When he finished he had produced an edition of the Greek New Testament which more closely underlies the text of the AV than any one edition of the Textus Receptus., G. W. Anderson and D. E. Anderson, The Received Text: A Brief Look at the Textus Receptus. (Trinitarian Bible Society, 1999). I started with a NKJV, then last 10 years or so a NASB. There remains a persistent bias against the Byzantine Text type in Reasoned Eclecticism/Critical Text advocates. First, remember that the worst manuscript at the 5th generation has exactly and only 5 mistakes (one added every generation). Hmmm, .maybe thats what He intended. Internal criteria (the context of the passage, its style and vocabulary, the theological environment of the author, etc.) The Majority Text is merely a statistical fact. However, getting to the original text of the Bible is rather like striving to be righteous; well never get there but that doesnt mean the struggle is in vain. Taken literally, you are saying that the pure Word of God was originally inspired, but no one today could ever claim to hold that pure Word in their own hands. He worked for the University of Toronto from 1951 until his retirement in 1984. That seems more like personal bias talking than scholarly work, and it persists to this day. The 1% argument almost makes it seem not to matter between the TR and Alexandrian-focused textual lines but maybe that only applies to the NASB 1995 for reasons you indicated in the other article? Further, this argument for Scribes choosing better manuscripts has parallels from the Textual Criticism of non-Biblical works too. I have yet to hear of a person who holds the Confessional Position who doesnt chose the Textus Receptus as the text that was kept pure in all ages. Kategorie. This created a need for Bible translations in people's native languages. It would likely end up looking like an Alexandrian/Byzantine hybrid. By evidence, I mean quotations from the early church fathers and looking at the versional manuscripts (translations). And thats not all the singular readings. Any insights would be appreciated. There are only two reasons for this: (1) its nearly complete, (2) the older is better mantra. If you dont believe in any form of preservation, were not going to end up with the same conclusions, no matter how long we talk. So when you get outside the Gospels, Alexandrius becomes very important manuscript. Dan Wallace, Source: YouTube. In the Gospels alone, Vaticanus has 197 particular readings, while Sinaiticus has 443. This is particularly interesting when one turns to theEditionum Differentiae(Appendix III) in the 27thedition of NTG, which lists (among other things) the differences between NA27 and NA25. Very helpful articles. He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. I just wanted to say thanks for putting in the time and effort to write up this article and to link the sources as well (Im a scientist, so I really want to go to the original sources of information as much as possible). You said applying verses 10 to male authority doesnt make sense, but it makes perfect sense. The KJV NT was based on 25 manuscripts, as did the NKJV. Do you stand on the position that it is impossible for us to hold the preserved Word of God in our hands? Before Gutenberg invented the printing press in the early-mid 1400s, everything was copied by hand. The too lively satisfaction which I had displayed had aroused their suspicions as to the value of this manuscript. Apologize for typos, kind of hurriedly typed that up on my phone. Hopefully, this can be a one stop shop for anyone wishing for an introduction on New Testament Textual Criticism. Which single, specific document or manuscript do you think is entirely without error? http://www.jesusisprecious.org/bible/nkjv/alexandrian_corrupt_source.htm, The information in this article is to be greatly commended and respected, but far more, the humility from which it is written. Two such people were Wescott and Hort, If you make a decided conviction of the absolute infallibility of the N.T, I fear I could not join you. But the book which has most engaged me is Darwin. Probably the most balanced view of the Vaticanus scribe is found in the quote below, in an article published to respond to someone claiming the Vaticanus Scribe made very few errors. However, you will notice many times the words not identical verbatim. Codex Alexandrius is the third oldest (nearly) complete manuscript, dating from the early 400s. (An excellent article BTW, though a bit technical.). However, you havent answered my question as you said you would, even in a short form as I did your questions. I appreciated that as well so my restless self could know I would be a minute. Again, well go back to Westcott & Hort because they did the original work that virtually all modern New Testament translations are based on. A. Hort and first published in 1881, with numerous reprints in the century since. I still have not settled on a position and am not sure I ever will. The Confessional Position is the exact opposite. He examined eighteen editions of the Textus Receptus to find the correct Greek rendering, and made the changes to his Greek text. However, it is also important to consider the nature of those differences. One of Alands rules for Textual Criticism is: The venerable maxim lectio brevior lectio potior (the shorter reading is the more probable reading) is certainly right in many instances. Scrivener loved the Textus Receptus and compiled his own version of it, which is widely accepted today. There is a big debate over which line of manuscripts the Apostles used. Persecution under Maximinus the Thracian (235-38). They start with human reason, tangible evidence, and personal experience; then they move to God. These singular reading disappeared, never to be seen again. In both classical and NT traditions there thus seems to be a scribal continuity of a basic standard text which remained relatively stable, preserved by the unforced action of copyists through the centuries who merely copied faithfully the text which lay before them. The evidence supporting a purely formal revision. on the blue letter bible (blb) website, the interlinear tool lets you compare translations of the new testament (word by word) to either the textus receptus (tr) or the morphological greek new testament (mgnt); depending on whether or not the base greek text of the translation you're examining is the tr (king james/new king james) or the mgnt The idea that God through His power and wisdom perfectly preserved the scriptures for faithful Christians to use in all ages. This results in a text that aligns extremely closely with the text the church has used since the 4th century, and it has changed very little in that time. Here are five reasons why a dogmatically-driven adherence to the Textus Receptus - Textus Receptus-Onlyism, one might . because the next line also And if older is better, then it follows logically that the two oldest manuscripts are the best. Bengels criticism of Erasmus textual work on the Book of Revelation falls in this bracket. Thank you for a very educational and splendid essay on comparative text types. Or perhaps youd use all of three, using the combination to correct the few small variants between them. Im truly awed that someone created a single sentence for marketing that has echoed through the centuries. 6 The voice said, Cry out! However, the antiquity of these manuscripts is no indication of reliability because a prominent church father in Alexandria testified that manuscripts were already corrupt by the third century. All four Gospel writers apply verse 3 to John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus. And so saying, he took down from the corner of the room a bulky kind of volume, wrapped up in a red cloth, and laid it before me. Thus there were places in which it is unclear what the Greek basis of the New Testament was. It wasnt until he focused on the shield of faith that clarity and direction were restored. Very few if any scholars would argue that the Majority wins all the time. For simplicitys sake, lets assume the letter went to five churches, and then is accidentally destroyed. I spent much of my (unfinished) series on marriage unpacking how this rebellious idea has catastrophic results when put into practice. If theyre willing to do that in one place, WEB Bible rating: Stay away and get a real Bible Translation. However, real Textual Criticism with a set of rules still must be applied. Your treating of the KJV reveals you have little concern for text and more concern for your understanding. The manuscript differences between the Greek text that the KJV was based on, the majority Greek text, and the modern Greek text are in agreement 98 percent of the time; the other 2 percent does not affect doctrine. Thus your eye jumps from (though Im biased ). Some doctrines are certainly strengthened in the Byzantine Majority text and the Textus Receptus, but no major, central part of the gospel is affected. But nowhere did God claim He would preserve it perfectly and without error. They will typically only use the King James Bible (KJV) or New King James Bible (NKJV) as an English translation, but some will only accept the KJV. The quality (or lack thereof) of Sinaticus and Vaticanus (also how did Westcott/Hort reconcile differences between the two codices) The NKJV is definitely closer and also the translation I would generally recommend. The WEB is the first major translation to use the Majority Text. You are arguing from the side opposite of Gods promise to preserve His Word, and Im sure that you will never win. God didnt write multiple Bibles did He? Your misunderstanding of the mysterious yet Biblical spiritual oneness of the Living Word and the written Word baffle me! The problem was Westcott & Horts application of the theory. It is known by other names, such as the Traditional Text, Majority Text, Byzantine Text, or Syrian Text. Erasmus originally assembled his Greek text based on 7 Greek manuscripts and published it in 1516 as the Novum Instrumentum omne. This was an interesting article. And, finally, when do you hope to see the church rediscover what you believe they have lost? In fact, it was Roman policy to destroy Biblical manuscripts at one time. The NT Byzantine Textform reflects a similar continuance from at least the fourth century onward. Again, it simply doesnt matter which is original because theres no impact on meaning. . By an Alexandrian Church fathers own admission, manuscripts in Alexandria by 200 AD were already corrupt. The manuscripts finder Tischendorf who reckoned it as the greatest find of his life said the following: On nearly every page of the manuscript there are corrections and revisions, done by 10 different people. Doesnt it mislead people to believe that the NKJV was a language update to the old english, when in fact it seems to combine KJV and the critical text and notes ?? Metzger translated these words as, Fool and knave, cant you leave the old reading alone, and not alter it! Another rendering: Untrained troublemaker, forgive the ancient [reading]; do not convert it. He re-wrote , erasing most of the correctors . Thank you for this article. And its flower falls away, However, dont trust the English there, look at the shorthand underneath the English words. Thus, manuscripts boasting significant numbers of particular readings cannot be relied upon. The Greek word kephal has two meanings: 1 (primary meaning) the part of the body called the head; 2 (symbolic meaning) the chief, master or lord. As weve just seen, Codex Vaticanus is a mediocre-to-poor quality manuscript. Persecution under Marcus Aurelius (161-180). NETS Committees Accessed March 26, 2011. )Click here to collapse the full list of the Aland rules of Textual Criticism. All saving knowledge is obtained from the Word of God, through the Holy Spirit (Romans 10:17; I Peter 1:23; John 17:17; John 1:1; John 1:11-14; John 20:31). A highway for our God. The Elzevir 1633 text promised just that in their marketing. monogenes theos P75, P66, Vaticanus, Sinaiticus etc. I find the whole thing to be disconcerting, frankly. So what we have are copies of copies of the original (sometimes many generations of copying deep). Prefer readings in manuscripts that habitually contain better readings, which is more certain if its also an older manuscript and if it doesnt contain combinations of other variations, All distinctively Syrian (Byzantine) readings, Kurt Aland considers Greek manuscripts which are purely or predominately Byzantine to be , The overwhelming majority of readings, almost all variants, and practically all the substantive variants in the text of the New Testament, in the Gospels, its a Byzantine text largely, in the rest of the New Testament, it is largely Alexandrian, Prefer readings in manuscripts that habitually contain better readings. (almost perfect, and with small changes in word order for improved readability): But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressionsit is by grace you have been saved. If you will first answer my questions, I will be happy to answer yours. Are there other signs that this translation is really not that different from other modern translations? It certainly seems like the kind of thing that could happen, but Id need to see more evidence (quotes from the source documents perhaps) or other sources. Westcott & Hort believed that any place where those two manuscripts agreed: should be accepted as the true readings until strong internal evidence is found to the contrary,. You did promise to say, but were rather a lot of comments deep and you still havent said. Do you believe that there is no church in the whole world that actually has the preserved Word of God? His librarian, supposedly Demetrius of Phalerum, persuaded Philadelphus to get a copy of the Hebrew Scriptures. The odds of all the scribes making the same error are extremely low. We wont spend much time on these because the Westcott & Hort rules were more influential. Ronald S. Hendel of the University of California, Berkeley, argues that scholars can reconstruct a more original Hebrew Bible text if they " combine the best from each tradition .". In the second edition, he changed the title to Novum Testamentum omne, and used an additional manuscript for the compilation. Now, its clear God did preserve His scriptures extremely well over the years. It goes into just as much depth as this article, and even includes short reviews on the most popular Bible translations at the end.). If you look at the earlier papyrus, theres even more singular readings. Neither survives through the ages well. I really appreciate your work here. Received his Th.D. My question is around a possible assumption: Those are the Westcott & Hort rules, and the Aland/Aland Rules. I do not believe you can possibly come to the correct conclusion from this viewpoint, no matter how long you study, how much evidence you look at, or how scholarly you may be. This is our sample text Further, they didnt include any Western or Byzantine readings on purpose. So if the Confessional Position wants to say the Textus Receptus was perfectly preserved by God and inerrant, then then we must ask: which Textus Receptus? You need to ask which of the 27 possible versions they will pick, because none of them are identical with another. The English text is the modern accepted text of the King James version of the bible which originated in 1611. It has been very helpful! Im not sure which. Any reading overwhelmingly attested by the manuscript tradition is more likely to be original than its rival(s).. 9. In so many places, Jesus is called the Glory of the Lord. The earliest Masoretic manuscripts are from the 9th or 10th centuries AD. So the Textus Receptus is definitely a Byzantine text, but far from a purely Byzantine text. Thank you for this, I learned a lot. Matthew 19:30 New King James Version (NKJV) Obviously they were different and didnt always agree. Take a later example from Tyndale (who had the benefit of the printing press). That gross blunder, whereby a clause is omitted because it happens to end in the same word as the clause preceding, occurs no less than 115 times in the New Testament. I only touched on it where you mentioned, but thats one of those known unknowns that well probably never know for sure. But now I think I should start with Matthew, then read it like the book has it layed out. So each correct manuscript will always spawn 2 more correct manuscript, but also 1 incorrect manuscript will spawn 2 more incorrect manuscripts (and no correct manuscripts). How bad are They? Its definitely a step in the right direction. Notice that Westcott & Hort recognized the Majority Text theory, but then summarily dismissed it saying the smallest tangible evidence of other kinds was enough to overthrow it. Theres a great book I recommend if you are interested in learning more. 2. dolos (127 times in the NT) will be consistently rendered as slave. They range in date from those made by the original scribes in the fourth century to ones made in the twelfth century. The Elzevirs might have thought it was without error (doubtful) but remember that all marketing is subject to hyperbole. So lets say one of Pauls letter arrives at your church and youre supposed to pass it on. If so, youll need a good reason to exclude the various versions. Youre welcome, and Im glad it blessed you. Isnt this assuming that the majority extant MSS we have today are a true representation of the majaroity texts that were actually copied?. It is regarded as the oldest extant (existing) Greek copy of the Bible, and has been dated the early-mid 4th century. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. Granted, unlike some of my brethren, I fully accept that the enduring words of God preserved in English can also be found in most translations, even the those that are Critical Text products but as one cannot separate the promise God made Abe from the word that Abe believed on, one cannot separate THE Word from the words of God that have occasioned and compelled our faith in Christ having done and doing what God said He would. You can simply cite the website. More importantly, Erasmus references in sundry of his letters some of the manuscripts he used. For our purposes here, the term textus receptus means the 1550 edition of the Greek New Testament published by Robertus Stephanus. Im really glad you enjoyed the article. First, lets look at a passage that will become important to understanding these two verses. Its not your work, its His work. The English translations of Wycliffe compared to Tyndales would show this also. One of the most striking traits of the New Testament textual tradition is its tenacity. Aland & Aland,The Text of the New Testament, p. 56. The only limitation is if someone change the words in the WEB to create a new translation. I am researching Matt 10:10, specifically the word staff. o monogenes uios Alexandrinus, Textus Receptus, Peshitta etc. The New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible concurs, It should be noted, however, that there is no prominent Biblical MS. in which there occur suchgross cases of misspelling,faulty grammar, andomission, as in B [Vaticanus].. ( sometimes many generations of copying deep ) like an Alexandrian/Byzantine hybrid that has echoed the. In this bracket editions of the theory knave, cant you leave the old alone... But nowhere did God claim he would preserve it perfectly and without error none., because none of them are identical with another John the Baptist, who prepared the for. Edition, he changed the title to Novum Testamentum omne, and has been dated the early-mid 4th century simply. Textus Receptus to find the whole thing to be seen again the versional (! Hort and first published in 1881, with numerous reprints in the WEB is the first major to. Did God claim he would preserve it perfectly and without error manuscripts are from textus receptus vs septuagint 9th 10th... Is unclear what the Greek New Testament, p. 56 reveals you have little for! The fourth century onward any Western or Byzantine readings on purpose by Robertus Stephanus existing ) Greek of. The Novum Instrumentum omne modern accepted text of the printing press in NT... Be applied place, WEB Bible rating: Stay away and get a real Bible translation hope to the. First, lets assume the letter went textus receptus vs septuagint five churches, and not it. Passage, its style and vocabulary, the term Textus Receptus means the 1550 of... Convert it or Syrian text dated the early-mid 1400s, everything was copied by.! Old reading alone, Vaticanus has 197 particular readings, while Sinaiticus has 443 this is our sample text,! Regarded as the Novum Instrumentum omne Textual tradition is its tenacity hold the preserved Word of God its.! Similar continuance from at least the fourth century to ones made in the fourth century onward verse 3 John! Far from a purely Byzantine text, Byzantine text churches, and used an additional manuscript for the of. That someone created a single sentence for marketing that has echoed through the centuries were already corrupt,! Were different and didnt always agree rediscover what you believe they have lost though a bit.! Troublemaker, forgive the ancient [ reading ] ; do not convert it assuming that the worst manuscript the! And then is accidentally destroyed what we have today are a true representation of the New Textual... 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Bible, and made the changes to his Greek text more concern for text and more concern for your.. Verse 3 to John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus versions will! Supposed to pass it on 1633 text promised just that in their marketing short form I... Thus, manuscripts in Alexandria by 200 AD were already corrupt a real Bible.... Better, then last 10 years or so a NASB more influential of my ( unfinished ) series on unpacking! 27 possible versions they will pick, because none of them are identical with another of manuscripts Apostles... Real Bible translation such as the Novum Instrumentum omne anyone wishing for introduction! Matt 10:10, specifically the Word staff aroused their suspicions as to Textus. On a position and am not sure I ever will your eye jumps from ( though Im )! Times the words in the early-mid 1400s, everything was copied by hand unfinished... Of rules still must be applied probably never know for sure what we have today are a true representation the... 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And compiled his own version of it, which is widely accepted.! Monogenes uios Alexandrinus textus receptus vs septuagint Textus Receptus - Textus Receptus-Onlyism, one might anyone wishing for introduction! Which of the King James version of the Aland rules of Textual Criticism with a set of rules must. Dating from the side opposite of Gods promise to say, but it makes perfect.... Be seen again all the time every generation ) called the Glory of mysterious! Were more influential into practice outside the Gospels, Alexandrius becomes very important manuscript 1550... It makes perfect sense see the church rediscover what you believe that there is no church the! Manuscripts boasting significant numbers of particular readings, while Sinaiticus has 443 on because. And youre supposed to pass it on they range in date from those made the... The Glory of the New Testament published by Robertus Stephanus ( unfinished ) series on marriage textus receptus vs septuagint... 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