The Textus Receptus is based on a very limited number of manuscripts, all of them eastern, and all of … Around 1511, the Dutch Catholic humanist, Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536), began working on an edition and Latin translation of the Greek New Testament, for which he thoroughly compared the text of several Greek manuscripts with Jerome's fourth-century Latin translation of the Bible, the so-called Vulgate. The Online Masterclass Gift Subscription – Buy It Here. One of the more notorious myths about Erasmus is that he backtranslated the last 6 verses of the book of Revelation. The manuscript to which Erasmus refers at the end of this passage is the Codex Vaticanus pat excellence, now Gr 1209, designated as B40 Erasmus regarded the text of this codex as influenced by the Vulgate and therefore inferior. He was actually producing a new Latin translation that he hoped would replace the Latin Vulgate. He also ignored much older and better manuscripts that were at his disposal. The Hispanic Codex is believed to be the Complutensian Polyglot. His first edition was published in 1516. Where ever there were gaps in these texts (most famously at the end of Revelation), Erasmus back-translated from the Latin Vulgate into Greek to complete the text. This was not always a poor decision on their part. Martin Luther relied on this version for his German translation of the Bible (1522) as Tyndale did for his English translation (1525). A few things stand out from this information. What new Renaissance artistic technique, partly revived from classical times, did Leonardo da Vinci use? A 2nd Edition of Erasmus Greek and Latin Text was published in 1519 correctingnumerous typographical errors. Stephanus introduced the Complutensian readings into his marginal notes, which were chosen by the Spanish scholars based, in part, on their assumption of the superiority of the Latin text. Remember, that was in the days before closed circuit TV, fax machines, email, Federal Express, jumbo jets, etc. Did Erasmus have access to modern manuscripts as did modern translators? How many manuscripts did Erasmus have to work with? She received her PhD in Medieval Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, where her thesis focussed on 12th-century Cistercian manuscripts and the use of images in monastic art. The translators of the New Testament of the KJV utilized a Greek textual tradition that is known today as the "Textus Receptus" (hereafter "TR") which is Latin for the "received text." Some believe that it was copied from a manuscript that did not include the Comma, which they claim was added from the Latin. He says: "Did Erasmus use other manuscripts beside these five in preparing his Textus Receptus? At any rate, very few changes were made in the fourth and fifth editions. However presumably as his text underwent several revisions after that, and then became the basis of the versions produced by Stephanus, Beza and the Elzavirs, and ultimately the KJV almost a century later, more scholarship was done and more manuscripts were brought in. Using the text of Erasmus' third edition, Stephanus produced four more editions of the Greek New Testament in 1546, 1549, 1550, and 1551. Minuscule 1 rK, Erasmus's only text source for the Book of Revelation, is a manuscript of the Andreas commentary and not a continuous text manuscript. There was one key passage of Scripture that Erasmus’s manuscripts did not contain, however. He was orphaned at the age of 9 and was raised in a monastic school run by the clergy. For this task, Erasmus was able to gather the copies that we today call Minuscules 1, 2, 7, 817, 2814, 2815, and 2816. Since he did not originally intend to publish a Greek text, he was forced to rely upon those available at Basel. 13 Preserved Smith, Erasmus: A Study of His Life, Ideals and Place in History (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1923), 161–62. But they do not use the “original manuscripts.” (If you get nothing else from this article – get this – we do not have the “originals”.) If those Greek NT manuscripts were "whole," why was there any need for textual physicians or editors such as Erasmus, Cardinal Ximenes, Stephanus, or Beza? Verse numbers would make there way into the English tradition through the Geneva Bible (1560) and, from there, into subsequent translations like the KJV. Erasmus famously only had 7 manuscripts on hand when he compiled the first edition of his "Novum Instrumentum omne". Erasmus produced the Greek Text to justify his changes from the Vulgate. Erasmus used several Greek manuscripts housed in Basel, but some verses in Revelation he translated from the Latin Vulgate. 14 Combs, “Erasmus and the Textus Receptus,” 42. These “Annotations” included information on which manuscripts he acquired certain readings from. In those days, humanism was a Christian movement. Erasmus had before him a half-dozen manuscripts during the editing process. Only in the early 13th century did teachers and students at the University of Paris begin to employ the standardised system of chapter numbering that we now use. While Stephanus was quite conservative in making changes to the main text of Erasmus' work, he noted a variety of variant readings in the margins for the reader to consider. Erasmus also contributed to the Reformation by calling for reform in the Church through his various satirical works. The MSS that Erasmus used are generally well known (MS 2 for example was a primary source MS that he marked up and gave to Froben the printer as the … There exist approximately 5,686 bits and pieces of Greek New Testament manuscripts in various forms dating back to 125 A.D. A manuscript is a “hand written” copy. The British Codex has traditionally been identified as Codex Montfortianus. Thus, in addition to the handful of mostly late Greek manuscripts which lie behind the KJV, the Latin Vulgate is also a source which they took into account and at times relied upon when they thought it best. Among humanists he enjoyed the sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists", and has been called "the crowning glory of the Christian humanists". Of these, only Minuscule 42 and the Complutensian Polyglot contained the book of Revelation, and Minuscule 42 had some gaps in Revelation due to damage in the manuscript (though not in the same places as Erasmus' manuscripts had gaps). The Textus Receptus KJV only. There is zero evidence that Erasmus ever made this wager and Erasmian scholar Dr. H.J. Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch Roman Catholic priest of the early 16th century, holds the honor of being the first after the invention of the printing press to publish a printed Greek New Testament. In 1492 Erasmus took his vows as a canon regular at Stein, in South Holland, and … Most famously, in Revelation 16:5 where both the Greek and the Latin texts clearly said "O Lord, which art, and wast, the Holy One," Beza speculated that the original reading was really "O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be," in keeping with the formula used elsewhere (Revelation 1:4, 8; 4:8). The Complutensian editors did mention that some of their manuscripts were from the Vatican library, but beyond that, it is difficult to narrow it down. On which New Testament manuscripts did the KJV translators rely. He protested saying that “they had stolen the labours of his life.” The manuscripts were returned in a few days (Froude, The Life and Letters, p. 169). If Erasmus backtranslated from Vulgate when there was no Greek manuscript support (as so many TR critics allege), then why did he not add the Johannine Comma of I John 5:7? Joined: Jul 13, 2004 Messages: 921 Likes Received: 102 Faith: Baptist. Working with all the speed he could, Erasmus did not even transcribe the manuscripts; he merely … If he did, did he make use of them? Did Erasmus have access to modern manuscripts as did modern translators? Indeed, we now know that the majority of all of the thousands of Greek manuscripts contain only this short form of the verse, The KJV, however, reads: "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also," (1 John 2:23, KJV). Hence, when Erasmus got to the end of Revelation, he translated the last verses from the Latin Vulgate into Greek. The Renaissance had brought with it a greater interest in original documents. MATT SLICK LIVE RADIOCall in with your questions at 877-207-22763-4pm PST; 4-5pm MST; 6-7pm ESTWatch on FacebookPast Shows Radio PodcastRadio Show SurveySubscribe to CARM Radio, CARM wishlistWant to help CARM in a different way? First, Erasmus did not just produce a Greek New Testament. What is Erasmus most famous work? From this point Erasmus was raised in a world of manuscripts. In so doing, Beza actually introduced a reading (which was then adopted into the KJV) which had never before existed in any manuscript. Erasmus found a copy of Valla’s manuscript forgotten in a monastic library near Paris in 1504. What manuscripts did Erasmus use? At the outset, I wish to thank Robert Paul Wieland for much of the information in this article and for his assistance with the Latin translations. Still, this should not be exaggerated. In the case of the KJV translators, they relied on the word of three key men: Desiderius Erasmus, Robert Estienne (better known by his Latin name, Stephanus), and Theodore Beza. Critics are quick to seize upon this "flaw" of the Textus Receptus to deride the KJV. The indications are that he did. Still, his approach to gathering and noting this data was extremely influential both in later translations and in later text-critical work on the Greek text. Yet we continually read the following type of statement from those who defend the modern versions: “This approach to the question, however, ignores the thousands of manuscripts that Erasmus did not consider. The original KJV of 1611 likewise marked the text. A popular view states that Erasmus made a wager that if a manuscript was discovered he would include it. What manuscripts did people use to create the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible and the King James Version (KJV)? 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