For the book of Revelation, Erasmus had only one manuscript (1
r).
Since the text of Revelation was imbedded in a commentary by Andreas
of Caesarea and thus difficult for the printer to read, Erasmus had a
fresh copy made. The copyist himself misread the original at places, and
thus a number of errors were introduced into Erasmus’ printed text.
52
For example, in Revelation 17:4 Codex 1
r and all other Greek
manuscripts have the word
ajkavqarta (“impure”), but Erasmus’ text
reads
ajkaqavrthto", a word unknown in Greek literature. In a similar
fashion, the words
kai; parevstai (“and is to come”) in 17:8 were misread
as
kaivper e[stin (“and yet is”).53 These and other errors produced
by the scribe who made the copy of Revelation for the printer are still to
be found in modern editions of the TR, such as the widely used version
published by the Trinitarian Bible Society.
54
was published in 1976. See Andrew J. Brown,
The Word of God Among All Nations: A
Brief History of the Trinitarian Bible Society, 1831–1981
(London: Trinitarian Bible
Society, 1981), p. 130.
51
Clark, “Observations on the Erasmian Notes in Codex 2,” p. 755.
52
Rummel, Erasmus’ Annotations on the New Testament, p. 38. Some of these errors
can conveniently be found in Frederick H. Scrivener,
A Plain Introduction to the
Criticism of the New Testament,
2nd ed. (Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, and Co., 1874),
pp. 382–83, n. 2.
53
The marginal note in the old Scofield Reference Bible corrects this error (p. 1346).
54
H KAINH DIAQHKH. This version is subtitled The New Testament: The Greek
Text Underlying the English Authorised Version of 1611.
My copy is not dated, though it
