Bible Manuscripts

Bible Manuscripts. Handwritten copies of portions of the Bible.

Bible manuscripts vary in length from tiny fragments that contain one or two words to book-length scrolls and codices of the complete biblical canon. The large number of biblical manuscripts with their variant readings, whether OT or NT, raises for many the question as to whether we can determine the original wording. Textual critics respond by comparing the different manuscripts and applying principles modeled on their understanding of ancient scribal practices and transmission processes to create critical editions of the OT and NT, their best understanding of what the original texts would have been. Skeptics focus on the differences between biblical manuscripts and claim that the originals were quickly lost and that scribes subsequently altered biblical texts in the recopying process to suit their own divergent theological agendas. Others challenge this position by pointing out that agreement in wording between manuscripts is the norm and, where there are differences, the vast majority make little difference to the general meaning of the text. Most differences consist of variations in word order or the use of synonyms. In addition, they point to research into ancient libraries and book collections which demonstrates that, at least in the case of Greco-Roman manuscripts, they often survived for up to 350 to 500 years and that best scribal practice involved searching out the earliest and most carefully copied texts when producing new copies. On this basis, our assumption should be that Jewish and early Christian communities followed similar practices when caring for biblical texts, and even, as may have been the case, the original autographs.

Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures

The textual evidence for the OT may be divided into four categories: (1) biblical scrolls from Qumran; (2) Greek Septuagint (LXX) texts; (3) Hebrew Masoretic texts (MT); and (4) less significant manuscripts in other languages such as Aramaic, Syriac, and Latin. Scholars estimate the dating of the oldest respective manuscripts as follows:

Dead Sea Scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) are a collection of Second Temple Jewish manuscripts discovered in caves on the northern shore of the Dead Sea between 1946 and 1956. The collection includes documents specific to the Essene community at Qumran as well as approximately 220 Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek biblical scrolls, generally dated between 332 BC and AD 135. The oldest biblical scroll from the DSS collection is generally thought to be 4Q17 Exod-LevF, dated to 332–63 BC, which includes fragments from Exodus 38–40 and Leviticus 1. The biblical DSS reveal a degree of OT textual diversity as late as the turn of the eras but also testify to an emerging dominant textual tradition that provides important confirmation for the reliability of the later Masoretic textual tradition. Many readers will be familiar with the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa^a) dated to ca. 125 BC and one of the first DSS discovered in 1947. The Isaiah Scroll is a textual version that scholars refer to as proto-Rabbinic or proto-Masoretic because of its close agreement with later Masoretic text types. The DSS collection also contains many commentaries, such as the Pesher Habakkuk, in which the biblical text was applied directly to the situation of its readers rather than read in a manner sensitive to its original historical context.

The Greek Septuagint (LXX). The term “Septuagint” is used to refer to the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures that began with the third-century koine Greek translation of the Pentateuch. To speak of the Septuagint is somewhat misleading in that there are numerous units of Greek translation undertaken over hundreds of years. Scholars are divided as to the exact origins of the first Septuagint translation. The Letter of Aristeas, a Greek pseudepigraphal text dated to between 150 and 70 BC, explains the origins of the Septuagint as occurring when Demetrius, the chief librarian to the Greek monarch of Egypt, Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-247 BC), suggested to the king that he have a high-quality Greek translation of the “books of the law of the Jews” made for his library for the reason that existing Greek translations were “carelessly translated” (Let. Aris. 30; cf. 9-11; Philo, Mos. 2.25-44; Josephus, Ant. 12.11-23). The king sent a delegation, including Aristeas, to the High Priest Eleazar in Jerusalem, requesting that he send to him six elders from each tribe to translate the Hebrew Law. The High Priest duly obliged and sent a gold-lettered copy of the Law along with seventy-two elders who then spent seventy-two days on the island of Pharos translating the Law into Greek. It is from this tradition that the Septuagint derives its name. Many scholars reject this account due to perceived historical inaccuracies in the Letter of Aristeas and instead propose that the LXX translation was either a revision of earlier Greek translations or that it was a translation of Hebrew texts undertaken for the large Greek-speaking Jewish population in Alexandria who could no longer adequately understand Hebrew.

The oldest LXX manuscripts are second–century BC fragments of Leviticus and Deuteronomy (Alfred Rahlfs nos. 801, 819, and 957) and first–century AD fragments of the Torah and the Twelve Minor Prophets (Rahlfs nos. 802, 803, 805, 848, 942, and 943). The oldest complete manuscripts of the LXX are to be found in Greek Christian uncials such as Codex Sinaiticus (fourth century AD), Codex Alexandrinus (fifth century AD), and Codex Vaticanus (fourth century AD). These uncials serve as the basis of Rahlfs’s 1935 critical edition of the LXX. Later LXX manuscripts are often in agreement with older Greek manuscripts found at Qumran. For example, 4QEx^a 1:1-6 is a tiny fragment of the Greek OT that agrees with the LXX against the MT at some points (4QEx^a 1:1-6 and LXX add “their father” after Jacob; the MT does not) and elsewhere with the MT against the LXX. These differences have led some scholars to conclude that the LXX was translated from non-Masoretic Hebrew texts.

The LXX was revised in the second century AD by Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, partly to harmonize the LXX to the MT, and partly to combat Christian apologetic use of the LXX. Aquila’s revision is based upon what is known as the kaige recension in which the Hebrew word gam “also” is rendered with the somewhat idiomatic Greek term kaige. This version is characterized by its extreme literalness and a strong anti-Christian stance. Aquila replaces, for example, the LXX’s “virgin” in Isaiah 7:14, with a word meaning “young woman.” Symmachus’ revision is also based upon the kaige recension and is known for its elegant Greek style and use of Greek idioms for more wooden Hebrew constructions. Finally, Theodotion, a proselyte to Judaism, revised the kaige recension to include more transliteration, even of familiar and frequently used terms.

The LXX is significant in that (1) it is often closer to early Hebrew OT witnesses from Qumran than to the later MT; (2) it includes significant differences to the MT (e.g., LXX Jeremiah is about 2,700 words shorter than the MT), and (3) NT quotes of or allusions to the OT are typically closer to the LXX than the MT (e.g., LXX Isa 40:3 in Mark 1:3). The LXX was the OT version predominantly used by the earliest Greek-speaking Jewish and Gentile Christians.

Two differences between the Hebrew OT canon and the LXX have affected contemporary Bible translations. First, the difference between the longer LXX canon, which includes the Apocrypha (e.g., 1 and 2 Maccabees, Tobit, and Judith, etc), and the shorter Hebrew OT canon explains the difference today between longer Catholic and Orthodox OT canons directly or indirectly based on the LXX and the shorter Protestant canon based on the MT. Second, the order of books varies between the Hebrew OT and the LXX. Both start with Genesis. The LXX, however, finishes with Malachi, as reflected in Christian Bibles. In contrast, the Hebrew canon ends with 2 Chronicles. Awareness of the Hebrew OT canonical order is shown by Jesus in Matthew 23:35 when He refers to all those slaughtered from Abel (Gen 4:1-16) to Zechariah (2 Chr 24:20-22), a merism referencing the first and last books of the Hebrew canon.

Masoretic Texts. The Masoretes (Aram: “transmitters”) were Jewish scribe-scholars who copied and standardized the Hebrew Scriptures from the end of the sixth to the tenth century AD. They sought to ensure that the text was transmitted accurately by expanding the Hebrew consonantal textus receptus through the inclusion of various vowel points, accents, and marginal notes. Written biblical Hebrew only consisted of consonants (e.g., Gdshly = God is holy). By adding vowel points and accents, the Masoretes enabled readers to correctly identify the correct vowel sounds (i.e., G_od_ish_oly). There were three major groups of Masoretes: the Babylonian, Western, and Tiberian. The Tiberian group included two prominent families. The Ben Asher family denoted pronunciation in a highly nuanced manner and developed a consistent system of written representation. In contrast, the Ben Naphtali family employed a more “rigid” system of vocalization (e.g., Codex Erfurtensis).

Important Masoretic texts include Codex Cairensis, produced in AD 896 by Moses ben Asher and containing OT prophetic texts; Codex Sassoon (S1), dated ca. AD 900 and containing all books of the OT, though lacking twelve leaves; and Codex Aleppo, also produced by the Ben Asher family and dated to AD 925, consisting of the OT though lacking most of the Pentateuch. Determining the origins of these codices is usually based on their colophons, brief statements included in the manuscript on its production (i.e., by whom, where, and when it was copied).

Codex Leningradensis (L/Firkovich B19^A, National Library of Russia, Saint Petersburg) is the oldest complete Masoretic manuscript of the Hebrew Scriptures and is in overwhelming agreement with earlier Masoretic texts. It includes three colophons indicating that it was copied by the scribe Shemuʾel ben Yaꜥaqob in Cairo in 1008/9 AD from a manuscript by Aaron ben Moshe ben Asher of Tiberias. It was subsequently taken in 1839 by Abraham Firkovich to Odessa and from there to Saint Petersburg, renamed during the Bolshevik revolution as Leningrad.

Most OT translations in Protestant Bibles are based upon Codex Leningradensis which consists of 491 folios written on white parchment. It is the basis for the standard critical editions of the Hebrew OT, the Biblia Hebraica (BH, 1937), the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS, 1977), and the Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ, 2004 to present). The text is presented in three columns except the Psalms, Proverbs, and Job, which are presented in two columns. The Writings follow the Minor prophets and are in “chronological” order (Chronicles, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah).

Before the discovery of the DSS, many voiced skepticism about the reliability of OT translations based upon Codex Leningradensis, a manuscript produced fifteen hundred to three thousand years after the original OT texts were written. The discovery of Hebrew OT texts from before the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry in close agreement with the later Masoretic texts affirms for many the reliability of the biblical manuscripts upon which the majority of current OT translations are based.

New Testament

With respect to NT manuscripts, the situation is quantitatively different due to the significantly greater number of early witnesses. Scholars estimate that there are between 5,500 and 6,000 early handwritten copies of Greek NT text, a number that continues to grow as additional manuscripts are discovered. These texts consist of individual Greek NT documents as well as hundreds of allusions or quotations in the writings of the Church Fathers and early lectionaries—lists or collections of biblical passages to be read within an ecclesiastical calendar. Other important NT manuscripts include early Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, and Armenian translations. This large number of textual witnesses testifies to the bookish nature of early Christianity, a movement that incorporated texts at the heart of its early devotional practices.

Of primary historical importance for determining the original NT texts are Greek manuscripts which are often divided into three categories depending upon the material used or style of writing: (1) papyri (papyrus material, capitalized script), (2) majuscules (parchment, capitalized script), and (3) minuscules (“miniscule” or cursive script). The term “uncial” is also applied to the majuscules and is derived from the Latin uncia, meaning a “twelfth,” a reference to the practice of a capitalized letter taking up approximately one-twelfth of a regular line of writing.

Textual critics group the various witnesses into textual types or “families” based on perceived family resemblances between witnesses. These families include the Alexandrian, Caesarean, Western, and Byzantine text types. In general, Alexandrian text types are preferred on the basis that scribes in Alexandria, home of one of the greatest libraries in the ancient world, were famed for their rigor in seeking original wordings and their careful copying of texts. Byzantine texts, although the most common text type, are dated to a later period and so are deemed a less reliable reflection of the original autographs. The practice of grouping witnesses into text types has recently been challenged by some scholars who argue that family resemblance is more perceived than real, with the Western text type, in particular, coming in for sustained criticism. 

NT Papyri. The earliest NT manuscripts were written on papyrus and are typically dated to the second to fifth centuries AD. Papyri manuscripts are designated by a stylized capital letter 𝔓 followed by a number (e.g., 𝔓⁴⁶) and tend to be fragmentary, the product of nonprofessional scribes. The NT critical edition NA²⁸ lists 127 NT papyri as of the time of publication. A number of particularly significant papyri deserve mentioning:

𝔓⁵² (John Rylands University Library, Manchester) is considered the oldest fragment of any NT manuscript and is dated to the second century (ca. AD 125–175). It is 18 cm by 22 cm and includes the fragmented text of John 18:31–33 and 37–38 from an Egyptian codex. The significance of 𝔓⁵² lies in its early dating, possibly copied just forty years after the original of the Gospel of John, assuming that the Gospel was written AD 80–85. The text type, while difficult to determine due to the small amount of text, is broadly Alexandrian.

𝔓⁷⁵ (Biblioteca Apostólica, Vatican), discovered in 1950, is an uncial codex of Luke and John dated to AD 175 to 225, of which 50 leaves have survived. It is our earliest copy of Luke and one of our earliest copies of John and has a text type very similar to Codex Vaticanus. It was produced by a professional Christian scribe as indicated by his respectful abbreviation of divine names, titles (nomina sacra), and the word ‘cross’ and his subtle harmonization of Luke and John to Matthew and Mark. The typeface is large, indicating suitability for use for public reading. He introduces a number of stylistic “improvements” such as in John 10:7 (“I am the door of the sheep”) in which he replaces ‘door’ (ἡ θύρα) with ‘shepherd’ (ὁ ποιμήν).

𝔓⁴⁶ (Chester Beatty Collection, Dublin; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.) comprises 86 leaves from an Egyptian codex of about 104 leaves dated to the middle of the second century which originally included ten of Paul’s epistles, arranged in order of length: Romans, Hebrews, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians (Metzger, 37). 𝔓⁴⁶ is our earliest extant manuscript of the Pauline epistles and reflects an Alexandrian text type. This well-used manuscript was produced by a professional scribe who included stichoi notations at the end of a number of books used to record the number of lines copied in order to calculate pay. Romans and Hebrews include extensive lectoral markings to guide oral delivery.

𝔓⁴⁵ (Chester Beatty Collection, Dublin) is thought to be of Egyptian origin and is dated to the early third century. It includes portions of approximately 30 leaves from an original codex of an estimated 224 leaves that contained the four Gospels and Acts and is considered to be an eclectic variety of text types (i.e., Matthew, Luke, and John = intermediate between Alexandrian and Western; Mark = Caesarean; Acts = Alexandrian). The biblical texts are thought to have been ordered according to the so-called Western order: Matthew, John, Luke, Mark, and Acts. The scribe of 𝔓⁴⁵ is judged by textual critics to have omitted adverbs, verbs, participles, adjectives, nouns, and personal pronouns to produce a concise text that focuses on the idea–content rather than the exact language of his sources. A good example would be his abbreviation of Jesus’s statement, “I am the resurrection and the life” to “I am the resurrection” (John 11:25), presumably because he believed that “the life” was tautological to “the resurrection”.

NT Majuscules. The majority of Greek majuscules of the Gospels that survive date from the fourth to the tenth centuries AD, a period when cursive and uncial scripts were both widely used. Majuscules are normally cited by a capital letter in either English, Greek, or, for Codex Sinaiticus, the Hebrew À (aleph). With English and Greek alphabets there are only about 40 letters available. Thus over 1,000 majuscules are cited by number. Many of the cursive miniscules predate many majuscules.

Codex Sinaiticus (À 01; British Library, London) is a fourth-century majuscule discovered in 1844 and 1859 by Constantin von Tischendorf at the monastery of St. Catherine at the base of Mt. Sinai. It is a codex of the Greek Bible and includes part of the Greek OT (the Septuagint, which includes the Apocrypha), the entire NT in vernacular Greek (koine), the second-century Epistle of Barnabas, and The Shepherd of Hermas. The NT text type is predominantly Alexandrian with a later strain of the Western type. Both the Septuagint and the NT are heavily annotated by early correctors and the order of NT texts varies from the traditional order, with Hebrews placed after 2 Thessalonians and Acts after the Pastoral Epistles.

Codex Alexandrinus (A 02; British Library, London) is a fifth-century majuscule that includes the Septuagint and the NT (Matt 1:1– 25:6, sections of John 6:50–8:52, and 2 Cor 4:13–12:6 are lost). It was given by the patriarch of Constantinople as a present to King Charles I of England in 1627. The text type varies leading scholars to conclude that the scribe relied on a selection of exemplars, the Gospels being the oldest example of the Byzantine text type and the rest of the NT being an Alexandrian text type similar to À and B. Codex Alexandrinus also includes a number of NT deuterocanonical books such as 1 Clement and part of 2 Clement.

Codex Vaticanus (B; Biblioteca Apostólica, Vatican) is a fourth-century majuscule first cataloged in 1475 in the Vatican Library in Rome. It includes the majority of the Greek OT (forty-six chapters of Genesis and thirty psalms are missing), the Apocrypha (excluding Maccabees), and the majority of the NT (Matthew to 2 Thessalonians, Hebrews 1:1–9:13, James and Jude). A later document written in a minuscule font was added to the end of the fourth-century text which includes the Pastorals, Philemon, and Revelation. The earlier text is an excellent Alexandrian type and is considered by many scholars to be the best Greek text of the NT. The texts of the Gospels of Luke and John are in close agreement with 𝔓⁷⁵, dated to AD 175 to 225, indicating a preference on the part of those who produced Codex Vaticanus for the oldest forms of the text.

Codex Bezae (D, University Library, Cambridge), presented to Cambridge University in 1581 by French scholar Theodore Bezae, the successor of Calvin in the Genevan church, is a fifth to sixth-century majuscule that includes the four Gospels in the order of Matthew and John (disciples of Jesus), and Luke and Mark (companions of the disciples). It also includes Acts and a small fragment of 3 John. The manuscript is the primary representative of the so-called Western text type with many additions, sentences, and incidents. The version of Acts is approximately ten percent longer than that found in other text types and includes many additional details.

The Majority Text (𝔐): In terms of volume, the majority of ancient Greek NT manuscripts are Byzantine text types originating from the Greek-speaking eastern half of the Roman empire following the legal recognition of Christianity by Emperor Constantine in the fourth century AD. The change in the status of Christianity permitted the NT to be copied openly and in large numbers. The predominance of Byzantine text types does not, however, lead scholars to conclude that they reflect the NT autographs more closely than earlier but minority text types. 

Conclusion

The nature and variety of biblical manuscripts require us to incorporate this phenomenon within our understanding of the nature of inspiration and the formation of the canon. Careful consideration and measured judgment are required by textual critics, those well-versed in biblical languages, scribal practices, and the methods of ancient book production, to determine the age and significance of biblical manuscripts and the likely original textual forms. See also Leningrad Codex.

References

Anderson, Amy, and Wendy Widder. Textual Criticism of the Bible, Revised Edition. Lexham Methods Series. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018. 

Comfort, Philip W. Encountering the Manuscripts: An Introduction to New Testament Paleography and Textual Criticism. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2005.

Hengel, Martin, and with the assistance of Roland Deines. The Septuagint as Christian Scripture: Its Prehistory and the Problem of Its Canon. Translated by Mark E. Biddle. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002.

Würthwein, Ernst. The Text of the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Biblia Hebraica. Revised and expanded by Alexander Achilles Fischer. Translated by Errol F. Rhodes. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014.

Manuscripts, Center for the Study of New Testament. Accessed April 7, 2022.

Metzger, Bruce M. The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration. Third edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Parker, D. C. An Introduction to the New Testament Manuscripts and their Texts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.