THE EASTERN GREEK ORTHODOX BIBLE NEW TESTAMENT

1 THE EASTERN - GREEK ORTHODOX BIBLE : NEW TESTAMENT Presented to Presented by Date Occasion THE EASTERN - GREEK ORTHODOX BIBLE NEW TESTAMENT THE EASTERN / GREEK ORTHODOX BIBLE BASED ON THE SEPTUAGINT AND THE PATRIARCHAL TEXT NEW TESTAMENT ALSO KNOWN AS THE CHRISTIAN GREEK SCRIPTURES With extensive introductory and supplemental material The EOB New TESTAMENT is presented in memory of Archbishop Vsevolod of Scopelos ( 2007) Ukrainian ORTHODOX Church of the USA Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople And in honor of His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah Primate of the ORTHODOX Church in America ABBREVIATIONS AND CODES [ ] Indicates words added for clarity and accuracy but which may not be in the GREEK text. For public reading, these words can be included or skipped { } Indicates words added for theological clarity and accuracy.

2 For public reading, these words should be skipped < > Indicates words that may have been added in the Byzantine textual tradition for the purpose of clarification, harmonization or liturgical use and which are present in the PT, but which may not have been part of the original manuscripts ANF/PNF Ante-Nicene Fathers / Post-Nicene Fathers BAC Being as Communion, John Zizioulas CCC Catechism of the Catholic Church CT Modern eclectic texts or reconstructed "critical texts" (United BIBLE Societies Text (UBS) or the Nestle-Aland Text (NA)) CTC Called to Communion, Joseph Ratzinger EBC Eucharist, Bishop, Church, John Zizioulas EOB EASTERN / GREEK ORTHODOX BIBLE HBB His Broken Body, Laurent Cleenewerck HE Ecclesiastical History (Eusebius) (Paul Maier s edition) KJV King James Version (sometimes called Authorized Version) LXX GREEK translation of the Old TESTAMENT known as the Septuagint which is the basis for the main English text of the EOB/OT TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTORY SECTION ABBREVIATIONS AND CODES.

3 9 TABLE OF CONTENTS .. 11 THE GREEK ALPHABET .. 13 MANUSCRIPT CODES .. 14 ABOUT THE EOB NEW TESTAMENT .. 15 THE GOSPELS INTRODUCTION TO THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS AND ACTS .. 35 (ACCORDING TO) MATTHEW ( ) .. 41 (ACCORDING TO) MARK ( ) .. 107 (ACCORDING TO) LUKE ( ) .. 149 INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPEL OF JOHN .. 219 (ACCORDING TO) JOHN ( ) .. 229 ACTS, EPISTLES AND REVELATION ACTS OF THE APOSTLES ( ) .. 281 INTRODUCTION TO THE PAULINE EPISTLES .. 341 ROMANS ( ) .. 349 1 CORINTHIANS ( ).. 374 2 CORINTHIANS ( ) .. 396 GALATIANS ( ) .. 410 EPHESIANS ( ) .. 418 PHILIPPIANS ( ) .. 426 COLOSSIANS ( O ) .. 432 1 THESSALONIANS ( ) .. 438 INTRODUCTION THE GREEK ALPHABET Letter Name Lower Case Upper Case Transliteration Alpha a Beta b Gamma g Delta d Epsilon e Zeta z ta e ( or ) Th ta th Iota i Kappa k Lambda l Mu m Nu n Xi ks Omicron o Pi p Rho r Sigma s Tau t Upsilon u (sometimes v or y) Phi ph Chi ch Psi ps Omega or INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE EOB NEW TESTAMENT PURPOSE The EOB New TESTAMENT was prepared for personal study and liturgical use in English-speaking ORTHODOX Christian communities.

4 Its format and font are designed to make both activities accessible and rewarding. Every attempt has been made to offer an accurate and scholarly translation of the GREEK text, free of the theological bias that has affected most other translations of the New TESTAMENT , including the NIV (2 Thess. 2:15) and NAB (Matt. 5:32). Another intention of this translation is to foster interest in learning the GREEK language (biblical, patristic and modern), which is why many footnotes make reference to the underlying GREEK vocabulary. The purpose of this edition is also to make the reader aware of possible textual variants by footnoting all significant instances where the Patriarchal Text (PT) may not agree with the Textus Receptus (TR), the Majority Text (MT) or the Critical Text (CT).

5 In several instances, the footnotes will provide references to specific manuscripts. Until the publication of the EOB, the King James and New King James versions have been the preferred translations, partly because they are based on the Textus Receptus (TR) which is a Byzantine-type text that is close to the normative ecclesiastical text of the GREEK -speaking ORTHODOX Churches. The Textus Receptus (Latin: received text ) is the name subsequently given to the succession of printed GREEK texts of the New TESTAMENT which constituted the translation base for Luther s original German BIBLE . The TR was also used for the translation of the New TESTAMENT into English by William Tyndale, for the King James Version, and for most other Reformation-era New TESTAMENT translations throughout Western and Central Europe.

6 INTRODUCTION certain issues of translation and terminology (discussed below) also called for revisions within an ORTHODOX context. The EOB ( EASTERN / GREEK ORTHODOX BIBLE or Holy BIBLE of the [ EASTERN / GREEK ] ORTHODOX Churches) addresses these limitations, both in the Old and New Testaments. A limited copyright (see inner front page) is held by the publisher but the text is non-commercial, held within the ORTHODOX community and managed as a collaborative project, both for revisions and for liturgical use. Moreover, ORTHODOX Christians are invited to submit their suggestions so that the published text may be regularly updated and improved. EOB FOOTNOTES Unlike the ORTHODOX Study BIBLE (OSB), the EOB footnotes focus on textual and translation issues, and refrain from providing extensive theological or doctrinal interpretations.

7 Hence, the goal of the main text is to provide the reader with a clear sense of what the Scriptures say with possible nuances, not how they should be interpreted. There are two reasons for this philosophy. The first one is that footnote commentaries are often perceived as authoritative by the reader almost on the level of Scripture or official commentary. Hence, the reader s attention is directed to particular explanation, at the risk of not letting the inspired text speak for itself. The second reason is that a few of the explanatory footnotes of the OSB may be debated among ORTHODOX theologians, as in the case of Acts 1:20 and Revelation 17:1 among others. Please refer to the introductions and appendices for appropriate explanations. PRIMARY GREEK TEXT(S) The translation of the New TESTAMENT included in the EOB is based on the official GREEK text published by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1904 (Patriarchal Text or PT).

8 During the Turkish occupation of the GREEK lands, various editions of the NT had been published with significant variants. In 1902, in order to ensure ecclesiastical harmony, the Ecumenical Patriarchate appointed a committee whose task was to publish a common and official text. This committee studied about 20 major Byzantine manuscripts from which they adopted one as starting point, yet taking into consideration significant variants from other manuscripts. This text, which is very close to the so-called Majority Text (MT), was published for the first time in 1904. It has since then been adopted by all GREEK -speaking ORTHODOX Churches (Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Greece, Cyprus, and Crete). Its purpose is not to offer an always speculative reconstruction of the original INTRODUCTION significant variants between PT/MT/TR and CT have been studied and footnoted to provide variant readings.

9 The Byzantine text-type (also called Majority, Traditional, Ecclesiastical, Constantinopolitan, or Syrian) is one of several text-types used in textual criticism to describe the textual character of certain GREEK New TESTAMENT manuscripts. It is the form found in the largest number of surviving manuscripts. The New TESTAMENT text of the GREEK ORTHODOX Churches, the Patriarchal edition of 1904 (PT), is based on this text-type. This textual tradition also underlies the Textus Receptus GREEK text. A synthetic GREEK New TESTAMENT text based on these majority readings hence the name Majority Text has been produced by Zane C. Hodges and Arthur L. Farstad, although this text does not correspond to any one particular manuscript. There are only six manuscripts earlier than the 9th century which conform to the Byzantine text-type; of which the 5th century Codex Alexandrinus, (the oldest), is Byzantine only in the Gospels with the rest of the New TESTAMENT being Alexandrian.

10 By comparison, the Alexandrian text-type is witnessed by nine surviving uncials earlier than the ninth century (including the Codex Alexandrinus outside the Gospels); and is also usually considered to be demonstrated in three earlier papyri. Modern critical editions of the New TESTAMENT tend to conform most often to Alexandrian witnesses especially Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus (see below). The earliest of the Church Fathers who is considered to be a consistent witness to a Byzantine text-type in NT quotations is St. John Chrysostom. ORTHODOX Christians should be aware that the foundational GREEK text used by most modern translations such as the New International Version and (New) Revised Standard Version is the Critical Text (CT). By contrast, the foundational text for the King James and New King James versions is the Textus Receptus (TR).