Colossians 4

Colossians 4:15

:TEXT: “the brothers at Laodicea, and Nympha and the church in her house.”

B 1739 1881 lat? vg? syr(h) one syr(pal) cop(south)

ASVn RSV NASV NIV NEB TEV RANK: CNOTES: “the brothers at Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church in his house.”

D G K Psi 614 630 1241 2495 Byz Lect lat? vg? syr(p)

KJV NEBn TEVnNOTES: “the brothers at Laodicea, and Nympha and the church in their house.”

S A C P 33 81 104 one syr(pal) cop(north)

ASV NASVn

The names “Nymphas” (masculine) and “Nympha” (feminine) are spelled alike in the accusative case, except for accent marks, which are not used in the early manuscripts. The confusion in spelling caused some copyists to either change either “his” to “her” or “her” to “his.” Copyists would probably be more likely to change “her” to “his” than vice versa. The reading “their” apparently came from copyists taking “the brothers” as the noun to which to the pronoun refers.1 Thessalonians 2:7 :TEXT: “·But we were infants in plyour midst”

p65 S* B C* D* G I Psi* 104* 2495 lat vg cop(north) one cop(south)

ASVn RSVn NASVn TEVn RANK: CNOTES: “·But we were gentle in plyour midst”

Sc A C2 Dc K P Psic 33 81 104c 614 630 1241 1739 1881 Byz Lect syr(p,h) most cop(south)

KJV ASV RSV NASV NIV NEB : There is only one letter difference between the Greek words for “infants” and “gentle.” That letter is also found at the end of the previous word. Thus may have been read as or vice versa. Although “gentle” seems to make better sense, the harsh switching of metaphors from “infants” to “mother” would have prompted copyists to have misread (or misheard) “infants” as “gentle.”