Francis Karl Alter () (1749–1804), a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, born in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

, and professor of Greek at

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, was an editor of the Greek text of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

Bruce M. Metzger Bruce Manning Metzger (February 9, 1914 – February 13, 2007) was an American biblical scholar, Bible translator and textual critic who was a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and Bible editor who served on the board of the ...

Bart D. Ehrman Bart Denton Ehrman (born October 5, 1955) is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books ...

, "The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration", ''

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

'', 2005, p. 168. His edition was different from those of

Mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...

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, and Griesbach, because he used only the manuscripts housed at the Imperial Library at Vienna. S. P. Tregelles, ''The Printed Text of the Greek New Testament'', London 1854, p. 692. It was the first edition of the Greek New Testament that contained evidence from

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

manuscripts themselves, as opposed to

Christian Frederick Matthaei Christian Frederick Matthaei (4 March 1744 – 26 September 1811) was a German palaeographer, classical philologist, and professor at the universities of Wittenberg and Moscow. Life Matthaei was born in 1744 in the Saxon village of Gröst, we ...

's editions (1803-7), also claimed (by

Bruce Metzger Bruce Manning Metzger (February 9, 1914 – February 13, 2007) was an American biblical scholar, Bible translator and textual critic who was a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and Bible editor who served on the board of th ...

) to be the first to contain evidence from the Slavic version of the New Testament. Alter used twelve manuscripts of the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

s ( U, 3, 76, 77, 108,

123 123 may refer to: * The first three positive Arabic numerals * 123 (number), the natural number following 122 and preceding 124 * AD 123, a year of the Julian calendar, in the second century AD * 123 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * ...

, 124,

125 125 may refer to: *125 (number), a natural number *AD 125, a year in the 2nd century AD *125 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *125 (dinghy), a two person intermediate sailing dinghy *125 (New Jersey bus), a New Jersey Transit bus route *125 Liberatr ...

219 __NOTOC__ Year 219 ( CCXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Antonius and Sacerdos (or, less frequently, year 972 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomina ...

220 __NOTOC__ Year 220 (Roman numerals, CCXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antonius and Eutychianus (or, less frequently, year 973 ''Ab urbe condita''). The ...

224 Year 224 ( CCXXIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iulianus and Crispinus (or, less frequently, year 977 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 224 for this ...

225 __NOTOC__ Year 225 ( CCXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Fuscus and Domitius (or, less frequently, year 978 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 225 ...

), six of the

Acts The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make up a two-par ...

(3, 43^a, 63^a, 64^a, 66^a, 67^a), seven of the

Pauline epistles The Pauline epistles, also known as Epistles of Paul or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle, although the authorship of some is in dispute. Among these epistles are some of the earliest ext ...

(3, 49^p, 67^p, 68^p, 69^p, 70^p, 71^p), three of the

Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...

( 34^r, 35^r, 36^r), and two Evangelistaria ( ℓ ''45'', ℓ ''46''). He also used readings from the Coptic Bohairic version (edited by David Wilkins in 1716), four Slavonic codices and one Old Latin codex ( i). Most of these Vienna codices were also examined by

Andrew Birch Andreas Birch (November 6, 1758 – October 25, 1829) was a professor from Copenhagen.Fr. NielsenBiografii 1. ''Dansk biografisk leksikon'', edited by C.F. Bricka, 2. volume, page 280, Gyldendal, 1887–1905 Birch was sent in 1781–1783 by the k ...

. Marsh gave this opinion: : "The text of this edition is neither the common text nor a revision of it, but a mere copy from a single manuscript, and that not a very ancient one".Marsh, ''Lectures'', part II, 1848, p. 148. It was not the

Textus Receptus The (Latin for 'received text') is the succession of printed Greek New Testament texts starting with Erasmus' ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) and including the editions of Robert Estienne, Stephanus, Theodore Beza, Beza, the House of Elzevir ...

, and it was not an important edition for textual criticism, but Alter's comparison of Slavic and Greek texts did provide material for future textual criticism. Alter also edited

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

's ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'' (1789) and ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'' (1794) and wrote an essay on Georgian literature (1798).

Selected works

* * * * *

References

External links

at the ''Alfred Hamy's Jesuit Portrait Gallery''

ADB:Alter, Franz Karl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alter, Francis Karl 1749 births 1804 deaths 18th-century Austrian Jesuits 18th-century Christian biblical scholars New Testament scholars Austrian biblical scholars 18th-century German scholars Academic staff of the University of Vienna People from Prussian Silesia People from Austrian Silesia Roman Catholic biblical scholars