The book of Revelation : translated from the ancient Greek Text

1849·4.8 MB·English.

by  Tregelles, Samuel Prideaux, 1813-1875

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THE
BOOK OF REVELATION,
TRANSLATED
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BY
TREGELLES.
S. p.
"—Adjuvanteetiam codicumveritate, quamsoleraeinendationisdiliyeutia
procuravit; veiiiatitainstructusadambiguaScripturanimdiscutiendaatque
solvenda."
ACGUSTIXE.
LONDON
SAMUEL BAGSTER AND SONS,
lo, PiTERNOSTER RoW; WAREHOUSE FOR BiBLHS, XeW TESTAMENTS.
PraterBooks,Lexicons, Grammars, Concordances,and
Psalters, in Ancient and ModernLanguages.
m.dccc.xlix.

—
;
TO THE READER.
Tlds Translation of t?ie BooJc of Revelation is executed
from the Greek Text according to the ancient authorities
so that thereis not asingleword whichis notguaranteed by
Manuscriptauthority of at least twelve hundred years
OLD; andbyfar thegreaterpartisvouchedfor byMSS. of
fourteen hundred years OLD.
Intheyear 1844, 1 edited the Greek Text ofthe Book of
Revelation from ancient authorities, with an English
Translation adapted to the Greek Text so edited, and a
Critical Introduction.'^ I have been requested to publish
the English Translation in a separate form, in order that
it maybe more conveniently used bythose, who wish to
studythis important book of Holy Scripture according as
itisgivenby the most ancient authorities.
In complyingwiththereq—uestthus made to me, I have
carefullyrevisedthewhole: thisrevisionhasbeen carried
outbothwithrespectto the authorities on which the Text
rests, and also with regard tothe Translationinto English.
I must refer the reader to "The Revelation in Greek
and English" for adetaile—d account of the object of the
revised Text and version, the critical principles upon
which I have acted, and a—statement of authorities con-
sultedin forming the text: in the Introduction to that
work I entered into these particulars prettyfully. I may
<»"The Book of Revelation in Greek, edited from ancienl authorities;
withanewEnglishversionandvariousreadings." BagsterandSons.
—
INTEODUCTION.
ii.
also referto the "Prospectus of a Greek New Testament
now in preparation," subjoined to the translation nowpub-
lished, forinformation on these subjects.
I may here briefly state, that I have long feltthe impor-
tance of putting the English reader of theWord of God
into possession of the results of textual criticism; and as
such criticism suppliesjust asmany corrections of the text
of the Book of Revelation alone, as of all the Epistles of
St. Paul taken together, it became a matter of manifest
importance that tliis book should be given to the English
reader on the basis of the best authorities.
The general principle on which I act with regard to
textual criticism is, that the ancient authorities have apar-
amount importance. The ancient MSS. are the especial
authorities as to the words, their order, &c., while the
ancient versions, (especially those of which we know the
history, and whichwe possessin a good condition,) are im-
portantauxiliaries: earhj citationsare not tobeoverlooked,
forthey are often valuableascollateral testimonies. These
principles I sought to apply to the Book of Revelation in
editing the Greek Text, and the result of these principles
was communicatedtothe Englishreaderinthe Translation
which accompaniedit.
The ancient MSS.however,whichcontaintheRevelation
—
are very few: they are
A. Codex Alexandrinus inthe British Museum proba-
;
bly of the early part of ihe/ifth century.
—
B. Codex Basilianus at Rome formerly inthe convent
of St. Basil, numbered 105; now in the Vatican Library
(20G6). This MS. isprobably of the seventh century.
C. Codex Ephraemi at Paris. This MS. containslarge
portions of the New Testament the vellum was used
;
afterwards as material onwhich to write someofthe Greek
works of Ephraem the Syrian. Great pains have been
taken to bring the original writing to light. It probably
belongsto the early partofthe fifth century. The portions
of the Revelation which it contains are abouttwo-thirds of
the Book.