A Student's Guide to
New Testament Textual Variants

Paul's Letter to the Philippians

Philippians 1:14-4:16

Philippians 1:14:

TEXT: "speak the word without fear"
EVIDENCE: p46 Dc K 614 630 1739 1881 2495 Byz Lect one lat syr(h)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV TEV
RANK: D

NOTES: "speak the word of God without fear"
EVIDENCE: S A B {D*} P Psi 33 81 104 1241 most lat {two lat} vg syr(p,h+) cop
TRANSLATIONS: ASV RSV NASV NIV NEB TEVn

OTHER: "speak the word of the Lord without fear"
EVIDENCE: G (both Greek and Latin)

COMMENTS: The evidence listed in braces has a different word order from the majority of manuscripts having this reading. Although the evidence for including "of God" is very strong, the fact that the words are found in different places seems to indicates that they were added by copyists to make clear what "the word" was.

Philippians 1:16-17:

TEXT: verse 16 before verse 17
EVIDENCE: p46 S A B D* F G P 33 81 1175 1241supp 1739 1881 lat vg syr(p) cop
TRANSLATIONS: ASV RSV NASV NIV NEB TEV
RANK: -

NOTES: verse 17 before verse 16
EVIDENCE: D1 Psi Maj syr(h)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NASVn

COMMENTS: Apparently later copyists reversed the order of verses 16 and 17 to show the same order as that found in verse 15. The sense is not affected.

Philippians 2:2:

TEXT: "united in plyour thinking"
EVIDENCE: p46 Sc B D F G K P 104 614 630 1739 1881 2495 Byz Lect four lat one vg syr(p,h)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV ASV RSV NASV NIV NEB TEV
RANK: B

NOTES: "thinking the same thing"
EVIDENCE: S* A C I Psi 33 81 1241 most lat most vg
TRANSLATIONS: ASVn

COMMENTS: Apparently the word "same" was borrowed by copyists from the similar phrase in the first part of the verse.

Philippians 2:12:

TEXT: "not only as in my presence but"
EVIDENCE: p46 S A C D G K P Psi 81 104 614 630 1739 1881 2495 Byz Lect most lat vg syr(h)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV ASV RSV NASV
RANK: B

NOTES: "not only in my presence but"
EVIDENCE: B 33 1241 two lat syr(p) cop
TRANSLATIONS: ASVn NIV NEB TEV

COMMENTS: The word "as" may have been omitted by a few copyists as superfluous. This was probably also the case with the NIV, NEB, and TEV.

Philippians 2:26:

TEXT: "he has been longing for plyou all"
EVIDENCE: {p46} Sc B G K P Psi 614 630 1739 1881 Byz Lect most lat vg cop(south)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV ASV RSV NASV NIV NEB
RANK: C

NOTES: "he has been longing to see plyou all"
EVIDENCE: S* A C D I(vid) 33 81 104 1241 2495 two lat syr(p,h,pal) cop(north)
TRANSLATIONS: ASVn NASVn TEV

COMMENTS: The word "for" in the text reading is implied except for the evidence listed in braces which contains the word "for" in the text. The infinitive "to see" seems to be a natural expansion here and was more likely to be added by copyists than omitted.

Philippians 2:30:

TEXT: "on account of the work of Christ he came near to death"
EVIDENCE: p46 B D G K 614 630 1739 1881 2495 Byz Lect lat vg syr(p) cop(south)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV ASV RSV NASV NIV NEB TEV
RANK: C

NOTES: "on account of the work of the Lord he came near to death"
EVIDENCE: S A P Psi 33 81 104 1241 syr(h) cop(north)
TRANSLATIONS: ASVn

OTHER: "on account of the work he came near to death"
EVIDENCE: C

COMMENTS: Although it is possible that the original simply had "the work" and "of Christ" or "of the Lord" were added by copyists, it is more likely that one of them was accidently omitted. The words "of Christ" seem to be supported by the better evidence. Perhaps "of the Lord" was borrowed by copyists from passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:58 and 16:10.

Philippians 3:3:

TEXT: "who serve by the Spirit of God"
EVIDENCE: S* A B C Dc G K 33 81 104 614 630 1241 1739 1881 2495 Byz Lect one lat cop
TRANSLATIONS: ASV RSVn NASV NIV NEBn
RANK: C

NOTES: "who serve God in spirit" or "who serve God by the Spirit"
EVIDENCE: Sc D* P Psi most lat vg syr(p,h)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV RSV NEBn TEV

NOTES: "who serve in spirit" or "who serve by the Spirit"
EVIDENCE: p46
TRANSLATIONS: NEB

COMMENTS: The omission of "God" from one manuscript seems to be accidental. It is likely that some copyists changed "of God" to "God" to provide an object for "serve."

Philippians 3:13:

TEXT: "I do not reckon myself to have taken hold"
EVIDENCE: p46 B Dc G K Psi 630 1739 1881 2495 Byz most lat vg syr(p,h) cop(south)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV ASVn RSV TEV
RANK: C

NOTES: "I do not yet reckon myself to have taken hold"
EVIDENCE: p16vid p61vid S A D* P 33 81 104 614 1241 one lat syr(h+) cop(north)
TRANSLATIONS: ASV NASV NIV NEB TEVn

COMMENTS: Apparently some copyists who considered Paul to be too modest changed "not" to "not yet."

Philippians 4:3:

TEXT: "Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose"
EVIDENCE: p46 Sc A B D G I(vid) K P Psi 33 81 104 614 630 1241 1739 1881 2495 Byz Lect lat vg syr cop
TRANSLATIONS: KJV ASV RSV NASV NIV NEB TEV
RANK: B

NOTES: "Clement and my fellow workers and the rest, whose"
EVIDENCE: p16vid S*
TRANSLATIONS: NEBn

COMMENTS: Apparently a couple of copyists overlooked "the rest" when their eye jumped from the end of the definite article to the end of "rest" and then they added it back in after "my fellow workers" with an "and."

Philippians 4:16:

TEXT: "plyou sent [money] for my need"
EVIDENCE: S B {Dc} G K {P} Psi 33 {614 630} 1739 1881 2495 Byz Lect most lat {two lat} vg
TRANSLATIONS: KJV ASV RSVn NASV NIV NEB
RANK: C

NOTES: "plyou sent me need"
EVIDENCE: p46 A {D*} 81 104 1241 syr(h)
TRANSLATIONS: RSV TEV

OTHER: "plyou sent me [money] for my needs"
EVIDENCE: syr(p) cop

COMMENTS: The evidence listed above in braces reads "my" instead of "me." The Greek word for "for" was apparently accidently overlooked when copyists read DISEIS as DIS. Since "me" occurs after "need" some copyists changed it to "my."

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