Materials for NT Textual Criticism

Here is a paper I completed today for my Bible Introduction class. We are currently studying the transmission of the biblical texts in that class, and I am to present this paper next class time, on Thursday:

An Examination of the Materials of New Testament Textual Criticism

1. Introduction

New Testament textual criticism is the scholarly discipline of critically examining the evidence bearing witness to the original Greek New Testament, and determining what wording most exactly approximates the wording of the autographs. It is our purpose, in this paper, to discuss these various evidences (materials) upon which New Testament textual criticism is based, primarily the Greek manuscripts, ancient versions, patristic citations, and lectionaries.

2. Greek manuscripts

By ‘Greek manuscripts’ we mean those Greek manuscripts which are continuous text, as contrasted with the lectionaries (see section 5 below), which are Greek texts interspersed with commentary on the text. The extant Greek manuscripts, of which there are well over 3100, and which are our primary materials for the practice of New Testament textual criticism, are customarily divided first according to the material which received the writing, and then according to the scripts (uncial or minuscule) in which the text was written. The extant Greek manuscripts are divided first into the papyri and the parchments, and the parchments are further divided into the uncials (or majuscules) and the minuscules (or cursives).

a. Papyri

The papyri, which number almost 100, include our most ancient witnesses to the Greek New Testament. The writing material, papyrus, was produced from the spongy core of the stem of the papyrus plant, a reed that grew especially well along the Nile. The stem of the papyrus plant was cut into pieces about one foot long (Metzger, 3), split open, and then the core was sliced lengthwise into thin strips. A layer of these strips was laid out, with the strips arranged side by side, all running the same direction. Then a second layer was laid on top of the first layer, with the strips of the second layer running at right angles to the first layer. The two layers were then pressed together until they were firmly joined. The resulting papyri sheets were then usually joined together to form a scroll or arranged in a codex (book). The writing on papyri sheets usually runs parallel to the strips of papyrus on the side which receives the writing. The papyri, which have been mostly found in Egypt, where they were preserved in the dry sands, date from as early as about a. d. 125 (P⁵²) to as late as the eighth century (P^{42, 61} – cf. Aland, 8*). This puts a number of the papyri within the possible period of existence of the autographs themselves. P⁵² in particular, dated around 125 a. d. and consisting of a fragment of the gospel of John, was probably copied within one generation after the death of that apostle. The papyri are usually designated by the letter ‘P’ (denoting ‘papyrus’) followed by a superscript number (identifying the particular papyrus), such as ‘P⁴⁶,’ which would be read ‘papyrus forty-six.’

b. Parchments

The term ‘parchment’ is said to have probably derived from Pergamum (the name of one of the major parchment producing cities). Parchment (or vellum, which however is sometimes used to denote a finer form of parchment, often produced from the skins of young animals) is a writing material produced from the skins of animals, usually cattle, donkeys, sheep, or goats. The hair is scraped off the skin, and then, the skin is washed, scraped smooth with pumice, and powdered with chalk. Parchment is generally more durable and smoother than papyrus, though it is also said to have sometimes been hard on the eyes due to its light color and shiny tint. Eventually, about the fourth century, parchment gained prominence over papyrus as the predominant writing material. The parchments, numbering well over 3000 (3020 when Metzger [32] wrote), constitute the vast majority of the extant Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. They are usually further divided into those written in uncial lettering and those written in the minuscule script.

i. Uncials

‘The word “uncial” is derived from the Latin uncia, meaning “a twelfth part” of anything. Apparently the term came to be applied to letters which occupied roughly about one-twelfth of an ordinary line of writing’ (Metzger, 9, ftnt. 1). The Greek uncial letters, or majuscules, correspond largely with the modern capital Greek letters, though there are a few differences. Though the papyri are written in uncial letters, they are classified by their writing material rather than the uncial script in which they are written, and are therefore not included in the designation ‘uncial.’ The uncials, coming to a total of around 300, are a minority of the extant parchments, but are almost all much older than the more numerous minuscules, ranging in date from 0189, dated from the second century, to 0299, transcribed around the eleventh century (Aland, 14*, 16*). Some of the uncials, like א (Sinaiticus), B (Vaticanus), A (Alexandrinus), C (Ephraemi Rescriptus), and Ψ, contain all or almost all of the whole New Testament, whereas other uncials, such as T (Borgianus), 046 (Vaticanus 2066) and Ξ (Zacynthius), contain only small portions of the New Testament. The sigla generally used to designate uncials are the Hebrew letter א (codex Sinaiticus), a Latin or Greek capital letter (e.g., D, F, G, Γ, Θ, Ψ), or an Arabic numeral prefixed by the numeral 0 (e.g., 0171, 053, 049).

ii. Minuscules

The category of manuscripts designated ‘minuscules’ (or ‘cursives’) includes the vast majority of the continuous text Greek manuscripts, numbering at almost 2800. The minuscules are so called because of the lower case script in which they are written. Letters in this lower case script were often connected (giving rise to the alternate term for minuscules, ‘cursives’), making the minuscule hand a more efficient writing style than the more bookish but also more tedious uncial hand. Due to the greater rapidity with which one could write in the minuscule hand, it gradually surmounted the uncial script as the scribe’s preferred hand, resulting in the fact that virtually all the later manuscripts are written in the minuscule hand. The minuscules are generally later in date than the uncials, ranging in date from the ninth century (e.g., 33, 892) to the fifteenth century (e.g., 69, 322; Aland, 16*, 17*). The minuscules are thought largely to be the product of the eastern Byzantine Empire, which retained Greek as its primary language much longer than did the western realms. This accounts for their later date, and explains the reason why so many of the minuscules share a common text type, namely the Byzantine text type (the text type predominant in the Byzantine Empire, where they were produced, since about the time of Chrysostom).

3. Ancient Versions

A second source of evidence for the discipline of New Testament textual criticism, and probably the second most important after the continuous text Greek manuscripts, is the ancient versions. These ancient versions are the Syriac, Old Latin, Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Gothic, Georgian, Old Slavonic, Arabic, Nubian, and Sogdian. The ancient versions are useful because, by reconstructing the probably Greek base for these translations, the textual critic may note which readings were in existence at the times the various ancient versions were translated. Thus, for example, if a reading was found in the Old Sinaitic Syriac, then it could be established that that reading was in existence by the third century (the date of the Old Sinaitic Syriac; Aland, 26*). However, there are some complications in the use of ancient versions as textual evidence. One of these problems is that the ancient versions themselves have been subject to some measure of corruption themselves, occasionally necessitating the application of text-critical principles to themselves before their data may be accurately used as evidence for the Greek New Testament. A second complication is that as translations, the ancient versions’ representations of the Greek may not be completely unambiguous. ‘For example, Latin has no definite article; Syriac cannot distinguish between the Greek aorist and perfect tenses; Coptic lacks the passive voice and must use a circumlocution’ (Meztger, 68).

4. Patristic Citations

The patristic citations are quotations of New Testament texts by the early church fathers. These are useful because we can see what the New Testament text was like back when they quoted it, and also can determine to some extent the geographical location of certain variants. ‘For example, since the quotations which Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage in North Africa about a.d. 250, includes in his letters agree almost always with the form of text preserved in the Old Latin manuscript k, scholars have correctly concluded that this fourth- or fifth-century manuscript is a descendant of a copy current about 250 in North Africa’ (Metzger, 86). However, the use of patristic citations, like the use of the ancient versions, is not without difficulties and complications. First, to be able to confidently use a patristic citation, we must try to ascertain that a church father’s citation, as we have it, stands now as it did when he first wrote it. It is possible that, during the transmission of the writings of the church fathers, the text as they cited it might have been changed by a scribe who was used to a different form of the text. Thus for example, an early church father might have quoted Christ’s prayer recorded in Matthew 6.9-13 in the form that ends with the word ‘ponērou’ (supported by א, B, D, Z, et alii). A later scribe, say in the eighth century, who was copying this citation, and who was used to the ‘Byzantine’ text that was had become dominant by that time, might be inclined change the text cited in conformity with the longer ‘Byzantine’ ending, ‘ponērou, hoti estin hē basileia kai hē dunamis kai hē doxa eis tous aiōnas. amēn’ (L, W, Δ, Θ, Byz, Lect, et alii). In this case, it would be necessary to determine whether the copy containing the longer reading represents accurately the text cited by the early church father or whether it is a later scribal change. Another thing which must be determined, before a patristic quotation may be used as support for a variant, is whether the church father meant to quote the passage exactly word for word or whether he is giving more of a loose quotation or paraphrase. The early church fathers which provide us the most information include (but are not confined to) the following: Ambrosiaster (after 384), Athanasius (373), Augustine (430), John Chrysostom (407), Eusebius of Caesarea (339), Gregory of Nyssa (394), Hippolytus (235), Irenaeus (second century), Jerome (419), Origen (253), Polycarp (156), Tertullian (after 220), etc (Aland, 31*-36*).

5. Lectionaries

A fourth category of evidence available for the textual critic to draw upon is the vast collection of lectionaries. A lectionary is a volume prepared specifically for public church reading, and contains scripture texts interspersed by commentary on the text. Most lectionaries are written in the minuscule hand, but a small number are uncial. The value of the lectionaries for New Testament textual criticism lies in the text which they include, though most lectionaries are quite late in date. The lectionaries number at around 2100 (Metzger, 33). They are designated by a lower-case, italic l and a number following, as in ‘l680.’

6. Other Lesser Materials

Besides the main materials of New Testament textual criticism detailed above, there are a few other groups of materials of lesser importance. These include the ostraca, inscriptions in stone, wood, or metal, and amulets. An ostracon is a piece of broken pottery which has received writing. There are a number of these which have been discovered, and they are generally designated by the Gothic or Old English form of the capital letter ‘O’ followed by an Arabic numeral identifying the particular ostracon. The amulets (or talismans) are indicated by Gothic or Old English form of the capital letter ‘T’ followed by an Arabic numeral. The evidence these materials provide for New Testament textual criticism is minimal, and the present writer has never seen their evidence cited in a critical apparatus.

7. A Few Further Notes

a. Scrolls and Codices

Writing materials have generally been used in one of two formats, namely, the scroll (volumen) and the book form (codex). Most, if not all, of the extant manuscripts of the New Testament are in the codex format, but the autographs were probably written in scrolls, the prevailing format of the first century. A scroll was usually made from sheets of papyrus being attached together to form a long roll, and a regular scroll did not exceed 35 feet in length. ‘The two longest books in the New Testament – the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts – would each have filled an ordinary papyrus roll of 31 or 32 feet in length. Doubtless this is one of the reasons why Luke-Acts was issued in two volumes instead of one’ (Metzger, 5-6). The codex format came into popular use around the beginning of the first century, and quickly became the predominant manuscript format of the Church (Metzger, 6).

b. Scriptio Continua

In the copying of most Greek manuscripts, a writing style called scriptio continua was used rather than our modern writing style which separates words. In scriptio coninua, words, sentences, and even paragraphs are usually not marked by any sort of space. Letters are written right next to each other, as in the Greek phrase enarchēēnhologos, ‘in the beginning was the word.’ It is often thought by modern people, unused to the concept of scriptio continua, that it would be hard if not nearly impossible to make out words not separated by spaces. However, try to decipher the following sentence: ‘forallhavesinnedandfallshortofthegloryofGod’ (Rom. 3.23). For the average person familiar with English, that will not be hard to make out. Nonetheless, scrpitio continua can occasionally lead to ambiguity, as often illustrated in the following phrase: ‘Godisnowhere,’ which may be taken ‘God is now here’ or ‘God is nowhere,’ depending on the theological presuppositions of the reader. This problem would be somewhat lessened in Greek by the nature of the Greek language (case endings, etc.), but still a problem at times.

c. Palimpsests

Some manuscripts, especially when or where parchment was scarce, had their original writing scraped and washed off and then a second text transcribed over the erased primary text. Such manuscripts are called palimpsests (from Greek palin, ‘again,’ and psaō, ‘I scrape’). Examples of palimpsests are C (Ephraemi Rescriptus), Ξ (Zacynthius), Q, and 072. By using such methods as applying chemical reagents and using ultraviolet-ray lamps (Metzger, 12), scholars have been able to make out much of the primary (and sometimes quite old) texts of palimpsests.

Works Cited

Metzger, B. M. The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration. Second edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968.

Aland, Kurt, et alii, editors. The Greek New Testament. Fourth revised edition, third printing. Stuttgart: Deutche Bibelgesellschaft, 1998.