Matthew 10:10

mede hrabdous (neither staffs) - C, E, F, G, K, L, M, N, P, S, U, V, W, Y, G, D, P, S, F, W,
f13, Byz, syrh, copbo

mede hrabdon (neither a staff) - Aleph, B, D, Q, f1, 33, lat, syrp, copsa

Problem: In both Matthew 10:10 and Luke 9:3 UBS has "neither a staff," thus contradicting Mark 6:8 where all texts have "only a staff."

Discussion: In Luke and Matthew the Byzantine text reads "neither staffs", which does not contradict Mark. The case of the staffs is analogous to that of the tunics; they were to take only one, not several. A superficial reader would probably expect the singular. That some scribe in Egypt should simplify "staffs" to "a staff" comes as no surprise, but why do the UBS editors import this error into their text? Almost all modern versions follow UBS here and in Luke 9:3.

 John 7:8

oupo (not yet) - P66,75, B, L, T, W, X, D, Q, Y, f1,13, Byz, Lect, syrpt, cop, Diatpt

ouk (not) - Aleph, D, K, P, lat, syrpt, Diatpt

Problem: Since Jesus did in fact go to the feast (and doubtless knew that He was going), the UBS text makes Him a liar.

Discussion: Since the UBS editors usually attach the highest value to P75 and B, isn't it strange that they reject them in this case? Here is Metzger's explanation: "The reading ["not yet"] was introduced at an early date (it is attested by P66,75) in order to alleviate the inconsistency between ver. 8 and ver. 10" (p. 216). So, they rejected P66,75 and B because they preferred the "inconsistency". NASV, RSV, NEB and TEV read the same as the eclectic text.

 Acts 28:13

perielthontes (fetched a compass) - P74, 01c, A, P, 048, 056, 066, 0142, Byz, Lect, syrp,h

perielontes (taking away [something]) - Aleph*, B, Y, copsa(bo)

Problem: The verb chosen by UBS, "periairew", is transitive, and is meaningless here. Discussion: Metzger's lame explanation is that a majority of the UBS Committee took the word to be "a technical nautical term of uncertain meaning" (p. 501)! Why do they choose to disfigure the text on such poor evidence when there is an easy transcriptional explanation? The Greek letters omicron (o) and theta (q) are very similar. When one follows the other in a word, it would be easy to drop out one of them, in this case the "theta". The word "perielthontes", which means "sailed in a circuitous route" is hardly "a technical nautical term".

 2 Peter 3:10

katakaesetai (shall be burned up) - A, 048, 049, 056, 0142, 33, Byz, Lect, lat, syrh, copbo

heurethesetai (shall be found) - (P72)Aleph, B, K, P, syrph (copsa)

Problem: The UBS reading is nonsensical; the context is clearly one of judgment.

Discussion: Metzger actually states that their text "seems to be devoid of meaning in the context" (p. 706)! So why did they choose it? Metzger explains that there is "a wide variety

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