The Text of the New Testament

3. The Text of the New Testament

In principle, going back to the original NT texts should be simpler than what happens
with the OT texts, because the NT is shorter, more recent and has been written in a
single language.
Nevertheless, the NT textual panorama is very complex, because we have a huge
amount of manuscripts, considerably higher than those containing the OT. This
wealth of sources explains the fact that we know more than two hundred thousand
variants for the Greek text of the NT (even if only about 200 are really relevant).

3. The Text of the New Testament

The critical edition we need to know is the so-called “Nestle-Aland,” named after
publishers Eberhard Nestle and Kurt Aland. The most widespread edition is the 27th,
of 1993, but from October 2012 the 28th is available. It is abbreviated “NA” followed
by the issue number: NA27, NA28. The complete title reads as follows: Novum
Testamentum Graece, post Eberhard et Erwin Nestle editione vicesima septima
revisa communiter ediderunt Barbara et Kurt Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo
M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger. Apparatum criticum novis curis elaboraverunt
Barbara et Kurt Aland una cum Instituto Studiorum Textus Novi Testamenti
Monasterii Westphaliae (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart).

3. The Text of the New Testament

The Nestle-Aland belongs to that class of critical editions that technically receives the
nickname of “eclectic,” because instead of relying on a main manuscript and
signaling in the apparatus the main variants compared to others—as does the BHS
with Codex Leningradensis or the LXX of Cambridge with Codex Vaticanus—the
Nestle-Aland presents a text reconstructed word by word starting from the
variations found in many manuscripts, following the different rules of textual
criticism.

3.1. The 4 families of texts of the NT

In order to facilitate the use of the many manuscripts that we have, the textual
critics have come up with a system of grouping manuscripts into 4 families.
Manuscripts belonging to a particular family share common characteristics. Once a
manuscript is discovered, its characteristics are identified. It is then assigned to one
of the 4 families to which it is most similar. There it enriches the characteristics of
that particular family with its features. The 4 families are the ones that are compared
when determining a preferred reading.

3.1. The 4 families of texts of the NT

The 4 families of texts of the NT and their main characteristics are the following:
A. Alexandrian
- Many texts of this family are good and very ancient.
- They generally came from Egypt.
- In terms of time reference, they are very near the original.
- Their common defect is the tendency to harmonize and amplify the text.
B. Western
- They come from the Western Church, i.e., from Italy, Gaul and Spain.
- The ancient Latin and Syriac versions belong to this family.
- Many citations of ancient writers and Fathers of the Church, such as Marcion, St.
Justin, Tacian and St. Irenaeus are classified under this group.
- Among its defects are a tendency to harmonize and paraphrase; additions to make
events marvelous; and significant omissions.
C. Caesarean
- It has great affinities with the texts used by Origen and Eusebius, so that it took the
Church of Caesarea as its origin around the 3rd century AD.
- It is very close to the Alexandrian family except for some major inaccuracies in
linguistic forms.
- It receives some influences from the Western Church
D. Byzantine
- These texts have been used in the Oriental Churches from the Middle Ages up to
the present.
- The majority of the Greek manuscripts from the 7th century onwards belongs to
this family.
- The language is more elegant and the clarity is achieved through changes in words.
- There are harmonizations of parallel phrases in the Gospels.
- There are conflations of readings, i.e., the fusion of 2 or more variant readings in
the same verse.

3.2. Direct witnesses of the NT

The primary direct witnesses of the NT are the following:
1. Uncials
Among the uncials we have the following texts of the Alexandrian family often used
in textual criticism:
a. Codex Vaticanus (B). It came from the 4th century and contains the LXX of the
OT plus the NT writings.

b. Codex Sinaiticus (S or ‫)א‬. Found 2 centuries ago by Constantin von

Tischendorf in the Monastery of St. Catherine at the foot of Mt. Sinai, it contains
both the OT and the NT writings and came from the 4th century AD.
c. Codex Alexandrinus (A). It has also OT and NT texts, although it came from the
5th century AD.
2. Papyri
a. P52. This is part of John Ryland’s library. Dated around AD 120-130, it is the
most ancient text of the NT that we have. It contains Jn 18,31-33.37-38 and was
discovered in Egypt. This shows us that the Gospel of John, composed in Asia Minor,
already found its way into Egypt at so early a date. The diffusion of the Gospel text
was so fast, considering the means of transportation and communication in those
times.
b. P45, P46, P47. These are known as the papyri of Chester Betty. Covering all the
letters of Paul and parts of the book of Rev, they go back as far as the 1st half of the
3rd century AD.

3.2. Direct witnesses of the NT

We cannot point out the complete list of manuscripts and other witnesses (citations,
liturgical lectionaries) considered in NA27, because it would take several pages. The
most important manuscripts are undoubtedly the 4 great uncial codices of which we
have spoken above, about the LXX, that is, B, S, A and C. To these 4 must be added
the Codex Bezae (D), of the 5th century, which contains the 4 gospels and the OT. It
is an important manuscript because it contains a text that is generally very different
from that of others.