Concerning Text Variants
The Bibles we have today are the work of a long line of scholars and scribes spanning centuries. The original manuscripts have long crumbled into dust. Only copies of a long line of copies remain. How trustworthy are these copies? You can find many web sites detailing the differences between ancient manuscripts, but all of them agree differences are minor. Nevertheless, when it comes to Bible Numbers, the difference of a single letter can turn a passage filled with numeric features to one with few or no features.
What is to be done with textual variants in the Bible? Scholars go through as many old manuscripts and records as they can lay their hands on to decide if a piece of text belongs in the Bible. Thus we can be certain that the vast majority of the Bible, where there are no variants, is as close to the original text we will ever get. This is what Bible Numbers is based upon.
Textual variants are those tiny parts of the Bible where scholars remain uncertain. This is what Bible Numbers avoids. There is no point building on shifting sand.
There are quite a number of differences in the New Testament between the F.H.A. Scrivener 1881 - Theodore Beza 1598 Textus Receptus Greek New Testament (GNS) and the Nestle-Aland 27th Edition of the Greek New Testament (GNT), which was put together in 1993-1994 by the United Bible Societies. Based on a smaller collection of late manuscripts, Scrivener's work lists no variants. The Nestle-Aland edition with access to older manuscripts identifies variants. For Bible Numbers, the GNS text will be used as is, and for the GNT text, variants will be removed to leave only what is certain. The idea is to keep things simple.
Adhering to the Apostle John's warning is another reason to avoid textual variants.
I warn every one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. (Revelation 22:18-19)1
This might have referred only to the book of Revelation, but why take a chance. With every variant included into the text, the possibility increases one is adding something to the Bible that should not be there.
What about a variant that should be in the Bible? This is very difficult to determine, and no two scholars would agree on everything. If it has been lost in the majority of manuscripts, this was done by someone far in the past, not by someone today. Until God sees fit to enlighten us, what we have today is what we are stuck with. Incredibly, as will be seen, Bible Numbers is not dependent on text variants. There is only one place where a variant is used, and this is in the study on Isaiah 18 because a Hebrew-English dictionary for the Old Testament lists one variant as the proper spelling.
My current view is that the minor differences between the GNS and GNT exist so the numbers can highlight different Bible passages. There usually is more than one way of saying the same thing. (Example: Usually there is more than one way of saying the same thing.)
But what about the places where the GNS and GNT diverge sharply? One of the greatest differences is in 1 John 5:7-8. This is known as the Johannine Comma. Many supporters of the Theory of the Trinity
usually quote the extended version of these verses. Most modern Bibles have the shorter versions of these verses.
1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. (KJV) 1 John 5:7 And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth. (RSV) 1 John 5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (KJV) 1 John 5:7 There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree. (RSV)
The difference between the KJV and the RSV is because of the difference in the GNS and GNT.2
GNS 1 John 5:7 οτι τρεις εισιν οι μαρτυρουντες εν τω ουρανω ο πατηρ ο λογος και το Ἁγιον Πνευμα και ουτοι οι τρεις εν εισι GNT 1 John 5:7 οτι τρεις εισιν οι μαρτυρουντες GNS 1 John 5:8 και τρεις εισιν οι μαρτυρουντες εν τη γη το Πνευμα και το υδωρ και το αιμα και οι τρεις εις το εν εισιν GNT 1 John 5:8 το πνευμα και το υδωρ και το αιμα και οι τρεις εις το εν εισιν
You can find many web sites arguing for the extended versions, or for the shorter versions. The basic facts are these: 1) There are approximately 5000 manuscripts of the New Testament (NT). They vary from complete books of the NT, to just a few books or only one book. 2) Of these 5000 manuscripts, around 500 (10%) include the book of 1 John. 3) Of the 500 manuscripts with 1 John, only eight or ten have the Johannine Comma (the extended verses).3 4) This tiny group of manuscripts with the Johannine Comma are all much more recent than those without, all long after 1000 A.D. 5) Of this small group, not all of them have the exact same text, and one or two have the text in the margins. This is why modern scholars feel they have no choice but to accept and use the shorter versions.
Since these pages are about numbers from the text of the Bible, let's see what numeric features arise (or do not arise) from the two versions.
1 John 5:7-8 GNT
a) 1 2 3 4 b) 169 284 153 69 c) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2 13 14 15 d) 60- 100- 9 100- 80- 5- 9- 90 5- 9- 90- 9- 40 60- 9 e) οτι τρεις εισιν οι a) 5 6 b) 986 160 c) 16 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 6 27 28 29 d) 30- 1- 80- 100- 200- 80- 60- 200- 40- 100- 5- 90 100- 60 e) μαρτυρουντες το a) 7 8 9 10 b) 346 20 160 884 c) 30 31 2 33 34 35 36 7 38 39 40 41 2 43 44 d) 70- 40- 5- 200- 30- 1 10- 1- 9 100-60 200-4-600-80 e) πνευμα και το υδωρ a) 11 12 13 14 15 b) 20 160 41 20 69 c) 45 6 47 48 49 50 1 52 53 54 5 56 57 58 d) 10- 1- 9 100- 60 1- 9- 30- 1 10- 1- 9 60- 9 e) και το αιμα και οι a) 16 17 18 19 20 b) 284 104 160 45 153 c) 59 60 1 2 63 64 5 66 67 68 69 70 71 2 73 4 75 d) 100- 80-5-9-90 5- 9-90 100-60 5- 40 5- 9-90-9-40 e) τρεις εις το εν εισιν a) Word position. b) Word total. c) Letter position. d) Letter value. e) Greek text.
There are 20 words, 75 letters, and a total of 4287. Not one of these numbers is divisible by 7 or 13.
The first letter of each word is divisible by 13 (1131 = 3 x 13 x 29), but there is no matching feature with the last letter of each word. And since the passage as a whole is not divisible by 13, this means letters that are not first in a word also come to nothing.
The positions of the first and last letters of each word come to 1659 (3 x 7 x 79), but individually the positions of the first or last letters of each word again have no feature.
Odd positioned words total 2093 (7 x 13 x 23), but even positioned words have no numeric feature.
Even valued words total 3588 (22 x 3 x 13 x 23), but odd valued words do not work.
The letters by themselves reveal nothing at all.
The GNT version of 1 John 5:7-8 does have some numeric features, but they are inconsistent. It is better than Bible passages where there are no features, but it is vastly inferior to something like The Proclamation (Exodus 34:6-7).
1 John 5:7-8 GNS
a) 1 2 3 4 b) 169 284 153 69 c) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2 13 14 15 d) 60- 100- 9 100- 80- 5- 9- 90 5- 9- 90- 9- 40 60- 9 e) οτι τρεις εισιν οι a) 5 6 b) 986 45 c) 16 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 6 27 28 29 d) 30- 1- 80- 100- 200- 80- 60- 200- 40- 100- 5- 90 5- 40 e) μαρτυρουντες εν a) 7 8 9 10 b) 700 981 60 258 c) 30 31 32 33 34 5 36 37 38 39 40 41 2 43 d) 100- 600 60- 200- 80- 1- 40- 600 60 70- 1- 100- 7-80 e) τω ουρανω ο πατηρ a) 11 12 13 14 15 b) 60 233 20 160 113 c) 44 45 46 7 48 49 50 1 52 53 54 55 6 7 58 59 d) 60 20- 60- 3- 60- 90 10- 1-9 100-60 1- 3-9-60-40 e) ο λογος και το Ἁγιον a) 16 17 18 19 b) 346 20 429 69 c) 60 61 2 63 64 65 66 7 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 d) 70- 40- 5- 200- 30-1 10-1-9 60-200-100-60-9 60-9 e) Πνευμα και ουτοι οι a) 20 21 22 23 24 b) 284 45 113 20 284 c) 76 77 8 9 80 81 82 83 4 85 86 87 8 89 90 91 2 3 94 d) 100-80-5-9-90 5- 40 5- 9-90-9 10-1-9 100-80-5-9-90 e) τρεις εν εισι και τρεις a) 25 26 27 b) 153 69 986 c) 95 6 97 8 99 100 101 102 3 04 105 106 07 08 109 110 111 2 113 d) 5- 9-90-9-40 60- 9 30- 1-80-100-200-80-60-200-40- 100-5-90 e) εισιν οι μαρτυρουντες a) 28 29 30 31 32 b) 45 107 10 160 346 c) 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 23 4 125 26 127 d) 5- 40 100- 7 3- 7 100- 60 70- 40-5-200-30-1 e) εν τη γη το Πνευμα a) 33 34 35 36 37 b) 20 160 884 20 160 c) 128 9 130 131 132 133 4 135 136 137 8 139 140 141 d) 10- 1- 9 100- 60 200- 4- 600- 80 10- 1-9 100-60 e) και το υδωρ και το a) 38 39 40 41 b) 41 20 69 284 c) 142 3 44 145 146 7 148 149 150 151 52 3 4 155 d) 1- 9- 30- 1 10- 1- 9 60- 9 100- 80- 5- 9- 90 e) αιμα και οι τρεις a) 42 43 44 45 b) 104 160 45 153 c) 156 7 158 159 160 161 162 163 4 65 6 167 d) 5- 9- 90 100- 60 5- 40 5- 9- 90- 9- 40 e) εις το εν εισιν a) Word position. b) Word total. c) Letter position. d) Letter value. e) Greek text.
There are 45 words, 167 letters, and a total of 9897. Like the GNT, none of these numbers are divisible by 7 or 13.
The first and last letter of each word: 5194 = 2 x 72 x 53.
The first letter of each word: 2240 = 26 x 5 x 7. The positions of these letters: 3927 = 3 x 7 x 11 x 17.
The last letter of each word: 2954 = 2 x 7 x 211.
This actually looks very good. The first and last letters of each word together is divisible by 7, and individually are divisible by 7 as well. Furthermore, the positions of the first letter of each word are also divisible by 7. However, since the total of the passage is not divisible by 7, letters that are not first or last in a word do not produce a total divisible by 7 like Exodus 34:6-7.
Odd positioned words: 5502 = 2 x 3 x 7 x 131. There is no corresponding numeric feature with the even positioned words.
Odd valued words: 3101 = 7 x 443. There is no matching feature with the even valued words.
Odd positioned letters: 6110 = 2 x 5 x 13 x 47.
Even positioned letters: 3787 = 7 x 541.
The odd positioned letters and even positioned letters separate into different things, unlike The Proclamation where they are both divisible by 7.
Note: The numeric features for the GNS can actually be improved if verse 6 is included.
Number of words: 81 (nf).
Number of letters: 305 (nf).
Total: 19695 = 3 x 5 x 13 x 101.
First and last word: 663 = 3 x 13 x 17.
Positions of the first & last letter of each word: 25382 = 2 x 73 x 37.
Positions of the first letter of each word: 12579 = 3 x 7 x 599.
SF: 609 = 3 x 7 x 29. SF: 39 = 3 x 13.
Positions of the last letter of each word: 12803 = 7 x 31 x 59.
Odd positioned words: 9568 = 25 x 13 x 23.
Even positioned words: 10127 = 13 x 19 x 41.
Odd positioned letters: 10946 = 2 x 13 x 421.
Even positioned letters: 8749 = 13 x 673.
Even valued letters: 19096 = 23 x 7 x 11 x 31.
There are 196 even valued letters. (196 = 22 x 72
This is much better, but the positions of the first and last letters of each word yield totals divisible by 7 while the passage total is divisible by 13. This means the complementary opposite of positions first and last
versus not positions first and last
, is still missing. The values of the first and last letters are now lost.
The GNS of 1 John 5:7-8 appears to have more numeric features than the GNT, and there is a little more consistency. If numeric features were used as the only deciding factor, the GNS version would appear to be valid, and the GNT invalid. But numeric features must be backed by meaning.
The GNS version of 1 John 5:7-8 is supposed to tell us something about God. The Proclamation, and Revelation 1:8 are direct from God’s mouth, as reported by Moses and the Apostle John. Here, supposedly we have the Apostle John telling us something about God, but the Apostle never tells us where he received this information. We can assume he was inspired by the Holy Spirit, but this is an assumption, and definitely not the same as a direct quote from God.
If 1 John 5:7-8 was teaching a spiritual truth, these numeric features could be considered a positive sign that the teaching was sound. But 1 John 5:7-8 isn't just about a new teaching or spiritual truth. It's introducing something new and very different about the nature of God, that God is a trinity. This is entirely different as the entire Bible so far has been a push towards strict monotheism.4 Since there is nothing else in the Bible like it, it really should be more similar to Exodus 34:6-7. That would have been numeric confirmation of God’s hand in the text. That it isn't is a sign it should be treated with caution.
Conclusion
There is no evidence of the Johannine Comma before the late medieval period. The fact that it can be seen in the margin of one or two manuscripts is clear evidence someone added it in. Given the Apostle John's warning against altering the Bible, one can only assume negative intent. And the fact that there are numeric features opens the door to the possibility of devilish inspiration. It attempted to replicate something like Exodus 34:6-7, but failed.
Notes
- Unless otherwise noted, English reference quotes are from the Revised Standard Version, Thomas Nelson Inc., 1972.
- The Hebrew or Greek text is from Bibleworks 3.0 by Hermeneutika, Michael S. Bushell, 1995, translated into HTML entities. Vowel marks and punctuation from the Hebrew have been removed. Greek accent marks and punctuation have also been removed. The database in this program contains The F.H.A. Scrivener 1881 - Theodore Beza 1598 Textus Receptus Greek New Testament. (GNS) and The Nestle-Aland 27th Edition of the Greek New Testament, copyright 1993-1994, United Bible Societies. (GNT)
- For more on Greek manuscripts with the Johannine Comma, see: this.
- Adherents of the theory of the Trinity point out that God’s name in Hebrew (יהוה) is often associated with the plural form of the word for God (אלהים; elohim) in the Old Testament. What they don't point out is that such a practice is completely missing in the Septuagint and in the New Testament. Several centuries before Jesus, the push for monotheism increased to the point that only the singular form of the word
God
was used. The plural form only occurs six times in the NT, and all refer to foreign deities (John 10:35; Acts 7:40, 14:11, 19:26; 1 Corinthians 8:5; & Galatians 4:8). Phrases likethe LORD God
in the OT, which in Hebrew were (יהוה אלהים) became Κυριος ο Θεος (Kyrios hos Theos) in Greek, where Κυριος and Θεος were both singular. (See also: The God of gods.)