Bible Query – Early Manuscripts of 1 Corinthians

November 15, 2009 version

 

Q: In 1 Cor, what are early New Testament manuscripts we have preserved today?

A: Here are many of them.

p11 1 Cor 1:17-23; 2:9-12, 14; 3:1-3, 5-6; 4:3-5:5, 7-8; 6:5-7, 11-18; 7:3-6, 10-14. 7th century. Agrees with Sinaiticus

7th century - 1968 - The Text of the New Testament.

p14 - 1 Cor 1:25-27; 2:6-8; 3:8-10 fifth century. Alexandrian text.

5th century? - 1968 - The Text of the New Testament.

p15 (=Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1009) 1 Cor 7:18-8:4 (late 3rd century). The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts has a picture of p15 on p.84. Here is the dating:

3rd century - 1968 - The Text of the New Testament.

3rd century - 1975 - Aland Third Edition

3rd century - 1998 - Aland Fourth Revised Edition

Late 3rd century (Philip Comfort and David P. Barrett in The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts, 1999.)

p34 - 1 Cor 16:4-7; 10; 2 Cor 5:18-21; 10:13-14; 11:2,4,6-7 (7th century) Alexandrian text.

7th century - 1968 - The Text of the New Testament.

p46 Chester Beatty II 100-150 A.D. 1 Cor 1:1-9:2; 9:4-14:14; 14:16-15:15; 15:17-16:22 and other parts of Paul’s letters and Hebrews. The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts has a photograph of part of p46 on p.192. It also says on p.197-198 that the quality and the stichiometric marks show a professional scribe wrote this.

First half of 3rd century - 1936 - Frederic G. Kenyon according to The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts.

2nd century, 200 A.D. - 1935 - Ulrich Wilken according to The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts.

200 A.D. - 1968 - The Text of the New Testament.

81-96 A.D. - 1988 - Young Kyu Kim according to The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts.

About 200 A.D. - 1975 - Aland et al. Third edition.

About 200 A.D. - 1998 - Aland et al. Fourth revised edition.

Early to middle 2nd century - 1999 - The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts. This is based in part on the handwriting being very similar to Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 8 (late first or early second century) and Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2337 (late first century).

p61 Romans 16:23,25-27; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2, 2-6; 5:1-3, 5-6, 9-13; Philippians 3:5-9, 12-16, Colossians 1:3-7, 9-13, 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3; Titus 3:1-5, 8-11, 14-15 Philemon 4-7. c.700 A.D.

c.700 A.D. - 1968 - The Text of the New Testament.

About 700 A.D. - 1975 - Aland et al. Third edition.

About 700 A.D. - 1998 - Aland et al. Fourth revised edition.

Vaticanus 325-350 A.D.

Sinaiticus 340-350 A.D.

Bohairic Coptic 3rd/4th century

Sahidic Coptic 3rd/4rth century

Gothic 493-555 A.D.

Alexandrinus c.450 A.D.

Ephraemi Rescriptus 5th century

Palestinian Syriac [Syr Pal] from c.6th century

Peshitta Syriac [Syr P] 411-435 A.D... Over 350 manuscripts.

Harclean Syriac [Syr H] 616.A.D Thomas of Harkel

 

Q: In 1 Cor, 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 44 words between the Textus Receptus and the majority text. These are in 47 places every chapter except 2, 4, and 16). Green does not record any additional alternates.

 

Q: In 1 Cor, what are some of the manuscript variations?

A: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians has a total of 6,830 Greek words in 437 verses. This is the count in both Aland et al. 3rd edition and Aland et al. 4th revised edition, including 29 words in brackets. You can see the text of the 3rd edition on-line at http://www.greekbible.com. 1 Corinthians has an estimated  word-for-word accuracy of 98.4%, with 108 words in question. These are in 62 verses (65 places).

   Below are the variations with the primary choice and the top alternate choice. Aland et al 4th revised edition and 3rd edition, from which this primarily is based, also give a judgment of the degree of certainty per variation. The list below does not include many places where the evidence for a particular reading is so strong that the alternatives are very unlikely. See the next question for which manuscripts support which variants.

1 Cor 1:1 “Christ Jesus” vs. “Jesus Christ”

1 Cor 1:4 “my God” vs. “our God” vs. “God”

1 Cor 1:8 “Jesus Christ” vs. “Jesus"

1 Cor 1:13 “Has Christ been divided?” vs. “Has Christ not been divided?”

1 Cor 1:14 “thanks to my God” vs. “thanks to God” vs. “I am thank that/give thanks that”

1 Cor 1:28 Add the word “and”

1 Cor 2:1 “mystery” vs. “testimony”

1 Cor 2:4 “persuasive human wisdom” vs. “persuasive wisdom” vs. “plausible wisdom” (2 words)

1 Cor 2:9 “love Him” vs. “wait for Him” (only in a quote from 1 Clement (97/98 A.D.) ch. 34 p.14 so not counted in the totals.)

1 Cor 2:10 Added “for/since”

1 Cor 2:14 “Spirit Holy” vs. “Spirit of God”

1 Cor 2:15 “all things” vs. “the/this/that all things"

1 Cor 2:16 “Christ” vs. “Lord”

1 Cor 3:2 “neither yet now” vs. “neither now”

1 Cor 3:3 “strife” vs. “strife and division”

1 Cor 3:5 “of Apollos … of Paul” (Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, Alexandrinus, Ephraemi Rescriptus, original Claromontanus) vs. “of Paul … of Apollos” (Corrected Claromontanus, Byzantine Lectionary, Chrysostom) (2 words)

1 Cor 3:10 “grace of God” vs. “grace"

1 Cor 3:17 tense of the word “corrupt”

1 Cor 4:17 “Because of this” vs. “Because of this myself”

1 Cor 5:4 “our Lord Jesus” vs. “Lord Jesus"

1 Cor 5:5 “Lord” vs. “Lord Jesus”

1 Cor 5:7 “sacrificed” vs. “sacrificed for us” (Syriac, Sahidic Coptic, apparently Bohairic Coptic, Byzantine) (The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture p.211) (2 words)

1 Cor 5:13 case of the Greek word for “judge”

1 Cor 6:11 “Jesus Christ” vs. “Jesus”

1 Cor 6:14 “will raise out” (Sinaiticus, Ephraemi Rescriptus, 2nd corrector of Claromontanus, Byzantine Lectionary, Chrysostom, Sahidic Coptic, Bohairic Coptic) vs. “raises out” (Alexandrinus, Claromontanus)

1 Cor 6:20 “body and in your spirit” vs. “body”

1 Cor 7:5 “for fasting and for prayer” vs. “for prayer”

1 Cor 7:7 “and” vs. “for”

1 Cor 7:13 “if anyone” vs. “who”

1 Cor 7:14 “brother/fellow believer” vs. “husband”

1 Cor 7:15 called “you” (plural) vs. “us”

1 Cor 7:34 “virgin” vs. “virgin unmarried”

1 Cor 7:40 “God” (most manuscripts) vs. “Christ” (p15 (3rd century), so not counted in the totals)

1 Cor 8:2 “knows” vs. “knows anything”

1 Cor 8:3 “anyone loves God” vs. “anyone loves” (2 words)

1 Cor 8:3 “have been known by Him” vs. “have been known” (2 words)

1 Cor 8:7 “accustomed to” vs. “conscious of” the idol

1 Cor 8:12 “sinning against the brothers” vs. “against the brothers"

1 Cor 9:1 “Lord Jesus” vs. “Jesus Christ” (Bezae Cantabrigiensis, Syriac P, Coptic, Armenian, Georgian) vs. “Christ Jesus” (2 words)

1 Cor 9:15 “anyone” vs. “not anyone” vs. “no one”

1 Cor 9:20 “not being without under law” vs. (absent). (5 words)

1 Cor 9:22 “all means some” (most manuscripts) vs. “all things” (Claromontanus, a few others) (2 words)

1 Cor 9:22 “all means some I might save” vs. “by all means I might save” (2 words)

1 Cor 10:2 “were baptized” (aorist middle) vs. “received baptism” (passive) (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary volume 10 p.249)

1 Cor 10:5 “God” vs. (absent, which would imply Christ as the subject) (Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria. These could be paraphrases, so 2 words not counted in the totals)

1 Cor 10:9 “Christ” vs. “Lord” vs. “God”

1 Cor 10:10 case of the Greek word for “murmur”

1 Cor 10:11 “examples” vs. “all examples”

1 Cor 10:20 “sacrifice not to God” vs. “not to God sacrifice”

1 Cor 10:28 add “for the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness of it”

1 Cor 11:10 “authority” vs. “veil”

1 Cor 11:15 “is given to her” vs. “is given”

1 Cor 11:24 “this” vs. “take, eat, this” (2 words)

1 Cor 11:24 “on behalf of you” vs. “on behalf of you broken”

1 Cor 11:27 “of the Lord” vs. “of Christ” (only in Alexandrinus and some Ethiopic so 1 word not counted in the totals)

1 Cor 11:29 “drinking” vs. “drinking unworthily”

1 Cor 11:29 “body” vs. “body of the Lord”

1 Cor 11:31,32 “among us” vs. “among you” Clement of Alexandria Stromata Book 1 ch.1 p.301 (not counted in the totals)

1 Cor 12:9 “same spirit” vs. “There is spirit”

1 Cor 13:3 “I boast “ vs. “I be burned” (one letter difference in the Greek) vs. “to be burned” vs. absent (2 words)

1 Cor 13:4 “love not proud/vainglorious” (Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Ephraemi Rescriptus, Claromontanus, Byzantine Lectionary) vs. “not vainglorious is love” vs. “not proud/vainglorious (p46, Vaticanus)

1 Cor 13:5 “indecently” (almost all manuscripts” vs. (<I>eusxumonei</I>) “decently” (p46) (1 letter, so not counted in the totals)

1 Cor 14:19 “five words with my mind to speak” vs. “with my mind five words to speak” (5 words)

1 Cor 14:34-35 These verses of 36 words are either after verse 33 or else after verse 40.

1 Cor 14:37 “it is command” vs. “command it is”

1 Cor 14:38 “let him be ignored” vs. “let him be ignorant” See the question on 1 Cor 14:38.

1 Cor 14:39 “languages do not forbid” vs. “do not forbid languages”

1 Cor 14:40 See variation on 1 Cor 14:34-35.

1 Cor 15:10 “with me” vs. “to me”

1 Cor 15:14 “of us” vs. “of you” (1 letter)

1 Cor 15:15 “whom he did not raise, then, if the dead are not raised.” vs. “whom he did not raise” Syriac, Irenaeus Against Heresies book 5 ch.13 p.540, Bezae Cantabrigiensis) (not counted in the totals)

1 Cor 15:31 “boasting” vs. “boasting my brothers”

1 Cor 15:45 “first man” (most manuscripts” vs. “first” (Vaticanus, later manuscripts, so not 1 word counted in the totals)

1 Cor 15:47 “man out of heaven” vs. “man the Lord out of heaven”

1 Cor 15:49 “we shall also bear” vs. “so let us also bear”

1 Cor 15:51 “not all sleep” vs. “not all sleep not”

1 Cor 15:54 “Corruptible … incorruption” and “mortal … immortality” swap the pairs of words (2 words)

1 Cor 15:54 “victory” vs. “conflict” in (p46 and Vaticanus) (1 letter difference)

1 Cor 15:55 “Death” vs. “Hades”

1 Cor 16:24 “amen” at the end vs. absent

Some manuscripts have the postscript, “To Corinthians First written from Philippi, by/of/through/via Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus and Timothy”

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 Orthodox Corruption of Scripture by Bart Ehrman, 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 1 Cor, 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

p11

p15

p33

p46

Si

A

B

C

D

Sahidic

Bohairic

Fay

Iren

ClemA

Origen

Ital b

Ital d

Hilary

Lucifer

Vulgate

Pelag

Eth

Chrys

Byz

Arm

Geo

Syr Pal

Syr P

Syr H

Place

1 Cor 1:1

1

-

-

-

1

-

-

1

-

1

1

2

-

-

-

2

2

1

 

-

1

1

1

1

2

2

1/ 2

-

2

2

1 Cor 1:1

1 Cor 1:4

1

-

-

-

-

2

1

2

1

1

1

1

-

-

-

1

1

1

 

-

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

-

1

1

1 Cor 1:4

1 Cor 1:8

1

-

-

-

2A

1

1

2A

1

1

1

1

-

-

-

1

1

1

 

-

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1 Cor 1:8

1 Cor 1:13

1

-

-

-

2?

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

-

-

-

-

1

1

 

-

1

1

2

1

1

(1)

1

2

2

1

1 Cor 1:13

1 Cor 1:14

1

-

-

-

-

3A

2

3A

1

1

2

2?

-

-

-

1/ 2

-

-

 

-

1/ 2?

1

1

1/ 3A

1

2

1

2

2

2

1 Cor 1:14

1 Cor 1:28

1

-

-

-

1

1

1

 

1

1

-

2

-

-

-

1/ 2

1

1

 

-

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

-

2

2

1 Cor 1:28

1 Cor 2:1

1

-

-

-

1?

1

1

2

1

2

2

1

-

-

-

-

2

2

 

-

2

2

-

2

2

2

2

-

1

2

1 Cor 2:1

1 Cor 2:4

2

-

-

-

3

2

6

1

6

1

-

-

-

-

-

1/ 2/ 5/8

4

4

 

-

1/ 5

1

-

1/3/6

6

-

1/6

-

8

-

1 Cor 2:4

1 Cor 2:10

1

-

-

-

2

1

1

2

1

1

2

-

-

-

2

1

1

1

 

-

1

1

1

1

1/3

1

1/ 2

-

1

1

1 Cor 2:10

1 Cor 2:14

1

1?

 

 

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

2

3

1

1

-

-

3

1

1 Cor 2:14

1 Cor 2:15

1

-

-

-

1

2

1

3

1

1

3/ 4

1

1

-

(1)

1/ 2

1

1

 

-

1

1

1

1/ 4

3

1

1

-

1

2

1 Cor 2:15

1 Cor 2:16

1

-

-

-

1

1

1

2

1

2

1

1

1

-

-

1

2

1

 

-

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

-

1

1

1 Cor 2:16

1 Cor 3:2

1

1?

-

-

2A

1

1

2A

1

1

1

1

-

-

1

1

1

2

 

-

1

1

1

1

1

2A

2A

-

1

1

1 Cor 3:2

1 Cor 3:3

1

1

-

-

2

1

1

1

1

1

-

-

-

2

1

1

(2)

2

 

-

 

1

1

1/ 2

2

1

1/ 2

-

2

2

1 Cor 3:3

1 Cor 3:5

2

-

-

-

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

-

-

-

1

1

 

-

1

1

2

2

2

1

1/ 2

-

2

2

1 Cor 3:5

1 Cor 3:10

1

 

 

 

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

 

-

-

 

 

 

 

1

 

-

-

1

1

-

-

1

1

1 Cor 3:10

1 Cor 3:17

1

-

-

-

1

1

1

1

1

3

1

1

-

1

-

1

1

1

 

-

1/ 4?

1

1

1

1/ 2

1

1

-

-

-

1 Cor 3:17

1 Cor 4:17

1

-

-

-

1

1

2

2

1

3

2

1

-

-

-

2

2

3

 

-

1/ 2

2

-

2

2

1

1/ 2

-

2

1

1 Cor 4:17

1 Cor 5:4

1

-

-

-

4

3

2

1

 

1

4

4

-

-

-

-

1

1

 

2

3?/4

4

4

4

4

4

3/ 4

-

4

4

1 Cor 5:4

1 Cor 5:5

1

-

-

-

1

2

4

1

 

3

4

4

-

-

-

1/ 2/ 3/ 4

4

3

 

-

2/4

2

(4)

1/2/4

2

4

4

-

4

4

1 Cor 5:5

1 Cor 5:7

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

2?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

1 Cor 5:7

1 Cor 5:13

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Cor 5:13

1 Cor 6:11

1

1?

-

-

1

1

2

3

3?

1

4

3

-

1

-

3

3

1

 

-

 

1/ 3

3

1/3

2

3

2/3

-

3

3

1 Cor 6:11

1 Cor 6:14

1

3

-

-

3

-

3

2

1

3

1

1

1

1

-

2

2

3

 

 -

1/ 2?

1

1

1

1

1

1

-

-

-

1 Cor 6:14

1 Cor 6:20

1

-

-

-

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

 

1

1

1

 

1

3?

1

1

3

3

3

1/3

-

3

3

1 Cor 6:20

1 Cor 7:5

1

1?

-

-

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

-

-

1

1/(2)

1

1

 

-

1

1

1

2

2

1

1/ 2

-

2

2

1 Cor 7:5

1 Cor 7:7

1

-

-

-

1

1

1

2

1

1

2

1

-

-

-

1

1

1

 

-

1/ 2

1

2

1/ 2

2

2

2/3A

-

2

2

1 Cor 7:7

1 Cor 7:13

1

-

-

-

1

1

2

2

 

1

-

-

-

 

-

-

 

 

 

 

1

 

-

1

1/ 2

2

-

 

2

2

1 Cor 7:13

1 Cor 7:14

1

-

-

-

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

3

-

-

3

1

 

-

3

3

2

2

2

2

2

-

3

2

1 Cor 7:14

1 Cor 7:15

1

-

-

-

2

1

1

2

1

2

2

1

2

-

-

-

1

1

 

-

2

-

2?

2

2

2

2

-

2

2

1 Cor 7:15

1 Cor 7:34

1

-

1

-

2

2

2

1

 

3

1

1?

-

-

-

2

-

(5)

 

-

1/ 4?

4

2

(5)

4/5

-

-

-

4

-

1 Cor 7:34

1 Cor 7:40

1

-

2

(2)

1

1

1

1

 

1

1

1

1

-

-

1

1

1

 

-

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

-

1

1

1 Cor 7:40

1 Cor 8:2

1

 

1

 

2A

1

1

1

 

1

1

1

1

 

 

2A

 

 

 

 

1

 

-

-

1

1

 

 

1

1

1 Cor 8:2

1 Cor 8:3a

2

-

1?

-

2A

1

1

1

-

1

1

1

1

-

2A

-

(1)

1

 

-

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

-

1

1

1 Cor 8:3a

1 Cor 8:3b

2

 

1

 

2A

2A

1

1

-

1

1

1

1

 

2A

-

 

 

 

-

1

 

2

1

1

1

1

-

1

1

1 Cor 8:3b

1 Cor 8:7

1

 

 

 

-

1

1

1

-

2

1

1

1

-

-

-

2

2

 

-

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

-

2

2

1 Cor 8:7

1 Cor 8:12

1

-

-

-

3A

1

1

1

-

1

1

1

1

-

1?

1

1

1

 

-

1

2

(1)

1

1

1

1

-

(1)

1

1 Cor 8:12

1 Cor 9:1

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

 

2

 

1 Cor 9:1

 1 Cor 9:15

1

-

-

-

1

1

2

1

4

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

1

 

-

4

4

-

4

4

1

3/ 4

-

-

3

1 Cor 9:15

1 Cor 9:20

5

-

-

-

-

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

-

-

-

1

1

1

 

-

1

1

2

1

2

 

 

-

2

1

1 Cor 9:20