Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the Greek New Testament

This learned manual opens the intricate world of Greek New Testament textual criticism, presenting Eberhard Nestle as a master philologist and editor whose command of Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, and the Septuagint gives the subject unusual breadth and authority. Written for students and general readers alike, it explains how the New Testament text has been transmitted, compared, and refined, while remaining practical, clear, and deeply scholarly. Moving from the first printed Greek New Testaments to modern critical method, the book traces the Complutensian Polyglot, Erasmus's hurried 1516 edition, Simon de Colines's pioneering critical text, and Robert Stephen's influential editions, including the 1550 apparatus and the 1551 verse numbering that reshaped biblical reading. It also surveys major polyglots, bibliographic landmarks, manuscript families, ancient versions, and patristic citations, weighing contested theories about Hesychius, Origen, Eusebius, Pamphilus, and related recensions. Detailed notes, abbreviations, addenda, and appendices reinforce the book's role as a precise guide to the history and evidence of the Greek New Testament text. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.