Bible Query - Early
Manuscripts of 1 Timothy

Q: In 1 Tim, what are early New Testament manuscripts we have preserved today?
A: Here are many of them.
Sinaiticus [Si] 340-350 A.D.
1 Timothy was not preserved in Vaticanus [B]
Alexandrinus [A] c.450 A.D.
Ephraemi Rescriptus [C] 5th century
Claromontanus [D] 6th century
I Washington, D.C. 5th century
Italic [Ital] 4th to 13th centuries
Vulgate [Vulg] 4th and 5th centuries
Bohairic Coptic 3rd/4th century
Sahidic Coptic 3rd/4rth century
Armenian [Arm] from 5th century
Georgian [Geo] from 5th century
Ethiopic [Eth] from c.500 A.D.
Peshitta Syriac [Syr P] 411-435 A.D... Over 350 manuscripts.
Philoxenian Syriac [Syr Ph] 507/508 A.D. Bishop Philoxenus of Mabug
Gothic 493-555 A.D.
Harclean Syriac [Syr H] 616.A.D Thomas of Harkel
Carston Thiede claims 1 Timothy 3:16-4:3 is preserved among the Dead Sea scrolls as MSS 7Q4. This would make it prior to 68 A.D. http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/7547/ntmss.html has more info on this. However, most experts disagree.

Q: In 1 Tim, 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 13 words between the Textus Receptus and the majority text. These are in 13 places (1 Timothy 1:2,4,9,13; 3:2,11; 5:4,21,25; 6:5,12,17,20). He does not record any additional alternates.

Q: In 1 Tim, what are some of the manuscript variations?
A: The book of 1 Timothy has a total of about 1,592 Greek words and a word-for-word accuracy of 98.6%, with only 22 words in question. These are in 15 verses (16 places), out of 113 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.
1 Tim 1:1 "command" vs. "promise" (only in Sinaiticus) so not counted in the totals. Bruce Metzger's A Textual Commentary on the New Testament p.571 says the scribe of Sinaiticus might have accidentally been recalling 2 Timothy 1:1.
1 Tim 1:4 "administration/economy" vs. "building up"
1 Tim 1:4 "stewardship" vs. "stewardship" (same meaning different Greek word) (only original Claromontanus Irenaeus, and a few others so not counted in the totals)
1 Tim 1:12 empowering "me" vs. "us"
1 Tim 1:15 "faithful" (Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Claromontanus, Byzantine Lectionary, some Italic, Herclean Syriac, Philoxenian Syriac, Sahidic Coptic, Bohairic Coptic, Gothic, Armenian, some Augustine) vs. "human/humane" (some Italic, Ambrosiaster, some Augustine) so not counted in the totals.
1 Tim 1:17 "incorruptible, invisible" (almost all other manuscripts, Eusebius, Chrysostom) vs. "immortal, invisible" (original Claromontanus, Harclean Syriac, Italic, Ethiopic, Tertullian) vs. "incorruptible, invisible, immortal" (no ancient manuscripts) so not counted in the totals
1 Tim 1:17 "God" (original Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, original Claromontanus, Italic, Vulgate, Philoxenian Syriac, Sahidic Coptic, Bohairic Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopic, Arabic) vs. "only wise God" (corrected Sinaiticus, corrected Claromontanus, Harclean Syriac, Gothic, Textus Receptus) so not counted in the totals
1 Tim 2:1 "I exhort" vs. "different case of exhort" (only in original Claromontanus, Hilary, and a few others) so not counted in the totals
1 Tim 2:7 "I do not lie" vs. "in Christ I do not lie." (2 words)
1 Tim 3:1 "faithful" vs. "human/humane"
1 Tim 3:3 "a striker" (Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Claromontanus, Italic, Philoxenian Syriac, Sahidic Coptic, Bohairic Coptic, Gothic, Armenian, Ethiopic, many others) vs. "a striker, not greedy of ill gain" (Textus Receptus and many miniscules) (2 words not counted in the totals) Bruce Metzger in A Textual Commentary of the New Testament p.573 says this gloss might be because the scribe was recalling Titus 1:7.
1 Tim 3:16 "which" vs. "who" vs. "God" vs. "He" (The original Sinaiticus, original Alexandrinus, Syriac, Gothic have "he", while the corrected Sinaiticus, corrected Alexandrinus, and the Byzantine Lectionary have "God")
1 Tim 4:6 "Christ Jesus" vs. "Jesus Christ" (The Expositor's Bible Commentary volume 11 p.373 says the order of these two words is much confused in the manuscripts, due in part to copyists abbreviating them using only the first and last letters of each word. The last letters are the same, and the first letters look more similar in Greek than in English.
1 Tim 4:10 "labor and strive" vs. "labor and suffer reproach" (Aland, NRSV, The Expositor's Bible Commentary) (The KJV, NKJV, and Green's literal translation have "suffer reproach" following the Byzantine Lectionary, while the NASB, NIV, and NRSV follow Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus)
1 Tim 4:12 "love" (Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Claromontanus, Italic, Vulgate, Philoxenian Syriac, Harclean Syriac, Sahidic Coptic, Bohairic Coptic, Gothic, Armenian, Ehtiopic) vs. "love in spirit" (Textus Receptus, most miniscules, John of Damascus, Theodoret) (not counted in the totals: 2 words)
1 Tim 5:16 "believing man" vs. "believing man or believing woman". (2 words)
1 Tim 5:18 "of his hire/pay" (almost all manuscripts and many church fathers) vs. "of their hire/pay" (different Greek root) (only in Sinaiticus, 9th century Ardmachanus Italic, Clement of Alexandria) (not counted in the totals: 2 words)
1 Tim 5:19 "receive, unless on two or three witnesses" vs. "receive" (absent from some lost Latin manuscripts known to Jerome) (not counted in the totals 8 words)
1 Tim 6:3 misspelling of "consents" "proserxetai" vs. "prosexetai" (1 letter not counted in the totals)
1 Tim 6:5 "gain." vs. "gain. Withdraw from such" (2 words) (Aland, NRSV)
1 Tim 6:7 "it is plain/certain that we cannot carry" vs. "we cannot carry" (3 words)
1 Tim 6:9 "[a] snare" vs. "snares" ( 1 letter)
1 Tim 6:13 "charge you (singular) before" vs. "charge before"
1 Tim 6:17 "in God Living" vs. "in the God Living"
1 Tim 6:19 "real" vs. "everlasting"
1 Tim 6:21 "you" (plural) (original Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, some Bohairic Coptic) vs. "you" (singular) (original Claromontanus, Bohairic Coptic, Georgian, apparently Armenian, Pelgaius) (2 words)
1 Tim 6:21 "amen" at the end (Bohairic Coptic, Georgian, Byzantine Lectionary, apparently Armenian, Ethiopic) vs. absent (original Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, apparently some Bohairic Coptic, original Claromontanus, apparently some Armenian, Pelagius, Sahidic Coptic, Chrysostom)
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.
Some manuscripts have the postscript, "To Timothy first written from Laodicea, which is the chief city of Phrygia Pacatiana."

Q: In 1 Tim, 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

Si

A

C

D

I

Sah

Boh

Origen

Italic

Vg

Luc

Eth

Chrys

Byz

Arm

Geo

Syr Ph

Syr H

Syr P


1 Tim 1:1

1

2

1

-

1

1

1

1
 
1

1
 
1

1

1

1
   
1

1

1 Tim 1:4a

1

1

1

-

-
 
-

-
 
1/ 2

1
 
-

2

2

2

(2)
 
1

1

1 Tim 1:4b

1

1

1

-

2
 
1

1
 
1/ 3
   
1

1

1

1

1
 
1

2

1 Tim 1:12

1

-

2

-

1

1

2

1
 
1

1
 
-

-

1

1
   
1

1

1 Tim 1:15

1

1

1

-

1
 
1

1
 
2
   
-

1

1

1
 
1

1
 

1 Tim 1:17a

1

1

1

-

2
 
1

1
 
2/ 3

2
 
2

1

1

1

1
 
2
 

1 Tim 1:17b

1

1

1
 
1
 
1

1
 
1

1
 
1

1
 
1
 
1

2
 

1 Tim 2:1

1

-

1

-

2

1

1

1
 
1/ 2

1/ 2?
 
1

1

1

1

1
 
1

1

1 Tim 2:7

2

2

1

-

1
 
1

1
 
1/ 2

1/ 2?
 
1

1

1/2

2

-
 
1

1

1 Tim 3:1

1

1

1

-

2
 
1

1
 
1/ 2

1
 
1

1

1

1

1
 
1

1

1 Tim 3:3

2

1

1

1
   
1

1
       
1
   
1
 
1
   

1 Tim 3:16

1

1

1

1

2
 
-

-
 
2

2/ 3?
 
1

3

3

-

-
     

1 Tim 4:6

1
                                     

1 Tim 4:10

1

1

1

1

2
 
2

2
 
2

2
 
2

2

2

2

2
 
2

2

1 Tim 4:12

2
                                     

1 Tim 5:16

2

1

1

1

-
 
1

1
 
1/2/3/4

1/2/3?/4?
 
-

3

3

-

-
 
2

2

1 Tim 5:18

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

1
 
1/(2)

1
 
1

1

1

1

1
 
1

1

1 Tim 6:5

2

1

1

-

1
 
1

1
 
1/ 2

1/ 2?

1

2

2

2

2

-
 
2

2

1 Tim 6:7

3

1

1

-

-
 
-

3
 
1/2/3

1/ 2?/3?
 
-

1?/2

2

-

2
 
2

2

1 Tim 6:9

1

1

1
     
1/2

1
 
1/ 3

1/ 3
   
1/ 3

1

1

1
 
1

2

1 Tim 6:13

1

2

1

-

1
 
1/2

1
 
1/ 2

1
 
1

1

1

1

1
 
1

1

1 Tim 6:17

1

1

2

-

-
 
-

4?
 
2/4

2/4
 
4

4

4

-

4
 
4

4

1 Tim 6:19

1

1

1

-

2
 
5

1/3/4
 
1

1/ 2?
 
4

2

4

2/4
   
1

1

1 Tim 6:21

1

1

1
 
2
 
5A

1?/2
 
1/ 2/4

2/4
 
2

5A

2

2?

1/ 2
     

1 Tim 6:21b

1

1

1

-

1
 
1

1/2
       
2
 
2

1/2

2
     

Place

words

Si

A

C

D

I

Sah

Boh

Origen

Italic

Vg

Luc

Eth

Chrys

Byz

Arm

Geo

Syr pH

Syr H

Syr P



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