(''The New Testament in Greek'') is a

critical edition Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in d ...

of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

in its original

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

, forming the basis of most modern

Bible translations The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. all of the Bible has been translated into 724 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,617 languages, a ...

and

biblical criticism Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical criticism,'' it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the concern to ...

. It is also known as the Nestle–Aland edition after its most influential editors,

Eberhard Nestle Eberhard Nestle (1 May 1851, Stuttgart – 9 March 1913, Stuttgart) was a German biblical scholar, textual critic, orientalist, editor of the ''Novum Testamentum Graece'', and the father of Erwin Nestle. Life Nestle was a son of the upper tri ...

and

Kurt Aland Kurt Aland (28 March 1915 – 13 April 1994) was a German theologian and biblical scholar who specialized in New Testament textual criticism. He founded the ''Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung'' (Institute for New Testament Textual ...

. The text, edited by the

Institute for New Testament Textual Research The Institute for New Testament Textual Research (german: Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung — INTF) at the University of Münster, Westphalia, Germany, is to research the textual history of the New Testament and to reconstruct its G ...

, is currently in its 28th edition, abbreviated NA28. The title is sometimes applied to the

United Bible Societies The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible Societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore, Nairobi and Miami. The headquarters are located in Swindon, En ...

(UBS) edition, which contains the same text (its fifth edition, "UBS5", contains the text from NA28). The latter edition is aimed at translators and so focuses on variants that are important for the meaning whereas the NA includes more variants. The release of a 29th edition is expected in 2024.

Methodology

The Greek text as presented is what biblical

scholars A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

refer to as the "critical text". The critical text is an eclectic text compiled by a committee that compares readings from a large number of

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced ...

s in order to determine which reading is most likely to be closest to the original. They use a number of factors to help determine probable readings, such as the date of the witness (earlier is usually better), the geographical distribution of a reading, and the likelihood of accidental or intentional corruptions. In the book, a large number of textual variants, or differences between manuscripts, are noted in the

critical apparatus A critical apparatus ( la, apparatus criticus) in textual criticism of primary source material, is an organized system of notations to represent, in a single text, the complex history of that text in a concise form useful to diligent readers an ...

—the extensive footnotes that distinguish the ''Novum Testamentum Graece'' from other Greek New Testaments. Most scholars view

uncial Uncial is a majuscule Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. (1996) ''Encyclopedia of the Book''. 2nd edn. New Castle, DE, and London: Oak Knoll Press & The British Library, p. 494. script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to ...

text as the most accurate; however, a few authors, such as New Testament scholar Maurice A. Robinson and linguist Wilbur Pickering,

Arthur Farstad Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more w ...

and

Zane C. Hodges Zane Clark Hodges (June 15, 1932 – November 23, 2008) was an American pastor, seminary professor, and Bible scholar. Some of the views he is known for are these: *" Free Grace theology," a view that holds that eternal life is received as a fr ...

claim that the minuscule texts (the

Byzantine text-type In the textual criticism of the New Testament, the Byzantine text-type (also called Majority Text, Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text) is one of the main text types. It is the form f ...

) more accurately reflect the "autographs" or original texts than an eclectic text like NA28 that relies heavily on manuscripts of the

Alexandrian text-type In textual criticism of the New Testament, the Alexandrian text-type is one of the main text types. It is the text type favored by the majority of modern textual critics and it is the basis for most modern (after 1900) Bible translations. Over ...

. This view has been criticized by

Gordon Fee Gordon Donald Fee (May 23, 1934 – October 25, 2022) was an American-Canadian Christian theologian who was an ordained minister of the Assemblies of God (USA). He was professor of New Testament Studies at Regent College in Vancouver, Britis ...

and

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 ...

among others. Since the majority of old manuscripts in existence are minuscules, they are often referred to as the

Majority Text In the textual criticism of the New Testament, the Byzantine text-type (also called Majority Text, Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text) is one of the main text types. It is the form fou ...

. It is worth noting, though, that the Majority Text as a whole is classified by the editors of the NA28 (of whom Metzger is one) as a "consistently cited witness of the first order," meaning that whenever the text presented differs from the majority text this is recorded in the apparatus along with the alternate reading.''Novum Testamentum Graece'' (1993) Barbara and Kurt Aland, eds. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. 12*. Other consistently cited references include the full corpus of papyrus manuscripts available to the authors as well as a wide range of other manuscripts including a selection of both minuscules and uncials. The ''Novum Testamentum Graece'' apparatus summarizes the evidence (from manuscripts and versions) for, and sometimes against, a selection of the most important variants for the study of the text of the New Testament. While eschewing completeness (in the range of variants and in the citation of witnesses), this edition does provide informed readers with a basis by which they can judge for themselves which readings more accurately reflect the originals. The Greek text of the 28th edition is the same as that of the 5th edition of the

''The Greek New Testament'' (abbreviated UBS5) although there are a few differences between them in paragraphing, capitalization, punctuation and spelling. The critical apparatus is different in the two editions; the UBS5 edition is prepared for the use of translators, and includes fewer textual variants, but adds extra material helpful for translators.

Editions

History

The first edition published by

in 1898 combined the readings of the editions of

Tischendorf Tischendorf is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Constantin von Tischendorf Lobegott Friedrich Constantin (von) Tischendorf (18 January 18157 December 1874) was a German biblical scholar. In 1844, he discovered the w ...

Westcott and Hort ''The New Testament in the Original Greek'' is a Greek-language version of the New Testament published in 1881. It is also known as the Westcott and Hort text, after its editors Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (182 ...

and Weymouth, placing the majority reading of these in the text and the third reading in the apparatus. In 1901, he replaced the

Weymouth New Testament The Weymouth New Testament ("WNT"), otherwise known as ''The New Testament in Modern Speech'' or ''The Modern Speech New Testament'', is a translation of the New Testament into nineteenth-century English by Richard Francis Weymouth. It was based ...

with

Bernhard Weiss Bernhard Weiss (20 June 182714 January 1918) was a German Protestant New Testament scholar. He was the father of Johannes Weiss and the painter, Hedwig Weiss. Biography Weiss was born at Königsberg. After studying theology at the University of ...

's text. In later editions, Nestle began noting the attestation of certain important manuscripts in his apparatus. Eberhard's son

Erwin Nestle Erwin Nestle (22 May 1883 in Münsingen, Germany – 1972), son of Eberhard Nestle, was a German scholar who continued editing his father's "Nestle Edition" of the New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, trans ...

took over after his father's death and issued the 13th edition in 1927. This edition introduced a separate critical apparatus and finally introduced consistency to the majority reading principle. In the apparatus only a few minuscules were included.

became the associate editor of the 21st edition in 1952. At Erwin Nestle's request, he reviewed and expanded the critical apparatus, adding many more manuscripts. This eventually led to the 25th edition of 1963. The most important Papyri and newly discovered Uncials, as 0189, a few Minuscules ( 33, 614, 2814), occasionally also lectionaries were taken into account. The great manuscript discoveries of the 20th century had also made a revision of the text necessary and, with Nestle's permission, Aland set out to revise the text of ''Novum Testamentum Graece''. Aland submitted his work on NA to the editorial committee of the United Bible Societies ''Greek New Testament'' (of which he was also a member) and it became the basic text of their third edition (UBS3) in 1975, four years before it was published as the 26th edition of Nestle–Aland. Members of the Editorial Committee of the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament comprise: * UBS1, 1966 :

, Matthew Black,

Allen Wikgren Allen Paul Wikgren (3 December 1906 – 7 May 1998) was an American New Testament scholar and professor at the University of Chicago. His work centered on the text of the New Testament and New Testament manuscripts, but also included Hellenistic ...

. * UBS2, 1968 :

, Matthew Black,

. * UBS3, 1975 :

, Matthew Black,

Carlo Maria Martini Carlo Maria Martini (15 February 1927 – 31 August 2012) was an Italian Jesuit, cardinal of the Catholic Church and a Biblical scholar. He was Archbishop of Milan from 1980 to 2004 and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983. A towering i ...

. * UBS4, 1993 :

Barbara Aland Barbara Aland, née Ehlers (born 12 April 1937 in Hamburg, Germany) is a German theologian and was a Professor of New Testament Research and Church History at Westphalian Wilhelms-University of Münster until 2002. Biography After having ...

Johannes Karavidopoulos Johannes Karavidopoulos (Ιωάννης Καραβιδόπουλος, born 1937) is a Greek New Testament scholar. He is professor of the Theological School at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In 1993 he was appointed to the textual committee ...

* UBS5, 2014 :

in co-operation with the

, Münster In 2011 the Global Board of the

appointed a new editorial committee that will prepare future editions of the ''Nestle–Aland Novum Testamentum Graece'' as well as of the ''Greek New Testament''. The committee consists of

Christos Karakolis Goumenissa ( el, Γουμένισσα ) is a small traditional town in the Kilkis regional unit, Central Macedonia, Greece. It was the capital of the former Paionia Province. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality ...

(University of Athens, Greece), David Parker (University of Birmingham, United Kingdom), Stephen Pisano (Pontifical Biblical Institute, Italy, a university of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

), Holger Strutwolf (University Münster, Germany), David Trobisch (

Museum of the Bible The Museum of the Bible is a museum in Washington D.C., owned by Museum of the Bible, Inc., a non-profit organization established in 2010 by the Green family. The museum documents the narrative, history, and impact of the Bible. It opened on N ...

Green Collection The Green Collection, later known as the Museum Collection, is the one of the world's largest private collection of rare biblical texts and artifacts, made up of more than 40,000 biblical antiquities assembled by the Green family, founders of th ...

Oklahoma City, USA) and Klaus Wachtel (University Münster, Germany). In all but the Catholic Epistles, the 28th edition of Nestle–Aland reproduces the text of NA27 (the same text used in UBS4 and UBS5) and presents a revised critical apparatus and a rewritten introduction and appendices. In the Catholic Epistles, the text has been edited in line with the ''

Editio Critica Maior ''Editio Critica Maior'' (ECM) is a critical edition of the Greek New Testament being produced by the Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung (Eng. "Institute for New Testament Textual Research")—which is famous, for example, for the Novum ...

'' and its use of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM). The result is a change in just over 30 places. A more complete set of variants is listed in the multiple volume ''Novum Testamentum Graecum – Editio Critica Maior''. A small number of textual changes in the most current edition were incorporated in the 28th edition of the Nestle–Aland, published in 2012. Papyri 117-

127 127 may refer to: *127 (number), a natural number *AD 127, a year in the 2nd century AD *127 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *127 (band), an Iranian band See also *List of highways numbered 127 Route 127 or Highway 127 can refer to multiple roads ...

were used in this edition.

Current editions

The NA28 text is published by

Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft The Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft ("German Bible Society") is a religious foundation regulated by public law. It is involved in publishing and in spreading the message of the Bible. The Society publishes the Bible in the original languages and in ...

(the German Bible Society). *Greek: **''Novum Testamentum Graece'', Standard 28th edition, (2012). **''Novum Testamentum Graece'', Large Print 27th edition, (1993). **''Novum Testamentum Graece'', Wide Margin 27th edition, **''Novum Testamentum Graece'', 28th edition with ''A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament'' (by

B. M. Newman B is the second letter of the Latin alphabet. B may also refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Astronomy * Astronomical objects in the Barnard list of dark nebulae (abbreviation B) * Latitude (''b'') in the galactic coordinate syste ...

), **''Novum Testamentum Graece'', 28th edition with Greek-German Dictionary, **''Biblia Sacra Utriusque Testamenti Editio Hebraica et Graeca'' (NA27 with the ''

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia The Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, abbreviated as BHS or rarely BH4, is an edition of the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible as preserved in the Leningrad Codex, and supplemented by masoretic and text-critical notes. It is the fourth edition in ...

''), *Diglot: **''Das Neue Testament Griechisch und Deutsch'', (with revised Luther and Common Bible in parallel columns) **''Nestle–Aland Greek-English New Testament'', (with

Revised Standard Version The Revised Standard Version (RSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1952 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. This translation itself is a revision of the Amer ...

, 2nd edition) **''

New English Translation The New English Translation (NET Bible) is a free, "completely new" online English translation of the Bible, "with 60,932 translators' notes" sponsored by the Biblical Studies Foundation and published by Biblical Studies Press. History and text ...

-Novum Testamentum Graece New Testament'', **''Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine'', (with

Nova Vulgata The ''Nova Vulgata'' (complete title: ''Nova Vulgata Bibliorum Sacrorum Editio'', ; abr. ''NV''), also called the Neo-Vulgate, is the official Classical Latin translation of the original-language texts of the Bible published by the Holy See. It ...

) **''Nuovo Testamento Greco-Italiano'', (with the ''Versione Conferenza Episcopale'' Italiana)

Accuracy of manuscripts

In ''The Text of the New Testament'',

and

compare the total number of variant-free verses, and the number of variants per page (excluding orthographic errors), among the seven major editions of the Greek NT (

Westcott-Hort ''The New Testament in the Original Greek'' is a Greek-language version of the New Testament published in 1881. It is also known as the Westcott and Hort text, after its editors Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (182 ...

, von Soden, Vogels, Merk, Bover, and Nestle–Aland) concluding 62.9%, or 4999/7947, agreement.Aland, K.; Aland, B. (1995) ''The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions & to the Theory & Practice of Modern Textual Criticism'', op. cit., pp. 29–30. They concluded, "Thus in nearly two-thirds of the New Testament text, the seven editions of the Greek New Testament which we have reviewed are in complete accord, with no differences other than in orthographical details (e.g., the spelling of names, etc.). Verses in which any one of the seven editions differs by a single word are not counted. This result is quite amazing, demonstrating a far greater agreement among the Greek texts of the New Testament during the past century than

textual scholars Textual scholarship (or textual studies) is an umbrella term for disciplines that deal with describing, transcribing, editing or annotating texts and physical documents. Overview Textual research is mainly historically oriented. Textual scholars ...

would have suspected �� In the Gospels,

Acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

, and

Revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on th ...

the agreement is less, while in the

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

it is much greater." For over 250 years, New Testament apologists have argued that no textual variant affects key Christian doctrine.

Influence

Earlier translations of the Bible, including the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

, tended to rely on Byzantine type texts, such as the

Textus Receptus ''Textus Receptus'' (Latin: "received text") refers to all printed editions of the Greek New Testament from Erasmus's '' Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) to the 1633 Elzevir edition. It was the most commonly used text type for Protestant deno ...

. A number of translations began to use critical Greek editions, beginning with the translation of the

Revised Version The Revised Version (RV) or English Revised Version (ERV) of the Bible is a late 19th-century British revision of the King James Version. It was the first and remains the only officially authorised and recognised revision of the King James Versio ...

in England in 1881–1885 (using Westcott and Hort's Greek Text). English translations produced during the twentieth century increasingly reflected the work of textual criticism, although even new translations are often influenced by earlier translation efforts. A comparison of the textual and stylistic choices of twenty translations against 15,000 variant readings shows the following rank of agreement with the Nestle–Aland 27th edition:Clontz, T.E. (2008), ''The Comprehensive New Testament''. Clewiston: Cornerstone Publications. ii, iii, vii; graphs on iii and back cover.

References

Bibliography

External links

Official ''Novum Testamentum Graece'' (28th ed., 2012) text on www.academic-bible.com"The Novum Testamentum Graece (Nestle–Aland) and its history" on www.academic-bible.com

Official Institute for New Testament Textual Research (Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung, INTF) website

Comparison of the Novum Testamentum Graece (NA27/UBS4) text with other manuscript editions
on the Manuscript Comparator
Nestle's "The Greek New Testament (1904 ed.)" text digitized on biblicaltext.com

Nestle's "The Greek New Testament (1904 ed.)" preserved on archive.org with critical apparatus
{{authority control Biblical criticism Christian terminology Greek New Testament New Testament editions