The Greek New Testament, 6th rev. ed., eds. Hugh Houghton, Christos Karakolis, David Parker, Stephen Pisano, Holger Strutwolf, David Trobisch, and Klaus Wachtel (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2025)

This sixth revised edition of the Greek New Testament (NT) (UBS6) is for the United Bible Societies and thus for the use of translators and students of the Greek NT. Its text is identical to the forthcoming Nestle-Aland 29th edition and the main difference between the two editions is that the UBS6 has only variation units the editors have deemed “necessary” for the understanding, revising, and translating of the NT. The committee has revised the new volume from feedback of translators who used UBS5, from new textual discoveries, and from revisions to the editorial text of the NT in the newest and ongoing critical edition, the Novum Testamentum Graecum Editio Critica Maior (ECM) (for more on this project and how it relates to the UBS6, see my former post here). Since the ECM volumes published to date are on St. Mark’s Gospel (2021), the Acts of the Apostles (2017), the Catholic Epistles (2013), and Revelation (2024), the changes to the Greek editorial text of UBS6 relates to these books.  

This new edition witnesses six major alterations. First, the editors have revised the order of the NT books to reflect their sequence in Codex Vaticanius and Codex Alexandrinus (for more information, see my former post here). Thus, the UBS6 books are ordered as follows: the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, the Catholic Epistles (less Hebrews), the Pauline Corpus (with Hebrews after 2 Thessalonians), and Revelation. 

Second, after reviewing every variation unit in UBS5, the committee was convinced of the need to pay “greater attention” to the Byzantine tradition, including the Textus Receptus, which stands behind the translation of the King James Bible (VIII).^[1]

Third, the editors have revised the presentation of witnesses in the textual apparatus in five ways. One, they have adopted numerical sigla for Greek manuscripts. Therefore, Codex Sinaiticus is no longer represented by the Hebrew letter א but by the number 01. Two, they no longer cite individual lectionaries. Three, the editors have updated early translations of the NT to reflect the most recent research. For example, the textual apparatus separates the Christian Palestinian Aramaic witnesses from the Syriac tradition and treats them as separate. Four, the editors have reduced the number of citations to early Church Fathers, especially those who did not compose in Greek. And, five, they have reduced the number of manuscripts of Pauline letters based on the textual analysis reflected in the series Text und Tertwert der griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments. The result of these changes is that the textual apparatus is smaller, compact, and not as unwieldy as it was in the UBS5. If the reader wishes to explore more textual witnesses, he or she can access them in the printed volumes of the ECM.

Fourth, the committee has removed references to modern translations of the NT, the Discourse Segmentation apparatus, the Cross-Reference apparatus, the Index of Allusions and Parallels, and the List of Alternative Readings, all of which were features of UBS5. 

Fifth, the editors have rewritten the Introduction. And, finally, the committee has reexamined each variation unit redefining the confidence rating of each unit and sometimes changing it (In addition to the UBS6, one of the editors, Hugh Houghton, has prepared a new Textual Commentary on the UBS6. For more information, see my former post here).   

The UBS6 is divided into seven parts. In the first part, the “Preface” (VII–X), the committee details the abovementioned changes. The second, the “Introduction” (1^*–51^*), contains a discussion of the history and background of the Greek NT (1^*–9^*), the Editorial Text of the UBS6 (9^*–12^*), its Textual Apparatus (12^*–22^*), its List of Witnesses (22^*–46^*), its Biblical Abbreviations (47^*), and a Select Bibliography (48^*–51^*).

The third portion, the “Text and Apparatus” (1–619), is the bulk the UBS6 and consists of the editorial text and variation units. In the fourth part, the “List of Textual Changes Between the Fifth and Sixth Editions” of the UBS (621–26), the committee has provided the list of textual changes from the UBS5 to UBS6. For example, the phrase “Son of God” no longer remains in brackets in Mark 1:1:

UBS5	UBS6
Ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ [υἱοῦ θεοῦ]	Ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦθεοῦ
“The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah, [the Son of God]”	“The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God”

This change, however, does not mean that the editors believe υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ to be part of the earliest reconstruct-able text, for they give this variation unit a C rating, which means “The Committee is doubtful about this reconstruction of the text” (13*).

The fifth part of the UBS6, the “Index of Quotations” (627–33), consists of a list of Old Testament (OT) quotations in order of their appearance in the OT (627–30) and NT (630–33). In the sixth portion, “Principal Symbols and Abbreviations” (634–36), the editors have provided a legend for the various symbols and abbreviations found in UBS6 and like previous editions, they also have given the reader an indispensable insert with these data (as well as the Greek manuscripts cited in the Textual Apparatus). The last part of the UBS6, “Maps” (637–38), consists of two maps: one of the eastern Mediterranean world in the time that the NT was being composed and another of Palestine during the same time period.  

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the UBS6’s look has been altered from the UBS5 with cleaner, clearer, and crisper fonts on the cover and with the Greek text itself. 

This new edition of the UBS6 is a huge improvement from the UBS5 not only in appearance but also in content and layout. It is slender—the revision of the textual apparatus and the omissions of certain unnecessary features of the UBS5 has trimmed over two hundred pages of text—and it is well bound with a durable hard cover.

What is more, I praise the decision to rearrange the NT books to bring it in line with the Church’s Textual Tradition because it reminds readers that most of our interpretations have a long pedigree and that we stand on the shoulders of giant interpreters, the Church Fathers and Doctors. 

Granted, some scholars will no doubt find fault with some of the decisions, especially related to the re-rating of the variation units, but, all in all, the UBS6 editorial team has produced an excellent work that will benefit the people for whom they have prepared their editorial text: clergy, beginning students of the Greek NT, and translators of the NT: Bravo, editors! Therefore, buy a copy now, either from Hendrickson Publishers (which is cheaper!!!) or on Amazon.

I am grateful to Hendrickson Publishers for the advanced gratis copy of the UBS6, which is no way influenced by review it.

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^[1] For a discussion of the Textus Receptus, see https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/textus-receptus.

H. A. G. Houghton, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament: A Companion to the Sixth Edition of the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2025)

The main goal of Houghton’s work is to provide a “new guide on current scholarship” related to the textual variations of the sixth edition of the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament (UBS6) to specialists and non-specialists alike. He accomplishes this goal by focusing on three things. First, Houghton describes the differing readings in the UBS6. Second, he weighs the evidence for each reading. And third, Houghton “explains why the form in the editorial text [the text that the UBS6 committee chose] has been chosen” (VII). To accommodate non-specialists, he provides an English translation of the editorial text and every Greek variant.  

Houghton has divided his commentary into three main parts. In the first, he provides a preface (“Preface,” VII–VIII), where he states the abovementioned goal and processes by which he intends to achieve it, and lists of abbreviations (“Abbreviations,” IX–X), symbols (“Apparatus Symbols,” XI–XII), Greek manuscripts (“Principal Greek Manuscripts,” XIII–XVI) used and cited in the work. 

The second part consists of an excellent, clear, and careful introduction (“Introduction,” 1–36) that discusses the diversity of New Testament textual witnesses, the reason for a scholarly edition of the Greek New Testament, the evidence for the text of the New Testament, the categories of New Testament textual witnesses, the principles of textual criticism, how the New Testament documents were produced, the grouping of manuscripts, the story of the UBS6 and Houghton’s commentary, and finally how to use the latter. Some highlights of this introduction are the balanced treatments of the reliability of the Greek New Testament, textual criticism and its limitations, textual families, and the story of the UBS6, Houghton’s commentary, and how to use it. 

Concerning the former, Houghton acknowledges that provided the surviving manuscripts are representative of what was in antiquity, “there are no grounds for serious doubt as to the consistency of the New Testament tradition” (1). What is more, he concludes that contrary to the conclusions of some scholars there is “little evidence” that “scribes freely adjusted the text to match their preferences” and “theological presuppositions” (23). As it relates to textual criticism, Houghton notes in contrast to the confidence of some textual critics, textual criticism is an “art” of weighing probabilities (18). In his discussion of textual families, he observes that the grouping of texts by families such as the Western, Alexandrian, and Caesarean text types are outdated and should be abandoned because the only evidence for what one might call a textual family is the Byzantine text type (29). 

The last highlight that I wish to underscore in this introduction is the story of the UBS6 and Houghton’s commentary and how to use the latter. The UBS6 is part of a “thorough revision” of the Greek New Testament in light of all available manuscripts, ancient translations of the New Testament, and patristic quotations of it in a project called Editio Critica Maior. To date, a team of international scholars has finished preparing the Greek texts of St. Mark’s Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles, the Catholic Epistles, and Revelation and the UBS6 adopts these revised texts. What is more, the UBS6 and Houghton’s Commentary (as well as the UBS6 Greek New Testament: A Reader’s Edition, for my review of it click here) have adopted the arrangement of the New Testament books in the complete Greek biblical manuscripts such as Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus, which means that the Catholic Epistles (less Hebrews) follow Acts of the Apostles and Hebrews has been placed after 2 Thessalonians (31).

The UBS6 contains a total of 1,008 variation units and the committee has altered its confidence rating of these to the following:

“{A} The Committee is confident in this reconstruction of the text.

  {B} The Committee is fairly confident in this reconstruction of the text.

  {C} The Committee is doubtful about this reconstruction of the text. 

  {D} The Committee is extremely doubtful about this reconstruction of the text. 

  [Black titled square] A decision on the reconstruction of the text was left open” (32).

Houghton’s volume is a completely new work that comments on these 1,008 variation units as well as 224 entries that have square brackets in the UBS6 but no apparatus, offering “a more detailed explanation of all text-critical indications” (33). Houghton has structured his volume in the following manner. At the beginning of each book or collection of them, he provides an overview of that book or collection, focusing on the most important textual witnesses and variation units.

On the first line of the commentary on each variation unit, he lists the New Testament reference, the text in the variation unit, the NSRVue or his own translation for those who cannot read Koine Greek or read it well, and finally the committee’s confidence rating of the variation unit. Note that no confidence rating appears in the 224 instances where there are square brackets in the UBS6 text. Below this first line, Houghton provides the different readings in the UBS6 apparatus, their English translations, and then arguments for and against these variants with an eye “to how secondary readings might have arisen” (34). These entries, however, are not based on any committee discussions or opinions, but Houghton’s own in his attempt to present rationales for decisions made about the UBS6 text. 

The third main part of this commentary consists of the actual comments on the variation units in the Greek New Testament (1–562, yes the numbers restart at 1), a glossary of terms used (563–68), and a bibliography (569–90).   

To provide an example of Houghton’s work, in his discussion of the variation ἐν Ἐφέσῳ “in Ephesus” in Ephesians 1:1, Houghton notes that the words are missing in some old and important manuscripts such as P46 (see above for Houghton’s comments).

To this point, some have suggested that the letter was a circular one. However, he points out that the manuscripts in which ἐν Ἐφέσῳ are missing still have the title of the letter as ΠΡΟΣ ΕΦΕΣΙΟΥΣ “To the Ephesians” and “the presence of οὖσιν (‘who are’) [in the text] suggests that a destination is likely to have been present, as the participle is otherwise superfluous” (465).

Finally, one of the things I appreciate the most about this volume and Houghton in particular is his academic humility, which is showcased in that he acknowledges that corrections and updates for this commentary will be needed. Therefore, he has set up a website where one can contact him with such corrections and updates as well as to make suggestions for future editions. For that website, click here.

In sum, this commentary, especially Houghton’s introduction, is clear, concise, and a wealth of information about the variation units in the forthcoming UBS6. I want to say thank you to Houghton for his labor on this work! This textual commentary is a necessary tool for study for any serious student of the New Testament. Therefore, I recommend you purchase it forthwith from Hendrickson or Amazon! 

I am grateful to Hendrickson for this gratis advanced copy, which in no way influenced by review of it. 

The Greek New Testament: A Reader’s Edition, rev. ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2025)

I am thrilled to have an advanced copy of the revised Greek New Testament: A Reader’s Edition and, to cut to the chase at the beginning of this review, it is a must have for students of the Greek New Testament, especially those who have yet to master its vocabulary. To this end, like the previous edition of the reader, every Greek word that appears 30 times or less, except proper nouns, are glossed at the bottom of the page. Moreover, the editors of the revised reader “often” provide the morphological parsing of Greek verbs “even if these words occur more than 30 times” (VIII).

The definitions of the glosses are taken from the Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the Greek New Testament that Barclay M. Newman compiled. They are contextually appropriate and thus nuanced for the passage one is reading. When a word whose contextual definition differs markedly from other New Testament occurrences, the editors provide the broader meaning as well and, when there is uncertainty about the exact definition of a word, they give alternate definitions in the gloss. When a word or combination of them form an idiomatic expression, the editors provide the definition of that expression in the gloss, too. For words that appear 30 times or more in the Greek New Testament, the editors have placed their definitions in an appendix.

These features allow beginning and even advanced students of the New Testament to read the Greek text more easily (especially the complicated vocabulary of Hebrews, Acts of the Apostles, and 1 Peter), which is noble, laudable, and a great service to the Church and to the academy: bravo!

What is more, there are four major changes and thus improvements to the new edition of the reader. First and foremost, it is printed with a different font that is much easier to read than the font of the previous edition (see the pictures above and below).

Second, its text is the sixth edition of the UBS Greek New Testament and the twenty-ninth of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, both of which are still in preparation as I write this review. One major change to these editions, which is reflected in the revised reader, is that they follow the Greek text as reconstructed by an international team of textual critics working on a project called Editio Critica Maior, the goal of which is to produce an entirely new edition of the Greek New Testament that considers and evaluates all available manuscripts, ancient translations of the New Testament, and patristic quotations. To date, this team of scholars has finished preparing the Greek texts of St. Mark’s Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles, the Catholic Epistles, and Revelation. Therefore, the text of the revised reader reflects textual changes and updates to these New Testament books. 

Third, which is also the biggest change from the first edition of the reader, the editors have altered the sequence of the twenty-seven books. The new reader deviates from today’s common order to the order in the ancient Greek manuscript tradition as evidenced by Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Vaticanus. Thus, the New Testament books are ordered as follows: the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, the Catholic Epistles (less Hebrews), the Pauline Corpus (with Hebrews after 2 Thessalonians), and Revelation.

The last change to the revised reader is that instead of italicizing Old Testament quotations, the editors have placed them in a bold font, which, in my opinion makes them easier to read.

In short, the revised Greek New Testament: A Reader’s Edition is a wonderful tool for the study of the New Testament, and whether you are a beginning or advanced student, you should purchase your copy today!

I am grateful to Hendrickson Publishing for the advanced, gratis copy of this work, which in no way influenced my review of it.