In 1527 Erasmus published the fourth edition of his Greek New Testament that included several hundred improvements as he obtained a copy of the Complutensian Polyglot; the most significant changes can be found in the book of Revelation (which is referred to in the article as the Apocalypse). Examples of the changes have been provided. This fourth edition New Testament has been acquired for the TBS library. 

The Fourth Edition of Erasmus's New Testament 

A rare Greek-Latin edition of the New Testament, published by Erasmus in 1527, has recently been acquired for the library¹. Desiderius Erasmus was responsible for five such editions, all foliosize and printed at Basel between 1516 and 1535, of which the 1527 edition was the fourth. Each of his editions contained the Greek text accompanied by his own Latin translation in parallel columns. The 1527 edition differs in format from the others, in having two Latin translations: inserting a third column for the Latin Vulgate, so that the reader could compare the two translations side by side and check the differences against the underlying Greek.

The 1527 edition is an important stage in the development of the Received Text and the text which was used by the translators of the Authorised Version and other early versions. Prior to 1527 the printed Greek New Testament had two quite separate lines of descent. The first was the text of the Complutensian Polyglot, printed in 1514 but not in circulation until about 1522. Secondly came the text of Erasmus’ three editions of 1516, 1519, and 1522, and also four other editors who copied Erasmus’ work. These two lines of descent sprang from two distinct sets of manuscript sources, each having their own peculiarities. Erasmus and the Complutensian editors used their skill and common sense to remove many of the more obvious errors which they found in their manuscript sources, but owing to the limited range of manuscripts available they left many doubtful readings uncorrected and committed further errors of their own.

Making Improvements 

When Erasmus obtained a copy of the Complutensian Polyglot he was able to compare his earlier editions with it and make many improvements in the Apocalypse, which was the least satisfactory part of his earlier work, as it had been based on only one Greek manuscript (Codex 1). In his earlier Latin translations of the Apocalypse, Erasmus had already inserted a number of readings which conflicted with his solitary Greek manuscript, at passages where he felt the Latin Vulgate had correctly preserved a fuller text. The Complutensian Polyglot proved to him that his suspicions as to the defects of Codex 1 were justified.

Textual Differences Between the Third and Fourth Editions 

There are approximately 480 Greek textual differences between Erasmus’ third and fourth editions. About 310 of these are found in Matthew-Jude, mostly being minor improvements of spelling but also including about 120 new errors of the same kind. The corrections in these books of the New Testament could have easily been made by any scholar without the aid of the Complutensian. The remaining 170 differences between Erasmus’ third and fourth editions are all found in the Apocalypse, including many significant changes of meaning; here it is quite certain that the Complutensian was the principal source. Erasmus’ 1527 edition thus represents a convergence of the two separate lines of descent previously mentioned. The readings which Erasmus adopted from the Complutensian brought his text more into line with the text found in the majority of Greek manuscripts.

Examples of Textual Differences

The following examples are all taken from the Apocalypse, giving the reading of Erasmus 1527 first, which in each case is supported by the Complutensian, Stephanus, Beza, the Elzevirs, the Latin Vulgate, most Greek manuscripts, and the Authorised Version (the manuscript evidence is derived from H. C. Hoskier Concerning the Text of the Apocalypse, 1929):

In other places Erasmus inserts a Complutensian reading in the margin of his 1527 edition, e.g.:

First published in Quarterly Record 479. Lightly edited for online publication in June 2023. 

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