Byzantine text-type

Codex Vaticanus 354 S (028), an uncial codex with a Byzantine text, assigned to the Family K¹

The Byzantine text-type (also called Majority, Traditional, Ecclesiastical, Constantinopolitan, Antiocheian, or Syrian) is one of several text-types used in textual criticism to describe the textual character of Greek New Testament manuscripts. It is the form found in the largest number of surviving manuscripts, though not in the oldest. The New Testament text of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Constantinople Patriarchate edition of 1904, is based on this text-type. While considerably varying, it also underlies the Textus Receptus Greek text used for most Reformation-era translations of the New Testament into vernacular languages. Modern translations mainly use Eclectic editions that conform more often to the Alexandrian text-type.

The Byzantine text is also found in a few modern Greek Orthodox editions, as the Byzantine textual tradition has continued in the Eastern Orthodox Church into the present time. The text used by Greek Orthodox Church is supported by late minuscule manuscripts. It is commonly accepted as standard Byzantine text.

The Byzantine textform is often marked with the abbreviations