1526 Tyndale) He sayde vnto him: why callest thou me good? there is none good but one and that is God. But yf thou wylt entre in to lyfe kepe the commaundementes.
(1382 Wycliffe) Which seith to hym, What axist thou me of good thing? There is o good God. But if thou wolt entre to lijf, kepe the comaundementis.
 
Counterfeit Versions
(NIV) "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
(NASB) And He said to him, "Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."
(ESV) And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments."
(1901 ASV) And he said unto him, Why askest thou me concerning that which is good? One there is who is good: but if thou wouldest enter into life, keep the commandments.
(HCSB) "Why do you ask Me about what is good?" He said to him. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."
(RSV) And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments."
(NAB-Roman Catholic) He answered him, "Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) He said to him: “Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is that is good. If, though, you want to enter into life, observe the commandments continually.”
 
Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
o de eipen autw ti me legeiV agaqon oudeiV agaqoV ei mh eiV o qeoV ei de qeleiV eiselqein eiV thn zwhn thrhson taV entolaV
 
Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
o de eipen autw ti me erwtaV peri tou agaqou eiV estin o agaqoV ei de qeleiV eiV thn zwhn eiselqein threi taV entolaV
 
Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Fourth century
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
L 019 - Eighth century
Delta 038 - Ninth century
 
Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this verse
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century
K 017 - Ninth century
W 032 - Fourth/fifth century
Delta 037 - Ninth century
13 (Minuscule) - Eighth century
28 (Minuscule) - Eleventh century
 
Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
Omit “that is God” before “but if thou wilt enter”
Greisbach, Johann - 1805
Lachmann, Karl - 1842
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871
Wordsworth, Christopher - 1856 revised in 1870
Westcott and Hort - 1881
Weiss, Bernhard - 1894
Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941
Nestle-Aland - 1979 - Twenty Sixth Edition
Nestle-Aland - 1993 - Twenty Seventh Edition
United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition
Von Soden, Freiherr - 1902
 
Affected Teaching
By the minority text versions removing the reference to God in this verse, they are removing a vital part of the verse. The rich young ruler came to the Lord Jesus Christ and asked Him how he could inherit eternal life. In his approach to the Lord Jesus, he calls Him “Good Master.” Then the Lord Jesus gives him a very puzzling answer, “Why callest thou me good?” Now we know that the Lord Jesus Christ is good but why this answer to this man? The reason is that the man is looking at Jesus as a man and not the Savior. The Bible tells us that there is not one good man upon earth.
 
(Rom 3:12 MLV) They have all turned-away. They became-useless at the same time. There is no one who practices kindness, no, not, so much as one.
 
The Lord Jesus was diverting his attention from man to God. In other words, because this man was looking at Jesus as a man rather than God in the flesh, Jesus wanted to teach him that there is no good man on earth and only God is good. The reason for this is that this understanding will stem the desire for preacher worship. This is something the minority text translators love. They love to be seen of men with all their Ph.D.’s but when the phrase “that is God” is left intact, it then teaches the believer that man is not to be trusted, especially those who have the innate arrogance to change the word of God without conscience.
 
(Ps 118:8-9 KJV) It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. {9} It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
 
So when the minority text versions leave God out of this verse, they completely ruin and shroud the meaning of this verse. By replacing God with “one” it can allow a person to place anyone in that category such as dead saints of Rome or new age avatars. Once again the King James shows its superiority by removing all doubt as to who we are to focus our spiritual eyes on.

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