Differences in the manuscripts

11.5. Differences in the manuscripts
What kind of differences are there in the manuscripts? There are two groups of differences:
(1) those that were created intentionally, and
(2) those that happened by accident.
11.5.1. Accidental changes
11.5.1.1. Division of words (1Tim. 3:16)
Earlier, I spoke about the fact that the biblical text was written without spaces between words. When words were divided, some changes took place. A good example can be seen in 1 Timothy 3:16. Most manuscripts divide the first part of the verse as follows: και ομολογουμενως μεγα- ‘And without controversy great’. However, some manuscripts identified four instead of three Greek words here and divided the text as: και-ομολογουμεν-ως-μεγα- ‘And we confess how great’. A good example of this problem in English is: godisnowhere. How should we divide these words? ‘God is now here’ or ‘God is nowhere’.
11.5.1.2. Homoeoteleuton
What is Homoeoteleuton? It is a Greek word meaning ‘same ending’. Homoeoteleuton appears when an author skipped a word or phrase between words with the same ending.
An example of this is seen in 1 John 2:23. Most manuscripts have the following:
πας ο αρνουμενος τον υιον ουδε τον πατερα εχει ο ομολογων τον υιον και τον πατερα εχει
No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also (ESV)
The Byzantine text family skipped the words ο ομολογων τον υιον και between the two occurrences of τον πατερα εχει. The Byzantine text which is followed by the KJV reads:
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father
The KJV, however, added the words lost due to homoeoteleuton in italics.
11.5.1.3. Haplography
Haplography occurs when a letter or word is written once, instead of twice or more times. An example is found in 1 Thessalonians 2:7, where one í ‘n’ is missing in some manuscripts.
Εγενηθημεν νηπιοι ‘instead we became little children’ (1Thess. 2:7 NET)
Eγενηθημεν ηπιοι ‘But we were gentle’ (1Thess. 2:6 KJV)
11.5.1.4. Dittography
Dittography occurs when a letter, word or phrase that was supposed to be written once is written twice. In Mark 12:27 some manuscripts wrote the word θεος ‘God’ twice (see KJV).
He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: (Mark 12:27 KJV)
He is not the God of the dead but of the living (Mark 12:27 NET).
11.5.1.5. Metathesis
Metathesis occurs when the order of letters is changed in a word. An example of this is found in Mark 14:65. Some manuscripts read ελαβον ‘receive’ while others have εβαλλον ‘hid’.
And the servants did strike him (Mark 14:65 KJV).
And the guards received him (Mark 14:65 ESV).
11.5.1.6. Iotacism
Iotacism is a problem that could easily appear in the transmission of manuscripts. It occurs when a scribe wrote the wrong vowel. Most of the long vowels and diphthongs were pronounced like the ‘I’ (iota) in Koine Greek. An example of this is found in passages in the New Testament where some manuscripts have the word ‘you’ and others have ‘we, us’.
Who has qualified you υμας (Col. 1:12 NET)
Who has qualified us ημας(Col. 1:12 NKJ)
Both υμας and ημας were pronounced as imas.
11.5.2. Deliberate changes
Some changes in manuscripts were made deliberately. This was done for various reasons. The change in Matthew 6:13, for example, was liturgical.
In Mark 1:2 it was to get rid of an alleged discrepancy. ‘As it is written in the Prophets (Mark 1:2 NKJ)’ became ‘As it is written in Isaiah the prophet’ (Mark 1:2 NAU).
Manuscripts tried to harmonise parallel passages in the Gospels. Some manuscripts added the word ‘God’ to the passage in Matthew 19:17, which is taken from Mark 10:18.
There is none good but one, that is, God (Matt. 19:17 KJV).
There is only one who is good (Matt. 19:17 NET).
The text in Mark reads ‘No one is good except God alone’ (Mark 10:18 NET).
In 1 John 5:7, the changes in the manuscripts were made for doctrinal reasons. A scribe added an explanatory note to his manuscripts, and it was copied into other manuscripts as part of the text.
For there are three that testify, the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three are in agreement (1John 5:7-8 NET).
In the KJV, which included the scribal note, it reads:
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one (1John 5:7-8 KJV).
Some changes in the manuscripts are for grammatical reasons. The major differences in the text of the New Testament, apart from 1 John 5:7-8, appear in John 7:53-8:12 and Mark 16:9-20. However, none of these passages teach a doctrine that is not taught somewhere else in the New Testament. Due to the textual differences in manuscripts, it may be wise not to build a teaching exclusively on these texts.