Page 310 - History of The Quranic Text | Kalamullah.Com

290 THE HISTORY OF THE QUR'ANIC TEXT

6. The Erasmus Bible andthe Comma Johanneum

Erasmus published his first Greek NT in 1516 and the second edition three
years later. Among the most serious criticisms levelled at this Bible was that
it lacked the Trinitarian statement at the end of 1John, which reads that
the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost are three in one (1 John 5:7). In-
sisting that he had yet to fInd these words in any of the Greek manuscripts
he had examined, he nevertheless buckled to pressure and agreed to add
the CommaJohanneum (asit is known) if a single Greek manuscript with this
passage could be found. Shortly afterwards such a manuscript was indeed
given to him. In all1ike1ihood it was a fabrication, written by a Franciscan
friar in Oxford around 1520. Though Erasmus remained true to his word
and inserted the passage in his third edition, he felt it necessary to append
a lengthy footnote, expressing his suspicion that the manuscript was a
forgery.53
Since the time of Erasmus only three Greek manuscripts have been found
to contain the CommaJohanneum; the earliestof these isfrom the 12th century,
but has the passage inserted in the margin by a 17th century hand." This
Trinitarian statement in 1John is of immense theological significance; its
interpolation into Greek manuscripts so late in history (during the Renais-
sance) is indicative of an alarming fluidity in the text. And what was the
fate of these spurious verses? Inthe English language they found their way
into the Authorised KingJames Version, printed in 1611; no critical revisions
to this popular translation were attempted until 1881. The edition in my
library (Authorised Version © 1983) still contains this passage:

6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by
water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth.
7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the
water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.55

Interestingly the RevisedStandard Version (RSV) - which isthe 1946 revision
of the 1901 American version of the 1881 revised edition of the 1611 King
James Version (KJV) - omits some crucial words:

6 This is he who came by water and blood,Jesus Christ, not with the
water only but with the water and the blood.

53 Metzger, pp. 101-2.
54 ibid, p. 102.
55 1John 5:6-8.