Parts
of the New Testament have been preserved in more
manuscripts than any other ancient work, having over 5,800 complete or fragmented Greek manuscripts, 10,000 Latin
manuscripts and 9,300 manuscripts in
various other ancient languages including Syriac,
Slavic,
Gothic,
Ethiopic,
Coptic
and Armenian. The dates of these manuscripts range
from c. 125 CE (the John Rylands manuscript, P52; oldest copy of John fragments) to the introduction
of printing in Germany in the 15th century. The vast majority of these
manuscripts date after the 10th century.[i]
I
am going to use the first two verse in Mark chapter 1 to show you what we see
when we compare some of those ancient manuscripts.
Mark 1:1
Each
of the following symbols is a Greek manuscript that has this verse. The number
in parenthesis is the date the manuscript was copied.
Group 1
א1 (4th) B (4th) D (5th)
L (8th) W (4-5th) Γ (10th)
These
manuscripts have the Greek words that are translated:
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Group 2
A
(5th) K (9th) P (6th) Δ (9th)
These
manuscripts have the Greek words that are translated:
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son
of God.
Group 3
Manuscript
1241 (12th) has the Greek words that are translated:
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son
of Lord.
Mark 1:2a
Group 1
א (4th) B (4th) L (8th)
Δ (9th) 33 (10th) 565 (9th)
These
manuscripts have the Greek words that are translated:
As it is written in Isaiah the Prophet . . .
Group 2
A
(5th) K (9th) P (6th) Γ (10th)
These
manuscripts have the Greek words that are translated:
As it is written in the prophets . . .
After
the words that appear in Group 1 or Group 2, the following quotes appear:
Quote 1
“Behold, I send My messenger before your face, who
will prepare your way before you.”
Quote 2
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths
straight.’”
Quote
1 is from Malachi 3:1 and Quote 2 is from Isaiah 40:3. The older manuscripts of
Mark attributed both quotes to Isaiah. Later scribes recognized the error and
changed the text of Mark from “Isaiah the prophet” to “the prophets.”
Take
a moment to glace over the online list of New Testament Greek manuscripts – CLICK HERE. Look
up some of the above manuscripts and you will find out more about them.
It’s
always good to know which manuscripts you English translation was made from. Keep
in mind that most of them were discovered in the late 19th and 20th
centuries. So, translations made before that did not have access to those we
have today.
Shalom
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