Updated American Standard Version
Giving Bible readers what God said not what translators think God meant
"The Echo of Ancient Scribes" delves into the fascinating world of textual anomalies in the Old Testament, exploring how these variances came to be and what they reveal about the text's rich history. It offers insights into the labors of ancient scribes and the intricate process of textual transmission, all while reinforcing the integrity and authority of the Scriptures.
New Testament textual criticism goes back to Origen (185-254), in the third century of our common era. The historical roots of textual scholarship actually go back to the 3rd-century B.C.E. in the Library of Alexandria. We are going to the 18th-19th centuries for the purposes of this article.
We must face the reality that while the original 39 OT manuscripts and 27 NT manuscripts were inspired by God [Lit. “God-breathed”] (1 Tim. 3:16), as the authors were moved along by the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 1:21), this was not the case with the copyists thereafter. Yes, hundreds of thousands of scribal errors crept into our manuscripts.
