JOHN 3:5 tou/ qeou/ A few Greek manuscripts (a* 245 291 472 1009 ù26) and a wide range of early patristic writers replace tou/ qeou/ with tw/n ouvranw/n. Although it may be argued that the latter reading is original and that tou/ qeou/ was introduced in order to make the passage harmonize with ver.... [ Continue Reading ]
JOHN 3:13 avnqrw,pou {B} On the one hand, a minority of the Committee preferred the reading avnqrw,pou o` w'n evn tw|/ ouvranw|/, arguing that (1) if the short reading, supported almost exclusively by Egyptian witnesses, were original, there is no discernible motive that would have prompted copyist... [ Continue Reading ]
JOHN 3:15 evn auvtw|/ {B} Exegetical as well as textual problems are involved in deciding among the variant readings. Except for this passage, the fourth evangelist always uses eivj after pisteu,ein (34 times), never evn. On the other hand, if evn auvtw|/ is original here, the meaning may well be,... [ Continue Reading ]
JOHN 3:25 meta. VIoudai,ou {B} Both VIoudai,ou and VIoudai,wn are ancient readings, and external support is rather evenly divided. On the whole, however, it is more likely that the singular (which is unique in John) would have been changed to the more customary plural than vice versa.... [ Continue Reading ]
JOHN 3:31-32 evrco,menoj @evpa,nw pa,ntwn evsti,n\# o] e`w,raken kai. h;kousen tou/to marturei/ {C} Several variations are involved here. The word kai, is omitted by overwhelming authority, and may be set aside at once. On the other hand, the omission of tou/to in several witnesses is sufficiently... [ Continue Reading ]
JOHN 3:34 to. pneu/ma {B} By some oversight, the scribe of B had originally omitted the words to. pneu/ma, but they were subsequently added in the margin by the same hand. In order to make certain that the reader would understand that o` qeo,j earlier in the verse functions also as the subject of... [ Continue Reading ]