Western non-interpolations

Western non-interpolations are readings in the Western text-type that are shorter than those of other New Testament text types. The term was coined by F. J. A. Hort.[1] The Alexandrian text is generally terse; the Western text is enlarged and paraphrased at places; the Byzantine text is a combination of the two. Nevertheless, the Western text is in certain places shorter than the Alexandrian text. All these shorter readings Hort named western non-interpolations. Since the 18th century, scholars have preferred the shorter reading. It was the authentic text according to B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort. When they printed The New Testament in the Original Greek (1882), in almost all cases, it followed the Alexandrian text with a few exceptions — including Western non-interpolations. According to Westcott and Hort, on some rare occasions Western textual witnesses have preserved the original text, against all other witnesses.[2]

Commonly accepted Western non-interpolations

Other possible Western non-interpolations

Outside the Gospels

Influence on the New Testament editions

The "Western non-interpolations" were not included in the main text of Westcott-Hort edition (1881), but were instead moved to the footnotes. The editions of Nestle and Nestle-Aland did the same. In 1968, "the editorial committee (or more precisely its majority) decided to abandon the theories of Westcott-Hort and the Western non-interpolations." [3] Since 1968 they are included in the main text, but marked with brackets.

See also

References

  1. B. F. Westcott and J. F. A. Hort, The New Testament in the Original Greek, vol. II (Cambridge and London, 1881; 2nd ed., 1896), pp. 175-177.
  2. Bart D. Ehrman, "The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture. The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament", Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 223
  3. Kurt Aland & Barbara Aland, The Text of the New Testament, Wm. Eerdmans 1995, p. 33.

Further reading

External links

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