1 Timothy 3:16
This is one of the major passages where people who hold tightly to the KJV will condemn other versions of “removing God” from the Bible. More specifically, if you open all the versions and compare the opening words (within the context of the chapter), the KJV highlights the deity of Jesus, while it is quite easy to judge other versions of eliminating this doctrine from the text.
(Not to mention the hundreds of other passages where we can argue for the deity of Christ, but I digress on that point.)
This is, however, not only a good example to show the issue at hand but also a key text to illustrate what’s really occurring. And when we get to the bottom of it, we’ll see how these “modern versions” can be so obviously different.
It’s simply a matter of textual criticism—and there are other posts about the practice of textual criticism, the methods, the manuscripts, the reliability of the NT, etc. The point here is simply that the KJV is based on manuscripts that say “God” in 1 Timothy 3:16, while most of the other versions are based on manuscripts that have the Greek word for “who.”
It’s easy to say, “Well, that’s ridiculous. Why would anyone want a Bible that doesn’t say, ‘God’?” The issue is not what we want. The practice of textual criticism strives to be bias free, searching for the original words of the author’s manuscript. Since all we have are copies, this can be difficult. Actually, in this text, it’s not very difficult at all.
Below is the external evidence and internal evidence (i.e., style, grammar) for each of the major readings.
θεός (theos, “God”)
External evidence: Byzantine text along with these manuscripts: ℵc Ac C2 D2 Ψ [88 pc] 1739 1881 M vgms
Internal arguments: The only possible reason “God” makes sense in the original is because there is no antecedent for “who.” See below.
Another argument here would be that “God” was considered a nomina sacrum (basically an abbreviation for words often repeated or significant words). So all four letters would not be written out, just the theta and the sigma with a line over it. A capital theta and a capital omicron look very similar. One could make a more plausible argument that a scribe got confused between these forms. The words for “God” and “who” would look very similar then.
ὅς (hos, “who”)
External evidence: ℵ* A* C* F G 33 365 pc Did Epiph. This is very strong support, since the second correctors of these manuscripts often changed readings to match other medieval manuscripts.
Where are the Western witnesses? Nearly all of them, including D*, support the neuter relative pronoun. Though not the masculine “who,” this reading supports this relative pronoun, since there is no logical way to change ὅ to θεός.
Internal arguments: It is highly unlikely—maybe even impossible—that a scribe would take “God” (ascribing deity to Jesus) and change it to “who.” However, a scribe is more more likely to change a relative pronoun to “God,” whether intentionally or unintentionally. By the time of our first manuscripts with this change, Christ’s deity had been recognized and debated, as well as deemed an essential church doctrine. It would be easy to go back through the manuscripts and insert the doctrine wherever readings allowed for it.
What about not having an antecedent for “who?” Colossians 1:15 and Philippians 2:6 are also examples of early hymns that biblical authors stuck into their passages. This is stylistic. We don’t need to look for an antecedent. We obviously know it’s about Jesus.
Conclusion: The fact that the Western manuscripts have the neuter pronoun is significant. Per the NET, this means that the “God” variant is not early enough to be in any of the Western witnesses. It originated after the 2nd century. The external evidence is very strong for the masculine relative pronoun, and the neuter pronoun is a correction to agree with “mystery” earlier in the passage.
The relative pronoun seems to be more supported on both external and internal evidence. When we read “who” in modern versions, we must guard against decrying the heresy of removing Jesus’ deity from the Bible. It’s more like we are depending on more accurate witnesses and logic of scribal tendencies. We are not denying Christ’s deity. Jesus is God. But 1 Timothy 3 says “who.”