Byzantine text-type
In the
The Byzantine text is also found in a few modern Eastern Orthodox editions, as the Byzantine textual tradition has continued in the Eastern Orthodox Church into the present time. The text used by the Orthodox Church is supported by late minuscule manuscripts. It is commonly accepted as the standard Byzantine text.
Manuscripts
The earliest undisputed notable patristic witnesses to the Byzantine text come from early eastern church fathers such as
Dating from the fourth century, and hence possibly earlier than the Peshitta, is the
Some debate exists on the manuscript basis of Jerome's Latin Vulgate and if this text was influenced by the Byzantine text. Wordsworth concluded that Jerome mainly used a text-type similar to Codex Siniaticus and Vaticanus, however his conclusions were rejected by H. J. Vogels who instead argued that the Greek manuscripts used by Jerome mostly agreed with the Byzantine text. Vogel's analysis of the Vulgate was criticized by both F. C. Burkitt and Lagrange, Burkitt instead argued that Jerome's Vulgate was influenced by multiple Greek manuscripts from different text-types, some of which were similar to Codex Alexandrinus while others similar to Codex Vaticanus.[2]: 355–356
Individual readings in agreement with the later Byzantine text have been found in the very early papyri, such as 𝔓46. Some such as Harry Sturz have concluded from this that the Byzantine text-type must have had an early existence, however others have been cautious in making this conclusion. According to Zuntz, although some Byzantine readings may be ancient, the Byzantine tradition as a whole originates from a later period, not as a creation but as a process of choosing between early variants.[12]: 231–232 It has also been questioned if some of the readings found in the early papyri which agree with later Byzantine readings are genetically significant or accidental.[16]
Notable manuscripts
Sign | Name | Date | Content |
0176 | Uncial 0176 | 4th-5th | Galatians 3:16-25 |
A (02) | Codex Alexandrinus | 5th | Gospels |
C (04) | Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus | 5th | Gospels (mixed Byzantine/Alexandrian) |
W (032) | Codex Washingtonianus | 5th | Matt 1-28; Luke 8:13–24:53 |
Q (026) | Codex Guelferbytanus B | 5th | Luke–John |
N (022) | Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus | 6th | Gospels |
O (023) | Codex Sinopensis | 6th | Gospels |
Σ (042) | Codex purpureus Rossanensis | 6th | Gospels |
Φ (043) | Codex Beratinus | 6th | Gospels |
0211 | Uncial 0211 | 7th | Gospels |
0103 | Uncial 0103 | 7th | Gospels |
Ee (07) | Codex Basilensis | 8th | Gospels |
Fe (09) | Codex Boreelianus | 9th | Gospels |
Ge (011) | Codex Seidelianus I | 9th | Gospels |
He (013) | Codex Seidelianus II | 9th | Gospels |
L (020) | Codex Angelicus | 9th | Acts, CE, Pauline Epistles |
V (031) | Codex Mosquensis II | 9th | Gospels |
Y (034) | Codex Macedoniensis | 9th | Gospels |
Θ (038) | Codex Koridethi | 9th | Gospels (except Mark) |
S (028) | Codex Vaticanus 354 | 949 | Gospels |
1241 | Minuscule 1241 | 12th | only Acts |
1424 | Minuscule 1424 | 9th/10th | NT (except Mark) |
Other manuscripts
- Papyri
- Uncials
- Minuscules
More than 80% of minuscules represent the Byzantine text.[17]: 128
Distribution by century
- 9th century
461, 1080, 1862, 2142, 2500
- 9th/10th
399
- 10th
14, 27, 29, 34, 36e, 63, 82, 92, 100, 135, 144, 151, 221, 237, 262, 278b, 344, 364, 371, 405, 411, 450, 454, 457, 478, 481, 564, 568, 584, 602, 605, 626, 627, 669, 920, 1055, 1076, 1077, 1078, 1203, 1220, 1223, 1225, 1347, 1351, 1357, 1392, 1417, 1452, 1661, 1720, 1756, 1829, 1851, 1880, 1905, 1920, 1927, 1954, 1997, 1998, 2125, 2373, 2414, 2545, 2722, 2790
- 10th/11th
994, 1073, 1701
- 11th
7p, 8, 12, 20, 23, 24, 25, 37, 39, 40, 50, 65, 68, 75, 77, 83, 89, 98, 108, 112, 123, 125, 126, 127, 133, 137, 142, 143, 148, 150, 177, 186, 194, 195, 197, 200, 207, 208, 210, 212, 215, 236, 250, 259, 272, 276, 277, 278a, 300, 301, 302, 314, 325, 331, 343, 350, 352, 354, 357, 360, 375, 376, 422, 458, 465, 466, 470, 474, 475, 476, 490, 491, 497, 504, 506, 507, 516, 526, 527, 528, 530, 532, 547, 548, 549, 560, 583, 585, 596, 607, 624, 625, 638, 639, 640, 651, 672, 699, 707, 708, 711, 717, 746, 754, 756, 773, 785, 809, 831, 870, 884, 887, 894, 901, 910, 919, 937, 942, 943, 944, 964, 965, 991, 1014, 1028, 1045, 1054, 1056, 1074, 1110, 1123, 1168, 1174, 1187, 1207, 1209, 1211, 1212, 1214, 1221, 1222, 1244, 1277, 1300, 1312, 1314, 1317, 1320, 1324, 1340, 1343, 1373, 1384, 1438, 1444, 1449, 1470, 1483, 1513, 1514, 1517, 1520, 1521, 1545, 1556, 1570, 1607, 1668, 1672, 1693, 1730, 1734, 1738, 1770, 1828, 1835, 1847, 1849, 1870, 1878, 1879, 1888, 1906, 1907, 1916, 1919, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1946, 1955, 1980, 1981, 1982, 2001, 2007, 2098, 2132, 2133, 2144, 2172, 2176, 2181, 2183, 2199, 2275, 2277, 2281, 2386, 2295, 2307, 2381, 2386, 2430, 2442, 2447, 2451, 2458, 2468, 2475, 2539, 2547, 2559, 2563, 2567, 2571, 2587, 2637, 2649, 2661, 2723, 2746, 2760, 2782, 2787
2306 (composite of parts from the 11th to the 14th centuries)
- 11th/12th
665, 657, 660, 1013, 1188, 1191, 1309, 1358, 1340, 1566, 2389, 2415, 2784
- 12th
2e, 2ap, 3, 9, 11, 15, 21, 32, 44, 46, 49, 57, 73, 76, 78, 80, 84, 95, 97, 105, 110, 111, 116, 119, 120, 122, 129, 132, 134, 138, 139, 140, 146, 156, 159, 162, 183, 187, 193, 196, 199, 202, 203, 217, 224, 226, 231, 240, 244, 245, 247, 261, 264, 267, 268, 269, 270, 275, 280, 281, 282, 297, 304, 306, 319, 320, 329, 334, 337, 347, 351, 353, 355, 356, 366, 374, 387, 392, 395, 396, 401, 407, 408, 419, 438, 439, 443, 452, 471, 485, 499, 502, 505, 509, 510, 514, 518, 520, 524, 529, 531, 535, 538, 550, 551, 556, 570, 571, 580, 587, 618, 620, 622, 637, 650, 662, 673, 674, 688, 692, 721, 736, 748, 750, 760, 765, 768, 770, 774, 777, 778, 779, 782, 787, 793, 799, 808, 843, 857, 860, 862, 877, 893, 896, 902, 911, 916, 922, 924, 936, 950, 967, 971, 973, 975, 980, 987, 993, 998, 1007, 1046, 1081, 1083, 1085, 1112, 1169, 1176, 1186, 1190, 1193, 1197, 1198, 1199, 1200, 1217, 1218, 1224, 1231, 1240, 1301, 1315, 1316, 1318, 1323, 1350a, 1355, 1360, 1364, 1375, 1385, 1437, 1539, 1583, 1673, 1683, 1714, 1737, 1752, 1754, 1755a, 1755b, 1800, 1821, 1826, 1872, 1889, 1914, 1915, 1917, 1926, 1951, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1986, 1988, 2013, 2096, 2126, 2135, 2139, 2173, 2177, 2189, 2191, 2289, 2282, 2426, 2437, 2445, 2459, 2490, 2491, 2507, 2536, 2549, 2550, 2552, 2562, 2639, 2650, 2657, 2671, 2700, 2712, 2725, 2727, 2781, 2785, 2791, 2794
632 and 1227 (composites of parts from the 12th to the 14th centuries)
- 12th/13th
905, 906, 1310, 1341, 1897, 2311
- 13th
52, 55, 60, 74, 107, 121, 128, 136, 141, 147, 167, 170, 192, 198, 204, 219, 220, 227, 248, 260, 284, 291, 292, 293, 303, 305, 309, 327, 328, 342, 359, 361, 362, 384, 388, 390, 410, 449, 469, 473, 477, 479, 482, 483, 484, 496, 500, 501, 511, 519, 533, 534, 546, 553, 554, 558, 573, 574, 592, 593, 597, 601, 663, 666, 677, 684, 685, 689, 691, 696, 705, 714, 715, 725, 729, 737, 757, 759, 775, 811, 820, 825, 830, 835, 840, 897, 898, 900, 912, 914, 966, 969, 970, 981, 995, 997, 999, 1000, 1004, 1008, 1011, 1015, 1016, 1031, 1050, 1052, 1053, 1057, 1069, 1070, 1072, 1087, 1089, 1094, 1103, 1107, 1129, 1148, 1149, 1150, 1161, 1177, 1201, 1205, 1206, 1208, 1213, 1215, 1226, 1238, 1255, 1285, 1339, 1352a, 1400, 1594, 1597, 1604, 1622, 1717, 1717, 1728, 1731, 1736, 1740, 1742, 1772, 1855, 1858, 1922, 1938, 1941, 1956, 1972, 1992, 2111, 2119, 2140, 2141, 2236, 2353, 2376, 2380, 2390, 2409, 2420, 2423, 2425, 2457, 2479, 2483, 2502, 2534, 2540, 2558, 2568, 2584, 2600, 2624, 2627, 2631, 2633, 2645, 2646, 2658, 2660, 2665, 2670, 2696, 2699, 2724, 2761
- 13th/14th
266, 656, 668, 1334, 2499, 2578
- 14th
18, 45, 53, 54, 66, 109, 155, 171, 182, 185, 190, 201, 214, 223, 232, 235, 243, 246, 290, 308, 316, 324, 358, 367, 369, 381, 386, 393, 394, 402, 404, 409, 412, 413, 414, 415, 417, 425, 426, 480, 492, 494, 498, 512, 521, 523, 540, 577, 578, 586, 588, 594, 600, 603, 604, 628, 633, 634, 644, 645, 648, 649, 680, 686, 690, 698, 718, 727, 730, 731, 734, 741, 758, 761, 762, 763, 764, 769, 781, 783, 784, 786, 789, 790, 794, 797, 798, 802, 806, 818, 819, 824, 833, 834, 836, 839, 845, 846, 848, 858, 864, 866a, 867, 889, 890, 904, 921, 928, 938, 951, 952, 953, 959, 960, 977, 978, 1020, 1023, 1032, 1033, 1036, 1061, 1062, 1075, 1099, 1100, 1119, 1121, 1185, 1189, 1196, 1234, 1235, 1236, 1248, 1249, 1252, 1254, 1283, 1328, 1330, 1331, 1345, 1350b, 1356, 1377, 1395, 1445, 1447, 1476, 1492, 1503, 1504, 1516, 1543, 1547, 1548, 1572, 1577, 1605, 1613, 1614, 1619, 1637, 1723, 1725, 1726, 1732, 1733, 1741, 1746, 1747, 1761, 1762, 1771, 1856, 1859, 1899, 1902, 1918, 1928, 1929, 1952, 1975, 2085, 2160, 2261, 2266, 2273, 2303, 2309, 2310, 2355, 2356, 2406, 2407, 2431, 2441, 2454, 2466, 2484, 2503, 2593, 2626, 2629, 2634, 2651, 2653, 2666, 2668, 2679, 2698, 2716, 2765, 2767, 2773, 2774, 2775, 2780, 2783
- 15th
30, 47, 58, 70, 149, 285, 286, 287, 288, 313, 368, 373, 379, 380, 385, 418, 432, 446, 448, 493, 525, 541, 575, 616, 664, 694, 739, 801, 841, 844, 853, 880, 955, 958, 961, 962, 1003, 1017, 1018, 1024, 1026, 1059, 1060, 1105, 1202, 1232, 1233, 1247, 1250, 1260, 1264, 1482, 1508, 1617, 1626, 1628, 1636, 1649, 1656, 1745, 1750, 1757, 1763, 1767, 1876, 1882, 1948, 1957, 1958, 1964, 1978, 2003, 2175, 2178, 2221, 2352, 2418, 2452, 2455, 2554, 2673, 2675, 2691, 2704, 2729
- 15th/16th
99, 1367
- 16th
90, 335, 445, 724, 745, 755, 867, 957, 1019, 1030, 1065, 1068, 1088, 1239, 1362, 1370, 1374, 1618, 1749, 1768, 1861, 1883, 1911, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1937, 1979, 2009, 2218, 2378, 2422, 2496, 2501, 2532, 2555, 2572, 2573, 2579, 2635, 2636, 2690, 2711, 2721, 2779
- 16th/17th
1371
- 17th and later
289, 868, 956, 963, 988, 1044, 1063, 1101, 1104, 1303, 1748, 1869, 2267, 2450, 2497, 2581, 2619, 2656.[20]
Characteristics
Compared to
Textus Receptus
The first printed edition of the Greek New Testament was completed by
Modern critical texts
The Byzantine type is also found in modern Greek Orthodox editions. A new scholarly edition of the Byzantine Text of John's gospel, (funded by the United Bible Societies in response to a request from Eastern Orthodox Scholars), was begun in Birmingham, UK. and in 2007, as a result of these efforts, The Gospel According to John in the Byzantine Tradition was published.[8]
Von Soden divided manuscripts of the Byzantine text into five groups:
- Kx: no uncials, hundreds of minuscules, among them codex , 14, 45, 47, 49, 51, 54, 56, 58, 59, 60, 61, 73, 75, 76, 78, etc.
- Kr: no uncials, no early minuscules, hundreds of minuscules: 18, 35, 55, 66, 83, 128, 141, 147, 155, 167, 170, 189, 201
- K1 (subfamily of Kx): S V Ω 461
- Ki (Family E): E F G H
- Ik (also Ka), now Family Π: (A) K Y Π; this subgroup is the oldest, but only 5% of manuscripts belong to it. Majority of them have text mixed with other Byzantine subfamilies.[29]
Since the discovery of 𝔓45, 𝔓46, and 𝔓66, there is occasionally an early witness to some Byzantine text readings.[30]: 55–61 [31]: 38 Examples:
Luke 10:39
Luke 10:42
- ενος δε εστιν χρεια: 𝔓45 𝔓75 A C W Byz
- ολιγων δε χρεια εστιν η ενος: B
- ολιγων δε εστιν η ενος: א
- ολιγων δε εστιν χρεια: 38 syrpal[33][32]: 229
Luke 11:33
John 10:29
John 11:32
John 13:26
Acts 17:13
1 Corinthians 9:7
Ephesians 5:9
Philippians 1:14
Other examples of Byzantine readings were found in 𝔓66 in John 1:32; 3:24; 4:14, 51; 5:8; 6:10, 57; 7:3, 39; 8:41, 51, 55; 9:23; 10:38; 12:36; 14:17.[31]: 38 fn. 2 This supports the views of scholars such as Harry Sturz (1984) and Maurice Robinson (2005) that the roots of the Byzantine text may go back to a very early date.[30]: 62–65 (In 1963 Bruce Metzger had argued that early support for Byzantine readings could not be taken to demonstrate that they were in the original text.)[31]: 38 Some authors have interpreted this as a rehabilitation of the Textus Receptus.[34] Many of these readings have substantial support from other text-types and they are not distinctively Byzantine. Daniel Wallace found only two agreements distinctively between papyrus and Byzantine readings.[35]
Modern translations
The Byzantine majority text of Robinson and Pierpont is the basis of the World English Bible.[36] And an interlinear translation of the Hodges-Farstad text has been made by Thomas Nelson.[37] The Holman Christian Standard Bible was initially planned to become an English translation of the Byzantine majority text, although because Arthur Farstad died just few months into the project, it shifted to the Critical Text. However, the HCSB bible was still made to contain the Byzantine majority readings within its footnotes. Similarly, the New King James version contains the Byzantine majority readings within the footnotes, although it is a translation of the Textus Receptus.[38] There also exists multiple translations of the Aramaic Peshitta into English, translations have been made by John W. Etheridge, James Murdock and George M. Lamsa.[39][40][41] The Peshitta has also been translated into Spanish[42] and into Malayam.[43]
An English translation of Family 35 has also been created by Wilbur Pickering, called the "The Sovereign Creator Has Spoken" translation.[44]
See also
Families of the Byzantine text-type
- Families associated with the Byzantine text
Other text-types
- Categories of New Testament manuscripts
- Alexandrian text-type
- Caesarean text-type
- Western text-type
- Textus Receptus
Critical text
- Novum Testamentum Graece
- Textual Criticism
- Conflation of Readings
Notes
- ^ Introduction To Bibliology: What Every Christian Should Know About the Origins, Composition, Inspiration, Interpretation, Canonicity, and Transmission of the Bible
- ^ ISBN 0-19-826170-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4982-6349-8.
- ^ Wallace, Daniel B. (1994). "The Majority Text Theory: History, Methods, and Critique". Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. 37 (2): 194 fn. 59.
- ^ "The Majority Text and the Original Text: Are They Identical? | Bible.org". bible.org. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
- ISBN 978-1-949586-78-7.
- ^ "Translations". ByzantineText.com. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
- ^ ISBN 978-1598563078.
- ^ ISBN 978-0801022807.
- ^ Heuer, Mark (1995). "AN EVALUATION OF JOHN W. BURGON'S USE OF PATRISTIC EVIDENCE" (PDF). The Evangelical Theological Society.
- ISBN 978-90-04-13076-0.
- ^ ISBN 9780802827739.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-516122-9.
- ISBN 978-90-04-16913-5, retrieved 2024-01-11
- ^ Bennett, William, 1980, An Introduction to the Gothic Language, pp. 24-25.
- ^ ISBN 978-90-04-23604-2.
- ^ ISBN 3-11-011986-2.
- ^ Aland, Kurt (1996). Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorum. Locis parallelis evangeliorum apocryphorum et patrum adhibitis edidit. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. p. XXXII.
- ^ Aland, Kurt; Aland, Barbara; Karavidopoulos, J.; Martini, C. M.; Metzger, Bruce Manning (2001). Novum Testamentum Graece (27 ed.). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. p. 714. (NA27)
- ^ Kurt Aland, and Barbara Aland, "The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism", trans. Erroll F. Rhodes, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1995, pp. 140-142.
- Fenton John Anthony Hort. The New Testament In The Original Greek, 1925. p. 551
- ^ F. H. A. Scrivener, A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, (George Bell & Sons: London 1894), vol. 2, pp. 183–184.
- ^ Michael D. Marlowe states:[1] yet it differs from the Received Text in about a thousand places, most of them being trivial. while Daniel B. Wallace [2] Archived 2007-08-05 at the Wayback Machine has counted 1,838 differences between it and the Textus Receptus.
- ^ "What about the Majority Text?". www.bible-researcher.com. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
- ^ Colwell, Earnest Cadman (1952). What is the Best New Testament?. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- ^ Maurice A. Robinson and William G. Pierpont, The New Testament in the Original Greek: Byzantine Textform, p. v fn. 2.
- ^ Daniel Wallace, The Majority Text and the Original Text: Are They Identical in "Bibliotheca Sacra", Volume 148, 1991, p. 158.
- ISBN 978-0-9898273-7-9.
- ^ Appendix III: Von Soden's Textual System at the Encyclopedia of New Testament Textual Criticism.
- ^ ISBN 0-8407-4958-9.
- ^ a b c Metzger, Bruce Manning (1963). Chapters in the History of New Testament Textual Criticism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-438-05156-1.
- Gordon D. Fee, P75, P66, and Origen: The Myth of Early Textual Recension in Alexandria, p. 253.
- ^ Edward F. Hills, Dean Burgon in the Light of Recent Research; D. A. Waite, Defending the King James Bible, Bible For Today, Collingswood, New Jersey 2004.
- ^ D. Wallace, The Majority Text Theory: History, Methods, and Critique, in Studies & Documents 1995, p. 303
- ^ "World English Bible (WEB) - Version Information - BibleGateway.com". www.biblegateway.com. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
- ^ Nelson, Thomas (1994). The Majority Text Greek New Testament Interlinear.
- ^ "A Review of the Christian Standard Bible". The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
- ^ Murdock, James (1915). The Syriac New Testament. Boston: H. L. Hastings.
- ^ Etheridge, John W. John W. Etheridge Translation Of The Four Gospels And A History Of The Syrian Church.
- ISBN 978-0-06-064923-4.
- ISBN 978-1-4627-5111-2.
- ^ Online, Jacobite. "97th Birthday of Malankara Malpan Korooso Desroro Very Rev Dr. Kurien Cor Episcopa Kaniamparambil on 27 February 2010 – Jacobite Online". Retrieved 2024-02-23.
- ^ "Translations". ByzantineText.com. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
Further reading
- The New Testament in the Original Greek: Byzantine Textform 2018, edited by ISBN 978-3-95776-100-2.
- The Greek New Testament for Beginning Readers: Byzantine Textform, The Greek Text & Verb Parsing as Compiled by Maurice A. Robinson & William G. Pierpont, Lexical Information & Layout by John Jeffrey Dodson, VTR Publications, 2010. ISBN 978-3-941750-24-1.
- The Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text, Second Edition, edited by Zane C. Hodges and Arthur L. Farstad, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1985. ISBN 0-8407-4963-5.
- The New Testament in the Original Greek: Byzantine Textform 2005, Edited by ISBN 0-7598-0077-4.
- The King James Only Controversy 2009, James R White, Bethany House. ISBN 0-7642-0605-2.
- "Some Second Thoughts on the Majority Text", Daniel B. Wallace, Bibliotheca Sacra, vol. 146, 1989. 270–290.
- What About the Majority Text?, Michael D. Marlowe www.bible-researcher.com
- B. M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary of the Greek New Testament: A Companion Volume to the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament, 1994, United Bible Societies, London & New York, pp. 7*-9*, 15*-16*.
- M. A. Robinson, "The Case for Byzantine Priority", in: "Rethinking New Testament Textual Criticism", ed. D. A. Black, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids: 2002, pp. 125–139
- Klaus Wachtel, Der Byzantinische Text Der Katholischen Briefe (Universität Münster, 1994).
- "The Byzantine Priority Hypothesis" At the Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism
- The Gospel According to John in the Byzantine Tradition
- Paulo José Benício, O Texto Bizantino na Tradição Manuscrita do Novo Testamento Grego (in Portuguese)
- Ernst Boogert, The Origin of the Byzantine Text: New Perspectives in a Deadlocked Debate.
External links
- Online version of The New Testament in the Original Greek: Byzantine Textform 2005, Edited by Maurice A. Robinson and William G. Pierpont
- Online version of the Orthodox Patriarchal text
- Online version of The Greek New Testament According to Family 35, Edited by Wilbur N. Pickering
- Online version of The Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text (Hodges-Farstad)
- Comparison of the Byzantine/Majority Text with other manuscript editions on the Manuscript Comparator
- Center for Study and Preservation of the Majority Text