تغريدة مثبتة
So I keep seeing this Matthew 17:21 thing come up and this is important.
The claim is that Matthew 17 skips from 20 to 22, but in older bibles 21 exists and states “this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting.” And this is true, for good reason.
The original Matthew manuscripts never contained this verse. In fact it had been pulled from other scripture, specifically Mark 9:29.
It still exists in every Bible and was never removed. See Mark 9:29 “and he said unto them, this kind can not be driven out by anything but prayer.”
Some of you may still be thinking “yes but fasting is still omitted.” And you would be correct.
In the original Mark translations, fasting is not included. This was added in later Byzantine traditions and included in the KJV.
Why “fasting” was likely added:
The most widely accepted explanation:
•Early Christians practiced fasting regularly
•Matthew 17:21 (itself likely a later harmonization) included “prayer and fasting”
•Scribes expanded Mark to match common teaching and parallel passages
•Over time, the longer reading became standard in later copies
This is a classic case of scribal amplification.
Fasting is taught in many places elsewhere in scripture and is highly biblical.
So what this means is:
No, your bibles have not been altered. In fact most bibles have not been altered, only framed differently such as in many study bibles framing scripture to separate Israel and the church in dispensational and Christian Zionist study bibles.
Where as in those bibles, the scripture is relatively the same, it’s the footnotes, headings, charts and cross references framing a different explanation of scripture.
The point and takeaway here is:
Your bibles are fine. If your Mark 9:29 does or does not have “fasting” don’t freak out. If you prefer it then great, use it to guide you as fasting is a biblical principle. If it does not then do the same, up to you.
Aside from that the words of your bibles have been preserved quite well actually, rest assure.
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