Textus receptus

Textus Receptus (Latin for the traditional text ), abbreviated TR, called those text form of the Greek New Testament, which is found in the widely used print editions of the 16th and 17th century and established itself in the wake in the West for a long time has.

Designation

The term Textus Receptus was marked by the introduction of an edition of the Greek New Testament of 1633 by Bonaventura Elzevir and his nephew Abraham Elzevir, printers from suffering. they wrote

" Textum ergo habes, nunc omnibus from receptum, in quo nihil aut immutatum corruptum "

Which translates as: " so you get the text that has now been received from all / adopted, in which altered or falsified anything." The two words textum and receptum were contracted later in the phrase textus Receptus, which the underlying text as generally accepted and was thus issued binding text version of the New Testament. Hermann von Soden calls this formulation in his 4 Curb text output disparaging a bookseller advertising.

Formation

The text of this tradition Textus Receptus begins with the first print edition of the Greek New Testament which Erasmus of Rotterdam in 1516 under the title Novum Instrumentum omne presented. Erasmus stood to seven Greek manuscripts of the New Testament available, which are attributable to the tradition of the majority text and date from the 11th to 15th centuries. From these manuscripts Erasmus won with the help of the Vulgate and of biblical quotations in the Fathers his text he added in some places even where the manuscripts had gaps. He thus became the first textual critic of the New Testament. The edition was prepared in just 5 months and included because of time pressure relatively many mistakes. A second, revised edition appeared in 1519. This text formed the basis for Martin Luther's German translation. Three other editions with text changes appeared in 1522, 1527 and in 1535.

Long before the first edition of Erasmus a multilingual edition of the Bible, and thus also of the New Testament was prepared in Spain under the direction of Cardinal Jiménez, the Complutensische polyglot, but could not appear until 1520.

Based on these two editions Robert Estienne was ( called Stephen ) out a 1546 edition, the third edition was published in 1550 and is known as the Editio Regia. With the fourth edition of the Verszählung for the New Testament used today was introduced by Estienne. Estienne leaned against especially at the fifth edition of Erasmus edition.

The Calvinist theologian Theodore Beza published 1565-1611 ( here posthumously ) for another ten editions of the Greek New Testament, which was based primarily on the fourth edition of the edition of Estienne, but also some changes contained by partially either by the previous editions, yet manuscripts were occupied.

In this text Beza ( from the first and fifth edition ) the printer Elzevir pitched their output, which has given in the second edition of the Textus Receptus 1633 his name. A total of seven editions published before 1678 out of the house Elzevir. These editions are considered as expenditure of the Textus Receptus, because, essentially, on the work of Erasmus ' go back and are fairly consistent, although they differ in minor details in each case.

The last major critical editions of the Textus Recptus submitted by Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener in the late 19th Jahrhundertert, the main text as the text of the Edito Regia selected and put into the apparatus, the readings of other important issues.

The privileged Württemberg Bible Society moved from issues of the Textus Receptus at the turn of the 20th century to the first edition of Eberhard Nestle. She appeared in 1898. The British and Foreign Bible Society moved in 1904 to the text of the third edition of Nestle and also made ​​it the textual basis for their translations of the Bible into other languages. The Textus Receptus was so relieved for general use in the inexpensive hand expenses.

Text classification and historical criticism

In the complicated textual history of the New Testament, a distinction different text families. Erasmus has its first edition set of seven more or less random manuscripts of the so-called majority text or Byzantine Empire text based. Of these, one contained the entire New Testament without the revelation that only the two Gospels, two letters of Paul, one of the Acts and letters. The revelation was him even in only one less than full manuscript before, so that Erasmus translated the missing parts from the Latin into Greek and thereby created a text version that is attested in no handwriting. All manuscripts were not of particularly high quality historical text. For the later editions of the Textus Receptus more and better manuscripts have been drawn from the tradition of the majority text.

The Byzantine text is indeed delivered by the majority of extant manuscripts, however, is how the scientific textual criticism has already assumed a comparatively late development, which could have quite far away in the course of the textual tradition of the original text.

In the 18th century, the accuracy of the Textus was receptus questioned: editions of the Greek New Testament were increasingly provided with a critical apparatus, the variant readings from other manuscripts and translations recorded, some stating that they were probably more original than the reading of the Textus receptus. In the 19th century, more manuscripts were discovered, deciphered and recognized in its importance for the textual tradition. From about the appearance of the Editio octava critica maior of Konstantin von Tischendorf 1869 to 1872 and the New Testament in the Original Greek of Westcott / Hort 1881 was the Textus Receptus in the scientific textual criticism no longer be relevant, even if one of textual criticism to the guiding principles especially Westcott / Hort can practice quite legitimate criticism.

Translations of the Bible from the Reformation period as the original Luther Bible or the English King James Bible lay the Textus Receptus basis, while supporting today's translations usually on the newer text-critical editions of the Greek New Testament, especially on the Novum Testamentum Grace and the in the text with this identical Greek New Testament. Exceptions are the Schlachter Bible in the version 2000 that are not sold by the German Bible Society Luther revision of 1998 ( New Testament) and the New Testament translated by Herbert Jantzen 2007, the Textus Receptus use as a basis.

In a joint policy between the Vatican and the United Bible Societies participating Bible Societies and the Roman Catholic Church have agreed on common non-denominational New Testament translations in principle no longer the Textus Receptus, but critical scientific issues, in particular the Novum Testamentum Grace by Nestle -Aland Greek or the New Testament to use. The agreement, entitled Guiding Principles for Interconfessional Cooperation in Translating the Bible originated in 1968 and was renovated in 1987.

Ecclesiastical use

Some supporters of the Textus Receptus, view these text form as inspired by God, there are now mainly in free-church and evangelical circles. The Greek Orthodox Church in whose worship to this day the ancient Greek original language is usually used as their Bible text continues a text that Erasmus ' Textus Receptus similar, but not exactly the same. It is based on a larger number of manuscripts of the Byzantine Empire text, as they stood Erasmus available. This is justified by the fact that the Holy Spirit is not only the original authors, but rather the entire Church tradition have specifically inspired; even supposing the reconstruction of the original text as possible, these are therefore not in principle better than the church handed text.