The Gospel Manuscript Tradition

Contrary to the assumption of many New Testament (NT) scholars, the text of the four canonical gospels cannot be found in the most commonly used edition of the Greek NT, the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (NA²⁷). This is because the gospel text exists mainly in manuscripts (MSS) and the printed text of NA²⁷ does not correspond to that of any single MS (not to mention the fact that no two MSS are identical in every respect). Instead, NA²⁷ consists of a hypothetical text reconstructed by comparing the texts of the most important of the more than 2300 MSS containing the four gospels or parts thereof. In addition, while NA²⁷ aims to provide the reader with an "appreciation of the whole textual tradition" through its critical apparatus, it cannot hope to distil and yet present in a coherent manner the individual characteristics of the many gospel MSS. That is to say, the gospel textual tradition involves individual MSS and not simply the variant readings listed conveniently on each page of NA²⁷. This chapter is intended to be an introduction to gospel MSS and NT textual criticism generally. But it is the "early" gospel MS tradition that will be the primary focus, i.e., gospel MSS dated up to the end of the third or beginning of the fourth century (III/IV). The importance of these MSS can hardly be overestimated because in some cases they take us back into the second century. It will be argued that they can help us "bridge the gap between the originals and the earliest extant evidence and thus afford a basis for inferences about the original text." They are also at the center of current scholarly perspectives on the gospel MS tradition which will be discussed in section G. However, later gospel MSS will not be neglected entirely; there will be some discussion of the majuscule and minuscule MSS in section C.