Read the New Testament Like It Was Written
Greek abbreviations, contractions and ligatures. Learning abbreviations in the Greek New Testament is essential for understanding how scribes preserved the text in manuscripts. Abbreviations were used to save space and to show reverence, particularly for sacred names and common phrases. Here's how to master them: 1. Focus on Nomina Sacra The nomina sacra ("sacred names")…
The revision of the Latin version of Erasmus, in his edition of 1519, raised up against him yet more enemies. In his first edition, he retained, in the beginning of St. John's Gospel, the expression of the Vulgate, "In principio erat Verbum": in 1519, however, he followed the phraseology of the early Latin fathers, substituting…
The British Library has a collection of over a thousand Greek manuscript volumes. Thanks to a generous grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the British Library has made the digitized version of its Greek manuscripts freely available online at www.bl.uk/manuscripts .
The division of the New Testament into chapters, now in use, was made in the dark ages, after the selection of portions for ecclesiastical readings, which frequently therefore run on from one chapter into another. That division frequently separates things which are closely connected, and joins together things which are really distinct. (Johann Albrecht Bengel)…
List of the printed editions of the Greek New Testament Novum Instrumentum omne - Desiderius Erasmus (1516) Editio Regia - Robertus Stephanus (Robert I Estienne) (1550) Novum Testamentum Graecum, cum lectionibus variantibus MSS - John Mill (1707) The Greek New Testament - Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1857) Novum Testamentum Graece. Editio Octava Critica Maior : 2…
All these were Khaldhaye, that is to say Ancient Syrians, according to the tradition of the early writers. And because the greater number of [these] writers were Greeks, they changed the sounds of the Chaldean names and did not pronounce them as they were pronounced in Chaldean fashion. For behold, also, in the case of…
Two monks live near each other at the same time. They both profess to be students. Only one, however, does anything towards disciplining his mind. One uses language and lamentations as follows : — " They have invented a new language, which they call Greek ; you must be carefully on your guard against it…
A Gospel synopsis is a comparison of parallel passages from the four canonical Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This type of analysis arranges corresponding sections from each Gospel side by side to highlight similarities and differences in how they narrate events, teachings, and themes related to the life of Jesus. Here's an overview of…
Many Greek manuscripts of the New Testament after the eighth and ninth centuries mark the beginning of the lections with the word ἀρχή or ἀρ or χʹ/ ἀρ and the end with the word τέλος or τέ or λ/τέ inserted into the text, but written in coloured, commonly vermillion ink. In Greek New Testament manuscripts…