Textual criticism establishes what the New Testament authors wrote; translation then renders that established text accurately and transparently for readers.
Textual Criticism and Bible Translation: Establishing the Text and Rendering the Meaning
The Latin Vulgate as a Textual Witness
The Latin Vulgate, forged as a Greek-based revision of Old Latin texts, supports Alexandrian readings and stands as a major secondary witness to the New Testament text.
The Old Latin Witnesses to the Gospels
The Old Latin Gospels reveal a diverse Western text in the Latin West, illuminating expansions and paraphrases while confirming the superiority of the Alexandrian tradition.
Codex Bezae and the Western Text of Act
Codex Bezae preserves a long, paraphrastic Western text of Acts that reveals early expansions and interpretations, yet, when compared with Alexandrian witnesses, confirms the reliability of Luke’s original narrative.
Papyrus 47 and the Book of Revelation
Papyrus 47 gives an early, Alexandrian-type text of Revelation 9–17, revealing ordinary scribal slips yet strongly confirming the stability and reliability of the book.
Papyrus 45 and the Text of the Gospels
Papyrus 45 shows both human scribal fallibility and a remarkably stable Gospel text, powerfully confirming the early Alexandrian tradition and the reliability of the New Testament.
Papyrus 46 and the Pauline Corpus
Papyrus 46, an early second-century papyrus codex, preserves a large Pauline corpus—including Hebrews—and shows that Paul’s letters were transmitted with exceptional stability.
Papyrus 1 and the Early Witness to Matthew
Papyrus 1 reveals an early Alexandrian text of Matthew 1 in Egypt, confirming the Gospel’s stability and authority by the late second century.
The Relationship Between Papyrus 75 and Codex Vaticanus
Papyrus 75 and Codex Vaticanus form a tightly related Alexandrian line, showing that Luke and John were transmitted with exceptional stability from the second to fourth century.
Papyrus 66 and Its Witness to the Johannine Text
Papyrus 66, an early second-century codex of John, reveals a largely Alexandrian text and proves that the Johannine Gospel was stable and widely used soon after composition.
