ONLINE GREEK: THE STEPHENS 1550 TEXTUS RECEPTUS TRANSLITERATED EDITION Prepared and edited by Maurice A. Robinson, Ph.D. Version 2.2, 28 April 1990 (c)1990 and Released as FREEWARE by the Author FREEWARE DECLARATION: Jesus stated in John 2:16, "Do not make my Father's house a house of merchandise!" (mh poieite ton oikon tou patrov mou oikon emporiou). This Bible product therefore may NOT be sold for commercial profit. A SMALL copying/distribution charge may be assessed for these Greek New Testament files as distributed with or as a supplement to the ONLINE BIBLE, ver.4.0, but even this fee must be kept to a minimum. Publishers of commercial products are specifically prohibited from including these files within a program or other package intended for commercial gain without making prior arrangement with the copyright holder. A generous donation to your favorite evangelical organization is encouraged. If you have none, the editor would suggest Thru the Bible Radio, Box 7100, Pasadena, CA 91109, through which he first heard the Word of God TAUGHT verse-by-verse. INTRODUCTION The entire Stephens 1550 edition of the Greek New Testament is included in the present collection of files. The text appears in transliterated ASCII format, in which a single English letter represents a single Greek letter according to the following scheme: Alpha = a Nu = n Beta = b Xi = x Gamma = g Omicron = o Delta = d Pi = p Epsilon = e Rho = r Zeta = z Sigma = s Eta = h Tau = t Theta = y Upsilon = u Iota = i Phi = f Kappa = k Chi = c Lambda = l Psi = q Mu = m Omega = w Sigma final = v This transliteration method agrees closely with the placement of keys on Greek-language typewriters and is identical with that used by the commercial printer/font driver software LETTRIX, published by Hammerlab, Inc. Through the use of LETTRIX or other dot-matrix font drivers, the present Greek New Testament text can be printed in hard copy on a dot- matrix printer using actual Greek characters with an optional mixture of additional text in various English, Hebrew, or even Russian fonts. Further information regarding LETTRIX appears at the end of this documentation. These ASCII Greek New Testament files have been encoded and incorporated into the ONLINE BIBLE by its programmer, Larry Pierce. The ONLINE BIBLE format allows full text display as well as a rapid word search capability in the Greek New Testament, whether concordance-style by individual word usage or in various word or phrase combinations through Boolean AND/OR/NOT searches. Refer to the ONLINE BIBLE file, MANUAL.DOC for search instructions. Eventually, the ONLINE BIBLE will provide its own font driver for dot matrix printers to allow the printing of the Greek text in its native characters in the same manner as LETTRIX. The Stephens 1550 text is that found in George Ricker Berry's edition of "The Interlinear Literal Translation of the Greek New Testament" (New York: Hinds & Noble, 1897). This Stephens/Berry text has appeared frequently in reprint editions (in the United States mostly from Baker Book House and Zondervan Publishing House) and is the Textus Receptus edition most readily available to any student of New Testament Greek. The Stephens 1550 edition of the so-called "Textus Receptus" (Received Text) reflects a general agreement with other early printed Greek texts also (erroneously) called by that name. These include editions such as that of Erasmus 1516, Beza 1598, and (the only one actually termed "Textus Receptus") Elzevir 1633. Berry correctly notes that "In the main they are one and the same; and [any] of them may be referred to as the Textus Receptus" (Berry, p.ii). All these early printed Greek New Testaments closely parallel the text of the English-language King James (or Authorized) Version of 1611, since that version was based closely upon Beza 1598, which differed little from its "Textus Receptus" predecessors. These early Greek "TR" editions generally reflect the "Byzantine" (otherwise called the "Majority" or "Traditional") Textform which predominated throughout the period of manual copying of Greek New Testament manuscripts. Many evangelical scholars have begun to re-evaluate the authenticity-claims of the Byzantine Textform over against subjectively-based textual preferences, whether stemming from Westcott and Hort or from modern "reasoned" or "rigorous" eclectic theorists such as Metzger, Aland, or Kilpatrick. The user should note that the present Stephens 1550 TR edition does NOT agree with modern critical editions such as that published by the United Bible Societies or the various Nestle editions. These editions follow a predominantly "Alexandrian" Greek text, as opposed to the Byzantine Textform which generally underlies all TR editions. For more detail on these technical text-critical matters, consult the bibliographic resources listed below. One should recognize, however, that NO printed Receptus Greek text edition agrees 100% with the aggregate Byzantine (Majority/Traditional) manuscript tradition. However, all printed Receptus texts DO approximate the Byzantine Textform closely enough (around 98% agreement) to claim a near- identity of reading between those Receptus forms and the majority of all manuscripts. The significant differences between the modern critical texts, the King James Version, and the Byzantine (Majority) Textform are most clearly presented in the NU- and M-text footnotes appended to editions of the New King James Version, published by Thomas Nelson Co. To standardize his presentation of the Greek text, Berry adopted certain stylistic conventions concerning the movable letters -n and -v (i.e., final "n" and "s", which in no way affect the actual meaning of the Greek text, being solely matters of form for ease of pronunciation). Berry states in his "Introduction" (p.ii), we have...added the final -n to the third person singular and plural in -si; third singular in -e; in datives plural in -si &c. For "outw" we have given "outwv." [Greek modified to current transliteration format] The present text follows Berry in these conventions. While these changes may differ slightly from the original Stephens 1550 text, they do deviate regularly from contemporary practice in printed Greek New Testaments, where the movable letters are added or omitted in accordance with strict grammatical rules. However, the presence or absence of movable letters in no way affects the meaning of the Greek text. Note also that Berry's method is more in accord with the practice of the earliest Greek manuscripts than modern structured grammars would suggest. In addition, the verse numbering scheme utilized by Berry does not always coincide with that found in various English versions of the New Testament (see, for example, Berry at 2 Cor 13:12-13 or 3 John 14). The original Stephens 1550 and earlier editions had no verse numbers (these were first added by Stephens in his 1551 edition), and later Textus Receptus editions differed slightly in the numbering of some verses. Berry states ("Introduction," p.iii) that in a few places it is doubtful where the verses should commence. In these cases we have followed Bruder's "Greek Concordance," though that work does not in all cases agree with itself. For ease of reference, the present text has conformed verse divisions to those found in the Authorized Version. Also in the present text all breathings, accents, capitalization, and punctuation have been omitted. This too is more in keeping with the general form of ancient Greek manuscripts (though at that time all words would have been written in CAPITALS and without division between words). The present omission of accents and breathings is primarily a matter of convenience, however. The insertion of extra code to reflect such accents and breathings would have made the intermediate product (the ONLINE BIBLE display files) virtually unreadable. For example, "elegcw" would become "e^}le^'gcw." This would force the user always to print out a hard copy of all files in Greek characters in order to read them easily, whereas the present unaccented/unaspirated text is readily readable in most cases. Note also that the inclusion of accents and breathings would have made the ONLINE BIBLE's rapid search features nearly useless, since accents (and sometimes even breathings) often change within a word due to contextual or conjugational/declensional considerations without affecting that word's meaning. Where doubt might arise due to words which are otherwise identical but distinguished only by breathing or accent, the user is expected to possess a printed Greek New Testament for consultation. Similarly, no capitalization or punctuation marks appear within the present files, since intermittent capitalization and punctuation are the prerogative of modern editors and were not originally indicated in early manuscripts. Different exegetical interpretations based upon capitalization and/or punctuation could produce honest disagreement among some users (e.g., the specific interpretation of "pneuma" or "Pneuma" as the human or Holy Spirit). Those who prefer to print Greek hard copy in accented, aspirated, punctuated and capitalized form should consult printed Greek New Testaments and the LETTRIX (or, later, the ONLINE BIBLE) manual for proper instructions for altering the basic ASCII output in preparation for such printing. For convenience in study, the user may utilize the ONLINE BIBLE's features to dump the various Greek NT files into ASCII form through UED or other word processors. Note that the Titles of each book (in CAPS) and the closing colophons at the end of books (except for Matthew, John, Acts, 2 Peter and Revelation) have never been considered part of the inspired or canonical New Testament text itself, and their wording or even inclusion varies in different editions of the Greek New Testament. These have been placed in brackets wherever they occur in the Stephens 1550 text, and will show up when using the ONLINE BIBLE's display or search functions. No English text appears within the Greek NT files. However, the reader should know that Luke 17:36 does NOT appear in the Stephens 1550 edition. This corresponds to the marginal note in the original 1611 KJV which stated explicitly and correctly, "This 36th verse is wanting in most of the Greek copies." The ONLINE BIBLE has supplied this verse from the Elzevir 1624 Textus Receptus edition, placed inside square brackets for convenient reference at its numbered location. No other verse or verse number found in the Authorized Version is lacking in the Stephens 1550 TR edition here presented. Future transliterated Greek New Testament editions are planned for the Byzantine/Traditional Greek Text as compiled in 1982 by the present writer and William G. Pierpont (which closely parallels the Hodges/Farstad "Majority Text" edition mentioned below in the bibliography), and (subject to permission) the Nestle-Aland 26th Edition (= the United Bible Societies' 3rd Edition). SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR FURTHER TEXT-CRITICAL RESEARCH Aland, Kurt, et al., eds. "The Greek New Testament." 3rd ed. New York: United Bible Societies, 1975. lxii + 918pp. ________. "Novum Testamentum Graece." 26th edition. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstifung, 1979. 80* + 779pp. ________, and Aland, Barbara. "The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism." Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987. xviii + 338pp. Berry, George Ricker, ed., "The Interlinear Literal Translation of the Greek New Testament." New York: Hinds & Noble, 1897. viii + 670 + 137pp. Burgon, John William. "The Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel according to S. Mark." With an Introduction by Edward F. Hills. Grand Rapids: Associated Publishers and Authors rep.ed., n.d. [1871]. 379pp. ________. "The Revision Revised." Paradise, PA: Conservative Classics rep.ed., n.d. [1883]. xl + 549pp. Carson, D. A. "The King James Version Debate: A Plea for Realism." Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979. 123pp. Ewert, David. "From Ancient Tablets to Modern Translations." Grand Rapids: Academie Books/Zondervan Publishing House, 1983. 284pp. Finegan, Jack. "Encountering New Testament Manuscripts: A Working Introduction to New Testament Textual Criticism." Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1974. 203pp. Hodges, Zane C., and Farstad, Arthur L., eds. "The Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text." 2nd ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1985. xlix + 810pp. J. Harold Greenlee. "Introduction to New Testament Textual Criticism." Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1964. 160pp. ________. "Scribes, Scrolls, and Scripture: A Student's Guide to New Testament Textual Criticism." Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985. 102pp. Bruce M. Metzger, "The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration." 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968. 284pp. ________. "A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament." New York: United Bible Societies, 1971. xxxi + 775pp. Miller, Edward. "A Guide to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament." Collingswood, NJ: The Dean Burgon Society rep.ed., 1979 [1886]. xiii + 147pp. Wilbur N. Pickering. "The Identity of the New Testament Text." Revised Edition. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1980. 251pp. Pierpont, William G., and Robinson, Maurice A., eds. "The Byzantine/Traditional Text of the Greek New Testament." Unpublished manuscript and computer disk files, 1975-90. Sturz, Harry A. "The Byzantine Text-Type and New Testament Textual Criticism." Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984. 305pp. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- LETTRIX Version 3.6 is (c)1987 by Hammerlab Corporation, 938 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT 06510, (800) 351-4500; in Connecticut (203) 624-0000. This commercial product for dot-matrix printers contains 17 English-text fonts along with Greek, Hebrew, and Cyrillic (Russian) fonts, and may be obtained directly from Hammerlab or various distributors. List price: $98.50. The ONLINE BIBLE is a Freeware Product (donation to a favorite evangelical organization requested) (c)1988- 1990 by Larry Pierce, Timnathserah, Inc., R.R.2, West Montrose, Ontario N0B 2V0, Canada, and is available from various Shareware/Public Domain distributors in the United States. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Maurice A. Robinson, Ph.D. Department of Biblical Studies and Languages Luther Rice Seminary 7565 Beach Boulevard, Suite 100 Jacksonville, Florida 32216 (904) 724-4722 END DOCUMENTATION ~~~~~~