New Testament textual criticism can seem esoteric, and some of it certainly is. Yet readers encounter text-critical issues and editorial decisions more often than they may realize. When you use a translation of Scripture—or any ancient text—a number of textual decisions have already been made for you. Editors and translators will sometimes alert readers to those decisions in footnotes or marginal notes.
Disclaimer: The following is necessarily a simplified introduction to textual criticism. Textual critics normally weigh both external evidence—such as the age, geographical distribution, and relationships of manuscripts—and internal evidence, including known scribal habits and which reading best explains the origin of the others. Different approaches assign different weight to these factors.
If you own an English translation of the New Testament, turn to Acts chapter 8. Is verse 37 in the main body of the text, in a footnote, or absent altogether? Does your edition provide information about the manuscript evidence? Acts 8:37 is a useful example for seeing how translators and editors communicate a textual variant to readers.
Acts 8:37 is absent from several early and important Greek witnesses and is therefore omitted from the main text of many modern critical editions and translations, though the confession represented by the verse has ancient Western and patristic attestation. For further reading, here are several discussions representing different perspectives:
CASES FOR
- The Case of the Missing Verse (Acts 8:37)
- Acts 8:37 – “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” https://av1611.com/kjbp/faq/holland_ac8_37.html
- Was Acts 8:37 removed from modern Bibles? https://carm.org/king-james-onlyism/was-acts-837-removed-from-modern-bibles/
CASES AGAINST
- Why Is Acts 8:37 Omitted from Many Bible Translations? https://www.catholic.com/qa/why-is-acts-837-omitted-from-many-bible-translations
- I never knew this before but https://catholicbiblestudent.com/2007/01/acts-837-i-never-knew-this-before-but.html
NEUTRAL / EXPLANATORY
Why Is Acts 8:37 Omitted from Some Translations and not Others? https://blog.logos.com/why-some-translations-include-acts-837-and-others-dont/
What do you think? How do you read the text?
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