Tag Archives: john

Papyrus 39 John Variant

In John 8:14 there is a textual variant between Η in the NA28 versus ΚΑΙ in the Byzantine text:

ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ οἴδατε πόθεν ἔρχομαι Η ποῦ ὑπάγω

ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ οἴδατε πόθεν ἔρχομαι, ΚΑΙ ποῦ ὑπάγω.

Now concerning Papyrus 39, the Münster Institute and the NA28 say 𝔓³⁹ reads Η, while the IGNTP says it reads ΚΑΙ. The NA28 does not even put a “vid” with it. But only the right edge of the last letter of the word is visible to me. It is rounded, not a straight up and down line like it would be for H or I. But the scribe’s Epsilon is round, and it seems more likely to be an E than Η or I, thus perhaps ΟΥΔΕ. Is the theory that there is only room there for one letter, like H? However, it certainly does not look like an H. (Image posted below, the 2nd line ΠΟΥ ΥΠΑ with the letter in question barely visible before that.)

The NA28 text in English is “but you do not know where I came from or where I am going.”
The Byz text in English is “but you do not know where I came from and where I am going.”
𝔓³⁹ if ΟΥΔΕ in English is “but you do not know where I came from nor where I am going.”

John Ch 7 verse 39

John 7:39 πνευμα “the spirit was not yet present’ 𝔓⁶⁶c 𝔓⁷⁵ ℵ N* T vg-st arm eth geo¹ Or-grk,lat1/6 Ps-Dion Cyr3/9 Hesych Rebap SBL NA28 {A} ‖ πνευμα αγιον “the holy spirit was not yet present” 𝔓⁶⁶* E L Nc W 047 𝔐 eth Or-lat4/6 Marcellus Did-dub Chrys Cyr6/9 Thod Tyc TR RP TH ‖ πνευμα δεδομενον “the spirit was not yet given” it-a,aur,b,ff²,l,r1 vg-cl,ww syr-c,s,p Eus Vict-Rome Ambrosiaster Ambrose Gaud Jer Aug ‖ πνευμα αγιον δεδομενον “the holy spirit was not yet given” B it-e,q vg-mss (syr-h δεδομενον with *) syr-pal geo² Or-lat1/6 ‖ το πνευμα αγιον επ αυτοις “the holy spirit was not yet upon them” D* ‖ το πνευμα το αγιον επ αυτους”the holy spirit was not yet upon them” D¹it-f ‖ lac A C P Q 0233.

Codex Vaticanus reads: ··ουπω γαρ ην πνευμα αγιον δεδομενον οτι ις̅ ·· (umlauts)

Note: The Tyndale House going against an A reading of the UBS. The NIV, ESV, NET, CSB follow the πνευμα δεδομενον reading, and the KJV and NASB put “given” in italics. Whereas Tyndale reads “For the holy goost was not yet there because that Iesus was not yet glorifyed.”

It should also be noted that the versions such as Latin which read “not yet given” may have had a source text without δεδομενον but the translators supplied “given” just like many English translations do.

John 3:34 Translation Issues

John 3:34-
ὃν γὰρ ἀπέστειλεν ὁ θεὸς τὰ ῥήματα τοῦ θεοῦ λαλεῖ, οὐ γὰρ ἐκ μέτρου δίδωσιν τὸ πνεῦμα.”
For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; because to him God gives the Spirit without measure.”

txt το πνευμα 𝔓³⁶ 𝔓⁶⁶ 𝔓⁷⁵ 𝔓⁸⁰ ℵ B¹ C* L Wsupp 083 it-b,e,fc,l Or-grk Cyr Vict-Pett½ SBL TH NA28 {B} ‖ ο θεος το πνευμα A C² D E 047 086 𝔐 it-a,aur,(d),f*,j,π,q,r¹ (itff² του θεου) vg syr-p,h cop arm eth geo Or-lat Did-dub Chrys Vict-Pett½ Greg-Elvvid Jer Aug TR RP ‖ ο πατηρ τω υιω αυτου syr-c,Diatess-Eph ‖ ο θεος ο πατηρ syrs ‖ omit B* ‖ lac Ν P Q T 0233

The Bible translator confronts two questions here: (1) whether to include ο θεος “God” or not; and (2), whether the verb δίδωσιν has an implied direct object, i.e., the person who is the subject being discussed, “he whom God has sent,” the Son.

On the first question, we cannot tell which text the translations are following, since they could have, like I did, even though following the Greek text not containing ο θεος, felt a need to clarify who was doing the giving, and added the word “God” anyway. Note in the critical apparatus that indeed the Curetonian Syriac and the Diatessaron supplied τω υιω αυτου, “to his Son.” That does not mean that their Greek exemplar contained those words.)

Following are he translations which we presume follow the UBS/NA text, which nevertheless supply the word “God” for clarification:

Weym   for God does not give the Spirit with limitations.”
CBW      for God continues to give Him the Spirit without measure.
AMP      for God gives the [gift of the] Spirit without measure [generously and boundlessly]!
CEB        because God gives the Spirit generously.
CJB         For God does not give him the Spirit in limited degree —
ERV        God gives him the Spirit fully.
EHV?     for God gives the Spirit without measure.
GW        After all, God gives him the Spirit without limit.
GNT       because God gives him the fullness of his Spirit.
ICB         . God gives him the Spirit fully.
ISV         because God does not give the Spirit in limited measure to him.
MOUNCE    for God does not give the Spirit in a limited measure.
NCB       for God gives him the Spirit without measure.
NCV       because God gives him the Spirit fully.
NIV        for God gives the Spirit without limit.
NLT        for God gives him the Spirit without limit.

On the 2nd question, whether a direct object is implied as to whom the Spirit is given without measure, the following translations supply “him” or some other stand-in for the Son:

CBW      for God continues to give Him the Spirit without measure.
Bishops       For God geueth not the spirite by measure vnto hym.
CJB         For God does not give him the Spirit in limited degree —
CEV        and he has been given the full power of God’s Spirit.
DLNT     For He does not give Him the Spirit from a measure.
ERV        God gives him the Spirit fully.
Genev for God giveth him not the Spirit by measure.
GW        After all, God gives him the Spirit without limit.
GNT       because God gives him the fullness of his Spirit.
ICB         God gives him the Spirit fully.
ISV         because God does not give the Spirit in limited measure to him.
PHILLIPS    and there can be no measuring of the Spirit given to him!
KJV         for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
NCB       for God gives him the Spirit without measure.
NCV       because God gives him the Spirit fully.
NLT        for God gives him the Spirit without limit.

And those which do not supply an object:

Weym   for God does not give the Spirit with limitations.”
AMP      for God gives the [gift of the] Spirit without measure [generously and boundlessly]!
Tyndale     For God geveth not the sprete by measure.
ASV        for he giveth not the Spirit by measure.
CSB        since he gives the Spirit without measure.
CEB        because God gives the Spirit generously.
EHV        for God gives the Spirit without measure.
ESV        for he gives the Spirit without measure.
HCSB     since He gives the Spirit without measure.
MOUNCE    for God does not give the Spirit in a limited measure.
NAB       He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.
NASB95     for He gives the Spirit without measure.
NET        for he does not give the Spirit sparingly.
NIV        for God gives the Spirit without limit.
NKJV     for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
NRSV     for he gives the Spirit without measure.
RSV        for it is not by measure that he gives the Spirit;

Now a conclusion I make about which was the true early Greek text, is that it was the reading without ο θεος, as in the 3rd centruy 𝔓⁸⁰, and that the Byzantine text, coming out of Syria, had to acknowledge the prior popularity of all the Syriac language translations that were already popular, including the Diatessaron which was more popular than the individual Greek gospels. The Syriac translators I say, supplied “God” or “the Father” for clarification just as many modern translations do even though their translations were based on a Greek source text that doid not include ο θεος. Fortunately, the addition of ο θεος in the text does no harm, since that is who is doing the giving clearly from context.

Pericope of the Adulteress

In the Pericope of the Adulteress, John 8:6 has the most significant and interesting variant in the passage. In the part where Jesus bends down and writes in the ground, about half of the majority text manuscripts add the words μη προσποιουμενος, see below.

εις την γην D Μ S U Γ Λ Ω 047 0233 2c 7 8 9 28 65c 115sup 118 700 892 1049 1071 1203 1216 1243 1514 2722 lat TR-Eras,Beza,Elz,Steph AN HF BG [NA28]

εις την γην προσποιουμενος 1194

εις την γην μη προσποιουμενος E G H K 2* 18 27 35 65* 346 475 532 579 682 1212 1505 1519 2561-mg 2253 2907 geo-mss TR-Scriv RP

lac F P Q V Π

The John 8:6 passage it translated into English like this: “But Jesus bent down and was writing in the earth with his finger, taking no notice.”

But what was Jesus writing? Messianic Rabbi Zev Porat (and Jerome before him) has a good answer to this.

Just prior to this in John 7:38, Jesus had declared himself to be the fountain of living waters. And now that the Jewish leaders had turned away from that fountain, Jeremiah 17:13 was being fulfilled in two ways: they were put to shame, and their names were being written in the earth. Jeremiah 17:13 says, “Thou hope of Israel, Yahweh! All that forsake Thee shall be ashamed; they that turn away from Thee shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Yahweh, the fountain of living waters.”

This is in contrast to those who believe in the Son of God and are born again. Their names are written in heaven, not in the earth which will be destroyed. Luke 10:20; Hebrews 12:23; Phil 4:3; Rev. 13:8; 17:8;20:12,15; 21:27; Psalm 69:28.

The above material can be read in my translation of the gospel of John, in PDF and in Print, and in Kindle.

Textus Receptus Gospel of John

I completed and uploaded my edition of the Gospel of John containing verse by verse alternation between the Textus Receptus Greek text of John and my English translation. You can download that there, and also the whole Bible Textus Receptus edtion. Kindle edition as well. The Greek text I used was Scrivener’s 1894 TR edition. I don’t see the point of translating Erasmus’ or Stephens’ editions since that would not line up with the King James Version (KJV), with which people are already very familiar.

There are not a great many differences between the Textus Receptus and the Robinson-Pierpont text of John’s gospel, but I noticed that when the TR does differ, it is often following the Western text, i.e., Codex D and Latin. I also noticed a variant reading in the TR for which I know of no Greek manuscript attesting to it (there may be one or two; I have not looked at all MSS.) And that variant is in John 20:29, “Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have believed.” That addition of the word Θωμᾶ, Thomas, is not attested in any of the Greek mss (as far as I know right now.)

Byzantine Gospel of John

I have completed and uploaded my translation of the Robinson-Pierpont majority text version of the gospel of John. You can download that as the separate pdf file, or as part of the Byz Holy Bible: https://bibletranslation.ws/trans/johnwgrkbyz.pdf https://bibletranslation.ws/trans/holybiblebyz.pdf ; A Microsoft Word edition of the whole bible is also available: https://bibletranslation.ws/trans/holybiblebyz.docx

John 15 verse 8

I just made a TC footnote on the variant in John 15:8 regarding γένησθε (aorist subjunctive) in the NA28, versus γενήσεσθε (future indicative) in TR RP. The UBS5 and NA28 footnotes cite ALL the Old Latin manuscripts as being in support of the γένησθε (aorist subjunctive) reading. This is true insofar as the subjunctive versus indicative mood question. But the Latin verbs do not agree with the Greek verbs exactly. They read in fact: sitis (pres subj) “be” it-a,d,e,q,r¹ ‖ efficiamini (pres pass subj) “be made, be proven” it-aur,b,ff² ‖ possitis fieri “be able to become” it-f. Certainly, none of the Latin manuscripts have a future tense verb.

A limitation of Coptic to render Greek is shown in the change from the UBS3 footnotes to now in the UBS5 footnotes. The UBS3 footnote cites cop-sa,bo,ach2 in support of γένησθε (aorist subjunctive) of the NA28, but now in the UBS5 and NA28, the Coptic is not cited for any reading. If you were to read the English translations of the Sahidic and Bohairic Coptic texts, you might think that they do support the NA28 reading, because they read in English, “and become to me disciples” (Sahidic) and, “and that ye be to me disciples” (Bohairic).

However, J. Martin Plumley writes in Metzger’s book “The Early Versions of the New Testament, Their Origin, Transmission and Limitations,” Clarendon Press, Oxford, 2001, p. 149, the following: “The well-developed system of auxiliary verbs in Coptic, while capable of dealing with the main temporal aspects of the Greek verb, are less able to represent the more subtle distinctions of mood, especially the subjunctive. Thus, where Coptic uses a future tense containing the element -NA-, it is not possible to decide whether the Greek text showed the future indicative or the aorist subjunctive.”

Another example of the limitation of Coptic is when applied to the extremely common variant in the Greek MSS of τε versus δε, or ουτε v. ουδε, because Coptic did not distinguish between t and d, and d was usually but not consistently, defaulted to t.

To read the footnote on John 15:8, you can download the gospel of John here.

Pericope of the Adulteress data updated

I have updated and uploaded the updates of all my documents that contain TC manuscript data for the Pericope of the Adulteress in the Gospel of John. This includes the line by line Swanson-style chart of John 5:3b-4, and the Pericope. I have changed the designations for some minuscules which recently were assigned Gregory-Aland numbers, including minuscule 2253, formerly only known as ANA 10, (a.k.a. Albania National Archive, Kod. Vl. 10), IX-XII century. In addition, I have included in the critical apparatuses, the readings of the Byzantine Greek New Testament, which is essentially the reading of minuscule 35.