1 Timothy 3:16
KJV Reading Defended
God was manifest in the flesh.
Why the KJV Reading Is Retained
The KJV/TR reads 'God was manifest in the flesh,' while early uncial evidence supports 'who' and some Latin evidence supports 'which.'
Disputed unit
The grammatical subject immediately before ἐφανερώθη: θεός, ὃς, ὅ and related or partially preserved forms.
Evidence assessment
The official synopsis exposes 323 present manuscript and lectionary rows. Expanding corrected hands gives 297 exact θεός states, 11 ὃς states, one ὅ state, 14 related or partial states and five deficient states; 15 identifiers are absent from the verse. Patristic use of θεός wording predates the surviving exact θεός manuscript states: Gregory of Nyssa closely cites the wording in the late fourth century, and Theodoret directly quotes the complete clause in a work written in AD 447.
Primary support for the KJV reading
The dominant reading in the official 1 Timothy direct-transcription synopsis
King James Bible reading
God was manifest in the flesh.
Evidence sources
Sources used for the witnesses, readings, dates, and notes on this page. Complete citations appear in the References section at the end of the page.
Governing apparatus and count scope
The official IGNTP/ITSEE direct-transcription synopsis for the named Pauline letter. Counts describe displayed rows and reading states, not the total manuscript tradition.
Earliest KJV-supporting evidence
Patristic wording
Late fourth century — Gregory of Nyssa uses the wording “God was manifest in the flesh.” AD 447 — Theodoret directly quotes the same form in Eranistes.
Earliest surviving Greek support: Eighth–ninth century — Codex Athous Lavrensis (044) is the earliest secure exact main-text θεός witness in the displayed synopsis. The earlier θεός states 01C3, 02C, 04C3, and 06C2 are correcting hands whose dates are not independently established here.
Primary support for the KJV reading
The sections below preserve each supporting, competing, and related record under its proper evidence type.
Majority Text standing
θεός, “God was manifest in the flesh”
The KJV/TR θεός reading is the overwhelming numerical Majority Text reading in the Greek tradition.
Estimated Greek support: 297 exact θεός states in the selected synopsis; approximately 500 to 600 Greek manuscripts in the wider tradition
The exact selected-apparatus count is stated first. The wider estimate reflects the several-hundred-manuscript Pauline tradition and is intentionally presented as a range rather than as a fresh universal collation.
Source scope and denominator
The official IGNTP/ITSEE direct-transcription synopsis for the named Pauline letter. Counts describe displayed rows and reading states, not the total manuscript tradition.
Greek support in the cited corpus
297 exact θεός states
Greek competing evidence in the cited corpus
11 ὃς states and 1 ὅ state
Lectionary evidence
Lectionaries read 'God'
Principal competing witnesses named in the snapshot
Evidence represented on this page
Greek manuscripts
Represented
Ancient versions
No entry listed
Church fathers
Represented
Printed editions
No entry listed
Complete source-scoped roster
This roster preserves every named or grouped state recovered in the governing sources, including exact readings, competing readings, corrections, related forms, lacunae, versions, and aggregate traditions. When Maj or Byz appears on the KJV side, it marks the numerically dominant Greek transmission at that unit. The green Majority Text card above supplies the best available passage-specific estimate. The grouped siglum is then retained so it is not mistaken for one individual manuscript.
Apparatus and roster scope
The official IGNTP/ITSEE direct-transcription synopsis for the named Pauline letter. Counts describe displayed rows and reading states, not the total manuscript tradition.
KJV/TR unit: θεός
018 020 025 044 056 075 0142 0150 0151 1 3 5 6 18 35 38 42 43 61 81 82 90 93 103 104 105 110 131 133 141 142 149 177 181 189 203 205 209 218 234 250 254 263 296 321 322 323 326 330 337 356 363 367 383 384 398 404 424 425 432 436 451 452 454 455 456 457 459 460 462 467 547 582 602 606 608 612 619 620 622 623 627 629 630 632 639 664 676 699 794 796 808 823 824 876 886 909 914 922 945 997 999 1022 1069 1099 1100 1106 1108 1115 1127 1149 1161 1240 1241 1242 1244 1245 1251 1319 1352 1359 1390 1398 1404 1424 1425 1448 1503 1505 1509 1573 1611 1617 1626 1642 1646 1661 1678 1718 1721 1725 1727 1728 1734 1735 1738 1739 1740 1750 1751 1757 1760 1766 1769 1770 1780 1795 1798 1799 1827 1830 1832 1834 1836 1837 1839 1840-1 1845 1847 1848 1851 1852 1854 1855 1864 1867 1869 1870 1874 1876 1877 1879 1880 1881 1886 1889 1891 1893 1894 1897 1900 1905 1908 1910 1912 1916 1917 1919 1920 1922 1925 1929 1933 1939 1945 1947 1948 1950 1959 1961 1962 1963 1969 1973 1976 1977 1984 1985 1987-1 1991 1992 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2003 2004 2005 2007 2011 2012 2080 2086 2102 2105 2110 2138 2194 2197 2200 2201 2221 2248 2257 2344 2352 2374 2400 2401 2482 2484 2492 2495 2516 2523 2541 2544 2554 2576 2587 2625 2629 2659 2674 2690 2705 2718 2736 2739 2772 2774 2817 2865 2886 2889 2892 2899 2903 L23 L156 L169 L587 L809 L1126 L1159 L1188 L1298 L1440 L2010-1 L2010-2 L2058 01C3 02C 04C3 06C2
010 012 33 365 442 1175 2127 L60 01* 02* 04*
06*
69 88 915 1524 1918 1943 2002 91 336 256 2243 P133 061 1996C
0241 1840-2 1987-2 2008 1996*
015 016 048 0259 0262 0285 0319 339 720 1838 1942 2716 2805 2893 L1178
Precisely located citations and additional names reported by the controlling apparatus are kept separate. An apparatus-level attribution is not presented as an independently verified exact quotation.
Against Eunomius, Book II
Close quotation in Against Eunomius, Book II.
Locator: Book II.1: identifies 1 Timothy 3:16 as the mystery that God was manifested in the flesh
Open sourceHomily 11 on 1 Timothy
Close quotation in Homily 11 on 1 Timothy. The received English translation prints “God [He who] was manifest”; the underlying Greek edition is not collated here.
Locator: Homily 11 on 1 Timothy, on 3:16
Open sourceEranistes, Dialogue I
Direct quotation in Eranistes, Dialogue I.
Locator: Dialogue I: “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit...”
Open sourceRoster distinctions
Evidence notes
Evidence assessment
The official synopsis exposes 323 present manuscript and lectionary rows. Expanding corrected hands gives 297 exact θεός states, 11 ὃς states, one ὅ state, 14 related or partial states and five deficient states; 15 identifiers are absent from the verse. Patristic use of θεός wording predates the surviving exact θεός manuscript states: Gregory of Nyssa closely cites the wording in the late fourth century, and Theodoret directly quotes the complete clause in a work written in AD 447.
Primary support for the KJV reading
The dominant reading in the official 1 Timothy direct-transcription synopsis
Evidence represented on this page
References
Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung. New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room. Münster: University of Münster.
Aland, Barbara, et al., eds. Novum Testamentum Graece. 28th rev. ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.
Robinson, Maurice A., and William G. Pierpont. The New Testament in the Original Greek: Byzantine Textform 2018. Nürnberg: VTR Publications, 2018.
Tyndale House, Cambridge, ed. The Greek New Testament. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017.
IGNTP/ITSEE 1 Timothy direct-transcription synopsis
IGNTP/ITSEE Pauline Epistles electronic editions
Chrysostom, Homily 11 on 1 Timothy
Gregory of Nyssa, Against Eunomius, Book II. Book II.1, identification of 1 Timothy 3:16 as God manifested in the flesh.
Theodoret of Cyrus, Eranistes, Dialogue I. Dialogue I, direct quotation of the complete 1 Timothy 3:16 clause.
INTF, Editio Critica Maior project status (Pauline letters in preparation with ITSEE/IGNTP)