TNIV the Basis for New Edition of A Reader's Greek New Testament

Earlier this month, Zondervan released the second edition of A Reader's Greek New Testament. Like the first edition, the second edition contains a Greek text of the New Testament with a vocabulary apparatus at the bottom of the page listing all Greek words that occur 30 times or less along with a brief English definition. The goal of the RGNT is that a person with at least a basic knowledge of the language can simply read the New Testament in its original language without having to constantly consult one of the standard lexicons.

The RGNT differs from standard UBS/NA Greek texts in a number of places. The original first edition was based on the Greek text underlying the New International version of the Bible. The copyright page of the RGNT2 contains this statement:

The Greek text used in this edition of the Greek New Testament was originally developed for the Portland Index Project by Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger III, and subsequently reviewed and modified by Gordon R. Fee.

The first edition contained the same statement, but without the mention of Fee, which makes for speculation that Fee, a member of the TNIV committee had a hand in modifying this new edition which is based not on the NIV text, but rather the TNIV. There's also a brief forward by Fee immediatly following the title page.

What many people don't realize is that the so-called "standard" Greek text is an amalgam of readings from many different ancient manuscripts in an attempt to sort through discrepancies and find what is probably the original reading. Many people may not also realize that often strong cases can be made for the reading of another variant over the one accepted in the standard text. Almost all English translations have readings in which a variant has been chosen over the "accepted" text. In the past, unless one chose to compare a translation very closely and systematically to the Greek text, there was no way to discover how many places that a translation committee chose to follow a variant text. 

When the first edition of the RGNT was published, it was based upon the NIV and it listed exactly 231 places where this translation diverged from the standard text. This new second edition has been modified to match the TNIV, and according to the introduction, 285 divergent readings are found in this translation. Everyone of the divergences are indicated in the text at the bottom of the page in both editions.

Until now, it's been very interesting to compare translation renderings between the NIV and TNIV texts. Now, however, we have access to something more interesting--the underlying Greek texts themselves. Now we can spot and confirm alternative readings such as that found in Mark 1:41 which I've written about on This Lamp.

I'm also pleased to see Zondervan make a bold step away from the NIV and to the TNIV as it is time for the older to become "lesser" and the newer to become "greater" (to borrow from John 3:30). I've suggested to my contacts at Zondervan that should consider publishing a diglot containing the RGNT2 text on one page with the TNIV on the facing page.

If you're interested in further information about the second edition of the Reader's Greek New Testament, see my full review at This Lamp. I welcome all of the new features except the new typeface, which I don't care for any more than I did that of the original.

1 Thess. 2:7: "little children" or "gentle"

One of my favorite bloggers, Ted Gossard, has posted about being like children in mission. Ted begins:

I was struck in my Bible reading this morning by Paul's description of himself and his fellow workers when they had come and were serving the Thessalonians with the gospel and their lives. He likened himself and those working with him as being like young children among them (1 Thessalonians 2:7). It can read "gentle" among you, my Greek New Testament categorizing the reading the TNIV adopts as "almost certain". There is one letter difference. Gentle among you is powerful as well. But I especially find the thought of being like young children among these new believers, intriguing. He also likens himself and his fellow workers to a nursing mother and a father dealing with his children.

I want to follow up on Ted's observation that there is a text critical issue of whether Paul told the Thessalonians that he had been like "young children" or "gentle" among them.

The translators of the TNIV chose to follow the "B" reading of the UBS Greek New Testament 4th edition which has the word nhpioi in the text. The "B" grade is elevated one level from the "C" grade ("considerable degree of doubt") this reading was given in the 3rd edition of the UBS Greek New Testament. As Ted pointed out, there is only one letter difference between the two readings. nhpioi means 'little children' while hpioi means 'gentle.'

The NIV translates 1 Thess. 2:7 using the hpioi reading:

but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.

The TNIV follows the nhpioi reading which was elevated in degree of textual certainty from the time the NIV was produced. Here is the TNIV translation:

7 Instead, we were like young children among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, 8 so we cared for you.

Notice that versification differs from the NIV, as well, to better reflect the translation change.

Here are some other recent Bible versions which follow the "little children" reading:

We chose to be like children or like a mother nursing her baby. (CEV)

we were like children* among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children (NLT)

we became little children among you. Like a nursing mother caring for her own children (NET)

The NET Bible footnote on "little children" is instructive:

The variant hpioi (epioi, “gentle”) has fair support ('2 A C2 D2 Yc 0278 33 1739 1881 ˆ), but nhpioi (nepioi, “little children”) has significantly stronger backing (‰65 '* B C* D* F G I Y* pc it bo). It is not insignificant that the earliest Alexandrian and Western witnesses in support of nhpioi are actually not Alexandrian or Western; they are the second correctors of Alexandrian and Western MSS. Such correctors generally follow a Byzantine Vorlage. The reading nhpioi is thus superior externally. Further, nhpioi is much harder in this context, for Paul mixes his metaphors (“we became little children in your midst…Like a nursing mother…”). Thus, the scribes would naturally alter this reading to the softer hpioi (“we became gentle…”). Paul is not known for his consistency of figures, however (cf., e.g., Gal 4:19); hence, the intrinsic evidence points to nhpioi as original. On the other hand, it is possible that nhpioi was caused by dittography with the preceding -men (-men). It is even possible that nhpioi was caused by an error of hearing right from the beginning: The amanuensis could have heard the apostle incorrectly. But such a supposition cuts both ways; further, Paul would no doubt have corrected the reading in the ms before it was sent out. If so, one would surely have expected both earlier witnesses on the side of hpioi and perhaps a few first correctors to have this reading. The reading “little children” thus stands as most probably original. (For an extended discussion of this problem, see J. A. D. Weima, “‘But We Became Infants Among You’: The Case for NHPIOI in 1 Thess 2.7,” NTS 46 [2000]: 547-64; T. B. Sailors, “Wedding Textual and Rhetorical Criticism to Understand the Text of 1 Thessalonians 2.7,” JSNT 80 [2000]: 81-98.)

Recent versions which follow the traditional reading of "gentle" include:

Instead, we were gentle when we were with you, like a mother taking care of her children. (GW)

But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. (ESV, with this footnote on "gentle": "some manuscripts infants"

we were gentle among you, as a nursing mother nurtures her own children (HCSB, with this footnote on "gentle": "Other mss read infants")

we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother tenderly caring for her own children. (ISV; footnoted on "gentle": Other mss. read infants)

I am thankful for the care that the TNIV translators paid to text critical issues. They were willing to revise the NIV text when they felt it was supported by the textual evidence.