A Commentary on the Major Translatable Differences Between Greek Manuscripts [Draft]
by Daniel C. Soukup
Do not cite or distribute without permission from the author
by Daniel C. Soukup
Do not cite or distribute without permission from the author
Copyright © 2025 Daniel C. Soukup.
This draft is an unpublished work in progress. It may not be copied, distributed, or quoted in any form without the express written permission of the author. Upon completion, the final version will be released under a Creative Commons license.
The Bible is a Christian text and it is appropriate to begin with an observation of the nature of Scripture. Peter tells us,
"...you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you" (1 Peter 1:23–25, ESV).
Our salvation grows out of the word of God, especially the gospel. Our salvation is imperishable because the word of God is imperishable. This particular passage is appropriate for a discussion of differences in the text of the New Testament. Peter quotes the Greek Old Testament at this point, which is defective. The Greek is missing a verse that is present in the Hebrew, which reads,
A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever (Isa 40:6-8, ESV).
I think Peter was probably aware of this discrepancy and he apparently felt no reservations quoting a verse in translation with an omission to argue that God’s word not passing away is the ground of our salvation. I think that is worth some reflection. We don’t need 100% absolute certainty about the wording of the NT to have certainty that we are reading God’s words.
The purpose of this commentary is to present an accessible and freely available commentary on the major, translatable differences between Greek New Testament manuscripts. This work does not seek to replace good, acadmeic resources such as Bruce M. Metzger's A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Philip W. Comfort's New Testament Text and Translation Commentary, or Critical Commentaires. Rather, it seeks to serve those who do not have access to these resources by summarizing current academic arguments and conclusions in a format that is freely available.
Each textual variant presented and explained in this commentary will fall into Daniel Wallace's categories of viable and meaningful. That is, there must be important enough manuscript evidence to consider the reading and the reading must affect the meaning in a coherent way (it is translatable and it is sensical).
This draft of the commentary will be primarily descriptive in nature. It will focus on describing the nature of individual translatable differences between mss and summarizing the arguments in favor and against each reading. It may, at points, make editorial comments regarding readings and arguements, but this will be rare.
-Aland, Barbara, Kurt Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M. Metzger, eds. The Greek New Testament. Fifth Revised Edition. Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2014.
-Aland, Kurt, Barbara Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M. Metzger. Novum Testamentum Graece. 28th Edition. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.
-Bunning, Alan. Restoration of the New Testament ...
-Bunning, Alan. The First Computer Generated Greek New Testament ...
-Brannan, Rick, and Israel Loken. The Lexham Textual Notes on the Bible. Lexham Bible Reference Series. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014.
-Center for New Testament Restoration. “CNTR Collation.” Center for New Testament Restoration. Accessed [date]. http://greekcntr.org/collation/.
-Comfort, Philip W. New Testament Text and Translation Commentary: Commentary on the Variant Readings of the Ancient New Testament Manuscripts and How They Relate to the Major English Translations. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2008.
-Holmes, Michael W. The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition. Lexham Press; Society of Biblical Literature, 2011–2013.
-Jongkind, Dirk. An Introduction to the Greek New Testament: Produced at Tyndale House, Cambridge. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019.
-Jongkind, Dirk, ed. The Greek New Testament. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017.
-Metzger, Bruce Manning, United Bible Societies. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Second Edition a Companion Volume to the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament (4th Rev. Ed.). London; New York: United Bible Societies, 1994.
-Omanson, Roger L., and Bruce Manning Metzger. A Textual Guide to the Greek New Testament: An Adaptation of Bruce M. Metzger’s Textual Commentary for the Needs of Translators. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006.
Draft 1 of Apparatus
Insert the SBLGNT Apparatus.
Remove variants that are not translatable to the Appendix.
Identify any point where WH differs with SBL.
Insert WH text and adjust apparatus if necessary.
Add notes for texts bracketed in the WH text.
list manuscript evidence for each reading.
Summarize arguements in favor and against each reading
Textual Commentaries
Critical Commentaries
Other critical editions