Matthew 14:22-32

Walking on Water

14:22 Immediately Jesus ¹  made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dispersed the crowds. 14:23 And after he sent the crowds away, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. 14:24 Meanwhile the boat, already far from land, ²  was taking a beating from the waves because the wind was against it. 14:25 As the night was ending, ³  Jesus came to them walking on the sea. ⁴  14:26 When ⁵  the disciples saw him walking on the water ⁶  they were terrified and said, “It’s a ghost!” and cried out with fear. 14:27 But immediately Jesus ⁷  spoke to them: ⁸  “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” 14:28 Peter ⁹  said to him, ¹⁰  “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.” 14:29 So he said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. 14:30 But when he saw the strong wind he became afraid. And starting to sink, he cried out, ¹¹  “Lord, save me!” 14:31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 14:32 When they went up into the boat, the wind ceased.

[14:22]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:24]  ² tn Grk “The boat was already many stades from the land.” A stade (στάδιον, stadion) was a unit of distance about 607 feet (187 meters) long.

[14:25]  ³ tn Grk “In the fourth watch of the night,” that is, between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.

[14:25]  ⁴ tn Or “on the lake.”

[14:26]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[14:26]  ⁶ tn Grk “on the sea”; or “on the lake.” The translation “water” has been used here for stylistic reasons (cf. the same phrase in v. 25).

[14:27]  ⁷ tc Most witnesses have ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsous, “Jesus”), while a few lack the words (א* D 073 892 pc ff¹ sy^c sa bo). Although such additions are often suspect (due to liturgical influences, piety, or for the sake of clarity), in this case it is likely that ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς dropped out accidentally. Apart from a few albeit important witnesses, as noted above, the rest of the tradition has either ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς αὐτοῖς (Jo Ihsous autois) or αὐτοῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (autois Jo Ihsous). In uncial letters, with Jesus’ name as a nomen sacrum, this would have been written as autoisois_ or ois_autois. Thus homoioteleuton could explain the reason for the omission of Jesus’ name.

[14:27]  ⁸ tn Grk “he said to them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[14:28]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[14:28]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “answering him, Peter said.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[14:30]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he cried out, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.