The listing of evidence in this book is not exhaustive. It is a selection taken from several sources: the UBS Greek New Testament, third edition; the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th edition, Hodges and Farstad's The Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text (especially for Revelation), Tischendorf's Novum Testamentum Graece, 8th edition, Robinson and Pierpont's The New Testament in the Original Greek, and a copy of the Latin Vulgate (the latter three for additional evidence lacking in the former sources, usually evidence for the text reading).
The reader should realize that most manuscripts have missing sections and verses due to age and deterioration; therefore, not every manuscript is cited for every listing.
Evidence in the listings is cited in the following order: papyri, uncials, minuscules, lectionaries, and other languages (Latin, Syriac, and Coptic).
Each evidence entry includes all papyri and uncials listed in the sources above. However, for each section of the New Testament, only a limited selection of minuscules that sometimes differ from the great majority of minuscules are included. This is by no means comprehensive. Most minuscules are grouped together under the symbols Byz (as used by the UBS text) and Maj (representing the blackletter M in the Nestle-Aland and Hodges-Farstad texts).
The various manuscripts of the Latin, Syriac, and Coptic languages are not listed (with some exceptions); rather, they are grouped with some indication of whether all or part of the manuscripts of a language have a particular reading.
Among the uncials, the letters D, E, F, G, H, K, L, and P refer to two or three different manuscripts each where they cover different parts of the New Testament. The manuscripts do have different numbers. For example, the letter D is used for both manuscript 05 (5th or 6th century with the gospels and Acts) and manuscript 06 (6th century with Paul's letters); both are Western text type. See the abbreviations page.
Some Western manuscripts (D[ga], D[p], E[a], E[p], F[p], G[p]) are bilingual, having Greek on one page and Latin on the facing page.
Manuscript L is a copy of manuscript B with a few changes. So B plus L is no more evidence than B alone when they agree.
Some manuscripts have inadvertently been given two numbers. See the abbreviations page. Numbers are recorded as found in the above sources.
For the gospels, there are groups of minuscule manuscripts that have similar readings and are cited together. Family 1 (symbol ƒ1) contains minuscules 1, 118, 131, and 209. Additionally, minuscules 22, 205, 872, 1192, 1210, 1278, 1582, 2193, and 2542 seem to belong to this group. Family 13 (symbol ƒ13) contains minuscules 13, 69, 124, 174, 230, 346, 543, 788, 826, 828, 983, 1346, 1689, and 1709.
The various books and letters of the New Testament first circulated as individual documents. Then they were combined into collections: the four gospels (or two or three of them), Paul's letters (or selected letters, sometimes including Hebrews), and the other letters (James through Jude; often just selected letters). Acts was usually combined with the other letters, but sometimes with the gospels. Revelation still circulated alone. Finally, they were combined into the New Testament.
Most manuscripts have verses, sections, and even pages missing due to time and wear and tear. This is especially true of those written on papyrus, which is less durable than parchment.
The text and notes readings for the entries that follow use square brackets [] to show implied words added for understanding and smooth grammar. Plural you is indicated by plyou. Where a variant extends across a verse division, the beginning of the new verse is marked by a raised dot (•).
Evidence listed in parentheses shows minor variations. The same is true of evidence in curly braces, although usually that variation is explained in the comments. Manuscript evidence marked with an asterisk is the reading of the original copyist. A correction is marked with a raised c or sometimes a raised number or letter where different correctors have been noted.
When it is difficult to tell the underlying Greek text of translations, both ancient languages and modern English translations, they are often followed by question marks.
When a manuscript reading is difficult to read and thus questionable, it is indicated by the symbol vid meaning apparently. When a manuscript reading refers to missing pages that have been replaced with new ones at a later date, it is indicated by the symbol supp meaning supplement.
