Old Testament text families
| Text | Date | Notes |
|---|
| Masoretic Text (MT) | c. 7th–10th century AD (copied from much older manuscripts) | Hebrew text preserved by the Masoretes. Basis for KJV Old Testament |
| Septuagint (LXX) | c. 3rd–1st century BC | Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures. Quoted by NT authors |
| Dead Sea Scrolls | c. 3rd century BC – 1st century AD | Earliest surviving Hebrew manuscripts. Largely confirm the MT |
| Samaritan Pentateuch | c. 4th century BC | Independent Hebrew tradition of the first five books |
New Testament text families
| Text | Notes |
|---|
| Textus Receptus (TR) | Greek text behind the KJV New Testament. Based on the Byzantine manuscript tradition |
| Byzantine / Majority Text | Largest family of NT manuscripts. Closely agrees with the TR |
| Alexandrian Text | Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus. Basis for most modern translations (NA/UBS) |
| Western Text | Codex Bezae. Known for paraphrastic tendencies |
Major English translations
| Version | Year | OT Source | NT Source | Method |
|---|
| KJV | 1611 | MT | TR | Formal equivalence |
| NKJV | 1982 | MT | TR | Formal equivalence |
| NASB | 1971 | MT | NA | Formal equivalence |
| ESV | 2001 | MT | NA/UBS | Essentially literal |
| NIV | 1978 | MT | NA/UBS | Dynamic equivalence |
| NLT | 1996 | MT | NA/UBS | Dynamic equivalence |
| MSG | 2002 | MT | NA/UBS | Paraphrase |
The KJV and NKJV are the only major English translations based on the Textus Receptus for the New Testament. All others follow the Alexandrian-priority Nestle-Aland (NA) or United Bible Societies (UBS) critical text.
