This thread will be for the listing of manuscript evidence for 1 Timothy 3:16 as well as general information on the important details surrounding the reading in the manuscripts themselves. This first post merely deals with the listing of the evidence with some general notes and will be updated as new information presents itself. Unless otherwise noted, all MSS listed below have been personally verified.
ς̅ (error for θ̅ς): 2243
ὅς ("who")
ὃς θεός: 256 (Armenian diglot). The Armenian text reads reads ա͞ծ որ, "God, who"
ο Θεος: 69 88 915 1524 1943 2002
Θεὸς γὰρ: 336
ᾧ: 061
χριστὸς: 91vid
[1] This is based upon numerous eyewitness testimonies prior to the late 18th century, after which the reading became damaged and it began to be cited for ὅς. There is a clear spacing between μυστήριον and Θεὸς, such as one might expect with the original presence of a colon.
[2] There is some difficulty with the reading, as this text is a palimpsest, and the reading was restored with the application of potassium ferricyanide. The musical notation indicates a word of two syllables, but these marks were added in the 8th century or so. There is a clear spacing between μυστήριον and Θεὸς, so that the original reading most probably contains a colon. Tischendorf attributes the stroke of the Theta to a corrector based upon the angle and “color” (I cannot discern the difference). What I can observe is that the angle and placement is completely consistent with other Thetas on the folio. The general condition even after the application of the chemical reagents on this folio is that the traverse of many of the Thetas have either vanished or are scarcely legible on the page.
[3] The Omicron has been partially scraped to form a Sigma and a Theta has been prefixed at the beginning of the line.
[4] There are numerous errors in the Greek text and the letterforms C (Σ), Є (Ε), O, and Θ are frequently confused. Both manuscripts have multiple errors and spelling and word division in this passage (F more so than G). The manuscripts are not aspirated in the Greek, and the relative is never written this way anywhere else in either MS. This is not a common mistake coinciding in two different manuscripts. Both were copied from a common archetype. The errors in the manuscript demonstrate that the scribes were unskilled in the Greek language, and it seems the traverse of the Theta had worn away and the scribes merely copied what they saw.
Summary of Evidence
Outlying Variants
ο̅ς (uncial error for θ̅ς): F Gς̅ (error for θ̅ς): 2243
ὅς ("who")
μυστήριον ὃς: Aleph* 33 2127
μυστήριον· ὃς: 365 1175
μυστήριον: ὃς: l 60
442 and 463 are occasionally cited, but this is a mistake due to the scholia of Cyril contained in the commentary.
ὃ: D (06) vg lat co(sa, bo)ὃς θεός: 256 (Armenian diglot). The Armenian text reads reads ա͞ծ որ, "God, who"
ο Θεος: 69 88 915 1524 1943 2002
Θεὸς γὰρ: 336
ᾧ: 061
χριστὸς: 91vid
θεός ("God")
Uncials
Minuscules
Comprising at least 570 minuscules from every text type including 6, 81, 104, 181, 263, 424, 436, 459, 614, 1241, 1319, 1424, 1505, 1573, 1739, 1862, 1881, 1912, 2110, 2200:1 3 5 6 18 35 38 42 43 51 57 61 62 76 81 82 90 93 94 97 102 103 104 105 110 122 131 133 141 142 149 172 175 177 181 189 201 203 204 205 206 209 216 218 221 223 226 228 234 250 252 254 263 296 302 308 309 312 314 319 321 322 323 325 326 327 328 330 336 337 356 363 367 378 383 384 385 386 390 393 394 398 400 404 421 424 425 429 431 432 436 440 444 451 452 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 462 465 466 467 468 469 479 489 491 496 498 506 517 522 547 567 582 592 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 612 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 622 623 625 627 628 629 630 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 641 642 644 664 665 676 680 699 757 794 796 801 808 823 824 858 876 886 891 901 909 910 911 912 913 914 918 919 920 921 922 927 928 935 941 945 959 996 997 999 1003 1022 1040 1058 1069 1070 1072 1075 1094 1099 1100 1101 1102 1103 1104 1105 1106 1107 1108 1115 1127 1149 1161 1162 1240 1241 1242 1243 1244 1245 1247 1248 1249 1250 1251 1270 1277 1292 1297 1311 1315 1319 1352 1354 1359 1360 1367 1384 1390 1398 1400 1404 1405 1409 1424 1425 1448 1456 1482 1490 1495 1501 1503 1505 1508 1509 1521 1548 1573 1594 1595 1597 1598 1599 1609 1610 1611 1617 1618 1622 1626 1628 1636 1637 1642 1643 1646 1649 1652 1661 1673 1678 1702 1704 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1757 1759 1760 1761 1763 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1780 1795 1798 1827 1828 1830 1831 1832 1836 1837 1839 1840 1841 1843 1845 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1879 1880 1881 1882 1886 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1896 1897 1899 1900 1902 1903 1905 1906 1907 1908 1910 1911 1912 1914 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1927 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1939 1941 1945 1946 1947 1948 1950 1951 1952 1954 1955 1956 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1976 1977 1978 1980 1981 1982 1984 1985 1986 1987 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2003 2004 2005 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2080 2085 2086 2102 2105 2110 2125 2131 2138 2143 2147 2175 2180 2183 2189 2191 2194 2197 2200 2201 2208 2218 2221 2248 2255 2257 2261 2279 2298 2310 2318 2344 2356 2374 2378 2400 2401 2404 2412 2431 2466 2475 2482 2483 2484 2492 2494 2495 2501 2502 2508 2511 2516 2523 2527 2541 2544 2554 2558 2576 2587 2625 2626 2627 2629 2652 2653 2659 2674 2675 2690 2691 2696 2704 2705 2712 2718 2723 2736 2739 2746 2772 2774 2777 2815 2816 2817 2865 2886 2889 2892 2899 2909 2918 2936
Additional MSS listed by Burgon but for various reasons I have been unable to verify.Microfilm illegible: 101(113P)
No access: 241(120P) 242(121P) 257(257P)
Lectionaries
Uncials
l 250
Minuscules
l 23, l 38, l 39, l 44, l 59, l 62, l 96, l 97, l 112, l 144, l 145, l 156, l 167, l 169, l 173, l 587, l 809, l 884, l 895, l 1126, l 1159, l 2010, l 2058 (ongoing search in progress)
Versions
geo2 slav syr(har) arab(poly) vg(ms) lat(GA#s 457 620c 628)
Greek-Latin Diglots
The evidence from the Greek-Latin Diglots is interesting. In almost every case Latin text is not independently translated based upon the parallel Greek, so that Θεὸς and quod most typically coincide on the same page. These manuscripts have already been noted in the lists above.F and G (9th century) read ο̅ς (error for Θεὸς) in the Greek and quod in the Latin.[4]
457 (10th century) reads Θεὸς in the Greek and Deus (“God”) in Latin, though it is not a full diglot—there are significant gaps in the Latin text. It looks more like an interlinear text was started but not completed.
460 (13th century) reads Θεὸς in the Greek and quod in Latin. There is also an Arabic column, though I am unfamiliar with the language.
620 (12th century) reads Θεὸς in the Greek. The original Latin reading, quod, has been scraped and the text is corrected to Deus.
628 (14th century) reads Deus in the Latin column by the original hand.
629 (14th century) reads Θεὸς in Greek and quod in Latin.
Greek-Armenian Diglots
256 (11th/12th Century) reads ὃς θεός in the Greek and ա͞ծ որ ("God, who") in the Armenian, i.e., "Great is the sacrament of godliness: God, who was manifest in the flesh," etc. (Եւ յայտնի իսկ մե́ծ է խորհուրդն ա͞ծպաշտութեան. ա͞ծ որ երեւեցա́ւ. In this text, ա͞ծ is the contracted form of աստուած, “God.” It is absent from the Zohrab critical edition of 1805, which is utilized in the critical texts). In the manuscript reading ա͞ծպաշտութեան, there is a space between ա͞ծ and պաշտութեան.
[1] This is based upon numerous eyewitness testimonies prior to the late 18th century, after which the reading became damaged and it began to be cited for ὅς. There is a clear spacing between μυστήριον and Θεὸς, such as one might expect with the original presence of a colon.
[2] There is some difficulty with the reading, as this text is a palimpsest, and the reading was restored with the application of potassium ferricyanide. The musical notation indicates a word of two syllables, but these marks were added in the 8th century or so. There is a clear spacing between μυστήριον and Θεὸς, so that the original reading most probably contains a colon. Tischendorf attributes the stroke of the Theta to a corrector based upon the angle and “color” (I cannot discern the difference). What I can observe is that the angle and placement is completely consistent with other Thetas on the folio. The general condition even after the application of the chemical reagents on this folio is that the traverse of many of the Thetas have either vanished or are scarcely legible on the page.
[3] The Omicron has been partially scraped to form a Sigma and a Theta has been prefixed at the beginning of the line.
[4] There are numerous errors in the Greek text and the letterforms C (Σ), Є (Ε), O, and Θ are frequently confused. Both manuscripts have multiple errors and spelling and word division in this passage (F more so than G). The manuscripts are not aspirated in the Greek, and the relative is never written this way anywhere else in either MS. This is not a common mistake coinciding in two different manuscripts. Both were copied from a common archetype. The errors in the manuscript demonstrate that the scribes were unskilled in the Greek language, and it seems the traverse of the Theta had worn away and the scribes merely copied what they saw.
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