582 - The Greek New Testament

The Greek New Testament
Edited by Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Bruce M. Metzger, and Allen Wikgren
920 pp. New York, American Bible Society, 1966. $1.95.

A new edition of the Greek New Testament is hardly the sort of book that lends itself to a review of its contents. It is, however, a publishing event of some significance, and at the request of the Editor of THEOLOGY TODAY the following brief descriptive statement has been prepared for our readers.

In May, 1966, on the occasion of the celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the American Bible Society, a new edition of the Greek New Testament was published by five Bible societies of America and Europe. The editorial committee, appointed twelve years ago, was composed of a German, Kurt Aland, of the University of Münster; a Scotsman, Matthew Black, St. Andrews University; and two Americans, Bruce Metzger, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Allen Wikgren, University of Chicago.

Some of the noteworthy features of the new edition are: (1) for the first time in the history of Christendom an edition of the Greek New Testament has been produced by an international committee. (2) A special set of footnotes provides information concerning more than six hundred differences in punctuation. Since the early Greek manuscripts of the New Testament contain no marks of punctuation, it is necessary that editors supply them, and in these six hundred passages a systematic attempt was made to provide meaningful alternative punctuation. (3) The most important features of the new edition involve the manuscript basis of the Greek text. All 76 known papyri were utilized, as well as 169 of the 250 known uncial manuscripts; a selection from more than 600 minuscule manuscripts; 150 Greek lectionaries, including 50 of which are cited systematically in the apparatus; nine ancient versions (Old Latin, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, Gothic, Armenian, Georgian, Ethiopic, and Nubian); and more than 200 Church Fathers. From these witnesses 1,400 sets of alternative readings were selected for the critical apparatus on the basis of: (a) importance for translation and exegesis, and (b) inclusion of all marginal readings of the English Revised Version, the

583 - The Greek New Testament

American Standard Version, the Revised Standard Version, and the New English Bible.

The volume, which is clearly printed with the easily read Porson font of Greek type, may be secured from the American Bible Society, 1865 Broadway, New York, 10023; maroon plastic binding, $1.95; red morocco binding, $4.40. It is also available from the British and Foreign Bible Society, the National Bible Society of Scotland, The Netherlands Bible Society, and the Württembergische Bibelanstalt.

Bruce M. Metzger
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, N. J.