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Author:
Jeff D. Huddleston

e-Sword Version:
9.x - 10.x

Tab Name:
NTVR

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New Testament, Variants, Variant Readings, NA28, Nestle Aland, American Standard, Revised, ASV

The New Testament with Variant Readings

American Standard Revised Version

Copyright © 2015 by Jeff D. Huddleston

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 9781633184541

Order your copy from Lulu:

http://www.lulu.com/...t-22034882.html

Introduction

This work is a labor of love and the result of 8 years of intense Bible study. While the actual compilation itself has taken only about 3 months to put together, it has taken several years to get to this point.

Features
Of course the primary feature of this version concerns the textual variants found in the Greek New Testament texts. Much fuss is made of the variants by some, however, even a cursory viewing of the Greek texts demonstrates these variants to be so minor as to be irrelevant. I have been all over the NT front to back, Greek and English, and there is not a single variant that changes even one essential doctrine of the Christian faith.
I have been studying the Greek New Testament for several years now and have always found the variant readings to be fascinating. Some people try to make the variants a point of debate in effort to cast doubt on the veracity of the ancient Greek witnesses, however I view them as being more or less helpful footnotes to better understanding the original Greek texts.
As you read this version of the New Testament you will find that none of these variants are "game-breakers", in that there is little difference in the final understanding of the text. You may also notice that the Textus Receptus (TR) and Majority Text (MT) readings tend to add words for clarification, much like some of our modern translations do (e.g., the Amplified Bible and the New Living Translation). I don't consider these additions to be distractions, nor do I consider them to be evidence that the Bible isn't inspired or has been tampered with; an objective study of modern textual criticism and the works of Ivan Panin will quickly dispel any notion that the Bible is anything other than the perfectly preserved supernatural Word of God.

I have no real bias one way or the other concerning the New Testament Greek texts, or English translations of the Bible in general, in that I am not dogmatic concerning the matter; this isn't a "King-James-Only" or "Textus vs. NA28" book. I simply want to pull back the curtain for the "average" Christian in order for them to see exactly what all the fuss is about concerning the textual variants found in the New Testament, and allow them to draw their own conclusions.
Within the New Testament text I have used |piping symbols| to mark significant variant readings from the Byzantine manuscript tradition (Byz.) which includes the Textus Receptus (the text underlying the King James and New King James versions) and the Majority Text (a.k.a., the "Byzantine Textform"). I have endeavored to include the variants in such a way that one may determine the Critical Text reading by simply excluding the variant. For example:
A voice was heard in Ramah, |Lamentation, and| weeping and great mourning... - Matt. 2:18a

In this example |Lamentation, and| is the reading found in the Byzantine texts. By excluding the words in |piping symbols| you have the reading of the Critical Text (CT) which underlies most modern versions (e.g., NASB, ESV, NIV, etc.):
A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and great mourning... - Matt. 2:18a

However, including the variant reading isn't always this easy to do. Many of the variants amount to the inclusion of proper nouns in one text whereas another text has the personal pronoun:
And walking by the sea of Galilee, |Jesus| saw two brethren... - Matt. 4:18a
The Byzantine texts supply the name "Jesus" where the Critical Text has "he".
While most variant readings are of little consequence, some have a little more impact. One such variant is found in the final part of the "Lord's Prayer":
And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
|For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.|
- Matt. 6:13
While the oldest readings do not include the words "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen", one should not interpret their inclusion as a malicious attempt by the scribes, or their exclusion as a wicked scheme of the textual critics to corrupt the Word of God. These words are of God whether Christ actually spoke them at this point or not, as this phrase can be found in various forms throughout the Bible: 1Ch. 29:11, Psa. 145:10-13, Matt. 28:18-20, 1Tim. 1:17, Rev. 5:13. Personally, I consider their inclusion to be liturgical, and have no objection to translations that include them, bracket them as not original, or exclude them altogether.

Another example of a significant variant is found in John 1:18—the English Standard Version follows the Critical Text reading:
No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.
The Byzantine versions read: "...the only Son, who is at the Father's side..."
Jewish theology in the first century understood full well that any claim to be God's own Son was the same as claiming to be God himself, as is evidenced in John 5:18 and John 10:33:
For this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill [Jesus], because he not only brake the sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. - John 5:18 (ASV)
The Jews answered [Jesus], For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. - John 10:33

So which reading is correct? God, or Son?..In reality both are correct, as in this context either reading would mean the same thing to any Jew living in the first century. Also be aware that the Jewish leaders were not accusing Jesus falsely here: not only did the Jews understand the statements contained in these passages to be claims on the deity of Christ, Jesus himself was the one making the claims.
There are many such variations found in the Greek texts that, instead of contradicting one another, actually supplement one another (such as Matthew 6:1 where "alms" and "righteousness" are equivalent terms in Jewish culture). So don't get hung up on the variant readings, but use them like you would any other footnotes in your Bible.
When necessary I have °marked the variants within the *text and provided the alternate readings in footnotes, marked by the °same *symbol, immediately following the paragraph. All of the footnotes are in slightly smaller type and are italicized. In order to mark the supplied words in the footnotes I have placed them in [square brackets] (the main text uses [square brackets] to mark supplied words).

After 8 years of study I am fully convinced that the Bible is indeed the God-breathed, infallible, inerrant word of God. That said, I have no "axe to grind" in swaying the reader any one direction concerning which readings to accept as authoritative, as I suspect that decision will be based upon the authority one ascribes to the church itself. For example, if the older Critical Text readings are original (as I believe they are) then the others are simply "helps" offered by the scribes and indicate the understandings of the ancient church and should be treated as such.
The internal consistency of the 5000+ New Testament manuscripts we possess today is about 99.5%. The process used to arrive at the Greek New Testament text we have today (i.e., the Critical Text (CT)) is known by even secular experts in ancient manuscript transmission to yield a text that is 99.5% textually pure. Let no man deceive you: the Bible you hold in your hand is translated from reliable Greek texts that can be trusted. The myth that "The Bible has been re-written so many times" is just that...a myth.

One feature of this version is that I have marked the emphatic "I AM" statements of Jesus by underlining the words as they appear in translation:
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Have courage; it is I! be not afraid. - Matt. 14:27

Here the emphatic is punctuated with an exclamation point, as I believe the Greek words ego eimi (lit., "I am"), translated here as "it is I", are just that, an exclamation.
In reality either of these words, "ego" or "eimi", would be sufficient to say "it is I", or "I am" in the Greek, however the context in which these words appear together for the sake of emphasis indicates that Jesus is, at times, claiming the Divine title, "I AM":
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. - Exo. 3:14 (ASV)

One such place in the NT is John 8:24:
I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for except ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

Here "I am" is emphatic, and there is no word "he" in the Greek and so it is italicized. "I am" in the Greek here is "ego eimi", which should be understood contextually as "I AM".
Another example of this is found in John 8:58:
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was born, I am.

However, in other contexts the emphatic "I am" is to be understood in another way:
And Jesus began to say unto them, Take heed that no man lead you astray. 6 |For| many shall come in my name, saying I am he; and shall lead many astray. - Mark 13:5-6

Jesus is not saying here that may will come claiming to be the Christ/Messiah (he says that in other places), but that many shall come in his name confessing that Jesus is the Christ, "and shall lead many astray". Contextually this is a warning concerning false prophets who come masquerading as shepherds/pastors:
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's (or, shepherd's) clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. - Matt. 7:15

Among other features I have placed New Testament quotes of Old Testament passages in bold lettering with references immediately following the paragraph in which the quote appears. I have also broken the text down into shorter paragraphs and formatted poetry as such. When a new theme is introduced the verse number is emboldened (e.g., 28). I have also used exclamation points! freely throughout this version when contextually warranted.

The ASV text underlying this version:
The 1901 American Standard Version (ASV) base text underlying the ASRV was created from my best efforts to form an error free electronic text of this great translation. Great care and thousands of hours have been put into this work alone.

Differences between the ASV and ASRV:
In the New Testament (NT) the ASV follows an eclectic text based primarily on the Westcott-Hort and Tregelles (WH-Trg.) texts. The ASRV endeavors to follow the 28th edition of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (NA28). However, in some places I have adopted the secondary reading of the NA28 with no special marking when said reading agrees with the variant readings (e.g., Matt. 6:33 where "God" is the variant in question: "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness..." (this is the reading of the Majority Text and Textus Receptus), the primary reading of the NA28 is "seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness...").
Great effort has been taken to alter the ASV base text as little as possible in bringing the NT into conformity with the latest edition of the Nestle-Aland text, and in updating certain phrases and words while retaining the style of the "King James English". Where a variant was found between the WH-Trg. and NA28 I endeavored to use the translation provided by the ASV translators themselves, found in the ASV footnotes, when possible; when no suitable translation was offered I did my best to translate according to the ASV translation philosophy and word usage.
While every effort has been made to remain faithful to the translation philosophy of the ASV translators, some words that would be awkward to read aloud in church today have been replaced by their modern equivalents, such as donkey for "ass" and illegitimate for "bastard". Some words and idioms have been retranslated for clarity and consistency: e.g., "world" (Grk., "aion") is often better translated age, and contextually "council" is often more accurately rendered according to the literal Greek reading sanhedrin. I have also translated the Greek Hades and Tartarus as "Hell" (capitalized) when contextually appropriate.
That said, it is understood by the editor that many will question (some with suspicion) the "modernization" of certain terms and words while retaining certain "archaisms", and the inclusion of certain variant readings while omitting others. Indeed it has been a common charge against every translator of Holy Writ, "Traduttore, traditore!" (an ancient Latin saying which roughly means, "Every translator is a traitor!") To this charge I may only reply that I am content, as was my Lord, to be misunderstood.
- Jeff D. Huddleston


Key:
CT - Critical Text ("Alexandrian")
MT - Majority Text ("Byzantine Textform")
TR - Textus Receptus ("Received Text")
Byz. - Byzantine manuscript tradition which includes the MT and TR
|Piping symbols| - Unless otherwise noted indicate a reading from the Textus Receptus and/or Majority Text (Byz.)