CINXE.COM
View source for Textual criticism - Wikipedia
<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-disabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-not-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>View source for Textual criticism - Wikipedia</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-disabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-not-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )enwikimwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":true,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat": "dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"fb01192e-c200-4032-a237-05b70a67e130","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Textual_criticism","wgTitle":"Textual criticism","wgCurRevisionId":1257277328,"wgRevisionId":0,"wgArticleId":155023,"wgIsArticle":false,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"edit","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":[],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en","wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Textual_criticism","wgRelevantArticleId":155023,"wgIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikipedia","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive":false,"wgFlaggedRevsParams":{"tags":{"status":{"levels":1}}},"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":true,"wgPopupsFlags":0, "wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en","pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":false,"nearby":true},"wgWMESchemaEditAttemptStepOversample":false,"wgWMEPageLength":100000,"wgRelatedArticlesCompat":[],"wgCentralAuthMobileDomain":false,"wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"interlanguage","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false,"wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform","platformVersion"],"GEHomepageSuggestedEditsEnableTopics":true,"wgGETopicsMatchModeEnabled":false,"wgGEStructuredTaskRejectionReasonTextInputEnabled":false,"wgGELevelingUpEnabledForUser":false};RLSTATE={"ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading", "skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","jquery.makeCollapsible.styles":"ready","ext.charinsert.styles":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript":"ready","ext.uls.interlanguage":"ready","ext.wikimediaBadges":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["mediawiki.action.edit.collapsibleFooter","site","mediawiki.page.ready","jquery.makeCollapsible","skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.charinsert","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","ext.gadget.charinsert","ext.gadget.extra-toolbar-buttons","ext.gadget.refToolbar","ext.gadget.switcher","ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.popups","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init","ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth","ext.eventLogging","ext.wikimediaEvents","ext.navigationTiming","ext.uls.interface","ext.cx.eventlogging.campaigns","ext.checkUser.clientHints", "ext.growthExperiments.SuggestedEditSession","wikibase.sidebar.tracking"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.charinsert.styles%7Cext.uls.interlanguage%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediaBadges%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cjquery.makeCollapsible.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.4"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow,max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Carmina_Cantabrigiensia_Manuscr-C-fol436v.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="1200"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1789"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Carmina_Cantabrigiensia_Manuscr-C-fol436v.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="800"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1193"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="640"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="954"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="View source for Textual criticism - Wikipedia"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textual_criticism"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit this page" href="/w/index.php?title=Textual_criticism&action=edit"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/wikipedia.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Wikipedia (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textual_criticism"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Wikipedia Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//login.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Textual_criticism rootpage-Textual_criticism skin-vector-2022 action-edit"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-contents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents" title="Guides to browsing Wikipedia"><span>Contents</span></a></li><li id="n-currentevents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Portal:Current_events" title="Articles related to current events"><span>Current events</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Visit a randomly selected article [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random article</span></a></li><li id="n-aboutsite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About" title="Learn about Wikipedia and how it works"><span>About Wikipedia</span></a></li><li id="n-contactpage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us" title="How to contact Wikipedia"><span>Contact us</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-interaction" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-interaction" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Contribute </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-help" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia"><span>Help</span></a></li><li id="n-introduction" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" title="Learn how to edit Wikipedia"><span>Learn to edit</span></a></li><li id="n-portal" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_portal" title="The hub for editors"><span>Community portal</span></a></li><li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes to Wikipedia [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_upload_wizard" title="Add images or other media for use on Wikipedia"><span>Upload file</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/wikipedia.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Wikipedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-wordmark-en.svg" style="width: 7.5em; height: 1.125em;"> <img class="mw-logo-tagline" alt="The Free Encyclopedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-tagline-en.svg" width="117" height="13" style="width: 7.3125em; height: 0.8125em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia" aria-label="Search Wikipedia" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page's font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-createaccount-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Textual+criticism&returntoquery=action%3Dedit%26section%3D22" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory" class=""><span>Create account</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Textual+criticism&returntoquery=action%3Dedit%26section%3D22" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out" title="Log in and more options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-createaccount" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Textual+criticism&returntoquery=action%3Dedit%26section%3D22" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-userAdd mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-userAdd"></span> <span>Create account</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Textual+criticism&returntoquery=action%3Dedit%26section%3D22" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-user-menu-anon-editor" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-user-menu-anon-editor" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Pages for logged out editors <a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" aria-label="Learn more about editing"><span>learn more</span></a> </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-anoncontribs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y"><span>Contributions</span></a></li><li id="pt-anontalk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"><!-- CentralNotice --></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading">View source for Textual criticism</h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="This article exist only in this language. Add the article for other languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-0" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Add languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="uls-after-portlet-link"></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Textual_criticism" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Article</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Textual_criticism" rel="discussion" title="Discuss improvements to the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Textual_criticism"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Textual_criticism&action=edit" title="Edit this page"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Textual_criticism&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Textual_criticism"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-edit" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Textual_criticism&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Textual_criticism&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Textual_criticism" title="List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Textual_criticism" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q"><span>Special pages</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Textual_criticism&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fw%2Findex.php%3Ftitle%3DTextual_criticism%26action%3Dedit%26section%3D22"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fw%2Findex.php%3Ftitle%3DTextual_criticism%26action%3Dedit%26section%3D22"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q275456" title="Structured data on this page hosted by Wikidata [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle">← <a href="/wiki/Textual_criticism" title="Textual criticism">Textual criticism</a></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><p>You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons: </p> <ul class="permissions-errors"><li class="mw-permissionerror-blockedtext"> <div id="mw-blocked-text" style="border: 1px solid #AAA; background-color: var(--background-color-warning-subtle, ivory); color: inherit; padding: 1.5em; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box;"> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 26px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Stop_hand_nuvola.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f1/Stop_hand_nuvola.svg/50px-Stop_hand_nuvola.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="50" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f1/Stop_hand_nuvola.svg/75px-Stop_hand_nuvola.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f1/Stop_hand_nuvola.svg/100px-Stop_hand_nuvola.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="240" data-file-height="240" /></a></span><b> This IP address has been <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Blocking_policy" title="Wikipedia:Blocking policy">blocked</a> from <i>editing</i> Wikipedia.</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: 18px;">This does not affect your ability to <i>read</i> Wikipedia pages.</span></div><div class="paragraphbreak" style="margin-top:0.5em"></div><b>Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong.</b> Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.<div class="paragraphbreak" style="margin-top:0.5em"></div> <p>The IP address or range 8.222.128.0/17 has been <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Blocking_policy" title="Wikipedia:Blocking policy">blocked</a> by <a href="/wiki/User:L235" title="User:L235">L235</a> for the following reason(s): </p> <div style="padding:10px; background:var(--background-color-base, white); color:inherit; border:1px #666 solid;"> <div class="user-block colocation-webhost" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: #ffefd5; border: 1px solid #AAA; padding: 0.7em;"> <figure class="mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File"><span><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Server-multiple.svg/40px-Server-multiple.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="57" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Server-multiple.svg/60px-Server-multiple.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Server-multiple.svg/80px-Server-multiple.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="744" data-file-height="1052" /></span><figcaption></figcaption></figure><b>The <a href="/wiki/IP_address" title="IP address">IP address</a> that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a <a href="/wiki/Web_hosting_service" title="Web hosting service">web host provider</a> or <a href="/wiki/Colocation_centre" title="Colocation centre">colocation provider</a>.</b> To prevent abuse, <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Open_proxies" title="Wikipedia:Open proxies">web hosts and colocation providers may be blocked</a> from editing Wikipedia. <div style="border-top: 1px solid #AAA; clear: both">You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host or colocation provider because it hides your IP address, much like a <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Open_proxies" title="Wikipedia:Open proxies">proxy</a> or <a href="/wiki/Virtual_private_network" title="Virtual private network">VPN</a>. <p><b>We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit.</b> For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in. </p><p>If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:IP_block_exemption#Requesting_and_granting_exemption" title="Wikipedia:IP block exemption">request an IP block exemption</a>. </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1214851843">.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{box-sizing:border-box;width:100%;padding:5px;border:none;font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .hidden-title{font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .hidden-content{text-align:left}@media all and (max-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{width:auto!important;clear:none!important;float:none!important}}</style><div class="hidden-begin mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style=""><div class="hidden-title skin-nightmode-reset-color" style="text-align:center;">How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a colocation provider's IP address:</div><div class="hidden-content mw-collapsible-content" style=""> If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Appealing_a_block" title="Wikipedia:Appealing a block">appeal this block</a> by adding the following text on your <a href="/wiki/Help:Talk_pages" title="Help:Talk pages">talk page</a>: <code>{{<a href="/wiki/Template:Unblock" title="Template:Unblock">unblock</a>|reason=Caught by a colocation web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. <i>Place any further information here.</i> ~~~~}}</code>. <b>You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated.</b> Your IP address can be determined <span class="plainlinks"><b><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Get_my_IP_address?withJS=MediaWiki:Get-my-ip.js">here</a></b></span>. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Unblock_Ticket_Request_System" title="Wikipedia:Unblock Ticket Request System">unblock ticket request system</a>. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host or colocation provider (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host or colocation provider.</div></div> <p><span class="sysop-show" style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="border:#707070 solid 1px;background-color:#ffe0e0;padding:2px"><b>Administrators:</b></span> The <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:IP_block_exemption" title="Wikipedia:IP block exemption">IP block exemption</a> user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and requests should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:CheckUser" title="Wikipedia:CheckUser">CheckUser</a> needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:SPI#Quick_CheckUser_requests" class="mw-redirect" title="Wikipedia:SPI">SPI Quick Checkuser Requests</a>. <b>Unblocking</b> an IP or IP range with this template <b>is highly discouraged</b> without at least contacting the blocking administrator.</span> </p> </div></div> </div> <p>This block will expire on 18:23, 24 August 2026. Your current IP address is 8.222.208.146. </p> <div class="paragraphbreak" style="margin-top:0.5em"></div><div style="font-size: 16px;"> <p>Even when blocked, you will <i>usually</i> still be able to edit your <a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Special:MyTalk">user talk page</a>, as well as <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Emailing_users" title="Wikipedia:Emailing users">email</a> administrators and other editors. </p> </div> <div class="paragraphbreak" style="margin-top:0.5em"></div><div style="font-size: 16px;"> <p>For information on how to proceed, please read the <b><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Appealing_a_block#Common_questions" title="Wikipedia:Appealing a block">FAQ for blocked users</a></b> and the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Appealing_a_block" title="Wikipedia:Appealing a block">guideline on block appeals</a>. The <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Guide_to_appealing_blocks" title="Wikipedia:Guide to appealing blocks">guide to appealing blocks</a> may also be helpful. </p> </div> <p>Other useful links: <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Blocking_policy" title="Wikipedia:Blocking policy">Blocking policy</a> · <a href="/wiki/Help:I_have_been_blocked" title="Help:I have been blocked">Help:I have been blocked</a> </p> </div></li><li class="mw-permissionerror-globalblocking-blockedtext-range"> <div id="mw-blocked-text" style="border: 1px solid #AAA; background-color: var(--background-color-warning-subtle, ivory); color: inherit; padding: 1.5em; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box;"> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 26px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Stop_hand_nuvola.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f1/Stop_hand_nuvola.svg/50px-Stop_hand_nuvola.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="50" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f1/Stop_hand_nuvola.svg/75px-Stop_hand_nuvola.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f1/Stop_hand_nuvola.svg/100px-Stop_hand_nuvola.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="240" data-file-height="240" /></a></span><b> This IP address range has been <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_blocks" class="extiw" title="m:Global blocks">globally blocked</a>.</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: 18px;">This does not affect your ability to <i>read</i> Wikipedia pages.</span></div><div class="paragraphbreak" style="margin-top:0.5em"></div><b>Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong.</b> Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.<div class="paragraphbreak" style="margin-top:0.5em"></div><div class="paragraphbreak" style="margin-top:0.5em"></div> <p>This block affects editing on all Wikimedia wikis. </p><p>The IP address or range 8.222.128.0/17 has been globally <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Blocking_policy" title="Wikipedia:Blocking policy">blocked</a> by <a href="/wiki/User:Jon_Kolbert" title="User:Jon Kolbert">Jon Kolbert</a> for the following reason(s): </p> <div style="padding:10px; background:var(--background-color-base, white); color:inherit; border:1px #666 solid;"> <p><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/NOP" class="extiw" title="m:Special:MyLanguage/NOP">Open proxy/Webhost</a>: See the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WM:OP/H" class="extiw" title="m:WM:OP/H">help page</a> if you are affected </p> </div> <p>This block will expire on 15:12, 27 August 2028. Your current IP address is 8.222.208.146. </p> <div class="paragraphbreak" style="margin-top:0.5em"></div><div style="font-size: 16px;"> <p>Even while globally blocked, you will <i>usually</i> still be able to edit pages on <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/" class="extiw" title="m:">Meta-Wiki</a>. </p> </div> <div class="paragraphbreak" style="margin-top:0.5em"></div><div style="font-size: 16px;"> <p>If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/No_open_proxies" class="extiw" title="m:Special:MyLanguage/No open proxies">No open proxies</a> global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Steward_requests/Global" class="extiw" title="m:Steward requests/Global">post a request for review on Meta-Wiki</a>. You could also send an email to the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Stewards" class="extiw" title="m:Special:MyLanguage/Stewards">stewards</a> <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/VRT" class="extiw" title="m:Special:MyLanguage/VRT">VRT</a> queue at <kbd>stewards@wikimedia.org</kbd> including all above details. </p> </div> <p>Other useful links: <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_blocks" class="extiw" title="m:Global blocks">Global blocks</a> · <a href="/wiki/Help:I_have_been_blocked" title="Help:I have been blocked">Help:I have been blocked</a> </p> </div></li></ul><hr /> <div id="viewsourcetext">You can view and copy the source of this page:</div><textarea readonly="" accesskey="," id="wpTextbox1" cols="80" rows="25" style="" class="mw-editfont-monospace" lang="en" dir="ltr" name="wpTextbox1">== Application to religious documents == === Book of Mormon === {{See also|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}} [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] ([[LDS Church]]) includes the [[Book of Mormon]] as a foundational reference. LDS members typically believe the book to be a literal historical record.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} Although some earlier unpublished studies had been prepared,{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} not until the early 1970s was true textual criticism applied to the Book of Mormon. At that time BYU Professor Ellis Rasmussen and his associates were asked by the LDS Church to begin preparation for a new edition of the Holy Scriptures. One aspect of that effort entailed digitizing the text and preparing appropriate footnotes; another aspect required establishing the most dependable text. To that latter end, [[Stanley R. Larson]] (a Rasmussen graduate student) set about applying modern text critical standards to the manuscripts and early editions of the Book of Mormon as his thesis project—which he completed in 1974. To that end, Larson carefully examined the Original Manuscript (the one dictated by [[Joseph Smith]] to his scribes) and the Printer's Manuscript (the copy [[Oliver Cowdery]] prepared for the Printer in 1829–1830), and compared them with the first, second, and third editions of the Book of Mormon to determine what sort of changes had occurred over time and to make judgments as to which readings were the most original.<ref>Stanley R. Larson, "A Study of Some Textual Variations in the Book of Mormon, Comparing the Original and Printer's MSS., and Comparing the 1830, 1837, and 1840 Editions," unpublished master's thesis (Provo: BYU, 1974).</ref> Larson proceeded to publish a useful set of well-argued articles on the phenomena which he had discovered.<ref>Stanley Larson, "Early Book of Mormon Texts: Textual Changes to the Book of Mormon in 1837 and 1840," ''Sunstone'', 1/4 (Fall 1976), 44–55; Larson, "Textual Variants in the Book of Mormon Manuscripts," ''Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'', 10/4 (Autumn 1977), 8–30 [FARMS Reprint LAR-77]; Larson, "Conjectural Emendation and the Text of the Book of Mormon," ''BYU Studies'', 18 (Summer 1978), 563–569 [FARMS Reprint LAR-78].</ref> Many of his observations were included as improvements in the 1981 LDS edition of the Book of Mormon.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} By 1979, with the establishment of the [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] ([[FARMS]]) as a California non-profit research institution, an effort led by [[Robert F. Smith (historian)|Robert F. Smith]] began to take full account of Larson's work and to publish a Critical Text of the Book of Mormon. Thus was born the FARMS Critical Text Project which published the first volume of the 3-volume Book of Mormon Critical Text in 1984. The third volume of that first edition was published in 1987, but was already being superseded by a second, revised edition of the entire work,<ref>Robert F. Smith, ed., ''Book of Mormon Critical Text'', 2nd ed., 3 vols. (Provo: FARMS, 1986–1987).</ref> greatly aided through the advice and assistance of then Yale doctoral candidate [[Grant Hardy]], Dr. [[Gordon C. Thomasson]], Professor [[John W. Welch]] (the head of FARMS), Professor [[Royal Skousen]], and others too numerous to mention here. However, these were merely preliminary steps to a far more exacting and all-encompassing project.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} In 1988, with that preliminary phase of the project completed, Professor Skousen took over as editor and head of the FARMS Critical Text of the Book of Mormon Project and proceeded to gather still scattered fragments of the Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon and to have advanced photographic techniques applied to obtain fine readings from otherwise unreadable pages and fragments. He also closely examined the Printer's Manuscript (owned by the [[Community of Christ]]—RLDS Church in Independence, Missouri) for differences in types of ink or pencil, in order to determine when and by whom they were made. He also collated the various editions of the Book of Mormon down to the present to see what sorts of changes have been made through time.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} Thus far, Professor Skousen has published complete transcripts of the Original and Printer's Manuscripts,<ref>''The Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon'' (Provo: FARMS, 2001); ''The Printer's Manuscript of the Book of Mormon'', 2 vols. (FARMS, 2001).</ref> as well as a six-volume analysis of textual variants.<ref>''Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon'', 6 vols. (Provo: FARMS, 2004–2009).</ref> Still in preparation are a history of the text, and a complete electronic collation of editions and manuscripts (volumes 3 and 5 of the Project, respectively). Yale University has in the meantime published an edition of the Book of Mormon which incorporates all aspects of Skousen's research.<ref>Skousen, ed., ''The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text'' (Yale Univ. Press, 2009).</ref> === Hebrew Bible === {{main|Documentary hypothesis}} {{Further|Textual variants in the Hebrew Bible}} [[Image:Targum.jpg|right|thumb|11th-century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with [[Targum]]]] [[Image:Aleppo Codex (Deut).jpg|right|thumb|A page from the [[Aleppo Codex]], Deuteronomy.]] Textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible compares [[biblical manuscript|manuscript]] versions of the following sources (dates refer to the oldest extant manuscripts in each family): {| border="0" style="margin:auto" |- |colspan="5" style="background:#66cdaa;" | |- style="background:#cef2e0; text-align:center;" ! width=""|Manuscript !!|Examples !! width=""|Language !! |Date of Composition !! | Oldest Copy |- | [[Dead Sea Scrolls]]||[[Tanakh at Qumran]]|| Hebrew, [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet|Paleo Hebrew]] and Greek (Septuagint) || {{circa|150 BCE}}&nbsp;– 70 CE || {{circa|150 BCE}}&nbsp;– 70 CE |- | colspan="5" style="background:#66cdaa;"| |- |[[Septuagint]]||[[Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209|Codex Vaticanus]], [[Codex Sinaiticus]] and other earlier papyri ||Greek||300–100 BCE || 2nd century BCE (fragments)<br />4th century CE (complete) |- | colspan="5" style="background:#66cdaa;"| |- | [[Peshitta]]||[[Codices Ambrosiani|Codex Ambrosianus B.21]]||[[Syriac language|Syriac]]|| ||Early 5th century CE |- | colspan="5" style="background:#66cdaa;"| |- | [[Vulgate]]||[[Quedlinburg Itala fragment]], [[Codex Complutensis I]]|| Latin|| ||Early 5th century CE |- | colspan="5" style="background:#66cdaa;"| |- | [[Masoretic]]||[[Aleppo Codex]], [[Leningrad Codex]] and other incomplete mss|| Hebrew|| {{circa|100 CE}} ||10th century CE |- | colspan="5" style="background:#66cdaa;"| |- |[[Samaritan Pentateuch]]|| Abisha Scroll of Nablus|| Hebrew in [[Samaritan alphabet]]||200–100 BCE||Oldest extant mss {{circa|11th century CE}}, oldest mss available to scholars 16th century CE, only Torah contained |- | colspan="5" style="background:#66cdaa;"| |- | [[Targum]] || ||[[Aramaic]]||500–1000 CE||5th century CE |- | colspan="5" style="background:#66cdaa;"| |} As in the New Testament, changes, corruptions, and erasures have been found, particularly in the Masoretic texts. This is ascribed to the fact that early ''soferim'' (scribes) did not treat copy errors in the same manner later on.{{sfn|Tov|2001|p=9}} There are three separate new editions of the Hebrew Bible currently in development: ''[[Biblia Hebraica Quinta]]'', the ''[[Hebrew University Bible Project|Hebrew University Bible]]'', and the ''[[Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition]]'' (formerly known as the ''Oxford Hebrew Bible''). ''Biblia Hebraica Quinta'' is a [[Diplomatics#Diplomatic editions and transcription|diplomatic]] edition based on the [[Leningrad Codex]]. The ''Hebrew University Bible'' is also diplomatic, but based on the Aleppo Codex. The ''Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition'' is an eclectic edition.<ref>Hendel, R., "The Oxford Hebrew Bible: Prologue to a New Critical Edition", ''Vetus Testamentum, vol. 58'', no. 3 (2008). pp.&nbsp;325–326</ref> === New Testament === {{main|Textual criticism of the New Testament}} {{Further|Textual variants in the New Testament}} Early New Testament texts include more than 5,800 [[Greek language|Greek]] manuscripts, 10,000 [[Latin]] manuscripts and 9,300 manuscripts in various other ancient languages (including [[Syriac language|Syriac]], [[Slavic languages|Slavic]], [[Ethiopic]] and [[Armenian language|Armenian]]). The manuscripts contain approximately 300,000 textual variants, most of them involving changes of word order and other comparative trivialities.<ref name="wallace_on_majority">{{cite web|last= Wallace|first= Daniel|title= The Majority Text and the Original Text: Are They Identical?|url= https://bible.org/article/majority-text-and-original-text-are-they-identical|access-date= 23 November 2013|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131203000201/https://bible.org/article/majority-text-and-original-text-are-they-identical|archive-date= 3 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="westhort">{{cite book|last= Westcott and Hort|title= The New Testament in The Original Greek: Introduction Appendix|publisher= Macmillan|url= https://archive.org/details/newtestamentino02hortgoog|page= [https://archive.org/details/newtestamentino02hortgoog/page/n40 2]|quote= The New Testament in the Original Greek.|access-date= 23 November 2013|year= 1896}}</ref> As according to Wescott and Hort: <blockquote>With regard to the great bulk of the words of the New Testament, as of most other ancient writings, there is no variation or other ground of doubt, and therefore no room for textual criticism... The proportion of words virtually accepted on all hands as raised above doubt is very great, not less, on a rough computation, than seven eights of the whole. The remaining eighth therefore, formed in great part by changes of order and other comparative trivialities, constitutes the whole area of criticism.{{r|westhort}}</blockquote> Since the 18th century, New Testament scholars have argued that textual variants have not affected doctrine. Professor [[D. A. Carson]] states: "nothing we believe to be doctrinally true, and nothing we are commanded to do, is in any way jeopardized by the variants. This is true for any textual tradition. The interpretation of individual passages may well be called in question; but never is a doctrine affected."<ref name=wallace_on_majority/><ref>{{Cite book | last1=Beacham | first1=Roy E. | last2=Bauder | first2=Kevin T. | title= One Bible Only?: Examining Exclusive Claims for the King James Bible | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uQWTxDdIO6IC&q=D.+A.+Carson+nothing+we+believe+to+be+doctrinally+true,+and+nothing+we+are+commanded+to+do,+is+in+any+way+jeopardized+by+the+variants.&pg=PA133 | year=2001 | publisher=Kregel Publications | isbn=9780825497032 | language=en }} </ref> The sheer number of witnesses presents unique difficulties, chiefly in that it makes stemmatics in many cases impossible, because many writers used two or more different manuscripts as sources. Consequently, New Testament textual critics have adopted [[eclecticism]] after sorting the witnesses into three major groups, called text-types. {{As of | 2017}} the most common division distinguishes: {| border="1" style="margin:auto; width:100%" |- style="background:#cef2e0; text-align:center;" ! width="20%"|Text type !! width=" 10%" |Date!!Characteristics!! Bible version |- | The [[Alexandrian text-type]]<br />(also called the "Neutral Text" tradition; less frequently, the "Minority Text")||2nd–4th centuries CE|| This family constitutes a group of early and well-regarded texts, including Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus. Most representatives of this tradition appear to come from around [[Alexandria, Egypt]] and from [[Coptic Church|the Alexandrian Church]]. It contains readings that are often terse, shorter, somewhat rough, less harmonised, and generally more difficult. The family was once{{when|date=August 2017}} thought{{by whom|date=August 2017}} to result from a very carefully edited third-century [[recension]], but now is believed to be merely the result of a carefully controlled and supervised process of copying and transmission. It underlies most translations of the New Testament produced since 1900.||[[New International Version|NIV]], [[New American Bible|NAB]], [[New American Bible Revised Edition|NABRE]], [[Douay–Rheims Bible|Douay]], [[Jerusalem Bible|JB]] and [[New Jerusalem Bible|NJB]] (albeit, with some reliance on the Byzantine text-type), [[Today's New International Version|TNIV]], [[New American Standard Bible|NASB]], [[Revised Standard Version|RSV]], [[English Standard Version|ESV]], [[Emphasized Bible|EBR]], [[New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures|NWT]], [[The Living Bible|LB]], [[American Standard Version|ASV]], [[New Century Version|NC]], [[Good News Bible|GNB]], [[Christian Standard Bible|CSB]] |- |The [[Western text-type]]||3rd–9th centuries CE ||Also a very early tradition, which comes from a wide geographical area stretching from North Africa to Italy and from [[Gaul]] to Syria. It occurs in Greek manuscripts and in the Latin translations used by the [[Western church]]. It is much less controlled than the Alexandrian family and its witnesses are seen to be more prone to [[paraphrase]] and other corruptions. It is sometimes called the [[Caesarean text-type]]. Some New Testament scholars{{who|date=March 2022}} would argue that the Caesarean constitutes a distinct text-type of its own.||[[Vetus Latina]] |- | The [[Byzantine text-type]]; also, [[Koine Greek|Koinē]] text-type <br />(also called "Majority Text")||5th–16th centuries CE||This group comprises around 95% of all the manuscripts, the majority of which are comparatively very late in the tradition. It had become dominant at [[Constantinople]] from the fifth century on and was used throughout the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] in the Byzantine Empire. It contains the most harmonistic readings, paraphrasing and significant additions, most of which are believed{{by whom|date=August 2017}} to be secondary readings. It underlies the Textus Receptus used for most [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]]-era translations of the New Testament.|| Bible translations relying on the ''Textus Receptus'' which is close to the Byzantine text: [[King James Version|KJV]], [[New King James Version|NKJV]], [[Tyndale Bible|Tyndale]], [[Coverdale Bible|Coverdale]], [[Geneva Bible|Geneva]], [[Bishops' Bible]], [[Orthodox Study Bible|OSB]] |} === Quran === [[Image:SanaaQuoranDoubleVersions.jpg|thumb|right|[[Sana'a manuscript]]s of the [[Quran]]. [[Andrew Rippin]] has stated that the discovery of Sana'a manuscript is significant, and its variant readings suggest that the early Quranic text was less stable than previously claimed.<ref name="atlantic"/>]] {{see also|History of the Quran|Early Quranic manuscripts|Birmingham Quran manuscript}} Textual criticism of the Quran is a beginning area of study,<ref>Christian-Muslim relations: yesterday, today, tomorrow Munawar Ahmad Anees, Ziauddin Sardar, Syed Z. Abedin&nbsp;– 1991 For instance, a Christian critic engaging in textual criticism of the Quran from a biblical perspective will surely miss the essence of the quranic message. Just one example would clarify this point.</ref><ref>Studies on Islam Merlin L. Swartz&nbsp;– 1981 One will find a more complete bibliographical review of the recent studies of the textual criticism of the Quran in the valuable article by Jeffery, "The Present Status of Qur'anic Studies," Report on Current Research on the Middle East</ref> as Muslims have historically disapproved of [[higher criticism]] being applied to the Quran.<ref>Religions of the world Lewis M. Hopfe&nbsp;– 1979 "Some Muslims have suggested and practiced textual criticism of the Quran in a manner similar to that practiced by Christians and Jews on their bibles. No one has yet suggested the higher criticism of the Quran."</ref> In some countries textual criticism can be seen as apostasy.<ref>Egypt's culture wars: politics and practice&nbsp;– Page 278 [[Samia Mehrez]]&nbsp;– 2008 Middle East report: Issues 218–222; Issues 224–225 Middle East Research & Information Project, JSTOR (Organization)&nbsp;– 2001 Shahine filed to divorce Abu Zayd from his wife, on the grounds that Abu Zayd's textual criticism of the Quran made him an apostate, and hence unfit to marry a Muslim. Abu Zayd and his wife eventually relocated to the Netherlands</ref> Amongst Muslims, the original Arabic text is commonly considered to be the final revelation, revealed to Muhammad from AD 610 to his death in 632. In Islamic tradition, the Quran was memorised and written down by Muhammad's companions and copied as needed.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} The Quran is believed to have had some [[oral tradition]] of passing down at some point. Differences that affected the meaning were noted, and around AD 650 [[Uthman]] began a process of standardization, presumably to rid the Quran of these differences. Uthman's standardization did not eliminate the textual variants.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33631745 | title=The origins of the Koran| work=BBC News| date=23 July 2015| last1=Sadeghi| first1=Behnam}}</ref> In the 1970s, 14,000 fragments of Quran were discovered in the [[Great Mosque of Sana'a]], the Sana'a manuscripts. About 12,000 fragments belonged to 926 copies of the Quran, the other 2,000 were loose fragments. The oldest known copy of the Quran so far belongs to this collection: it dates to the end of the seventh to eighth centuries.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} The German scholar [[Gerd R. Puin]] has been investigating these Quran fragments for years. His research team made 35,000 microfilm photographs of the manuscripts, which he dated to early part of the eighth century. Puin has not published the entirety of his work, but noted unconventional verse orderings, minor textual variations, and rare styles of orthography. He also suggested that some of the parchments were [[palimpsest]]s which had been reused. Puin believed that this implied an evolving text as opposed to a fixed one.<ref name="atlantic"/> In an article in the 1999 ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]'',<ref name="atlantic">{{cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/01/what-is-the-koran/304024/?single_page=true |title=What Is the Koran? |last=Lester |first=Toby |work=The Atlantic |date=January 1999 |access-date=10 April 2019 |language=en-US }}</ref> Gerd Puin is quoted as saying that: {{blockquote|My idea is that the Koran is a kind of cocktail of texts that were not all understood even at the time of Muhammad. Many of them may even be a hundred years older than Islam itself. Even within the Islamic traditions there is a huge body of contradictory information, including a significant Christian substrate; one can derive a whole Islamic anti-history from them if one wants.<br /> The Koran claims for itself that it is "mubeen", or "clear", but if you look at it, you will notice that every fifth sentence or so simply doesn't make sense. Many Muslims—and Orientalists—will tell you otherwise, of course, but the fact is that a fifth of the Koranic text is just incomprehensible. This is what has caused the traditional anxiety regarding translation. If the Koran is not comprehensible—if it can't even be understood in Arabic—then it's not translatable. People fear that. And since the Koran claims repeatedly to be clear but obviously is not—as even speakers of Arabic will tell you—there is a contradiction. Something else must be going on.<ref name="atlantic"/>}} [[Canadians|Canadian]] Islamic scholar, [[Andrew Rippin]] has likewise stated: {{blockquote|The impact of the Yemeni manuscripts is still to be felt. Their variant readings and verse orders are all very significant. Everybody agrees on that. These manuscripts say that the early history of the Koranic text is much more of an open question than many have suspected: the text was less stable, and therefore had less authority, than has always been claimed.<ref name="atlantic"/>}} For these reasons, some scholars, especially those who are associated with the [[Revisionist school of Islamic studies]], have proposed that the traditional account of the Quran's composition needs to be discarded and a new perspective on the Quran is needed. Puin, comparing Quranic studies with Biblical studies, has stated: {{blockquote|So many Muslims have this belief that everything between the two covers of the Koran is just God's unaltered word. They like to quote the textual work that shows that the Bible has a history and did not fall straight out of the sky, but until now the Koran has been out of this discussion. The only way to break through this wall is to prove that the Koran has a history too. The Sana'a fragments will help us to do this.<ref name="atlantic"/>}} In 2015, some of the [[Birmingham Quran manuscript|earliest known Quranic fragments]], containing 62 out of 6236 verses of the Quran and with proposed dating from between approximately AD 568 and 645, were identified at the [[University of Birmingham]]. David Thomas, Professor of Christianity and Islam, commented: {{blockquote|These portions must have been in a form that is very close to the form of the Koran read today, supporting the view that the text has undergone little or no alteration and that it can be dated to a point very close to the time it was believed to be revealed.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-33436021 |first=Sean |last=Coughlan |title='Oldest' Koran fragments found in Birmingham University |work=BBC News |date=22 July 2015 |access-date=10 April 2019 }}</ref>}} David Thomas pointed out that the radiocarbon testing found the death date of the animal whose skin made up the Quran, not the date when the Quran was written. Since blank parchment was often stored for years after being produced, he said the Quran could have been written as late as 650–655, during the Quranic codification under [[Uthman]].<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35151643 |title=Birmingham's ancient Koran history revealed |date=23 December 2015 |publisher=BBC |access-date=4 February 2016}}</ref> Marijn van Putten, who has published work on idiosyncratic orthography common to all early manuscripts of the Uthmanic text type<ref>{{cite journal |last1=van Putten |first1=M. |date=2019 |title= The 'Grace of God' as evidence for a written Uthmanic archetype: the importance of shared orthographic idiosyncrasies |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume= 82 |issue=2 |pages=271–288|doi=10.1017/S0041977X19000338 |s2cid=231795084 |doi-access=free |hdl=1887/79373 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> has stated and demonstrated with examples that due to a number of these same idiosyncratic spellings present in the Birmingham fragment (Mingana 1572a + Arabe 328c), it is "clearly a descendant of the Uthmanic text type" and that it is "impossible" that it is a pre-Uthmanic copy, despite its early radiocarbon dating.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/PhDniX/status/1220812853495640066 |title=Apparently some are still under the impression that the Birmingham Fragment (Mingana 1572a + Arabe 328c) is pre-Uthmanic copy of the Quran|last=van Putten |first=Marijn|publisher=Twitter |date=January 24, 2020 |website=Twitter.com |access-date=August 24, 2021}}</ref> Similarly, [[Stephen J. Shoemaker]] has also argued that it is extremely unlikely that the Birmingham manuscript was a pre-Uthmanic manuscript.<ref name="Shoemaker">Shoemaker, Stephen J. "Creating The Quran: A Historical Critical Study" University of California Press, 2022, p. 96-97.</ref> === Talmud === Textual criticism of the Talmud has a long pre-history but has become a separate discipline from Talmudic study only recently.<ref>Economic analysis in Talmudic literature: rabbinic thought in the .Roman A. Ohrenstein, Barry Gordon.. Page 9 2009 "In fact, textual criticism of the Talmud is as old as the Talmud itself. In modern times, however, it became a separate scholarly concern, where scientific method is applied to correct corrupt and incomprehensible passages.</ref> Much of the research is in Hebrew and German language periodicals.<ref>The treatise Ta'anit of the Babylonian Talmud: [[Henry Malter]]&nbsp;– 1978 It goes without saying that the writings of modern authors dealing with textual criticism of the Talmud, many of which are scattered in Hebrew and German periodicals, are likewise to be utilized for the purpose.</ref> </textarea><div class="templatesUsed"></div><p id="mw-returnto">Return to <a href="/wiki/Textual_criticism" title="Textual criticism">Textual criticism</a>.</p> <!--esi <esi:include src="/esitest-fa8a495983347898/content" /> --><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textual_criticism">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textual_criticism</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks catlinks-allhidden" data-mw="interface"></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About">About Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-contact"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us">Contact Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikipedia.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Textual_criticism&action=edit&section=22&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" loading="lazy"></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-settings" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul></ul> </div><script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.main-f69cdc8f6-4bspq","wgBackendResponseTime":274,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.078","walltime":"0.097","ppvisitednodes":{"value":418,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":17740,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":6556,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":9,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":0,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":0,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":469,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":0,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 68.803 1 -total"," 99.83% 68.683 2 Template:Blocked_text"," 42.66% 29.350 1 Template:Colocationwebhost"," 39.30% 27.038 1 Template:Hidden"," 38.69% 26.623 2 Template:Replace"," 18.35% 12.623 1 Template:Hidden_begin"," 14.72% 10.129 1 Template:Tlx"," 2.47% 1.699 1 Template:Hidden_end"," 1.97% 1.352 1 MediaWiki:Wikimedia-globalblocking-blockedtext-mistake"," 1.62% 1.113 1 MediaWiki:Wikimedia-globalblocking-blockedtext-mistake-email-steward"]},"scribunto":{"limitreport-timeusage":{"value":"0.015","limit":"10.000"},"limitreport-memusage":{"value":1043307,"limit":52428800}},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-web.codfw.main-f69cdc8f6-4bspq","timestamp":"20241124223105","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> </body> </html>