THE TEXT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration BY BRUCE M. METZGER Professor of New Testament Language and Literature Princeton Theological Seminary SECOND EDITION OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESSPreface to the Second Edition publication of this book in 1964, a great amount of textual research has continued to come from the presses in both Europe and America. References to some of these publications were included in the German translation of the volume issued in 1966 under the title Der Text des Neuen Test- aments; Einfiihrung in die neutestamentliche Textkritik (Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart). The second printing of the English edition provides opportunity to introduce a variety of small alterations throughout the volume as well as to include references to more than one hundred and fifty books and articles dealing with Greek manuscripts, early versions, and textual studies of recently discovered witnesses to the text of the New Testament. In order not to disturb the pagination, most of the new material has been placed at the close of the book (pp. 261~73), to which the reader’s attention is directed by appropriate cross references. De the four years that have elapsed since the initial BRUCE M. METZGER February 1968" Preface the New Testament arises from two circumstances: (a) none of the original documents is extant, and (6) the existing copies differ from one another. The textual critic seeks to ascer- tain from the divergent copies which form of the text should be regarded as most nearly conforming to the original. In some cases the evidence will be found to be so evenly divided that it is extremely difficult to decide between two variant readings. In other instances, however, the critic can arrive at a decision based on more or less compelling reasons for preferring one reading and rejecting another. It is the purpose of this book to supply the student with information concerning both the science and the art of textual Te necessity of applying textual criticism to the books ofPreface criticism as applied to the New Testament. The science of textual criticism deals with (a) the making and transmission of ancient manuscripts, (6) the description of the most important witnesses to the New Testament text, and (c) the history of the textual criticism of the New Testament as reflected in the succes- sion of printed editions of the Greek Testament. The art of textual criticism refers to the application of reasoned considera- tions in choosing among variant readings. The results of the practice of textual criticism have differed from one generation to another, partly because the balance in the quantity and the quality of witnesses available has gradually altered owing to the acquisition of additional manuscripts, and partly because theories and procedures of evaluating textual evidence have varied over the years. In Part Three of the volume the author has attempted to provide a succinct account of the several schools of textual methodology, indicating at the same time what in his view is the most satisfactory critical procedure for beginners to follow. The author gratefully acknowledges the courtesy of the following for granting permission to reproduce specimen folios and diagrams of manuscripts: Bibliothéque Bodmer, the Bod- leian Library, the British Museum, the Cambridge University Press, Dr. W. H. P. Hatch, Macmillan & Co., Ltd., and the Speer Library of Princeton Theological Seminary. Finally, I should like to express my gratitude to the Delegates of the Oxford University Press for their acceptance of my book for publication. I am also indebted to the readers of the Press for their customary care and painstaking vigilance in the read- ing of the proofs. BRUCE M. METZGER Princeton, New Fersey August 1963