A USER’S GUIDE TO THE NESTLE-ALAND 28 GREEK NEW TESTAMENT

David Trobisch

Society of Biblical Literature

Atlanta

A USER’S GUIDE TO THE NESTLE-ALAND 28 GREEK NEW TESTAMENT

Copyright © 2013 by the Society of Biblical Literature and the

Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

A German edition of this book is also available. For more information, see www.bibelonline.de.

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Society of Biblical Literature

Text-Critical Studies

Number 9

A USER’S GUIDE TO THE NESTLE-ALAND 28 GREEK NEW TESTAMENT

CONTENTS

Preface

1. Structure and Intention of the Edition

1.1. The History of Transmission of the Greek New Testament

1.2. The Manuscripts

1.3. Looking at One Page of NA28

1.4. Structure of the Edition

1.5. Evaluating Variants

1.6. Concluding Questions

2. Exercises and Learning Aids

2.1. Questions about the Introduction of NA28

2.2. What is the “Majority Text” (𝔐)?

2.3. The Text of the Catholic Letters

2.4. Positive and Negative Apparatus

2.5. The Early Translations

2.6. Early Quotations from the New Testament

2.7. The Canon Tables of Eusebius

2.8. Appendix I B: Codices Latini

2.9. Appendix II: Variae Lectiones Minores

3. NA28 as an Edition for Scholars

3.1. Changes between the 27th and 28th Editions

3.2. Limitations of the NA28

Appendix: Suggestions for Teachers

Solutions to the Exercises

Works Referenced

PREFACE

In honor of two of its historical editors, the Novum Testamentum Graece is often simply referred to as the “Nestle-Aland.” In the fall of 2012 it appeared in its 28th thoroughly revised edition. It was prepared for publication by the Institute for New Testament Textual Research in Münster, Westphalia, under the direction of Dr. Holger Strutwolf. This concise edition, which provides a survey of the manuscript evidence and a scholarly reconstruction of the oldest text of the Greek New Testament, has now grown to more than a thousand printed pages. In its new iteration, NA28 is easier to use than its predecessors, and it promises not only to continue playing a leading role for scholarly exegesis and academic instruction but also to supply the source text for Bible translators.

The present book is structured in three parts. The first part, “Structure and Intention of the Edition,” has in mind readers who are using this edition of the Greek New Testament for the first time. Although knowledge of the Greek language is helpful, it is not a prerequisite to understand the narrative. The objective is to communicate the structure and concept of NA28 and also to create critical awareness ...