Featured Books on Textual Criticism

No, the fact that the mss tradition is so uniform says that fewer mistakes were made. Remember, there are thousands of mss in the Byzantine tradition.

Source for this tidbit?

 

Just two more Greek NTs useful for textual criticism.

Barbara Aland, Kurt Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M. Metzger, ed. The Greek New Testament, 4th rev. ed. Nordingen, Germany: United Bible Societies, 1993.

I also have the 2nd (1968) and 3rd (1975) editions. I was taught with the 2nd in seminary back in the '70's.

This is, of course the standard work on the eclectic side. (It is called it eclectic, but it still gives major weight of the Alexandrian over the Byzantine.) It has a very helpful 53 page Introduction which explains the eclectic method of the editors. If you want to know the "reasoned eclecticism" (Black's term) of the editors, this is the book to have. Also, the apparatus is helpful in this regard.

One thing I like about the UBS is the little fold out insert list of the mss and their contents and date (what century, anyway). It also has a ribbon marker, which many Greek NTs don't have. Another plus is that you can buy a version with a little dictionary in the back, which can be helpful. Except that, shucks, my Greek prof wouldn't let me use it in class!

The UBS is a very nice Greek NT except for:
1. The really hard-to-read font they used;
2. The anti-Byzantine prejudice.

 

Joey McCollom and Stephen L. Brown, ed., Solid Rock Greek New Testament. North Conway, NH: Solid Rock Publications, 2018.

This is a very well done Byzantine priority Greek New Testament. It's made well, with a good solid hardback cover, easy to read font, and a good introduction to Byzantine Priority in an appendix.

There are two editions. I have the "Portable Edition," which the college bought for me so I could evaluate it for possible use in Greek 102. I carry it to chapel. This edition has no apparatus, since it is meant for classroom and personal usage, but it does have the appendix on Byzantine priority.

My son has the "Scholar's Edition," which has an excellent apparatus. He requires this for his seminary class in Greek exegesis. He swears by the apparatus of this edition!

 

I'm almost down to the end, but I see we are on the 7th page, so maybe I should add a post before I head home.

I have three pamphlets from back in the 1970's by Kenneth I. Brown, who was a professor at Detroit Baptist Divinity School (now called Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary). The apparent publisher is the school, since that is the only possible publisher on the title page. They were done somewhat amateurishly, with what looks like a typewriter font, and with simple black and white covers.

Now, the school was and is independent Baptist, and there have been many KJVO screeds printed in pamphlet form by KJVO independent Baptist writers. So, you might think that Brown is writing from that viewpoint. Not so! He was on the critical text side.

The Influence of the Scribes and Correctors of Codex Sinaiticus (1978, 31 pp.). He starts out by describing the materials used, the characteristics of ancient copying, and the ms itself. He then writes about the ancient scribes--who they were and what they did--discussing briefly the scribes of this particular ms. He then discusses briefly the various correctors, finishing up with a discussion of "The Importance of the study of Scribal Notations," referring to several passages and their significance.

A Critical Evaluation of the Text of the King James Bible (1975, 34 pp.). This is simply a defense of the critical texts against several authors, Jasper James Ray, John Burgon, W. A. Waite, and Edward Hills. I don't really think he understands Burgon, though he makes cogent points against the other three, since he thinks Burgon is strongly against textual criticism per se.

Textual Problems in the New Testament (1978, 32 pp.). In this one, Brown gives his take on 20 NT passages. His take is, of course, the critical text take, though in one case he discusses the Western text.

 

This site says no such thing.

Wallace. That figures.

 

"Swears by..." in this usage is an idiom, meaning "to have great faith or confidence in" (Swear by definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary). It is not the "swear" meaning of the Scripture in the passage you gave.

 

Bruce M. Metzger, The Early Versions of the New Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977.

I'd forgotten about this book, since I have it on my shelf for books about translation rather than the shelf for textual criticism.

I found this book to be fascinating when I last read it through in 2011. I still refer to it often when studying or lecturing on translation. It is interesting for the student of church history, Bible translation methods, and textual criticism.

In the area of textual criticism, Metzger discusses the textual bases as well as the translation methods for various ancient versions, including the various Syriac versions (including the Peshitta), the Armenian, the Georgian, the Ethiop, various minor Eastern versions, the Latin versions (including the Vulgate), the Gothic version (I love the story of Ulphilas!), the "Old Church" Slavonic versions, and some minor Western versions.

This is a book well worth having. Even though Metzger is an Alexandrian advocate, he is a good scholar and a good writer.

 

I have two pamphlets put out by something called the Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute (IBRI). Apparently they publish a lot of stuff online nowadays, but I don't know if they still actually print stuff: IBRI | Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute.

One of the pamphlets I have is by Robert C. Newman and Douglas S. Chinn. Demystifying the Controversy Over the Textus Receptus and The King James Version of the Bible. IBRI, 1980, 1990. It can be found here: Robert C. Newman Library | IBRI | Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute

This pamphlet is basically an argument against the view that the KJV is perfect. It does deal some with textual criticism. It's worth a quick read, but don't lose any sleep over it.

The other pamphlet I have from IBRI is by Douglas Kutilek, Erasmus: His Greek Text and His Theology. IBRI, 1986. It doesn't seem to be on the IBRI website nowadays. It is fairly well done, and does give some interesting facts about its subject. Kutilek is an anti-KJVO writer with an MA and a ThM, a pretty scholarly guy.

 

Nope, I'd say they were anti-KJVO. Check out their journal and uou will find some interesting articles along that line: Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal - Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary