John 7:1

John 7:1 h;qelen {A}

Although it can be argued that, in view of John’s usage elsewhere of e;cein evxousi,an, meaning “to be able” ( John 10:18, twice; compare John 19:10), the reading of W it^{a, b, ff2, 1, r1} syr^c Chrysostom (ei=cen evxousi,an) should be regarded as original, particularly because it also appears to be the more difficult reading. Since, however, the idiom is not peculiar to John but occurs elsewhere as well, the Committee judged that the overwhelming weight of external evidence supporting h;qelen more than counterbalances any considerations bearing on the more difficult versus the less difficult reading.