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ONLINE GREEK:



THE STEPHENS 1550 TEXTUS RECEPTUS

TRANSLITERATED EDITION



Prepared and edited by

Maurice A. Robinson, Ph.D.



Version 2.2, 28 April 1990



©1990 and Released as FREEWARE by the Author





FREEWARE DECLARATION:



Jesus stated in John 2:16, "Do not make my Father's

house a house of merchandise!" (mh poieite ton oikon

tou patrov mou oikon emporiou). This Bible product

therefore may NOT be sold for commercial profit.



A SMALL copying/distribution charge may be assessed

for these Greek New Testament files as distributed

with or as a supplement to the ONLINE BIBLE, ver.4.0,

but even this fee must be kept to a minimum.



Publishers of commercial products are specifically

prohibited from including these files within a program

or other package intended for commercial gain without

making prior arrangement with the copyright holder.



A generous donation to your favorite evangelical

organization is encouraged. If you have none, the

editor would suggest Thru the Bible Radio, Box 7100,

Pasadena, CA 91109, through which he first heard the

Word of God TAUGHT verse-by-verse.







INTRODUCTION



The entire Stephens 1550 edition of the Greek New Testament

is included in the present collection of files. The text

appears in transliterated ASCII format, in which a single

English letter represents a single Greek letter according

to the following scheme:



Alpha = a Nu = n

Beta = b Xi = x

Gamma = g Omicron = o

Delta = d Pi = p

Epsilon = e Rho = r

Zeta = z Sigma = s

Eta = h Tau = t

Theta = y Upsilon = u

Iota = i Phi = f

Kappa = k Chi = c

Lambda = l Psi = q

Mu = m Omega = w

Sigma final = v



This transliteration method agrees closely with the placement

of keys on Greek-language typewriters and is identical with

that used by the commercial printer/font driver software

LETTRIX, published by Hammerlab, Inc. Through the use of

LETTRIX or other dot-matrix font drivers, the present Greek

New Testament text can be printed in hard copy on a dot-

matrix printer using actual Greek characters with an optional

mixture of additional text in various English, Hebrew, or

even Russian fonts. Further information regarding LETTRIX

appears at the end of this documentation.



These ASCII Greek New Testament files have been encoded and

incorporated into the ONLINE BIBLE by its programmer, Larry

Pierce. The ONLINE BIBLE format allows full text display as

well as a rapid word search capability in the Greek New

Testament, whether concordance-style by individual word usage

or in various word or phrase combinations through Boolean

AND/OR/NOT searches. Refer to the ONLINE BIBLE file,

MANUAL.DOC for search instructions. Eventually, the ONLINE

BIBLE will provide its own font driver for dot matrix

printers to allow the printing of the Greek text in its

native characters in the same manner as LETTRIX.



The Stephens 1550 text is that found in George Ricker Berry's

edition of "The Interlinear Literal Translation of the Greek

New Testament" (New York: Hinds & Noble, 1897). This

Stephens/Berry text has appeared frequently in reprint

editions (in the United States mostly from Baker Book House

and Zondervan Publishing House) and is the Textus Receptus

edition most readily available to any student of New

Testament Greek.



The Stephens 1550 edition of the so-called "Textus Receptus"

(Received Text) reflects a general agreement with other early

printed Greek texts also (erroneously) called by that name.

These include editions such as that of Erasmus 1516, Beza

1598, and (the only one actually termed "Textus Receptus")

Elzevir 1633. Berry correctly notes that "In the main they

are one and the same; and [any] of them may be referred to as

the Textus Receptus" (Berry, p.ii).



All these early printed Greek New Testaments closely parallel

the text of the English-language King James (or Authorized)

Version of 1611, since that version was based closely upon

Beza 1598, which differed little from its "Textus Receptus"

predecessors. These early Greek "TR" editions generally

reflect the "Byzantine" (otherwise called the " Majority" or

"Traditional") Textform which predominated throughout the

period of manual copying of Greek New Testament manuscripts.



Many evangelical scholars have begun to re-evaluate the

authenticity-claims of the Byzantine Textform over against

subjectively-based textual preferences, whether stemming from

Westcott and Hort or from modern "reasoned" or "rigorous"

eclectic theorists such as Metzger, Aland, or Kilpatrick.



The user should note that the present Stephens 1550 TR

edition does NOT agree with modern critical editions such as

that published by the United Bible Societies or the various

Nestle editions. These editions follow a predominantly

"Alexandrian" Greek text, as opposed to the Byzantine

Textform which generally underlies all TR editions. For more

detail on these technical text-critical matters, consult the

bibliographic resources listed below.



One should recognize, however, that NO printed Receptus Greek

text edition agrees 100% with the aggregate Byzantine

(Majority/Traditional) manuscript tradition. However, all

printed Receptus texts DO approximate the Byzantine Textform

closely enough (around 98% agreement) to claim a near-

identity of reading between those Receptus forms and the

majority of all manuscripts.



The significant differences between the modern critical

texts, the King James Version, and the Byzantine (Majority)

Textform are most clearly presented in the NU- and M-text

footnotes appended to editions of the New King James Version,

published by Thomas Nelson Co.



To standardize his presentation of the Greek text, Berry

adopted certain stylistic conventions concerning the movable

letters -n and -v (i.e., final "n" and "s" , which in no way

affect the actual meaning of the Greek text, being solely

matters of form for ease of pronunciation). Berry states in

his "Introduction" (p.ii),



we have...added the final -n to the third person

singular and plural in -si; third singular in -e; in

datives plural in -si &c. For "outw" we have given

"outwv." [Greek modified to current transliteration

format]



The present text follows Berry in these conventions. While

these changes may differ slightly from the original Stephens

1550 text, they do deviate regularly from contemporary

practice in printed Greek New Testaments, where the movable

letters are added or omitted in accordance with strict

grammatical rules. However, the presence or absence of

movable letters in no way affects the meaning of the Greek

text. Note also that Berry's method is more in accord with

the practice of the earliest Greek manuscripts than modern

structured grammars would suggest.



In addition, the verse numbering scheme utilized by Berry

does not always coincide with that found in various English

versions of the New Testament (see, for example, Berry at 2

Cor 13:12-13 or 3 John 14). The original Stephens 1550 and

earlier editions had no verse numbers (these were first added

by Stephens in his 1551 edition), and later Textus Receptus

editions differed slightly in the numbering of some verses.

Berry states ("Introduction," p.iii) that



in a few places it is doubtful where the verses should

commence. In these cases we have followed Bruder's

"Greek Concordance," though that work does not in all

cases agree with itself.



For ease of reference, the present text has conformed verse

divisions to those found in the Authorized Version. Also in

the present text all breathings, accents, capitalization, and

punctuation have been omitted. This too is more in keeping

with the general form of ancient Greek manuscripts (though at

that time all words would have been written in CAPITALS and

without division between words).



The present omission of accents and breathings is primarily a

matter of convenience, however. The insertion of extra code

to reflect such accents and breathings would have made the

intermediate product (the ONLINE BIBLE display files)

virtually unreadable. For example, "elegcw" would become

"e^}le^'gcw." This would force the user always to print out

a hard copy of all files in Greek characters in order to read

them easily, whereas the present unaccented/unaspirated text

is readily readable in most cases. Note also that the

inclusion of accents and breathings would have made the

ONLINE BIBLE's rapid search features nearly useless, since

accents (and sometimes even breathings) often change within

a word due to contextual or conjugational/declensional

considerations without affecting that word's meaning.



Where doubt might arise due to words which are otherwise

identical but distinguished only by breathing or accent,

the user is expected to possess a printed Greek New Testament

for consultation.



Similarly, no capitalization or punctuation marks appear

within the present files, since intermittent capitalization

and punctuation are the prerogative of modern editors and

were not originally indicated in early manuscripts.

Different exegetical interpretations based upon

capitalization and/or punctuation could produce honest

disagreement among some users (e.g., the specific

interpretation of "pneuma" or "Pneuma" as the human or Holy

Spirit). Those who prefer to print Greek hard copy in

accented, aspirated, punctuated and capitalized form should

consult printed Greek New Testaments and the LETTRIX (or,

later, the ONLINE BIBLE) manual for proper instructions for

altering the basic ASCII output in preparation for such

printing.



For convenience in study, the user may utilize the ONLINE

BIBLE's features to dump the various Greek NT files into

ASCII form through UED or other word processors. Note that

the Titles of each book (in CAPS) and the closing colophons

at the end of books (except for Matthew, John, Acts, 2 Peter

and Revelation) have never been considered part of the

inspired or canonical New Testament text itself, and their

wording or even inclusion varies in different editions of the

Greek New Testament. These have been placed in brackets

wherever they occur in the Stephens 1550 text, and will show

up when using the ONLINE BIBLE's display or search functions.



No English text appears within the Greek NT files. However,

the reader should know that Luke 17:36 does NOT appear in the

Stephens 1550 edition. This corresponds to the marginal note

in the original 1611 KJV which stated explicitly and

correctly, "This 36th verse is wanting in most of the Greek

copies." The ONLINE BIBLE has supplied this verse from the

Elzevir 1624 Textus Receptus edition, placed inside square

brackets for convenient reference at its numbered location.

No other verse or verse number found in the Authorized

Version is lacking in the Stephens 1550 TR edition here

presented.



Future transliterated Greek New Testament editions are

planned for the Byzantine/Traditional Greek Text as compiled

in 1982 by the present writer and William G. Pierpont (which

closely parallels the Hodges/Farstad "Majority Text" edition

mentioned below in the bibliography), and (subject to

permission) the Nestle-Aland 26th Edition (= the United Bible

Societies' 3rd Edition).





SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR FURTHER TEXT-CRITICAL RESEARCH





Aland, Kurt, et al., eds. "The Greek New Testament. " 3rd ed.

New York: United Bible Societies, 1975. lxii + 918pp.



________. "Novum Testamentum Graece." 26th edition.

Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstifung, 1979. 80* + 779pp.



________, and Aland, Barbara. "The Text of the New

Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions

and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual

Criticism." Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Company, 1987. xviii + 338pp.



Berry, George Ricker, ed., "The Interlinear Literal

Translation of the Greek New Testament." New York:

Hinds & Noble, 1897. viii + 670 + 137pp.



Burgon, John William. "The Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel

according to S. Mark." With an Introduction by Edward

F. Hills. Grand Rapids: Associated Publishers and

Authors rep.ed., n.d. [1871]. 379pp.



________. "The Revision Revised." Paradise, PA:

Conservative Classics rep.ed., n.d. [1883].

xl + 549pp.



Carson, D. A. "The King James Version Debate: A Plea for

Realism." Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979. 123pp.



Ewert, David. "From Ancient Tablets to Modern Translations."

Grand Rapids: Academie Books/Zondervan Publishing

House, 1983. 284pp.



Finegan, Jack. "Encountering New Testament Manuscripts: A

Working Introduction to New Testament Textual

Criticism." Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Company, 1974. 203pp.



Hodges, Zane C., and Farstad, Arthur L., eds. "The Greek New

Testament According to the Majority Text." 2nd ed.

Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1985. xlix +

810pp.



J. Harold Greenlee. "Introduction to New Testament Textual

Criticism." Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Company, 1964. 160pp.



________. "Scribes, Scrolls, and Scripture: A Student's

Guide to New Testament Textual Criticism." Grand

Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985.

102pp.



Bruce M. Metzger, "The Text of the New Testament: Its

Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration." 2nd ed.

New York: Oxford University Press, 1968. 284pp.



________. "A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament."

New York: United Bible Societies, 1971. xxxi + 775pp.



Miller, Edward. "A Guide to the Textual Criticism of the New

Testament." Collingswood, NJ: The Dean Burgon Society

rep.ed., 1979 [1886]. xiii + 147pp.



Wilbur N. Pickering. "The Identity of the New Testament

Text." Revised Edition. Nashville: Thomas Nelson

Publishers, 1980. 251pp.



Pierpont, William G., and Robinson, Maurice A., eds.

"The Byzantine/Traditional Text of the Greek New

Testament." Unpublished manuscript and computer disk

files, 1975-90.



Sturz, Harry A. "The Byzantine Text-Type and New Testament

Textual Criticism." Nashville: Thomas Nelson

Publishers, 1984. 305pp.



-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-



LETTRIX Version 3.6 is ©1987 by Hammerlab

Corporation, 938 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT 06510,

(800) 351-4500; in Connecticut (203) 624-0000. This

commercial product for dot-matrix printers contains 17

English-text fonts along with Greek, Hebrew, and

Cyrillic (Russian) fonts, and may be obtained directly

from Hammerlab or various distributors. List price:

$98.50.



The ONLINE BIBLE is a Freeware Product (donation to a

favorite evangelical organization requested) © 1988-

1990 by Larry Pierce, Timnathserah, Inc., R.R.2, West

Montrose, Ontario N0B 2V0, Canada, and is available

from various Shareware/Public Domain distributors in

the United States.



-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-





Maurice A. Robinson, Ph.D.

Department of Biblical Studies and Languages

Luther Rice Seminary

7565 Beach Boulevard, Suite 100

Jacksonville, Florida 32216

(904) 724-4722



END DOCUMENTATION





  
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