Textual variants in the
First Epistle of Peter
The First Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament. The author presents himself as Peter the Apostle. The ending of the letter includes a statement that implies that it was written from "Babylon", which may be a reference to Rome. The ...
are the subject of the study called
textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may rang ...
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 ...
. Textual variants in
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...
s arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to a text that is being reproduced. An abbreviated list of textual variants in this particular book is given in this article below.
Most of the variations are not significant and some common alterations include the deletion, rearrangement, repetition, or replacement of one or more words when the copyist's eye returns to a similar word in the wrong location of the original text. If their eye skips to an earlier word, they may create a repetition (error of
dittography
Dittography is the accidental, erroneous act of repeating a letter, word, phrase or combination of letters by a scribe or copyist. The term is used in the field of textual criticism, especially in critical studies of ancient or biblical literature ...
). If their eye skips to a later word, they may create an omission. They may resort to performing a rearranging of words to retain the overall meaning without compromising the context. In other instances, the copyist may add text from memory from a similar or parallel text in another location. Otherwise, they may also replace some text of the original with an alternative reading. Spellings occasionally change. Synonyms may be substituted. A pronoun may be changed into a proper noun (such as "he said" becoming "Jesus said").
John Mill's 1707 Greek New Testament was estimated to contain some 30,000 variants in its accompanying textual apparatus which was based on "nearly 100
reek
Reek may refer to:
Places
* Reek, Netherlands, a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant
* Croagh Patrick, a mountain in the west of Ireland nicknamed "The Reek"
People
* Nikolai Reek (1890–1942), Estonian military commander
* Salme Reek ...
manuscripts." Peter J. Gurry puts the number of non-spelling variants among New Testament manuscripts around 500,000, though he acknowledges his estimate is higher than all previous ones.
[Peter J. Gurry,]
The Number of Variants in the Greek New Testament: A Proposed Estimate
''New Testament Studies'' 62.1 (2016), p. 113
Legend
Textual variants
1 Peter 1:22
: ἀληθείας – , א, A, B, C, Ψ, 33, 81, 436, 629, 945
Year 945 (Roman numerals, CMXLV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* January 27 – The co-emperors Stephen Lekapenos, Stephen and Constantine Lekapenos, Constantine a ...
, 1241, 1739, 1881, 2492, syr, cop,
: ἀληθείας διὰ πνεύματος – K, P, 049, 056 56 may refer to:
* 56 (number)
* One of the years 56 BC, AD 56, 1956, 2056
* 56.com, a Chinese online video platform
* Fiftysix, Arkansas, an unincorporated community in the United States
* Fifty-Six, Arkansas, a city in the United States
* "Fifty ...
, 0142, 88, 104, 181, 326, 330, 451, 614, 630, 1505, 1877, 2127, 2412, 2495, Byz, Lect
: ''fidei per spiritum'' – it
: ''caritatis'' – it, vg
1 Peter 2:1
1 Peter 3:15
: τὸν Χριστόν – , א, A, B, C, Ψ, 326, 614, 630, 945, 1739, 1881, 2412, it, vg, syr, cop, arm
: τὸν Θεόν – K, L, P, 049, 056, 0142, 81, 88, 104, 181, 326, 330, 436, 451, 1241, 1505, 1877, 2127, 2492, 2495, Byz, Lect
: τὸν Θεόν ἡμῶν – ℓ ''1441''
1 Peter 4:1
1 Peter 5:13
: ἐν Βαβυλῶνι (''in Babylon'') – majority of mss
: ἐν Ρωμη (''in Rome'') – 2138
: ἐν ἐκκλησια (''in church'') – א, vg, syr
See also
*
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 5,8 ...
*
Biblical inerrancy
Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible, in its original form, is entirely free from error.
The belief in biblical inerrancy is of particular significance within parts of evangelicalism
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelic ...
*
Byzantine text-type
In the textual criticism of the New Testament, the Byzantine text-type (also called Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text) is one of the main Textual criticism#New Testament, text types. ...
*
Caesarean text-type
In textual criticism of the New Testament, Caesarean text-type is the term proposed by certain scholars to denote a consistent pattern of variant readings that is claimed to be apparent in certain Koine Greek manuscripts of the four Gospels, but ...
*
Categories of New Testament manuscripts
New Testament manuscripts in Greek can be categorized into five theoretical groups, according to a schema introduced in 1981 by Kurt and Barbara Aland in ''The Text of the New Testament''. The categories are based on how each manuscript relat ...
*
Comparison of codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus
Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, two of the great uncial codices, representatives of the Alexandrian text-type, are considered excellent manuscript witnesses of the text of the New Testament. Most critical editions of the Greek New Testament ...
*
*
Textual variants in the New Testament
Textual variants in the New Testament manuscripts arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to the text that is being reproduced. Textual criticism of the New Testament has included study of its textual variants.
Some comm ...
*
Western text-type
In textual criticism of the New Testament, the Western text-type is one of the main text types. It is the predominant form of the New Testament text witnessed in the Old Latin and Syriac translations from the Greek, and also in quotations from ...
References
Further reading
* ''
Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine'', ed. E. Nestle, K. Aland, Stuttgart 1981.
*
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", ''
OUP
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 ...
'' New York, Oxford, 4 edition, 2005
*
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 Orthodox Corruption of Scripture. The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament", ''
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 ...
'', New York - Oxford, 1996, pp. 223–227.
*
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 ...
, "A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament: A Companion Volume to the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament", 1994, ''
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 and Nairobi. The headquarters are located in Swindon, England.
...
'', London & New York.
External links
The Comparative Critical Greek New Testament