(What's the purpose of the "Confidential" flag when sending
this to the list?)

Well certainly, there is a large amount of capriciousness,
even downright prejudice, when choosing one of the two 
basic texts as the source.

As you say Nestle-Aland text has been used for a hundred
years and nearly exclusively used for modern translations, 
whereas the Textus Receptus has not.  I suggest the
prejudice is there, but it has be ingrained into
seminary students for this period of time.  I'm willing
to guess that many aren't even aware of this prejudice.

The Nestle-Aland is a compilation of about a half-dozen
uncial codices.  But the variations between them shouldn't 
be shrugged off as minor as they disagree among themselves
considerably.

The relatively nowadays unused Textus Receptus compiled 
by Stephens used more recent cursives.  But on the other
hand, the type of sources he used, which number in the 
hundreds, agree among themselves.

Tracy Johnson
MSI Schaevitz Sensors 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, May 20, 2002 12:31 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT Greek Texts [was: Global Warming Called
> 'Fairy Tale']
> Sensitivity: Confidential
> 
> 
> Not really.
> 
> First of all, there are two main collections of texts (limiting our
> discussion to the Greek New Testament, and totally neglecting 
> the impressive
> integrity of the Hebrew Bible). There are Stephen's Textus 
> Receptus, which
> formed the basis of translation for the King James Bible, which were
> probably the best available in those days. Then there is the 
> collection of
> texts published by the United Bible Societies (UBS), which 
> are, with minor
> changes in punctuation (which was not used at all at the time 
> of writing)
> and critical apparatus, identical to the Nestle-Aland 26th 
> edition. The
> Nestle and Aland families have been the sponsors of most of 
> the work in
> textual criticism of the Greek New Testament in this century. 
> Of course,
> since the manuscripts are well-known, scholars (and anyone 
> else) are free to
> disagree over the significance of the normally minor 
> variations in the text.
> 
> 
> Most of the translations I have looked at, including some 
> publications of
> the KJV, include not only variant translations of the same 
> term, but variant
> readings. So, for instance, a number of translations will 
> include a note for
> Ephesians 1:1 that three early manuscripts omit the reference 
> rendered "at
> Ephesus". While this tidbit is important to one's understanding of the
> audience and perhaps the author of the letter, it does not 
> largely affect
> one's understanding of the letter itself. In fact, it is the 
> problems of
> translation that provide more shades of meaning than textual 
> variants. For
> instance, for certain verbs, and for certain forms, the indicative (he
> reads) is identical in form to the imperative (eat!). So, for 
> some passages,
> it is a matter of discussion whether a verb is a statement of 
> fact, or a
> command. Same problem with certain forms of indicative and 
> subjunctive: is
> it a statement of how things are, or how they should be? And 
> yet, context
> helps, and while these are grist for the mill, the difference 
> can be so
> subtle as to be but trivial shades of meaning.
> 
> But as for the opportunity to capriciously choose texts, that 
> can only work
> if one does not care if anyone else uses one's translation. 
> And, since there
> are other translations readily available to compare and 
> contrast, the net
> effect is small.
> 
> Now, as for the Hebrew Bible, there is far less opportunity 
> for caprice.
> And, while the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is 
> profoundly important,
> and there are questions about the forms of the texts found, 
> they attest to
> the accurate preservation and transmission of the text, 
> failing to testify
> to the presumed redactions.
> 
> Greg Stigers
> http://www.cgiusa.com
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Johnson, Tracy [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: Monday, May 20, 2002 10:36 AM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: OT Greek Texts [was: Global Warming Called 'Fairy Tale']
> > Sensitivity: Confidential
> >
> >
> > I suggested no such thing regarding any translation.
> > Let me toss translation out the window.
> >
> > what I'm saying is different.
> >
> > I'm saying the underlying text is chosen by prejudice
> > by the translator, according to denomination, even
> > before translation begins.
> >
> > P.S. you can turn the "Confidential" flag off, it
> > was sent to the list.  ;^)
> >
> > Tracy Johnson
> > MSI Schaevitz Sensors
> 
> * To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
> * etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *
> 

* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *