Jump To ECM Entry Online Commentary Introduction
GC: There is coherent majority attestation with a broad A-related basis for a. For b, there is small and incoherent attestation with a small but early core of A-related witnesses.
TP: Variant a does not fit the context as well as b because, as a blind man, not only did Saul see no one, but nothing at all (cf. v. 9 μή βλέπων). Therefore, b is the smoother reading, and it is more likely that b emerged from a than vice versa.[1]
[1] Metzger (318) simply states that a “entered the Textus Receptus” without giving a reason for the decision in favor of b. Barrett (452) and Pervo (230) refer to the transfiguration (Mk 9:8/Mt 17:8) to explain a. The transfiguration narrative, however, has a completely different structure. The parallel is too far-fetched to be convincing.
