Question Corner by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 24, 1904

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 34.

Question Corner

By Editor

1552.—Rev. 20: 5. Is It Spurious?

The first sentence of Rev. 20: 5, "The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished," is by some said to be spurious, not being found in the earliest MSS., or before the fourth century. What ground is there for this? T.

We reply in brief: (1) The earliest New Testament manuscripts are as follows: The Codex Sinaiticus, now in St. Petersburg. It contains the whole of the New Testament. It was discovered by Tischendorf in the monastery of St. Catherine, on Mount Sinai in 1859. It was written in all probability in the Fourth Century, not later than the Fifth. It once contained the whole Bible.

2. The Codex Alexandrinus, now in the British Museum, written in the Fifth Century. It contains the whole Bible.

3. The Codex Vaticanus, now in the Vatican, known also as Vatican MS. No. 1209. It was probably written in the latter part of the Fourth Century or in the Fifth. It contains the whole Bible, with exceptions of parts of the New Testament, among which is the Apocalypse.

4. The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus. This is what is called a "palimpsest," the original writing of which has been erased in order to use the parchment for another. In this MS. part of a Greek Bible was used on which to write some of the works of Ephraim, a Syrian "father." So have the "fathers" in other instances obliterated the Word. But by chemical reagents the old writing has been partially restored. It was written in the Fifth Century, and contains about two-thirds of the New Testament.

5. Then we have the Peshitto Syriac version, but the Oxford Bible Helps assure us that "there are no [Syriac] copies extant which were written so early as the oldest of the Greek MSS."

Now of the above, Rev. 20: 5 is found in the first, we believe, and in the second, and fourth. The third does not contain the Revelation at all. The Syriac omits the passage, and so does Vatican MS. No. 1160, of the Eleventh Century. Thus the three oldest Greek copies which contain the Revelation at all have the text. The Emphatic Diaglott, based on Griesbach's text, has the following foot-note on the first part of Rev. 20: 5: "These words were probably omitted by oversight in Vatican MS. [No. 1160] as they are found in A. B. C., tho not in the Syriac." By "A" is meant Codex Alexandrinus; by "B," Codex Vaticanus, No. 2066, of the Seventh or Eighth Century; by "C" Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus. Finally, the best Greek Text, that of Wescott & Hort, contains the passage, and neither have the Revised Versions nor any of the critics, so far as we know, even questioned it. The revisors adopted for their revision the text "for which the evidence is decidedly preponderating," and when that differed from the Greek text "from which the Authorized Version was made, the alteration be expressed in the margin." (See Preface to Revised N. T., Division II, ¶4.) But there is not even an indication of doubt over Rev. 20: 5. The clause in question is considered spurious only by those who have a doctrine to prove which the text condemns.

1553.—Was Moses Translated to Heaven?

C. B. G.

He was, after his resurrection. That he was raised from the dead is evident from two facts: (1) When Michael the Archangel, or Christ, contended with the devil over the body of Moses, it must have been for his resurrection. We know who must have been the conquerer. Jude 9. (2) Moses appeared with Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration representing those who will be raised from the dead when Christ comes. Luke 9: 30, 31.

1554.—"Say Ye Not, A Confederacy."

Please tell me where in the Bible it says, "Say ye not, A confederacy." Does it not mean we shall not join unions for help, but rather trust God.

The twelfth verse of the eighth chapter of Isaiah is the clause. Why not get a good cheap concordance? The passage means that we should look to no earthly society or organization of men whatsoever for support or help in the fearful crisis of the last day. The cry of the world is, Save yourself by confederation. The children of God will make Him their refuge.