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EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored 170+ books. Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).
Major Critical Texts of the New Testament
Byz RP: 2005 Byzantine Greek New Testament, Robinson & Pierpont TR1550: 1550 Stephanus New Testament Maj: The Majority Text (thousands of minuscules which display a similar text) Gries: 1774-1775 Johann Jakob Griesbach Greek New Testament Treg: 1857-1879 Samuel Prideaux Tregelles Greek New Testament Tisch: 1872 Tischendorf’s Greek New Testament WH: 1881 Westcott-Hort Greek New Testament NA28: 2012 Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament UBS5: 2014 Greek New Testament NU: Both Nestle-Aland and the United Bible Society TGNT: 2017 The Greek New Testament by Tyndale House
Philippians 1:11–Is the reading “glory and praise of God” or “glory and praise of Christ”?
Philippians 1:11 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
11 being filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
TR[1]WH[2]NU[3] δοξαν και επαινον θεου gory and praise of God
As would be expected, all English translations accept this reading. This reading has great manuscript support, including several text types, (א A B D2 I K P Ψ 33 81 614 1739 Byz Lect itar, d, r vg syrp, h copsa, bo, fay arm).
Variant (1) δοξαν και επαινον Χριστου glory and praise of Christ D*
The first variant merely has a change from “God” to “Christ.”
Variant (2) δοξαν και επαινον μου my [Paul’s] glory and praise F G F: Uncials (Augensis) Paul’s Epistles; 9th c. G: Uncials (Boernerianus) Paul’s Epistles; 9th c.
The rise of the second variant is difficult to explain, transcriptionally and exegetically. It is possible that Paul wrote what was in the second and third variants. However, Silva (1992a, 64) argues that some scribes tried to avoid such a close side by side between God and Paul by omitting theou (God).
Variant (3) δοξαν θεου και επαινον εμοι gory of God and my [Paul’s] praise P46 (itg)
The third variant, which is found in P46 (dating 150-200 C.E.), could very well preserve the original both transcriptionally and exegetically. Philip Comfort writes, “It was characteristic of Paul, when speaking of the Lord’s return (see 1:10), to mention that the believers’ transformed lives would bring glory to God and honor to Paul. In 2 Cor 1:14 and Phil 2:16, Paul says that the believers would be his boast on the day of Christ. In 1 Thess 2:19-20, Paul says that the believers in Thessalonica will be his glory in that day. Thus, it would not be too much for Paul to say that the Philippians would bring God glory and Paul praise.”[4] In the final analysis, clearly, the reading found in TR WH NU is sure to be the original reading, as the manuscript evidence is excellent.
Bruce M. Metzger writes,
καὶ ἔπαινον θεοῦ {A} (A means certain)
Although it is not easy to explain how such a wide variety of readings developed, there is little doubt that the original reading is καὶ ἔπαινον θεοῦ, which is supported by good representatives of several types of text, including the Alexandrian and the Western types (א A B Dc I K P Ψ 33 81 614 1739 ByzLect itar,, vg syrp, copsa,, arm). Instead of θεοῦ, Dgr 1962 read Χριστοῦ (ΧΥ for ΘΥ), from which καὶ ἔπαινον αὐτοῦ (vgms) developed as a simplification of the redundancy of the two instances of Χριστοῦ. Very remarkable is the reading καὶ ἔπαινόν μοι (Fgr G itg), which has no parallel in Paul, and still more astonishing is the early conflate reading in 𝔓46, θεοῦ καὶ ἔπαινον ἐμοί.[1]
Roger L. Omanson and Bruce Manning Metzger,
καὶ ἔπαινον θεοῦ (and praise of God) {A}
The reading in the text has the support of good representatives from several different text-types. Among the other readings, including “praise of Christ” and “praise of him,” is the remarkable reading καὶ ἔπαινόν μοι (and praise of me), which has no parallel in Paul, and the even more astonishing reading καὶ ἔπαινον θεοῦ καὶ ἔπαινον ἐμοί (and praise of God and praise of me). Fee (Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, p. 96, n. 3) suggests that the variants arose because of the “unusual usage—for Paul—of the word ἔπαινος as directed toward God rather than people.”[2]
Variant Reading(s): differing versions of a word or phrase found in two or more manuscripts within a variation unit (see below). Variant readings are also called alternate readings.
Variation Unit: any portion of text that exhibits variations in its reading between two or more different manuscripts. It is important to distinguish variation units from variant readings. Variation units are the places in the text where manuscripts disagree, and each variation unit has at least two variant readings. Setting the limits and range of a variation unit is sometimes difficult or even controversial because some variant readings affect others nearby. Such variations may be considered individually, or as elements of a single reading. One should also note that the terms “manuscript” and “witness” may appear to be used interchangeably in this context. Strictly speaking, “witness” (see below) will only refer to the content of a given manuscript or fragment, which it predates to a greater or lesser extent. However, the only way to reference the “witness” is by referring to the manuscript or fragment that contains it. In this book, we have sometimes used the terminology “witness of x or y manuscript” to distinguish the content in this way.
[1] Bruce Manning Metzger, United Bible Societies, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Second Edition a Companion Volume to the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament (4th Rev. Ed.) (London; New York: United Bible Societies, 1994), 544.
[2] Roger L. Omanson and Bruce Manning Metzger, A Textual Guide to the Greek New Testament: An Adaptation of Bruce M. Metzger’s Textual Commentary for the Needs of Translators (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006), 401.
[4] Philip W. Comfort, NEW TESTAMENT TEXT AND TRANSLATION COMMENTARY: Commentary on the Variant Readings of the Ancient New Testament Manuscripts and How they Relate to the Major English Translations (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2008), 604–605.
B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort, Introduction to the New Testament in the Original Greek: Appendix (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1882)
Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006)
Bruce Manning Metzger, United Bible Societies, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Second Edition a Companion Volume to the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament (4th Rev. Ed.) (London; New York: United Bible Societies, 1994),
Eberhard Nestle and Erwin Nestle, Nestle-Aland: NTG Apparatus Criticus, ed. Barbara Aland et al., 28. revidierte Auflage. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012).
Dirk Jongkind, ed., The Greek New Testament: Apparatus (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017).
Dirk Jongkind, ed., The Greek New Testament (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017), Matt. 6:8.
Eberhard Nestle and Erwin Nestle, Nestle-Aland: Novum Testamentum Graece, ed. Barbara Aland et al., 28. revidierte Auflage. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012)
Philip Wesley Comfort, A COMMENTARY ON THE MANUSCRIPTS AND TEXT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2015).
Philip W. Comfort, New Testament Text and Translation Commentary: Commentary on the Variant Readings of the Ancient New Testament Manuscripts and How They Relate to the Major English Translations (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2008).
Philip Wesley Comfort and David P. Barrett, The Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts: Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts, 2 Volume Set The (English and Greek Edition) (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2019)
Rick Brannan and Israel Loken, The Lexham Textual Notes on the Bible, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
Roger L. Omanson and Bruce Manning Metzger, A Textual Guide to the Greek New Testament: An Adaptation of Bruce M. Metzger’s Textual Commentary for the Needs of Translators (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006).
Wallace B., Daniel (n.d.). Retrieved from The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts: http://csntm.org/
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