According to the preface, the 2026 edition of Maurice Robinson and William Pierpont’s New Testament in the Original Text: Byzantine Textform constitutes the fourth RP edition and marks the 50th anniversary of Robinson’s collaboration with Pierpont—hence the “jubilee” edition. The increased appreciation for the Byz text by reasoned eclectics is described as “a previously unheard level of commendation” and is given as part of the justification for this new edition (v). What follows is a short review, mostly noting what’s new or different.
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| Comparison of the RP 2005, 2026, and 2018. |
Physical aspects
Unlike the 2018 revision, this edition is hardbound but without a dust jacket. The binding is glued rather than sewn. This has been a point of frustration for some early reviewers. Since I don’t expect this to be my main GNT, it doesn’t bother me much. I will say, it does lie flat pretty well. Others will have to see if it holds up over time.
The typeface is a version of Porson (it looks like GFS Porson with its upright capitals) and it’s quite nice on the eyes. My love for Porson is no secret, so I can only commend the editors for their choice. (I tried, unsuccessfully, to get the Tyndale team to use it for THGNT.)
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| A sample of the page layout and typesetting |
The physical size of the book is a bit too big for my tastes, but, then, if I had my way, all editions would go back to the original size of Nestle’s first edition, which truly deserved to be called a hand edition. A ribbon marker is included, which is a return to the 2005 edition. The cover is now purple, which I assume alludes to the royalty of Jesus.
Formatting and Content
The original preface to the 2005 edition and the appendix defending Byz priority have been replaced with a newly written preface by Maurice Robinson and his former student Abidan Shah. (Shah and his team at Clearview Church are the publishers.) It’s short—about 12 pages and covers the edition’s text and apparatus, orthography, versification, marginal notes, order of books, section headings, and a point of clarification on the relationship of external and internal evidence within Byz priority.
It must be said that this new preface seems to be written for those who already know the lay of the text-critical landscape. There is, for example, no explanation for what the Kx and Kr texts are (p. xiii) and, most confusingly, the Byzantine text is never actually defined! The closest we get is that it is the NT’s “most dominant transmissional form” (p. vii). But we are not told what that is or what makes it “dominant”—is it numerical, chronological, theological, geographical? We are told that this Byz text is reconstructed from “various apparatuses and related resources,” but the preface doesn’t say how. To understand what Byz priority itself is, we are pointed to Robinson’s TC article. This leaves the reader in a bit of a bind when confronted with a clarification (pp. xiv-xv) on the use of “external evidence” and “internal critera.” What these terms refer to is not explained. To be sure, almost anyone buying this is buying it because they know what they’re getting, but a little more help for the neophyte would be good.
Moving beyond the preface, the English headings are, for the most part descriptive but sometimes verge on interpretive (e.g., Matt 24 is “The Judgment of God Upon Jerusalem and Upon the World” and Rom 2.1-10 adds “and the Moralistic Gentile” to “God’s Righteous Judgment”). They are still adapted from Paul Kretzmann’s Popular Commentary on the Bible as in previous editions, but are now also revised based on Shah’s sermons and lectures. This has usually led to more headings: this edition has twice the headings in James than before. To take James 1, here is the prior edition’s headings:
1.1-15 Various Temptations and Their Endurance
1.16-27 God’s Fatherhood and the Obligations of Sonship
And here are the new ones:
1.1 Greeting
1.2-12 Joy in the Midst of Trials and the Need for Wisdom
1.13-15 Temptation is Not from God
1.16-21 Refocus on God’s Goodness
1.22-27 Be Doers and Not Just Hearers
Sometimes the use of sermonic titles is apparent as when Jude 1.5-7 changes from “Examples of the Judgment of God” to “The Last Steps on the Way Down and the Judgment of God” or when Rom 1.8-15 changes from “The Introduction to the Letter” to “Paul Praises the Romans for Being a Model Church.”
The opening quote to the edition has been updated, but is still taken from Tregelles (perhaps ironic since Tregelles was not a defender of the Byz text). We now hear from him on the importance of textual criticism for those who reverence Scripture, a quote taken from his Book of Revelation in Greek (1844). This replaces the longer quote in the 2005 edition from his Account (1854). The in memoriam to Pierpont is removed.
Text and Apparatus
The text is what it is, and what you would expect. There are three changes that were made in the 2018 edition and six more for this edition. Three of these nine are in Revelation. The PA is presented in two versions as before. Here the alternate μ6 version is given its own page rather than being relegated to the bottom of the page as in the two previous editions. It’s an interesting choice given that the appeal of the Byz text for many readers is its claim to stability. One might contrast this with GNTs that remove the PA from the main text (THGNT) or put them at the end of John (WH). Here, you get the PA twice!
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| The second PA in RP2026 |
Another point of “divided Byzantine alternative” is in Acts 24.6b-8a where the main text lacks v. 7, but doubled lines separate the alternate text. I’m not sure if that runs afoul of Rev 22.18–19 to our confessional friends or not. On that point, there are four “missing verses” in RP and these are sometimes included in footnotes (e.g., Acts 8.37) but not always (e.g., Lk 17.36; Acts 15.34; Acts 24.7 is given as an “alternate” text). This is notable especially since the new UBS6 includes all these in double brackets in the main text. UBS6 also has the Comma in the apparatus which this does not.
The apparatus continues to mark differences with NA but also the ECM. Interestingly, this includes both NA27 and NA28 and both ECM1 and ECM2 in the Catholic Epistles.
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| The treatment of Acts 24:6–8 |
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| A close up of the apparatus |
Copyright
The copyright remains generous which is to say it is not restricted. This has been a hallmark of the RP Byz text from the beginning. It’s something I have always admired about the edition, even though I don’t have strong views against copyright.
Conclusion
Those who use the Byz text as their main text for preaching and teaching will welcome this new edition. The textual updates are minor enough that no one using a previous edition should feel a need to update, but I suspect the main audience for this edition will want to anyway. In my experience, owners of Byz edition tend to own more than one GNT.
It remains then to offer my congratulations to the team at Clearview Press and to the man behind the first initial of RP. My thanks to the publisher for a review copy.
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