[B-Greek] John 3:13/Nestle note

George F Somsel gfsomsel at juno.com
Thu Dec 8 08:12:42 EST 2005


On Wed, 7 Dec 2005 22:50:28 -0800 Elizabeth Kline
<kline-dekooning at earthlink.net> writes:
> 
> On Dec 7, 2005, at 10:35 PM, clare arnold wrote:
> 
> > Do you know why, or can you recommend a book that explains why,  
> > Nestle doesn't include O WN EN TW OURANW in John 3:13 if it is  
> > found in the majority of manuscripts?  I thought that Nestle was  
> 
> > the closest version to the original Greek.
> 
> Metzger/Ehrman "A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament"
> Any serious commentary will deal with it.
> 
> The reading O WN EN TW OURANW is accepted by a number of 
> commentators.
> The reading is more difficult than the NA TEXT and is found in  
> varient forms.
> I think your best bet is to take this to the TC list.
> 
> 
> Elizabeth Kline
____________

I'll second the recommendation of Metzger's _Textual_Commentary_.  On
this verse he notes 

On the one hand, a minority of the Committee preferred the reading
?????p?? ? ?? ?? t? ???a??, arguing that (1) if the short reading,
supported almost exclusively by Egyptian witnesses, were original, there
is no discernible motive that would have prompted copyists to add the
words ? ?? ?? t? ???a??, resulting in a most difficult saying (the
statement in 1.18, not being parallel, would scarcely have prompted the
addition); and (2) the diversity of readings implies that the expression
? ???? t?? ?????p?? ? ?? ?? t? ???a??, having been found objectionable or
superfluous in the context, was modified either by omitting the
participial clause, or by [Page 175] altering it so as to avoid
suggesting that the Son of Man was at that moment in heaven.
On the other hand, the majority of the Committee, impressed by the
quality of the external attestation supporting the shorter reading,
regarded the words ? ?? ?? t? ???a?? as an interpretative gloss,
reflecting later Christological development.

Metzger, B. M., & United Bible Societies. (1994). A textual commentary on
the Greek New Testament, second edition a companion volume to the United
Bible Societies' Greek New Testament (4th rev. ed.) (174). London; New
York: United Bible Societies.

george
gfsomsel
___________


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