Skip to main content
Oldest & Best Manuscript Evidence Database

Acts 9:5-6

Kick Against the Pricks

KJV Reading Defended

It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

Why the KJV Reading Is Retained

The full KJV/TR wording in Acts 9:5-6 is not known in any Greek manuscript at this location, while the shorter reading has overwhelming Greek support.

Disputed unit

Two independent additions: the goad saying, and Saul's trembling question with the Lord's response introduction.

Major omitted passageComplex evidenceLatin supportPatristic supportNot majority Greek support

Evidence assessment

The full expansion occurs in two corrected Greek states, 69C and 808Cf; both first hands have the short text. GA 629 contains the goad saying only. Latin evidence is divided among the shorter, goad-only and full forms.

Primary support for the KJV reading

Corrected states 69C and 808Cf; Latin witnesses L54, L56, L58, L61, L67 and L189

King James Bible reading

Acts 9:5-6 in the King James Bible

It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
Open in Research Desk

Evidence sources

Where the evidence on this page comes from.

Sources used for the witnesses, readings, dates, and notes on this page. Complete citations appear in the References section at the end of the page.

Governing apparatus and count scope

The current digital ECM Acts apparatus. Counts describe the named reading states displayed in its selected corpus; Byz remains an unexpanded group.

Full witness information

Earliest KJV-supporting evidence

The earliest reviewed support at a glance.

Complete Greek expansion

Two corrected Greek states, 69C and 808Cf, preserve the complete expansion. Their original hands contain the shorter text, and the dates of the correcting hands are not independently established.

Earliest surviving Greek support: No known first-hand continuous-text Greek manuscript contains the complete KJV expansion. GA 629 contains only the saying about kicking against the pricks.

Versional and literary evidence

Constituent wording occurs earlier in Latin, versional, and patristic transmission; those partial forms remain classified separately from the complete expansion.

Primary support for the KJV reading

Corrected states 69C and 808Cf; Latin witnesses L54, L56, L58, L61, L67 and L189

The sections below preserve each supporting, competing, and related record under its proper evidence type.

Source scope and denominator

The current digital ECM Acts apparatus. Counts describe the named reading states displayed in its selected corpus; Byz remains an unexpanded group.

Greek support in the cited corpus

2 corrected Greek states with the full expansion

Greek competing evidence in the cited corpus

83 short states across two ordinary short forms, plus Byz

Principal competing witnesses named in the snapshot

  • P74
  • Codex Sinaiticus (01)
  • Codex Vaticanus (03)
  • 69* and [808*]

Evidence represented on this page

Greek manuscripts

Represented

Ancient versions

Represented

Church fathers

Represented

Printed editions

Represented

Complete source-scoped roster

Complete roster within the stated source scope.

This roster preserves every named or grouped state recovered in the governing sources, including exact readings, competing readings, corrections, related forms, lacunae, versions, and aggregate traditions. When Maj or Byz appears on the KJV side, it marks the numerically dominant Greek transmission at that unit. The green Majority Text card above supplies the best available passage-specific estimate. The grouped siglum is then retained so it is not mistaken for one individual manuscript.

Apparatus and roster scope

The current digital ECM Acts apparatus. Counts describe the named reading states displayed in its selected corpus; Byz remains an unexpanded group.

Greek support in cited scope
2 corrected Greek states with the full expansion
Greek competing evidence in cited scope
83 short states across two ordinary short forms, plus Byz
Evidence classification
Corrected states 69C and 808Cf; Latin witnesses L54, L56, L58, L61, L67 and L189

Goad saying plus Saul's question

KJV/TR unit: σκληρόν σοι πρὸς κέντρα λακτίζειν … τί με θέλεις ποιῆσαι

Full expansion

Supports the KJV/TR form

69C 808Cf

Grouped evidence: L:54.56.58.61.67.189> K:M

Goad saying only

Related or qualified evidence

629

Grouped evidence: L:51.57.72>

Short form ἀλλ’ ἀνάστηθι

Competing reading

049 0142 61 69* 88 180 181 307 383 424 429C 436 441 453 468 610 621 1175 1490 1501 1563 1609 1678 1751 1831 1842 2652 2718 2818 L156 L1825 L2010

Grouped evidence: L:V:50> Chrys K:SB G Sl Cyr S:Ph Ä

Short form ἀλλὰ ἀνάστηθι

Competing reading

P74 01 02 03 04 08 044 5 33 81 94 429* 431 467 522 614 619 623 630 636 915 945 996 1162 1270 1292 1297 1409 1505 1595 1611 1642f 1704 1729 1739 1827 1838 1884 1890 1891 2138 2147 2200 2298 2344 2412 2495 2805 L60 L1188 [808*]

Grouped evidence: Byz

Noncollatable at the unit

Non-directional evidence

P45 P53 014S 1852 1875

Church Fathers and literary witnesses

Precisely located citations and additional names reported by the controlling apparatus are kept separate. An apparatus-level attribution is not presented as an independently verified exact quotation.

Epiphanius

AD 301–400

Acts 9:6 records

Competing witnessCitation type: Close quotation

Close quotation in Acts 9:6 records.

Locator: INTF records 1024 and 1025

Open source

Chrysostom

c. AD 400

Homilies on Acts 19.3

Competing witnessCitation type: Direct quotation

Direct quotation in Homilies on Acts 19.3.

Locator: INTF record 4668; PG 60, 153.9

Open source

Chrysostom

c. AD 400

Acts 9:6 record

Competing witnessCitation type: Direct quotation

Direct quotation in Acts 9:6 record.

Locator: INTF record 4669

Open source

Cyril of Alexandria

AD 401–500

Acts 9:6 record

Competing witnessCitation type: Direct quotation

Direct quotation in Acts 9:6 record.

Locator: INTF record 4179

Open source

Cyril of Alexandria

c. AD 425

Thesaurus

Competing witnessCitation type: Direct quotation

Direct quotation in Thesaurus.

Locator: INTF record 4178; PG 75, 500B2

Open source

Pseudo-Chrysostom

Late antique

Psalm 50 material

Competing witnessCitation type: Close quotation

Close quotation in Psalm 50 material.

Locator: PG 55, 530.49, INTF record 7742

Open source

Pseudo-Caesarius

Late antique

Acts 9:6 record

Competing witnessCitation type: Close quotation

Close quotation in Acts 9:6 record.

Locator: INTF record 6834

Open source

Pseudo-Didymus

Late antique

Acts 9:6 record

Competing witnessCitation type: Close quotation

Close quotation in Acts 9:6 record.

Locator: INTF record 9158

Open source

Pseudo-Chrysostom

Late antique

Acts 9:6 record

Competing witnessCitation type: Close quotation

Close quotation in Acts 9:6 record.

Locator: INTF record 7745

Open source

Roster distinctions

  • GA 69 is a fifteenth-century codex and GA 808 a fourteenth-century codex; the correcting hands are not separately dated.
  • P45 is noncollatable at this exact unit and is not counted with the short reading.

Evidence notes

Important distinctions in the evidence.

  • GA 69 is a fifteenth-century codex and GA 808 a fourteenth-century codex; the correcting hands are not separately dated.
  • P45 is noncollatable at this exact unit and is not counted with the short reading.

Evidence assessment

Why the KJV reading is retained

The full expansion occurs in two corrected Greek states, 69C and 808Cf; both first hands have the short text. GA 629 contains the goad saying only. Latin evidence is divided among the shorter, goad-only and full forms.

Primary support for the KJV reading

Corrected states 69C and 808Cf; Latin witnesses L54, L56, L58, L61, L67 and L189

Evidence represented on this page

Evidence types, without turning rows into votes.

GreekRepresented
LatinRepresented
Other versionsRepresented
FathersRepresented
Printed editionsRepresented

Separate evidence category

Printed editions and reception history

Printed editions are presented apart from handwritten manuscripts and ancient versions. Edition-group summaries appear first; named supporting and competing editions then follow chronologically.

Edition evidence for both readings

Catalogued records

1

Named / aggregate

1 / 0

Date span

AD 1516–1894

WitnessDate rangeNotes

Textus Receptus / Erasmus

Named witnessPrinted edition		AD 1516–1894

Fuller wording entered the printed Greek tradition through back-translation from Latin

References

Editions and works cited.

  1. Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung. New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room. Münster: University of Münster.

    New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room

  2. Aland, Barbara, et al., eds. Novum Testamentum Graece. 28th rev. ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.

  3. Robinson, Maurice A., and William G. Pierpont. The New Testament in the Original Greek: Byzantine Textform 2018. Nürnberg: VTR Publications, 2018.

    The New Testament in the Original Greek: Byzantine Textform 2018

  4. Tyndale House, Cambridge, ed. The Greek New Testament. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017.

  5. INTF digital Editio Critica Maior: Acts. Acts 9:6, unit 2-4.

    Open source

  6. INTF Kurzgefasste Liste / NTVMR manuscript metadata

    Open source

  7. INTF Patristic Citations database

    Open source

Previous contested passage

Acts 8:37

The Ethiopian Eunuch's Confession

Next contested passage

Acts 20:28

The Church of God … His Own Blood

Acts 9:5-6: Kick Against the Pricks | Oldest & Best