Interpretation of Greek in Luke 24:46

Question

The King James Version translation of Luke 24:46 is similar to the 1899 Douay-Rheims translation.

(King James Version) And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

(1899 Douay-Rheims) And he said to them: Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead, the third day:

With both in that verse Jesus seems to be saying two different statements which are joined by an "and" conjunction, and also explicitly indicating that it was a duty of Christ to suffer rather than just what would happen.

However with the NASB and Westminster interpretations

(NASB) and He said to them, “So it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

(Westminster) And he said to them, 'Thus it is written: that the Christ would suffer, and should rise again from the dead on the third day,

What Jesus says seems to be a single statement about what was written, and there seems to be no explicit indication that it was Christ's duty to suffer.

I looked on Bible Hub ( https://biblehub.com/text/luke/24-46.htm ) and could not see the "and" conjunction used by the King James Version and 1899 Douay-Rheims to seemingly divide what was said in that verse into two statements as mentioned, nor did I notice that there was any reference to duty of any kind. But I don't understand Greek and am just going by my impressions of the page, also I am not sure whether there is an issue of the different interpretations using different Greek sources.

Since there seem to be many knowledgeable people on this forum, I was hoping that some might give an answer as to whether there is a Greek source that indicates that it would be a duty of the Christ to suffer, and whether it indicates or is ambiguous about "Thus it is written" and "thus it behoved Christ to suffer..." being two different statements joined by a conjunction?

Thanks in advance for any response.

Answer 1

The main problem here is the textual problem - there is a difference in text between the KJV (=TR) and most modern translations which use UBS5.

NA28 & UBS5 Text: (NASB, NIV, ESV, NRSV, NET, etc)

καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὅτι οὕτως γέγραπται παθεῖν τὸν χριστὸν καὶ ἀναστῆναι ἐκ νεκρῶν τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ = and He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day"

Byzantine and TR Text: (KJV, NKJV, KJ2000, LSV, etc)

καὶ εἴπεν αὐτοῖς ὅτι Οὕτως γέγραπται, καὶ οὕτως ἔδει παθεῖν τὸν χριστόν, καὶ ἀναστῆναι ἐκ νεκρῶν τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ, = and He said to them, "Thus it is written and thus it was necessary [= "behooved"] for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day."

Note that the TR/Byzantine text contains an extra three words, καὶ οὕτως ἔδει = "and thus it behooved", highlighted above.

The reasons for this difference in text results from the different approaches to textual criticism of the UBS5 vs Byzantine and TR notions about what is original. I will not discuss these here, but for the basis on which each tradition arrives at their text see on Luke 24:46 in NA28 for a complete list of the manuscripts that support each reading.

NOTE: The Bible Hub text referenced in the OP is the NA28 & UBS5. It has the other variant texts in another place, namely, https://biblehub.com/multi/luke/24-46.htm