Textual variants in the First Epistle to the Corinthians

Textual variants in the First Epistle to the Corinthians are the subject of the study called textual criticism of the New Testament. Textual variants in manuscripts arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to a text that is being reproduced. An abbreviated list of textual variants in this particular book is given in this article below.

Most of the variations are not significant and some common alterations include the deletion, rearrangement, repetition, or replacement of one or more words when the copyist's eye returns to a similar word in the wrong location of the original text. If their eye skips to an earlier word, they may create a repetition (error of dittography). If their eye skips to a later word, they may create an omission. They may resort to performing a rearranging of words to retain the overall meaning without compromising the context. In other instances, the copyist may add text from memory from a similar or parallel text in another location. Otherwise, they may also replace some text of the original with an alternative reading. Spellings occasionally change. Synonyms may be substituted. A pronoun may be changed into a proper noun (such as "he said" becoming "Jesus said"). John Mill's 1707 Greek New Testament was estimated to contain some 30,000 variants in its accompanying textual apparatus which was based on "nearly 100 [Greek] manuscripts." Peter J. Gurry puts the number of non-spelling variants among New Testament manuscripts around 500,000, though he acknowledges his estimate is higher than all previous ones.

Textual variants
1 Corinthians 1:8
 * ημερα – majority
 * παρουσια – D F G



1 Corinthians 2:1
 * μυστηριον –, א, Α, C, 88, 436, it$a,r$, syr$p$, cop$bo$
 * μαρτυριον – B D G P Ψ 33 81 104 181 326 330 451 614 629 630 1241 1739 1877 1881 1962 1984 2127 2492 2495 Byz Lect it vg syr$h$ cop$sa$ arm eth
 * ευαγγελιον – Theodoret
 * σωτηριον – 489, ℓ 598$pt$, ℓ 599

1 Corinthians 2:4
 * πειθοις σοφιας λογοις (plausible words of wisdom) – (א λογος) B (D$gr$ 33 πιθοις) D$c$ 181 1739 1877 1881 it$r1$ vg$ww$ eth
 * πειθοις σοφιας (plausible wisdom) – G$gr$
 * πειθοι σοφιας (plausible wisdom) – 35 it$f,g$
 * πειθοις ανθρωπινης σοφιας λογοις – C Ψ (A P 326 330 πιθοις) 81 88 104 436 451 614 629 1241 1984 2127 2492 Byz vg$cl$ syr$h$ cop$bo$
 * πειθοις ανθρωπινης σοφιας – 630
 * πειθοις ανθρωπινης σοφιας και λογοις – 131

1 Corinthians 2:14
 * του θεου –, , א, A, B, C, D, G, P, Ψ, 33, 81, 88, 104, 181, 326, 436, 614, 629, 630, 1241, 1739, 1877, 1881, 1962, 1985, 2127, 2492, 2495, Byz, Lect, it, vg, syr$h$, cop, arm
 * αγιου – eth
 * omitted by 2 216 255 330 440 451 823 1827 syr$p$

1 Corinthians 3:3
 * ἔρις –, א, B, C, P, Ψ, 81, 181, 630, 1739, 1877, 1881, it, vg
 * ἔρεις – A
 * ἔρις διχοστασία – 623, Chrysostom
 * ἔρις καί διχοστασίαι –, D, 33, 88, 104, 181, 326, 330, 436, 451, 614, 629, 1241, 1984, 1985, 2127, 2492, 2495, Byz, Lect
 * ἔρις καί ἀρχοστασία – 1962
 * ἔρεις καί διχοστασίαι – G$a$

1 Corinthians 3:4
 * ουκ ανθρωποι –, Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, Ephraemi, 33, 81, 1175, 1506, 1739, 1881;
 * ουχι σαρκικοι – Sinaiticus$2$, Ψ, and the Byzantine manuscripts read;
 * ουχι ανθρωποι – D F G 629;

1 Corinthians 4:1

1 Corinthians 5:5
 * κυρίου –, B, 630, 1739, Marcion , Tertulian, Origen
 * κυρίου Ἰησοῦ – א, Ψ, 81, 181, 326, 614, 1877, 1985, 2492, 2495, Byz, Lect
 * κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ – D, 1984
 * Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ – 629
 * κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ – 048, cop$bo$, eth
 * κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ – A, F, G, P, 33, 88, 104, 330, 436, 451, 629, 241, 1881, 1962, 2127, it, vg, syr$p, h$, cop$sa, bo$, arm, Origen

1 Corinthians 6:1

1 Corinthians 7:5
 * τη προσευχη (prayer) –, , א*, A, B, C, D, F, G, P, Ψ, 33, 81, 104, 181, 629, 630, 1739, 1877, 1881, 1962, it vg, cop, arm, eth
 * τη νηστεια και τη προσευχη (fasting and prayer) – א$c$, K, L, 88, 326, 436, 614, 1241, 1984, 1985, 2127, 2492, 2495, Byz, Lect, syr$p,h$, goth
 * τη προσευχη και νηστεια (prayer and fasting) – 330, 451, John of Damascus

1 Corinthians 7:14
 * αδελφω –, א*, A, B, C, D, F, G, P, Ψ, 33, 181, 1739, 1877, 1962, d, e, f, g, cop
 * ανδρι – א$c$, D$c$, K, L, 81, 88, 104, 326, 330, 436, 451, 614, 630, 1241, 1881, 1984, 1985, 2127, 2492, 2495, Byz, Lect, syr$h$, goth, arm, eth
 * ανδρι τω πιστω – 629 it

1 Corinthians 8:1

1 Corinthians 9:20
 * μη ων αυτος υπο νομον (being not himself under the law) – omitted by D$2$ K (L) Ψ 81 88 326 330 424 451 460 614 629$c$ 1241 1518 1852 1881 1984 1985 2138 2464 2492 Byz Lect syr$p$ eth geo slav Origen$pt$ Nestorius Theodoret

1 Corinthians 10:9
 * Χριστον – D G K Ψ 88 330 451 614 629 630 1241 1739 1881 1984 2492 2495 Byz Lect
 * κυριον – א, B, C, P, 33, 104, 181, 326, 436, 1877, 2127
 * θεον – A, 81
 * omit by 1985

1 Corinthians 11:24
 * υμων –, א*, A, B, C*, 33, 1739, arm
 * υμων κλωμενον – א$c$, C$3$, D$b,c$, G, K, Ψ, 81, 88, 104, 181, 326, 330, 436, 451, 614, 629, 630, 1241, 1739$mg$, 1877, 1881, 1962, 1984, 1985, 2127, 2492, 2495, Byz, Lect
 * υμων θρυπτομενον – D$gr$
 * υμων διδομενον – c, dem, f, t, x, z$c$, vg (tradetur), cop, eth

1 Corinthians 12:9
 * χαρισματα ιαματων εν τω ενι πνευματι – A B 33 81 104 436 630 1881 it vg
 * χαρισματα ιαματων εν πνευματι – 1739
 * χαρισματα ιαματων εν τω αυτω πνευματι – א C$3$ D G K P 0201 88 181 330 451 614 629 1241 1877 1962 1984 1985 2127 2492 2495 Byz Lect
 * χαρισματα ιαματων εν τω πνευματι –
 * χαρισματα ιαματων – C
 * χαρισματα – Ψ

1 Corinthians 13:2
 * κἂν ἐὰν ἔχω προφητείαν – Westcott and Hort / [NA27 and UBS4 variants]
 * κἂν ἔχω προφητείαν – Westcott and Hort 1881
 * καὶ ἔχω προφητείαν – Westcott and Hort / [NA27 and UBS4 variants]
 * καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω προφητείαν – Tischendorf 8th Edition, Nestle 1904, Byz.

1 Corinthians 13:2
 * κἂν ἐὰν ἔχω πᾶσαν – Westcott and Hort / [NA27 and UBS4 variants]
 * κἂν ἔχω πᾶσαν – Westcott and Hort 1881
 * καὶ ἔχω πᾶσαν – Westcott and Hort / [NA27 and UBS4 variants]
 * καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω πᾶσαν – Tischendorf 8th Edition, Nestle 1904, Byz.

1 Corinthians 13:2
 * μεθιστάναι (to (re)move/(ex)change)– Alexandrian text-type, Tischendorf 8th Edition, Nestle 1904, Westcott and Hort / [NA27 and UBS4 variants]
 * μεθιστάνειν – Byz., Westcott and Hort 1881, Westcott and Hort / [NA27 and UBS4 variants]

1 Corinthians 13:3
 * καυχήσωμαι (I may boast) – Alexandrian text-type. By 2009, many translators and scholars had come to favour this variant as the original reading on the grounds that is probably the oldest.
 * καυθήσωμαι (I may be burnt/burned) – Mostly Western and Byzantine text-type MSS and "a majority of patristic writers". In 1989, this was the most commonly favoured variant by translators and scholars, but because it is probably not the oldest variant, and may be grammatically incorrect, a large amount of translators and scholars had abandoned it by 2009. Malone (2009) objected that it would be somewhat unlikely that a supposedly correct original (καυχήσωμαι) would have been deliberately 'corrected' by a scribe, resulting in a supposedly incorrect variant (καυθήσωμαι).
 * καυθήσομαι (I will be burnt/burned) – As of 2009, a minority of scholars favoured this reading as the original.
 * καθήσωμαι – 330*
 * καυθήσεται – 1877 2492 Syr$p,h$ Clem
 * καυθήσηται – John of Damascus
 * καυθήσεται – 1877 2492 Syr$lat$ Clem
 * καυθήσηται – John of Damascus

1 Corinthians 14:40
 * verses 14:34-35 included after 14:40 – D F G 88

1 Corinthians 15:3
 * ὃ καὶ παρέλαβον (I received) – omitted by b, Ambrosiaster, Irenaeus$bo$, Tertullian?

1 Corinthians 15:15
 * εἴπερ ἄρα νεκροὶ οὐκ ἐγείρονται (if in fact the dead do not rise) – omitted by D, a, b, r, bam, ful**, harl*, kar, mon, reg, val*, pesh, Ambrosiaster, Irenaeus (lat), Tertullian?

1 Corinthians 15:47
 * δευτερος ανθρωπος – א*, B, C, D, F, G, 0243, 33, 1739, it, vg, cop$c$ eth
 * δευτερος ο κυριος – 630
 * δευτερος ανθρωπος ο κυριος – א$c$, A, D$mg$, K, P, Ψ, 81, 104, 181, 326, 330, 436, 451, 614, 629, 1241, 1739$sa$, 1877, 1881, 1984, 1985, 2127, 2492, 2495, Byz, Lect
 * δευτερος ανθρωπος πνευματικος –
 * δευτερος – cop$2$ Cyril

1 Corinthians 15:51
 * μέν (on the one hand) – Byz
 * omitted by א‎, (A), C, G3, 17

1 Corinthians 16:15
 * οικιαν Στεφανα – א* A B C$2$ Ψ 075 Byz cop
 * οικιαν Στεφανα και Φορτουνατου – א $bo$ D 104 629 1175 1241 2464 pc b vgst cop$vid$
 * οικιαν Στεφανα και Φορτουνατου και Αχαικου – C*$cl$ F G 365 2495 pc vg$h$ syr⇭⇭⇭