Introduction to the textual criticism of the Greek New TestamentNestle, Eberhard
Religion
Introduction to the textual criticism of the Greek New Testament
Nestle, Eberhard
Bible. New Testament -- Criticism, Textual
It was Carl LACHMANN (1793-1851) who first broke with the Textus
Receptus altogether. He was a master in the domain of textual criticism.
He distinguished himself first in the department of classical and
Teutonic philology, but came afterwards to render equal service to the
textual criticism of the New Testament. His object was to restore the
text to the form in which it had been read in the ancient Church about
the year 380, going on the ground of the oldest known Greek and Latin
manuscripts, _i.e._ the oldest Eastern and Western authorities.[14] He
did not claim to go further back than that date with any certainty. But
it was still open to question whether that were not possible, and
whether the grounds on which Lachmann’s work was based might not be
still further extended and confirmed.
[Sidenote: Tischendorf.]
11. The task which Lachmann set before him was prosecuted with the most
brilliant success in and from Germany by Gottlob (Aenotheus) Friedrich
Constantin von TISCHENDORF (b. 18th January 1815, d. 7th December 1874).
In the course of several tours, first in Europe and afterwards in the
East, from the year 1841 onwards, he discovered and collated a number of
the most important and ancient manuscripts of the Bible. Among these the
most notable was the Codex Sinaiticus, found by him on Mount Sinai in
1859, and now in St. Petersburg, the oldest known manuscript of the
present day which contains the entire Greek New Testament. On the basis
of the material collected by himself and others, Tischendorf prepared
eight different editions between 1841 and 1872.[15] His seventh edition,
consisting of 3500 copies, appeared in 1859, previous to the discovery
of the Sinaiticus. The text of this edition differed from that of 1849
in 1296 instances, of which no fewer than 595 were reversions to the
Textus Receptus. The text of the last edition, the octava critica maior,
which was issued complete in eleven parts between 1864 and 1872,
differed from that of the seventh in 3572 places. The third volume of
the editio octava maior, containing the Prolegomena, was completed in
three parts, extending to 1428 pages, by Caspar René Gregory between
1884 and 1894, a work which affords the most complete survey of what has
been done on the Greek New Testament up to the present time.
LITERATURE.—Scrivener, ii. 235; _TiGr._, 1-22; _Urt._, 49-52. Apart
from the Editio Octava Maior, the most useful editions will be found
to be those of O. v. Gebhardt (see below, p. 23), or the Editio
Academica ad editionem oct. maior. conformata, Leipzig, Mendelssohn,
16mo, 1855, twentieth edition, 1899.
[Sidenote: Tregelles.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account