Romans 5:1, we have peace, or let us have peace?
Romans 5:1 is transmitted with both ἔχομεν, we have peace with God, and ἔχωμεν, let us have peace with God. The difference is one Greek letter and a shift from statement to exhortation.
The APB text at this verse
The manuscripts, editions, and versions
The committee record at this verse
The APB's translation committee works blind: it is never told it is translating the Bible, never given a book name or a verse number, and it never sees the witnesses above. Since revision 3.5, the places where the manuscripts disagree are decided before translation by three readers, Grok 4.3, GPT-6 Astra, and Claude Fable 5.1, who see the readings and the witnesses by age and class but never a reference or a manuscript name. Whatever was done at this verse was done on the language and the evidence alone, and the record is public.
“The base text reads ἔχομεν. The copies also carry the omission [greek majuscule; early greek manuscript tradition]; the committee kept the base text. The external witnesses are close in date and number, so the decision rests mainly on internal probability; another reader might reasonably weigh the external evidence differently.”
“The base text reads ἔχομεν. The copies also carry ἔχωμεν [greek majuscule; early greek manuscript tradition]; the committee kept the base text. Default ἔχομεν is retained; the external evidence favors it slightly and the internal evidence favors it more clearly, but the margin is not overwhelming.”
In apb_v3_5, the blind committee retained ἔχομεν in its printed text. Its decision says, “The base text reads ἔχομεν.” It also says, “the committee kept the base text.” The three readers saw readings and witnesses only by class and date, without a reference, book name, or manuscript name. The record describes the external evidence as close and says that another reader might reasonably weigh it differently. The pericope audit verdict is clean.
The argument for each reading
If “we have”
The case for ἔχομεν begins with its presence in NA28 and RP in the supplied apparatus: `ἔχομεν NA28 RP`. It yields we have, a statement following the wording about having been justified by faith. The packet also says that NA28 and the Byzantine text print the indicative, and that editors in this case overrule the oldest copies on internal grounds.
The APB printed text likewise reads, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Its later decision record says that the committee retained the base reading, while acknowledging that the external evidence is close enough for another weighing. Since omicron and omega were pronounced identically in the era's Greek and scribes could receive the text by ear, the letter-level difference leaves a real question about the copying history.
If “let us have”
The case for ἔχωμεν rests especially on the first hands of ℵ* B* A, which the packet identifies as writing omega. These manuscripts are dated 4th-5th century A.D., and the packet states that the oldest copies favor the exhortation. Westcott-Hort also prints ἔχωμεν, while the apparatus gives the supporting line `ἔχωμεν WH Treg`.
This reading makes the phrase an exhortation: let us have peace with God. The packet further reports that Westcott-Hort and Tregelles follow the manuscripts' subjunctive. Later correctors changed several of the great uncials from omega to omicron, so the distinction between first-hand writing and later correction matters. Because the two letters sounded alike when dictated, the evidence permits more than one account of how either form entered the transmission.
The uncertainty is concentrated in one spoken-alike letter, omicron or omega, and in the relative weight given to the first hands, later corrections, and internal probability. The choice changes whether the clause is a statement or an exhortation. The supplied record does not identify a doctrine that hinges on this variant; doctrines are ordinarily considered across many passages. Both forms remain connected to peace with God through the stated phrase.
Common questions
Does Romans 5:1 say ἔχομεν or ἔχωμεν?
The supplied witnesses preserve both. NA28 and RP support ἔχομεν, while WH, Treg, and the first hands of ℵ* B* A support ἔχωμεν.
Why are the two readings so close?
They differ by omicron and omega. The packet says the letters were pronounced identically in the era's Greek and could be dictated to scribes by ear.
What did the APB committee print at Romans 5:1?
Its printed text has we have peace with God. The apb_v3_5 record says the committee retained ἔχομεν while recognizing that the external evidence is close.
Related entries
Witness readings for critical editions are quoted from the SBLGNT apparatus (CC BY 4.0); Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible). Readings of ancient manuscripts and versions are cited as published scholarly fact with their sources linked above. The page does not declare which reading is original.
The registry gives no verdict
The registry does not say which reading is original. Each page lists the witnesses, shows what the committee did with the same text, and leaves the judgment to the reader.