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Oldest & Best Manuscript Evidence Database

Luke 2:14

Good Will Toward Men

KJV Reading Defended

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Why the KJV Reading Is Retained

The KJV’s nominative reading, “good will toward men,” is the Greek majority form and is supported by a wide Byzantine transmission, important uncials and correctors, and ancient versions. It preserves the church’s familiar proclamation of peace and divine goodwill at Christ’s birth.

Disputed unit

Nominative εὐδοκία against genitive εὐδοκίας. The omission of ἐν and the Syriac “good hope” rendering are separate forms.

One-letter variantMajority Greek supportPatristic evidenceLatin evidenceSyriac evidenceComplex evidence

Evidence assessment

The nominative εὐδοκία behind “good will toward men” is carried by the correctors of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, Cyprius, Regius, Zacynthius, Sangallensis, Koridethi, Athous Lavrensis, Families 1 and 13, five further minuscules, lectionary 1043 and the Byzantine tradition. The genitive stands in the first hands of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus with Alexandrinus, Bezae and Washingtonianus.

Primary support for the KJV reading

Byzantine tradition and the corrected states of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus

King James Bible reading

Luke 2:14 in the King James Bible

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
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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

Willker's selected Luke apparatus, which prints named witnesses together with the group siglum Maj. Counts below name the witnesses this apparatus prints.

Full witness information

Earliest KJV-supporting evidence

The earliest reviewed support at a glance.

Earliest exact patristic citation catalogued here

c. AD 248 — Origen directly quotes the nominative form in Against Celsus 1.60. His wider evidence remains mixed because other Origen citations are reported on both apparatus lines. Eusebius and Epiphanius provide further fourth-century nominative quotations.

Earliest surviving Greek support: Sixth century — Codex Zacynthius (040) is the earliest secure named main-text witness in the cited roster. Earlier nominative states in Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, and Ephraemi are correcting hands whose dates are not independently established here.

Primary support for the KJV reading

Byzantine tradition and the corrected states of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus

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

Majority Text standing

The nominative εὐδοκία, “good will”

The KJV/TR nominative is the numerical Majority Text reading in Greek.

Estimated Greek support: Approximately 1,400 to 1,600 Greek manuscripts

This is a conservative working estimate based on the published Majority or Byzantine designation and the approximate number of continuous-text manuscripts that preserve the book. Lacunae and collation scope make the exact denominator vary by verse.

Source scope and denominator

Willker's selected Luke apparatus, which prints named witnesses together with the group siglum Maj. Counts below name the witnesses this apparatus prints.

Greek support in the cited corpus

12 named Greek witnesses plus Families 1 and 13 and the Maj group in Willker's apparatus

Greek competing evidence in the cited corpus

6 named Greek witnesses in Willker's apparatus

Principal competing witnesses named in the snapshot

  • Codex Sinaiticus first hand (01*)
  • Codex Alexandrinus (02)
  • Codex Vaticanus first hand (03*)
  • Codex Bezae (05)

Evidence represented on this page

Greek manuscripts

Represented

Ancient versions

No entry listed

Church fathers

Represented

Printed editions

No entry listed

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

Willker's selected Luke apparatus, which prints named witnesses together with the group siglum Maj. Counts below name the witnesses this apparatus prints.

Greek support in cited scope
12 named Greek witnesses plus Families 1 and 13 and the Maj group in Willker's apparatus
Greek competing evidence in cited scope
6 named Greek witnesses in Willker's apparatus
Evidence classification
Byzantine tradition and the corrected states of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus

Nominative or genitive

KJV/TR unit: ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία

Greek manuscripts

Supports the KJV/TR form

01C1 03C2 017 019 037 038 040 044 579 700 892 1241

Grouped evidence: Family 1 · Family 13 · Maj · 041 (with the apparatus's query)

Lectionaries

Supports the KJV/TR form

L1043

Greek manuscripts

Competing reading

ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας

01* 02 03*V 05 032 23

Latin, Coptic and other versions

Competing reading

Grouped evidence: Latin evidence on the genitive line · Sahidic · Gothic

Syriac and harmony tradition

Related or qualified evidence

the “good hope” rendering

Peshitta Diatessaron-descendant

Greek manuscripts

Related or qualified evidence

ἐν omitted

372 724 2737 Sinaitic-Syriac

Lacunose

Non-directional evidence

04 022 024

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.

Irenaeus

c. AD 180

Against Heresies 3.10.3

Competing witnessCitation type: Direct quotation

Direct quotation in Against Heresies 3.10.3. Latin transmission.

Locator: Adversus haereses 3.10.3: the surviving Latin has hominibus bonae voluntatis, ‘to men of good will’

Open source

Origen

AD 201–300

Additional Luke 2:14 citations reported in the apparatus

Mixed witnessCitation type: Evidence on both forms

Indirect report in Additional Luke 2:14 citations reported in the apparatus.

Locator: Willker, Luke, TVU 18, PDF pp. 30–31; other Origen citations are reported on both reading lines

Open source

Origen

c. AD 248

Against Celsus 1.60

Supporting witnessCitation type: Direct quotation

Direct quotation in Against Celsus 1.60.

Locator: Contra Celsum 1.60: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men’

Open source

Eusebius of Caesarea

AD 312–318

Demonstratio Evangelica 7.2.8

Supporting witnessCitation type: Direct quotation

Direct quotation in Demonstratio Evangelica 7.2.8.

Locator: Book 7, chapter 2, section 8: δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις θεῷ ... ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία

Open source

Epiphanius of Salamis

AD 374–377

Panarion 30.29.4

Supporting witnessCitation type: Direct quotation

Direct quotation in Panarion 30.29.4.

Locator: Panarion 30.29.4, printed p. 157: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will among men’

Open source

Roster distinctions

  • Irenaeus supplies a second-century competing citation in Latin transmission: ‘to men of good will.’
  • Origen directly quotes the nominative form in Against Celsus 1.60, but Willker reports other Origen citations on both apparatus lines; his wider evidence therefore remains mixed.
  • Eusebius quotes the full Lukan context in Demonstratio Evangelica 7.2.5–10 and gives the nominative form at 7.2.8.
  • Epiphanius gives the nominative sense in Panarion 30.29.4.

Evidence notes

Important distinctions in the evidence.

  • The competing genitive form is ancient and has significant early Greek and Latin support.
  • The one-letter physical difference produces a meaningful grammatical and translational difference.
  • English renderings of the genitive vary; those translations do not constitute additional Greek readings.
  • Irenaeus supplies a second-century competing citation in Latin transmission: ‘to men of good will.’
  • Origen directly quotes the nominative form in Against Celsus 1.60, but Willker reports other Origen citations on both apparatus lines; his wider evidence therefore remains mixed.
  • Eusebius quotes the full Lukan context in Demonstratio Evangelica 7.2.5–10 and gives the nominative form at 7.2.8.
  • Epiphanius gives the nominative sense in Panarion 30.29.4.

Evidence assessment

Why the KJV reading is retained

The nominative εὐδοκία behind “good will toward men” is carried by the correctors of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, Cyprius, Regius, Zacynthius, Sangallensis, Koridethi, Athous Lavrensis, Families 1 and 13, five further minuscules, lectionary 1043 and the Byzantine tradition. The genitive stands in the first hands of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus with Alexandrinus, Bezae and Washingtonianus.

Primary support for the KJV reading

Byzantine tradition and the corrected states of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus

Evidence represented on this page

Evidence types, without turning rows into votes.

GreekRepresented
LatinRepresented
Other versionsRepresented
FathersRepresented
Printed editionsNot listed

References

Editions and works cited.

  1. Willker, Wieland. A Textual Commentary on the Greek Gospels. Vol. 3, Luke. 12th ed. Bremen, 2015.

    A Textual Commentary on the Greek Gospels. Vol. 3, Luke

  2. Wieland Willker, A Textual Commentary on the Greek Gospels, Vol. 3: Luke. Luke 2:14, PDF pp. 30–31.

    Open source

  3. IGNTP, The New Testament in Greek: The Gospel According to St Luke, Parts 1–2 (OUP 1984, 1987). Comprehensive Luke collation.

    Open source

  4. INTF Kurzgefasste Liste / NTVMR manuscript metadata. Physical dates for the named Greek manuscripts.

    Open source

  5. Vetus Latina Gospel manuscripts register (ITSEE, University of Birmingham). Identity and physical date of the named Old Latin manuscripts.

    Open source

  6. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.10.3. Latin transmission: the angelic hymn is quoted with the genitive sense, ‘to men of good will’.

    Open source

  7. Origen, Against Celsus 1.60. Direct quotation of the angelic hymn with the nominative sense, ‘good-will towards men’.

    Open source

  8. Eusebius of Caesarea, Demonstratio Evangelica 7.2.8. Book 7, chapter 2, section 8; direct quotation of Luke 2:14 with nominative εὐδοκία.

    Open source

  9. Epiphanius, Panarion 30.29.4. Book I, section 30.29.4, printed p. 157; direct quotation with the nominative sense, ‘good-will among men’.

    Open source

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Mark 16:9-20

The Longer Ending of Mark

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Luke 2:33

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Luke 2:14: Good Will Toward Men | Oldest & Best