Explore the manuscript evidence behind contested Bible passages.

Earliest related Latin evidence: c. AD 210 — Tertullian, Against Praxeas 25, related three-one theological language.

Early debated verbal evidence: c. AD 250 — Cyprian, On the Unity of the Church 6; the verbal relationship is debated.

Earliest explicit full Latin formula listed here: c. AD 380 — Priscillian, Liber Apologeticus 1, gives the Father, the Word, and the Spirit bearing witness in heaven and being one.

Earliest Latin Scripture-quotation witness listed here: Fifth century — Codex Speculum (m) contains the Comma in a non-continuous collection of Latin Scripture quotations.

Earliest extant continuous Latin biblical witnesses listed here: Seventh century — the Catholic-Epistle leaves of the Fragmenta Frisingensia and the León Palimpsest contain Comma forms. Codex Fuldensis, copied in AD 546, omits the Comma in its biblical text; its prologue is separate literary evidence.

Before AD 150 — Epistula Apostolorum, related awareness of the longer ending. Exact citation: c. AD 180 — Irenaeus quotes Mark 16:19 by name.

c. AD 110–140 — Papias, related story of a woman accused before the Lord. This is evidence for an early story tradition, not proof of its location in John. Johannine manuscript form: fifth century — Codex D.

c. AD 180 — Irenaeus. Irenaeus witnesses to the eunuch’s confession centuries before the printed Textus Receptus.

Earliest secure Greek support catalogued here: Late fourth–early fifth century — Codex Bezae (D) contains εἰκῇ ("without a cause"). The Sinaiticus support belongs to a later correcting or marginal hand whose date is not independently established.

Earliest exact patristic citation catalogued here: c. AD 248 — Origen directly quotes the nominative form in Against Celsus 1.60. His wider evidence remains mixed because other Origen citations are reported on both apparatus lines. Eusebius and Epiphanius provide further fourth-century nominative quotations.

Earliest patristic and secure Greek evidence catalogued here: Early third century — Hippolytus knows the longer final clause; Novatian supplies additional mid-third-century Latin evidence.

Early second century — Ignatius, related phrase “blood of God.” This is theological and verbal support, not an Acts quotation. Exact Greek “Church of God”: fourth century — Codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus.

Unit 1 — “fellowship”: Within the official 131-witness direct-transcription synopsis, corrected state 69C is the only κοινωνία state. Minuscule 2817, an eleventh- or twelfth-century Pauline manuscript outside that selected corpus, also reads κοινωνία.

Unit 2 — “by Jesus Christ”: The official selected synopsis contains 78 exact reading states for διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Chrysostom supplies mixed late-fourth-century exposition, and the Syriac Harklean attests the phrase in AD 616.

Early–mid second century — Polycarp, related fuller Johannine confession. Fuller Greek family: fourth century — Codex Sinaiticus. Exact KJV-family wording: ninth century onward — Codex K and the Byzantine tradition.

Unit 1 — “O Lord”: Eighth century — Beatus of Liébana supplies related Latin commentary evidence; AD 1592 — the Clementine Vulgate contains the title.

Unit 2 — “and shalt be”: Eighth century — Beatus of Liébana, related Latin future-tense form. Exact printed Greek form: AD 1582 — Beza’s third edition.

“Book of life” reading: Late fourth century — Ambrose and Bachiarius, Latin “book of life” evidence.

Exact received Greek form: AD 1516 — Erasmus, exact printed Greek βίβλου.