John 3:31,32

John 3:31-32 evrco,menoj @evpa,nw pa,ntwn evsti,n\# o] e`w,raken kai. h;kousen tou/to marturei/ {C}

Several variations are involved here. The word kai, is omitted by overwhelming authority, and may be set aside at once. On the other hand, the omission of tou/to in several witnesses is sufficiently explained as arising from a certain unnecessary pleonasm. The chief problem — the presence or absence of evpa,nw pa,ntwn evsti,n — is less easy to solve. Good reasons may be adduced to account for scribal deletion of the words (as redundant after the opening part of ver. John 3:31) or for their mechanical addition after the second instance of evrco,menoj by an inattentive scribe. In view of the balance of both external evidence and transcriptional probabilities, the Committee decided to retain the words but to enclose them within square brackets.