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New Testament Textual Criticism (Page 3)

5. Changes in Spelling and Grammar

Revelation 1:4 reads χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος , but some manuscripts added either τοῦ or κυρίου or θεοῦ after ἀπὸ . in an effort to clean up the grammar.

Revelation 1:15 has “being set on fire” πεπυρωμένης, a genitive that doesn’t agree with anything. It is found in manuscripts A and C (Ephraemi Rescriptus, 5th Century). It was changed to πεπυρωμένῳ , a dative in א and πεπυρωμένοι, a nominative in P (9th Century).

6. Attempts to harmonize

Luke 23:38 The better manuscripts ( p75 א a B L (8th and 9th Century) read ἦν δὲ καὶ ἐπιγραφὴ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ· ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων οὗτος Some manuscripts ( L X (10th Century) D (Bezae, 4th Century) P (6th Century) Y (9th Century) ) reflect an attempt by a scribe to make the text read more like John 19:20, and added “was written over him in Greek, Latin and Hebrew”. This addition was reflected in the KJV.

Romans 13:9 Only four of the ten commandments appear in the earliest and best manuscripts (א A B P Y ), but this is expanded to five “thou shalt not bear false witness” in inferior manuscripts (it appears in the KJV between “not steal” and “not covet”).

7. Attempts to clear up alleged historical or geographical difficulties

Matthew 27:9 Matthew attributes the quote from Zechariah 11:12, 13 to Jeremiah (cf. 19:1; 32:6-9). Some scribes tried to correct this by replacing διὰ Ἰερεμίου τοῦ προφήτου by omitting the name or by replacing “Jeremiah” with “Zechariah."9

Mark 1:2 This is a composite quotation from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 60:3 attributed only to Isaiah in the better manuscripts (א B L D ). Some manuscripts add ἐν τοῖς προφήταις which is reflected in the KJV.

Hebrews 9:4 The scribe of the codex Vaticanus (B) saw a difficulty with the Altar of Incense θυμιατήριον (Heb 9:4 BGT) placed in the Holy of Holies, which appears contrary to Exodus 30:1-6, so this scribe and the translator of the Ethiopic version corrected this by placing the wording in v. 2, where the furniture of the holy place is itemized.10

8. Conflation of Readings

When a scribe had two texts with two variants, he would more likely copy both into the text.

Acts 20:28 Some earlier readings say “Church of God” (א B ) while other early readings say “Church of the Lord”(p74 (7th Century) A C* D E Y). Later readings have “Church of the Lord and God.” The discovery of the Qumran manuscripts make “Church of God” the likely original.

Colossians 1:12 Surprisingly, the early codex Vaticanus alone has καλέσαντι καὶ ἱκανώσαντι “called and qualified.” The best manuscripts read only ἱκανώσαντι (p46 א A C Dc K L P).

9. Alterations made due to doctrinal considerations

John 7:8 Jesus says, “I am not going up to this Feast” but two verses later, He goes to the feast. The pagan Porphyry pointed out that either Jesus lied or was ignorant (quoted by Jerome). This prompted some scribes to change οὐκ, "not" to οὔπω, “not yet"11, as used in the KJV.

Luke 2:41, 43 Some scribes, thinking to safeguard the virgin birth of Christ, replaced “his parents” οἱ γονεῖς αὐτοῦ in verse 41, and “parents” οἱ γονεῖς in verse 43 with “Joseph and Mary” (cf. verse 33 where ὁ πατήρ is replaced by Joseph in a variety of manuscript witnesses).

Notes
9Though this was indeed discussed in Zechariah, it is also discussed in general terms in Jeremiah (cf. 19:1-13; 32:6-9). Indeed, it was apparently common for the New Testament writers to cite the more important (major vs. minor) prophet when quoting a conflation of two passages (cf. Mark 1:2)
10One argument is as follows: The New King James translation of Hebrews 9:4a says the Holy of Holies has the Altar of Incense. The NAS translation of Hebrews 9:4 says that the Altar of Incense stood in the Holy of Holies. This would put it behind the second curtain. However, according to Exodus 30:6, the Altar of Incense was positioned in front of the second curtain. There isn’t really a contradiction however, as a more accurate rendering of Hebrews 9:4a would be, “In the presence of the Holy of Holies was the golden altar of incense,” and putting it in front of the second curtain puts the altar right in front of the ark and mercy seat, with the second curtain separating them. The source of confusion when translating Hebrews 9:4a could come from one of the Altar’s functions. According to Leviticus 16:12 – 13, the priest was instructed to put some of the altar’s coals into a bowl, bring the coals and some incense into the Holy of Holies, and “put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the ark of the covenant, lest he die.” Therefore, the Altar of Incense serves an important purpose in preparing the Holy of Holies. Without a way to prepare the Holy of Holies for the High Priest, he could not enter without risking his life.

Another (and better) possible explanation: Hebrew scholar F. Delitzsch describes it like a sign board of a shop. The sign belongs to the shop, and not to the street. The golden censer was kept in the Holy Place, but brought into the Most Holy Place when the high priest entered once a year (Leviticus 16:12). The Rabbis (in the Mishnah) state that the censer was taken into the Most Holy Place, and incense burned in it, then returned to its stand in the Holy Place (Yoma 5:1-4).

11Textual critics see this as an example of a scribe altering the text in response to Porphyry’s attack. If the textual critics are wrong and οὔπω was in the original, then there is no problem. However, if οὐκ was in the original text then we must understand that Jesus was being led by the Spirit of God. We know from Philippians 2 and remarks by Jesus in Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32 that the Son, while on earth, was limited in terms of omniscience. Perhaps, as a man, he did not plan to go because of the knowledge that it wasn’t his time to be arrested (something that the Holy Spirit had revealed to Him earlier), but between vs. 8 and 10 the Holy Spirit told Him to go, and He obeyed.

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