The argument for the Alexandrian text's superiority

The scholarly preference for the Alexandrian text-type over the Byzantine text-type is not simply based on the "older is better" principle. While the age of the manuscripts is a crucial factor, the reasoning is more complex and involves several lines of evidence from the field of textual criticism.

Here are some of the key reasons and evidence for the preference of Alexandrian texts:

1. Characteristics of the Texts Themselves:

• Scribal Tendencies: Textual critics analyze how scribes copied manuscripts.¹ It's a well-documented phenomenon that scribes, over centuries, tended to "smooth out" difficult passages, harmonize parallel accounts in the Gospels, and add clarifying or devotional phrases.² The Byzantine text is widely considered to be a later, edited form of the text that displays these scribal tendencies. For example:

  • Shorter Readings: The Alexandrian text is generally shorter and more abrupt. According to the principle of lectio brevior potior ("the shorter reading is better"), a shorter, more difficult reading is more likely to be original because scribes were more prone to adding words for clarity or piety than to deliberately omitting them.

  • Harmonization: The Byzantine text often harmonizes parallel passages. For instance, the Byzantine text of Luke 11:2-4 includes the full Lord's Prayer as found in Matthew 6, while the Alexandrian text has a shorter version. Most scholars believe the longer version in Luke is a later addition to make it consistent with Matthew.

  • Theological Smoothing: The Alexandrian text contains some readings that are theologically "difficult," which scribes in the Byzantine tradition seem to have removed or modified. A famous example is the phrase "nor the Son" in Matthew 24:36, where the Alexandrian manuscripts state that "no one knows the day or the hour, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."³ The Byzantine text omits "nor the Son," a change that avoids the theological implication that Jesus' knowledge was limited.

2. Manuscript Evidence Beyond "Older is Better":

• Geographic Distribution and Early Witness: While the vast majority of surviving manuscripts (over 90%) are of the Byzantine text-type, this is largely due to historical circumstances. The Byzantine Empire was a thriving center of Greek-speaking Christianity for over a thousand years, and its climate was not conducive to preserving ancient papyri. The Alexandrian texts, on the other hand, are primarily from Egypt, where the dry climate preserved ancient papyrus and parchment manuscripts. The crucial point is not the sheer number of later manuscripts but the consistency of the earliest witnesses. The earliest manuscripts, and the earliest quotations from church fathers like Origen and Clement of Alexandria, predominantly reflect the Alexandrian text-type.

• External Evidence from Other Translations: The earliest translations of the New Testament into other languages, such as the Sahidic Coptic and some early Latin versions, also tend to agree with the Alexandrian text, providing an independent witness to a text-type that was in use early and in different geographical locations.

3. The Genesis of the Byzantine Text:

• Critics believe that the Byzantine text-type, as a distinct tradition, developed later than the Alexandrian and other early text-types.⁴ It is seen as a "conflated" or "mixed" text, combining readings from different traditions to create a smoother, more comprehensive version of the text. This process of combining readings from different sources is a known scribal practice. The very nature of the Byzantine text, which often includes all variant readings in one expanded text, suggests it is a later consolidation rather than the original reading.

In short, the argument for the Alexandrian text's superiority is not a simple chronological one. It is a reasoned conclusion based on a comprehensive analysis of the internal characteristics of the texts, the patterns of scribal copying, and corroborating evidence from the earliest surviving manuscripts and other ancient translations.