Textual variants in the Epistle to the Romans explained

Textual variants in the Epistle to the Romans are the subject of the study called textual criticism of the New Testament. Textual variants in manuscripts arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to a text that is being reproduced. An abbreviated list of textual variants in this particular book is given in this article below.

Most of the variations are not significant and some common alterations include the deletion, rearrangement, repetition, or replacement of one or more words when the copyist's eye returns to a similar word in the wrong location of the original text. If their eye skips to an earlier word, they may create a repetition (error of dittography). If their eye skips to a later word, they may create an omission. They may resort to performing a rearranging of words to retain the overall meaning without compromising the context. In other instances, the copyist may add text from memory from a similar or parallel text in another location. Otherwise, they may also replace some text of the original with an alternative reading. Spellings occasionally change. Synonyms may be substituted. A pronoun may be changed into a proper noun (such as "he said" becoming "Jesus said"). John Mill's 1707 Greek New Testament was estimated to contain some 30,000 variants in its accompanying textual apparatus[1] which was based on "nearly 100 [Greek] manuscripts."[2] Peter J. Gurry puts the number of non-spelling variants among New Testament manuscripts around 500,000, though he acknowledges his estimate is higher than all previous ones.[3]

Textual variants


Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἐν Ῥώμῃ (in Rome) – א A B C D K P Ψ 33 81 88 104 181 330 436 451 614 629 630 1241 1739 1877 1881 1962 1984 1985 2127 2492 2495 Byz Lect it vg syr cop arm Origen Ambst. Augustine

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἐν ἀγάπῃ θεοῦ (in love of God) – Codex Boernerianus

omitted by 1739 1908 Origen

Romans 1:8

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: περι – א A B C D* K 33 81 1506 1739 1881

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: υπερ – D G Ψ Byz

Romans 1:15

ἐν Ῥώμῃ – omitted by G

Romans 1:29

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πονηρια πλεονεξια κακια – B 0172 1739 1881 Origen Basil

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πονηρια κακια πλεονεξια – א A cop

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κακια πονηρια πλεονεξια – C D 33 81 cop eth

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κακια πορνεια πλεονεξια – D G (629 add πονηρια) it

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πορνεια πονηρια πλεονεξια κακια – L Ψ (88 add και after each word) 326 330 436 451 614 630 1241 1877 1962 1984 1985 2127 2492 2495 Byz Lect syr arm

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πορνεια αδικια πλεονεξια κακια – 181

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πονηρια πορνεια πλεονεξια κακια – 104 vg?

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: και πορνεια πλεονεξια κακια – P

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πλεονεξια κακια – K
Romans 2:1
Romans 3:26

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ἰησοῦ – א, A, B, C, K, P, 81, 88, 104, 181, 630, 1241, 1739, 1881, 1877, 1962, 2495, Byz, 598, 599, 603

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ἰησοῦν – D, Ψ, 33, 326, 330, 436, 451, 614, 1985, 2127, 2492

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν – 1984

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ – 629

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ – syr

omit F, G, 336, it
Romans 4:1
Romans 5:1
Romans 6:11

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ –, A, B, D, G, Ψ, 629, 630, 1739, it, vg

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυριῷ ἡμῶν – א, C, K, P, 33, 81, 88, 181, 326, 330, 436, 451, 614, 1241, 1739, 1877, 1881, 1962, 1984, 1985, 2127, 2492, 2495, Byz, Lect

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἐν Χριστῷ τῷ κυριῷ ἡμῶν – 104

omit it

Romans 6:16

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: εἰς θάνατον (for death) – omitted by D, 1739*, d, r, am, pesh, sa, arm, Ambrosiaster

Romans 6:17

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: καρδιας – majority of mss

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: καθαρας – A
Romans 7
Romans 8:1

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ιησου – א, B, D, G, 1739, 1881, it, cop, eth

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ιησου μη κατα σαρκα περιπατουσιν – A, D, Ψ, 81, 629, 2127, vg

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ιησου μη κατα σαρκα περιπατουσιν αλλα κατα πνευμα – א, D, K, P, 33, 88, 104, 181, 326, 330, (436 omit μη), 456, 614, 630, 1241, 1877, 1962, 1984, 1985, 2492, 2495, Byz, Lect
Romans 9:11

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κακον –, D, F, G, Ψ, Byz

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: φαυλον – א, B, C, 6, 81, 365, 630, 945, 1506, 1739, 1881, al
Romans 10:21

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα (and contrary) – omitted by F, G, g, Ambrosiaster, Hilary
Romans 11:1

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: τὸν λαόν – א, A, Β, C, D, K, P, Ψ, 33, 81, 88, 181, 330, 436, 451, 614, 629, 630, 1241, 1739, 1877, 1881, 1962, 1984, 1985, 2127, 2492, 2495, Byz, Lect, it, vg, syr, cop, arm, Origen, Eusebius, Chryzostom, Augustine, Theodoret

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: τὴν κληρονομίαν –, G, it, goth, Ambrosiaster, Ambrose, Pelagius
Romans 12:9

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀποστυγοῦντες τὸ πονηρόν – F, G, lat, syr replaced into Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: μισουντες το πονηρον

Romans 12:11

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κυριω – א Α Β D P Ψ 33 81 88 104 181 326 330 436 451 614 629 630 1241 1739 1877 1881 1962 1984 1985 2127 2492 2495 Byz

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: καιρω – D* F G 5
Romans 13:1

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: υπο θεου – א Α Β D Ψ Byz

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: απο θεου – D* F G 629 945

Romans 13:9

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ου ψευδομαρτυρησεις, ουκ επιθυμησεις – 01 048 81 88 104 326 330 365 436 451 629 1506 1962 1984 2127 2492 2495 Byz 597 598 599 a b vg (syr) cop

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ου ψευδομαρτυρησης, ουκ επιθυμησης – P

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ουκ επιθυμησεις – Α Β D F G L Ψ 6 33 181 614 630 1175 1241 1739 1877 1881 vgst syr cop

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ουκ επιθυμησεις, ου ψευδομαρτυρησεις – 2495
Romans 14:1
Romans 15:19

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πνευματος θεου – א D P Ψ 88 181 326 436 614 629 1241

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πνευματος αγιου – A D G 33 81 104 630 1739

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πνευματος θεου αγιου – 330 451

Romans 15:29

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Χριστου – א Α Β C D G P 81 629 630 1739 1881 ar d e f g x z vg cop arm

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: του ευαγγελιου του Χριστου – א Ψ 33 88 104 181 326 330 436 451 614 1241 1877 1962 1984 2127 2492 2495 Byz Lect vg syr

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: της διδαχης του Χριστου – eth

Romans 15:31

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: διακονια – א Α C D P Ψ 33 81 88 104 181 326 330 436 451 614 629 630 1241 1739 1877 1881 1962 1984 1985 2127 2492 2495 Byz Lect

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: δωροφορια – B D G
Romans 16:15

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ιουλιαν, Νηρεα – א Α Β C D P Ψ 33 81 88 104 181 326 330 436 451 614 629 630 1241 1739 1877 1881 1962 1984 1985 2127 2492 2495 Byz Lect it vg syr cop arm

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Βηρεα και Αουλιαν

Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ιουνιαν, Νηρεα – C G

Romans 16:20

ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ (Χριστου) μεθ' ὑμῶν (The grace of our Lord Jesus (Christ) with you) – mss of the Alexandrian, Caesarean, and Byzantine text-types

omitted by D*, F, G, d, f, g, m, bodl Ambrosiaster Pelagius

Romans 16:24

Verse omitted by Codex Sinaiticus A B C 5 81 263 623 1739 1838 1962 2127 it vg cop eth Origen)

Verse included by D G Ψ 88 181 326 330 451 614 629 630 1241 1877 1881 1984 1985 2492 2495 Byz Lect it vg syr

Verse included but following 16:27 P 33 104 256 436 1319 1837 syr arm

Romans 16:25-27

verses omitted by F, G, 629, d**?, g, goth?, Jerome

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Adam Fox, John Mill and Richard Bentley: A Study of the Textual Criticism of the New Testament 1675–1729 (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1954), pp. 105–115; John Mill, Novum Testamentum Graecum, cum lectionibus variantibus MSS (Oxford 1707)
  2. Metzger and Ehrman (2005), p.154
  3. Peter J. Gurry, "The Number of Variants in the Greek New Testament: A Proposed Estimate" New Testament Studies 62.1 (2016), p. 113