Highly Uncertain Variants

Contents: Introduction * Matthew * Mark * Luke * John * Romans * 1 Corinthians * 2 Corinthians * Galatians * Ephesians * Philippians * Colossians * James * 1 John * 2 John * 3 John * Jude * Apocalypse

Appendix I: Orthographic Variants * Appendix II: Clear Minority Readings of UBS * Appendix III: Rate of Variants * Appendix IV: Agreements of the Texts

Introduction

The title of this section is perhaps misleading. This is not a comprehensive list of uncertain variants; it isn't even a list of variants over which scholars have shown the most hesitation (e.g. it excludes 1 Cor. 13:3, perhaps the most-discussed short variant in the canon). It isn't a list of readings where I disagree with UBS or with the editorial consensus. What this section is is a comprehensive list of variants where the various editions diverge most notably. I've taken the seven primary "modern editions" (Bover, Merk, Tischendorf, UBS, Vogels, von Soden, Westcott and Hort) and listed all instances where three of these (including the Hort margin) disagree against four. For completeness, I have included the readings of many other editions, as well as a brief summary of the manuscript support for each reading, but neither the readings of these editions nor the manuscripts influence the variants listed.

Note that this list does not include readings where five or more editions stand against UBS (e.g. Matt. 12:10); even though these might be considered highly doubtful readings, since UBS is the newest and most respected edition, they do not meet the four-versus-three criterion. These readings are summarized in Appendix II.

When I started this list, I thought the four-versus-three rule would work well. I should note that it isn't quite so simple -- for example, if a reading is found in [brackets] in five editions, is it more or less certain than one found in five editions without brackets and omitted in the other two? In such cases, I've done my best to pick the "truly" uncertain readings -- but be it noted that I think this crutch of bracketed readings should be dropped. In general, if all editors include a word, I have not noted the variant, no matter how many use brackets (e.g. Matt. 20:10, where three editors bracket to; this is a complex variant, but all editors use the same text, so I do not note it).

In addition, some variants I consider meaningless have been omitted from the main list. Some, such as the various spellings of David (Daueid, Dabid, etc.) I have omitted entirely. Others I have relegated to Appendix I.

For the most part, I have relied upon the lists of variants between editions found in NA27 and Bover, though I have consulted the editions where these disagree (Bover made a rather high number of errors concerning Merk, if it matters; some of these may be due to the fact that Merk revised his text).

In the list which follows, () around the name of one of the English translations (NEB, RV) indicates that this is the text printed by the editor of the retroverted text, but may not have been the reading in the translators' minds (this is of course somewhat conjectural; I have not checked the English versions to see if their rendering is literal); [] indicates a reading in brackets in the editor's Greek text. (Note: if the variant is an add/omit, the brackets apply only to the words to be included/excluded, no matter how long the lemma.)

The editions cited (* means an edition cited consistently):

Note that some of these editions (Hodges & Farstad, Lachmann, NEB, RV, Tregelles, Weiss) are not consulted in deciding which variants to include.

A reading marked with ** means a variant not noted in NA27.

The citation of Hodges & Farstad had been somewhat complicated, since they have different apparatus in different sections of the New Testament. In Matthew-Jude, their margin has been cited only where there is a reading in the primary apparatus -- the one showing Byzantine variants (and readings where they list the TR as going against the entire Majority tradition are omitted). In the Apocalypse, however, they merge the apparatus. In this case, a reading is cited as HFmarg if -- and only if -- they show some M subgroup supporting a variant. Where they show part of a subgroup supporting a variant, I have, shown my uncertainty by marking HFmarg?, indicating that I'm not sure whether the really consider the majority text divided at this point.

A secondary use for this list may be as a way to see the tendencies of the various editions, since the list includes only the "difficult" readings. In compiling the list, the pro-Byzantine tendency of Vogels has been obvious, at least in the Gospels (where the Vulgate is mostly Byzantine) as has been the somewhat "Sturzian" -- and rather erratic -- tendencies of von Soden and Greeven. The New English Bible tends toward Westcott and Hort but with a distinct bias toward "Western" readings. Tischendorf tends toward Aleph, especially when supported by D. Tregelles doesn't have any particular bias -- but considering that he worked before Aleph and B were available, his work is especially well-done. Or so it seems to me. Here is your chance to draw your own conclusions.

Sources: Not all of the editions cited are available directly to me. Some have necessarily been taken from secondary sources. The following list shows the sources checked. Items in Bold have been directly checked. Variants have been found by comparison of Bover and Appendix III of NA27


Matthew

Matthew 1:5

***Matthew 1:15***

Matthew 1:20

Matthew 1:24

Matthew 2:22

Matthew 3:2

Matthew 3:14

Matthew 3:16

Matthew 3:16C

Matthew 4:13

***Matthew 4:18-19***

Matthew 4:23

Matthew 5:9

Matthew 5:39

Matthew 6:15

Matthew 6:25

Matthew 6:33

Matthew 7:6

Matthew 7:14

Matthew 7:18A

Matthew 7:18B

Matthew 8:8

Matthew 8:13

Matthew 8:18

Matthew 8:21

Matthew 8:23

Matthew 8:25

Matthew 9:2

Matthew 9:4

Matthew 9:5

Matthew 9:14

Matthew 9:18

Matthew 9:27A

Matthew 9:27B

Matthew 10:32

Matthew 10:33

Matthew 11:8

**Matthew 11:21**

Matthew 11:23

Matthew 12:4A

Matthew 12:4B

Matthew 12:15

Matthew 12:18

Matthew 12:35

Matthew 12:36

Matthew 12:47

Matthew 13:1

Matthew 13:4

Matthew 13:7

Matthew 13:11

Matthew 13:22

Matthew 13:57

Matthew 14:3

Matthew 14:4

Matthew 14:9

Matthew 14:10

Matthew 14:12

Matthew 14:15

Matthew 14:22

Matthew 14:24

Matthew 14:26

Matthew 14:27

Matthew 14:29

Matthew 14:30

Matthew 15:2

Matthew 15:4

Matthew 15:6

Matthew 15:14

Matthew 15:15

Matthew 15:22A

Matthew 15:22B

Matthew 15:23

Matthew 15:30

Matthew 15:31

Matthew 15:38

Matthew 16:2b-3

Matthew 16:8

Matthew 16:12

Matthew 16:19

Matthew 17:8

Matthew 17:9

Matthew 17:10

Matthew 17:21

Matthew 17:24

Matthew 17:25

Matthew 18:12A (cf. 18:12B)

Matthew 18:12B (cf. 18:12A)

Matthew 18:15

Matthew 18:16

Matthew 18:19

Matthew 18:21

Matthew 18:24

Matthew 18:25

Matthew 18:26

Matthew 18:30

Matthew 18:34

Matthew 19:3

Matthew 19:7

Matthew 19:9

Matthew 19:21A

Matthew 19:21B

Matthew 19:24A

Matthew 19:24B

Matthew 19:29

Matthew 20:17

Matthew 20:18

Matthew 20:21

Matthew 20:23

Matthew 20:30

Matthew 20:31

Matthew 21:1

**Matthew 21:2**

Matthew 21:6

Matthew 21:12

Matthew 21:18

Matthew 21:19

Matthew 21:25

Matthew 21:28

Matthew 21:29 (cf. 21:30B, 31)

Matthew 21:30A

Matthew 21:30B (cf. 21:29, 31)

Matthew 21:31 (cf. 21:29, 30B)

Matthew 21:44

Matthew 22:10

Matthew 22:20

Matthew 22:30

Matthew 22:32

Matthew 22:39

Matthew 22:43

Matthew 22:44

Matthew 23:4

Matthew 23:21

Matthew 23:23

Matthew 23:26

Matthew 23:36

Matthew 24:16

Matthew 24:24

Matthew 24:30

Matthew 24:31A

Matthew 24:31B

Matthew 24:33

Matthew 24:36

Matthew 24:38

Matthew 24:40

Matthew 25:1

Matthew 25:3

Matthew 25:4

Matthew 25:6

Matthew 25:16

Matthew 25:17A

Matthew 25:17B

Matthew 25:22

Matthew 25:39

Matthew 25:41

Matthew 26:20

Matthew 26:22

Matthew 26:39

Matthew 26:45

Matthew 26:53A

Matthew 26:53B

Matthew 26:58

Matthew 26:61

Matthew 26:65

Matthew 26:71

Matthew 27:2

Matthew 27:3

Matthew 27:24

Matthew 27:29A

Matthew 27:29B

Matthew 27:35

Matthew 27:40

Matthew 27:42

Matthew 27:51

Matthew 27:54

Matthew 27:56

Matthew 27:57

Matthew 27:59

Matthew 27:65

Matthew 28:14

Matthew 28:15


Mark

Mark 1:1

Mark 1:2

Mark 1:4

Mark 1:15

Mark 1:21

Mark 1:24A

Mark 1:24B

Mark 1:25

Mark 1:27

Mark 1:32

Mark 1:37

Mark 1:40

Mark 1:45

Mark 2:1

Mark 2:9

Mark 2:10

Mark 2:16A

Mark 2:16B

Mark 2:16C

Mark 2:17

Mark 2:26

Mark 3:2

Mark 3:3

Mark 3:4

Mark 3:5

Mark 3:11

Mark 3:20

Mark 3:26

Mark 3:32

Mark 3:35

Mark 4:8

Mark 4:15

Mark 4:16

Mark 4:21

Mark 4:22

Mark 4:24

Mark 4:28(A)

Mark 4:38

Mark 4:40

Mark 5:6

Mark 5:10

Mark 5:25

Mark 5:26

Mark 5:27

Mark 5:33

Mark 5:34

Mark 5:40

Mark 6:2(B)

Mark 6:12

Mark 6:14

Mark 6:22(B)

Mark 6:22(C)

Mark 6:23(B)

Mark 6:27

Mark 6:33

Mark 6:37

Mark 6:41

Mark 6:49

Mark 7:4A

Mark 7:4B

Mark 7:8

Mark 7:16

Mark 7:24

Mark 7:35

Mark 7:37

Mark 8:17

Mark 8:19

Mark 8:20A

Mark 8:20B

Mark 8:23

Mark 8:28

Mark 8:35

Mark 8:37

Mark 9:1

Mark 9:9

Mark 9:12

Mark 9:14

Mark 9:25

Mark 9:29

Mark 9:38

Mark 9:42

Mark 10:6