Re: Greek Test. Versions

From: Jonathan Robie (jwrobie@mindspring.com)
Date: Wed Jun 18 1997 - 08:53:13 EDT

Ben Loomes wrote:

>I've done a lot of work on this subject, using many secondary sorces,
>but now I am interested in finding different versions of the
>Greek New Testament.

Vince Broman's site has more versions than anybody else:

        http://www.znet.com/~broman/editions.html

>I have the Scrivener's one, and a Stephanus, but
>these seem quite different from your typical United Bible Society
>version.
>
>I know there is a reason for this. (What is it?)

Each is an attempt to reconstruct the best possible Greek text. Scrivener's
is from 1550. Stephanus is, I believe, an attempt to reconstruct the basis
for the King James Bible, and was done after the KJV translation. The UBS
text is a current attempt to reconstruct the best possible Greek text. Why
do they differ? Two reasons: (1) a lot more ancient texts have been
discovered, and (2) the criteria people use to resolve differences have changed.

>I want to get hold of a text which is most like the greek written by
>the writers of the day.

So do we all! For a great introduction to the problems involved, take a look
at Brown University's "Interpreting Ancient Manuscripts". The index is here:

        http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/mss/index.html

There is a general introduction to Greek texts here:

        http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/mss/text_crit.html

They show comparisons between the following text types:

     Alexandrian Text Type
          Papyrus 66
          Papyrus 75
          Codex Vaticanus
     Western Text Type
          Codex Sinaiticus
          Codex Bezae
          Codex Washingtonensis
     Byzantine Text Type
          Codex Alexandrinus
          Codex 666
     Text Critical Conclusions

They also have an exercise based on an English example here:

        http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/mss/exercise.html

For more links relevant to textual criticism, look here:

        http://scholar.cc.emory.edu/scripts/TC/TC-links.html

Hope this helps!

Jonathan

 

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