Ephesians 3:9
KJV Reading Defended
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Why the KJV Reading Is Retained
The KJV preserves two distinct readings. “By Jesus Christ” belongs to a broad Byzantine tradition and explicitly identifies Christ’s agency in creation, a truth securely stated elsewhere in the New Testament. “Fellowship” has a much smaller Greek base, but it expresses the shared participation in the mystery already described in Ephesians 3:6 and received in the KJV tradition.
Disputed unit
Two units: κοινωνία versus οἰκονομία, and the independent phrase διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.
Evidence assessment
The two variations are independent. Within the official 131-witness Ephesians apparatus, 69C alone reads κοινωνία against 111 οἰκονομία states; minuscule 2817 is a separate later κοινωνία witness outside that selected corpus. At the second unit 78 states contain διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ in the KJV order, 36 omit it and 0278 reverses the name order.
Primary support for the KJV reading
A corrected Greek state for κοινωνία and broad Greek support for διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
King James Bible reading
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
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 Ephesians ECM-preparation apparatus: 131 selected witnesses, with hands, reversed order and whole-verse deficiencies preserved.
Earliest KJV-supporting evidence
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.
Earliest surviving Greek support: Eleventh or twelfth century — minuscule 2817. The 69C correction is kept separate because the correcting hand is not independently dated.
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.
Earliest surviving Greek support: The selected roster includes both first-hand and corrected states. No corrected hand is dated by simply assigning it the production date of its base manuscript.
Primary support for the KJV reading
The sections below preserve each supporting, competing, and related record under its proper evidence type.
Majority Text standing
The phrase “by Jesus Christ” only
The Christological phrase is the numerical majority reading in the selected Ephesians apparatus and the dominant later Greek form.
Estimated Greek support: 78 exact phrase states against 36 omissions; approximately 500 to 600 Greek manuscripts in the wider tradition
Unit qualification: This majority claim does not apply to κοινωνία, “fellowship.” At the noun unit, οἰκονομία is the Greek majority reading and κοινωνία has a narrow Greek base.
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 Ephesians ECM-preparation apparatus: 131 selected witnesses, with hands, reversed order and whole-verse deficiencies preserved.
Greek support in the cited corpus
1 κοινωνία state; 78 exact phrase states
Greek competing evidence in the cited corpus
111 οἰκονομία states; 36 phrase omissions
Principal competing witnesses named in the snapshot
Evidence represented on this page
Greek manuscripts
Represented
Ancient versions
Represented
Church fathers
Represented
Printed editions
Represented
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 Ephesians ECM-preparation apparatus: 131 selected witnesses, with hands, reversed order and whole-verse deficiencies preserved.
KJV/TR unit: κοινωνία
69C
2817
GA 2817 is not one of the 131 witness states in this apparatus. The current INTF metadata dates it to the eleventh century; some secondary catalogues say twelfth. It is reported separately with κοινωνία in the running text and catena.
P46V 01 02 03 04 06 012 020 025 044 049 075 0150 1 6 33 35 38 61 69* 81 88 93 94V 104 181 218 256 263 326 330 365 383 398 424 436 442 451 459 462 467 606 629 636 664 665 915 1069 1108 1115 1127 1175 1241 1319 1398 1505 1573 1611 1617 1739 1751 1831 1834 1836 1837 1838 1877 1881 1893 1908 1910 1912 1918 1939 1962 1963 1985 1987 1991 1996 1999 2004 2011 2012 2127 2138 2180 2243 2344 2352 2400 2464 2492 2495 2516 2523 2544 2576 2805 2853 2865 L156 L169 L587 L809 L1159 L1178 L1188 L1440 L2010 L2058
0278
Grouped evidence: 19 whole-verse deficient witnesses in the official Ephesians apparatus
Held separate from 0278, which is lacunose only at the noun.
KJV/TR unit: διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
06C2 020 049 1 6 35 38 61 69 88 93 94 104 181 218 326 330 383 398 424 436 451 459 462 467 606 629C 636 664 665 1069 1115 1127 1241 1617 1751 1831 1836 1837 1838 1877 1881 1893 1910-2 1912 1918 1939 1963 1985 1987 1991 1996 1999 2004 2011 2012 2138 2180 2243 2344 2352 2400 2523 2544 2576 2805 2853 2865 L156 L169 L587 L809 L1159 L1178 L1188 L1440 L2010 L2058
0278
P46 01 02 03 04 06* 012 025 044 075 0150 33 81 256 263 365 442 629* 915 1108 1175 1319 1398 1505 1573 1611 1739 1834 1908 1910-1 1962 2127 2464 2492 2495 2516
Grouped evidence: 19 whole-verse deficient witnesses in the official Ephesians apparatus
These rows are not placed under omission.
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.
Homily 7 on Ephesians
the opening/running quotation reads “dispensation” and “who created all things” without the phrase, but the later exposition says “who created all things by Jesus Christ” and comments on creation through him
Locator: Ephesians 3:9 exposition
Open sourceHomily 7 on Ephesians
Close quotation in Homily 7 on Ephesians. Cited from the received English translation; the Greek edition is not collated here.
Locator: Homily 7 on Ephesians, later exposition: “who created all things by Jesus Christ”
Open sourceRoster distinctions
Evidence notes
Evidence assessment
The two variations are independent. Within the official 131-witness Ephesians apparatus, 69C alone reads κοινωνία against 111 οἰκονομία states; minuscule 2817 is a separate later κοινωνία witness outside that selected corpus. At the second unit 78 states contain διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ in the KJV order, 36 omit it and 0278 reverses the name order.
Primary support for the KJV reading
A corrected Greek state for κοινωνία and broad Greek support for διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
Evidence represented on this page
Separate evidence category
Printed editions are presented apart from handwritten manuscripts and ancient versions. Edition-group summaries appear first; named supporting and competing editions then follow chronologically.
Sources for the dates and readings in this section
Catalogued records
1
Named / aggregate
0 / 1
Date span
AD 1516–1894
Tradition conclusions appear first. Named manuscripts and other identifiable witnesses follow from oldest to newest with their dates and passage-specific readings.
| Witness | Date range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Textus Receptus editions Textual unitκοινωνία (“fellowship”) versus οἰκονομία (“dispensation/administration/stewardship”) Aggregate / traditionEdition groupPrinted edition | AD 1516–1894 | Printed Greek editions that read κοινωνία (“fellowship”) here — a group of printed editions, not handwritten manuscript evidence. |
References
Aland, Barbara, et al., eds. Novum Testamentum Graece. 28th rev. ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.
Aland, Barbara, et al., eds. The Greek New Testament. 5th rev. ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2014.
Robinson, Maurice A., and William G. Pierpont. The New Testament in the Original Greek: Byzantine Textform 2018. Nürnberg: VTR Publications, 2018.
John Chrysostom. Homilies on Ephesians, Homily 7. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 13.
IGNTP/ITSEE Ephesians ECM-preparation apparatus
IGNTP/ITSEE Ephesians apparatus conventions and instructions
IGNTP/ITSEE Ephesians direct-transcription synopsis
INTF manuscript workspace for GA 2817. GA 2817, Basel University Library A.N. III.11; manuscript evidence outside the 131-witness Ephesians apparatus.
Jeff Riddle, image report on GA 2817 at Ephesians 3:9. NTVMR images show κοινωνία in the running text and again in the catena; the report notes the eleventh-century INTF date.
Chrysostom, Homily 7 on Ephesians
IGNTP/ITSEE Pauline Epistles electronic editions
INTF, Editio Critica Maior project status (Pauline letters in preparation with ITSEE/IGNTP)