The name given to the 2nd ed. of the Greek NT published by Bonaventure and Abraham Elzevir of Holland in 1633 that soon became the standard text in continental Europe. It is substantially the Greek text of Erasmus (1516) and the Complutensian Polyglot (1522). The name—which means the Received Text—is derived from the claim made in the preface to the edition (in Latin), "You have therefore the text now received by all: in which we give nothing altered or corrupt." Bishop Stephen Neill observes how "[m]uch unfortunate superstition later became attached to the term, as though the 'Received Text' was infallible and beyond criticism" (Interpretation of the New Testament, 1861-1986, 68, n2). The renowned British text-critical scholar, Fenton J. A. Hort, calls it "villainous" and "vile."
The Textus Receptus was the underlying text for the KJV/AV. Despite its optimistic sounding title, most of the manuscripts used by Erasmus derived from the 12th Cent, and it is the consistent view of modern scholars that the Textus Receptus is inferior to other Greek texts now available, and is highly unlikely, therefore, to represent the 'original' text. In fact the first six verses of the book of Revelation is missing from the manuscripts; they were restored by Erasmus from the Latin Vulgate.
Further Reading & Resources:
William W. Combs, "Erasmus and the Textus Receptus," Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 1 (Spring 1996): 35-53.
Pdf N 6-7 (Open on Phone)
Mark Ward, "Which Textus Receptus? A Critique of Confessional Bibliology," Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 25 (2020):51-77.
Pdf N 6-7 (Open on Phone)
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