The Textus Receptus (Latin for “received text”) refers to the Greek New Testament that provided the textual basis for the translation of the Bible into vernacular languages in the 16th century. This Greek text was compiled by Desiderius Erasmus in the early 16th century and became known as the Textus Receptus due to its widespread use and acceptance. The Textus Receptus is based primarily on a few late Byzantine Greek manuscripts and differs in several places from modern critical editions of the Greek New Testament.
Erasmus compiled the first edition of the Textus Receptus in 1516 using a handful of manuscripts available to him in Basel. This edition contained the Greek text for the New Testament except for the last six verses of the book of Revelation, which Erasmus translated back into Greek from the Latin Vulgate. Over the next few years, Erasmus issued revised editions of the Textus Receptus as more Greek manuscripts became available to him. The third edition (1522) became the definitive Textus Receptus used by early Bible translators.
The Textus Receptus served as the primary Greek text used for the translation of the New Testament into German by Martin Luther (1522), English by William Tyndale (1526), and other languages in the Reformation era. Both the English King James Version (1611) and the German Luther Bible (1534) relied on the Textus Receptus. For three centuries, it was regarded as the authoritative Greek text of the New Testament until the 19th century.
With the discovery and availability of more ancient biblical manuscripts, modern textual scholars concluded that the Textus Receptus has a number of flaws and differences from ancient texts. The Greek manuscripts available to Erasmus were from the 12th century or later and contained accumulated copying errors and variants. More critically, as Erasmus did not have access to the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus manuscripts, the Textus Receptus suffers from omissions of text present in earlier manuscripts.
Consequently, modern critical editions of the Greek New Testament such as the Nestle-Aland and United Bible Societies texts incorporate readings from newly discovered early papyri and uncial codices like Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. Most modern Bible translations rely on these critical texts rather than the Textus Receptus. While the Textus Receptus is no longer the standard Greek text used by scholars and translators, it played a pivotal historical role in propagating the New Testament and served the Church’s needs well for centuries.
History of the Textus Receptus
The Textus Receptus has its origins in the work of Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch Renaissance humanist and Catholic priest. In 1516, Johann Froben, a printer in Basel, commissioned Erasmus to publish a Greek New Testament. At the time, a number of printed editions of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible were in circulation, but no published Greek text of the New Testament was readily available.
To construct this Greek New Testament, Erasmus compiled readings from a handful of available Greek manuscripts, mostly dating from the 12th century AD or later. He had access to around half a dozen Greek manuscripts, the oldest being an 11th century manuscript that did not contain the full New Testament. For most of the text, he relied on two 12th-13th century Byzantine manuscripts. Unfortunately, none of the manuscripts Erasmus used contained the last six verses of Revelation, so he re-translated those verses back into Greek from the Latin Vulgate.
This first edition Greek New Testament was published by Froben in 1516 alongside Erasmus’ own new Latin translation. Erasmus issued revised editions in 1519, 1522, and 1527, introducing corrections as more manuscripts became available to him. The third edition (1522) became the definitive Textus Receptus, while the fourth (1527) made only minor changes.
Erasmus’ Greek New Testament was monumental in that it enabled, for the first time, a comparison of the Greek text with the Latin Vulgate. Erasmus’ work provided the textual basis for Martin Luther’s German translation of the New Testament in 1522, the first major vernacular translation of the Bible. William Tyndale used it for his groundbreaking English New Testament in 1526. The Textus Receptus was also used by other 16th-century Protestant translators and became the predominant Greek text used in Bible translations for the next three centuries.
Sources and Manuscripts
The Textus Receptus was based on Byzantine manuscripts of the Greek New Testament. The Byzantine text-type was the form of the Greek New Testament preserved in the Eastern Roman Empire and standardized by the 9th century. Over 80% of extant Greek manuscripts belong to this textual tradition.
However, most of the manuscripts Erasmus relied upon dated from the 12th century or later and already contained accumulated variants and copying errors. They did not accurately represent the original autographs or earliest manuscripts. Due to the scarcity of available manuscripts, Erasmus did not have any definitive complete Greek manuscript from which to work.
The primary manuscripts used by Erasmus for most of the Textus Receptus were:
- Minuscule 1eap (12th century)
- Minuscule 1r (12th century)
- Minuscule 2e (12th-14th century)
- Minuscule 2ap (12th-13th century)
- Minuscule 4ap (12th century)
- Minuscule 7p (12th century)
In his haste to publish, Erasmus did not systematically compare these manuscripts to compile the initial Textus Receptus. Later editors made minor revisions as additional manuscripts became available, but the basic text remained unchanged.
Critically, Erasmus did not have access to two key early manuscripts – Codex Vaticanus (4th century) and Codex Sinaiticus (4th century). These manuscripts came to light after the Textus Receptus was published and differ significantly from the Byzantine text. The absence of these earlier Alexandrian text readings is a weakness of the Textus Receptus.
Use and Reception
Despite its flaws, the Textus Receptus was eagerly received in the 16th century and used by Protestant reformers and translators. Martin Luther used Erasmus’ 2nd edition for his landmark German translation of the New Testament in 1522. William Tyndale relied on the 3rd edition for his pioneering English translation in 1526. Other 16th century vernacular translations like the Spanish Bible (1569) also made use of the Textus Receptus.
The Textus Receptus served as the Greek text underlying the Protestant Reformation movement’s break from Rome and return to Scripture. Erasmus’ new Latin translation and textual work convinced Luther of errors and corruption in the Vulgate. The Textus Receptus enabled Luther and other reformers to bypass the Vulgate and translate the Bible into common languages based on the original Greek.
The Textus Receptus reached its zenith of popularity with the translation of the King James Version (KJV) in 1611 under King James I of England. The KJV New Testament relied primarily on Erasmus’ 1522 and 1550 editions of the Textus Receptus. Combined with the Masoretic Text for the Old Testament, the Textus Receptus became permanently associated with the KJV.
For around 300 years, the Textus Receptus reigned supreme as the standard scholarly text of the Greek New Testament. It was regarded as the authoritative representation of the original Greek. The Latin Vulgate and German Luther Bible also continued to use the Textus Receptus base. Criticism only arose starting in the 19th century with the discovery of older biblical manuscripts.
Criticism and Replacement
As more ancient biblical manuscripts became available in the 19th century, textual scholars began to notice many errors and flaws in the Textus Receptus compared to older manuscripts. With the discovery and publication of Codex Sinaiticus (1859), Codex Vaticanus (1869), and other ancient papyri, the Textus Receptus was supplanted by modern critical texts.
When compared to older manuscripts, the Textus Receptus showed numerous accumulated variants, additions, and errors that were propagated from the late manuscripts Erasmus used. The Textus Receptus belongs to the Byzantine family of texts, while older manuscripts confirmed that the Alexandrian text-types were closer to the original autographs.
Key differences included the Textus Receptus being missing verses present in older manuscripts, including Matt 17:21, Matt 18:11, Mark 7:16, etc. It also contained added verses not present in ancient texts, notably the Trinitarian statement in 1 John 5:7-8 known as the Comma Johanneum, which scholars now consider a late addition.
Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton Hort published the first critical Greek text in 1881 that dethroned the reign of the Textus Receptus. Modern textual analysis relying on the oldest manuscripts confirmed that many Textus Receptus readings were late errors and corruptions. This led to the creation of new scholarly Greek texts like the Nestle-Aland and UBS texts.
Consequently, most modern Bible versions have moved away from the Textus Receptus and are based on critical Greek editions that restore early manuscript readings. However, some fundamentalists and King James Only advocates still champion the Textus Receptus and consider it the authoritative preserved Greek text.
Modern Editions and Use
Although replaced by critical texts in scholarship, the Textus Receptus historical importance means it is still occasionally reprinted and used. In the 1900s, F.H.A. Scrivener, Caspar Rene Gregory, and Herman C. Hoskier undertook efforts to reconstruct the Textus Receptus from manuscript sources.
Scrivener’s 1894 edition is close to Erasmus’ last edition. The 2005 Robinson-Pierpont edition seeks to correct errors and provide a new Textus Receptus reconstruction. However, its textual basis in the Byzantine Majority Text faces the same criticism as the original Textus Receptus.
A few modern Bible translations, especially those made by King James Only advocates, have used a Textus Receptus base. These include Julia Smith’s 1876 Bible and the 1991 21st Century King James Version. However, most mainstream modern Bibles use Nestle-Aland, UBS, or Majority Text editions.
While replaced for academic use, the Textus Receptus remains admired by some traditions for its historical prominence and role in vernacular Bible translation. It served the Church’s textual needs for centuries and retains enduring value, even if it does not represent the earliest Greek manuscript readings.
Theological and Text-Critical Implications
For many Protestant reformers and translators, the Textus Receptus was viewed as the authoritative and pure Greek text, unaffected by errors and corruptions. Some modern fundamentalists extend this view, arguing the Textus Receptus was providentially preserved and should be the basis for translating the KJV into other languages.
However, most scholars consider the Textus Receptus to be an inferior text compromised by errors propagated from late manuscripts. The availability of much earlier New Testament papyri and uncials confirms it does not accurately represent the original text and readings.
Defenders counter that while the Textus Receptus contains errors, it does not undermine any major Christian doctrines or disagree with early creedal formulations. Critics respond that doctrinal agnosticism should not determine textual analysis, and scholars should follow the textual evidence, even if it challenges traditional interpretations.
Modern textual analysis relies on conceptual analysis tools like lectio difficilior potior and shorter reading principles to determine which variant best explains the origin of other readings. Using such criteria, most scholars have concluded that the Textus Receptus contains many late corruptions and alterations not present in the earliest manuscript traditions.
Nevertheless, supporters of the Textus Receptus maintain that God has preserved His Word through this lineage of manuscript copies and regard modern textual criticism as misguided attempts to displace the authorized Textus Receptus. The debate continues between these approaches to Bible translation and textual analysis.
Conclusion
The Textus Receptus represents a landmark development in the history of the Bible, serving as the textual basis for vernacular translations during the Reformation period. Compiled by Erasmus in the early 16th century, it became the predominant Greek New Testament used by Protestant scholars and translators for over three centuries.
However, the manuscript sources used by Erasmus were late Byzantine texts that contained many errors and variants not present in earlier manuscripts. With the discovery of older biblical papyri and codices, the Textus Receptus was superseded by modern critical texts that restored early manuscript readings.
While no longer the scholarly standard, the Textus Receptus remains respected for its historic role in propagating the Greek New Testament and enabling landmark translations like the King James Bible during the Renaissance and Reformation eras. Its legacy and impact on Western Christianity ensure its enduring importance despite textual limitations.
