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Saturday, April 6, 2019

Comparing Sinaiticus and Byz in John: 100 Differences

            Having looked at 180 translation-impacting differences between the Byzantine Text and the text in Codex Sinaiticus in the Synoptic Gospels (60 in Matthew, 60 in Mark, 60 in Luke), today we complete the set, looking at 100 translation-impacting differences between the Byzantine Text and the text that was written by the copyist of Codex Sinaiticus in the Gospel of John. 
            The readings from Sinaiticus in this list vary in size and in the amount of impact that they have on translation – in one case, 12 verses are affected; in some other cases, a single word is changed.  In several cases, the reading in Codex Sinaiticus constitutes a historical error.
            Red dots accompany cases where the Byzantine Text and the Nestle-Aland compilation both disagree with the reading written by the copyist of Codex Sinaiticus.  Black dots accompany cases where Codex Sinaiticus and the Nestle-Aland compilation agree with each other and disagree with the Byzantine reading; there are fourteen such cases (among these particular 100 variant-units).

1.  In John 1:15, does John the Baptist say that Jesus is the One he was speaking of before?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

2.  Does John 1:17 affirm that grace and truth come from Jesus Christ?
            ﬡ:  no (the word “Christ” is absent)
            Byz:  yes

3.  Does John 1:18 refer to “the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father” or to “only begotten God in the bosom of the Father”?
            ﬡ:  only begotten God in the bosom of the Father
            Byz:  the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father

4.  Does John 1:20 emphasize John the Baptist’s confession by mentioning twice that he confessed?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

5.  In John 1:34, does John the Baptist affirm that Jesus is the Son of God, or that Jesus is the chosen one of God?
            ﬡ:  chosen one of God
            Byz:  Son of God

6.  Does John 2:3 contain a phrase which says that they did not have wine, because the wine for the marriage-feast was finished?
            ﬡ:  yes
            Byz:  no

7.  Does John 2:6 say that the waterpots were standing there?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

8.  Does John 2:10 specifically say that Jesus manifested His glory?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

9.  Does John 2:12 mention Jesus’ disciples?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes
               
10.  Does John 2:21 specify that Jesus spoke of the temple of His body?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

11.  In John 3:8, does Jesus describe “everyone who has been born of water and of the Spirit”?
            ﬡ:  yes
            Byz:  no (Jesus describes “everyone who has been born of the Spirit”)

● 12.  Does John 3:13 mention “the Son of Man who is in heaven”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

13.  Does John 3:16 affirm that God gave His only begotten Son?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

14.  Does John 3:20 affirm that everyone who hates the light does not come to the light?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

15.  Does John 3:21 affirm that the one who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

16.  Does John 3:31 affirm that He who comes from heaven is above all?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

● 17.  Does John 4:1 refer to Jesus as “the Lord”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

18.  Does John 4:9 say that Jews have no dealings with Samaritans?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

19.  In John 4:19, does the Samaritan woman refer to Jesus as “Lord”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

20.  Does John 4:39 specify that many of the Samaritans believed on Him?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

21.  Does John 4:45 say that the Galileans received Him?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

● 22.  Does John 5:3 mention that the sick people were waiting for the moving of the waters?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

● 23.  Does John 5:4 say that an angel stirred up the waters, and that the one who first entered the pool after the waters were stirred up would be healed?
            ﬡ:  no (the entire verse is absent)
            Byz:  yes

24.  Does John 5:9 say that the man immediately became whole?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes        

25.  Does John 5:14 mention that the healed man found Jesus healing in the temple?
            ﬡ:  yes
            Byz:  no

● 26.  Does John 5:16 say that the Jews sought to kill Jesus?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

27.  In John 5:25, does Jesus refer to an hour that is coming and now is?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

28.  Does John 5:26 say that the Father has given to the Son to have life in Himself?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

29.  In John 6:10, how does John describe the place where Jesus fed the five thousand?
            ﬡ:  there was much place in that place
            Byz:  there was much grass

30.  In John 6:10, about how many men were present?
            ﬡ:  three thousand
            Byz:  five thousand

● 31.  Does John 6:11 say that Jesus gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to those who were sitting down?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

32.  Does John 6:15 say that Jesus withdrew from the crowd, or that He escaped the crowd?
            ﬡ:  He escaped
            Byz:  He withdrew

33.  In John 6:26, does Jesus’ statement begin, “You seek me”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes  

34.  Does John 6:27 say that God the Father has sealed the Son of Man?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

35.  In John 6:39, does Jesus say something specifically about the will of the One who sent Him?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

36.  In John 6:42, do the Jews affirm that they know Jesus’ mother?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

37.  In John 6:46, does Jesus say that He who is from God has seen the Father?
            ﬡ:  no; Jesus says that He who is from the Father has seen God.
            Byz:  yes

● 38.  In John 6:47, does Jesus say that the one who believes in Him has eternal life?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

39.  In John 6:55, does Jesus say that His blood is truly drink?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

40.  Does John 6:64 refer to Jesus as “the Savior”?
            ﬡ:  yes
            Byz:  no

● 41.  In John 6:69, does Simon Peter describe Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” or as “the Holy One of God”?
            ﬡ:  the Holy One of God
            Byz:  the Christ, the Son of the living God

42.  In John 7:6, does Jesus say “My time is not yet come,” or “My time is not come”?
            ﬡ:  My time is not (ου) come
            Byz:  My time is not yet (ουπω) come

43.  In John 7:7, does Jesus say specifically that He testifies concerning the world?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

● 44.  In John 7:8, does Jesus say, “I am not going up to this feast,” or “I am not yet going up to this feast”?
            ﬡ:  I am not (ουκ) going up to this feast
            Byz:  I am not yet (ουπω) going up to this feast
            (Papyrus 66, Papyrus 75, and Codex Vaticanus agree with Byz here)

45.  Does John 7:22 begin with “Therefore”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

46.  In John 7:26, do the people ask a question about the high priest?
            ﬡ:  yes
            Byz:  no

47.  In John 7:27, do the people raise a question about the signs the Messiah will do?
            ﬡ:  yes
            Byz:  no

48.  Does John 7:35 say that the Jews said something among themselves?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

49.  In John 7:37, does Jesus say, If anyone thirsts, “let him come to Me and drink”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

50.  Does John 7:50 say anything about Nicodemus’ previous encounter with Jesus?
             ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

● 51.  Does the Gospel of John contain an episode about Jesus and a woman caught in adultery, in which Jesus says “Go and sin no more”?
            ﬡ:  no (John 7:53-8:11 is absent)
            Byz:  yes

52.  Does John 8:20 say that Jesus was teaching in the temple?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

53.  In John 8:26, does Jesus specifically say that the Father has sent Him?
            ﬡ:  yes
            Byz:  no

54. Does John 8:27 specifically say that Jesus was speaking of God as the Father?
            ﬡ:  yes
            Byz:  no

55.  In John 8:35, does Jesus affirm that the Son abides forever?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

56.  In John 8:52, does Jesus say something about death?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

57.  In John 8:57, did the Jews ask Jesus, “Have you seen Abraham,” or “Has Abraham seen You”?
            ﬡ:  has Abraham seen You?
            Byz:  have you seen Abraham? 

● 58.  Does John 8:59 report that Jesus went through their midst, and so passed by” as He left the temple?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

59.  Does John 9:10 specifically mention the Jews?
            ﬡ:  yes
            Byz:  no

60.  In John 9:38, does the formerly blind man say to Jesus, “Lord, I believe”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

61.  In John 9:39, does the formerly blind man worship Jesus?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz: yes

62.  Does John 10:10 specifically refer to eternal life?
            ﬡ:  yes
            Byz:  no

63.  In John 11:31, were the Jews thinking that Jesus was going to the tomb to weep there, or were they Jews saying that Mary was going to the tomb to weep there?
            ﬡ:  they were thinking that Jesus was going to the tomb
            Byz:  they were saying that Mary was going to the tomb

64.  In John 11:50, does Caiaphas say “It is profitable for us that one man should die,” or does he say, “It is profitable that one man should die”?
            ﬡ:  it is profitable
            Byz:  it is profitable for us

● 65.  Does John 12:1 specify that the individual named Lazarus is “the one who had died”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

66.  In John 12:25, did Jesus say that he who hates his life in this world shall keep it?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

67.  In John 12:31, does Jesus say something about the prince of this world?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

68.  Does John 13:1 say that Jesus loved “His own” who were in the world, or “the Jews” who were in the world?
            ﬡ:  the Jews
            Byz:  His own

69.  In John 13:6, does Simon Peter address Jesus as “Lord”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

70.  In John 13:9, does Simon Peter address Jesus as “Lord”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

71.  In John 13:10, does Jesus say something about washing feet?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

72.  In John 13:12, did Jesus take their garments, or His garments?
            ﬡ:  their garments
            Byz:  His garments

73.  Does John 13:22 say that the Jews looked, one another, upon the disciples?
            ﬡ:  yes
            Byz:  no

74.  In John 13:24, does Simon Peter (a) motion to the disciple whom Jesus loved to ask Jesus to whom He referred, and (b) tell the disciple to ask Him of whom He spoke?
            ﬡ:  yes
            Byz:  no; only the first action is mentioned

● 75.  How does John 13:32 begin?
            ﬡ:  “Also God shall glorify Him in Himself” 
            Byz:  “If God has been glorified in Him”     

76.  In John 13:37, Does Simon Peter address Jesus as “Lord”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes  

77.  In John 14:16, does Jesus say that He will keep the Father, or that He will ask the Father?
            ﬡ:  keep
            Byz:  ask

78.  In John 15:10, does Jesus say, “If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

79.  Does John 15:21 say that people will do these things “to you”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

80.  In John 16:9, does Jesus say that the Comforter will convict the world concerning sin because “they believe on Me” or “because they do not believe on Me”?
            ﬡ:  because they believe on Me
            Byz:  because they do not believe on Me

81.  In John 16:15, does Jesus say, “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He will take of Mine, and shall show it to you”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

● 82.  Does John 16:16 end with the phrase “because I go to the Father”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

83.  In John 16:17, does Jesus mention the phrase, “A little while, and you shall not see Me”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

84.  In John 17:8, does Jesus affirm that the people who were given to Him have known truly that He came from the Father?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

85.  Does John 17:10 begin with the phrase, “And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

86.  Does John 17:17 include the phrase, “Your word is truth”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

87.  In John 17:26, does Jesus refer to “the love in which You loved Me” or to “the love in which You loved them”?
            ﬡ:  the love in which You loved them
            Byz:  the love in which You loved Me

88.  In John 19:13, is the judgment seat in a place that is called Gabbatha, or Golgotha?
            ﬡ:  Golgotha
            Byz:  Gabbatha      

89.  Does John 19:20 say that the title was read by many of the Jews, and that it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin?
            ﬡ:  no (the whole verse is absent)
            Byz:  yes

90.  Does John 19:21 say that the chief priests told Pilate not to write “King of the Jews”?
            ﬡ:   no
            Byz:  yes

91.  Does John 19:23 mention that the soldiers also took Jesus’ tunic?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

92.  In John 19:26, does John say that Jesus saw His mother?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

93.  Does John 19:38 say that Joseph of Arimathea “took the body of Jesus,” or that Joseph of Arimathea “took Him”?
            ﬡ:  took Him
            Byz:  took the body of Jesus

94.  Does John 20:3 say that Peter and the other disciple came to the tomb?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

95.  Does John 20:5 mention that the other disciple did not enter the tomb?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

96.  Does John 20:6 say that Simon Peter came and entered the tomb?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

97.  In John 21:15, does Jesus call Simon “son of Jonah”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes (the Alexandrian Text has “son of John” – but ﬡ has neither)

98.  In John 21:20, did Peter see the disciple whom Jesus loved, following?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

99.  In John 21:21, did Peter address Jesus as “Lord”?
            ﬡ:  no
            Byz:  yes

100.  Does John 21:23 end with the phrase, “What is that to you”?
            ﬡ: no
            Byz:  yes

Please explain, Dr. White.
Bonus:  Does the Gospel of John end with a statement to the effect that the world could not contain the books that would be written if all of Jesus’ deeds were written down?
            ﬡ:  no (the copyist concluded the text at the end of John 21:24, and wrote the closing-title after that.  However, his supervisor apparently overruled his decision to remove verse 25; the closing title was erased, and verse 25 was added along with the closing title below it.)
            Byz:  yes

(There are more than 100 readings in Codex Sinaiticus which mean something different than what the Byzantine reading means; I just tried to keep things tidy by limiting it to 100.)
Readers are invited to double-check the accuracy of the data in this post.





4 comments:

John Podgorney said...

Thanks for posting this James. I appreciate your hard work.

Unknown said...

Excellent work!!

"Crazy" George said...


Good job...and God bless!

Servant of GOD said...

Tell me James,if the Codex Sinaiticus(4th century)is older than the Byzantine script, how can the latter correct that which came before it? The truth is that John 3:16 is an interpolation. If it's not in the oldest manuscript, then someone put it there. How will this truth affect Christianity? In the preface of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, 50 scholars of the Highest Eminence, backed by 50 corroborating denominations, said that the word "begotten" should not be there and they too it out. What kind of games are being played with the "word" of GOD? Things have been added and taken away from the original texts. My question is why? All of the prophets(including Jesus) taught the same message-There is ONLY ONE GOD and you should worship Him ONLY. See Deuteronomy 6:4(old testament and Mark 12:29-32. We have to keep seeking the TRUTH.