Bible Query - Early
Manuscripts of 1 John


Q: In 2 Jn, what are early New Testament manuscripts we have preserved today?
A: Here are many of them.
p74 (=Bodmer 17) Acts 1:2-5,7-11,13-15,18-19,22-25; 2:2-4; 2:6-3:26; 4:2-6,8-27; 4:29-27:25; 27:27-28:31; James 1:1-6,8-19,21-23,25,27; 2:1-3,5-15; 18-22, 25-26; 3:1,5-6,10-12,14,17-18; 4:8,11-14; 5:1-3,7-9,12-14,19-20; 1 Peter 1:1-2,7-8,13,19-20,25; 2:6-7,11-12,18,24; 3:4-5; 2 Peter 2:21; 3:4,11,16; 1 John 1:1,6; 2:1-2,7,13-14,18-19,25-26; 3:1-2,8,14,19-20; 4:1,6-7,12,16-17;5:3-4,9-10,17; 2 John 1,6-7,13; 3 John 6,12; Jude 3,7,12,18,24 (7th century)
7th century - 1968 - The Text of the New Testament has James 2:4 and 1 Peter 1:12
7th century - 1975 - Aland et al. Third Edition
6th century - 1998 - Aland et al. Fourth Revised Edition
Uncial 0232 c.300 A.D. according to The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts (Aland considers it 5th or 6th century) 2 John 1-9
Vaticanus [B] (325-350 A.D.), Sinaiticus [Si] (340-350 A.D.), and Alexandrinus [A] (c.450 A.D) have all of 2 John.
Bohairic Coptic 3rd/4th century
Sahidic Coptic 3rd/4rth century
Armenian 5th century
Georgian 5th century
Ethiopic [Eth] from c.500 A.D.
Peshitta Syriac [Syr P] 411-435 A.D... Over 350 manuscripts.
Philoxenian Syriac 507/508 A.D. Bishop Philoxenus of Mabug
Harclean Syriac [Syr H] 616.A.D Thomas of Harkel

Q: In 2 Jn, what are the manuscript variations with the Textus Receptus, the basis for the KJV?
A: Jay P. Green, Sr. in the Interlinear Bible records variations in approximately 2 words between the Textus Receptus and the majority text. These are in 2 places. He does not record any additional alternates.

Q: In 2 Jn, what are some of the manuscript variations?
A: The book of 2 John has a total of about 245 Greek words and a word-for-word accuracy of 97.1%, with 7 words in question. These are in 5 verses (7 places), out of 13 total verses. Below are the variations with the primary choice and the top alternate choice. Aland, from which this primarily is based, also gives a judgment of the degree of certainty for each variation.
2 Jn 3 "Jesus" vs. "Lord Jesus"
2 Jn 8 "Watch yourselves" vs. " You (plural) watch them" (Irenaeus Against Heresies p.443) (1 word) (not counted in the totals)
2 Jn 8 "we may lose" vs. "you do not lose"
2 Jn 8 "we may receive" vs. "you be rewarded"
2 Jn 8 "we worked for" vs. "you worked for"
2 Jn 9 "teaching" vs. "teaching here"
2 Jn 12 "our" vs. "your" (1 letter difference)
2 Jn 13 add "amen" at the end
Some manuscripts add the postscript, "Of John letter Second"
Bibliography for this question: The Greek New Testament Third Edition by Kurt Aland et al., The Greek New Testament Fourth Edition by Kurt Aland et al., Interlinear Greek-English New Testament by George Ricker Berry, the Interlinear Bible by Jay P. Green, The Expositor's Bible Commentary volume 8, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament 2nd edition by Bruce M. Metzger, The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts edited by Philip W. Comfort and David P. Barrett, The Expositor's Greek Testament edited by W. Robertson Nicoll, and footnotes in the NASB, NIV, NKJV, and NRSV Bible translations. Manuscripts of the Greek Bible : An Introduction to Paleography by Bruce M. Metzger also has interesting information on the characteristics and quality of the copying of each manuscript.

Q: In 2 Jn, how do the early manuscripts compare with each other?
A: The table below shows each of the places in question, and the number says which variant is in each manuscript.

Place

words

0232

Si

A

B

C

Sah

Boh

Ital

Vg

Luc

Eth

Byz

Arm

Geo

SyrPh

SyrP

SyrH


2 Jn 3

1
 
4

1

1

-

1

3

2/5

1?/2?/3?/4?
 
1

3

3

1

(3)

-

3

2 Jn 2a

1
                                 

2 Jn 8b

1

1?

2

1

1

-

1

1

1

1

1

1

3

1

1

1

-

1

2 Jn 8c

1
 
2

2

1

-

1/2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

1

2

-

2

2 Jn 9

1
 
1

1

1

-

1

1?/2

1/ 2

1/ 2?/3?

3
 
2

1

2

3

-

3

2 Jn 12

1
 
1

2

2

-

3

2

1

1?/2
 
2

1

1

1

1

-

1

2 Jn 13

1
 
1

1

1

-

1

1

1

1/ 2?/3?/4?
 
(4)

2

4

1

4

-

4

Place

words

0232

Si

A

B

C

Sah

Boh

Ital

Vg

Luc

Eth

Byz

Arm

Geo

SyrPh

SyrP

SyrH


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