From God to Us: A Guide to How We Got Our Bible (Lesson 4)
(Eastside/Wed PM/May 22, 2013)
Where are we going?
Ø Composition
Ø Canonization
Ø Transmission
Ø Translation
Transmission
Ø Preservation
Ø Languages and writing materials/practices
Ø Transmission of OT
Ø Transmission of NT
Preservation
Ø Assuming inspired, inerrant, authoritative original
Ø What about the copies and copies of...
From God to Us: A Guide to How We Got Our Bible (Lesson 4)
(Eastside/Wed PM/May 22, 2013)
Where are we going?
Ø Composition
Ø Canonization
Ø Transmission
Ø Translation
Transmission
Ø Preservation
Ø Languages and writing materials/practices
Ø Transmission of OT
Ø Transmission of NT
Preservation
Ø Assuming inspired, inerrant, authoritative original
Ø What about the copies and copies of copies of that original?
Ø Are they perfectly preserved?
Preservation – 4 Options
Ø Perfect preservation in all manuscripts and print editions
Ø Perfect preservation in some (group) of copies/editions
Ø Perfect preservation in one manuscript
Ø Providential preservation in totality of manuscripts
Languages and Writing
Ø Languages
o Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek
o Not heavenly languages
o Not the language of Garden of Eden
o Normal, commonly spoken languages of the day
Ø Development of Writing
o Pictograms
o Word-syllabic writing
o Syllabic writing
o Alphabetic writing
ü Early Phoenician alphabet
ü 1600 BC – available to Moses
Ø Writing materials
o Stone
o Clay
o Wood
o Papyrus
o Leather
o Parchment
Ø Book forms
o Scroll
o Codex
Transmission of OT
Ø Manuscripts and Versions
Ø Transmission History
Ø Implications
Manuscripts and Versions
Ø Hebrew Texts
o Silver amulets, 7th cent. BC
o Dead Sea Scrolls, 250 BC-AD 50
o Masada, before AD 73
o Naḥal Ḥever, AD 130
o Genizah Fragments
o Early Ben Asher Manuscripts
o Medieval Manuscripts
Ø Ancient Versions
o Septuagint (LXX), 250-100 BC
o Aramaic Targums
o Latin Translations
ü Old Latin – from LXX
ü Vulgate, AD 405
o Syriac Peshitta, AD 150-200
Transmission History
Ø Beginning to 300 BC
o Written in paleo-Hebrew (Phoenician) script
o Scrolls until 1st – 2nd cent. AD
o Copying of consonants only
o Unsure if written with spaces between words or not
Ø 300 BC to AD 135
o Change from paleo-Hebrew script to Aramaic/square script
o Various textual streams/families evident at Qumran
o Evidence that Consonantal text was standardized by AD 135 (mss. of Wadi Murabba⁽at)
Ø AD 135 to 1000
o Meticulous preservation of standardized consonantal text
o Masoretes (guardians of the tradition)
o Development of vowel pointing systems to preserve pronunciation
Ø AD 1000 to 1450
o Careful transmission of ben Asher family of manuscripts
o The vast majority of our hand-written Hebrew manuscripts come from this medieval period.
o Over 3,000 of these manuscripts
Ø AD 1450 to present
o Transition from hand-copied manuscripts to printed copies
o Carrying on tradition of ben Asher family of manuscripts
o Leningrad codex (around AD 1000) is base of most printed editions
Implications
Ø All printed Hebrew editions are based on ben Asher text family (Leningrad codex)
Ø No essential differences in Hebrew textual base used by all translations
Ø All translators make decisions based on all the textual evidence
Transmission of NT
Ø Contrasts between OT and NT transmission
Ø Manuscripts and Versions
Ø Transmission History
Ø Textual Variations
Ø Implications
Contrasts between OT/NT
Ø Timespan of composition
Ø Geographical distribution
Ø Skill of Scribes
Ø Quality of materials
Ø Degree of variation
Manuscripts and Versions
Ø Greek
o Papyri
o Uncials
o Miniscules
o Lectionaries
o Church Fathers
Ø Ancient Versions
o Eastern
ü Syriac (4th cent.)
ü Coptic (3rd to 4th cent.)
ü Armenian, Georgian, Ethiopic
o Western
ü Latin (Old Latin/Vulgate)
ü Gothic
History of Transmission
Ø Before AD 325
o Several papyrus pages and fragments from first 200 years
o Evidence of geographical families of texts
o Greatest variations are in these earliest manuscripts
Ø 325 to 1516
o Recognition of Christianity in Roman empire
o Standardization of text in Eastern (Byzantine) churches
o Western churches transmitted NT in Latin
Ø 1516 to Present
o Early printed editions based on few, late Byzantine copies
o Discovery of older, more diverse manuscripts resulted new printed editions in 1800’s.
o Textual variation demands textual decisions
Textual Variations
Ø No 2 Greek manuscripts are exactly identical
Ø Unintentional variation
Ø Intentional variation
Ø Each variation must be measured against external and internal evidence
Colossians 1:14, KJV
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Colossians 1:14, NIV
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:20, NIV
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
“Through His Blood”
Ø Not found in most Greek manuscripts or Latin Vulgate manuscripts of Col. 1:14
Ø Only a few, late Byzantine manuscripts have the phrase
Ø Solution?
Ø Harmonization with Eph. 1:7
Ephesians 1:7, NIV
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace
Conclusions
Ø Is biblical text in doubt?
Ø Abundance of evidence
Ø Most variations are insignificant
Ø 99% agreement among mss.
Ø No doctrine is lost or changed by any of the variations
