Bible Query – Early Manuscripts of Hebrews
November 15, 2009
Q: In Heb, what are early New Testament
manuscripts we have preserved today?
A: Here are many of them.
p12 (285-300
A.D.) Hebrews 1:1
End
of 3rd century - 1968 - The Text of the New Testament.
Late
3rd century - 1998 - Aland et al. Fourth Revised Edition
p13 (=Papyrus
Oxyrhynchus 657) contains Hebrews 2:14-5:5; 10:8-22; 10:29-11:13; 11:28b-12:17
(c.225-250 A.D.) A photograph of part of this is in The Complete Text of the
Earliest New Testament Manuscripts p.74. It says on p.75 that out of 88
variation units, p13 and p46 has 71 agreements and only 17 disagreements.
4th century - 1902-1903 - Grenfell and Hunt according to The
Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts p.73. On p.17 it
says Grenfell and Hunt hesitated to date ANY New Testament manuscript earlier
than the third century, even though they mentioned the handwriting belonged to
the late first or second century.
3rd/4th
century, perhaps first half of fourth century - 1968 - The Text of the New
Testament also has 11:14-28a, but The Complete Text of the Earliest New
Testament Manuscripts p.74 says this is missing due to the loss of one
column.
3rd/4th
century - 1975 - Aland et al. Third Edition
3rd/4th
century - 1998 - Aland et al. Fourth Revised Edition
200-250
A.D. - others
(225-250
A.D.) - 1999 - The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts
p.73. Comfort and Barrett on p.73 say that based on very similar handwriting to
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 852 (175-25 A.D.), many similarities to Papyrus Oxyrhynchus
2635 (ca. 200 A.D.). The dating is not earlier than 225 A.D. though, because it
is written on the back side of Papyrus 657 (part of the Epitome of Livy’s History
of Rome), and this is dated to the third century.
p17 Heb 9:12-19
(late 3rd century)
4th
century - 1968 - The Text of the New Testament.
p46 Chester Beatty II
ca.200 A.D. 300 of the 303 verses of Hebrews. Specifically it has Hebrews
1:1-9:16; 9:18-10:10; 10:22-30; 10:32-13:25 (290 verses) and other parts of
Paul’s letters. 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 that a professional scribe wrote this.
c.200
A.D. - 1968 - The Text of the New Testament.
About
200 A.D. - 1975 - Aland et al. Third Edition
About
200 A.D. - 1998 - Aland et al. Fourth Revised Edition
p79 Hebrews
10:10-12,28-30 (7th century)
p89 Hebrews
6:7-9,15-17 (4th century)
p114
(=Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 4498) Hebrews 1:7-12 (3rd century)
p116 (=Papyrus
Vindob. G42417) Hebrews 2:9-11; 3:3-6 (6th century)
Vaticanus
(325-350 A.D.) contains all of Hebrews except Hebrews 9:14-13:25 according to
Gospel Parallels. A photograph of the first page of Hebrews in Vaticanus is in Lost
Christianities p.218
Sinaiticus
(340-350 A.D.) and Alexandrinus (c.450 A.D.) contain all of Hebrews.
Bohairic Coptic
3rd/4th
Fayyumic Coptic
3rd/4th century
Sahidic Coptic
3rd/4rth 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
Ephraemi Rescriptus
5th century
Armenian
[Arm] from 5th century
Georgian
[Geo] from 5th century
Bezae Cantabrigiensis
5th or 6th century
Washington
5th century
Ethiopic
[Eth] from c.500 A.D.
Wolfenbuttel
6th century
Q: In Heb, 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 87 words between the Textus Receptus and the
majority text. These are in 55 places. He does not record any additional
alternates.
A: The book of Hebrews has a total of 4,953 Greek words in
303 verses. This is the count in both Aland et al. 3rd edition and Aland et al.
4th revised edition, including 18 words in brackets. You can see the text of
the 3rd edition on-line at http://www.greekbible.com. Hebrews has an
estimated word-for-word accuracy of 98.3%, with 86 words in question.
These are in 36 verses (49 places). Of these, 40 are single word.
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.
Heb 1:12 “you shall roll them up” (Chester Beatty II, second
corrector of Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, second corrector of Bezae Cantabrigiensis,
Byzantine Lectionary, Chrysostom, many others) vs. “you shall change” (original
Bezae Cantabrigiensis, Athanasius) (1 word, not counted in the totals)
Heb 1:3
“him cleansing” vs. “him through/by himself cleansing” (2 words)
Heb 1:3 “cleansing for sins” vs. “cleansing for our sins”
(majority of Byzantine manuscripts so 1 word not counted in the totals)
Heb 1:8
“of you/your (singular) kingdom ” vs. “of him/his kingdom” (p46, Sinaiticus,
Vaticanus) vs. (absent)
Heb 1:12
“as a garment/clothing and” vs. “and as a garment/clothing” vs. “and”
Heb 2:7
“crowned him” (p46, Vaticanus, Bezae Cantabrigiensis, some Byzantine
lectionary) vs. “crowned him and set him over the works of your hands”
(Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, some Byzantine Lectionary) (10 words) (This matches
the phrase in Psalm 8:6)
Heb 2:9
“by the grace of God” vs. “without which/besides God” (3 letters) (Almost all
early manuscripts in the Alexandrian and Byzantine family support the first. No
one supports the second, except Origen and Ambrose.
Heb 2:14 “same things” (humanity in the NIV) vs. “same
sufferings” 1 word (only in Beza Cantabrigiensis, Italic b, so not counted in
the totals.)
Heb 2:18 “suffered, having been tempted” vs. “suffered” (1
word) (Only in original Sinaiticus so not counted in the totals)
Heb 3:1
“Jesus” vs. “Christ Jesus” (Byzantine) vs. “Jesus Christ” (Corrected Ephraemi
Rescriptus, Corrected Bezae Cantabrigiensis, Armenian)
Heb 3:2
“in all the house” vs. “in the house”
Heb 3:6
“where” vs. “who”
Heb 3:6
“until/to the end firm we hold fast” vs. “we hold fast” (2 words)
Heb 4:2
“to mix/unite with” vs. “having been mixed/united with”
Heb 4:3
“For” vs. “Therefore”
Heb 4:3
“into the rest” (almost all other early manuscripts, Byzantine Lectionary) vs.
“into rest” (p13, Chester Beatty II, Vaticanus, original Bezae Cantabrigiensis)
Heb 4:3
“we enter” vs. “let us enter”
Heb 5:11
“about this” vs. “about Him”
Heb 5:12
“placement of accent mark on the word “someone”
Heb 6:2
“baptism teachings/doctrine” vs. “teachings/doctrine of baptism”
Heb 6:3
“we will do” vs. “let us do” (1 letter)
Heb 7:4
“Even Abraham” vs. “Abraham”
Heb 7:21
“priest forever” (p46, Vaticanus, Ephraemi Rescriptus, Sahidic Coptic) vs.
“priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (second corrector of
Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Bezae Cantabrigiensis, Byzantine Lectionary,
Chrysostom) vs. (absent) (original Sinaiticus) (7 words)
Heb 8:8
“fault with the people” vs. “fault and said to the people”
Heb 8:11
“fellow man/citizen” vs. “neighbor”
Heb 9:1
“therefore also/and” (Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Bezae Cantabrigiensis, some
Byzantine Lectionary, Chrysostom) vs. “therefore” (apparent p46, Vaticanus,
Sahidic Coptic, Bohairic Coptic, Fayyumic Coptic, some Byzantine Lectionary)
Heb 9:10
“ordinances” vs. “and ordinances”
Heb 9:11
“good things that have come” vs. “good things that will come”
Heb 9:14
“eternal” (apparent p17, original Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, Alexandrinus, second
corrector of Bezae Cantabrigiensis, Byzantine Lectionary) vs. “holy” (second
corrector of Sinaiticus, original Bezae Cantabrigiensis, Bohairic Coptic,
Fayyumic Coptic, Chrysostom)
Heb 9:14
“our” vs. “your” (plural)
Heb 9:14
“eternal spirit” vs. “Holy Spirit”
Heb 9:17
“for it is then… lives.” vs. “for is it then…lives?”
Heb 9:17
“in no way” (second corrector of Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Ephraemi Rescriptus,
second corrector of Bezae Cantabrigiensis, Byzantine Lectionary) vs. “not ever”
(original Sinaiticus, original Bezae Cantabrigiensis, Ethiopic)
Heb 9:19
“calves and the goats” vs. “goats and the calves” vs. “calves and goats” vs.
“calves” (2 words)
Heb 9:26 “suffered” (most manuscripts) vs. “died” (only in
Sahidic and some Medieval Greek manuscripts so not counted in the totals)
Heb 10:1
“not itself” vs. “and” (2 words)
Heb 10:1
“it” vs. “they”
Heb 10:1
“it never is able” vs. “they never are able”
Heb 10:10 “body” (most manuscripts) vs. “blood” (only Bezae
Cantabrigiensis so not counted in the totals)
Heb 10:29 “by which he was sanctified” vs. absent (only in
Alexandrinus so not counted in the totals)
Heb 10:34
“bonds” (same meaning and same grammar)
Heb 10:34
“yourselves” vs. “in yourselves”
Heb 10:38
“my just by faith” vs. “just by my faith” vs. “just by faith”
Heb 11:1
“assurance of things” (p46, almost all early manuscripts, Byzantine Lectionary)
vs. “of things of resurrection” (p13, Origen, so not counted in the totals)
Heb 11:4 “God” vs. (absent) (All the main manuscripts have
“God” except for p13 (3rd/4th century) and Clement of Alexandria)
Heb 11:4
“the” vs. “the/this”
Heb 11:11 “Sarah barren” (p46, Bezae Cantabrigiensis) vs.
“Sarah” (Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, correct Bezae Cantabrigiensis, Byzantine
Lectionary, Chrysostom) vs. “Sarah herself, though barren, received power to
conceive, even when she was too old, because she considered him faithful who
had promised” (only Sahidic Coptic) (approximately 15 words not counted in the
totals)
Heb 11:23
“king.” vs. “king. By great faith, was born Moses did not forebear to kill the
Egyptian when he saw the humiliation of his brothers” (original Bezae
Cantabrigiensis) (13 words not counted in the totals)
Heb 11:37
“they were tried/tempted” vs. “they were sawn in two” vs. “they were
tried/tempted, they were sawn in two” vs. “they were sawn in two, they were
tried/tempted” (2 words)
Heb 12:1 “such” (tosouton) vs. (tulikouton)
(original Sinaiticus, I (Washington, 5th century)) (not counted in the totals)
Heb 12:1
“easily surrounding/entangling sin” vs. “easily distracting sin”
Heb 12:3
“hostility against himself for sinners” vs. “hostility from sinners against
himself”
Heb 12:18
“touched [something]” vs. “ touched [the] mountain”
Heb 13:15
“of/by Him” vs. “through it” (2 words)
Heb 13:20 “Jesus Christ our Savior” (most manuscripts) vs.
“Jesus Christ our God” (only in old Latin, so not counted in the totals)
Heb 13:21
“every good” vs. “work good” vs. “every work good”
Heb 13:21
“will” vs. “will of him”
Heb 13:21
“of/among us” vs. “of/among you”
Heb 13:25
add “amen” at the end
Some manuscripts add at the end “To the Hebrews written from
Italy, by Timothy” (8 words not counted in the totals)
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.
No Irenaeus
|
Place |
words |
p13 |
p17 |
p46 |
p79 |
Si |
A |
B |
C |
D |
Sah |
Boh |
Fay |
Iren |
Clem A |
Origen |
Ital b |
Ital d |
Vulgate family |
Lucif. |
Pelag. |
Eth |
Chryst. |
Byz |
Arm |
Geo |
Syr P |
Syr H |
Syr Pal |
|
Heb 1:3 |
1 |
|
|
3 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
- |
|
- |
3 |
- |
|
- |
- |
(4) |
4 |
4 |
1 |
1/ 3 |
(3) |
3 |
1 |
|
Heb 1:8 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
|
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
- |
|
- |
1 |
1 |
|
- |
- |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1?/ 3? |
|
Heb 1:12a |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Heb 1:12b |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
(1) |
1 |
(1?) |
|
Heb 2:7 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
(2) |
2 |
(2) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
2 |
2 |
1/ 2 |
|
1/ 2 |
(1) |
(1) |
|
|
Heb 2:8 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Heb 2:9 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
1/ 2 |
|
|
|
- |
- |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Heb 3:2 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Heb 3:6a |
1 |
1 |
|
3 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
3 |
- |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
(1) |
1 |
|
|
Heb 3:6b |
1 |
1 |
|
1 |
|
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
1 |
- |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
(2) |
2 |
2 |
|
Heb 4:2 |
1 |
1? |
|
1 |
|
2 |
(1) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1/ 2 |
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
3 |
- |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
Heb 4:3a |
1 |
1 |
|
1 |
|
2 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
|
2 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(3) |
- |
1 |
1 |
1 |
(1) |
1 |
(2) |
1 |
1 |
|
Heb 4:3b |
1 |
2? |
|
2 |
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
Heb 5:12 |
1 |
|
|
3 |
|
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1/ 2 |
2 |
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
- |
- |
(2) |
2 |
2 |
2 |
(2) |
|
|
|
|
Heb 6:2 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1? |
1 |
1 |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
(2) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
1 |
(2) |
|
Heb 6:3 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
1 |
|
1/ 2 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
Heb 7:21 |
7 |
|
|
1 |
|
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
|
2 |
2 |
|
1/(3) |
|
|
1 |
|
Heb 8:8 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Heb 8:11 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Heb 9:1 |
1 |
|
|
2? |
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
2 |
1 |
1/ 2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
Heb 9:10 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
2 |
1 |
(1) |
1? |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
|
4 |
4 |
(1) |
4 |
|
4 |
|
|
Heb 9:11 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
|
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
- |
- |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
(1) |
1 |
(1) |
|
Heb 9:14a |
1 |
|
1? |
|
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
2? |
2 |
2 |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1? |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Heb 9:14b |
1 |
|
|
|
|
2 |
1 |
- |
|
1 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
|
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Heb 9:17 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
2 |
1 |
- |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
2 |
|
1 |
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
Heb 9:19 |
1 |
|
|
4 |
|
1 |
1 |
- |
|
2 |
1/ 2? |
3 |
3 |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
3 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
(4) |
4 |
4 |
|
Heb 10:1a |
1 |
|
|
4 |
|
|
1 |
- |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
- |
- |
|
1 |
1 |
(1) |
1 |
3 |
|
|
|
Heb 10:1b |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
2 |
2 |
- |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
1 |
1 |
1/ 2 |
2 |
1/ 2 |
|
|
|
|
Heb 10:11 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
1? |
1 |
2 |
- |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
Heb 10:34a |
1 |
|
|
2 |
|
3 |
1 |
- |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
2?/3 |
|
|
|
- |
1 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1/3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Heb 10:34b |
1 |
1 |
|
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
- |
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
|
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
Heb 10:38 |
1 |
3 |
|
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
- |
|
2 |
1 |
1? 3 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
3 |
3 |
|
3 |
3 |
|
|
|
|
Heb 11:1 |
1 |
3 |
|
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
- |
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
1/ 3 |
|
|
|
- |
- |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
Heb 11:11 |
1 |
5? |
|
1 |
|
5 |
5 |
- |
|
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
4 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
Heb 11:23 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
- |
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Heb 11:37 |
1 |
3? |
|
1 |
|
5 |
3 |
- |
|
6 |
(1) |
3/5? |
|
|
|
1/ 3 |
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|
|
- |
- |
1 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
(5) |
|
1 |
(3) |
|
Heb 12:1 |
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
|
1 |
1 |
- |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
1 |
|
|
|
Heb 12:3 |
1 |
5 |
|
5 |
|
3 |