Peace and love to you all in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour!
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Phillip quoted:
It stands for Westcott/Hort. Two scholars in the late 1800's who did their best to compile a document in the original languages from multiple manuscript sources in a scholarly attempt to provide scholars and translators with a copy as close to the originals as they could. Yes, some of the manuscripts they used did come from Alexandria because these manuscripts were some 100 to 200 years "older" than those available in the 1600's. The theory being, if it is closer to the originals in time, there is a good chance it is probably more accurate.
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Phillip,
Most, if not in fact all of the underlying text of most modern versions come from the Alexandrian family of texts, which came from the area of Alexandria, and are dated to be from about 400 A.D. One is Vaticanus, and the other Sinaticus. These are the manuscripts that most modern versions are based upon. Many ancient scholars had access to these manuscripts, but rejected them, they did not agree with the manuscripts from the various churches, and early church fathers writings.
Also of note, W/H text is the bases for the Nestles/Aland text. W/H's methods and mentors were men such as Johann Salomo Semler, who has been called the father of German Higher rationalism, who has been described as one of the architects of the higher critical method. He in turn influenced Johann Jakob Greisbach who was one of the fathers of modernism. It is Greisbach who W/H revered above all others, and was these very men that influenced them. These are men that denied the inspiration of the Bible and the method of approach with the scriptures, was that as of any other book. Westcott and Hort also believed in evolution.
By their fruits you shall know them.
love in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour,
michelle