The 3 main categories of witnesses to the original NT text and their total number:
a. Greek manuscripts #5801b. ancient versions #30,000c. patristic quotations #1,000,000
Identify the 4 different types of Greek manuscripts and the total number of each:
a. papyri #127b. uncials #322c. minuscules #2907d. lectionaries #2445
The name and date of the Greek MS that is generally recognized as the oldest:
Name: P52 John Rylands Papyri Date: AD 125
From what NT book does it (P52 John Rylands Papyri) contain a fragment of text?
Gospel of John
Identify the three main text-types or text-families of NT Greek manuscripts:
a. Alexandrian century: 2ndb. Western century: 2ndc. Byzantine century: 5th
Which is thought to be the most erratic and unreliable text type?
Western
Which is thought to be the most credible and reliable text type?
Alexandrian
Which is thought to be the most polished and refined text type?
Byzantine
To which text type do the vast majority of Greek manuscripts belong?
Byzantine
Identify two factors that caused a dramatic reduction in available Greek MSS:
local dialects replaced Greek, imperial persecutions destroyed MSS, Islamic invaders destroyed MSS, Eastern Roman Empire dwindled, native nationalist Orthodox churches evolved
True or False: Greek MSS are the best witnesses to the original text of the NT because they are the most direct witnesses to the language in which the NT was originally written.
True
The vast majority of existing NT manuscripts up through the eighth century AD belong to which textual family or text-type?
Alexandrian
There is little evidence of NT manuscripts of the Byzantine textual family or text- type until what century (at which time there is an explosion of evidence)?
9th century
What were the four basic types of scribal errors that were presented in class?
a. eyesight b. memoryc. hearing d. judgment
The two categories of (a) external evidence, and (b) internal evidence relate to:
a. physical manuscripts b. variant readings
What four types of external evidence were mentioned in class?
a. age b. text-type relationship c. geographical distribution d. number
The two categories of (a) transcriptional, and (b) intrinsic probabilities relate to:
a. what scribes tended to write b. what the original author tended to write
What is the basic rule scholars follow in evaluating which variant reading is most likely the original reading?
the original reading is the one that can best explain the origin of the other variants
How many NT variants are there (a) in total; (b) that are noticeable in translation; and (c) that are significant enough to alter the meaning of the NT message?
a. 300,000 b. 2000 c. 0
What year did the Gutenberg press begin operation?
1454
Identify the first printed and first published Greek NT and the year printed:
First printed: Complutensian Polyglot Year: 1514 First published: Erasmian Year: 1516
Was the text divided into verses for either the first printed or the first published Greek New Testaments?
no
How many MSS were available to the editor of the first published Greek NT?
8
Why did this editor not use the best manuscript available to him?
too different from the others
List three deficiencies related to the production of the first published Greek NT:
only 3 months editing / hurried editingonly 5 months printing / hurried printingmany typographical errorsonly handful of manuscripts available / no effort to locate quality manuscriptsno single manuscript of whole NTErasmus "corrected" Greek text with Latin text / creation of several otherwise unknown Greek readings no method for reconstructing text
How many Greek manuscripts contain the Comma Johanneum, and how many of the readings in these manuscripts pre-date the sixteenth century (i.e., pre-Erasmian)?
# of Gk MSS: 8 # pre-16th cent. readings: 0
How many editions of Erasmus' Greek NT were produced, and which of hiseditions might be considered for all practical purposes to be the Textus Receptus?
# of editions: 5 Textus Receptus: 3rd
What unintended and unfortunate consequence resulted from the standardization of the Greek NT in printed form?
attitude that the text could not be altered or improved
What is the root idea of "eclectic"?
choosing / selecting
What are the only two alternatives to following an eclectic text of the Greek NT?
a. we have the original copies or autographs of the books of the NTb. we have perfect MS copies of the books of the NT
What is the problem with using the term "Traditional Text"?
obscures important distinctions between the Textus Receptus, Majority, and Byzantine texts
List one proof that the Majority Text and the Textus Receptus do not represent the same text of the Greek NT:
Acts 8:37 / Acts 9:6/ Acts 12:25 / 1 John 5:7
True or False: An argument that supports the Textus Receptus inherently rejects the Majority Text.
True
Note one devastating critique of Hills' theological argument to support the TR:
premise is unproven or undemonstrated / God's providence must be construed very inconsistently
Note one devastating critique of Pickering's statistical argument to support the Majority Text:
ignores things have never been equal in history of textual transmission (ignores historical anomalies) / fails to work for 1st eight centuries (imagines historical anomalies)
What is the paradox created by most of those who are supporters of the use of the KJV only?
undermine confidence in texts and translations of the Bible
patristics / church fathers
refers to early Christian Greek and Latin writers who quoted the NT
lectionary
NT manuscripts that break the text up into daily readings and slightly alter the words
text-type / text-family
family of manuscripts that show closer agreement than other MSS
external evidence
textual evidence relating to the physical manuscripts of the Bible
internal evidence
textual evidence relating to the actual wording of the texts of the Bible
transcriptional probabilities
writing tendencies of the manuscript copyist
intrinsic probabilities
writing tendencies of the original author
autograph:
the physical document penned by the original author
textual criticism:
process of reconstructing the text of an original document that no longer exists
codex:
a document published in book format
manuscript/s (MS/MSS):
document(s) written by hand instead of printed; the abbreviation MS is used for a single manuscript and MSS is used for a plurality
version/s (VS/VSS):
translation(s) of the Bible into languages other than the original Hebrew OT or Greek NT; the abbreviation VS is used for a single version and VSS for a plurality
papyrus:
a type of paper-like writing material made from a reedy plant of the same name
parchment / vellum:
a type of writing material made from animal skins (preferably goats)
uncial script:
an all-capital script used in the earliest Greek NT manuscripts
minuscule script:
lower-case cursive script used in copying medieval NT manuscripts
palimpsest:
a manuscript that has been erased and re-written over
nomina sacra:
abbreviations used in NT manuscripts
Masoretic Text (MT):
the standard Hebrew text produced by the Masoretes, abbreviated MT
Septuagint (LXX):
the standard Greek translation of the Hebrew OT, abbreviated LXX
Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS):
unpointed Hebrew MSS of the OT that pre-date the MT by 1000 years
geniza:
a synagogue storage room in which old, worn-out Hebrew manuscripts were stored
targum(s):
Aramaic paraphrase(s) of an OT book (the plural is sometimes written "targumim")
Vorlage:
the source document for producing a copy, either by transcription or translation
daughter translation:
translation of a translation, such as the Armenian VS of the Septuagint
Origen:
greatest biblical scholar of the 2nd-3rd centuries who produced the 6000 page Hexapla
Jerome:
greatest biblical scholar of 4th century who produced a Latin version of the Bible
variant / variant reading:
any instance of difference in how any two NT manuscripts read
transposition (metathesis):
the transposition of two letters in a text
haplography [dittography]:
scribal mistake in which text is accidentally copied once [twice]
homoioteleuton:
situation where two lines of text end identically, leading to accidental omission