>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Westcott and Hort and their contemporary disciples generally
consider an agreement between Aleph* and B as strong support for
any reading. Compound this with the fact that there is an explanation
(agreement with Mt and Lk) for the variant in Alpeh2 A C D ... Maj and
you have no contest.
I don't think A or D are considered to be particularly reliable in the
Gospels. A is considered a member of the Byzantine text type where
it is extant in the Gospels. The rest of A is considered to be of the
Alexandrian text type. In the Apocalypse A is considered an
important witness but the text of the Apocalypse is not as well
attested as the gospel of Mark. D is a manuscript that requires a
detailed description but it is sufficient for our current purpose to
say that is considered to be a *strange* manuscript.
In summary, I don't think your *second* reading has what would be
considered "strong support" if you are a member of the Westcott and
Hort ... G. Fee, K. Aland school of thought. Now if you are from the
Majority Text crowd, then the agreement of A with Maj might be
important to you.
Clay Bartholomew
Three Tree Point