Program / Course 4: Biblical Studies and Hermeneutics / Lesson 3.5
What you will learn
- Explain what a critical apparatus is and where to find one.
- Recognize the common abbreviations and symbols used in an apparatus.
- Read a translation footnote about a variant and say what it tells you.
- Carry out a simple check of a variant using a footnote and an apparatus.
The big idea
A critical apparatus is the set of notes at the bottom of the page in a scholarly edition of a text. It records the places where manuscripts differ and lists the witnesses for each reading, using compact signs. A translation footnote is the plain language version of the same information. You do not need to know Greek to benefit. If you learn the habits of the apparatus, you can see which variants are minor, which are serious, and how strong the evidence is on each side.
Key terms
- Critical apparatus
- The notes in a scholarly edition that list variant readings and the manuscripts, versions and writers that support each.
- Siglum (plural sigla)
- A short sign, letter or number that stands for a manuscript or group of manuscripts.
- Lemma
- The word or phrase from the main text that a note discusses, repeated at the start of the note.
- Nestle-Aland (NA)
- A widely used scholarly edition of the Greek New Testament, with a detailed apparatus. The current standard form is the 28th edition.
- UBS Greek New Testament
- An edition published by the United Bible Societies for translators. It has a shorter apparatus and grades its choices with letters from A to D.
- Versions
- Ancient translations of the New Testament into languages such as Latin, Syriac and Coptic.
- Patristic citation
- A quotation of the New Testament by a church father, used as evidence for the text of his day.
Background
An English Bible usually has footnotes that say things like some manuscripts add or other ancient authorities read. A Greek New Testament for scholars has a longer and more technical version of the same notes. Both are doing the same work. They tell you that the editors faced a choice, and they give you a way to see what the choice was and what lay behind it.
The notes are compact because there is a great deal to say. A single verse may have a dozen readings, each supported by many witnesses. Editors use abbreviations so the apparatus fits the page. The conventions are standard, and they can be learned in an afternoon. Each edition explains its signs in the introduction, and any reader should check the list in the edition he or she is using, since details vary between editions.
You will not be able to judge every case from the apparatus alone. But you can learn to read it as a map: where the readings differ, how many of the old manuscripts stand on each side, and whether the editors were confident. That is enough to avoid repeating claims you have not checked.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Start with the translation footnote
Most translators mark variants for the reader. Typical wording includes Some early manuscripts do not have verses 9 to 20, or Other ancient authorities add, or Some manuscripts read. The footnote tells you three things. First, there is a variant. Second, the translators judged one reading best and put it in the text. Third, the reading in the note has real support, enough that the translators thought you should know.
Read the footnote closely. Does it say early manuscripts or only some manuscripts? Does it say add, omit or read differently? The wording often signals how strong the evidence is. A note that says the most reliable early manuscripts do not have the words is saying more than a note that says some manuscripts.
Step 2: Learn the common signs
Manuscripts are listed by sigla. Papyri are marked with the letter P and a number. The great uncials are marked with capital letters or numbers, such as 01 for Codex Sinaiticus, 02 for Alexandrinus, 03 for Vaticanus and 05 for Bezae. Minuscules are marked with plain numbers. Versions are marked with short abbreviations, such as vg for the Latin Vulgate, it for the Old Latin, sy for the Syriac and co for the Coptic. The word mss means manuscripts, om. means omits, add. means adds, and pc means a few other manuscripts.
A small raised star or letter marks the hand that wrote or corrected a reading. The original scribe is marked with a star and a later corrector with a small letter. The sign vid means apparently, and shows that the reading is not perfectly clear in the manuscript. Always read the key in the edition, since these conventions differ slightly.
Step 3: Read a note
A note begins with the lemma, the word or phrase from the text. Then it gives the reading that is printed in the text, followed by the witnesses that support it. It then gives the alternatives, each with its witnesses. A made-up note might read: the lemma, then om., then the sigla of a few early manuscripts and versions, then the other reading, and a long list of later manuscripts. You would read it as: the shorter reading is supported by these old witnesses and the longer one by these others.
Look for patterns. Are the early papyri and the great uncials on one side? Is the Latin or Syriac version on the same side? Is the other side supported mostly by later minuscules? This pattern is the external evidence from the previous lesson, laid out for you. Then ask the internal questions.
Step 4: Check a case yourself
Take Mark 16:9-20. A footnote in a modern Bible typically says that the earliest manuscripts do not have these verses, or that some manuscripts have a shorter ending or a different ending. In the apparatus, you will find Vaticanus and Sinaiticus listed on the side that stops after verse 8, with a number of other witnesses. The longer ending is listed with Alexandrinus and a large number of later witnesses. Some witnesses have the shorter ending and others have both. Your task is to describe the pattern, not to settle the question at once.
A good habit is to write down three lines in your notebook: what the text prints, what the footnote says, and what the apparatus shows. If the three agree, you have a clear picture. If they seem to disagree, you have found something worth asking about.
- What exactly does the footnote say differs, and between which readings?
- Which reading did the editors print, and did they show doubt?
- Which witnesses are on each side, and how old are they?
- Do the versions and the church fathers support the same reading?
- Is the variant a matter of one word, a phrase or a whole passage?
- What would change in the meaning if the other reading were used?
Examples
A footnote in plain words
A footnote at Luke 22:43-44 may say that some early manuscripts do not have these two verses. It tells you that the verses about the angel and the sweat like drops of blood are missing from some early witnesses. It does not say they are false, and it gives you the question to take to a commentary or an apparatus.
A grade from the UBS edition
In the United Bible Societies edition, the editors rate the certainty of their choice with the letters A, B, C or D, where A means the text is certain and D means a very high degree of doubt. A reader can see at a glance which passages the editors found secure and which they found hard.
A father’s quotation
If a church father in the third century quotes a verse in a form that matches one reading, that is evidence for the text he knew. The apparatus may list him by name, with an abbreviation. Because he lived at a known time and place, his citation helps date and place the reading.
Different perspectives
Translators in the Protestant tradition
Many Protestant Bible committees place variants in footnotes, with notes that vary in how strongly they signal doubt. Translators generally regard the notes as a service to the reader and a sign of honesty about the text.
Catholic translators
Catholic translations also give footnotes on variants and often describe the manuscripts in similar terms. The church encourages translations from the original languages, with notes where the text is uncertain.
Orthodox users
Orthodox users often read the Greek text of the liturgy and use English translations that follow it. Some Orthodox publications note where critical editions differ. The way the church has received and used a reading matters to them as well as the history.
Scholarly editors
Editors of critical texts stress that an apparatus is meant to show the evidence and allow readers to judge for themselves. They differ in how much to include, and the Editio Critica Maior, which gives far fuller data for some books, shows how much more detail is available.
Why it matters
Footnotes and apparatus are where claims about the text can be checked. Many popular arguments depend on a claim about what the manuscripts say. If you can read the notes, you can test such claims and you can discuss them without relying on someone else’s summary. The skill also helps you read other kinds of scholarly editions, including editions of the Old Testament and of early Christian authors.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: A footnote means the translators doubt the whole passage.
Correction: A footnote records that some manuscripts differ. The translators may be quite confident in the text they have printed.
Misunderstanding: The apparatus lists every manuscript.
Correction: Editions select. They cite the most important witnesses and summarize others in groups. Fuller data are in specialized editions.
Misunderstanding: You need to know Greek to benefit from an apparatus.
Correction: A reader with a guide to the signs can see the pattern of the witnesses, the dates and the kind of change. Greek helps with the meaning of the readings.
Misunderstanding: A UBS grade of D means the passage is a forgery.
Correction: It means that the editors found the choice very uncertain. It is a statement about the evidence and not about the truth of the passage.
Knowledge check
What is a critical apparatus and what does it record?
It is the set of notes at the foot of the page of a scholarly edition. It records the places where manuscripts differ, the readings, and the manuscripts, versions and church fathers that support each, using abbreviations and signs.
What do the abbreviations om., add. and vg stand for?
The abbreviation om. means omits, add. means adds, and vg stands for the Latin Vulgate. Other common ones are it for the Old Latin, sy for the Syriac, co for the Coptic and mss for manuscripts.
What three things does a translation footnote about a variant tell you?
It tells you that manuscripts differ at this point, that the translators printed one reading in the text, and that the reading in the note has enough support for the reader to know about it. The wording may also hint at the strength of the evidence.
How does a UBS rating help a reader?
The UBS editors rate their choice A, B, C or D, where A means the text is certain and D means a high degree of doubt. A reader can see which readings the editors found secure and which were hard.
Think it through
- Why might editors decide to print a footnote and not hide the variant?
- What does it say about a community that it publishes the evidence for readings that could weaken a claim it makes?
- How might you explain an apparatus note to someone who has never seen one?
- What would you want to check before repeating a claim about what the manuscripts say?
Independent assignment
Read three footnotes
Find three textual footnotes in a study Bible, one in a gospel, one in Acts or a letter, and one elsewhere. For each, copy the verse and the note into your notebook. Write down what the note says differs, what the translators printed, and what else you would need to know to judge the case. If you can reach an edition with an apparatus, such as an online Nestle-Aland, add the main witnesses on each side. Write 300 to 450 words. Keep your work in your notebook.
Further study
- Bruce M. Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration Read the chapters on editions and on the apparatus, and the examples.
- F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? Read for an overview of the manuscript evidence referred to in the notes.
- Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth Read the first chapters on choosing a translation.
- Jewish Publication Society, The Hebrew Bible in English (JPS translation) Look at the notes in a Jewish translation to compare how they present alternative readings.
- Mark 16:9 The longer ending of Mark.
- Luke 22:43 An angel and the sweat like drops of blood.
- Acts 8:37 A verse found in some manuscripts and not in the earliest.