Transmission: The Texts andManuscripts of the Biblical Writings

Strange Notes In My Bible

8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let'sgo out to the field.”a And while they were inthe field, Cain attacked his brother Abeland killed him.

Genesis 4:8

a Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint,Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text doesnot have “Let’s go out to the field.”

Strange Notes In My Bible

[The earliest manuscripts and many otherancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11.]

53 Then each went to his own home.

Review

• Inspiration – God spokethrough men in certainwritings

• Canonization – theprocess of recognizingwhich books God hadinspired and given to theChurch

Transmission

• The texts then had to becopied so they could beread by as many people aspossible

• The texts were also copiedsince the originals wouldnot survive for ever

Key Questions

How were copies of the Biblical writingsmade?

How many copies of the Biblical writings dowe have?

How old are the copies we have of the Biblicalwritings?

Are there differences between any of thecopies?

If there are differences, how do we decidewhich are the better copies (closer to whatwas actually written in the original document)?

Transmission

How the Text of the BiblicalBooks Was Copied and

Preserved

Common Errors WhichOccurred During

Copying Manuscripts

Confusing similar letters

h x r dk b x t

Common Errors WhichOccurred During

Copying Manuscripts

Wrong division of words

GODISNOWHERE

God is now here

God is no where

Common Errors WhichOccurred During

Copying Manuscripts

Assume wrong vowels

rb;D' = to speak

rb'D' = word, speech

Common Errors WhichOccurred During

Copying Manuscripts

Missed or doubled letters or words

Skipping a letter, word or line or repeatinga letter, word or line, usually due to similarbeginning or ending letters in the word orline.

Common Errors WhichOccurred During

Copying Manuscripts

Copying from memory rather than themanuscript

This was especially prevalent if the versebeing copied had a parallel in anotherpassage of Scripture.

Common Errors WhichOccurred During

Copying Manuscripts

Intentional changes by scribes To correct grammar or spelling To harmonize with a parallel passage To make the text easier to understand To “correct” perceived theological

difficulties

The Difficulty ofReading theManuscripts

The oldest manuscripts are often quitedeteriorated, fragmentary, faded, and difficultto read. Furthermore, to save preciousparchment, words often had little or no spacebetween them.

Textual Criticism

Textual Criticism

The process of evaluating the variousmanuscripts presently available in order todetermine the reading which is closest to theoriginal text.

A Key Point….

Remember that although there are manyvariations in the text of the OT and NT, theyare mainly relatively minor, and NO majordoctrine is affected by these variations.

The Manuscripts of the OldTestament

The Masoretic Text

Generally considered the most important OldTestament manuscripts we have available

The Masoretes were Jewish scribes who copiedthe Hebrew text from approximately 500AD to1100AD

The Masoretes added vowels to the Hebrew text –until this time vowels had been pronounced butnever written

Masoretes AddedVowels to the Written

Text

`#rah taw ~ymvh ta ~yhla arb tyvarb 1

`#r<a'(h' taeîw> ~yIm:ßV'h; taeî ~yhi_l{a/ar"äB' tyviÞarEB. 1

Genesis 1:1

The Masoretic Text

The Leningrad Codex (circa 1000 AD) is the basis of theBHS – the most popular Hebrew text today

These texts were meticulously maintained, even to the pointof copying what was actually written (the kethiv – what iswritten) even if it was not what the Masoretes actuallythought was correct and read in synagogue (qere – what isread).

However, the texts are over 1500 years distant from theoriginal manuscripts.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Discovered at Wadi Qumranin the 1940’s and 1950’s

Contained both Biblical andextra-biblical writings, andwere made between 250 BCand 70 AD

Comprised of hundreds ofthousands of fragments fromover 800 manuscripts

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Some Fragments of Exodus 6-7

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Contain fragments of everyOT book except for Esther,along with a lot of otherreligious books, andcommunity rules

The biblical books most oftenfound in the fragments are (inorder) Psalms, Deuteronomy,Genesis, and Isaiah

The Dead Sea Scrolls

The Isaiah scroll contains theentire book of Isaiah, and wasmade around 100 BC

This gives a look at theHebrew text 1000 years priorto the Masoretic textspresently in use

The text is amazingly similarto the Masoretic text

The Septuagint (LXX)

A Greek translation of the OT and theApocrypha that was probably made circa250-200 BC.

Tradition said it was made by 70 translators,hence the name Septuagint (LXX).

The type of translation varies from book tobook – some are quite literal, while others aremuch more loose.

The Septuagint (LXX)

Sometimes the Septuagint is missing portionsof text, and sometimes it has portions notfound in the Masoretic Text.

The Septuagint was used by much of theearly Church, since they could not readHebrew but could read Greek.

Many of the OT quotations in the NT areclearly from the Septuagint.

The SamaritanPentateuch

Samaritans separated from the larger Jewishcommunity sometime after the exile but before thetime of Christ (between 586 BC and 0 BC).

The Samaritans only accepted the Pentateuch ascanonical, and they preserved their own version.

This version has many differences from theMasoretic text, some of which can be traced tochanges made by the Samaritans due to their owndoctrinal distinctives, but in some cases theSamaritan Pentateuch is closer to the LXX or theDead Sea Scrolls than the Masoretic Text.

Other ImportantVersions

Aramaic targums

Syriac Peshitta

Quotes by Church Fathers

Textual Criticism of the OldTestament Manuscripts

Textual Criticism of the OT Manuscripts

In general, the Masoretic text is the defaulttext

The other texts are consulted, but onlyfollowed against the Masoretic Text inunusual circumstances

Note: The Eastern Orthodox Church onlyuses the Septuagint; they consider it thetrue version of the OT text

The Manuscripts of the NewTestament

Our Rich Deposit of NT ManuscriptsWe have over 6000 manuscripts, codices, or

portions of the NT writings – Homer’s Iliad onlyhas 650 manuscripts or portions!

The typical time lapse between the writing and theoldest known manuscript for most works of Greekliterature is around 800 years, yet we havemanuscripts of most of the NT withinapproximately 100 years of the original writing

These NT manuscripts and codices can containanywhere from a few verses, to entire books orcollections of books, to even the entire NT

Some Important Early NT Manuscripts

P52 – John 18:31-34, 37-38 – circa 110-125

P46 (Chester Beatty Papyrus II) – all of Paulepistles except the pastoral epistles – circa150-200

Codex Sinaiticus – also known as a or aleph– whole NT – circa 350

Codex Vaticanus – also known as B –Matthew through Hebrews 9:15 – circa 325

Major Groups of NewTestament Manuscripts

The Byzantine textfamily

The Alexandrian textfamily

The Byzantine TextFamily

Text maintained by Byzantine (Eastern)church

Basis of Textus Receptus and all early Greektexts of the Renaissance

Greatest number of manuscripts by far

The Alexandrian TextFamily

Produced by Alexandrian scribes

Not widely know of until 19th century

Most scholars think these texts are the oldestwe have, but fewer of these texts were madeand survived (Codex Sinaiticus andVaticanus are the two main Alexandriantexts)

Textual Criticism of the NewTestament Manuscripts

Textual Criticism of the NT ManuscriptsMost text critics consider the older Alexandrian

text family to be the most reliable. It is the basis ofmost modern Greek texts and English translations

Some scholars disagree and prefer theByzantine/Majority text and use this for theirtranslations (mainly the King James and New KingJames versions)

Virtually all modern translations consult both textfamilies and note any major differences infootnotes

Concluding Thoughts

We have an incredible number ofmanuscripts available today

We also have a great number of earlytranslations and quotes that help usknow the text that the early church used

The manuscripts we have are very earlyfor ancient texts

Even where there are differences, theydo not affect any major doctrine

Our Confidence in God’s Word

Finally, it must be said that, although thereare certainly differences in many of theNew Testament manuscripts, not onefundamental doctrine of the Christian faithrests on a disputed reading.

Philip ComfortThe Origin of the Bible, 189

Our Confidence in God’s Word

The Christian can take the whole Bible inhis hand and say without fear or hesitationthat he holds in it the true Word of God,handed down without essential loss fromgeneration to generation throughout thecenturies.

Frederick Kenyon(renowned paleographer and textual critic)

quoted in The Origin of the Bile, 189