From Claude.ai
Prompt: Provide a list of all interpolations cited by Westcott and Hort in their book The New Testament in the Original Greek (1896).
Westcott and Hort identified several interpolations (later additions not present in the original text) in their critical edition of “The New Testament in the Original Greek.” In their Introduction and Appendix volume, they specifically discussed what they considered to be non-original additions to the text.
Here are the major interpolations they identified:
- The Long Ending of Mark (Mark 16:9-20) Westcott and Hort placed this in double brackets as a later addition, considering verses 9-20 not part of the original Gospel. They believed the original Gospel ended at 16:8.
- The Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53-8:11) The story of the woman caught in adultery was considered a non-original interpolation. They placed it in double brackets and discussed it as a later addition.
- The Comma Johanneum (1 John 5:7-8) The Trinitarian formula “in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth” was rejected as a later interpolation not found in early Greek manuscripts.
- The Longer Ending of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:13b) “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” They considered this doxology a later addition.
- Luke 22:43-44 The verses describing the angel strengthening Jesus and his sweat becoming like drops of blood. They placed these in double brackets as a non-original interpolation.
- Luke 23:34a “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” They placed this in double brackets, considering it possibly non-original.
- Acts 8:37 The confession of faith by the Ethiopian eunuch was considered an interpolation and placed in double brackets.
- Acts 15:34 “Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still” was considered a later interpolation.
- Acts 24:6b-8a The expanded description of the Jews’ accusations against Paul was placed in double brackets as a later addition.
- Acts 28:29 “And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves” was considered an interpolation.
- Romans 16:24 “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” was identified as an interpolation.
- The Longer Ending of Romans They discussed the placement of the doxology of Romans (16:25-27) as potentially moved from its original position.
Westcott and Hort’s approach to these passages was methodologically significant. They used double brackets [[…]] to indicate passages they considered to be later additions while still including them in the text. They based their decisions on manuscript evidence, particularly privileging readings from what they called the “Neutral Text” (primarily Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus).
Their work in identifying these interpolations was groundbreaking for its time and significantly influenced modern textual criticism, even though some of their specific conclusions have been reconsidered by later scholars based on additional manuscript discoveries and refined methodologies.
In the videos below Dr. James Tabor discusses Westcott and Hort and specific interpolations. He shows a handout and it is embedded below.
Tabor’s Handout
A long post by Tabor is linked below. Scroll down past his personal comments to his discussion and Westcott and Hort and interpolations.
Older is Not Necessarily Better: My First Experiences with New Testament Greek
