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WHAT MANUSCRIPTS DID OUR BIBLES COME FROM?

7/05/26 WHAT MANUSCRIPTS DID OUR BIBLES COME FROM?

Twice last month the Lord mentioned to me that Bibles that are paraphrases are compromising His truth and they should not be used for Bible study. Then at the end of the month, I received confirmation when media announced that the Passion Bible (paraphrase) was being accused and taken off bookshelves. I do not read Bibles that are paraphrased, I choose ones that are translated.

Last month I did a new deep dive Bible study on a special passage regarding the end times and discovered how important the original language was in regards to finding truth. There are a LOT of different opinions about end time topics. In studying the individual words and seeing how many words are missing from the translations and only implied or worse presumed, it led me to do another deep dive into the early manuscripts to find out where our modern day Bibles came from. I found there are 2 different collections of OT manuscripts that our modern day Bibles come from. And there are 2 other collections of NT manuscripts that our modern day Bibles come from.

In the OT, virtually all of our Bible translations use the same OT Hebrew Bible manuscripts, which are the Tanakh manuscripts. However there was a second translation from the Tanakh Hebrew manuscripts known as the Greek Septuagint version which was created for those Jewish who could not read Hebrew. The dead sea scrolls (900 manuscripts) found in 1947 have thus far given good confirmation to the Tanakh.

The discrepancies among our Bibles today take place in the NT, which were based on 2 different groups of manuscripts. Now I finally understand why even though the history in the Bible is the same among translations, and the overall message of the Bible is the same… there are little discrepancies regarding how to translate certain NT words, with some words left out and some words are assumed in order to fill in the blanks. To someone who wants to search for the truth regarding a specific scripture, it matters!! So as a review, this is what I found regarding which manuscripts are the basis for modern day Bibles. Note the following lists are not in order of emphasis, but rather by date.

FOUR MAIN BRANCHES OF MANUSCRIPTS FOR OUR BIBLES:

♦ OLD TESTAMENT – GREEK SEPTUAGINT: 300 BC

♦ OLD TESTAMENT – THE MASORETIC TEXT: 930 AD

♦ NT CRITICAL TEXT MANUSCRIPTS: 325 AD

♦ NT TEXTUS RECEPTUS (Byzantine Greek) 330 AD – 1516 AD

BIBLES BASED UPON EARLY MANUSCRIPTS:

OLD TESTAMENT – GREEK SEPTUAGINT: 300 BC

The OT Septuagint is the Greek translation of the OT from 3rd century BC. The Greek translation came from the earliest Hebrew Bible known as the Tanakh. The Tanakh were Hebrew and Aramaic scrolls and fragments that were written 1450 BC – 450 BC. The Tanakh is the basis for ALL OT in our Bibles, including the Septuagint versions.

These Bibles use the OT Septuagint in their foundation:

  • Ethiopian Bible –4th century Ge’ez manuscripts. Completed translation in 8th century.
  • Latin Vulgate/ Gutenberg Bible – 1456
  • Ancient Hebrew Text – 1886
  • The Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (Greek)- 1898

OLD TESTAMENT – THE MASORETIC TEXT: 930 AD

The Masoretic Text are the OT manuscripts preserved through the Masorete Jewish scribes. They copied manuscripts from the 2nd temple BC – 930 AD. Their work was not in translations, but in making sure the original vowels, accents, words, letters and verses were copied and preserved accurately. They scribed/ copied from the Tanakh manuscripts which are the oldest known for our OT. The Tanakh is the Hebrew Bible. All our modern day Bibles use the OT Tanakh manuscripts.

The Dead Sea Scrolls (300 BC – 100 AD) found in 1947 and written prior to the Masoretic text have become a confirmation to the close accuracy of the Masoretic text passed down through the scribes.

The following Bibles use the Masoretic text in their Old Testament translations. Virtually all our modern Bibles use the Masoretic text for the Old Testament. The only ones that do not, are those coming from the Septuagint. (However the Septuagint uses the same base of Hebrew manuscripts that the Masoretic text uses. They both use the Hebrew bible, the Tanakh.)

  • The Geneva Bible (OT) – 1560
  • King James Version (OT) – 1611
  • RV – Revised Version (OT) – 1881
  • America Standard Version (OT) – 1901
  • Revised Standard Version (OT) (1952)
  • Amplified Bible (OT) (1965)
  • New American Standard Bible (OT) – 1971
  • New International Version (OT) – 1978
  • English Standard Version (OT) – 1982
  • New Kings James (OT)- 1982
  • The Revised Version (OT) 1989
  • Holy Bible Recovery Version (OT) (1999)
  • World English Bible (OT) (2000)
  • American Literary Version (OT) (also known as Bibliotheca) (2016)
  • Refreshed American Standard Version (OT) (2021)
  • Updated American Standard Version (OT) (2022)

NT CRITICAL TEXT MANUSCRIPTS: 325 AD

The critical text for the NT was published in 1881 but its basis came from manuscripts from the 4thCodex Vaticanus and Coden Sinaiticus– 3rd and 4th Century Greek manuscripts. Those manuscripts were some of the oldest manuscripts and trusted as the most reliable among many scholars. The critical text also includes over 100 papyrus fragments. The manuscripts found in the critical text contain substantial portions of both the OT and NT and are considered the oldest. They became the foundation for what misc Bible translations called the Critical Text.

The following Bibles have the NT Critical Text manuscripts foundation:

  • Interlinear Greek New Testament – 1881
  • RV – Revised Version – 1881
  • NASB – New American Standard Bible – 1971
  • NIV – New International Version – 1978
  • ESV – English Standard Version – 1982
  • NRSV– New Revived Standard Version – 1989
  • NLT – New Living Translation – 1996
  • CSB – Christian Standard Bible – 2017

NEW TESTAMENT – TEXTUS RECEPTUS: 1516 AD

The Textus Receptus version was a Greek version printed in 1516. The Textus Receptus came from the Byzantine manuscripts started in 330 AD during the establishment of the city Constantinople. They continued until 1516. The manuscripts contained medieval Greek church tradition which were the foundations for the following Bibles:

  • The Tyndale Bible – 1526
  • The Geneva Bible – 1560
  • King James Version – 1611
  • Revised Version – 1881
  • Revised Standard Version – 1952
  • Amplified Bible – 1965
  • New Kings James – 1982
  • World English Bible – 2000


HOW I USE THE ABOVE INFORMATION

I use SwordSearch and e-Sword as my 2 computer versions to study.

FOR STUDY:

  • Interlinear Greek New Testament – 1881
  • New King James Version STRONGS concordance
  • Amplified Bible (1965)

Those enable me to find missing words and different translations of the Greek text.

FOR READING

  • New King James Version – 1982
  • Amplified Bible – 1965
  • ESV – English Standard Version – 1982
  • NLT – New Living Translation – 1996

These enable me to have a balance between the Critical Text manuscripts and the Textus Receptus manuscripts so to further find and search out any discrepancies.

READER QUESTION:  How are you using the information on Bibles and their manuscripts?

That is a good question.  Here is an example:

Matthew 17:21 NKJV But this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting.

In Matthew 17, verse 21 is totally missing in ESV, NLT, NIV, ASV, NRSV, CSB, and RV.

NASB is in brackets.

That is because they came from different Greek manuscripts (325 AD) called Critical Text.