Not many people know what the Textus Receptus is, let alone that it affects their daily Bible study. Once I learned what it was, and how it affects my Bible study, I couldn’t believe how some people insist on the use of just one Bible translation to the exclusion of all others.
A Quick History of the New Testament
You can thank textual critics for studying and explaining how early compilers reproduced the New Testament over time.
In the early years of Christianity, individuals and local congregations freely copied the New Testament. Unfortunately, these workers rarely standardized the translations and critical texts they made.
Later, however, standardization became the norm.
Here’s a timeline summary:
- A.D. 55-300 – Various individuals copied early manuscripts in a period of freedom
- A.D. 300-1500 – Trained copyists made standard critical texts and translations in various locations
- A.D. 800-1500 – Trained copyists revised and standardized the Byzantine critical text (more on this soon)
- A.D. 1500-1650 – Copyists developed the popular printed Greek text, known as the Textus Receptus, based on late Byzantine manuscripts
- A.D. 1650-1880 – Researchers discovered many more ancient manuscripts. Scholars studied and analyzed the variant readings in those documents.
- A.D. 1880-Present – Archaeologists and textual critics discover and reconstruct the Bible text from every available manuscript
The Byzantine Text
Certain “text types” emerged out of the early standardized works (A.D. 300-1500). A “text type” is a group of manuscripts that agree very well where many variant readings exist. Among these were the Alexandrian, the Caesarean, the Western, and the Byzantine text types.
(Note: Some scholars use different names for these groups.)
Historically, the Byzantine texts:
- Removed Certain Ambiguity – The copyists made what was implicit, explicit. For example, the earlier text says, “he was the Christ” (Matthew 16:20) while the expanded Byzantine text reads “Jesus was the Christ.”
- Erased Apparent “Contradictions” – Byzantine “standardizers” harmonized (in a process called harmonization) certain readings. For example, the “conflicts” between similar gospel accounts were made to read alike.
- Created Reading Conflations – Sometimes two (or more) very prominent variant readings were incorporated into the standardized Byzantine text. This process is called “conflation.”
- Added Marginal Comments – The Byzantine copyists added a few outside comments to the margins that weren’t in the original manuscripts. These were meant to help the reader.
Despite its weaknesses, the Byzantine standard text created a strong uniformity and standardization that lasted for about 700 years (i.e. A.D. 800-1500).
Ultimately, and most importantly, it gave birth to the Textus Receptus.
Here’s how.
A Quick Story About Desiderius Erasmus
A publisher named Johann Froben commissioned Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam to prepare a printed Greek New Testament. The year was 1515.
By accepting, Erasmus agreed to do the work of a textual critic.
Erasmus gathered some late Byzantine manuscripts from the city of Basle. However, he still lacked a complete manuscript of Revelation, so he used the Latin Vulgate (an older Latin Bible translation) for what he didn’t have.
Erasmus used these documents to create what would later be known as the Textus Receptus.
(Think of it as the self-published, Amazon first edition. In other words, it was hardly popular at first because very few people knew about it.)
From Erasmus to the Masses to the Textus Receptus
Not long after Erasmus completed his work, a printer from Paris named Robert Estienne produced a Greek New Testament using a combination of Erasmus’ work and the Complutensian Polyglot—a Greek text made by Spaniard Cardinal Francisco Jiménez.
(Metzger says that the Complutensian Polyglot was the first printed Greek New Testament, but that Erasmus’ text was the first on the market for sale [137-152]. No one has satisfactorily determined which manuscripts were used to create the Complutensian text.)
Estienne’s third edition Greek New Testament largely reproduced Erasmus’ work. This edition became very popular and spread through the masses in many different book formats.
Later, Bonaventure and Abraham Elzevir of Leiden published a pocket edition of Estienne’s work n 1624.
However, it was in their second edition (1633) where the Latin phrase “textus receptus” was included in the preface of the book, saying, “…the reader has the text which is now received by all in which we give nothing changed or corrupted” (Greenlee 71, emphasis mine).
Thus the Latin phrase “textus receptus” describes this “received text.”
The Textus Receptus Greek text is simply the printed Greek New Testament that was put together by 16th and 17th century textual critics.
(If you’re interested, you can learn more about how a Greek text is put together.)
Modern Translations That Are Based on the Textus Receptus
The Textus Receptus was used to create both the King James Version and the New King James Version. It is also the basis behind other translations, but these two are the two most recognized among today’s most popular English translations.
Textus Receptus Weak Points
Created by One Man
Although Erasmus used a standardized series of manuscripts, the weakness lies in that only one man used them to create a new critical edtion. Translations and critical texts are always more reliable when several “checks and balances” occur through a group of textual critics.
Foreign Readings Are Included
In addition to one man (instead of a group) using Byzantine manuscripts, Erasmus also introduced readings never before found in Greek manuscripts.
The most famous one was in the case of 1 John 5:7-8, which, up until that time, had read “the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one, and there are three that bear witness on earth.”
This translation was original to the Latin Vulgate (a recreated text) and not to any of the earlier medieval manuscripts he used. He was charged with negligence despite his explanation that he could not find any of these words in any Greek manuscript.
(A Fransiscan monk is said to have prepared such a manuscript from the Latin Vulgate so that Erasmus could “make it work.” While Erasmus reluctantly included the passage into his Greek text, he detailed his hesitancy about the variant reading. See more in Greenlee’s book on page 70-71.)
Also, as noted in the beginning, the Byzantine tradition brought in marginal notes that were foreign to the earlier manuscripts.
Not the Most Accurate
Finally, remember that thousands of ancient Greek manuscripts were discovered long after Erasmus wrote the Textus Receptus. (See the timeline since 1880.)
These manuscripts show where Erasmus’ work was slightly expanded and ill-supported. Most importantly, they show where its accuracy could be improved.
What does this mean for you?
Great question.
It simply means that the King James and the New King James Versions are just like every other modern English translation—they aren’t perfect.
The King James Version offered a great service to the world for many years, and was amazingly accurate despite the shortcomings of the Textus Receptus. Still, the later discoveries of ancient Greek manuscripts demonstrated where the accuracy of some KJV passages could be improved.
It simply means that you need to use more than one translation in your Bible studies. Reduce your chances of misunderstanding the Bible by consulting the multiple ways a passage is worded.
It simply means that you should never elevate one translation as “better than all the rest.” Anyone who tells you that any one translation must be used over all the others is enforcing a command that God never gave.
Conclusion
Since no translation is perfect, you have to be aware of the shortcomings of each one. Most importantly, you can’t insist on any one translation to the exclusion of all others. Ultimately, you need to express these facts in a caring and loving way whenever someone does insist one over all others.
Discussion Question: Why do you think some people believe in only one translation?
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