Manuscript Evidence for commonly disputed verses in the King James Bible.

THE LAST TWELVE VERSES OF MARK

Support for the reading:

A (5^th century)

C (5^th century)

D (5^th century)

Theta (9^th century)

X (5^th -9^th century)

D (5^th -9^th century)

Q (5^th -9^th century)

P (5^th -9^th century)

137, 138, 1110, 1210, 1215, 1216, 1217, 1221, 1582, 2427, Vulgate, Old Latin, Syrus Curetonianus, Syriac Peshitta, Syrus Harklensis, Bohairic,



It is cited by: Justin (165 AD), Irenaeus (177 AD) Tertullian (220 AD), Hippolytus (235 AD), Ambrose (397 AD) Augustine (430 AD).



Support against the reading:
Aleph (4th century)
B (4th century),
304 (12th century),
Latin k (4th/5th century),
Syrus Sinaiticus
A Sahidic manuscript,
Armenian manuscripts

FIRST JOHN 5:7

Greek evidence:

629 (14th century)

61 (16th century)

918 (16th century)

2473 (17th century)

2318 (18th century)

221 margin (10th century, Comma added later)

635 margin (11th century, Comma added later)

88 margin (12th century, Comma added in 16th century)

429 margin (14th century, Comma added later)

636 margin (15th century, Comma added later)

177 margin (11th century, Comma added later)

Out of 480 extant Greek manuscripts containing 1 John chapter 5, only 12 of them are from before the 10^th century.

Vulgate evidence:

“The line, however, between Vulgate and Old Latin manuscripts are blurred because scribes often incorporated Old Latin readings into the Vulgate. While textual critics believe that Jerome did not include the Comma in the original Vulgate text, the Comma entered the Vulgate over time. 19th century textual critic F.H.A. Scrivener estimated that "49 out of 50 [Vulgate] manuscripts testify to this disputed Comma" (F. H. A. Scrivener, A Plain Introduction to the New Testament Textual Criticism, 4th Ed., Vol. 2, (New York: George Bell & Sons, 1894), p. 403). The Clementine Edition of the Vulgate, published in 1592, sought to standardize the Vulgate text, and it includes the Comma. There were other revisions of the Vulgate in the 16th century, such as those of the Complutensian Polyglot and Erasmus, which even consulted Greek manuscripts.

Since the Comma was never officially included in the Vulgate until the 16th century, the inclusion of the Comma in Vulgate manuscripts throughout the centuries is a result of several independent scribal transcriptions based on Old Latin manuscripts. Thus the Vulgate support for the Comma indirectly counts as Old Latin support for the Comma, although we can never truly know to what extent. In any event, the Vulgate can be a reliable witness for authentic readings. For example, the Vulgate preserved the reading, "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father" at 1 John 2:23 even while the Byzantine Majority Text failed to preserve it. This reading in the Vulgate, which is also the reading in the KJV, was confirmed as an early reading based on the discovery of early uncials which have it, such as Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. If what the Latin preserved at 1 John 2:23 is more accurate than the majority of Greek manuscripts, then what the Latin preserved at 1 John 5:7 could also be more accurate than the majority of Greek manuscripts.” (from KJV Today.com)

Old Latin evidence:

• Palimpset of Leon Cathedral (7th century)
  
• Fragment of Freising (7th century)
  
• Codex Cavensis (9th century)
  
• Codex Complutensis (10th century)
  
• Codex Toletanus (10th century)
  
• Codex Theodulphianus (8th or 9th century)
  
• Some Sangallense MSS (8th or 9th century)

It is quoted by Tertullian (215 AD), Cyprian (250 AD), Phoebadius (350 AD), Priscillian (350 AD), Augustine (410 AD), Vigilius Tapsensis (450 AD), Victor Vitensis (486 AD), Fulgentius Respensis (527 AD), Cassidorius (583 AD).

ACTS 8:37

(From Mr. Will Kinney—http://brandplucked.webs.com/acts83724682829.htm)

The evidence in favor of including this verse is quite massive. It is found in the Greek texts of Erasmus, Stephanus 1550, Beza 1598, Elzevir 1633 and Scrivener 1894. It is in manuscripts E, 4, 36, 88, 97, 103, 104, 242, 257, 307, 322, 323, 385, 429, 453, 464, 467, 629, 630, 913, 945, 1522, 1739, 1765, 1877, 1891, and others.

It is also the reading found in Old Latin manuscripts from the textline that predates any Greek manuscripts, including the Old Latin texts of ar, c, dem, e, gig, h, l, m, ph, r, t, w. Even the notes in critical text editions tell us that this verse existed in the Old Latin copies, the Coptic Middle Egyptian version, the Ethiopic, Georgian, and Slavonic, Lamsa's 1933 translation of the Syriac Peshitta and Armenian early Bible versions. It is also found in the Vulgate Clementine.



Early church fathers who witness to it's being a part of inspired Scripture and quoted or referred to Acts 8:37 are Irenaeus, Cyprian, Chromatius, Tertullian, Ambrosiaster, Pacian 310-391 A.D., Ambrose 340-397 A.D., Augustine and Theophylact.



Many church fathers who lived before anything we have in the way of Greek copies directly quote this verse, including Irenaeus 178 A.D., Tertullian 220, Cyprian died in 258, as well as Ambrosiaster 384, Ambrose 397, Augustine 430, and Venerable Bede of England in 735.



For example, Cyprian (200-258 A.D.) supports the inclusion of verse 36-37 Textus Receptus when he says, "In the Acts of the Apostles Treatise 12:3: Lo, here is water; what is there which hinders me from being baptized? Then said Phillip, If thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest." (The Treatises of Cyprian )



Irenaeus (115-202 AD), Against Heresies 3.12: "Philip declared that this was Jesus, and that the Scripture was fulfilled in Him; as did also the believing eunuch himself: and, immediately requesting to be baptized, he said, I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God."

Augustine (354-430 AD), Sermon 49: "The eunuch believed on Christ, and said when they came unto a certain water, See water, who doth hinder me to be baptized? Philip said to him, Dost thou believe on Jesus Christ? He answered, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Immediately he went down with him into the water."