Textual variants in the Second Epistle of John explained

Textual variants in the Second Epistle of John 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.

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 in the Second Epistle of John

Insciptio

Ιωανου δευτερα (Second of John) — א^c B^c

omit — ‭א* B*

Ιωαννου επιστολη δευτερα (Second Epistle of John) — rell

2 John 2

ουσαν — 33 642 2344 cop

ενοικουσαν — A 048 1735

μενουσαν — rell

2 John 3

εσται γαρ μεθ’ ημων — 048

εσται δε μεθ’ ημων — 307

και εσται μεθ’ ημων — 2492

εσται μεθ’ ημων — א B P Ψ 0232 33 323 (614) 1241 1739 ^pt vg^mss syr cop^sa,bomss

εσται μεθ’ υμων — 5 81 945 1735^{c pt} it^l vg^mss cop^bomss

omit — A 630 1448 1505 1852 2464 2495 syr

2 John 3

παρα — A B Ψ 048 0232 81 88 322 323 326 436 442 629 642 1067 1243 1409 1505 1735 1739 1846 1852 2127 2495 lat syr^phmss cop eth geo

παρα κυριου — ‭א K L P 049 056 0142 5 33 181 307 330 451 614 630 945 1175 1448 1844 1877 1881 2298 2344 2412 2464 2492 Lect vg^mss syr cop arm slav Ps-Oecumenius Theophylact

κυριου — ‭א* 1292 1611 1881 2138

omit — 1505 2495 it^l vg^(mss) Augustine Cassiodorus

2 John 5

καινην γραφω σοι — Ψ 5 81 642* 1852 it^l Augustine^pt

καινην γραφων σοι — ‭א A 33 69 323 442 614 630 642^c 1241^c 1243 1505 1611 1739 2344 2495 vg

γραφων σοι καινην — B P 436 1175 1448 1735 2492

γραφω σοι καινην — 623 1241* 2464 Augustine^pt

2 John 6

η εντολη εστιν — A B K Ψ 0232 5 33 69 323 630 1241 1505 1611 1735 1739 1852 2344 2495 vg syr

εστιν η εντολη — P 048 307 436 442 642 1175 1243 1448 2492 Lucifer

εστιν η εντολη αυτου — ‭א 1846

2 John 7

εξηλθον — p74 ‭א A B Ψ 0232 33 81 323 614 630 1241 1739 2495 vg syr cop Irenaeus^lat

εισηλθον — P 049 1175 1448 cop

2 John 8

απολησθε — ‭א*

απολητε — 326*

απολεσητε — ‭א^c A B Ψ 0232^c 81 88 181 322 323 436 614 630 1067 1241 1409 1505 1611 1735 1739 1846 1852 1881 2138 2298 2344 2412 2464 2492 2495 lat syr cop arm eth geo Irenaeus^(lat) Lucifer Isidore Ps-Chrysostom Ps-Oecumenius^comm John-Damascus Theophylact^comm

απολεσωμεν — K L P 049 056 0142 104 330 451 629 945 1175 1844 1877 2127 Lect slav Hilary Ps-Oecumenius Theophylact

απολεσομεν —

απολεσωσιν —

αποληθειτε — 326^c

απολεσησθε — 1243

2 John 8

ηργασαμεθα — B* 049*^vid 181

ειργασομεθα — 2492

εργασωμεθα —

ειργασαμεθα — B^c K L P 049 056 0142 104 330 451 629 945 1175 1448 1844 1877 2127 Lect syr^hmg cop^samss geo slav Hilary Ps-Oecumenius Theophylact

ειργασθε — 614 2412

ειργασασθε — ‭א A Ψ 048^vid 0232^vid 5 33 81 88 307 322 323 326 436 442 630 642 1067 1241 1243 1292 1409 1505 1611 1735 1739 1846 1852^vid 1881 2138 2298 2344^vid 2464 2495 lat syr cop^sams,bo arm eth Irenaeus^lat Lucifer Isidore Ps-Chrysostom Ps-Oecumenius^comm John-Damascus Theophylact^comm

2 John 8

απολαβετε — 33 1292

απολαβητε — ‭א A B Ψ 0232^vid 81 88 181 322 323 326 436 614 630 1067 1241 1243 1409 1505 1611 1735 1739 1846 1852 1881 2138 2298 2344 2412 2464 2492 2495 lat syr cop arm eth geo Irenaeus^(lat) Lucifer Isidore Ps-Chrysostom Ps-Oecumenius^comm John-Damascus Theophylact^comm

απολαβωμεν — K L P 049 056 0142 104 330 451 629 945 1175 1844 1877 2127 Lect slav Hilary Ps-Oecumenius Theophylact

απολαβομεν —

2 John 9

προαγων — ‭א A B 048 0232 vg^mss cop

παραβαινων — P Ψ 5 33 81 307 436 442 642 1175 1243 1448 1611 1735 1739 1852 2344^vid 2492 it^l vg^mss syr Lucifer

2 John 9

διδαχη — ‭א A B Ψ 048 33 81 322 323 442 1241 1243 1739 1846 1852 1881 2344 2464 it^c,l vg^mss syr cop^sa,bomss arm Didymus Fulgentius

διδαχη αυτου — it^dem,div,p vg^mss syr^phmss,h Lucifer

διδαχη του Χριστου — K L P 056 0142 5 88 104 181 307 326 330 436 451 614 629 630 642 945 1067 1175 1292 1409 1448 1505 1611 1735 1844 1877 2127 2138 2298 2412 2492 2495 Lect it^ar vg^mss syr^phms cop^bomss eth geo slav Augustine^vid Ps-Oecumenius Theophylact

δικαιοσυνη του Χριστου —

2 John 11

insert after πονηροις: ecce praedixi vobis ut in diem domini nostri non confundamini — vg^mss (Speculum)

insert after πονηροις: ecce praedixi vobis ut in diem domini nostri Iesu Christi non confundamini — vg^mss

2 John 12

αλλα ελπιζω γενεσθαι — ‭א B Ψ 442 614 630 1243 1448 1505 1611 1852 2492 2495 vg^mss syr

ελπιζω γαρ γενεσθαι — A 048^vid 5 33 81 323 642 1735 1739 2344 vg^mss

αλλα ελπιζω ελθειν — P 307 436 1175 it^l vg^mss syr cop^sa,boms

2 John 12

υμων — A B 0142 5 33 81^vid 322 323 436 442 1067 1243 1409 1739 1881 2127 2298 2344* 2464 2492 it^l vg^mss cop^bo eth slav

ημων — ‭א K L P Ψ 049 056 88 104 181 307 326 330 451 614 629 630 642 945 1175^vid 1292 1448 1505 1611 1735 1844 1846 1852 1877 2138 2412 2495 Lect vg^mss syr arm geo Ps-Oecumenius Theophylact

εμου — cop^sa

omit — 309 327 378

2 John 13

τοις εκλεκτοις — 1067

της εκλεκτης — ‭א A B P Ψ 33 81 88 104 322 323 1243 1409 1735 1739 1846 1881 2127 2298 2344 2464 2492 lat cop geo Bede

της εκλεκτης αμην — K L 049 056 0142 181 326 330 451 614 630 945 1175 1292 1505 1611 1844 1852 1877 2138 2412 2495 Lect vg^mss slav

της εκκλησιας αμην — 307 vg^mss

της εκλεκτης η χαρις μετα σου — 442

της εκλεκτης η χαρις μετα σου αμην — 429 629 1758 1831 vg^mss arm

της εκλεκτης η χαρις μεθ’ υμων — arm eth^mss

της εκλεκτης η χαρις μεθ’ υμων αμην — syr eth^mss Ps-Oecumenius Theophylact

electe ecclesia — it^p

της εκλεκτης της εν Εφεσω — 465^mg

omit — 436

See also

• Alexandrian text-type
• Biblical inerrancy
• Byzantine text-type
• Caesarean text-type
• Categories of New Testament manuscripts
• Comparison of codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus
• List of New Testament verses not included in modern English translations
• Textual variants in the New Testament
• Western text-type

Further reading

• Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine, ed. E. Nestle, K. Aland, Stuttgart 1981.
• Bruce M. Metzger & Bart D. Ehrman, "The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration", OUP New York, Oxford, 4 edition, 2005
• Bart D. Ehrman, "The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture. The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament", Oxford University Press, New York - Oxford, 1996, pp. 223–227.
• Bruce M. Metzger, "A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament: A Companion Volume to the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament", 1994, United Bible Societies, London & New York.

External links

• The Comparative Critical Greek New Testament
• Variantes textuais
• Varianten Textus receptus versus Nestle-Aland

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