What does the absence of Romans 16:24 suggest about early manuscript variations? Text and Setting of the Verse Romans 16:23 : “Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you greetings. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you.” Romans 16:24 (varied): “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” Modern critical editions bracket or footnote the sentence because the earliest Greek witnesses read directly from v. 23 to v. 25. Earliest Greek Witnesses That Omit v. 24 • Papyrus 46 (c. AD 175–225) – our oldest substantial Pauline papyrus • Codex Vaticanus (B, 4th cent.) • Codex Sinaiticus (ℵ, 4th cent.) • Codex Alexandrinus (A, 5th cent.) • Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (C, 5th cent.) • Many early minuscules (e.g., 33, 1739) These manuscripts form a geographically wide, chronologically early, and text-critical weighty stream. Their agreement argues that the autograph ended v. 23 with no intermediate benediction. Later Greek and Versional Witnesses That Include v. 24 • Majority/Byzantine text tradition (most minuscules from the 9th century onward) • Codex Ψ (8th/9th cent.) and a cluster of late uncials • Latin Vulgate, Syriac Peshitta, Gothic, Armenian, Ethiopic versions • Patristic citations from the 4th–6th centuries (e.g., some later commentaries in the East) The verse likely migrated into these streams through liturgical copying habits between the 4th and 8th centuries. Why the Sentence Was Added 1. Liturgical Harmonization. Paul customarily ends letters with “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you” (1 Corinthians 16:23; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Philippians 4:23; 1 Thessalonians 5:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:18; Phm 25). A scribe hearing the public reading might have inserted the familiar benediction after v. 23 instead of waiting until v. 27. 2. Dittography From v. 20. Verse 20 already reads, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you” . Copyists sometimes duplicated phrases located nearby when eyes returned to an earlier line (“parablepsis”). 3. Sectional End-Markers. In later church usage Romans was often divided with doxology vv. 25–27 treated separately; a mid-chapter benediction closed the prior lection. What the Absence Tells Us About Early Variations • Variation Was Minor, Not Doctrinal. The sentence repeats wording the Holy Spirit inspired in v. 20; no theology is introduced or lost. • Earliest Stream Is Remarkably Unified. The same omission in papyri and the major fourth-century codices across Egypt and Caesarea demonstrates a stable early text. • Additions Tend to Occur, Not Deletions. Scribal reverence for Scripture made cutting text unlikely; expansions that smooth reading or match liturgy are more common, exactly what we see here. • Preservation Through Multiplicity. Because God providentially dispersed manuscripts across regions, an unintentional addition in one line of transmission is corrected by another (cf. Psalm 12:6-7). • Confidence in Autographic Inerrancy. Textual criticism is the servant, not the judge, of Scripture. Identifying a secondary expansion underscores, rather than undermines, the Spirit’s safeguarding of the original wording. Impact on English Translations Reformation-era English versions that leaned on the later Byzantine corpus (KJV, NKJV) retain v. 24. Editions drawing from the earliest Greek evidence (NASB, ESV, CSB, NIV) remove the line from the main text or relegate it to a footnote, marking transparency rather than doubt. Theological and Devotional Reassurance No doctrine of grace, Christ, or salvation hinges on the verse’s placement. Whether one reads it in v. 20, v. 24, or v. 27, the message is unchanged: the grace of the living Lord Jesus Christ embraces His people. The very existence of so many manuscripts—agreeing better than 99 percent—shows the Father’s meticulous care. As Jesus declared, “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). Practical Take-Away for the Church 1. Study confidently; textual variants are well catalogued and rarely consequential. 2. Engage skeptics with the facts: the earliest witnesses are unanimous, variance is liturgical, and the resurrection gospel remains untouched. 3. Let the benediction, wherever it appears, remind us to stand in the grace that saves (Romans 5:1-2). Conclusion The absence of Romans 16:24 in the earliest manuscripts reflects a harmless scribal expansion in later copying, not an error in God’s Word. Far from shaking trust, the data illustrate how consistently the Lord has preserved the text so that, as promised, “the word of the Lord endures forever” (1 Peter 1:25). |
    |