Textual Criticism

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Textual Criticism

• The science and art of assessing the
  transmission of the NT text, identifying its
  variations, alterations, and distortions, and
  then attempting its restoration

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REVIEW AND PREVIEW

• REVIEW
• 6,000 ancient Greek manuscripts
• Ancient versions
• Patristic Quotations
• Tons and Tons of variations (300,000 400,000
  !!)
• But MOST variations make no difference for
  meaning or translation
• PREVIEW
• How these variations came about
• Unintentional Scribal Errors
• Intentional Scribal Errors

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F. Textual Criticism

• Varients
• Unintentional Scribal Errors.
• Confusing letters that look or sound the same
• Example Acts 2035
• KOPIWNTA?DEI - kopiwntaj dei
• KOPIWNTA?DEI - kopiwnta edei
• Example 1 Tim 316
• Q? short for qeoj (theos) God
• O? o(j (hos) he who
• Translation God was revealed in the flesh
  (Divinity of Christ), or he who was revealed in
  the flesh (nothing about Divinity)

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F. Textual Criticism

• Varients
• Unintentional Scribal Errors.
• Confusing letters that look or sound the same
• Example 1 Thess 27
• But we became babes while among you
• But we became gentle while among you
• EGENHQHMENNHTIOI EGENHQHMEN NHTIOI (babes)
• EGENHQHMENHTIOI EGENHQHMEN HTIOI (gentle)
• Example 1 John 14
• our joy
• your joy
• HXARAHMWN HXARA HMWN (our)
• HXARAUMWN HXARA UMWN (your)

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F. Textual Criticism

• Varients
• Intentional Scribal Alterations.
• Changes in grammar, spelling and style
• Bad Grammar in the book of Revelation
• Conscious harmonization with parallel passages
  (esp. gospels)
• Matt 19.17 Why do you ask me about what is
  good? There is one who is good.
• the parallel in Mark 10.17 and Luke 18.18 reads
  Why do you call me good? No one is good but God
  alone.
• KJV Matt 1917, why do you call me good? There
  is none good but one, that is God
• Clarification of geographical or historical
  points
• Mark 1.2 quotes from BOTH Isaiah (40.3) and
  Malachi (3.1) and then goes on to say As it is
  written in Isaiah the prophet,
• Some scribes changed this to a more general, As
  it is written in the prophets

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F. Textual Criticism

• Varients
• Intentional Scribal Alterations.
• Conflation (combination) of differing readings
  known to the copyist
• Acts 20.28 two different mss say the church of
  God and the other says Church of the Lord
• Later mss the church of the Lord and God
• Addition of seemingly appropriate material such
  as expanding the name Jesus to Jesus Christ
  or Lord Jesus Christ
• Theological or ideological alterations made
  either 1) to eliminate unsound doctrine, or 2) to
  add proof for new theological belief.
• Luke 1.3 it seemed good to me
  to write an orderly
  account..

and to the Holy Spirit
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F. Textual Criticism
Fine. Ill use all the Greek manuscripts that I
have and put them all together
Hey, what gives? You messed up royally on 1 John
58! Wheres that cool part about the Trinity??
Well, no Greek manuscript that I had contained
that phrase
Hey Greek scholar dude, we want you to make a
Greek New Testament
If you can bring me a Greek manuscript that
contains the phrase, Ill put it in

• Varients
• Intentional Scribal Alterations.
• Example Erasmus and 1 John 58

Look, dude, it needs to be in there!
Ok, here you go!
Ya, hot off the press!!
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F. Textual Criticism

• Varients
• Intentional Scribal Alterations.
• Example Erasmus and 1 John 58
• For there are three that bear witness

in heaven, the Father, the word, and the Holy
Spirit, and these three are one. And there are
three that bear witness on earth,
the Spirit and the water and the blood.
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F. Textual Criticism

• Criteria for determining the best (most accurate)
  reading
• External Evidence deals mainly with the mss
  evidence (how old, how many)
• A variant preserved by the earliest mss
• A variant preserved by the best quality mss
• A variant supported by the widest geographical
  distribution
• Major Text families

Western
Byzantine
Alexandrian
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F. Textual Criticism

• Internal Evidence
• A variant that exhibits the harder reading
• A variant that exhibits the shorter reading
• A variant that can account for the presence of
  all other readings