The great number of New Testament manuscripts makes the task of citing evidence in text-critical studies appear to be overwhelming. Since it is not practical to cite all of the manuscript evidence, scholars have attempted to find representative texts. Long ago they noted that many of the manuscripts were related, i.e. certain groups of manuscripts share certain combinations of variants, probably because members of the groups are "descendants" of the same manuscripts. The profile method is Professor Frederik Wisse's attempt to establish "an accurate and rapid procedure for the classification of the manuscript evidence on any ancient text with large manuscript attestation, and to present an adequate basis for the selection of balanced representatives of the whole tradition."

This collection of frequently cited articles and chapters published from 1962 to 2004 provides perspective on the history and development of New Testament textual criticism, with descriptions and critique of the major text-critical theories and methods. Specific manuscripts and text-types, such as the Codex Bezae and the D-text are discussed, as well as issues such as anti-Judaic tendencies, the ascension narratives, and the relationship of text and canon. Many of the essays from the last fifteen years emphasize the earliest period and papyrus manuscripts, particularly those found at Oxyrhynchus, and assess their socio-cultural and intellectual contexts, while articles from the last five years advocate or engage the more controversial aspects of current New Testament textual criticism, especially the issue of 'original text'.

This bibliography is a comprehensive listing of books, facsimiles, collations and articles relating to some 3,500 Greek New Testament manuscripts, including references to photographic plates and albums. These are divided into the conventional categories of papyri, majuscules, minuscules and lectionaries, as classified in the current Gregory-Aland register. This third revised edition supersedes the two previous editions. Entries from those earlier editions and from three supplements, published as articles in Novum Testamentum, as well as newly published material, are to be found here. The author is grateful for the help of editor Barbara Cangemi.

This textual study of the Gospel of John in seventeen Greek manuscripts offers a fresh investigation into the textual group known as Family 1. Since Kirsopp Lake’s 1902 study, Codex 1 of the Gospels and its Allies, Family 1 has been considered an important textual witness by all major critical editions of the the New Testament; however, with the exception of a recent study of Matthew (Amy Anderson, The Textual Tradition of the Gospels: Family 1 in Matthew), little further research has been conducted into the family’s text. By analysis of a full collation of John, this study examines manuscripts: Gregory-Aland 1, 22, 118, 131, 205abs, 205, 209, 565, 872, 884, 1192, 1210, 1278, 1582, 2193, 2372, and 2713. The study has confirmed the place of codices 1 and 1582 as core members of Family 1, but has demonstrated the existence of a new core subgroup, represented by codices 565, 884 and 2193, that rivals the textual witness of 1 and 1582. The discovery of this subgroup has broadened the textual contours of Family 1, leading to many new readings, both text and marginal, that should be considered Family 1 readings. The reconstructed Family 1 text with critical apparatus is based on the witness of this wider textual group and is offered as a replacement to Lake’s 1902 text of John.

As a first order witness of the Greek New Testament, Family 13 has a long history in the field of textual criticism. Nearly seventy years after Kirsopp and Silva Lake’s publication, La Famille 13 dans l’évangile de Marc offers an enlarged, wholly up-to-date and thoroughly revised study of the text of the Gospel of Mark for the witnesses considered as family members by Didier Lafleur. His extensive survey includes the history of the discovery of the manuscripts, their codicological description and new research on the text. The most part of the book is devoted to the edition of minuscule 788 (Athens, Nat. Lib. 74), considered by the author as the nearest member to the archetype of the group (f 13). Based on quite new collations for the all extant manuscripts, the edition provides a positive apparatus. Considérée comme témoin de premier ordre du Nouveau Testament grec, la Famille 13 s’enracine profondément dans l’histoire de la critique. Soixante-dix ans après la publication de Kirsopp et Silva Lake, La Famille 13 dans l’évangile de Marc offre un panorama exhaustif sur le texte de cet évangile pour les témoins considérés par Didier Lafleur comme membres de ce groupe (f 13). Son étude englobe la mise en lumière des manuscrits, leur description codicologique et de nouvelles recherches philologiques. L’auteur édite le texte du minuscule 788 (Athènes, Bibl. nat. 74), qu’il considère comme le témoin le plus proche de l’archétype de la famille. Collationés à nouveaux frais pour le texte de Marc, tous les manuscrits de la Famille 13 apparaissent ici pour la première fois dans une édition critique.

No Marketing Blurb

This is a study of the artistic and political context that led to the production of a truly exceptional Byzantine illustrated manuscript. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, codex grec 54 is one of the most ambitious and complex manuscripts produced during the Byzantine era. This thirteenth-century Greek and Latin Gospel book features full-page evangelist portraits, an extensive narrative cycle, and unique polychromatic texts. However, it has never been the subject of a comprehensive study and the circumstances of its commission are unknown. In this book Kathleen Maxwell addresses the following questions: what circumstances led to the creation of Paris 54? Who commissioned it and for what purpose? How was a deluxe manuscript such as this produced? Why was it left unfinished? How does it relate to other Byzantine illustrated Gospel books? Paris 54's innovations are a testament to the extraordinary circumstances of its commission. Maxwell's multi-disciplinary approach includes codicological and paleographical evidence together with New Testament textual criticism, artistic and historical analysis. She concludes that Paris 54 was never intended to copy any other manuscript. Rather, it was designed to eclipse its contemporaries and to physically embody a new relationship between Constantinople and the Latin West, as envisioned by its patron. Analysis of Paris 54's texts and miniature cycle indicates that it was created at the behest of a Byzantine emperor as a gift to a pope, in conjunction with imperial efforts to unify the Latin and Orthodox churches. As such, Paris 54 is a unique witness to early Palaeologan attempts to achieve church union with Rome.

A renewed interest in textual criticism has created an unfortunate proliferation of myths, mistakes, and misinformation about this technical area of biblical studies. Elijah Hixson and Peter Gurry, along with a team of New Testament textual critics, offer up-to-date, accurate information on the history and current state of the New Testament text that will serve apologists and offer a self-corrective to evangelical excesses.