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(Lu 22:20), rather "New Covenant," in contrast to the old covenant of works, which is superseded.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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In like manner after supper He took a cup of wine, and said, "This cup of wine is the new covenant to be ratified by my blood, which is to be poured out 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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But about that day or hour not a single one knows -- not even the angels in heaven or the Son; not a single one but the Father alone.
But at midnight there was a shout, 'Here comes the bridegroom! Go out to meet him!'
It was very early, just after the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, when they went to the tomb. And they kept saying to one another, "Who will roll the boulder back from the doorway of the tomb for us?" read more. Then they looked up and saw that the boulder had already been rolled to one side, for it was a very large one. And when they went into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting at the right; and they were utterly astounded.
and as my Father has conferred on me a kingdom,
They are great from every point of view. In the first place, the Jews are entrusted with the utterances of God.
O senseless Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose very eyes Jesus Christ was pictured as the crucified One?
Brothers, I am going to use a human illustration: Even a human contract, once it has been ratified, no one can annul or change. Now the promises were made to Abraham and his descendant. It does not say, "and to your descendants," in the plural, but in the singular, "and to your descendant," that is, Christ. read more. I mean this: The law which was given four hundred and thirty years later could not annul the contract which had already been ratified by God, so as to cancel the promise. For if our inheritance depends on the law, it can no longer depend on the promise. But it was by promise that God so graciously bestowed it upon Abraham.
When you come, bring the coat which I left with Carpus at Troas; bring the books, too, especially the parchments.
Therefore, because God wanted to make the strongest demonstration of the unchangeable character of His purpose, He interposed with an oath, so that by these two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to prove false, we who have taken refuge with Him may have encouragement strong enough to make us seize upon the hope that lies ahead of us.
But, as the case with Him now stands, He has entered upon a priestly service as much superior to theirs as the covenant of which He is the Mediator is superior to theirs, superior because it has been enacted upon superior promises. For if the first covenant had been faultless, there could have been no room for a second one. read more. For, because He was dissatisfied with His people, He said: "'See; the time is coming,' says the Lord, 'When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, Unlike the one that I made with their forefathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them out from the land of Egypt, for they did not abide by their covenant with me, so I did not care for them,' says the Lord. 'For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel in those days,' says the Lord; 'I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. And nevermore will each one need to teach his fellow-citizen, And each one teach his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," For all will know me, from the lowest to the highest. For I will be merciful to their deeds of wrong, and never, never any more will I recall their sins,'" In speaking of a new covenant He makes the first one obsolete; and whatever is obsolete and antiquated is on the verge of vanishing.
how much more surely will the blood of Christ, who with an eternal Spirit gave Himself a spotless offering to God, purify your consciences from works that mean mere death, to serve the ever living God? And this is why He is the Mediator of a new covenant, in order that, after He had suffered death for securing redemption from the offenses committed under the first covenant, those who had been invited to share it might obtain the eternal inheritance promised them. read more. For when a will is made, it is necessary that the death of him who makes it be proved. For a will is valid only after a man is dead, since it has no force whatever while the one who made it is alive.
Omitted Text.
Though I have much to write you, I do not choose to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to see you and talk with you face to face, so that your happiness may be complete,
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 beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah: "Here I send my messenger ahead of you; He will prepare your way. read more. He is a voice of one who shouts in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord; make the paths straight for Him.'" John the Baptizer appeared in the desert and was preaching a baptism conditioned on repentance to obtain the forgiveness of sins. And people from all over Judea and everybody in Jerusalem kept on going out to him and being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he used to live on dried locusts and wild honey. He kept preaching the following message, "After me there is coming One who is stronger than I am, whose shoes I am not fit to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you in water, but He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit." Now in those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as soon as He started to come up out of the water, He saw the heavens split open and the Spirit coming down like a dove to enter Him. And out of the heavens came a voice, "You are my Son, my Beloved! In you I am delighted!"
Now after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God: "The time is ripe and the kingdom of God is near; repent and believe in the good news."
They were all so dumbfounded that they kept discussing it among themselves, and asking, "What does this mean? It is a new teaching. He gives orders with authority even to foul spirits, and they obey Him."
And He said to them, "Let us go somewhere else, to the neighboring towns, to preach in them, too, for that is why I came out here." So He went all over Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Then He went up on the hillside and summoned to Him those whom He wanted, and they went to Him. And He appointed the Twelve, to whom He gave the title, apostles, to be with Him, to send them forth to preach, read more. and to have the right to drive out the demons. The Twelve whom He appointed were: Peter, the name which He gave to Simon, James the son of Zebedee, and John, James's brother (He named them Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him. Then He went home.
So they landed on the other side of the sea in the region of Gerasa. As soon as He got out of the boat, a man under the power of a foul spirit and from the tombs met Him. read more. This man lived among the tombs, and no one could any longer subdue him even with a chain, for he had often been fastened with fetters and chains but had snapped the chains and broken the fetters, and no one was strong enough to overpower him. All night and all day he kept screaming among the tombs and on the hills, and kept gashing himself with stones. On catching a glimpse of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and fell down on his knees before Him, and screamed aloud, "What do you want of me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God's name, I beg you, do not torture me." For Jesus was saying to him, "You foul spirit, come out of him." He asked him, "What is your name?" He answered, "My name is Legion, for we are many." And they kept on earnestly begging Him not to send them out of that country. Now there was a large drove of hogs grazing on the hillside. And they begged Him, "Send us among the hogs, so that we can get into them." So He let them do so. And the foul spirits came out of the man and got into the hogs, and the drove of about two thousand rushed over the cliff and into the sea and were drowned. Then the hog-feeders fled and spread the news in the town and in the country around; and the people came to see what had taken place. When they came to Jesus and saw the man who had once been insane under the power of many demons, sitting, with his clothes on, and in his right mind, they were frightened. And those who had seen it told them how it occurred to the man who had been under the power of the demons, and about the hogs. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. And as He was getting into the boat, the once insane man kept begging Him to let him go with Him. However, He did not let him, but said to him, "Go home to your folks, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and has taken pity on you." And so he went away and began to tell everybody in the Ten Cities how much Jesus had done for him; and everybody was dumbfounded.
He left there and went back to His hometown, and His disciples followed Him. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue. And the people were dumbfounded when they heard Him, and said, "Where did He get all these things? What sort of wisdom is it that has been given Him? And such mighty deeds are done by Him! read more. Is He not the carpenter, Mary's son, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And do not His sisters live here among us?" And so they found a cause for stumbling over him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet never fails to be honored except in his native neighborhood, among his kinsmen, and in his own home." He could not do any mighty deeds there, except that He put His hands on a few ailing people and cured them. And He wondered at their lack of faith in Him. Then He made a circle of the villages and continued teaching. And He called the Twelve to Him and sent them out two by two, and gave them power over the foul spirits. He ordered them not to take anything for the journey except a staff, no bread, no bag, no money in the purse; they were to go with plain sandals on their feet and not to wear two shirts. And He continued to say to them, "Whenever you put up at a house, stay there until you leave that place. And if any place refuses to welcome you or to listen to you, when you leave there shake off the very dust from the soles of your feet as a warning to them." So they went out and preached that men should repent, and drove out many demons, and cured many sick people by anointing them with oil.
For this very Herod had sent and seized John and bound him and put him in prison, just to please Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her. For John kept saying to Herod, "It is not right for you to be living with your brother's wife." read more. So Herodias had it in for him and wanted to have him killed. But she could not have it done, for Herod stood in awe of John, because he knew that he was an upright and holy man, and so he protected him. When he heard him speak, he was very much disturbed, and yet he liked to hear him. When a holiday came and Herod on his birthday gave a banquet to his state officials, his military officers, and other leading men of Galilee, Herodias' daughter came in and danced for them, and fascinated Herod and his guests. So the king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I will give it to you." And he promised her on oath, "I will give you anything you ask for, up to half of my kingdom." She left the room and asked her mother, "What shall I ask him for?" And she answered, "The head of John the Baptist." Then she rushed at once before the king, and made this request, "I want you this very minute to give me John the Baptist's head on a platter." The king, although exceedingly sorry, yet on account of his oath and his guests, did not like to refuse her, and so at once ordered a soldier of his guard to bring his head. The soldier went off and beheaded John in the prison and brought back his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
and brought back his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard of it, they came and carried off his corpse and laid it in a tomb.
When it grew late, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a destitute place and it is already late. Send the crowds off to the farms and villages to buy themselves something to eat." read more. But He answered them, "Give them something to eat yourselves." Then they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy forty dollars' worth of bread and give it to them to eat?" Then He asked them, "How many loaves have you? Go and see." They found out and told Him, "Five, and two fish." Then He ordered them all to sit down in rows on the green grass. And so they tumbled down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Then He took the five loaves and the two fish and looked up to heaven and blessed the loaves and broke them in pieces and gave the pieces to the disciples to pass on to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and had plenty. And the pieces they took up from the loaves made twelve basketfuls besides the pieces from the fish. There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.
They crossed over to the other side and came to Gennesaret and anchored the boat. As soon as they got out of the boat, the people recognized Him read more. and hurried all over the countryside and began to bring the sick to Him on their pallets, wherever they heard He was. And whatever villages or towns or country places He came to, they would lay the sick in the market-places and beg Him to let them touch just the tassel of His coat, and everybody that touched it was cured.
In those days when a great crowd again had gathered and they had nothing to eat, He called His disciples to Him, and said, "My heart goes out in pity for these people, for they have been staying with me three days now, and they have nothing left to eat. read more. And if I send them home hungry, they will give out on the road, for some of them are a long way from home." But His disciples answered Him, "Where can anyone get bread enough here in this destitute place, to give these people plenty?" Then He asked them, "How many loaves have you?" They answered, "Seven." So He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then He took the seven loaves and gave thanks and broke them in pieces and gave them to His disciples to pass, and they passed them to the people. And they had a few small fish, and He blessed them and told them to pass these, too, to the people, And they ate and had plenty. And they took up the pieces left over, which made seven hamper-basketfuls. About four thousand people were there. Then He sent them away.
Six days after this, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him, and led them up on a high mountain, alone by themselves. And in their presence His appearance was changed, and His clothes were shining as white as white could be, yea, whiter than any earthly bleacher could bleach them. read more. And Elijah appeared to them, accompanied by Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter interrupted and said to Jesus, "Teacher, it is good for us to be here. So let us put up three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." For he did not really know what to say, he was so frightened. Then a cloud came and was circling over them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my Son, my Beloved; keep on listening to Him!" And as quick as a flash, on looking around, they saw no one with them but Jesus by Himself. And while they were going down the mountain, He cautioned them not to tell anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man should rise from the dead. And they held that caution fast in their minds, as they continued to discuss among themselves what rising from the dead meant.
When they were getting near Jerusalem, that is, were at Bethphage and Bethany in front of the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples on ahead, and said to them, "Go into the village in front of you, and as soon as you get into it, you will find a colt tied which has never been ridden by a man. Untie it and bring it here. read more. And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing that?' answer, 'The Lord needs it, and will soon send it back here.'" So off they went and found a colt tied outside a door at a street corner. They untied it, but some bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" And they answered as Jesus had directed them, and so they let them bring it. They brought the colt to Jesus, and they threw their coats over it, and Jesus mounted it. And many of the people spread their coats in the road, while others scattered layers of leaves cut from the fields. Then those in front and those behind Him shouted: "Welcome Him! Blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord; Blessed be the coming reign of our father David! Welcome Him from on high!" And so He went into Jerusalem and into the temple. After He had looked everything over, as it was already late, He went out with the Twelve to Bethany. Next day, while they were walking over from Bethany, He felt hungry. Now in the distance He saw a fig tree covered with leaves, and He went up to it to see if He might find some figs on it, but when He got to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the time for figs. So He spoke to it and said, "Never again may anyone eat a fig from you!" And His disciples were listening to it. Then they reached Jerusalem, and He went into the temple and began to drive out of it those who were buying and selling things in it. Then He upset the money-changers' tables and the dove-dealers' counters, and would not let anybody carry a vessel through the temple. And He continued teaching them and saying, "Does not the Scripture say, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a cave for robbers." Then the high priests and the scribes heard of this, and they kept looking for some way to destroy Him, for they were afraid of Him, for everybody was swept off his feet at what He said.
Now the feast of the Passover and of Unleavened Bread was two days later. So the high priests and scribes kept looking for some way to arrest Him by stratagem and have Him put to death, for they kept saying, "It must not be at the feast, for there might be a riot."
"Glory to God in highest heaven! And peace on earth to men who please him."
And when He was twelve years old, they went up as usual to the feast and stayed the usual time. When they returned, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but His parents were not aware of it. read more. They supposed that He was somewhere in the caravan, and so they traveled a whole day before they began to make an anxious search for Him among His relatives and acquaintances. As they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem in anxious search for Him. And after three days they finally found Him in the temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
So He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as His habit was on the Sabbath, He went to the synagogue and stood up to read. The roll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him, and He unrolled it and found the place where it was written: read more. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has consecrated me to preach the good news to the poor; He has sent me to announce release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to send the downtrodden away in liberty and to announce the year of favor from the Lord." Then He rolled up the roll and gave it back to the attendant and took His seat. Now the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were gazing at Him. Then He began to speak to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled here in your hearing." So they all began to speak well of Him and to wonder at the gracious words that fell from His lips, and yet they continued to say, "Is He not Joseph's son?" He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote this proverb to me, 'Doctor, cure yourself! Do the things here in your hometown that we hear you did in Capernaum.'" He added, "I solemnly say to you, no prophet is welcome in his native neighborhood. But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the heaven was closed for three years and a half, and there was a great famine over all the land, and yet Elijah was not sent to a single one of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. And there were many lepers in Israel in Elisha's time, and yet not one of them was cured except Naaman the Syrian." Then all the people in the synagogue, on hearing these things, were filled with fury, and they rose up and drove Him out of town and took Him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, to hurl Him down the cliff. But He Himself passed through the midst of them and went on His way.
Then He came down with them and took His stand on a level place, where there was a great throng of His disciples and a vast crowd of people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and the seacoast district of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be cured of their diseases. Even those who were troubled by foul spirits were being cured. read more. So all the people were trying to touch Him, because power continued to go forth from Him and to cure them all. Then He fixed His eyes upon His disciples, and began to speak. "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours! Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be completely satisfied! Blessed are you who are weeping now, for you will laugh! Blessed are you when people hate you and exclude you and denounce you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Burst into joy on that day and leap for ecstasy, for your reward will be rich in heaven; for this is the way your forefathers used to treat the prophets. But a curse on you who are rich, for you are now receiving your comforts in full. A curse on you who live in luxury now, for you will be hungry. A curse on you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. A curse on you when everyone speaks well of you, for this is the way their forefathers used to treat the false prophets. But I say to you who listen now to me, practice loving your enemies, practice doing good to those who hate you, continue to bless those who curse you, and continue to pray for those who abuse you. To the man who strikes you on one cheek, offer him the other too; and from the man who takes away your coat, do not keep back your shirt either, Practice giving to everyone who asks of you, and stop demanding back your goods from him who takes them away. Yes, you must practice dealing with others as you would like them to deal with you. Now if you practice loving only those who love you, what credit do you get for that? Why, even notorious sinners practice loving those who love them. And if you practice doing good only to those who do good to you, what credit do you get for that? Even notorious sinners practice the same. And if you ever lend to people expecting to get it back, what credit do you get for that? Even notorious sinners practice lending to one another, expecting to get it back in full. But you must practice loving your enemies, doing good to them, and lending to them, despairing of nothing; so that your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Continue to be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Then stop criticizing others, and you will never be criticized; stop condemning others, and you will never be condemned. Practice forgiving others, and you will be forgiven. Practice giving to others, and they will give to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, people will pour into your lap. For the measure you use with others they in turn will use with you." Then He told them a story: "Can one blind man lead another? Will they not both fall into the ditch? A pupil is not better than his teacher, but everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you continue to look at the tiny speck in your brother's eye, but pay no attention to the heavy girder in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me get that tiny speck out of your eye,' when you cannot see the girder in your own eye? You hypocrite! First get the girder out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to get out the tiny speck in your brother's eye. "For there never is a healthy tree that bears poor fruit, nor a sickly tree that bears good fruit. For every tree is known by its fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or gather grapes from a bramble-bush. The good man, out of his good inner storehouse, brings forth what is good, the bad man, out of his bad one, what is bad. For a man's mouth usually speaks the things that fill his heart. "So why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' but do not practice what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and continues to listen to my words and practices their teachings, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man who was building a house, who dug deep, and laid its foundation upon the rock; and when a flood came, the torrent burst upon that house but it could not shake it, because it was well built. But the man who merely hears them and does not practice them is like a man who built a house upon the ground without a foundation. The torrent burst upon it, and at once it collapsed, and the wreck of that house was complete."
Now as the time was coming to a head when He should be taken up to heaven, He firmly set His face to continue His journey to Jerusalem;
After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on before Him, two by two, to every town or place which He was going to visit. So He was saying to them: "The harvest is plentiful, but the reapers are scarce. So pray the Lord of the harvest to send out reapers to His harvest-field. read more. Go on. Listen! I am sending you out as lambs surrounded by wolves. Do not carry a purse, a bag, or shoes, and do not stop to say 'Good morning' to anybody on the road. Whenever you go to a house for headquarters, first say, 'Peace to this household.' And if anyone there loves peace, your peace will come upon him; but if not, it will come back to you. Stay on at the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the workman deserves his support. Do not keep moving about from house to house. And if you go into any town and they welcome you, continue to eat what is offered you, to cure the sick there, and to say, 'The kingdom of God is close upon you.' But if you go into any town and they do not welcome you, go out into the streets and say, 'We are wiping off against you the very dust from your town that has stuck to our feet. But understand this, the kingdom of God is close by.' I tell you, on that day the punishment will be lighter for Sodom than for that town. A curse on you, Chorazin! A curse on you, Bethsaida! For if the wonder-works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, long ago they would have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgment the punishment will be lighter for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, are you to be exalted to heaven? No, you are to go down to the regions of the dead. Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever pays no attention to you pays no attention to me, and whoever pays no attention to me pays no attention to Him who sent me."
Two days later there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus' mother was there. Jesus and His disciples, too, were invited to the wedding. read more. When the wine was all gone, Jesus' mother said to Him, "They have no wine!" Jesus said to her, "Woman, what have you to do with me? My time to act has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you." Now in accordance with the custom of purification practiced by the Jews, six stone water jars were standing there, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill these jars with water." So they filled them up to the brim. Then He said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the manager of the feast." So they took him some. As soon as the manager tasted the water just turned into wine, without knowing where it came from, although the servants who had drawn the water did know, he called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everybody, as a rule, serves his good wine first, and his poorer wine after people have drunk freely; you have kept the good wine till now." Jesus performed this, the first of His wonder-works, at Cana in Galilee. By it He showed His glorious power, and so His disciples believed in Him.
Now the Jewish Passover was approaching; so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And in the temple court He found the dealers in cattle, sheep, and pigeons; the money-changers, too, seated at their tables. read more. So He made a lash out of cords, and drove them all, together with the sheep and cattle, out of the temple court, scattered the money-changers' coins and upset their tables. Then He said to the pigeon-dealers, "Take these things out of here! Stop using my Father's house as a market place!" His disciples recalled that the Scriptures say, "My zeal for your house will consume me!" Then the Jews addressed Him and asked, "What sign can you show us that you have authority to act in this way?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this sanctuary, and I will raise it in three days." Then the Jews retorted, "It took forty-six years to build this sanctuary, and you are going to raise it in three days!" But He meant the sanctuary of His body. So after He had risen from the dead, His disciples recalled that He had said this, and so believed the Scripture and the statement that He had made.
Now the Passover, the Jewish feast, was approaching.
At that time came the Feast of Rededication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in Solomon's portico. read more. So the Jews surrounded Him and kept asking Him, "How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are really the Christ, tell us so plainly." Jesus answered them, "I have already told you so, but you do not believe me. The works which I am doing on my Father's authority are my credentials, but still you do not believe in me, for you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them and they follow me, and I give to them eternal life, and they shall never get lost, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My father who gave them to me is stronger than all, and no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. The Father and I are one." The Jews again picked up stones to stone Him. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good deeds from my Father. For which of them are you going to stone me?" The Jews retorted, "It is not for a good deed but for blasphemy we are going to stone you; namely, because you, although a mere man, claim to be God." Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'? If men to whom God's message came are called gods -- and the Scriptures cannot be made null and void -- do you now say to me whom my Father has set apart to it and sent into the world, 'You are a blasphemer,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I am not doing the things that my Father is doing, do not believe me. But if I am doing so, even if you will not believe me, believe the deeds, that you may come to know and continue to know that the Father is in union with me and I am in union with the Father." Once more they were trying to arrest Him, but He escaped from their hands. He again crossed the Jordan at the place where John at first used to baptize, and there He stayed. And many people came to Him and kept on saying, "John did not perform any wonder-works, but everything he ever said about this man was true." And so many of them at that place believed in Him.
Now a man was sick; it was Lazarus who lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who poured the perfume upon the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. read more. So the sisters sent this message to Jesus, "Lord, listen! the one you love so well is sick." When Jesus received the message, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death but is to honor God, that the Son of God through it may be honored." Now Jesus held in loving esteem Martha and her sister and Lazarus. But when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed over for two days in the place where He was. After that He said to His disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." The disciples said to Him, "Teacher, the Jews just now were trying to stone you, and are you going back there again?" Jesus answered, "Does not the day have twelve hours? If a man travels in the daytime, he does not stumble, for he can see the light of this world; but if he travels in the nighttime, he does stumble, because he has no light." He said this, and after that He added, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him." The disciples said to Him, "Lord, if he has merely fallen asleep, he will recover." But Jesus had spoken about his death. However, they supposed that He was referring to falling into a natural sleep. So Jesus then told them plainly: "Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sake that I was not there so that you may come to have real faith in me. But let us go to him." Then Thomas the Twin said to his fellow-disciples, "Let us go too, and die with Him." When Jesus reached there, He found that Lazarus had been buried for four days. Now Bethany is only about two miles from Jerusalem, and a goodly number of Jews had come out to see Martha and Mary, to sympathize with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home. Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask God for He will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise at the resurrection, on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life myself. Whoever continues to believe in me will live right on even though he dies, and no person who continues to live and believe in me will ever die at all. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." On saying this she went back and called her sister Mary, whispering to her, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you." As soon as she heard it, she jumped up and started to Jesus,
As soon as she heard it, she jumped up and started to Jesus, for He had not yet come into the village, but He was still at the place where Martha had met Him. read more. So the Jews who were with her in the house sympathizing with her, when they saw Mary jump up and go out, followed her, because they supposed that she was going to the grave to pour out her grief there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw Him, she threw herself at His feet, and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." So when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping too, He sighed in sympathy and shook with emotion, and asked, "Where have you laid him?" They answered, "Lord, come and see." Jesus burst into tears. So the Jews said, "See how tenderly He loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not this man, who made that blind man see, have kept Lazarus from dying?" Now Jesus sighed again and continued to sigh as He went to the grave. It was a cave with a stone lying over the mouth of it. Jesus said, "Slip the stone aside." The dead man's sister, Martha, said to Him, "Lord, by this time he is offensive, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not promise you that if you would believe in me, you should see the glory of God?" So they slipped the stone aside. And Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you for listening to me; yes, I knew that you always listen to me. But I have said this for the sake of the crowd that is standing by, that they may come to believe that you have sent me." On saying this, He shouted aloud, "Lazarus, come out!" Then out came the dead man, his feet and hands tied with wrappings, and his face tied up with a handkerchief. Jesus said to them, "Untie him and let him go."
It was for this reason that Jesus no more appeared in public among the Jews, but He left that part of the country and went to the district near the desert, to a town called Ephraim, and stayed there with His disciples.
There were some Greeks among those who were coming up to worship at the feast, and they went to Philip who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and kept making this request of him, "Sir, we want to see Jesus." read more. Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip both went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified, I most solemnly say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a single grain. But if it does die, it yields a great harvest. Whoever loves his lower life will lose the higher, but whoever hates his lower life in this world preserves the higher for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must continue to follow me, and my servant also must go wherever I go. If anyone serves me, my Father will show him honor. Now my soul is troubled; what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour of agony! And yet it was for this very purpose that I came to this hour of agony. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came out of heaven, "I have already glorified it and I will again glorify it." The crowd of bystanders on hearing it said that it was thunder; others, however, said, "An angel has spoken to Him!" Jesus answered, "This voice did not come for my sake, but for yours. This world is now in process of judgment; the prince of this world is now to be expelled. And if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me." He said this to show the kind of death He was going to die. The crowd answered Him, "We have learned from the law that the Christ is to remain here forever, and so how can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" Jesus said to them, "Only a little while longer you will have the light. Keep on living by it while you have the light, so that darkness may not overtake you, for whoever walks about in the dark does not know where he is going. While you have the light believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." On saying this Jesus went away and hid Himself.
and dragged him out of the city and continued stoning him. The witnesses, in the meantime, laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. They continued stoning Stephen as he continued praying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" read more. Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not charge this sin on the book against them!" On saying this he fell asleep in death.
Saul heartily approved of his being put to death. So on that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all of them, except the apostles, were scattered over Judea and Samaria. Some devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation for him. read more. But Saul continued to harass the church, and by going from house to house and dragging off men and women he continued to put them into prison. Now those who were scattered went from place to place preaching the good news of the message.
As they continued down the road, they came to some water, and the official said, "Look! here is some water! What is there to keep me from being baptized?"
Now when Saul arrived at Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples there, but they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe that he was really a disciple.
Now when Saul arrived at Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples there, but they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe that he was really a disciple. Barnabas, however, took him up and presented him to the apostles, and he told them how on the road he had seen the Lord, and how the Lord had spoken to him, and how courageously he had spoken in the name of Jesus at Damascus.
Barnabas, however, took him up and presented him to the apostles, and he told them how on the road he had seen the Lord, and how the Lord had spoken to him, and how courageously he had spoken in the name of Jesus at Damascus. So he was one of them, going in and out constantly at Jerusalem,
So he was one of them, going in and out constantly at Jerusalem, and he continued to speak courageously in the name of the Lord, and to speak and debate with the Greek-speaking Jews. But they kept trying to murder him. read more. So when the brothers found this out, they took him down to Caesarea, and from there sent him back to Tarsus.
Then Peter put them all out of the room, knelt down and prayed, and, turning to the body, said, "Tabitha, get up!" Then she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
But there were some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who on reaching Antioch began to speak to the Greeks too, and proceeded to tell them the good news about the Lord Jesus.
and after he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. Now for a whole year their meeting with the church lasted, and they taught large numbers of people. It was at Antioch too that the disciples first came to be known as "Christians."
And this they did and sent it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
He had James the brother of John murdered with a sword, and when he saw that this was agreeable to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too -- it was at the time of the feast of Unleavened Bread. read more. He had him seized and put into prison, and turned him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, planning after the Passover to bring him out again to the people. So Peter was being kept in prison, but earnest prayer to God for him was persistently made by the church. Now just as Herod was going to bring him out, that is, the very night before, Peter was fastened with two chains and was sleeping between two soldiers, and the guards were at the door guarding the prison. And suddenly an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in his cell, and by striking Peter on the side the angel woke him, and said, "Get up quickly!" At once the chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, "Tighten your belt and put on your shoes? He did so. Then the angel said to him, "Put on your coat and follow me!" So he kept following him out, but he was not conscious that what was being done by the angel was real; he thought he was dreaming it. They passed the first guard, then the second, and at last came to the iron gate which led into the city. The gate of itself opened to them, and they passed out and proceeded one block when all at once the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I really know that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from the power of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting to do to me." When he became conscious of his situation, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, were a large number of people had met and were praying. When he knocked at the outer door, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it, and on recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she failed to open the door but ran and told them that Peter was standing at the door. They said to her, "You are crazy!" But she persistently insisted that it was so. Then they said, "It is his guardian angel!" But Peter, meanwhile, kept on knocking. So they opened the door, and when they saw him, they were astounded. With his hand he motioned to them to be quiet, and then he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He added, "Tell all these things to James and the brothers." Then he left them and went somewhere else. When morning came, there was no little commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. Herod had search made for him, and when he could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he left Judea for Caesarea, and stayed there.
But the angel of the Lord at once struck him down, because he did not give the glory to God; he was eaten by worms, and so died.
So, as a dire disturbance and a serious discussion had been created between Paul and Barnabas and them, they decided that Paul and Barnabas and some others from their number should go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question.
The words of the prophets are in accord with this, as it is written:
So for a year and a half he settled down among them and went on teaching God's message.
When he reached Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church there; then he went down to Antioch.
He went to the synagogue there and for three months courageously spoke, keeping up his discussions and continuing to persuade them about the kingdom of God.
This went on for two years, so that everybody living in the province of Asia, Greeks as well as Jews, heard the Lord's message.
Now just about that time a great commotion arose about The Way.
He passed through those districts and by continuing to talk to them encouraged the people. He then went on to Greece
while we, after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, sailed from Philippi, and five days after joined them at Troas, where we spent a week. On the first day of the week when we had met to break bread, Paul addressed them, since he was leaving the next day, and prolonged his speech till midnight.
On the next day we sailed from there and arrived off Chios. On the next day we crossed to Samos, and the next we reached Miletus.
From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.
So we looked up the disciples there and stayed a week with them. Because of impressions made by the Spirit they kept on warning Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem.
The next day we left there and went on to Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.
When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers there gave us a hearty welcome.
As the seven days were drawing to a close, the Jews from Asia caught a glimpse of him in the temple and began to stir up all the crowd, and seized him,
Then he called in two of his captains and said to them, "Get two hundred men ready to march to Caesarea, with seventy mounted soldiers and two hundred armed with spears, to leave at nine o'clock tonight."
But at the close of two whole years Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and as he wanted to gratify the Jews, Felix left Paul still in prison.
After staying there not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day, after taking his seat on the judge's bench, he ordered Paul brought in.
If I am guilty and have done anything that deserves death, I am not begging to keep from dying, but if there is nothing in the charges which these men make against me, no one can give me up as a favor to them. I appeal to the emperor."
So the next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with splendid pomp and went into the audience-room, attended by the colonels and the leading citizens of the town, and at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.
When it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they turned over Paul and some other prisoners to a colonel of the imperial regiment, named Julius.
When we did arrive at Rome, Paul was granted permission to live by himself -- excepting a soldier to guard him. Three days later, he invited the leading men of the Jews to come to see him, and when they came, he said to them, "Brothers, I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our forefathers; yet at Jerusalem I was turned over to the Romans as a prisoner.
I had no rest of spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and left for Macedonia.
But when God, who had already set me apart from my birth, and had called me by His unmerited favor, chose to unveil His Son in me, so that I might preach the good news about Him among the heathen, at once, before I conferred with any human creatures, read more. and before I went up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I retired to Arabia, and afterwards returned to Damascus. Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas, but I spent only two weeks with him;
Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas, but I spent only two weeks with him;
Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas, but I spent only two weeks with him;
As I begged you to do when I was on my way to Macedonia, I still beg you to stay on in Ephesus to warn certain teachers
I left you in Crete for this express purpose, to set in order the things that are lacking, and to appoint elders in each town, as I directed you --
yet I prefer to appeal to you for love's sake, although I am such as I am, Paul an envoy of Christ Jesus but now a prisoner for Him too;
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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Omitted Text.
He answered them, "This sort of thing can be driven out only by prayer."
Now after He had risen, early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary of Magdala, out of whom He had driven seven demons.
The final greeting is mine -- Paul's -- with my own hand.
This farewell greeting is in my own hand, from Paul. Remember that I am still a prisoner. Spiritual blessing be with you.
how much more surely will the blood of Christ, who with an eternal Spirit gave Himself a spotless offering to God, purify your consciences from works that mean mere death, to serve the ever living God?
Though I have much to write you, I do not choose to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to see you and talk with you face to face, so that your happiness may be complete,
I have much to say to you, but I do not want to write it with pen and ink.