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Textual Criticism: An Introduction

Dr. Sofanit Tamene Abebe

New Testament Text and Theology
Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology
NT Greek MSS Textual Criticism

 Definition:
Textual criticism is the study of copies of any written work for
which the autograph (the original) is unknown, with the
purpose of ascertaining the original text
 New Testament textual criticism:
 When applied to the New Testament, it has the task of attempting
to restore the original text of the New Testament Greek
documents.
 It involves the identification of textual variants, or different
versions of the New Testament, whose goals include identification
of transcription errors, analysis of versions, and attempts to
reconstruct the original text.
 The Need For NT Greek Text Criticism
1. There are no extant original documents (whole or part)
of any New Testament book.
2. While the text of the NT is over 95% certain (Briggs,
51)*, there are still “roughly three hundred thousand
variant readings” from copyist errors in the “5500
Greek MSS and perhaps nine thousand versional
MSS.” (McKnight and Osborne, 59)**.

* R. C. Briggs, Interpreting the New Testament Today (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1973)
**Scot McKnight and Grant R. Osborne, eds., The Face of New Testament Studies: A Survey of
Recent Research (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004).
Bible Preparation
3. Also, used parchment/vellum
(small animal skins), scrolls (see
1. Ancient people used
II Tim. 4:13).
clay (Ezek. 4:1), stone
(Ex. 31:18), and wood 4. Scrolls were papyrus, leather, or
tablets, leather scrolls parchment sheets joined together
(Jer. 39:23). in long rolls, about 25-30 cm
wide and up to 11 meters long
2. In later times they
with 50-60 cm columns.
used papyrus (paper
Sometimes writing was on both
made from papyrus
sides (Rev. 5:1; Ezek. 2:10).
reed, its inner bark
extracted and dried). 5. The Codex (a book of papyrus
sheets) was also used by the mid
1st century CE.
 A cut papyrus stalk

Peeled & unpeeled papyrus

NT Greek Manuscripts
 Writing of NT Greek MSS had very little punctuation, no paragraph
divisions, no sentence divisions, and no spaces between words. This made
copying without errors difficult. But no errors have been found that are
theologically significant.

Also known as P. Chester Beatty II, P46

contains a corpus of Pauline letters
and Hebrews, though the Pastoral
Epistles appear to have been excluded.
P46 dates from 175 to 225 AD.
Examples of Types of Errors Found
 Omissions (haplography) of a segment of text once which appears twice
(or more times), e.g. defendum instead of defendendum
 Duplications (dittography) of a word or part of a word twice, e.g.
renonown for renown
 Homoeoarcton or 'identical beginning' (from ὅ μοιος 'same' and ἄ ρχομαι
'to begin'), describes the impetus for an omission or addition in which
eye-skipto or from similar or identical beginnings of a word has caused a
copyist to miss text or write the same sequence of text twice
 Homoeoteleuton, or ‘identical ending’ (from ὅ μοιος 'same' and τελέω 'to
end'), describes eye-skip to or from a similar or the same ending in two
words which causes a copyist to produce an omission or an addition
 Change of the order of words (metathesis)
 These are facilitated by the lack of space between letters and words in
writing and copying the Greek texts and could be called “sight errors”.
Textual Families
1. Alexandrian: These have the earliest, considered better quality. Both Codex
Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, along with some significant papyri
(Bodmer’s P66 and P75), contain this text type
2. Western: have an early but generally unreliable form of the text.
 Often found in manuscripts that contain both the Greek and the Latin New
Testament
 represented by Codex Bezae as well as many minuscules and the writings of
most of the Syriac Church Fathers. 
3. Byzantine: comprise the majority of Greek mss, originated later
 Text type from which the Textus Receptus was developed (= “received text,”
or the text that has been accepted universally as authoritative since about
1624).
 published by Erasmus, Stephanus, and Beza. The Textus Receptus was the
source for most early English versions of the New Testament, used as the
source for the first printed editions of the Greek New Testament.
 The Byzantine text type was used by the Orthodox Church in the Byzantine
Empire. It was widespread during the medieval Christian period
 Byzantine textual family (cont’d):
  Characterized by the replacement of difficult language with
easier terms + conflations
 For example, in Matthew 8:26, the Alexandrian textual
family has “Do not enter the village,” and the Western
family has “Do not speak to anyone in the village.” The
Byzantine text type has “Do not enter and do not speak to
anyone in the village.”
 Matthew 6:1 says, “Take heed lest you do your alms [Greek,
“righteousness” or acts of religious devotion] before men.”
The Byzantine text replaces “righteousness” with “alms.”
 Because of these characteristics, most scholars have long
considered the Byzantine text type less accurate and of lower
quality than the earlier Alexandrian family. A few scholars have
taken a new look at this family and have found justification for
some of its readings, which they feel appear older and more
original than previously thought.
The Reliability of the NT
 Four witnesses supporting the integrity of the New
Testament text:

1. Oral Tradition Verbatim Memorization Techniques of

the Day
 A Scandinavian Scholar, Birger Gerhardsson, in his book
called Memory and Manuscript: Oral Tradition and
written Transmission in Rabbinic Judaism and Early
Christianity translated by Eric J. Sharpe (Lund, Sweden:
C. W. K. Gleerup, 1961) shows how rabbis in 2nd century
CE taught memory techniques to their disciples which
enabled them to remember verbatim teaching they had
heard.
 1. Oral tradition (cont’d)
 Gerhardsson shows evidence that the rabbis of the 1st century CE
probably had access to these techniques also
 This gives support to the possibility of Jesus’ disciples being able to
remember verbatim what Jesus said and thus writing down exactly
what they heard
2. The Testimony of Ancient Greek Manuscripts
• There are over 5000 existing Greek Manuscripts of the New
Testament or portions of it.
• There are very few differences and those that exist are not
theologically significant. There are so many manuscripts that one
can trace different families of manuscripts and find when a variant
occurred. These manuscripts span a time period of from 125AD to
the end of the middle ages.
 The Testimony of Ancient Versions/Translations.
 There are in existence over 9,000 copies of early versions
(translations) of the NT
4. Early Church Fathers’ quotations
NT Greek MSS
(1) John Rylands Manuscript (125-130AD).
--Found in Egypt.
--Measures “only 8.9 by 6 cm at its widest; and conserved at the
John Rylands University Library. The front contains lines from the
Gospel of John 18:31–33, in Greek, and the back contains lines from verses
37–38”
--It is important in that the Gospel of John can no longer be dated by liberal
scholars at 200AD.
They once dated it this late to account for John’s so called “developed
theology.”
(2) Chester Beatty Papyri (200-300AD).
--This contains major portions of the New Testament, including portions of the
Gospels and Acts, the Catholic Epistles, 10 of Paul’s letters and the Book of
Revelation.
(3) Bodmer Papyrus II (150-200AD). This contains John’s Gospel.
(4) Diatesseron, a harmony of the Gospels by Tatian (AD160).
(5) Codex Sinaiticus (350AD): Aleph (a)
--Contains all the New Testament except Mk. 16:9-20 and Jn. 7:53-
8:11.
--It was found in 1844 in a Mt. Sinai (Traditional site) monastery.
--It was found in a waste basket where monks there had been using
old manuscripts as firewood to keep warm!
--It was discovered by Tischendorf and is now in London.
(6) Codex Vaticanus (325-350AD): B
--Housed in the Vatican library
--contains nearly all the Bible (OT and NT) but omits the
book of Revelation.
(7) Codex Alexandrinus (400AD): A
--It is in the British Museum.
--Contains most of the NT and OT. It does contain Revelation.
(8) Codex Ephraemi (400s AD):C.
--Housed in Paris
--it contains every NT book except II Thessalonians and II John.
--It contains much of the OT.
--History: About the 12th century it was broken up and only 208
leaves survive. These leaves had been erased and rewritten
with something else. But with the use of chemical agents they
are able with some difficulty to read and reconstruct the
original writing on much of the codex.
(9) Codex Bezae (450+ AD).
--Housed in Cambridge
--contains the Gospels, Acts, and the Catholic epistles in Greek and
Latin (Greek on left, Latin on right).
(10) Codex Washingtonensis (450-550AD). –
--Contains the 4 Gospels.
(11) Codex Claromontanus (500s AD).
--Housed in Paris it contains Pauline epistles.
NT Text Integrity

 When compared to other ancient writings,

support for the New Testament text
integrity is incredibly abundant
 Note the following chart from Josh
McDowell’s book Evidence that Demands a
Verdict, 48. Compare these ancient
writings and see which one you would
conclude has the best attestation for the
original text.
NT And Other
Ancient Writings Compared
AUTHOR WRITTEN EARLIEST COPY TIME SPAN # OF
COPIES

Caesar 100-44BC 900AD 1000 years 10

Plato 427-347BC 900AD 1200 years 7
Tacitus 100AD 1100AD 1000 years 20

Suetonius 75-160AD 950AD 800 years 8

Herodotus 480-425 BC 900 AD 1300 years 8
 NT And Other
Ancient Writings Compared

Sophocles 496-406 BC 1000 AD 1400 years 100

Euripides 480-406BC 1100 AD 1500 years 9

Aristotle 384-322BC 1100AD 1400 years 5

Aristophanes 450-385BC 900 AD 1200 years 10
NT 49-96AD 125AD 30-75 yrs 5000+

Which one would you choose for having integrity in

determining the original text?
The Testimony of Ancient
Versions/Translations.
(1) Syriac Peshitta Version (400s AD)—
--translated about 150-250AD.
--There exist more than 320 extant manuscripts of
this version.
--There is also an Old Syriac Version copied about
300-400 AD which contains the four Gospels
Ancient Versions

(2) Old Latin Versions including the Latin Vulgate by Jerome

(366-384AD).
(3) Coptic (Egyptian) Versions including Sahidic which dates to the
early 3rd century
(4) Armenian Version (From the 5th century AD)
(5) Ethiopic Version (From the 5th century AD)
(6) Georgian Versions (From the 5th century AD)
(7) Old Slavonic (From the 9th century AD).
Early Church Fathers’
Quotations
d. The Testimony of the Early Church Fathers.
--There are over 37,000 quotations from the New Testament in Greek
from the early church leaders/fathers which speak to the
reliability of the New Testament and its integrity.
Early Church Father’s
Quotations
(1) Clement of Rome (90-100AD). He quotes
much from Paul and other NT writers.

(2) Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch (70-110AD).

He quotes from 15 NT Books.

(3) Polycarp, a disciple of John the Apostle

(70-156AD).

(4) Justin Martyr (133AD) has 330 quotes

from the NT
Early Church Father’s
Quotations
(5) Clement of Alexandria (150-220AD) has
2,406 quotes from all but 3 NT books.

(6) Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons (170-200AD) has

1,819 NT quotes.

(7) Tertullian (160-220AD) has 7,258

quotes/references to the NT.

(8) Origen (185-254AD) has 17,922 quotes of

the NT
Early Church Father’s
Quotations
(9) Hippolytus (170-235AD) has 1,378 NT quotes

(10) Cyprian (d. 258AD) has over 1000 NT quotes

(11) Eusebius (330AD) the early church historian quotes 5,176 times
from the NT.
Significance of These Four
Witnesses to the NT Text
Frederick Kenyon (an authority on the NT text) says,

“It cannot be too strongly asserted that . . . the text of the Bible
is certain: Especially is this the case with the New
Testament. The number of manuscripts . . ., of early
translations from it, and of the quotations from it in the
oldest writers of the church, is so large that it is practically
certain that the true reading of every doubtful passage is
preserved in some one or other of these ancient authorities.
This can be said of no other ancient book in the world”. [1]

[1] (Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, vol. 1, 45).

Examples of Discovered
Variants in the Text
1. Acts 8:37. Omitted by Aleph, A, B, C. and papyrus P47 (3rd
century AD). King James has this verse because it was based on
later manuscripts which had included this. One of the earliest
manuscripts which include this is dated about the 6th century AD
Some NT Variants

2. John 5:3b-4. Not in the earliest mss: P46 (2nd-

3rd century), P75 (3rd century), Aleph, B, C, D
and others. A (5th century) includes it.
3. John 7:53-8:11. Omitted by P66 (2nd-3rd
century), p75 (3rd century), Aleph, A, B, C, and
others. It is included in D (5th or 6th century). --
Some later mss place it after Luke 21:38, or Lk.
24:53, or Jn. 7:36, or Jn. 21:25. It seems to have
been a floating story which some felt should be
in the Bible and so placed it there.
Some NT Variants

D. Mark 16:9-20. Not found in the earliest mss. Might have

been a lost end or originally in a book that lost its cover
(and first and last pages). It is omitted by Aleph and B (4th
century mss). Is found in A, C, D (5th and 6th century
MSS). This ending is a long ending.
--There also exists a shorter ending. See the NASB which
gives the following as an alternate ending after verse 8:

“And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter

and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out
through them from east to west the sacred and
imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.”
NT Greek Text Criticism Results

 The text of the NT is virtually certain

 Of the variants found, there are no theologically significant ones
that change the basic tenants of Christianity.
 New Greek Texts with Apparatus have been published with the
variants for everyone to study.
Two NT Greek Texts

1. UBS Greek Text

--Apparatus
A= Text is certain
B= Text is almost certain
C= There is difficulty deciding which variant is the
correct one
D= There is great difficulty in arriving at which
variant is the correct one (used very rarely)
2. Also there is a Nestle-Alan Greek Text with
different apparatus.
Greek Texts As a Result of NT
Textual Criticism
1. Novum Testamentum Graece, 27th edition, edited by
Eberhand Nestle, Kurt Aland, and Barbara Aland
(Stuttgart: Duetsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1993).

2. United Bible Societies’ The Greek New Testament 4th

Revised Edition, edited by Barbara Aland, Kurt Aland,
Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M.
Metzger (Stuttgart: Duetsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1993).
This was produced specifically for Bible
translators.
3. For further study see Bruce M. Metzger, The Text of the
New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and
Restoration (4th Edition) (New York: Oxford, 2005).