Bible Query – Early Manuscripts of 3 John
November 15, 2009
Q: In 3 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
Vaticanus
[B] (325-350 A.D.), Sinaiticus [Si] (340-350 A.D.), and Alexandrinus
[A] c.450 A.D have all of 3 John.
Bezae Cantabrigiensis
c.450-550 A.D. has preserved 3 John 11-15.
Bohairic Coptic
3rd/4th century
Sahidic Coptic
3rd/4rth century
Ephraemi Rescriptus
5th century
Armenian
5th century
Georgian
5th century
Ethiopic
[Eth] from c.500 A.D.
Philoxenian
Syriac 507/508 A.D. Bishop Philoxenus of
Mabug
Harclean Syriac
[Syr H] 616.A.D Thomas of Harkel
Q: In 3 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 3 Jn, what are some of the
manuscript variations?
A: The book of 3 John has a total of 219 Greek words in 14
verses. This is the count in both Aland et al. 3rd edition and Aland et al. 4th
revised edition, with no words in brackets. You can see the text of the 3rd
edition on-line at http://www.greekbible.com. 3 John has an estimated
word-for-word accuracy of 98.6%, with 3 words in question. These are in 3
verses (3 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 the evidence for a particular
reading is so strong that the alternatives are very unlikely. See the next
question for which manuscripts support which variant.
3 Jn 3
“for” vs. absent
3 Jn 4
“with joy” vs. “joy”
3 Jn 9
I wrote [*] church. The Greek word (an) indicates contingency in certain
constructions
3 Jn 15 (absent) vs. “amen” at the end in later manuscripts)
(1 word not counted in the totals)
Some manuscripts add the postscript, “Of John letter General
Third”
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.
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 |
B |
C |
Sah |
Boh |
Eth |
Ital |
Vg |
Byz |
Arm |
Geo |
Syr Ph |
Syr H |
|
3 Jn 3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1/3 |
2 |
1/ 2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
1 |
1 |
|
3 Jn 4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
1/3 |
1/ 2? |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
3 Jn 9 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
1/2 |
- |
(1)/3 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
5 |
(1) |
(1) |
|
Place |
words |
Si |
A |
B |
C |
Sah |
Boh |
Eth |
Ital |
Vg |
Byz |
Arm |
Geo |
Syr Ph |
Syr H |