Papyri · Codices · Byzantine majority · Erasmus base MSS · Stephanus additions · Ancient versions · Church Fathers · Beza 1598 · Scrivener 1894
← scroll to see all manuscript columns →
Verified from textus-receptus.com/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus and individual MS pages. Erasmus devoted at least 15 years to the project, travelling widely and consulting manuscripts across Europe before printing in 1516. He was surrounded by the writings of Origen, Cyprian, Ambrose, Basil, Chrysostom, Cyril, Jerome, and Augustine.
12th century. Gospels, Acts, Catholic Epistles, Pauline Epistles. Head of Family 1. Scrivener showed that at least 22 verses of the Erasmian text came from this MS. Erasmus used it extensively for the Gospels.
Erasmus 151612th century. Gospels only. Erasmus used this for the Gospel text. Contains Gospels with four lacunae.
Erasmus 151613th–14th century. Acts and Epistles (General and Pauline). Used by Erasmus for the Epistles text.
Erasmus 151613th–14th century. Acts, Pauline Epistles, Catholic Epistles. Erasmus sometimes used its marginal readings (e.g. Acts 8:37; 15:34; 24:6–8). Contains the Comma Johanneum in the margin.
Erasmus 151612th century. Gospels. Used by Erasmus as one of his three Gospel witnesses for the first edition.
Erasmus 151615th century. Gospels. One of Erasmus's three Gospel witnesses.
Erasmus 151612th century. Revelation only — contains Andreas of Caesarea's commentary with the biblical text embedded. The sole Revelation MS Erasmus had. Borrowed from Johann Reuchlin. Lacks the final verses of Rev 22.
Erasmus 1516 — Revelation10th–11th century. Pauline Epistles. Used by Erasmus for the Pauline text alongside minuscule 2815.
Erasmus 1516Verified from textus-receptus.com/wiki/Textus_Receptus: "In this number manuscripts: Codex Bezae, Codex Regius, minuscules 4, 5, 6, 2817, 8, 9." Stephanus cited 17 codices total in his Editio Regia margin, also consulting the Complutensian Polyglot.
8th century. Gospels (nearly complete). Cited by Stephanus as η' in his Editio Regia 1550. Its text was cited alongside Codex Bezae, demonstrating that TR editors knew and evaluated all available readings.
Stephanus 155013th century. Gospels (nearly complete). Used by Erasmus and cited by Stephanus as γ' in his 1550 edition.
Stephanus 155013th century. Complete NT. One of the manuscripts cited by Stephanus in the apparatus of the Editio Regia.
Stephanus 155013th century. Gospels, Acts, Pauline Epistles. Cited by Stephanus 1550.
Stephanus 155012th century. Gospels. Cited in the Editio Regia apparatus of Stephanus 1550.
Stephanus 1550The first printed Greek NT, produced by 42 Spanish scholars using manuscripts from the Vatican Library under Cardinal Cisneros. Consulted by Stephanus for variant readings. Included the Comma Johanneum on the authority of ancient Vatican codices. A major pillar of the TR tradition.
Stephanus / TR traditionVerified from textus-receptus.com/wiki/Peshitta, /wiki/Gothic_Bible, and /wiki/Syriac_versions_of_the_Bible. These versions confirm the Byzantine/TR text in independent translation traditions spanning from the 2nd century onward across Syria, the Gothic nations, North Africa, Armenia, and Egypt.
Standard Syriac NT, c. early 5th century (possibly 2nd century in its earliest form). Contains 22 NT books — the full TR text of Matthew through Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Pet, 1 Jn, and Acts. Closer to Byzantine text-type in the Gospels. Over 350 manuscripts survive. Still used in the Syriac Church today.
Syriac / ByzantineSyriac revision made in 616 AD by Thomas of Harkel. Contains all 27 NT books including 2 Peter, 2–3 John, Jude, and Revelation. Supports many TR readings. Important witness used by Beza and later editors.
Syriac / ByzantinePre-Vulgate Latin translations of the NT, 2nd–4th century. A diverse set of Western witnesses that supported many TR readings. The 157 AD Italic Church of northern Italy and the 177 AD Gallic Church both used versions of this text, per textus-receptus.com. Erasmus and Beza consulted it alongside the Greek.
Latin / WesternJerome's Latin translation, c. 382–420 AD. Used continuously in the Western Church for over a millennium. Consulted by Erasmus, Stephanus, and Beza. The Complutensian Polyglot placed it alongside the Greek. Supports TR readings in many passages.
Latin / Western4th century translation by Bishop Ulfilas for the Gothic people. Preserved primarily in the Codex Argenteus (6th century, Uppsala). Covers the Gospels and Pauline Epistles substantially. Per textus-receptus.com: "The Gothic Version of the 4th or 5th century used the Textus Receptus."
Gothic / Byzantine5th century Armenian translation, considered one of the most accurate early versions. Covers the complete NT. Closely follows the Byzantine/TR text-type. One of the major versional witnesses supporting the TR tradition across Central Asia.
Armenian / ByzantineAncient translation of the NT into Geez (Classical Ethiopic), used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Supports the broader Byzantine/TR text tradition in many passages. Erasmus's circle consulted versional evidence from across the known world.
EthiopicVerified from textus-receptus.com/wiki/Church_Fathers: "It is estimated that there are one million early Church Father quotations of the Bible in many different languages. The majority of these verses reveal they used the Byzantine type text." Erasmus was "surrounded by the writings of Origen, Cyprian, Ambrose, Basil, Chrysostom, Cyril, Jerome, and Augustine" — per textus-receptus.com/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus.
Apostolic Father. His NT quotations are among the earliest patristic witnesses. Beza had access to a manuscript "from the convent of D. Irenaeus in Lyons" of extreme antiquity for the Gospels and Acts. Quotations support the TR text-type.
Apostolic / TRNorth African Church Father. Extensive NT quotations from the 2nd–3rd century. His writings support the early Western/TR text and were consulted by Erasmus and the TR editors as witnesses to early readings.
Western / TRBishop of Carthage. His voluminous NT quotations are an important 3rd-century witness. Per textus-receptus.com, quoted the Heavenly Witnesses passage (1 Jn 5:7) in his writings. Consulted by Erasmus.
Western / TRAlexandria and Caesarea. Produced the Hexapla and wrote extensive NT commentaries containing thousands of quotations. Erasmus worked through Origen's writings in preparing the TR. His quotations are key early witnesses even where they depart from TR.
Alexandrian / consultedBishop of Milan. Western Father. His quotations from Paul and the Gospels were directly consulted by Erasmus. The Complutensian editors and Erasmus both cited Ambrose as supporting the Comma Johanneum reading.
Western / TROne of the Eastern "Great Fathers." His writings contain extensive NT quotations reflecting the Eastern Byzantine text. Directly consulted by Erasmus in preparing the TR. One of the four Eastern Great Fathers.
Byzantine / TRArchbishop of Constantinople. Perhaps the most prolific NT quoter among the Fathers — his homilies cover virtually the entire NT. His text is essentially Byzantine and strongly supports the TR tradition. Consulted by Erasmus.
Byzantine / TRProduced the Latin Vulgate. His NT quotations and the Vulgate itself were continuously consulted by all TR editors — Erasmus, Stephanus, and Beza. His Latin readings occasionally entered the TR tradition at points of Greek MS lacunae.
Latin / TRBishop of Hippo. Western Father whose NT quotations are massive and influential. Consulted by Erasmus throughout his preparation of the TR. Supported Western/Latin readings that entered the TR tradition.
Western / TRFirst printed Greek NT. Used 7–8 Byzantine minuscules from Basel plus patristic citations. Laid the foundation for all subsequent TR editions. Revised in 1519, 1522, 1527, 1535.
FoundationRefined Erasmus using 17 additional manuscripts. The 1550 Editio Regia introduced the first critical apparatus of any NT edition, listing variants from the Complutensian and 14 Greek MSS in the margin.
Editio RegiaBuilt on Stephanus 1550. Consulted Codex Bezae (D) and Codex Claromontanus (D²) though largely retained the Stephanus text. His 1598 fifth edition was the primary source for the KJV translators of 1611.
KJV primary sourceThe 1633 edition whose preface coined the phrase "Textus Receptus" — the text received by all. Essentially a reprint of Beza/Stephanus. Became the standard TR on the European continent.
Named the TRReconstructed the exact Greek text underlying the KJV by collating the 1611 translation against Beza 1598, identifying ~190 departures. Published by Cambridge; now printed by the Trinitarian Bible Society as the standard TR for global Bible translation.
KJV exact base · TBS standardThis viewer documents the complete manuscript heritage of the Textus Receptus — the Greek New Testament that underlies the King James Bible and the broader Reformed tradition. Every witness listed has been verified against primary sources.
Primary TR-affirming manuscript wiki. Used for papyrus lists, codex descriptions, individual MS pages, Church Father quotation counts, and version affiliations.
Trinitarian Bible Society — source for Scrivener 1894 data, TBS publication standards, and global TR distribution information.
Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts — used for papyrus digitization records, Chester Beatty provenance data, and modern manuscript imaging.
Browse all 27 NT books. Each card shows which manuscripts, versions, and Church Fathers attest that book. Click any chip to see its full description. Use the filter pills to focus on a witness category. Cards collapse/expand individually.
A heat-map grid showing presence/absence of every witness across all NT books. Full coverage = filled cell; partial/fragmentary = diagonal slash; absent = empty. Click any column header or row label to highlight.
Narrative cards describing each category of TR witness in depth — papyri, codices, Byzantine MSS, Erasmus base MSS, Stephanus additions, ancient versions, Church Fathers, and the printed TR editions from Erasmus to Scrivener.
Early Egyptian papyrus fragments (2nd–7th c.). The oldest physical NT witnesses. Designated P45, P46 etc. Digitized by CSNTM.
Parchment book-form MSS: Sinaiticus (ℵ), Alexandrinus (A), Vaticanus (B), Ephraemi (C), Bezae (D), Washingtonianus (W).
The majority text tradition, represented by over 5,800 surviving Greek MSS. Minuscules 1, 33, 61, 69, Lect (lectionaries) etc.
The 7–8 Byzantine minuscules Erasmus used directly at Basel for the 1516 editio princeps: ms2, ms7, 817, 2815, 2816, 2817.
The 17 MSS cited in the apparatus of Robert Stephanus's landmark 1550 Editio Regia, including Codex Regius (L) and Complutensian Polyglot.
Early translations: Peshitta (Syriac), Harclean Syriac, Old Latin/Itala, Latin Vulgate, Gothic (Wulfila), Armenian, Ethiopic.
Patristic quotations from Irenaeus through Augustine — over 1 million NT citations, the majority reflecting the Byzantine/TR text type.
The published TR editions: Erasmus (1516–35), Stephanus (1546–51), Beza (1565–1604), Elzevir (1624/33), Scrivener (1894).