A New NA/UBS in 2021/22

Over at the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft website, there is a German press release about a recent meeting of the new NA/UBS committee. Below is a translation into English. The most important news here is the projected date of completion (2021/22), the expected changes covering Mark and Acts, and the changed order of books.

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Editors of “Nestle-Aland” and Greek New Testament meet at Bible Museum in Washington

Preparations for a new edition of the authoritative scholarly texts

Stuttgart / Washington. The editors for the Greek New Testament and the Novum Testamentum Graece (“Nestle-Aland”) met at the newly opened “Museum of the Bible” (MOTB) in Washington, DC. After the conference, the contours for new editions of the world’s two leading scholarly editions of the Greek New Testament are emerging. The Global Council of the United Bible Societies (UBS) recently recruited the international panel.

The editions are being prepared at the Institute for New Testament Textual Research founded by Kurt Aland at the University of Münster under the direction of Prof. Holger Strutwolf. In addition to him, the following scholars have been appointed as editors: Prof. Christos Karakolis (University of Athens), Prof. David Parker (University of Birmingham), Prof. Stephen Pisano (Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome); David Trobisch (Green Collection, Oklahoma City) and Dr. Klaus Wachtel (University of Münster). This ensures that the experiences and interests of different regions and denominations (Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox) are incorporated. In addition, Dr. Simon Crisp (UBS) and Dr. Florian Voss (German Bible Society) are working with the panel.

“The research of the text of the New Testament is at an exciting stage,” reports Florian Voss. As part of a large-scale, international research project in Münster, Birmingham and other cities, the Greek initial text of the entire NT, the so-called Urtext, is newly constituted. As a result, among other things, the Greek text is changing in many places. “This will also affect the interpretation of the text and the translation,” explains the editor for the German Bible Society. New editions are planned for 2021/2022. They will bring changes especially in the Gospel of Mark and Acts. Furthermore, the scholars are considering adapting the order of the New Testament writings to the tradition prevalent in the manuscripts, according to which Acts is immediately followed by the so-called Catholic Letters: the Epistles of James, Peter, John, and Jude.

The German Bible Society, in consultation with the United Bible Societies, publishes the most important scholarly editions of the Biblical texts. The editions are the basis of Bible translation and exegesis worldwide.

Kurt Aland against Voting in the ECM

This is from Aland’s 1970 article “Novi Testamenti Graeci Editio Maior Critica: Der gegenwärtige Stand der Arbeit an einer neuen grossen kritischen Ausgabe des Neuen Testamentes,” NTS 16 (1970): 163–77 which layed out the rationale for the ECM:

It is one of the editors—K. Aland—who is responsible for the editing of this text. Of course, all major issues will be advised by the circle of editors and co-editors. But it seemed impossible to determine the text in a voting system by majority decision. This is indeed fashionable [modern] (and in the hand editions of the Bible Societies even understandable), but such a procedure contradicts not only all philological principles but it also leads in all experiences to an average text. (p. 166)

If I have my chronology right, this was written when Aland was already part of the UBS committee. Unfortunately, he doesn’t explain what makes the difference between a hand-edition and a major critical edition such that a committee is good for one and not the other. It seems a bit inconsistent.

Aland (second from right) with the UBS committee.

Report on the International Conference for the NT Textual Criticism in Athens

Over at the Volos Acadamy for Theological Studies website there is a report on a recent conference in Athens on NTTC.

On February, 22 2016, an International Conference was successfully held at the central building of Athens University (“Al. Argyriadis” Amphitheater), on the general theme: New Testament Textual Criticism: Its Significance for Scholarship, Culture and Church. The conference was co-organized by the Dean’s office of Theological School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the Department for the study of the manuscript tradition of the New Testament of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, and attended by a vast number of academics and special researchers who are members and contributors to the Editorial Board of the critical editions of the New Testament “Novum Testamentum Graece” (known as Nestle-Aland) and “UBS Greek New Testament”, which internationally constitute the basis for the scholarly study and the translation of the text of the New Testament.

Speakers included Klaus Wachtel, Holger Strutwolf, Florian Voss, David Trobisch, Greg Paulson, Stephen Pisano, Simon Crisp, Christos Karakolis.

Apparently this was in some way the first scholarly conference being held in Greece on the subject of New Testament Textual Criticism. I’m not sure exactly what that means. But it’s good to see more TC happening in Greece where so many GNT manuscripts are kept. It looks like there was a pretty good crowd too. Full report here.

Update

A blog reader has pointed out that this conference also saw the first a meeting of the new Editorial Committee of the NA/UBS. That is historic. I confess that I still don’t understand what the new committee’s role actually is. Also I thought David Parker was a member. Still, exciting stuff.

Left (from rear to front) David Trobisch, Klaus Wachtel, Holger Strutwolf, Stephen Pisano; right (from rear to front) Christos Karakolis, Simon Crisp, Florian Voss. (Photo: Greg Paulson)