The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts

by Philip W. Comfort

The fruit of fifteen years of painstaking labor, The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts presents fresh transcriptions of the earliest New Testament papyrus manuscripts. These manuscripts, more than sixty in number, date from the early second century to the beginning of the fourth century. The value of these papyri has long been recognized, but their publication in obscure journals and disparate sources has made access to them difficult for all but the most determined scholars. They are now collected into one handy volume, giving students, scholars, and translators a look at the Greek text that was read in the earliest centuries of the church. This collection of papyrus fragments covers almost two-thirds of the entire Greek New Testament, with transcriptions newly checked for accuracy. Preceding each transcription is an introduction giving a complete description of the content, date of writing, place of discovery, housing location, bibliography, physical features, and textual character. A selection of more than forty manuscript photographs rounds out this unique resource.

652 pages, Hardcover

First published December 12, 1971

About the author

Philip W. Comfort, Ph.D., has studied English literature, Greek, and New Testament at the Ohio State University and the University of South Africa. He has taught these classes at a number of colleges, including Wheaton College, Trinity Episcopal Seminary, Columbia International University, and Coastal Carolina University. He is currently senior editor of Bible reference at Tyndale and served as New Testament editor for the New Living Translation. He has contributed a number of books to the Tyndale collection, both as author and editor. Among these are The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament, The Origin of the Bible, The Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Essential Guide to Bible Versions, The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts (with D. Barrett), and Who's Who in Christian History�all of which are currently available at Tyndale.

Philip lives in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, with his wife, Georgia. His three children (Jeremy, John, and Peter) live nearby, as do his grandchildren. He enjoys the ocean, soccer, and writing poetry.