The New Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Student Workbook, SW13

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T H E N E W T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

A P P E N D I X 3 6

An Example of the Practice of Textual Criticism Adapted from R. C. Briggs, Interpreting the New Testament Today.

Mark 1.1 The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, (the Son of God)

According to the critical apparatus, the following manuscripts (or group of manuscripts) read

A ( Codex Alexandrinus ). Fifth century. Byzantine text (in the Gospels).

B ( Codex Vaticanus ). Fourth century. Alexandrian text (in the Gospels and Acts).

D ( Codex Bezae ). Fifth or sixth century. Western text.

W ( Washington Codex ). Fifth century. Western text (in Mark 1.1-5.30).

( koine ). Group of late uncial and minuscule manuscripts dating from the seventh century. Western text.

( Family 1, Lake Group ). Twelfth century and later. Akin to fourth- and fifth-century Caesarean text.

( Family 13, Ferrar Group ). Twelfth century and later. Akin to Caesarean text.

it ( Itala or Old Latin ). Eleventh century and later. Text is early Western (prior to date of Vulgate).

vg ( Vulgate ). Authorized Latin translation, completed by Jerome in A. D. 405 (Gospels A. D. 385). Western text.

sy P ( Peshitta ). Authorized fifth-century Syriac translation. Akin to the Byzantine text (in the Gospels).

sa ( Sahidic ). Fourth-century Coptic (Egyptian) translation. Alexandrian text, with Western influence.

bo ( Bohairic ). Coptic translation, later than Sahidic. Western text. The critical apparatus also lists two significant manuscripts which preserve the shorter reading. S also designated ~ ( Codex Sinaiticus ). Fourth century. Like B, a primary representative of the Alexandrian text.

( Codex Koridethi ). Ninth century. Text akin to third- and fourth-century Alexandrian text.