Comprehensive Analysis of Biblical Textual Studies
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 over 200+ books. In addition, Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).
Biblical textual studies involve the meticulous process of reconstructing the original text of the Bible, given that the original autographs no longer exist. This field aims to achieve the highest possible accuracy using available materials and is often referred to as “lower criticism” to differentiate it from “higher criticism,” which focuses on the analysis of the date, unity, and authorship of biblical writings.
The process of textual criticism consists of four primary stages:
Collection and collation of materials, including manuscripts, translations, and quotations.
Development of theories and methodologies that enable critics to utilize the gathered information to reconstruct the most accurate biblical text.
Reconstruction of the history of the text’s transmission, which identifies various influences that have affected the text.
Evaluation of specific variant readings in light of textual evidence, theological perspectives, and church history.
The first task in textual criticism is to collect all available records of the biblical writings. Primary sources include manuscripts (hand-written copies) written on animal skins, papyrus, or metal. Secondary sources encompass translations into other languages, quotations from both supporters and opponents of biblical religion, and early printed texts. The process of comparing and meticulously listing the variant readings discovered is known as collation.
New Testament (NT) manuscript evidence is abundant and diverse, with thousands of sources ranging from papyri and uncials to minuscules and lectionaries. The earliest NT manuscripts were written on scrolls, while later manuscripts adopted the codex format, a more convenient book-like shape.
Some of the most important manuscripts in each category include:
Papyri: Notable examples are the Chester Beatty Papyri (P45, P46, and P47) and the Bodmer Papyri (P66 and P75). These papyri, dated between the 2nd and 3rd centuries C.E., contain various portions of the Gospels, the Book of Acts, the Pauline Epistles, and the Book of Revelation.
Uncials: These capital letter manuscripts date from the 4th to the 9th centuries C.E. and include the Codex Sinaiticus (א), Codex Alexandrinus (A), Codex Vaticanus (B), Codex Ephraemi (C), Codex Bezae (D), and Codex Koridethi (θ).
Minuscules: Greek manuscripts written in a cursive style from the 9th century onwards are referred to as minuscules. Significant examples include Family 1 (minuscules 1, 118, 131, and 209), Family 13 (minuscules 13, 69, 124, 346, and others), Minuscule 33 (“the queen of the cursives”), Minuscule 565, and Minuscule 1739.
Through the analysis of these primary and secondary sources, biblical textual critics aim to reconstruct the original text of the Bible as accurately as possible. This labor-intensive process demands not only the examination of the available materials but also the development of theories and methodologies to interpret the evidence, reconstruct the text’s transmission history, and evaluate variant readings.
Translations. The early Christian church’s missionary endeavors led to the New Testament (NT) being translated into various languages. These translations, especially the Syriac and Latin versions, provide valuable insights into the text’s early form. However, complexities arise due to language conversion and insufficient data regarding the source text for these translations. Five Syriac NT versions exist: Old Syriac, Peshitta, Philoxenian, Harclean, and Palestinian Syriac. The Old Latin version emerged in the late 2nd century for North African usage. Jerome’s work in the late 4th century resulted in the renowned Latin Vulgate, with over 8,000 extant manuscripts. Other significant translations include Coptic, Gothic, Armenian, Georgian, Ethiopic, and Slavonic.
Patristic Quotations. Early Christian writers, known as the Church Fathers, provide additional textual evidence through their quotations of the NT. This comprehensive range of citations offers insight into the transmission history of textual variations and types.
The wealth of evidence available for reconstructing the NT’s text has led to ongoing efforts using modern technology to catalog and compare this material systematically.
History of Transmission. Assessing the transmission history of the text is crucial in evaluating variant readings. Material from diverse sources must be combined to develop even a preliminary reconstruction. A brief overview of scholarly opinions for each Testament follows.
New Testament. The transmission history of the NT differs significantly from that of the Old Testament. Factors such as the extant manuscripts’ closeness to the original writing, the shorter oral transmission period, the overall shorter process, and the lack of early standardization allow textual critics to approach the original text more closely through comparison and collation.
Textual reconstruction typically employs a genealogical method, which seeks to trace the transmission process to identify manuscript families and their interrelationships. Key scholars in this field include Johann Albrecht Bentley, Brooke Foss Westcott, Fenton John Anthony Hort, Hermann von Soden, and Burnett Hillman Streeter. Streeter’s work, mainly focused on the four Gospels, offers valuable insights applicable to the entire NT.
Streeter aimed to isolate the text forms prevalent in the prominent centers of Christendom. Using the Church Fathers’ quotations as evidence, he identified each center’s unique NT text forms. Streeter’s diagram illustrates his conclusions regarding the major text types, which are geographically distributed.
The Alexandrian text, originating from the scholarly traditions of Alexandria, Egypt, is represented by Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, P66, and P72. Scholars largely agree that the Alexandrian text is the most accurate ancient text and reflects the early 2nd-century original NT text.
The Western text, characterized by its additions and notable omissions, reflects a less standardized text due to controlled manuscript tradition. Some scholars hesitate to consider it a distinct text type. Codex Bezae and Old Latin manuscripts embody this tradition, which was used by 2nd and 3rd-century writers such as Marcion, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Cyprian.
The Eastern text, primarily represented by the Caesarean text, is found in Codex Kordethi and two minuscule subfamilies. Origen introduced this text type to Caesarea, and it appears to be based on the Alexandrian text with many Western readings. It is the least homogeneous of the three major textual families, with some recent scholarship even questioning the existence of the Caesarean text.
The Byzantine text is a combination of the other three types. Its compilers opted for conflation, incorporating multiple variant readings for a passage instead of deciding on their relative value. Consequently, the Byzantine text’s distinct readings are generally considered secondary in quality.
The early 9th century saw the introduction of cursive writing (minuscule manuscripts). By that time, the Byzantine text-type had become dominant, and most manuscripts in cursive script were copies of this inferior text type.
The invention of printing in the 16th century soon led to the publication of a Greek NT. The first such publication was the Complutensian Polyglot, a collection of versions in multiple languages named after the Spanish town of Alcalá (Latin: Complutum). It was printed between 1514 and 1517 but was not released until 1521 or 1522. Desiderius Erasmus published the first Greek NT for sale in 1516, basing it on half a dozen minuscule manuscripts. He used the earliest (codex 1 from the 10th century) the least, as it was based on earlier uncial texts and he considered it erratic.
Robert Estienne (also known as Stephanus) published his third edition of the Greek NT in 1550, which closely resembled the 4th and 5th editions of Erasmus. The 1633 edition of the Elzevir brothers followed the same textual tradition. The preface of their edition stated in Latin, “the reader has the text which is now received by all, in which we give nothing changed or corrupted.” From the phrase “text… received” (Latin: textum… receptum) came the term “Textus Receptus” to designate the standard text. Subsequent editions adhered faithfully to the Textus Receptus. All major Protestant translations in Europe before 1881, including the King James Version, were based on Erasmus’ textual tradition, which, in turn, was based on a few relatively late manuscripts from the Byzantine “family.”
Methodology and the history of transmission are closely connected when it comes to addressing the numerous variant readings in manuscripts. It is essential to develop a method for determining the value of these variant readings. This involves evaluating multiple factors to make a sound decision.
Modern science offers various tools for deciphering manuscripts, including scientific dating methods, chemical techniques, and ultraviolet light. Studying a manuscript as a whole is vital to understanding its “personality,” identifying the scribe’s tendencies and errors, and determining its relationship to other manuscripts.
Scribal errors can be divided into unintentional and intentional categories. Unintentional errors are generally easier to identify and correct, while intentional errors can be harder to detect and evaluate. Common intentional errors include harmonizations, improvements, and conflations, especially in the Byzantine family of manuscripts.
Textual criticism has evolved through the work of numerous scholars who have contributed to the development of methodology, including John Mill, Johann Albrecht Bengel, Johann Jakob Wettstein, Johann Jakob Griesbach, Karl Lachmann, Constantin von Tischendorf, Brooke Foss Westcott, and Fenton John Anthony Hort. The work of Westcott and Hort marked a significant turning point in textual criticism, leading to modern critical editions and translations.
The most recent Greek text of the New Testament is published by the United Bible Societies, designed to provide a textual base for translators. Basic principles of New Testament textual criticism involve evaluating the strength of evidence for competing readings, assessing probable lines of transmission based on copyists’ habits, and determining the author’s identity by evaluating literary style. Recent discussions have leaned towards an eclectic methodology, which emphasizes internal probabilities and a broader range of factors.
In summary, textual criticism is a complex process that requires the application of principles and procedures that cannot be mechanically applied. It is an art and a skill where a well-prepared and attentive critic makes calculated decisions based on a wide range of factors.
In conclusion, textual criticism is essential for examining cases where multiple readings are possible for a particular word or phrase. It is important to remember that the majority of the biblical text has only one transmitted reading. After eliminating scribal errors and intentional changes, only a small percentage of the text remains uncertain. In 1940, textual scholar Sir Frederic Kenyon expressed confidence in the authenticity and general integrity of the New Testament, asserting that the Scriptures have been preserved substantially as they were written.
A similar level of confidence is evident in the Old Testament text. The field of textual criticism is intricate and demands the collection and adept utilization of a wide range of information. Although this field has often been accompanied by emotion due to its association with the authoritative source of revelation for Christians, significant progress has been made, particularly in the past century. The refinement of methodology has substantially contributed to our understanding of the available materials, with additional insights gained from related fields such as church history, biblical theology, and the history of Christian thought.
By collecting and organizing variant readings, modern textual critics can confidently assert that the Word of God has been transmitted accurately and reliably. Although variant readings have become more evident due to the publication of numerous manuscripts, most inadequate, inferior, and secondary readings have been largely eliminated. Conjectural emendation is only necessary in a few instances. In matters concerning a Christian’s salvation, the transmission of the biblical text is clear and authoritative.
Christians owe a debt of gratitude to textual critics who have worked and continue to work to provide a dependable biblical text.
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