About The Textus Receptus Bible

The Textus Receptus refers to a collection of Greek New Testament books printed between 1500 and 1900, based on the Byzantine text type. It represents the majority of texts derived from the Byzantine tradition, comprising over 90% of the approximately 5800 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament still in existence today.

The first Greek translation of the New Testament used by William Tyndale for his English translation was based on the Textus Receptus. Furthermore, the Bishops Bible, Geneva Bible, and nearly all Western and Central European translations of the New Testament were based on the Textus Receptus, serving as the blueprint for the King James Bible.

The Textus Receptus remains largely unchanged despite occasional additions, deletions, and modifications in a minority of texts. It aligns with the earliest versions of various translations, including the Peshitta (AD150), Latin Vulgate (AD157), Italic Bible (AD157), and agrees with the vast majority of textual references made by early church fathers. These references, exceeding a million, date back to the late first century and the medieval period.

The term "Textus Receptus" was first used in 1633 by the Elzevir brothers in their publication of the Greek New Testament. The earliest Textus Receptus was published by Desiderius Erasmus in 1516, with subsequent revisions and improvements. Erasmus did not coin the term "Textus Receptus"; rather, he compiled a collection of manuscripts derived from the Byzantine tradition, belonging to the New Testament.