THE EASTERN GREEK ORTHODOX BIBLE NEW TESTAMENT

INTRODUCTIONnoticed by the monks, but in spite of the growing concern of his hosts, theGerman visitor was still able to consult ancient texts of great value. Whenhe returned to the Monastery several years later to present as a gift hisrecently published edition of the Septuagint, his monastic guests expressedinterest and appreciation. Tischendorf writes:On the afternoon of this day, I was taking a walk with the steward of theconvent in the neighborhood, and as we returned, towards sunset, hebegged me to take some refreshment with him in his cell. Scarcely had heentered the room, when, resuming our former subject of conversation, hesaid: “And I, too, have read a Septuagint,” i.e. a copy of the Greektranslation made by the Seventy. And so saying, he took down from thecorner of the room a bulky kind of volume, wrapped up in a red cloth, andlaid it before me. I unrolled the cover, and discovered, to my great surprise,not only those very fragments which, fifteen years before, I had taken out ofthe basket, but also other parts of the Old Testament, the New Testamentcomplete, and, in addition, the Epistle of Barnabas and a part of the Pastorof Hermas.aTsar Alexander II, who had commissioned Tischendorf’s expedition, sentthe monastery 9,000 rubles to compensate the monastery for the ‘loss’ ofthe manuscript. It should be noted that Tischendorf had promised that thecodex would be returned to the monastery, but this never happened.Instead, this ancient treasure was long kept by the Russian NationalLibrary and in 1933, the Soviet Union sold it to the British Library for 100,000.Hence, Codex Sinaiticus is not only one of the oldest manuscripts availabletoday (330-350), it is also Orthodox in origin and was not itself ‘discoveredin a trash can’ as many mistakenly believe. On the other hand, the codex isheavily corrected and may not be as reliable as modern textual critics oftenclaim.Codex Vaticanus (Vatican Library, Gregory-Aland no. B or 03) is also oneof the oldest extant manuscripts of the Bible. Its origins are not known, butit has been suggested that Codex Vaticanus was among the fifty biblescommissioned by Emperor St. Constantine I to Eusebius of Caesarea. TheEOB/OT and Brenton’s LXX are primarily based on this manuscript(except for 1-4 Maccabees and the Prayer of Manasseh which are absent).Codex Alexandrinus (British Library, Gregory-Aland no. A or 02) is a 5thcentury manuscript containing the majority of the Septuagint and the NewTestament. It is also considered as one of the earliest and most completemanuscripts of the Bible. It is named after the See of Alexandria where itaQuoted in A History of the Textual Criticism of the New Testament by Marvin Richardson Vincent, p. 16

INTRODUCTIONDuring the process of verifying, correcting and retranslating the WEB textfor the EOB/NT edition, the Patriarchal Text of 1904 and the UBS/NACritical Text were systematically consulted. In addition, recent scholarlystudies have been taken into consideration, notably Jesus as God: The NewTestament Use of Theos in Reference to Jesus (Murray J. Harris); Truth inTranslation—Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament(Jason BeDuhn) and New Testament Text and Translation Commentary(Philip Comfort).Indeed, the revision and retranslation work has been so extensive as tomake the EOB/NT an entirely new translation prepared to ensureaccuracy and harmony with Orthodox theology and terminology.Compared to other translations, the following differences are noteworthy:CHURCH OFFICESThe Greek words dia,konoj (diakonos), presbu,teroj (presbyteros) andevpi,skopoj (episkopos), are translated respectively as “deacon” (instead of“servant” or “minister”), “presbyter” (instead of “elder”) and “overseer.”The modern English word “priest” is derived from “presbyter” but in aconfused manner: it actually conveys the idea of “one who offers a sacrifice,”which in Greek is i ereu.j (hiereus) and !hek (kohen) in Hebrew. The GreekOrthodox tradition has properly retained the distinction betweenpresbu,teroj and i ereu.j; the latter is applied to the Christian minister of thealtar in his function as offerer of the Eucharistic gifts on behalf of thepriestly people, which is why the Christian “priest” (Greek: i ereu.j Latin:sacerdos) par excellence originally was and still is the bishop. It is only withthe development of the presbyter-led parish that the term “priest” (i ereu.j)came to be applied to the presbyter in his function as celebrant of theEucharist. To this day, the annual directory of the Greek OrthodoxArchdiocese of America uses the title of “presbyter,” thereby maintainingthe most traditional and theologically accurate terminology.In the New Testament, presbyter and overseer are interchangeable andsynonymous,a which is why the EOB/NT translates evpi,skopoj (episkopos)as “overseer,” not “bishop.”For more information on the meaning of these terms and the biblicalapostolic origins of the so-called Monarchic episcopate, please refer toAppendix A.aSee Appendix A for a comprehensive discussion of this topic.

INTRODUCTIONFunction: verb; Inflected Form(s): -shipped also -shiped; -ship·ping also ship·ing1 : to honor or reverence as a divine being or supernatural power2 : to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion synonym see REVEREAs a result, some scholars have decided to translate proskuneo consistentlyas “worship,” but many others do not use “worship” in contexts whereproskuneo is properly offered to a creature.a Indeed, there are instanceswhen proskuneo is reserved for God (Exodus 20:5 LXX, Acts 10:25, Rev.22:9) and others when proskuneo can be properly offered to creatures asderivative icons of God (1 Chronicles 29:20 LXX, 1 Kings 2:13 LXX, Rev.3:9). Hence, although ‘all honor, glory and worship are due to God,’relative honor, glory and worship are due to parents, rulers, bishops,angels, saints, etc.In the development of the Eastern Orthodox dogmatic framework and atthe time of the iconoclastic controversy, St. John of Damascus and theSeventh Ecumenical Council clarified the definition of proskuneo as“derivative or relative worship” or “veneration,” while acknowledging thefact that proskuneo can also mean “worship” in the highest sense. On thisbasis, the Council declared such acts of reverence to be proper if theintention is to ultimately honor the ‘the true God and Father’b by honoringhis icons, primarily the Son who is the perfect icon,c “True God of TrueGod” and who shares the uncreated nature of the Father,d but also createdicons, such as rulers and saints.e For clarity’s sake, the Council alsodeclared that the highest form of worship would be associated with theunambiguous word latruo/latreia, a semantic clarification and adjustmentcomparable with the one that took place with the words episkopos andousia/hypostasis.f Indeed, latreia is never used in the Scriptures in referenceto anyone but God.g As the editor of the Acts of the Seventh EcumenicalCouncil for the Post-Nicene Fathers series observed:haSome translations then use “bow down,” as NRS in Revelation 3:9John 17:3c Colossians 1:15 (evstin eivkw.n tou/ qeou/ tou/ avora,tou)d Hebrews 1:1-4e For more information on the concept of “derivation” and “relative worship” in Orthodox theology,please refer to the Appendix D article on the Filioquef See Appendix A article “Presbyters and Bishops”g In the Creed of Nicea-Constantinople, it is proskuneo, not latreia, which is used in the clause “TheSpirit, the Lord who together with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified ”h PNF II (Volume 14) pp. 523-528b

INTRODUCTIONgods of their fathers but to serve (abadh) the Lord (Josh. xxiv. 14). And forthe use of shachah the following may suffice: “And all the congregationblessed the Lord God of their fathers and bowed down their heads andworshiped (Hebrew, shachah; Greek, proskuneo ; Latin, adoro) the Lord andthe King” (I. Chr. xxix. 20). But while it is true of the Hebrew of the OldTestament that there is no word which refers alone to Divine Worship thisis not true of the Septuagint Greek nor of the Greek of the New Testament,for in both proskuneo has always its general meaning, sometimes applying tothe creature and sometimes to the Creator; but latreuo is used to denotedivine worship alone, as St. Augustine pointed out long ago.This distinction comes out very clearly in the inspired translation of theHebrew found in Matthew iv. 10, “Thou shalt worship (proskuneseis) theLord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve (latreuseis).” “Worship” wasdue indeed to God above all but not exclusively to him, but latria is to begiven to “him only.”With this background in mind and taking into account the current, narrowsense of “worship,” the EOB has opted to always translate proskunh/w(proskuneo) as “to express adoration” with a consistent explanatoryfootnote. This approach faithfully conveys the meaning of proskuneo bycombining the idea of a physical (or mental) expression with the broadsense of “adoration/to adore.”Latreia is always rendered by the expression “to offer divine service.”Note: The table below provides every instance where proskuneo isused; it is always and consistently translated “to express adoration.”VerseJesusMatt. 2:2XMatt. 2:8XMatt. 2:11XGodMatt. 4:9DemonsDragon,Beast,ImageDevilXMatt. 4:10XMatt. 8:2XMatt. 9:18XMatt. 14:33XMatt. 15:25XGeneric,People,SaintsIdolsPeterAngel

INTRODUCTIONVerseJesusGodRev. 5:14XRev. 7:11XRev.

character of certain Greek New Testament manuscripts. It is the form found in the largest number of surviving manuscripts. The New Testament text of the Greek Orthodox Churches, the Patriarchal edition of 1904 (PT), is based on this text-type. This textual tradition also underlies the Textus Receptus Greek text.