Textus Receptus
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Textus Receptus (Latin: "received text") is the name given to the first Greek language text of the New Testament to be printed on a printing press. It was compiled by Dutch Catholic scholar and humanist Desiderius Erasmus in 1516 for his translation of the Bible into Latin, and later used as the basis for the translation of the New Testament by William Tyndale, for the original Luther Bible, and for most other Reformation era translations throughout Western and Central Europe. The Textus Receptus is classified by scholars as a late Byzantine text.
Erasmus' first edition of the Textus Receptus was prepared in haste. Typographical errors, attributed to the new invention — the printing press, abounded in the published text. Erasmus also lacked a complete copy of the book of Revelation and was forced to translate the last six verses back into Greek from the Latin in order to finish his edition.
Although it is widely accepted by textual scholars that the selection of manuscripts available to Erasmus was quite limited, being confined to a few late medieval texts, which most modern scholars consider to be of dubious quality, a minority believe that Erasmus had virtually unlimited access the best libraries and manuscript collectiions worldwide — including those possessed by the Vatican.
Dr. Frederick Nolan a Greek and Latin scholar of the 19th century and eminent historian who researched Egyptian chronology, spending twenty-eight years tracing the Received Text to its apostolic origin, after surveying Erasmus' notes, Nolan recorded the following: "With respect to manuscripts, it is indisputable that he was acquainted with every variety which is known to us."
The first edition of Erasmus' Greek text was not used for any subsequent works, except as the basis for the second edition. With the third edition (1522) the Comma Johanneum was included because a single 13th century manuscript was found to contain it, though Erasmus expressed doubt as to the authenticity of the passage in his Annotations.
Popular demand for more complete Greek versions of the Bible led to a flurry of authorized and unauthorized editions in the early sixteenth century.
Although sometimes used to refer to other editions, the name "Textus Receptus" has been used in a specific manner to designate only two New Testament Greek versions: one produced by Robert Stephens in 1550 and another produced by the Elzevirs in 1624 (reprinted in 1633). The name itself derives from a phrase contained in the publisher's preface to the 1633 edition, textum ergo habes, nunc ab omnibus receptum, translated as "thus you have the text now received by all."