[B-Greek] Understanding UBS4 text

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Dec 12 11:43:45 EST 2003


Forwarded for "Dennis Hukel" <hukel at bhiinc.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 07:48:20 -0800

(CWC: This message sent to me alone should have been sent to the list
and/or to Yousaf Sadiq)

>>>Greetings.  Can someone please send me a detailed list of of the following 3
items found in The Greek New Testament, Fourth revised edition 1993,
Published by the United Bible Societies:

1.  [[ ]] passages which are regarded as later additions to the text, but
which are of evident antiquity and importance.

2.  [ ] Words whose presence or position in the text is regarded as disputed

3. { } Degree of certainty for the reading adopted in the text indicated by
a letter A, B, C, D<<<

Dear Yousaf,

I'm sure most of us don't know what you mean by "a detailed list", other
than what the symbols mean. (There would be no point to listing them out
one by one!)

1, Double square brackets surround the portion of text which is positively
not part of the original composition. These are surious additions most
likely added in so-called "Western" manuscripts, which eventually found
their way into the Textus Receptus.
Mark 16:9-20 and John 7:52-8:11 are the only passages in double square
brackets longer than 2 verses. Some editors have put these passages (and
others) into the footnotes, but the UBS editors considered these passages
come up often enough in discussion
that the target reader need them for reference. However, having them in
double square brackets means these passages should NOT be quoted as
scripture and NOT be used for sermons or in any way trying to prove the
validity of any theological doctrine!
Every passage with double square brackets are written up in the companion
volume to the UBS text, the Textual Commentary by Bruce Metzger, describing
its problems. There are many more passages in the Textus Receptus which are
not considered important
enough to be put in double-square brackets, but are relagated to the
footnotes only.

2. Single square brackets are a text-critical compromise from the editing
process. Most words in single square brackets are written up in the Textual
Commentary, but there are some which are not. They occur very often; few
pages of the UBS text don't
have any. The fact that the words are in the text at all (instead of the
footnotes) means that there is sufficent evidence for the words to belong
to the original text; but the editors felt some doubt about them.
Subsequent textual critics will take
these passages up afreash to resolve the problem later. In translating, we
at the Lockman Foundation have generally ignored single square brackets and
accepted the words as part of the original text.

3. The braces are a better indicator of the editors' feelings about the
soundness of the edited text than just the brackets alone. While each of
the editors could come to a single "best choice" of their own, some
passages could not come to any consensus
between them. An implacable split of opinion would create a C or D degree
of certainty, while a B would mean a consensus of opinion has been reached,
but one or two editors felt a degree of uneasyness about it (but willing to
compromise). A ratings have
total consensus and the editors feel the reading is virtually certain.

I hope this gives you a better idea of what these symbols represent.

Dennis Hukel



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