New Testament

The New Testament (NT) is the second part of the Christian Bible. The New Testament chronicles the life, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as well as the events of first-century Christianity. It was composed between the years 50 and 100 AD. c.

It is made up of a canonical set of books and letters written after the crucifixion of Jesus, which the apostolic tradition made the Church discern, apart from other texts considered apocryphal (Greek: ἀπό 'far away', κρυφος 'hidden'; Latin: apocryphus). It is designated as the New Testament since Tertullian in the Christian Church. Unlike the Hebrew Tanakh, called the Old Testament by Christians, Jews (with the exception of the so-called Messianic Jews) do not have the New Testament in common with Christians.

The oldest surviving versions of the New Testament texts are written in Koine Greek (κοινή), the lingua franca in the Eastern Mediterranean in Roman times. Most scholars believe that this was the language in which they were originally written, although some books may have first been written in Hebrew or Aramaic, the Semitic language spoken by Jesus and his entourage. fifth century (close to the earliest complete Greek manuscripts) in Aramaic as the Syriac Peshitta, the Harclense, and the Curetonian, but are considered by most scholars to be translations from the Greek.

Etymology

The use of the term «testament» comes from the Hebrew word berith ('alliance, pact, agreement or dispositions between two contracting parties'), through the Greek διαθήκη (diathḗkē), and from the Latin testamentum. Some authors present the names Old and New Testament, which designate the two large sections into which the Christian Bible is divided, as the result of a misinterpretation of the word diathékē, which means: 'desire' or 'will', and also 'agreement' or 'covenant'. By this criterion, diathékē in Greek would refer to God's old and new covenant with humanity rather than to Scripture itself.

According to other authors, the term "testament" comes from the translation of the Vulgate and the transition from the Hebrew to the Greek concept, and would be the result of a conscious search. The translators of the Septuagint would have wanted to avoid that when speaking of the berith (the covenant between God and Israel) was understood to be a covenant between equals. That is why they did not use the Greek term syntheké (which translates as 'covenant'), but chose diatheké, which translates as 'testament. will', which is the obligation of one only with respect to another who only receives benefits. In this way they further highlighted the disparity between the parties (that is, between God and men). Then, that is one of the meanings of the word testamentum , and of the Spanish "testament" (not understood only as last will ex mortis , as in colloquial use).. Hence, the Latin versions, such as that of Jerome of Estridon, and most versions of the Christian Bible continue to use the term "testament" instead of "covenant" to refer to the Old Testament (Sinai covenant) and the New. Testament (covenant in the blood of Christ).

Composition

The composition of the New Testament canon became established little by little in the first centuries of the new movement. The oldest list is supposed to have been drawn up around the year 170 AD. c.

The current list was originally published by Athanasius of Alexandria in 370 and consecrated as canonical at the Third Council of Carthage in 397. However, disputes over the composition of the canon did not cease. Martin Luther questioned the relevance of including the Epistle of Santiago, the Epistle of Judas, the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Apocalypse of John or Book of Revelation; although finally, unlike the deuterocanonical ones of the Old Testament, they were never rejected. However, the canonization of 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, James, and Jude, as well as Hebrews and Revelation, remains^{[citation needed]} a matter of debate.

The New Testament comprises the four canonical gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the epistles of Paul of Tarsus, seven Catholic epistles of various attributions, and the Apocalypse, as can be seen in the diagram below.

It comprises, in total, 27 books in the canon of the Catholic Church, accepted by most of the Churches of the Reformation. The Syrian Church only accepts 22 books in its canon. Books like 1 and 2 of Clement, the book of the Alliance, the Octateuch and others, have been the cause of disputes, and are canonized by other Orthodox Catholic churches.

New Testament Manuscripts

According to Robert W. Funk, founder of the Jesus Seminar, there are many variants in the different Greek manuscripts of the New Testament that have survived to the present day; some are minor variants without significance, but there are also significant changes. He assures:

It has been estimated that there are more than 70,000 significant variants in the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. Such a mountain of variations has been reduced to a manageable number by modern critical editions that order, evaluate and choose between the myriad of possibilities. Critical editions of the Greek New Testament used by scholars are, in fact, creations of textual critics and editors. They are not identical to any of the ancient surviving manuscripts. They are a composition of many different versions.

Master texts are classified according to criteria into “received majority text” or “Receptus” and “Critical text”. The first prioritizes the majority and traditional variations regardless of their age, it is based on the compilation started by Erasmus. The second prioritizes the oldest readings according to temporal hierarchy criteria, based on the oldest texts found, even recently, such as the Sinaitic codex (a custom followed in critical works of secular classical texts). The Nestlé-Aland Twenty-seventh Edition is the most recently refined master text and the basis for modern vernacular translations.

Manuscripts

Papyruses

The oldest complete manuscripts of the New Testament are the Sinaitic and Alexandrian parchment codices, but in terms of papyri, there are about a hundred fragmented papyri from earlier dates (some fit in the palm of a hand).

Rylands Papyrus

The Rylands Papyrus (P52) is the oldest manuscript ever found of the four canonical gospels. It was discovered in the desert of Egypt. It was published in 1935. It contains some verses from chapter 18 of the Gospel of John (Jn 18,31-33.37-38). According to the graphological study, it is prior to the year 150 (it is usually dated around 125-130 AD).

Papyrus Magdalena Gr 17

It was found in an antique shop in Luxor (Egypt) at the end of the 19th century. It was purchased by a priest named Charles Bousfield Huleatt, who upon his death donated the papyrus to Magdalen College, Oxford, where it was renamed Gr 17. (usually dated to AD 200).

Bodmer Papyri II

These are papyri discovered by M. Martin Bodmer. Of the set of four Bodmer papyri (P66, P72, P73, P74) kept in the Library of Cologne, in Geneva, P66 stands out. Found in Egypt and dated around the year 200, it contains fourteen chapters from the Gospel of John.

For its part, the Bodmer papyri 14 and 15, known as P75, were also discovered in Egypt in 1956 and are dated from AD 175 to AD 225. C. They contain about half of the Gospels of Luke and John, namely:

• Luke 3.18-22.33-38; 4.1-2.34-44; 5.1-10.37-39; 6.1-4.10-49; 7.1-32.35-39.41-43.46-50; 8.1-56; 9.1-2.4-62; 10.1-42; 11.1-54; 12.1-35; 14,1-35; 15.1-32; 16.1
• John 1.1-16a; 16b-51; 2,1-25; 3,1-36; 4,1-54; 5,1-3a; 5,5-47; 6,1-71; 7,1-52; 8,12-59; 9,1-41; 10,1-42; 11,1-45.48-57; 12,3-50; 13,1-10; 14,8-31; 15,1-10

P75 is the oldest manuscript holding two Gospels together. This was interpreted by different writers as a demonstration that, for the first Christian communities, the Gospels formed a unit. They belonged to the Bodmer de Cologne Foundation (Geneva). In 2007, they were donated to the Vatican Apostolic Library where they are currently kept.

Chester Beatty Papyri

There are three papyri (P45, P46 and P47) written before the year 250 AD. C. They contain fragments of the epistles of Paul, the Apocalypse and the Gospels.

• P45: It contains fragments of the four canonical gospels and the Acts of the apostles.
• P46: Contains epistles of Paul: Rom; 1‐2 Cor; Eph; Gal; Phil; Col; 1‐2 Thes.
• P47: It contains a fragment of the book of Revelation (9,10—17,2).

Scrolls

Vatican Codex

Dates from the mid-4th century.

Sinaitic Codex

Mid-4th century.

Alexandrine Codex

Century V

Ephrem's Codex

Century V.

Codex Bezae

Century V. It only contains the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The text of Acts differs somewhat from other versions.

Freer's Codex

Century V. It only contains the Gospels.

5th to 15th centuries

• La Vulgate of St. Jerome appears in the year 382.
• Recension of Byzantium at the beginning of the centuryV: It gives rise to the koiné version.
• La Peshitta Syriac is written in the centuryV.
• The Armenian version of the centuryV.
• Copies of the monasteries.

15th-19th centuries

• The Políglota of Alcalá, of Cardinal Cisneros, forms between the years 1502 and 1522.
• The Erasmus version of Rotterdam is written in 1516 by reviewing only six manuscripts.

These two versions are merged by Robert Estienne. The fourth edition of this publication is used, from Teodoro de Beza until the end of the centuryXIX.

Since the 19th century

The Sinaitic Codex (K. Tischendorf, 1859) is discovered. The codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus give rise to the current texts.

Third Council of Carthage

In the year 397 Pope Siricius convened the third council of Carthage where the vulgate (translation of the Bible into vulgar Latin made by Saint Jerome from 382-405) was imposed and finally the New Testament was published.

Spanish translation

For centuries the Bible was the most widely distributed book in Spain, with handwritten copies available in Latin and, for several centuries, even in the Gothic language. Various Bible histories, psalters (or psalms), glossaries, moral tales, and similar works became best-selling books of the day. Trained copyists painstakingly reproduced exquisite Bible manuscripts. Although it took 20 scribes an entire year to produce a single first-class manuscript, many Latin Bibles and thousands of commentaries on the Latin Bible were circulating in Spain by the 15th century.

As the Spanish language began to develop, interest arose in having the Bible in the vernacular. By the 12th century, the Bible was translated into Romance or Old Spanish, the language spoken by common people.

Later, the dissidence between the Waldenses, Lollards and Hussites caused the Church to prohibit the translation of the Bible in the Romance language as a precaution against heresy (Council of Toulouse, France, 1229). For the next two hundred years the only official Catholic Bible published in Spain—aside from the Latin Vulgate—was the Complutense Polyglot, the first polyglot Bible, sponsored by Cardinal Cisneros. Only 600 copies were printed. It contained the Biblical text in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin.

In the early 16th century Francisco de Enzinas, the son of a wealthy Spanish landowner, began translating the New Testament into Spanish while still a young student. He then got his translation printed in the Netherlands, and in 1544 he tried to obtain royal authorization to distribute it in Spain, which was refused and he ended up accused before the inquisition. A few years later a revised edition of that translation was printed in Venice, Italy, which Julián Hernández secretly smuggled into Seville, where he was arrested and later executed for heresy.

Only later did the entire Bible begin to be translated into Spanish with the work of Cassiodoro de Reina (Biblia del Oso 1568-1569), by Protestantism, and Felipe Scío de San Miguel (1790) and Félix Torres Amat (1823) in Catholicism.

Brit Hadashah

Brit Hadashah or Brit Hadashah is the Hebrew term for the New Testament. Etymologically, Brit comes from the Hebrew word “pact”, and Hadasha from the word “renewed” or "new". It has also been called Brit HaHadasha, with Ha being the definite article “the”, “the”, “the” or "the" (in this case acting as an "the").

The difference between the Christian New Testament and the Brit HaHadasha, is that the latter includes interspersed Hebrew words. For example, instead of saying Jesus Christ, it says Yeshua HaMashiach, or instead of saying: Apostle Paul, it says: Shaliaj Shaúl or Rabbi Shaúl.

Some Christians claim that users of the term Brit Hadashah intend to Hebraize Christians (or Christianize Jews). Despite this, the term Brit Hadashah is highly recommended by Messianic Jewish congregations.

One of the main reasons why Christian apologists criticize those who promote the use of the term Brit Hadashah (Renewed Covenant) instead of New Testament, is that there is currently no ancient New Testament manuscript written in Hebrew, but more than 5,000 complete New Testament scrolls written in Common or Koine Greek. Therefore, those who affirm that the Brit Hadashá is a “literal translation” of the ancient Hebrew New Testament manuscripts, are erring in their appreciation.^{[citation needed]}

Old manuscripts of the Tanakh (Old Testament) only exist in Hebrew and Aramaic. While all the ancient scrolls of the New Testament are in Koine Greek. Scholars agree that the languages of the Bible are Hebrew and Aramaic for the OT, and Greek for the NT.

The term Brit Hadashah is used by the Holy Names Movement, New Jews, or Judaizers.^{[citation needed]} They advocate discontinuing the use of the Bible (especially the New Testament) of Gentile or Greco-Roman origin, as it is a translation of Greek manuscripts (since they consider that the manuscripts were manipulated and distorted by Hellenistic scribes, thus destroying the original Hebrew New Testament manuscripts).^{[citation required]}

Because names like Jesus, Christ, Jesus Christ, Church, and Holy Ghost (among others), are of Greek origin, members of the Holy Names Movement consider these terms as "profane names".^{[citation needed]} For this reason, in their literal Hebrew New Testament versions, they use “Yeshúa” instead of Jesus, “Kechilá” in instead of Church, “Ruach Ha Kodesh” instead of Holy Spirit, etc.^{[citation needed]}