The Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament is a scholarly edition of the original Greek text of the New Testament. It is one of the major critical editions used by scholars, Bible translators, and students today. The Nestle-Aland text, along with the United Bible Societies edition, is the base text for nearly all modern Bible translations.
The Nestle-Aland text represents the combined work of many leading scholars on the Greek New Testament over the past century. It aims to reconstruct the original Greek text of the New Testament books as closely as possible. The text is periodically revised and updated as new manuscripts discoveries are made and understanding of the textual tradition improves. The most recent edition is the 28th revised edition published in 2012.
Some key facts about the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament:
- It is published by the German Bible Society and includes detailed textual commentary and variants.
- It categorizes New Testament manuscripts into a consistent system of text types.
- It indicates significant variant readings from manuscripts in footnotes and identifies which manuscripts support which reading.
- It aims to balance external manuscript evidence with internal considerations for which reading best explains the origin of other variants.
- It is a “critical text” rather than an “ecclesiastical text.” It attempts to reconstruct the original text, not confirm to any established church’s official text.
History and Development
The Nestle-Aland text has its roots in the pioneering critical Greek New Testament produced by Constantin von Tischendorf in the mid-1800s. This work heavily relied on the then newly discovered ancient biblical manuscripts Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus.
In 1898, German scholar Eberhard Nestle built on Tischendorf’s work to produce the first edition of Novum Testamentum Graece, combining information from important manuscripts and differing editions to attempt to determine the earliest recoverable form of the Greek text. He continued to periodically update and expand the text until his death in 1913.
After Nestle’s death, the work was continued by Erwin Nestle, Eberhard’s son, along with Kurt Aland. Through the 1950s and 60s, as many more ancient biblical manuscripts were being discovered, primarily the papyri finds, the textual basis expanded greatly. The much more extensive 26th edition of Novum Testamentum Graece was released by Erwin and Aland in 1979.
In 1983, the Nestle-Aland text was revised again as the basis for the 3rd edition of the United Bible Societies Greek New Testament. Kurt Aland played the central role in this and all subsequent editions. He introduced the current system of categorizing text types. Major revisions were made again for the 25th edition in 1963 and the 26th in 1979. After Aland’s death in 1994, Holger Strutwolf and the Institute for New Testament Textual Research have continued the work on subsequent editions.
Today, the Nestle-Aland 28th edition incorporates readings from recent discoveries like Papyri 117-127, continuing to expand the textual basis for determining the original Greek text. However, only minor changes were introduced from the 27th edition, indicating a strong degree of confidence now in the reconstructed text.
Textual Basis
The Greek text of the Nestle-Aland 28th edition is compiled from extensive manuscript, versional, patristic, and internal evidence. It seeks to provide the closest reconstruction of the original text of the New Testament. Some of the most important textual sources are:
- Greek Manuscripts – Over 5,800 complete or fragmentary New Testament manuscripts in Greek, including papyri, majuscules (uncials), and minuscules. Now also including electronic transcriptions.
- Ancient Versions – Important early translations in Syriac, Latin, Coptic, Gothic, Ethiopic, Georgian, and Armenian.
- Patristic Citations – Numerous quotations of the New Testament text in early Christian writings.
- Internal Evidence – Considerations such as which reading best explains the origin of other variants, style, vocabulary, and theological environment of the author.
The most significant Greek New Testament manuscripts given special weight include:
- Codex Sinaiticus (Aleph) – 4th century uncial manuscript discovered at Mt. Sinai monastery in 1844.
- Codex Vaticanus (B) – 4th century uncial manuscript in the Vatican Library since the 15th century.
- Codex Alexandrinus (A) – 5th century uncial manuscript in the British Library since the 17th century.
- Papyri finds – New Testament fragments dating back to the 2nd & 3rd centuries, unearthed in Egypt in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
No manuscript is considered perfect or completely consistent. By comparing readings from many witnesses, textual scholars attempt to reconstruct the most likely original reading of the text. The age and reliability of manuscripts affects how their readings are weighed and valued.
Text Categories
The Nestle-Aland text categorizes Greek manuscripts into consistent groups based on similarities and differences in their textual character. This allows for easier analysis of manuscript evidence. The categories are:
- Category I – Alexandrian text-type – Oldest manuscripts like Codex Sinaiticus and Vaticanus fall here. Shorter readings.
- Category II – Egyption/Western text-type – Mixed manuscripts with additional material. Characterized as expansive.
- Category III – Byzantine text-type – Majority of later miniscules fall here. Harmonizing readings, conflations. Largely unedited manuscripts.
- Category IV – Contains unique text for a single book, or in some localized area or time. Often with major interpolations or damage.
- Category V – Contains mixed readings that do not fit other consistent text-types. Often corrected or edited manuscripts.
No category is considered perfect or without error. But patterns do emerge in how manuscripts are copied, distributed, and corrected that allow for categorization. This aids scholars in identifying better quality texts and tracing relationships and provenances between manuscripts.
Textual Apparatus and Footnotes
One of the most useful features of Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament for scholars is the extensive textual apparatus documenting significant variant readings. On every page below the main text, many manuscript sources and church fathers supporting alternate readings are cited.
The textual apparatus allows researchers to dig into the reasons and sources behind why the editorial committee selected one reading over against competing variants for the main text. Examining the sources and categories of manuscripts supporting each reading provides insight into the textual history.
In the main text itself, footnotes also indicate alternate readings, omissions or additions, word order variants, and so forth. Letters, numbers, sigla (special signs) and abbreviations identify the manuscript sources being referenced. Clear textual commentary explains the consideration behind textual decisions.
Study notes indicate where uncertainty remains over difficult decisions. But the main text presents the reading judged most likely original based on current evidence. All of this apparatus provides indispensable data for textual criticism and translation choices.
Usage of the Nestle-Aland Text
The Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, along with the similar UBS Greek New Testament, has become the foundational text for biblical scholars and translators worldwide over the past 50 years. It represents the most widely agreed upon reconstruction of the original Greek source text.
Nearly all recent Bible translations in English and other languages rely on the NA28 / UBS5 text as their Greek manuscript basis. This includes the ESV, NASB, NRSV, NIV, NET, CSBB, NLT, and HCSB among many others. Only a few ecclesiastical texts and KJV-based Bibles do not follow the NA/UBS text.
Scholars, commentators, and textual critics overwhelmingly utilize the Nestle-Aland text and apparatus in their Greek New Testament research. It represents the latest and best synthesis of current manuscript evidence. Its textual commentary also aids exegesis and analysis of passage variants.
Students especially benefit from the clarity and simplicity the NA28 text provides compared to examining manuscript facsimiles. Its marginal notes, appendices, and apparatus condense much complex data about the history of textual transmission. This aids less advanced students greatly in Greek studies.
Some traditional “Majority Text” and KJV-only adherents criticize the NA/UBS text for excessive reliance on a small number of manuscripts over against the majority witness. But most experts agree that the quality and age of manuscripts is more important than simply numerical quantity in attempting to reconstruct the autographs.
No text can be perfect or final since new discoveries continue to emerge. But the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament represents the most complete scholarly attempt so far at reaching back through the centuries to offer us the scriptural text as originally written in Greek.
Ongoing Relevance of Textual Criticism
Textual criticism will always remain important, even as the Greek New Testament reaches a very stable form in editions like NA28 and UBS5. No manuscript or printed text will ever be perfect or final. And there are still debates over some difficult variant issues.
As Dan Wallace, a leading New Testament textual scholar, writes: “We are getting closer all the time. But we are still a long way from the original wording. Even in places where only a few textual questions remain (of which there are more than most readers would imagine), the decision is not necessarily easy.” (Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament)
So the work of textual scholars to keep improving and refining the Greek text remains vital. New manuscript findings in places like Egypt and other archeological discoveries could shed more light at any time. Materials only recently made more accessible, like many Greek lectionary manuscripts, still need to be studied more thoroughly for what they add to the evidence.
Textual variants also remain very relevant for Bible translation and interpretation. Modern versions differ at key points based on the Greek reading followed. And exegetical choices are often tied to difficult textual decisions. The variations make complete certainty elusive in some cases. Honest study requires acknowledging places where uncertainty remains.
Faith, though, rests on Jesus Christ rather than perfect textual knowledge. The central gospel message remains loud and clear. And God in His sovereignty has more than preserved His inspired Word through centuries of transmission. So believers can have great confidence in Scripture we possess as textually very close to the original. The tools provided by text criticism aid faith by directing us closer to the source.
Conclusion
In summary, the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament represents the most important scholarly reconstruction of the original New Testament text we currently possess. It combines evidence from the most ancient biblical manuscripts and other textual witnesses to attempt to eliminate errors and biases that crept in over centuries of transmission.
Based on rigorous methodology, the NA28 text gives us as close access as possible to the actual words penned by the biblical authors under divine inspiration. It also provides an apparatus and notes documenting textual uncertainties and variants for further study. This aids translators, scholars, students, and all Christians to root their study, teaching, and preaching in an accurate text.
Ongoing work remains as scholars keep seeking to refine the text, understand its history, and make decisions on difficult variants. But great confidence can be placed in the essential accuracy and reliability of the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament as the foremost critical edition of the original words given to us by God.