Byzantine text-type

Codex Vaticanus 354 S (028), an uncial codex with a Byzantine text, assigned to the Family K1

In the textual criticism of the New Testament, the Byzantine text-type (also called Majority Text, Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text) is one of the main text types. It is the form found in the largest number of surviving manuscripts of the Greek New Testament. The New Testament text of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Patriarchal Text, as well as those utilized in the lectionaries, are based on this text-type. Similarly, the Aramaic Peshitta which often conforms to the Byzantine text is used as the standard version in the Syriac tradition, including the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Chaldean church.[1][2][3] Whilst varying in around 1,800 places from printed editions,[4] the Byzantine text-type also underlies the Textus Receptus Greek text used for most Reformation-era (Protestant) translations of the New Testament into vernacular languages.[5] Modern translations (since 1900) mainly use eclectic editions that conform more often to the Alexandrian text-type, which is viewed as the most accurate text-type by most scholars,[6] although some modern translations that use the Byzantine text-type have been created.[7]

The Byzantine text is also found in a few modern Eastern Orthodox editions, as the Byzantine textual tradition has continued in the Eastern Orthodox Church into the present time. The text used by the Orthodox Church is supported by late minuscule manuscripts. It is commonly accepted as the standard Byzantine text.[8] There are also some textual critics such as Robinson and Hodges who still favor the Byzantine Text, and have produced Byzantine-majority critical editions of the Greek New Testament.[9] This view was famously defended by John Burgon.[10]

  1. ^ Introduction To Bibliology: What Every Christian Should Know About the Origins, Composition, Inspiration, Interpretation, Canonicity, and Transmission of the Bible
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference earlyvers-nt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Pickering, Wilbur N. (2012). Identity of the New Testament Text III. Wipf & Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4982-6349-8.
  4. ^ Wallace, Daniel B. (1994). "The Majority Text Theory: History, Methods, and Critique". Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. 37 (2): 194 fn. 59.
  5. ^ "The Majority Text and the Original Text: Are They Identical? | Bible.org". bible.org. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  6. ^ Andrews, Edward D. (2019-02-02). INTRODUCTION TO THE TEXT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT: From The Authors and Scribe to the Modern Critical Text. Christian Publishing House. ISBN 978-1-949586-78-7.
  7. ^ "Translations". ByzantineText.com. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference goj-byz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference maurice-maj was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Heuer, Mark (1995). "AN EVALUATION OF JOHN W. BURGON'S USE OF PATRISTIC EVIDENCE" (PDF). The Evangelical Theological Society.