Textual variants in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians are the subject of the study called textual criticism of the New Testament. Textual variants in manuscripts arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to a text that is being reproduced. An abbreviated list of textual variants in this particular book is given in this article below.
Most of the variations are not significant and some common alterations include the deletion, rearrangement, repetition, or replacement of one or more words when the copyist's eye returns to a similar word in the wrong location of the original text. If their eye skips to an earlier word, they may create a repetition (error of dittography). If their eye skips to a later word, they may create an omission. They may resort to performing a rearranging of words to retain the overall meaning without compromising the context. In other instances, the copyist may add text from memory from a similar or parallel text in another location. Otherwise, they may also replace some text of the original with an alternative reading. Spellings occasionally change. Synonyms may be substituted. A pronoun may be changed into a proper noun (such as "he said" becoming "Jesus said"). John Mill's 1707 Greek New Testament was estimated to contain some 30,000 variants in its accompanying textual apparatus which was based on "nearly 100 [Greek] manuscripts." Peter J. Gurry puts the number of non-spelling variants among New Testament manuscripts around 500,000, though he acknowledges his estimate is higher than all previous ones.
Legend
Textual variants
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1 Thessalonians 1:1
<br> 1 Thessalonians 2:7
ýîÃÂùÿù (babies) â , ÃÂ*, B, C*, G, I, è*, 104*, 326, 451, 1962, 2495, it, vg, cop, eth
ἤÃÂùÿù (gentle) â ÃÂ, A, C, D, K, P, è, 33, 81, 88, 104, 181, 326*, 330, 436, 614, 629, 630, 1241, 1739, 1877, 1881, 1984, 1985, 2127, 2992, Byz, Lect
<br> 1 Thessalonians 3:2
úñù ÃÂÃÂ
ýõÃÂóÿý ÃÂÿÃÂ
øõÿÃÂ
õý ÃÂàõÃÂ
ñóóõûùàÃÂÿÃÂ
çÃÂùÃÂÃÂÿÃÂ
(Gods co-worker in the Gospel of Christ) â D Byz f m vg syr cop
úñù ÃÂÃÂ
ýõÃÂóÿý õý ÃÂàõÃÂ
ñóóõûùàÃÂÿÃÂ
çÃÂùÃÂÃÂÿÃÂ
(co-worker in the Gospel of Christ) â B 1962
úñù ôùñúÿýÿý ÃÂÿÃÂ
øõÿÃÂ
õý ÃÂàõÃÂ
ñóóõûùàÃÂÿÃÂ
çÃÂùÃÂÃÂÿÃÂ
(Gods servant in the Gospel of Christ) â àA àè 81 629 1241 1739 1881
ôùñúÿýÿý úñù ÃÂÃÂ
ýõÃÂóÿý ÃÂÿÃÂ
øõÿÃÂ
õý ÃÂàõÃÂ
ñóóõûùàÃÂÿÃÂ
çÃÂùÃÂÃÂÿÃÂ
â G it
úñù ôùñúÿýÿý ÃÂÿÃÂ
øõÿÃÂ
ÃÂÃÂ
ýõÃÂóÿý ֟ÃÂý õý ÃÂàõÃÂ
ñóóõûùàÃÂÿÃÂ
çÃÂùÃÂÃÂÿÃÂ
(Gods servant and our fellow laborer in the Gospel of Christ) â D K 88 104 181 326 330 436 451 614 629 630 1877 1984 1985 2127 2492 2495 Byz Lect
1 Thessalonians 3:9
øõà(to God) â àA B D è Byz f m vg syr cop
úÃÂ
ÃÂùà(to the Lord) â ÃÂ* D* F G a b vg bo
<br> 1 Thessalonians 4:1
<br> 1 Thessalonians 5:1
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See also
References
Further reading
- Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine, ed. E. Nestle, K. Aland, Stuttgart 1981.
- Bruce M. Metzger & Bart D. Ehrman, "The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration", OUP New York, Oxford, 4 edition, 2005
- Bart D. Ehrman, "The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture. The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament", Oxford University Press, New York - Oxford, 1996, pp. 223âÂÂ227.
- Bruce M. Metzger, "A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament: A Companion Volume to the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament", 1994, United Bible Societies, London & New York.
External links