"Whose sins you shall retain...."

“Whose sins you shall retain.....”
For Pentecost Sunday the Gospel reading was from John Chapter 20:

Barbara E. Reid in the| APRIL 5, 2009 edition of America magazine gave the following interpretation of John 20:23b.

“The second half of verse 23, usually translated “whose sins you retain are retained,” does not have the word sins in the Greek text. A better way to understand it is “anyone you hold fast is held fast.” The sense is that through processes of forgiveness and reconciliation, disciples of Jesus continue his mission of holding on to all, arms folded across our chests, clenching each hand tightly, so that none, especially the most vulnerable, are lost in the struggle.”

I received the following e-mail from a priest friend of mine:
Dave, I just read Barbara Reid's piece in the AMERICA of May 25 - June 1, 2009 - page 30. She comments on the Gospel for Pentecost (B), stating: In the second half of v.23 there is no word "sins" in the Greek text. It does not speak of retaining "sins" of others but of a Spirit-enabled power to retain every beloved one, just as Jesus did not let a single one be lost." This flies in the face of our mis-translated texts. Why is this not shouted from the housetops? It supports my stance that there is "universal salvation"!!

Since this was such a new interpretation for me, I wrote to the scripture scholar Barbara Reid and received the following response:
Dear David,
I'm glad you like the interpretation of John 20:23b. It is not my original interpretation. Sandra Schneiders advanced it in her essay in the collection dedicated to Raymond Brown, LIFE IN ABUNDANCE, edited by John Donahue (Liturgical Press, 2005), and before that, Josephine Massynbaerde Ford said something similar in her book, REDEEMER, FRIEND, AND MOTHER (Fortress Press, 1997).
Blessings,
Barbara

I also followed up with some research of my own on this passage John 20:23b. Here is what I discovered:

My research reveals:
1) KJV, Rheims Bible, Amplified Bible, NIV, NRSV, NAB, New American Standard bible all have "sins" in the second half.
2) Two interlinear translations do not have "sin" in the second half: "or whomever ye forgive the sins, they have been forgiven to them; of whomever ye hold, they have been held" (Zondervan Parallel N.T. in Greek and English).
"of whomever you forgive the sins they have been forgiven to them; of whomever you hold they have been held" (A new interlinear translation of the Greek New Testament United Bible Societies' Third, Corrected edition.)
In support of your interpretation both interlinear translations have a "; after the first part, thus separating the second part from it.
3) A Greek-English Lexicon of the N.T. (and other Early Christian Literature) translation of 4th revised and augmented edition of Walter Bauer's work.
under the Greek word krateo under the second meaning: hold–“a”. hold tina someone (fast) w. the hand, so that he cannot go away Ac. 3:11.
Lower down under “e” there are five meanings given, the fifth one ( Greek letter epsilon) retain tas amartias the sins J 20:23) In contradiction to this As Barbara Reid states however, "there is no word "sins" in the Greek text.
I love Barbara Reid's interpretation and I think it should be shouted from the roof tops as you suggest.
Nice to know that Jesus did not want a single one to be lost.