Reference: New Testament
Easton
(Lu 22:20), rather "New Covenant," in contrast to the old covenant of works, which is superseded. "The covenant of grace is called new; it succeeds to the old broken covenant of works. It is ever fresh, flourishing, and excellent; and under the gospel it is dispensed in a more clear, spiritual, extensive, and powerful manner than of old" (Brown of Haddington). Hence is derived the name given to the latter portion of the Bible. (See Testament.)
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And in the same way, after the meal, he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new testament, made with my blood which is given for you.
Fausets
(See BIBLE; CANON; INSPIRATION.) hee kainee diatheekee. See Heb 9:15-17; 8:6-13. The Greek term diateeeekee combines the two ideas "covenant" and "testament," which the KJV gives separately, though the Greek is the same for both. "Covenant" expresses its obligatory character, God having bound Himself by promise (Ga 3:15-18; Heb 6:17-18). "Testament" expresses that, unlike other covenants, it is not a matter of bargaining, but all of God's grace, just as a testator has absolute power to do what he will with his own. Jesus' death brings the will of God in our favor into force. The night before His death He said "I appoint unto you by testamentary disposition (diatitheemi) a kingdom" (Lu 22:29). There was really only one Testament - latent in the Old Testament, patent in the New Testament. The disciples were witnesses of the New Testament, and the Lord's Supper was its seal. The Old and New Testament Scriptures are the written documents containing the terms of the will.
TEXT. The "Received Text" (i.e. the "Textus Receptus" or TR) is that of Robert Stephens' edition. Bentley (Letter to Wake in 1716 A.D.) said truly, "after the Complutenses and Erasmus, who had very ordinary manuscripts, the New Testament became the property of booksellers. R. Stephens' edition, regulated by himself alone, has now become as if an apostle were its compositor. I find that by taking 2,000 errors out of the Pope's Vulgate (i.e. correcting by older Latin manuscripts the edition of Jerome's Vulgate put forth by Sixtus V, A.D. 1590, with anathemas against any who should alter it 'in minima particula,' and afterwards altered by Clement VIII (1592) in 2,000 places in spite of Sixtus' anathema) and as many out of the Protestant pope Stephens' edition, I can set out an edition of each (Latin, Vulgate, and Greek text) in columns, without using any book under 900 years old, that shall so exactly agree word for word, and order for order, that no two tallies can agree better. ... These will prove each other to a demonstration, for I alter not a word of my own head."
The first printed edition of the Greek Testament was that in the Complutensian Polyglot, January, 10, 1514 A.D. Scripture was known in western Europe for many ages previously only through the Latin Vulgate of Jerome. F. Ximenes de Cisneros, of Toledo, undertook the work, to celebrate the birth of Charles V. Complutum (Alcala) gave the name. Lopez de Stunica was chief of its New Testament editors. The whole Polyglot was completed the same year that Luther affixed his 95 theses against indulgences to the door of the church at Wittenberg. Leo X lent the manuscripts used for it from the Vatican. It follows modern Greek manuscripts in all cases where these differ from the ancient manuscripts and from the oldest Greek fathers. The Old Testament Vulgate (the translation which is authorized by Rome) is in the central column, between the Greek Septuagint and the Hebrew (the original); and the editors compare the first to Christ crucified between the impenitent (the Hebrew) and the penitent (the Greek) thief!
Though there is no Greek authority for 1Jo 5:7, they supplied it and told Erasmus that the Latin Vulgate's authority outweighs the original Greek! They did not know that the oldest copies of Jerome's Vulgate omit it; the manuscript of Wizanburg of the eighth century being the oldest that contains it. Owing to the Complutensian Greek New Testament not being published, though printed, until the Polyglot was complete, Erasmus' Greek New Testament was the first published, namely, by Froben a printer of Basle, March 1516, six years before the Complutensian. The providence of God at the dawn of the Reformation thus furnished earnest students with Holy Scripture in the original language sanctioned by the Holy Spirit. Erasmus completed his edition in haste, and did not have the scruples to supply, by translating into Greek front the Vulgate, both actual hiatuses in his Greek manuscripts and what he supposed to be so, especially in the Apocalypse, for which he had only one mutilated manuscript.
To the outcry against hint for omitting the testimony of the three heavenly witnesses he replied, it is not omission but non-addition; even some Latin copies do not have it, and Cyril of Alexandria showed in his Thesaurus he did not know it; on the Codex Montfortianus (originally in possession of a Franciscan, Froy, who possibly wrote it, now in Trinity College, Dublin) being produced with it, Erasmus INSERTED it. So clumsily did the translator of the Vulgate Latin into Greek execute this manuscript that he neglects to put the necessary Greek article before "Father," "Word," and" Spirit." Erasmus' fifth edition is the basis of our "Received Text." In 1546 and 1549 R. Stephens printed two small editions at Paris, and in 1550 a folio edition, following Erasmus' fifth edition almost exclusively, and adding in the margin readings from the Complutensian edition and from 15 manuscripts collected by his son Henry, the first large collection of readings. The fourth edition at Geneva, 1551, was the first divided into modern verses. Beza next edited the Greek New Testament, generally following Stephens' text, with a few changes on manuscript authority.
He possessed the two famous manuscripts, namely, the Gospels and Acts, now by his gift in the university of Cambridge; "Codex Bezae" or "Cantabrigiensis," D; and the epistles of Paul, "Codex Clermontanus" (brought from Clermont), now in the Bibliotheque du Roi at Paris; both are in Greek and Latin. The Elzevirs, printers at Leyden, published two editions, the first in 1624, the second in 1633, on the basis of R. Stephens' third edition, with corrections from Beza's. The unknown editor, without stating his critical principles, gravely declares in the preface: "texture habes ab omnibus receptum, in quo nihil immutatum aut corruptum damus"; stranger still, the public for two centuries has accepted this so-called "Received Text" as if infallible. When textual criticism was scarcely understood, theological convenience accepted it as a compromise between the Roman Catholic Complutensian edition and the Protestant edition of Stephens and Beza. Mill (1707) has established Stephens' as the Received Text in England; on the continent the Elzevir is generally recognized.
Thus, an uncritical Greek text of publishers has been for ages submitted to by Protestants, though abjuring blind assent to tradition, and laughing at the claim to infallibility of the two popes who declared each of two diverse editions of the Vulgate to be exclusively authentic. (The council of Trent, 1545, had pronounced the Latin Vulgate to be the authentic word of God). Frequent handling and transmission soon destroyed the originals. If the autographs of the inspired writers had been preserved, textual criticism would not have been necessary. But the oldest MSS, existing, Codex Sinaiticus ('aleph) Codex Vaticanus (B), Codex Alexandrinus (A), are not older than the fourth century. Parchment was costly (2Ti 4:13). Papyrus paper which the sacred writers used (2Jo 1:12; 3Jo 1:13) was fragile. No superstitious or antiquarian interest was felt in the autographs which copies superseded. The Diocletian persecution (A.D. 303) attacked the Scriptures, and traditores (Augustine, 76, section 2) gave them up.
Constantine ordered 50 manuscripts to be written on fair skins for the use of the church. God has not seen fit (by a perpetual miracle) to preserve the text from transcriptional errors. Having by extraordinary revelation once bestowed the gift, He leaves its preservation to ordinary laws, yet by His secret providence furnishes the church, its guardian and witness, with the means to ensure its accuracy in all essentials (Ro 3:2). Criticism does not make variations, but finds them, and turns them into means of ascertaining approximately the original text. More materials exist for restoring the genuine text of New Testament than for that of any ancient work. Whitby attacked Mill for presenting in his edition 30,000 various readings found in manuscripts. Collins, the infidel, availed himself of Whitby's unsound argument that textual variations render Scripture uncertain.
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Keep in mind what Moses, the servant of the Lord, said to you, The Lord your God is sending you rest and will give you this land.
But of that day and hour no one has knowledge, not even the angels in heaven, or the Son, but the Father only.
But in the middle of the night there is a cry, The husband comes! Go out to him.
And very early after dawn on the first day of the week, they came at the time of the coming up of the sun to the place where the body had been put. And they were saying among themselves, Who will get the stone rolled away from the door for us? read more. And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back; and it was of great size. And when they went in, they saw a young man seated on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were full of wonder.
And I will give you a kingdom as my Father has given one to me,
Much in every way: first of all because the words of God were given to them.
O foolish Galatians, by what strange powers have you been tricked, to whom it was made clear that Jesus Christ was put to death on the cross?
Brothers, as men would say, even a man's agreement, when it has been made certain, may not be put on one side, or have additions made to it. Now to Abraham were the undertakings given, and to his seed. He says not, And to seeds, as of a great number; but as of one, he says, And to your seed, which is Christ. read more. Now this I say: The law, which came four hundred and thirty years after, does not put an end to the agreement made before by God, so as to make the undertaking without effect. Because if the heritage is by the law, it is no longer dependent on the word of God; but God gave it to Abraham by his word.
The coat which I did not take from Troas and which is with Carpus, get when you come, and the books, specially the papers.
So that when it was God's desire to make it specially clear to those who by his word were to have the heritage, that his purpose was fixed, he made it more certain with an oath; So that we, who have gone in flight from danger to the hope which has been put before us, may have a strong comfort in two unchanging things, in which it is not possible for God to be false;
But now his position as priest is higher. because through him God has made a better agreement with man, based on the giving of better things. For if that first agreement had been as good as possible, there would have been no place for a second. read more. For, protesting against them, he says, See, the days are coming when I will make a new agreement with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; Not like the agreement which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand, to be their guide out of the land of Egypt; for they did not keep the agreement with me, and I gave them up, says the Lord. For this is the agreement which I will make with the people of Israel after those days: I will put my laws into their minds, writing them in their hearts: and I will be their God, and they will be my people: And there will be no need for every man to be teaching his brother, or his neighbour, saying, This is the knowledge of the Lord: for they will all have knowledge of me, great and small. And I will have mercy on their evil-doing, and I will not keep their sins in mind. When he says, A new agreement, he has made the first agreement old. But anything which is getting old and past use will not be seen much longer.
How much more will the blood of Christ, who, being without sin, made an offering of himself to God through the Holy Spirit, make your hearts clean from dead works to be servants of the living God? And for this cause it is through him that a new agreement has come into being, so that after the errors under the first agreement had been taken away by his death, the word of God might have effect for those who were marked out for an eternal heritage. read more. Because where there is a testament, there has to be the death of the man who made it. For a testament has effect after death; for what power has it while the man who made it is living?
And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is true.
Having much to say to you, it is not my purpose to put it all down with paper and ink: but I am hoping to come to you, and to have talk with you face to face, so that your joy may be full.
Hastings
Morish
For the general contents of the New Testament see BIBLE. See also COVENANT. The chronology of the principal events recorded in the New Testament is given in the following tables, with approximate dates. The dates of the Epistles of Peter, James, John, and Jude are according to the A.V. For the date of the crucifixion see SEVENTY WEEKS: other dates are reckoned from that.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
B.C.
27 Augustus emperor of Rome
6 Census in Judaea. Birth of John the Baptist
5 Birth of Jesus (Four full years before A.D.) Presentation in the temple.
4 Visit of the magi. Flight into Egypt, Massacre of infants. Death of Herod;
Archelaus made ethnarch of Judaea, Samaria and Idumaea
Herod Antipas tetrarch of Peraea and Galilee. Philip tetrarch of Ituraea, Trachonitis. etc.
A.D.
6 Quirinis (Cyrenius) governor of Syria the second time
Archelaus banished, and Judaea made a province of Syria.
7 Enrolment, or taxation, under Cyrenius. Annas made high priest
8 Jesus at Jerusalem. Lu 2:42-46
Lu 2:14 Tiberias emperor of Rome: reigns alone
17 Caiaphas made high priest
26 Pontius Pilate procurator of Judaea
John commences his ministry. (See TIBERIUS.) Mr 1:1-11
Baptism of Jesus. The Temptation
Miracle of the water made wine at Cana. Joh 2:1-11
Jesus visits Capernaum
The first Passover. Jesus cleanses the temple. Joh 2:13-22
John cast into prison. Jesus preaches in Galilee Mr 1:14-15
Jesus at the synagogue at Nazareth: cast out of the city. Lu 4:16-30
Jesus visits the towns of Galilee Mr 1:38-39
Mr 1:27 Jesus visits Jerusalem (probably the second Passover). John 5. 1
The twelve Apostles chosen Mr 3:13-19
Sermon on the Mount. Matt. 5.- 7; Lu 6:17-49
Miracles in the land of the Gadarenes. Mr 5:1-20
The Jews offended at Jesus at Nazareth. Mr 6:1-5
Jesus again visits the villages around. Mr 6:6
Jesus sends forth the twelve. Mr 6:7-13
Death of John the Baptist. Mr 6:17-29
Feeding the five thousand. Mr 6:35-44
Miracles in Gennesaret. Mr 6:53-56
Mr 6:28 Approach of the third Passover Joh 6:4
Feeding the four thousand. Mr 8:1-9
The Transfiguration. Mr 9:2-10
Feast of Tabernacles. John 7.
Journey towards Jerusalem. Lu 9:51
The seventy disciples sent out. Lu 10:1-16
Feast of Dedication (winter). Joh 10:22-39
Jesus goes away beyond Jordan. Joh 10:40-42
The raising of Lazarus at Bethany. Joh 11:1-44
Jesus retires to Ephraim. Joh 11:54
Joh 11:29 Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. Cleanses the temple Mr 11:1-18
The Greeks visit Jesus. Voice from heaven. Joh 12:20-36
The last (fourth) Passover. The Lord's supper Mr 14:1-2
The Crucifixion. Ascension. Pentecost
30-34 The events from Pentecost to Stephen. Acts 2
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The first words of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Even as it is said in the book of Isaiah the prophet, See, I send my servant before your face, who will make ready your way; read more. The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight; John came, and gave baptism in the waste land, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed. And there went out to him all the people of Judaea, and all those of Jerusalem, and they were given baptism by him in the river Jordan, saying that they were sinners. And John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather band about him; and his food was locusts and honey. And he said to them all, There is one coming after me who is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo. I have given you baptism with water, but he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit. And it came about in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was given baptism by John in the Jordan. And straight away, coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens broken open and the Spirit coming down on him as a dove: And a voice came out of heaven, You are my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
Now after John had been put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the good news of God, And saying, The time has come, and the kingdom of God is near: let your hearts be turned from sin and have faith in the good news.
And they were all greatly surprised, so that they put questions to one another, saying, What is this? a new teaching! with authority he gives orders even to the unclean spirits, and they do what he says.
And he said to them, Let us go to other parts into the nearest towns, so that I may give teaching there, because for this purpose I came. And he went into their Synagogues in every part of Galilee, preaching and driving out evil spirits.
And he went up into the mountain, and sent for those whom it was his pleasure to have with him: and they went to him. And he took twelve to be with him, so that he might send them out as preachers, read more. And give them the power of driving out evil spirits: To Simon he gave the second name of Peter; And to James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, he gave the second name of Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder: And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot; And Judas Iscariot, who was false to him.
And they came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. And when he had got out of the boat, straight away there came to him from the place of the dead a man with an unclean spirit. read more. He was living in the place of the dead: and no man was able to keep him down, no, not with a chain; Because he had frequently been prisoned in chains and iron bands, and the chains had been parted and the bands broken by him: and no man was strong enough to make him quiet. And all the time, by day and by night, in the place of the dead, and in the mountains, he was crying out and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from far off, he went quickly to him and gave him worship; And crying out with a loud voice he said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God's name, do not be cruel to me. For Jesus had said to him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit. And Jesus said, What is your name? And he made answer, My name is Legion, because there are a great number of us. And he made strong prayers to him not to send them away out of the country. Now on the mountain side there was a great herd of pigs getting their food. And they said to him, Send us into the pigs, so that we may go into them. And he let them do it. And the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs; and the herd went rushing down a sharp slope into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they came to their death in the sea. And their keepers went running and gave an account of it in the town and in the country. And people came to see what had taken place. And they came to Jesus, and saw the man in whom had been the evil spirits seated, clothed and with full use of his senses, and they were full of fear. And those who had seen it gave them an account of what had been done to him who had the evil spirits, and of the fate of the pigs. And they made a request to him to go out of their country. And when he was getting into the boat, the man in whom had been the evil spirits had a great desire to come with him. And he would not let him, but said to him, Go to your house, to your friends, and give them news of the great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you. And he went on his way, and made public in the country of Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him: and all men were full of wonder.
And he went away from there, and came into his country; and his disciples went with him. And when the Sabbath day had come, he was teaching in the Synagogue; and a number of people hearing him were surprised, saying, From where did this man get these things? and, What is the wisdom given to this man, and what are these works of power done by his hands? read more. Is not this the woodworker, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were bitter against him. And Jesus said to them, A prophet is nowhere without honour, but in his country, and among his relations, and in his family. And he was unable to do any work of power there, but only to put his hands on one or two persons who were ill, and make them well. And he was greatly surprised because they had no faith. And he went about the country places teaching. And he gave orders to the twelve, and sent them out two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits; And he said that they were to take nothing for their journey, but a stick only; no bread, no bag, no money in their pockets; They were to go with common shoes on their feet, and not to take two coats. And he said to them, Wherever you go into a house, make that your resting-place till you go away. And whatever place will not take you in and will not give ear to you, when you go away, put off the dust from your feet as a witness against them. And they went out, preaching the need for a change of heart in men. And they sent out a number of evil spirits, and put oil on a great number who were ill, and made them well.
For Herod himself had sent men out to take John and put him in prison, because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had taken for himself. For John said to Herod, It is wrong for you to have your brother's wife. read more. And Herodias was bitter against him, desiring to put him to death; but she was not able; For Herod was in fear of John, being conscious that he was an upright and holy man, and kept him safe. And hearing him, he was much troubled; and he gave ear to him gladly. And the chance came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast to his lords, and the high captains, and the chief men of Galilee; And when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and did a dance, Herod and those who were at table with him were pleased with her; and the king said to the girl, Make a request for anything and I will give it you. And he took an oath, saying to her, Whatever is your desire I will give it to you, even half of my kingdom. And she went out and said to her mother, What is my request to be? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she came in quickly to the king, and said, My desire is that you give me straight away on a plate the head of John the Baptist. And the king was very sad; but because of his oaths, and those who were with him at table, he would not say 'No' to her. And straight away the king sent out one of his armed men, and gave him an order to come back with the head: and he went and took off John's head in prison, And came back with the head on a plate, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.
And came back with the head on a plate, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. And when his disciples had news of it, they came and took up his body, and put it in its last resting-place.
And at the end of the day, his disciples came to him and said, This place is waste land, and it is late: Send them away, so that they may go into the country and small towns round about, and get some food for themselves. read more. But he said to them in answer, Give them food yourselves. And they said to him, Are we to go and get bread for two hundred pence, and give it to them? And he said to them, How much bread have you? go and see. And when they had seen, they said, Five cakes of bread and two fishes. And he made them all be seated in groups on the green grass. And they were placed in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And he took the five cakes of bread and the two fishes and, looking up to heaven, he said words of blessing over them; and when the cakes were broken, he gave them to the disciples to put before the people; and he made division of the two fishes among them all. And they all took of the food and had enough. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken bits and of the fishes. And those who took of the bread were five thousand men.
And when they had gone across, they came to Gennesaret, and got their boat to land. And when they had got out of the boat, the people quickly had news of him, read more. And went running through all the country round about, and took on their beds those who were ill, to where it was said that he was. And wherever he went, into small towns, or great towns, or into the country, they took those who were ill into the market-places, requesting him that they might put their hands even on the edge of his robe: and all those who did so were made well.
In those days again, when there was a great mass of people and they had no food, he made his disciples come to him and said to them, I have pity for these people because they have been with me now three days, and have no food; read more. If I send them away to their houses with no food, they will be overcome by weariness on the way; and some of them have come from far. And his disciples said in answer, How will it be possible to get enough bread for these men here in a waste place? And he put the question, How much bread have you? And they said, Seven cakes. And he made the people be seated on the earth: and he took the seven cakes and, having given praise, he gave the broken bread to his disciples to put before them; and they put it before the people. And they had some small fishes; and blessing them he had them put before the people in the same way. And they took the food, and had enough; and they took up seven baskets full of the broken bits. And there were about four thousand people: and he sent them away.
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and made them go up with him into a high mountain by themselves: and he was changed in form before them: And his clothing became shining, very white, as no cleaner on earth would make it. read more. And there came before them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tents; one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Because he was not certain what to say, for they were in great fear. And a cloud came over them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my dearly loved Son, give ear to him. And suddenly looking round about, they saw no one any longer, but Jesus only with themselves. And while they were coming down from the mountain, he gave them orders not to give word to any man of the things they had seen, till the Son of man had come back from the dead. And they kept the saying, questioning among themselves what the coming back from the dead might be.
And when they came near to Jerusalem, to Beth-phage and Bethany, at the Mountain of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, And said to them, Go into the little town opposite: and when you come to it, you will see a young ass with a cord round his neck, on which no man has ever been seated; let him loose, and come back with him. read more. And if anyone says to you, Why are you doing this? say, The Lord has need of him and will send him back straight away. And they went away and saw a young ass by the door outside in the open street; and they were getting him loose. And some of those who were there said to them, What are you doing, taking the ass? And they said to them the words which Jesus had said; and they let them go. And they took the young ass to Jesus, and put their clothing on him, and he got on his back. And a great number put down their clothing in the way; and others put down branches which they had taken from the fields. And those who went in front, and those who came after, were crying, Glory: A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord: A blessing on the coming kingdom of our father David: Glory in the highest. And he went into Jerusalem into the Temple; and after looking round about on all things, it being now evening, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. And on the day after, when they had come out from Bethany, he was in need of food. And seeing a fig-tree in the distance with leaves, he went to see if by chance it had anything on it: and when he came to it, he saw nothing but leaves, for it was not the time for the fruit. And he said to it, Let no man take fruit from you for ever. And his disciples took note of his words. And they came to Jerusalem; and he went into the Temple, and sent out those who were trading there, overturning the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who were offering doves for money; And he would not let any man take a vessel through the Temple. And he gave them teaching, and said to them, Is it not in the Writings, My house is to be named a house of prayer for all the nations? but you have made it a hole of thieves. And it came to the ears of the chief priests and scribes, and they took thought how they might put him to death; being in fear of him, because all the people were full of wonder at his teaching.
It was now two days before the feast of the Passover and the unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes made designs how they might take him by deceit and put him to death: But they said, Not while the feast is going on, for fear there may be trouble among the people.
Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased.
And when he was twelve years old, they went up, as their way was, to the feast; And when the days of the feast came to an end and they were going back, the boy Jesus was still in Jerusalem, but they had no knowledge of it: read more. And in the belief that he was with some of their number, they went a day's journey; and after looking for him among their relations and friends, And seeing that he was not there, they went back to Jerusalem, to make search for him. And after three days they came across him in the Temple, seated among the wise men, giving ear to their words and putting questions to them.
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been as a child, and he went, as his way was, into the Synagogue on the Sabbath, and got up to give a reading. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was given to him and, opening the book, he came on the place where it is said, read more. The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains, To give knowledge that the year of the Lord's good pleasure is come. And shutting the book he gave it back to the servant and took his seat: and the eyes of all in the Synagogue were fixed on him. Then he said to them, Today this word has come true in your hearing. And they were all giving witness, with wonder, to the words of grace which came from his mouth: and they said, Is not this the son of Joseph? And he said to them, Without doubt you will say to me, Let the medical man make himself well: the things which to our knowledge were done at Capernaum, do them here in your country. And he said to them, Truly I say to you, No prophet is honoured in his country. Truly I say to you, There were a number of widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months and there was no food in the land; But Elijah was not sent to one of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were a number of lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and not one of them was made clean, but only Naaman the Syrian. And all who were in the Synagogue were very angry when these things were said to them. And they got up and took him out of the town to the edge of the mountain on which their town was, so that they might send him down to his death. But he came through them and went on his way.
And he came down with them to a level place, and a great band of his disciples, and a very great number of people from all Judaea and Jerusalem and from the parts of Tyre and Sidon by the sea, came to give hearing to him, and to be made well from their diseases; And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were made well. read more. And all the people were desiring to be touched by him, for power came from him and made them all well. And turning his eyes to his disciples he said, Happy are you who are poor: for the kingdom of God is yours. Happy are you who are in need of food now: for you will be made full. Happy are you who are weeping now; for you will be glad. Happy are you, when men have hate for you, and put you away from among them and say angry words to you, turning away in disgust at your name, because of the Son of man. Be glad in that day, and be lifted up for joy, for your reward in heaven will be great: for their fathers did these same things to the prophets. But unhappy are you who have wealth: for you have been comforted now. Unhappy are you who are full of food now: for you will be in need. Unhappy are you who are laughing now: for you will be crying in sorrow. Unhappy are you when all men give you their approval: for so their fathers did to the false prophets. But I say to you who give ear to me, Have love for those who are against you, do good to those who have hate for you, Give blessing to those who give you curses, say prayers for those who are cruel to you. If a man gives you a blow on one side of your face, then let the other side be turned to him; from him who takes away your coat, do not keep back your robe. Give to everyone who comes with a request, and if a man takes away your property, make no attempt to get it back again. Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you have love for those who have love for you, what credit is it to you? for even sinners have love for those who have love for them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is it to you? for even sinners do the same. And if you let those have the use of your money, from whom you are hoping to get it back, what credit is it to you? even sinners do so to sinners, hoping to get back as much as they gave. But be loving to those who are against you and do them good, and give them your money, not giving up hope, and your reward will be great and you will be the sons of the Most High: for he is kind to evil men, and to those who have hard hearts. Be full of pity, even as your Father is full of pity. Be not judges of others, and you will not be judged: do not give punishment to others, and you will not get punishment yourselves: make others free, and you will be made free: Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, crushed down, full and running over, they will give to you. For in the same measure as you give, it will be given to you again. And he gave them teaching in the form of a story, saying, Is it possible for one blind man to be guide to another? will they not go falling together into a hole? The disciple is not greater than his master, but everyone whose learning is complete will be like his master. And why do you take note of the grain of dust in your brother's eye, but take no note of the bit of wood which is in your eye? How will you say to your brother, Brother, let me take the grain of dust out of your eye, when you yourself do not see the bit of wood in your eye? O false one! first take the wood out of your eye and then you will see clearly to take the dust out of your brother's eye. For no good tree gives bad fruit, and no bad tree gives good fruit. For every tree is judged by its fruit. Men do not get figs from thorns, or grapes from blackberry plants. The good man, out of the good store of his heart, gives good things; and the evil man, out of his evil store, gives evil: for out of the full store of the heart come the words of the mouth. Why do you say to me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Everyone who comes to me and gives ear to my words and does them, I will make clear to you what he is like: He is like a man building a house, who went deep and put the base of it on a rock; and when the water came up and the river was driving against that house, it was not moved, because the building was good. But he who gives hearing, without doing, is like a man building a house on the earth without a base for it; and when the force of the river came against it, straight away it came down; and the destruction of that house was great.
And it came about that when the days were near for him to be taken up, his face was turned to go to Jerusalem,
Now after these things, the Lord made selection of seventy others and sent them before him, two together, into every town and place where he himself was about to come. And he said to them, There is much grain ready to be cut, but not enough workers: so make prayer to the Lord of the grain-fields that he will send workers to get in the grain. read more. Go on your way: see, I send you out like lambs among wolves. Take no bag for money or for food, and no shoes; say no word to any man on the way. And whenever you go into a house, first say, Peace be to this house. And if a son of peace is there, your peace will be with him: but if not, it will come back to you again. And keep in that same house, taking what food and drink they give you: for the worker has a right to his reward. Do not go from house to house. And into whatever town you go, if they take you in, take whatever food is given to you: And make well those in it who are ill and say to them, The kingdom of God is near to you. But if you go into a town where they will not have you, go out into the streets of it and say, Even the dust of your town, which is on our feet, we put off as a witness against you; but be certain of this, that the kingdom of God is near. I say to you, It will be better in that day for Sodom than for that town. A curse is on you, Chorazin! A curse is on you, Beth-saida! For if such works of power had been done in Tyre and Sidon as have been done in you, they would have been turned from their sins, in days gone by, seated in the dust. But it will be better for Tyre and Sidon, in the day of judging, than for you. And you, Capernaum, were you not lifted up to heaven? you will go down to hell. Whoever gives ear to you, gives ear to me; and whoever is against you, is against me; and whoever is against me, is against him who sent me.
On the third day two people were going to be married at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there: And Jesus with his disciples came as guests. read more. When they had not enough wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. Jesus said to her, Woman, this is not your business; my time is still to come. His mother said to the servants, Whatever he says to you, do it. Now six pots of stone, every one taking two or three firkins of water, were placed there for the purpose of washing, as is the way of the Jews. Jesus said to the servants, Make the pots full of water. And they made them full to the top. Then he said to them, Now take some, and give it to the master of the feast. So they took it to him. After tasting the water which had now become wine, the master of the feast (having no idea where it came from, though it was clear to the servants who took the water out) sent for the newly-married man, And said to him, Every man first puts out his best wine and when all have had enough he puts out what is not so good; but you have kept the good wine till now. This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and let his glory be seen openly; and his disciples put their faith in him.
The time of the Passover of the Jews was near and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And there in the Temple he saw men trading in oxen and sheep and doves, and he saw the changers of money in their seats: read more. And he made a whip of small cords and put them all out of the Temple, with the sheep and the oxen, sending in all directions the small money of the changers and overturning their tables; And to those who were trading in doves he said, Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a market. And it came to the minds of the disciples that the Writings say, I am on fire with passion for your house. Then the Jews put this question to him: What sign of authority have you to give us, seeing that you do these things? And Jesus said to them, Send destruction on this Temple and I will put it up again in three days. The Jews said, The building of this Temple took forty-six years; and you will put it up in three days! But his words were about that holy building which was his body. So when he had come back again from the dead, the memory of these words came back to the disciples, and they had faith in the holy Writings and in the word which Jesus had said.
Then came the feast of the opening of the Temple in Jerusalem: it was winter; And Jesus was walking in the Temple, in Solomon's covered way. read more. Then the Jews came round him, saying, how long are you going to keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, say so clearly. Jesus said in answer, I have said it and you have no belief: the works which I do in my Father's name, these give witness about me. But you have no belief because you are not of my sheep. My sheep give ear to my voice, and I have knowledge of them, and they come after me: And I give them eternal life; they will never come to destruction, and no one will ever take them out of my hand. That which my Father has given to me has more value than all; and no one is able to take anything out of the Father's hand. I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to send at him. Jesus said to them in answer, I have let you see a number of good works from the Father; for which of those works are you stoning me? This was their answer: We are not stoning you for a good work but for evil words; because being a man you make yourself God. In answer, Jesus said, Is there not a saying in your law, I said, You are gods? If he said they were gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Writings may not be broken), Do you say of him whom the Father made holy and sent into the world, Your words are evil; because I said, I am God's Son? If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not have belief in me; But if I am doing them, then have belief in the works even if you have no belief in me; so that you may see clearly and be certain that the Father is in me and I am in the Father. Then again they made an attempt to take him; but he got away from them. And he went again to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John first gave baptism; and he was there for a time. And a great number of people came to him, saying, John did no sign: but everything John said of this man was true. And a number came to have faith in him there.
Now a certain man named Lazarus was ill; he was of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (The Mary whose brother Lazarus was ill, was the Mary who put perfumed oil on the Lord and made his feet dry with her hair.) read more. So the sisters sent to him, saying, Lord, your dear friend is ill. When this came to his ears, Jesus said, The end of this disease is not death, but the glory of God, so that the Son of God may have glory because of it. Now Jesus had love in his heart for Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when the news came to him that Lazarus was ill, he did not go from the place where he was for two days. Then after that time he said to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again. The disciples said to him, Master, the Jews were attempting only the other day to have you stoned, and are you going back there again? Then Jesus said in answer, Are there not twelve hours in the day? A man may go about in the day without falling, because he sees the light of this world. But if a man goes about in the night, he may have a fall because the light is not in him. These things said he: and after that he said to them, Lazarus our friend is at rest; but I go so that I may make him come out of his sleep. Then his disciples said to him, Lord, if he is resting he will get well. Jesus, however, was talking of his death: but they had the idea that he was talking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them clearly, Lazarus is dead. And because of you I am glad I was not there, so that you may have faith; but let us go to him. Then Thomas, who was named Didymus, said to the other disciples, Let us go so that we may be with him in death. Now when Jesus came, he made the discovery that Lazarus had been put into the earth four days before. Now Bethany was near to Jerusalem, about two miles away; And a number of Jews had come to Martha and Mary to give them comfort about their brother. When Martha had the news that Jesus was on the way, she went out to him, but Mary did not go from the house. Then Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here my brother would not be dead. But I am certain that, even now, whatever request you make to God, God will give it to you. Jesus said to her, Your brother will come to life again. Martha said to him, I am certain that he will come to life again when all come back from the dead at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am myself that day and that life; he who has faith in me will have life even if he is dead; And no one who is living and has faith in me will ever see death. Is this your faith? She said to him, Yes, Lord: my faith is that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world. And having said this, she went away and said secretly to her sister Mary, The Master is here and has sent for you. And Mary, hearing this, got up quickly and went to him.
And Mary, hearing this, got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not at this time come into the town, but was still in the place where Martha had seen him. read more. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, comforting her, when they saw Mary get up quickly and go out, went after her in the belief that she was going to the place of the dead and would be weeping there. When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she went down at his feet, saying, Lord, if you had been here my brother would not be dead. And when Jesus saw her weeping, and saw the Jews weeping who came with her, his spirit was moved and he was troubled, And said, Where have you put him? They said, Come and see, Lord. And Jesus himself was weeping. So the Jews said, See how dear he was to him! But some of them said, This man, who made open the eyes of the blind man, was he not able to keep his friend from death? So Jesus, deeply troubled in heart, came to the place of the dead. It was a hole in the rock, and a stone was over the opening. Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said, Lord, by this time the body will be smelling, for he has been dead four days. Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you that if you had faith you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone. And Jesus, looking up to heaven, said, Father, I give praise to you for hearing me. I was certain that your ears are at all times open to me, but I said it because of these who are here, so that they may see that you sent me. Then he said in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! And he who was dead came out, with linen bands folded tightly about his hands and feet, and a cloth about his face. Jesus said to them, Make him free and let him go.
So Jesus no longer went about publicly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near to the waste land, to a town named Ephraim, where he was for some time with the disciples.
Now there were some Greeks among the people who had come up to give worship at the feast: They came to Philip, who was of Beth-saida in Galilee, and made a request, saying, Sir, we have a desire to see Jesus. read more. Philip went and gave word of it to Andrew; and Andrew went with Philip to Jesus. And Jesus said to them in answer, The hour of the glory of the Son of man has come. Truly I say to you, If a seed of grain does not go into the earth and come to an end, it is still a seed and no more; but through its death it gives much fruit. He who is in love with life will have it taken from him; and he who has no care for his life in this world will keep it for ever and ever. If any man is my servant, let him come after me; and where I am, there will my servant be. If any man becomes my servant, my Father will give him honour. Now is my soul troubled; and what am I to say? Father, keep me from this hour. No: for this purpose have I come to this hour. Father, give glory to your name. Then there came a voice out of heaven, saying, I have given it glory, and I will give it glory again. Hearing the sound, a number of people who were there said that it was thunder: others said, An angel was talking to him. Jesus said in answer, This voice came not for me but for you. Now is this world to be judged: now will the ruler of this world be sent out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will make all men come to me. (This he said, pointing to the sort of death he would have.) Then the people in answer said to him, The law says that the Christ will have life without end: how say you then that it is necessary for the Son of man to be lifted up? Who is this Son of man? Jesus said to them, For a little time longer the light will be among you; while you have the light go on walking in it, so that the dark may not overtake you: one walking in the dark has no knowledge of where he is going. In so far as you have the light, put your faith in the light so that you may become sons of light. With these words Jesus went away and for a time was not seen again by them.
Driving him out of the town and stoning him: and the witnesses put their clothing at the feet of a young man named Saul. And Stephen, while he was being stoned, made prayer to God, saying, Lord Jesus, take my spirit. read more. And going down on his knees, he said in a loud voice, Lord, do not make them responsible for this sin. And when he had said this, he went to his rest.
And Saul gave approval to his death. Now at that time a violent attack was started against the church in Jerusalem; and all but the Apostles went away into all parts of Judaea and Samaria. And God-fearing men put Stephen's body in its last resting-place, making great weeping over him. read more. But Saul was burning with hate against the church, going into every house and taking men and women and putting them in prison. But those who had gone in flight went everywhere preaching the word.
And while they were going on their way, they came to some water, and the Ethiopian said, See, here is water; why may I not have baptism?
And when he came to Jerusalem, he made an attempt to be joined to the disciples, but they were all in fear of him, not taking him for a disciple.
And when he came to Jerusalem, he made an attempt to be joined to the disciples, but they were all in fear of him, not taking him for a disciple. But Barnabas took him to the Apostles and gave them an account of how he had seen the Lord on the road, and had given hearing to his words, and how at Damascus he had been preaching in the name of Jesus without fear.
But Barnabas took him to the Apostles and gave them an account of how he had seen the Lord on the road, and had given hearing to his words, and how at Damascus he had been preaching in the name of Jesus without fear. And he was with them, going in and out at Jerusalem,
And he was with them, going in and out at Jerusalem, Preaching in the name of the Lord without fear; and he had discussions with the Greek Jews; but they were working for his death. read more. And when the brothers had knowledge of it, they took him to Caesarea and sent him to Tarsus.
But Peter made them all go outside, and went down on his knees in prayer; and turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, get up. And, opening her eyes, she saw Peter and got up.
But some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, when they came to Antioch, gave the good news about the Lord Jesus to the Greeks.
And when he had come across him, he took him to Antioch. And they were with the church there for a year, teaching the people; and the disciples were first given the name of Christians in Antioch.
Which they did, sending it to the rulers of the church by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
And he put James, the brother of John, to death with the sword. And when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he went on to take Peter in addition. This was at the time of the feast of unleavened bread. read more. And having taken him, he put him in prison, with four bands of armed men to keep watch over him; his purpose being to take him out to the people after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison: but the church made strong prayer to God for him. And when Herod was about to take him out, the same night Peter was sleeping in chains between two armed men, and the watchmen were keeping watch before the door of the prison. And a great light was seen shining in the room, and an angel of the Lord came to Peter and, touching him on his side so that he came out of his sleep, said, Get up quickly. And his chains came off his hands. Then the angel said, Put on your shoes and get ready to go. And he did so. And he said, Put your coat round you and come with me. And he went out after him; and he was not certain if what was done by the angel was a fact, for it seemed to him that he was seeing a vision. And when they had gone past the first and second watchmen they came to the iron door into the town, which came open by itself: and they went out and down one street; and then the angel went away. And when Peter came to his senses he said, Now, truly, I am certain that the Lord has sent his angel and taken me out of the hands of Herod, against all the hopes of the Jews. And when he became clear about this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John named Mark, where a number of them had come together for prayer. And he gave a blow on the door, and a young girl came to it, named Rhoda. And hearing the voice of Peter, in her joy she went running, without opening the door, to say that Peter was outside. And they said to her, You are off your head. But still she said, with decision, that it was so. And they said, It is his angel. But Peter went on giving blows on the door: and when it was open and they saw him, they were full of wonder. But he made a sign to them with his hand to be quiet, and gave them an account of how the Lord had taken him out of prison. And he said, Give the news to James and the brothers. And then he went away. Now when it was day, the armed men were greatly troubled about what had become of Peter. And Herod, when he sent for him, and he was not there, after questioning the watchmen, gave orders that they were to be put to death. Then he went down from Judaea to Caesarea for a time.
And straight away the angel of the Lord sent a disease on him, because he did not give the glory to God: and his flesh was wasted away by worms, and so he came to his end.
And after Paul and Barnabas had had no little argument and discussion with them, the brothers made a decision to send Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them to the Apostles and the rulers of the church at Jerusalem about this question.
And this is in agreement with the words of the prophets, as it is said,
And he was there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
And when he had come to land at Caesarea, he went to see the church, and then went down to Antioch.
And he went into the Synagogue, and for three months he was preaching there without fear, reasoning and teaching about the kingdom of God.
And this went on for two years, so that all those who were living in Asia had knowledge of the word of the Lord, Greeks as well as Jews.
And about that time a great outcry took place about the Way.
And when he had gone through those parts and given them much teaching, he came into Greece.
And we went away from Philippi by ship after the days of unleavened bread, and came to them at Troas in five days; and we were there for seven days. And on the first day of the week, when we had come together for the holy meal, Paul gave them a talk, for it was his purpose to go away on the day after; and he went on talking till after the middle of the night.
And going from there by sea, we came on the day after opposite Chios, and touching at Samos on the day after that, we came on the third day to Miletus.
And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the rulers of the church.
And meeting the disciples we were there for seven days: and they gave Paul orders through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.
And on the day after, we went away and came to Caesarea, where we were guests in the house of Philip, the preacher, who was one of the seven.
And when we came to Jerusalem, the brothers were pleased to see us.
And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the Temple, got the people together and put their hands on him,
And he sent for two captains and said, Make ready two hundred men, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen, to go to Caesarea, at the third hour of the night:
But after two years Porcius Festus took the place of Felix, who, desiring to have the approval of the Jews, kept Paul in chains.
And when he had been with them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; and on the day after, he took his place on the judge's seat, and sent for Paul.
If, then, I am a wrongdoer and there is a cause of death in me, I am ready for death: if it is not as they say against me, no man may give me up to them. Let my cause come before Caesar.
So on the day after, when Agrippa and Bernice in great glory had come into the public place of hearing, with the chief of the army and the chief men of the town, at the order of Festus, Paul was sent for.
And when the decision had been made that we were to go by sea to Italy, they gave Paul and certain other prisoners into the care of a captain named Julius, of the Augustan band.
And when we came into Rome, they let Paul have a house for himself and the armed man who kept watch over him. Then after three days he sent for the chief men of the Jews: and when they had come together, he said to them, My brothers, though I had done nothing against the people or the ways of our fathers, I was given, a prisoner from Jerusalem, into the hands of the Romans.
I had no rest in my spirit because Titus my brother was not there: so I went away from them, and came into Macedonia.
But when it was the good pleasure of God, by whom I was marked out even from my mother's body, through his grace, To give the revelation of his Son in me, so that I might give the news of him to the Gentiles; then I did not take the opinion of flesh and blood, read more. And I went not up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and again I came back to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Cephas, and was there with him fifteen days.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Cephas, and was there with him fifteen days.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Cephas, and was there with him fifteen days.
It was my desire, when I went on into Macedonia, that you might make a stop at Ephesus, to give orders to certain men not to put forward a different teaching,
I did not take you with me when I went away from Crete, so that you might do what was necessary to put things in order there, placing men in authority over the churches in every town, as I said to you;
Still, because of love, in place of an order, I make a request to you, I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner of Christ Jesus:
Smith
New Testament.
It is proposed in this article to consider the text of the New Testament. The subject naturally divides itself into-- I. The history of the written text; II. The history of the printed text. I. THE HISTORY OF THE WRITTEN TEXT.--
1. The early history of the apostolic writings externally, as far as it can be traced, is the same as that of other contemporary books. St. Paul, like Cicero or Pliny often employed the services of an amanuensis, to whom he dictated his letters, affixing the salutation "with his own hand."
The original copies seem to have soon perished.
2. In the natural course of things the apostolic autographs would be likely to perish soon. The material which was commonly used for letters the papyrus paper, to which St. John incidentally alludes.
comp. 3Joh 1:13 was singularly fragile, and even the stouter kinds, likely to be used for the historical books, were not fitted to bear constant use. The papyrus fragments which have come down to the present time have been preserved under peculiar circumstances as at Herculaneum or in the Egyptian tombs.
3. In the time of the Diocletian persecution, A.D. 303, copies of the Christian Scriptures were sufficiently numerous to furnish a special object for persecutors. Partly, perhaps, owing to the destruction thus caused, but still more from the natural effects of time. no MS. of the New Testament of the first three centuries remains but though no fragment of the New Testament of the first century still remains, the Italian and Egyptian papyri, which are of that date give a clear notion of the caligraphy of the period. In these the text is written in columns, rudely divided, in somewhat awkward capital letters (uncials), without any punctuation or division of words; and there is no trace of accents or breathings.
4. In addition to the later MSS. the earliest versions and patristic quotations give very important testimony to the character and history of the ante-Nicene text; but till the last quarter of the second century this source of information fails us. Only are the remains of Christian literature up to that time extremely scanty, but the practice of verbal quotation from the New Testament was not yet prevalent. As soon as definite controversies arose among Christians, the text of the New Testament assumed its true importance.
5. Several very important conclusions follow from this earliest appearance of textual criticism. It is in the first place evident that various readings existed in the books of the New Testament at a time prior to all extant authorities. History affords a trace of the pure apostolic originals. Again, from the preservation of the first variations noticed, which are often extremely minute, in one or more of the primary documents still left, we may be certain that no important changes have been made in the sacred text which we cannot now detect.
6. Passing from these isolated quotations, we find the first great witnesses to the apostolic text in the early Syriac and Latin versions and in the rich quotations of Clement of Alexandria (cir. A.D. 220) and Origen (A.D. 1842~4). From the extant works of Origen alone no inconsiderable portion of the whole New Testament might be transcribed; and his writings are an almost inexhaustible store house for the history of the text. There can be no doubt that in Origen's time the variations in the New Testament MSS. were beginning to lead to the formation of specific groups of copies.
7. The most ancient MSS. and versions now extant exhibit the characteristic differences which have been found to exist in different parts of the works of Origen. These cannot have had their source later than the beginning of the third century, and probably were much earlier. Bengel was the first (1734) who pointed out the affinity of certain groups of MSS., which as he remarks, must have arisen before the first versions were made. The honor of carefully determining the relations of critical authorities for the New Testament text belongs to Griesbach. According to him two distinct recensions of the Gospels existed at the beginning of the third century-the Alexandrine and the Western.
8. From the consideration of the earliest history of the New Testament text we now pass to the era of MSS. The quotations of Dionsius Alex. (A.D. 264), Petrus Alex. (cir. A.D. 312), Methodius (A.D. 311) and Eusebius (A.D. 340) confirm the prevalence of the ancient type of tent; but the public establishment of Christianity in the Roman empire necessarily led to important changes. The nominal or real adherence of the higher ranks to the Christian faith must have largely increased the demand for costly MSS. As a natural consequence the rude Hellenistic forms gave way before the current Greek, and at the same time it is reasonable to believe that smoother and fuller constructions were substituted for the rougher turns of the apostolic language. In this way the foundation of the Byzantine text was laid. Meanwhile the multiplication of copies in Africa and Syria was checked by Mohammedan conquests.
9. The appearance of the oldest MSS. have been already described. The MSS. of the fourth century, of which Codex Vaticanus may be taken as a type present a close resemblance to these. The writing is in elegant continuous uncials (capitals), in three columns, without initial letters or iota subscript or adscript. A small interval serves as a simple punctuation; and there are no accents or breathings by the hand of the first writer, though these have been added subsequently. Uncial writing continued in general use till the middle of the tenth century. From the eleventh century downward cursive writing prevailed. The earliest cursive biblical MS, is dated 964 A.D. The MSS. of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries abound in the contractions which afterward passed into the early printed books. The oldest MSS. are written on the thinnest and finest vellum; in later copies the parchment is thick and coarse. Papprus was very rarely used after the ninth century. In the tenth century cotton paper was generally employed in Europe; and one example at least occurs of its use in the ninth century. In the twelfth century the common linen or rag paper came into use. One other kind of material requires notice --re-dressed parchment, called palimpsests. Even at a very early period the original text of a parchment MS. was often erased, that the material might be used afresh. In lapse of time the original writing frequently reappeared in faint lines below the later text, and in this way many precious fragments of biblical MSS. which had been once obliterated for the transcription of other works, have been recovered.
10. The division of the Gospels into "chapters" must have come into general use some time before the fifth century. The division of the Acts and Epistles into chapters came into use at a later time. It is commonly referred to Euthalius, who, however, says that he borrowed the divisions of the Pauline Epistles from an earlier father and there is reason to believe that the division of the Acts and Catholic Epistles which he published was originally the work of Pamphilus the martyr. The Apocalypse was divided into sections by Andreas of Caesarea about A.D. 500. The titles of the sacred books are from their nature additions to the original text. The distinct names of the Gospels imply a collection, and the titles of the Epistles are notes by the possessors, and not addresses by the writers.
11. Very few MSS. certain the whole New Testament --twenty-seven in all out of the vast mass of extant documents. Besides the MSS. of the New Testament, or of parts of it, there are also lectionaries, which contain extracts arranged for the church services.
12. The number of uncial MSS. remaining. though great when compared with the ancient MSS. extent of other writings, is inconsiderable. Tischendorf reckons forty in the Gospels. In these must be added Cod. Sinait., which is entire; a new MS. of Tischendorf, which is nearly entire; and Cod. Zacynth., Which contains considerable fragments of St. Luke. In the Acts there are nine: in the Catholic Epistles five; in th
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And he said to them, Nothing will make this sort come out but prayer.
Now when he came back from the dead early on the first day of the week, he went first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had sent out seven evil spirits.
I, Paul, send you these words of love in my writing.
I, Paul, give you this word of love in my handwriting. Keep in memory that I am a prisoner. Grace be with you.
How much more will the blood of Christ, who, being without sin, made an offering of himself to God through the Holy Spirit, make your hearts clean from dead works to be servants of the living God?
Having much to say to you, it is not my purpose to put it all down with paper and ink: but I am hoping to come to you, and to have talk with you face to face, so that your joy may be full.
I had much to say to you, but it is not my purpose to put it all down with ink and pen: