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STEPBible

5/28/2023

CC Attribution 4.0

2023

This text is a Bible translator resource from the STEPBible Tyndale Amalgamated Hebrew and Greek. The Greek text is tagged 1) 'NA=TR' (default Nestle/Aland = Textus Receptus) 133,304 words from NA27/28+TR+others with same meaning, 2) 'NA~TR' 3,922 words from NA27/28 with different meanings in TR, 3) 'NA-TR' 761 words in NA27/28 not in TR, 4) 'KJV' 3,573 words in TR not in NA27/28, 5) 'KJV+' 3,573 words in TR+Older Bibles but not in NA27/28, 6) 'KJV++' 227 words in TR+Modern Bibles but not in NA27/28, and 7) 'NATR?' 245 words not found in NA27/28 or TR. New Testament study is revolutionized by the discovery of earlier manuscripts in the North African sands and other discoveries. The NA text is based mostly on these earlier manuscripts, but the TR text was compiled from later ones, before the earlier ones were found. Later scribes often removed ambiguities with changes like adding the name 'Jesus' instead of 'he', adding prepositions such as 'with' and 'to' instead of relying on Greek dative and genitive cases, and occasionally adding phrases to clarify the text. There are no instances of changed theology, confirmed by the huge failed effort to find even one. Less discussed are the words found in the earlier manuscripts, but not in the later. Of these, there are 548 differences with no impact to meaning, and 277 scribal clarification differences. And these are only mildly significant changes like '72' for '70' disciples sent out in Luke 10:1,17, 'Spirit of Jesus' for 'Jesus' in Acts 16:7, 'as you now walk' in 1Th 4:1, 'according to God' in 1Pet 5:2, 'show mercy to others' in Jude 23, and 'and a third of the earth was burned' in Rev 8:7. The best explanation is that additions found only in earlier manuscripts and additions found only in later ones are simply two sets of additions by scribes to clarify the text with no theological agenda. So, if you want the very earliest text, use only the words that are in both NA and TR. If you want to include clarifications by North African believers like modern Bibles, then include words found only in NA. If you want to only include the clarifications by Byzantine scribes like the KJV, then include the words found only in TR, and use the TR variants.