Textual Criticism – What is it?
Textual criticism is the study of manuscripts of the Bible with the goal of determining the original wording of the biblical texts. It involves comparing differences between biblical manuscripts to identify errors and variations that were introduced over time through copying, as well as attempting to reconstruct the original text of the Bible.
The Need for Textual Criticism
Textual criticism is needed because we do not possess the original documents that make up the books of the Bible. The original manuscripts, called autographs, have been lost to history. What we have are thousands of handwritten copies that were made over centuries. These copies contain differences from one another due to accidental mistakes made by scribes during the manual copying process. By comparing the differences, textual critics can often determine which readings are more likely to be original.
For example, suppose a scribe accidentally skipped a line while copying a passage. Textual critics comparing multiple copies could identify the omission since it would be missing from that manuscript but present in others. Through careful analysis, much of the original text can be restored.
Textual criticism is needed for all works of antiquity since handwritten copies provide our only access to ancient documents. No one questions studying the texts of Homer, Plato, or Caesar to determine the best reading. The Bible deserves no less careful analysis.
The Goals of Textual Criticism
Textual criticism has two primary goals:
1. To reconstruct the original text of the biblical books as closely as possible. By comparing differences in thousands of manuscripts, textual critics aim to eliminate the errors that crept in during manual transmission and recover the text in its oldest accessible form.
2. To understand how the text changed over time and trace its transmission history. Textual critics study patterns of errors and changes to understand how scribes copied and passed down the biblical texts. This can provide valuable insights into the biblical manuscripts themselves.
These goals allow modern readers to have confidence that the Bible they hold is, for all practical purposes, equivalent to the original manuscripts. While variations between manuscripts do not affect major doctrines, recovering the original wording is important for understanding what God has said.
The Methods of Textual Criticism
Textual scholars use a variety of methods to study and compare biblical manuscripts:
1. Collecting all known manuscript evidence. Textual critics gather and catalog all known biblical manuscripts, fragments, lectionaries, quotations from ancient Christian writers, and ancient Bible translations like the Vulgate or Peshitta.
2. Analyzing scribal habits. By comparing manuscripts, critics can detect patterns in errors and changes made by scribes, allowing them to project scribal tendencies back to the autographs.
3. Grouping manuscripts into families. Manuscripts demonstrating substantial agreements likely come from the same textual family or scribal tradition. Relationships between manuscripts provide important evidence.
4. Evaluating internal evidence. Textual critics evaluate the vocabulary, style, theology, and syntax of disputed readings to determine which is most likely original.
5. Evaluating external evidence. The date and geographical distribution of textual witnesses provide external evidence for judging between competing manuscript readings. Earlier and geographically diverse evidence is preferred.
6. Using conjectural emendation. In rare instances where the extant manuscripts make little sense, critics may propose conjectural changes to the text. However, there are very few places where the text is truly irrecoverable.
By applying these thorough methods, textual scholars can have great confidence in the reconstructed original text of the Old and New Testaments.
Text Types of New Testament Manuscripts
There are three main text types that make up the vast manuscript evidence for the Greek New Testament:
1. Alexandrian text-type. This group of around 100 manuscripts originated in Alexandria, Egypt and includes the oldest existing biblical manuscripts, dating to the 2nd-4th centuries. It is known for strict adherence to the precise wording of the text. Key manuscripts include Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus.
2. Western text-type. This small group of manuscripts mostly comes from around Italy and Gaul and dates to the 3rd-9th centuries. It demonstrates extensive stylistic changes and paraphrases. Key manuscripts include Codex Bezae and Old Latin versions.
3. Byzantine text-type. Over 80% of NT manuscripts belong to this tradition that originated from Constantinople in the 4th-15th centuries. It contains smoothed-over Alexandrian and Western readings. It was the basis for the Textus Receptus NT.
No single text-type perfectly represents the original autographs. However, the Alexandrian texts are viewed as superior with fewer accumulated changes. Critical NT editions primarily follow the Alexandrian text while also integrating early Western and Byzantine readings judged to be original.
Important Biblical Manuscripts
The most important biblical manuscripts for textual criticism of the New Testament include:
– Codex Sinaiticus (330-360 AD): One of the earliest near-complete NT manuscripts; found at St. Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt. Written in Greek.
– Codex Vaticanus (300-325 AD): Considered one of the finest NT manuscripts; held in the Vatican Library since the 15th century. Contains nearly all of the Greek Bible.
– Codex Alexandrinus (400-440 AD): Contains most of the Old and New Testament in Greek; resides in the British Library in London.
– Codex Bezae (400-550 AD): Greek and Latin manuscript containing the Gospels and Acts; key Western text-type witness. Housed in Cambridge University Library.
– Codex Claromontanus (6th century AD): Old Latin manuscript with an early version of the Epistles; demonstrates early Western readings. Held in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.
– Codex Washingtonianus (400-500 AD): Contains the four Gospels in Greek; reflects mixture of text-types. Held in the Smithsonian Institution.
For the Old Testament, important manuscripts include:
– Dead Sea Scrolls (150 BC-70 AD): Ancient Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts of OT books and extrabiblical texts discovered in the Qumran caves in the 20th century.
– Cairo Genizah Fragments (5th-10th centuries AD): Over 200,000 Jewish manuscript fragments containing OT texts discovered in an old synagogue storeroom in Cairo, Egypt in the 1890s.
– Leningrad Codex (1008 AD): The oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible dated to 1008 AD. Written in Hebrew; kept in the National Library of Russia.
– Aleppo Codex (10th century AD): Hebrew OT manuscript consulted by Maimonides when compiling his authoritative version of the Hebrew text. Currently incomplete due to fire damage.
Principles of Textual Criticism
Scholars employ several key principles to guide textual analysis and selecting readings when manuscripts differ:
1. Earlier manuscripts are preferred. The oldest extant readings are assumed to more closely reflect originals.
2. Shorter readings are preferred. Later scribes tended to expand and paraphrase. Shorter, more concise versions are likely original.
3. Harder readings are preferred. Scribes tended to simplify tricky sayings and spellings, so harder readings are considered authentic.
4. Diversity of witnesses is preferred. Readings attested across multiple text types suggest earlier origins.
5. Differences best explain origin of other readings. Variants offering the best explanation for how other readings developed are considered autographic.
6. Context influences decisions. Readings must fit their immediate context, book, author, and rest of Scripture.
Skillfully applying these principles guides textual scholars toward the earliest inferable text and away from later errors and intentional alterations. The original wording can never be recovered perfectly, but great confidence is warranted in the reconstructed text.
Notable Textual Differences
While most variations are inconsequential, some significant textual differences between manuscripts illustrate why textual criticism is needed:
– Mark 16 – Various endings were added after 16:8 very early; scholars debate which ending if any was original.
– John 7:53-8:11 – The story of the woman caught in adultery is absent from the earliest manuscripts; later interpolation is certain.
– Acts 8:37 – Philip’s confession of faith is absent from the best witnesses; likely not original to Acts.
– 1 John 5:7 – The Trinitarian formula in the KJV is found only in a few late manuscripts; Erasmus inserted this reading.
– Romans 5:1 – “Let us have peace” versus “We have peace” represent Western and Alexandrian textual families.
– Mark 1:2 – The KJV attributes a quote to Isaiah that is from Malachi; based on late manuscripts.
– Luke 22:43-44 – Christ’s sweating blood is not found in the earliest witnesses; possibly not an original reading.
Textual issues like these demonstrate the importance of identifying later additions to recover the earliest attainable text.
Notable Figures in Textual Criticism
Important figures who advanced the field of textual criticism include:
– Origen (184-253 AD): Early biblical scholar who identified textual variants and compared Greek and Hebrew manuscripts.
– Jerome (347-420 AD): Produced the Latin Vulgate translation based on older Greek manuscripts.
– Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536 AD): Published first printed Greek NT (Textus Receptus) using a handful of late Byzantine manuscripts.
– John Mill (1645-1707 AD): Published an extensively researched Greek NT with textual notes regarding variant readings.
– Johann Bengel (1687-1752 AD): Developed principles of textual criticism and categorized manuscripts into text families.
– Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828-1892 AD): With Brooke Westcott, published The New Testament in the Original Greek (1881), the basis for modern critical NT editions.
– Kurt Aland (1915-1994 AD): German scholar who founded the Institute for New Testament Textual Research which produced the Nestle-Aland critical texts.
These scholars built on one another’s work to develop the rigorous methods used by textual critics today. Their contributions enable us to have great confidence in the original text and history of the Bible.
Textual Criticism Applied to Bible Translations
Textual criticism directly impacts Bible translation. By comparing manuscripts in their original ancient languages, textual scholars produce critical editions of the Hebrew and Greek texts that represent the earliest inferable wording. Translating from these eclectic texts yields versions true to the recovered original.
For example, the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament and the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece are two of the leading critical texts compiled using thorough textual analysis. Modern translations like the ESV, NASB, NIV, and NET rely on these texts, reflecting the results of textual criticism.
Likewise, the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and Hebrew University Bible represent authoritative critical editions of the Hebrew OT widely used by recent translations. Textual criticism has helped clarify the original text and meaning.
In contrast, older translations such as the KJV were based on a few late medieval manuscripts and often include questionable readings later identified via textual criticism. The expanding manuscript evidence available today allows superior original language texts and improved translations.
Conclusion on the Value of Textual Criticism
Textual criticism provides a scientific approach to discerning the original words of the biblical authors. While absolute certainty is impossible, painstaking analysis of all known manuscript evidence gives translators and readers assurance that our modern Bibles reflect the actual writings God inspired. Minor uncertainties do not impede the clear message of salvation from sin that God embedded in His Word centuries ago.
The study of biblical manuscripts should strengthen our trust in Scripture by demonstrating how God’s providence preserved the integrity of the text over thousands of years, especially in the all-important scriptural witnesses to Christ. Textual criticism helps modern readers engage with confidence in God’s authoritative Word.
