So I was thinking about this question: What are the top 10 or 20 most important textual critical issues in the New Testament? This thought made me think about the various “important” text-critical issues already discussed. There are about 293 verses that the NET Bible gives extended notes regarding textual critical issues. They are:
Matt 1:16; 2:18; 3:14; 4:10; 5:22; 6:33; 8:18; 8:21; 8:28; 10:3; 10:8; 11:2; 11:19; 12:25; 12:47; 13:35; 15:2; 15:4; 15:6; 15:14; 17:4; 17:21; 18:5; 18:15; 18:26; 21:31; 22:30; 22:30; 23:26; 24:7; 24:36; 26:20; 27:2; 27:9; 27:16; Mark 1:1; 1:2; 1:14; 1:41; 5:1; 5:22; 6:20; 6:22; 6:23; 7:9; 9:23; 9:29; 9:49; 10:1; 10:2; 10:6; 10:7; 10:13; 10:24; 12:41; 13:33; 15:12; 16:9ff;Luke 1:28; 1:29; 1:35; 1:74; 1:76; 2:14; 2:22; 2:23; 3:16; 3:32; 3:33; 3:36; 4:4; 4:5; 4:8; 4:18; 5:17; 5:39; 7:7; 7:10; 7:11; 7:19; 7:28; 8:26; 8:29; 8:43; 8:45; 9:10; 9:35; 9:43; 10:38; 11:2; 11:4; 11:33; 11:48; 13:7; 13:27; 14:5; 17:24; 22:43-44; 23:45; 23:51; 23:53; 24:3; 24:32; John 1:3; 1:18; 1:19; 1:28; 1:34; 2:15; 3:13; 3:31; 4:1; 4:11; 4:16; 5:1; 5:2; 6:23; 6:69; 7:8; 7:53-8:11; 8:38; 8:41; 8:52; 8:59; 9:38; 13:32; 14:2; 14:4; 14:7; 14:17; 15:8; 20:30; 20:31; 21:17; 21:25; Acts 3:6; 3:13; 5:28; 7:38; 7:46; 8:33; 9:12; 9:34; 12:17; 12:25; 15:29; 15:34; 16?12; 20:21; 20:28; 24:6; 28:13; Romans 1:1; 4:19; 5:1; 8:1; 8:2; 8:11; 9:28; 1 Corinthians 1:1; 1:14; 4:17; 5:4; 6:11; 7:14; 7:34; 10:9; 13:3; 14:34-35; 15:49; 15:51; 16:19; 2 Corinthians 1:10; 1:14; 4:6; 4:14; 5:3; 5:17; 6:16; 7:8; 8:7; 8:24; 11:3; Galatians 1:3; 1:6; 1:8; 1:15; 2:20; 3:17; 3:19; 3:19; 3:21; 3:23; 4:7; 5:24; 6:12; Ephesians 1:1; 1:15; 1”18; 1:20; 2:8; 3:1; 4:9; 4:9; 5:2; 5:9; 5:17; 5:22; 5:30; 6:1; 6:24; Philippians 1:14; 3:3; 3:16; Colossians 1:2; 1:7; 1:14; 1:20; 1:22; 2:23; 3:4; 3:6; 4:15; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 1:7; 2:7; 3:2; 5:3; 5:27; 2 Thessalonians 1:2; 2:3; 2:8; 2:13; 3:6; 1 Timothy 2:9; 3:16; 4:10; 2 Timothy 2:14; Philemon; 6; 11; 12; Hebrews 2:7; 3:6; 8:8; 9:10; 9:14; James 3:8; 4:5; 1 Peter 1:6; 1:21; 1:22; 1:22; 2:2; 3:18; 4:1; 4:14; 5:2; 5:8; 5:10; 5:14; 2 Peter 1:1; 2:4; 2:11; 3:10; 3:11; 1 John 1:4; 2:20; 2:23; 5:7-8; Jude; 4; 5; 5; Revelation 1:4; 1:5; 1:6; 2:16; 2:20; 4:11; 5:6; 5:9; 5:10; 12:14; 12:18; 13:7; 13:10; 13:18; 14:8; 15:3; 18:2; 18:3; 19:6; 19:13; 21:3.
Metzger’s Textual Commentary on the New Testament includes discussion on approximately 2,022 text-critical issues: 1,247 in Gospels + Acts (543), 467 in Paul, and 306 in the rest of the New Testament. Tommy Wasserman on The Evangelical Textual Criticism said that there are “2028 passages.” We differ on John (ME: 182; TW:184), Acts (ME: 543; TW: 545), Colossians (ME: 32; TW: 33), and Revelation (ME:93; TW:92). Note also that he calls them “passages.” While surely he does not mean “passages” in the traditional sense, some of the text-critical notes by Metzger and the Committee are on the same verse in the same passage. Textual criticism is already murky and confusing enough, so I hope as we blog, we will use consistent, clear language (usually, I am the worst offender).
But here are my top 5 passages every serious NT scholar should know in no particular order:
- Mark 1:1
- 1 Corinthians 14:34-35
- Mark 16:8ff
- Romans 5:1
- John 7:53-8:11
I will be placing my top 10-20 some time later this week. What do you think are the top 10?
