Famous passages

The issue

The story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery (“Let him who is without sin…”) is one of the best-known Gospel scenes. In modern critical editions it is usually set in brackets or moved to a footnote because the passage does not appear in the earliest and best Greek manuscripts of John. The narrative jumps cleanly from 7:52 to 8:12 in witnesses like 𝔓⁶⁶, 𝔓⁷⁵, Codex Sinaiticus (01), and Codex Vaticanus (03). Scribes and editors later inserted the block at this point; it became standard in the Byzantine majority and thus in many printed Bibles — but the insertion is widely regarded as a secondary addition to the Fourth Gospel, not part of the earliest recoverable text.

Early witnesses (1–400 CE)

Status in CNTR transcriptions we hold — not later Byzantine minuscules outside our window.

Compare P66 & P75 in John →

Later tradition

The pericope is absent from essentially all Greek manuscripts before the fifth century. It appears in a few late Greek witnesses and becomes common in Byzantine copies from roughly the ninth century onward, then in the Textus Receptus tradition. Standard introductions (e.g. Metzger, *Text of the NT*; Ehrman, *Misquoting Jesus*) treat it as a later insertion; NA28 and UBS5 bracket the passage. We do not date the first insertion to a precise year — paleography and stemmatics point to a gradual adoption, not a single datable event.

Further reading

• CNTR apparatus & transcriptions
• Pericope Adulterae (Wikipedia — secondary overview)
• INTF / NTVMR manuscript workspace

Nearby word-level variants in John →

The issue

Mark’s Gospel appears to end abruptly at 16:8 in the two earliest complete Greek codices: the women flee the tomb in fear and “they said nothing to anyone” — with no resurrection appearances, no Great Commission, no ascension. Verses 9–20, familiar from later Bibles, summarize appearances and commission the disciples. That longer ending is missing from 01 and 03; two very old Greek witnesses (Codex Bobiensis, 𝔓⁴⁵ does not cover this section) and several early citations suggest the shorter ending was known. Later scribes supplied the longer block to round out the narrative.

Early witnesses (1–400 CE)

Status in CNTR transcriptions we hold — not later Byzantine minuscules outside our window.

Compare 01 & 03 in Mark →

Later tradition

The long ending is absent from 01 and 03 and from several Old Latin witnesses. It becomes dominant in Byzantine manuscripts and the Textus Receptus. Critical editions bracket or annotate 16:9–20; some append the shorter “Freer Logion” ending (after 16:8) found in one manuscript. Standard TC handbooks describe the long ending as a second-century or later compilation of resurrection traditions, not Mark’s original conclusion.

Further reading

• CNTR — Mark witnesses
• Mark 16 (endings) — Wikipedia (secondary)
• IGNTP — Mark

Nearby word-level variants in Mark →

The issue

The King James and some Latin Bibles read that “there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” — a explicit Trinitarian formula in 1 John 5:7–8. That wording (the Johannine Comma) is not found in any Greek manuscript before the sixteenth century. Early Greek witnesses have only the short reading about Spirit, water, and blood bearing witness. The Comma entered some Latin copies and was retro-translated into a handful of late Greek minuscules; Erasmus included it under pressure in later editions of his Greek New Testament.

Early witnesses (1–400 CE)

Status in CNTR transcriptions we hold — not later Byzantine minuscules outside our window.

Compare 01 & 03 in 1 John →

Later tradition

Absent from the entire pre-400 CE Greek tradition in our dataset. The interpolation is attested in Latin from the fourth century onward in some branches, but not in the best Greek line. Modern critical texts (NA28, UBS5, SR GNT) print the short reading only. Our CNTR transcriptions of 01 and 03 show 1 John 5:7–8 extant with the standard short Greek — the Comma text itself is absent.

Further reading

• CNTR — 1 John witnesses
• Comma Johanneum — Wikipedia (secondary)
• Metzger, *Text of the New Testament* (standard handbook)

Nearby word-level variants in 1 John →

The issue

Only Luke tells of an angel strengthening Jesus in Gethsemane and sweat “like drops of blood.” These two verses are absent from Codex Vaticanus (03) and from 𝔓⁷⁵, one of the earliest Luke papyri. Codex Sinaiticus (01) includes them, but a later corrector marked them as doubtful — a sign that even scribes knew the passage was debated. The verses read like a later amplification of Jesus’ agony, harmonizing with other tradition.

Early witnesses (1–400 CE)

Status in CNTR transcriptions we hold — not later Byzantine minuscules outside our window.

Compare P75 & 03 in Luke →

Later tradition

Absent in 𝔓⁷⁵ and 03; present in 01 (with marginal doubt). Many later manuscripts include the verses; some mark them with asterisks or move them to the margin. NA28 brackets 22:43–44; the balance of early Greek evidence favors omission or secondary status, though the picture is less unanimous than for the Pericope Adulterae.

Further reading

• CNTR — Luke witnesses
• Luke 22:43–44 — Wikipedia (secondary)
• IGNTP — Luke

Nearby word-level variants in Luke →

The issue

Some later Greek manuscripts and many printed Bibles add an explanation at the pool of Bethesda: an angel periodically stirred the water and the first person in was healed. John 5:3 in the earliest line ends after the list of the blind, lame, and paralyzed; verse 4 (the angel story) is absent from the best early Greek witnesses and is regarded as a secondary gloss explaining why people waited at the pool.

Early witnesses (1–400 CE)

Status in CNTR transcriptions we hold — not later Byzantine minuscules outside our window.

Compare P66 & P75 in John →

Later tradition

The angel verse becomes common in Byzantine copies and the Textus Receptus tradition, so English readers often know the story from the KJV. Modern critical editions (NA28, UBS5, SR GNT) omit verse 4; NA28 also brackets the expanded ending of 5:3 found in some late witnesses. Our CNTR transcriptions mark John 5:4 absent in 𝔓⁶⁶, 𝔓⁷⁵, 01, and 03.

Further reading

• CNTR — John 5 witnesses
• John 5:3–4 — Wikipedia (secondary)

Nearby word-level variants in John →

The issue

A short grace formula — “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” — appears as Romans 16:24 in some later manuscripts and printed Bibles, sandwiched before the final benediction of chapter 16. Critical editions usually omit the verse as a scribal transfer from elsewhere; the Pauline letter flows without it in the Alexandrian line represented by Codex Vaticanus and in 𝔓⁴⁶.

Early witnesses (1–400 CE)

Status in CNTR transcriptions we hold — not later Byzantine minuscules outside our window.

Compare 01 & 03 in Romans →

Later tradition

The verse persists in the Byzantine majority and the Textus Receptus, so it surfaced in the KJV. NA28 prints 16:24 in brackets with weak attestation. In our CNTR slice, 16:24 is marked absent in 01, 03, and 𝔓⁴⁶.

Further reading

• CNTR — Romans witnesses
• Romans 16:24 — Wikipedia (secondary)

Nearby word-level variants in Romans →

The issue

At the crucifixion Luke reports Jesus praying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” before the soldiers divide his clothing. That opening clause is missing from Codex Vaticanus (03) and from 𝔓⁷⁵ — among the earliest Luke witnesses in our dataset — while Codex Sinaiticus (01) includes it (with later marginal doubt in the manuscript tradition). The omission is usually explained as accidental scribal loss or deliberate excision in an Alexandrian line, not as wholesale uncertainty about Luke’s passion narrative.

Early witnesses (1–400 CE)

Status in CNTR transcriptions we hold — not later Byzantine minuscules outside our window.

Compare P75 & 03 in Luke →

Later tradition

Most later manuscripts include the prayer; it is familiar from liturgy and many Bible translations. NA28 brackets the clause as doubtful. CNTR still encodes Luke 23:34 as one verse: where the clause is omitted, the surviving text begins at the clothing division — we flag that below as partial absence of the opening words, not absence of the whole verse.

Further reading

• CNTR — Luke witnesses
• Luke 23:34 — Wikipedia (secondary)

Nearby word-level variants in Luke →