33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots to divide his clothing.

The text of Luke 23:34a is missing in many important early manuscripts. Some scholars believe that the text was in the original text; some others believe that it was not in the original text but that it represents an original saying of Jesus preserved from his crucifixion and that it made its way in the text of Luke by a later copyist; and a few others believe it simply was composed and added by a later copyist.

The textual commentaries below are representative of a variety of highly qualified scholarly conclusions on the subject. They appear in the reverse chronological order of the date of publication of the resource.

• The Revised English Bible (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1996, Luk 23:34, [book review]) includes the following footnote:

Some witnesses omit Jesus said, 'Father...doing.'

• Bruce Metzger, in A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Second Edition (New York: United Bible Societies, 1994, pages 154, [book review]), writes:

The absence of these words from... early and diverse... witnesses is most impressive and can scarcely be explained as a deliberate excision by copyists who, considering the fall of Jerusalem to be proof that God had not forgiven the Jews, could not allow it to appear that the prayer of Jesus had remained unanswered. At the same time, the logion, though probably not a part of the original Gospel of Luke, bears self-evident tokens of its dominical origin, and was retained, within double square brackets, in its traditional place where it had been incorporated by unknown copyists relatively early in the transmission of the Third Gospel.

• The New American Bible (World Catholic Press, 1987, Luk 23:34, [book review]) includes the following footnote:

This portion of v 34 does not occur in the oldest papyrus manuscript of Lk and in other early Greek manuscripts and ancient versions of wide geographical distribution.

• Jesus and the New Age according to St. Luke: A Commentary on the Third Gospel, by Frederick W. Danker (St. Louis: Clayton Publishing, 1972, page 237) comments:

The prayer in vs. 34 is in such harmony with the spirit of Luke's gospel and his picture of Jesus that it is difficult to question its authenticity. Yet is even more difficult to account for its omission in a number of manuscripts. It has indeed been argued that the prayer was omitted because of a conviction that the destruction of Jerusalem was God's judgment for the crucifixion, but a similar omission does not appear at Acts 2:38-39, where forgiveness is proclaimed to Israel. It is more probable that the prayer uttered by Stephen (Acts 7:60) suggested a parallel utterance for the passion account. Also, in its present position it interrupts Luke's sketch of the mockery and destroys the dramatic impact of the word addressed to the repentant outlaw (vs. 43). In vs. 43. If the words were originally included by Luke, they inform the reader that Jesus did not threaten his executioners, as the condemned were accustomed to do, but rather accepted his death as a faithful witness should. Thus in the Martyrdom of Isaiah (5:14) the prophet is praised for neither crying aloud nor weeping when he was sawn apart. By contrast, the psalmist cries for vengeance (Psalm 69:22-28; see on Luke 23:46).

• Black's New Testament Commentaries: The Gospel According to St. Luke, by A.R.C. Leaney (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1966, page 284) comments:

Father, forgive them. The words have the support of S* A C Old Latin vg syr. cur and pesh, Mcion Iren Or Aug, and their omission in other MSS. may be due to the conviction, common in Gentile Christian circles, that God did not forgive the Jews for the crucifixion, but punished them for it by the destruction of Jerusalem. Cf. Origen, Contra Celsum, vii. 42. Luke is in the main following Mark closely here, and the words ascribed by him to the Lord may well be due to his own pen, the motive being to show that the prisoner himself did not condemn the Romans for their part in his execution. (Cf. Acts iii. 17; xiii. 27; 1 Cor. ii. 8.)

• Westminster Pelican Commentaries: Saint Luke, by G.B. Caird (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1963, page 251) comments:

The prayer of Jesus is omitted by Codex Vaticanus, Codex Bezae, and other important manuscripts, but it is well attested in other manuscripts, and most modern textual critics accept it as a genuine part of the text. It could be taken to refer either to the Roman soldiers or to all those responsible for the crucifixion. In the light of Acts 3:17, 19; 7:59f. it is probable that the sentence stood in the original text of Luke and that Luke himself took it to refer to the Jews. It has been suggested that the prayer may have been excised from an early copy of the Gospel by a second-century scribe who thought it incredible that God should pardon the Jews and, in view of the double destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and 135, certain that he had not in fact done so.

• Luk 23:34
• My 180:28
• My 270:19
• Un 44:4

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