Textual variants in the First Epistle to Timothy are the subject of the study called textual criticism of the New Testament. Textual variants in manuscripts arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to a text that is being reproduced. An abbreviated list of textual variants in this particular book is given in this article below.
Most of the variations are not significant and some common alterations include the deletion, rearrangement, repetition, or replacement of one or more words when the copyist's eye returns to a similar word in the wrong location of the original text. If their eye skips to an earlier word, they may create a repetition (error of dittography). If their eye skips to a later word, they may create an omission. They may resort to performing a rearranging of words to retain the overall meaning without compromising the context. In other instances, the copyist may add text from memory from a similar or parallel text in another location. Otherwise, they may also replace some text of the original with an alternative reading. Spellings occasionally change. Synonyms may be substituted. A pronoun may be changed into a proper noun (such as "he said" becoming "Jesus said"). John Mill's 1707 Greek New Testament was estimated to contain some 30,000 variants in its accompanying textual apparatusAdam Fox, John Mill and Richard Bentley: A Study of the Textual Criticism of the New Testament 1675–1729 (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1954), pp. 105–115; John Mill, Novum Testamentum Graecum, cum lectionibus variantibus MSS (Oxford 1707) which was based on "nearly 100 [Greek] manuscripts."Metzger and Ehrman (2005), p.154 Peter J. Gurry puts the number of non-spelling variants among New Testament manuscripts around 500,000, though he acknowledges his estimate is higher than all previous ones.Peter J. Gurry, "The Number of Variants in the Greek New Testament: A Proposed Estimate" New Testament Studies 62.1 (2016), p. 113
Legend
Textual variants 1 Timothy 1:16 Ιησους (Jesus) – F G 1739 1881 Χριστος Ιησους (Christ Jesus) – A D* H Ψ 0262 33 104 326 365 629 1175 lat Ιησους Χριστος (Jesus Christ) – א D Byz it vg syr Ιησους ο Χριστος (Jesus the Christ) – 614
1 Timothy 2:7 αληθειαν λεγω (I am telling the truth) – א A D* F G P Ψ 075 0150 6 81 104 263 330 424 451 459 629 1175 1505 1739 1881 1912 2492 Lect lat syr cop eth Ambrosiaster Ambrose Chrysostom John αληθειαν λεγω εγω (I am telling the truth) – 2495 αληθειαν λεγω Χριστος (I am telling the truth of Christ) – 436 αληθειαν λεγω εν Χριστω (I am telling the truth in Christ) – א* D H K L 33 88 181 256 326 365 424* 614 630 1241 1573 1852 1877 2127 Byz Lect it vg goth arm slav Theodoret Euthalius αληθειαν λεγω εν Χριστω Ιησου (I am telling the truth in Christ Jesus) – 1319
1 Timothy 3:1 ανθρωπινος (human or of a man) – D* it Ambrosiaster Jerome Augustine Speculum πιστος (faithful) – rell
1 Timothy 3:14 προς σε (to you) – omitted by F G 6 1739 1881 cop
1 Timothy 3:16 ομολογουμεν ως (just as we are professing) – D* 1175 ομολογουμενως (admittedly) – rell
1 Timothy 3:16 ος εφανερωθη (he who was manifested) – א* A* C* F G 33 365 442 1175 2127 ℓ ℓ syr goth eth Origen Didymus Epiphanius Jerome Cyril Liberatus ο εφανερωθη (which was manifested) – D* it vg ω εφανερωθη (which was made manifest) – 061 ΘϹ εφανερωθη or θεος εφανερωθη (God was manifested) – א A C D K L P Ψ 075 0150 6 81 104 181 263 326 330 424 436 451 459 614 629 630 1241 1319 1573 1739 1852 1877 1881 1912 1962 1984 1985 2200 2492 2495 Byz Lect slav Gregory Chrysostom Theodoret Euthalius Theodore of Mopsuestia ο θεος εφανερωθη (the God was manifested) – 88 ος θεος εφανερωθη (the God who was manifested) – 256 ℓ
1 Timothy 4:10 αγωνιζομεθα – א* A C F G K Ψ 33 88 104 326 442 915 1175 ονειδιζομεθα – א D L (P ονειδιζωμεθα) 81 181 330 436 451 614 629 630 1241 1739 1877 Byz Lect ωνειδιζομεθα – 1881 1985
1 Timothy 5:5 θεον (God) – C F G P Ψ 048 lat syr cop τον θεον (of God) – א A D 1739 1881 Byz τον κυριον (of the LORD) – D* 81 vg κυριον (the LORD) – א*
1 Timothy 5:19 εκτος ει μη επι δυο η τριων μαρτυρων (except from two or three witnesses) – omitted by it Ambrosiaster Jerome Pelagius
1 Timothy 5:21 Χριστου Ιησου – א A D* G 33 81 104 365 629 latt cop Clement Ιησου Χριστου – F Ψ 630 1175 1739 1881 κυριου Ιησου Χριστου – D Byz syr
1 Timothy 6:7 οτι – א A F G 048 061 33 81 1739 1881 δηλον οτι – א D K L P Ψ 104 181 326 330 436 451 614 629 630 1241 1877 1962 1984 1985 2127 2492 2495 Byz αλητες οτι – D*
1 Timothy 6:21 αμην (Amen) – א D K L P Ψ 075 0150 6 88 104 181 256 263 326 330 365 424 436 451 459 614 629 630 1175 1241 1319 1573 1739 1852 1877 1912 1962 1984 1985 2127 2200 2492 2495 Byz Lect it vg syr cop eth slav Ambrosiaster Theodoret John omitted – א* A D* F G 33 81 1311 1739* 1881 it vg cop Chrysostom Pelagius Euthalius Speculum
See also An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture Alexandrian text-type Biblical inerrancy Byzantine text-type Caesarean text-type Categories of New Testament manuscripts Comparison of codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus List of New Testament verses not included in modern English translations Textual variants in the New Testament Western text-type
References
Further reading
Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine, ed. E. Nestle, K. Åland, Stuttgart 1981. Bruce M. Metzger & Bart D. Ehrman, "The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration", OUP New York, Oxford, 4 edition, 2005 Bart D. Ehrman, "The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture. The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament", Oxford University Press, New York - Oxford, 1996, pp. 223–227. Bruce M. Metzger, "A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament: A Companion Volume to the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament", 1994, United Bible Societies, London & New York.
External links The Comparative Critical Greek New Testament Variantes textuais Varianten Textus receptus versus Nestle-Aland