The Bible’s text

“God was manifest in the flesh”: 1 Timothy 3:16

In the King James Bible, 1 Timothy 3:16 says “God was manifest in the flesh”. It is one of the few verses that seem to call Jesus God in so many words. But the oldest manuscripts read differently. This topic looks at the evidence.

1The question

Does 1 Timothy 3:16 say “God was manifest in the flesh”, or “He who was manifest”?

2What Christians believe

Christians agree that the best manuscripts read “He who was manifested in the flesh”, and modern Bibles follow them. They add that the verse still speaks of Christ, who “was manifest in the flesh”, which implies that he existed before he came.

For Christians the divinity of Christ is taught in other places, such as John 1:1 and John 1:14, so the change in this verse does not affect the doctrine.

3What the texts say

The King James reading

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
1 Timothy 3:16 · KJVRead in context →

The same letter on God and Christ

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1 Timothy 2:5 · KJVRead in context →
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Timothy 1:17 · KJVRead in context →

A verse Christians compare

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 · KJVRead in context →

4What scholars say

Bruce M. Metzger (A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed., 1994) reports that the earliest manuscripts, including Codex Sinaiticus as first written, read “who” (hos). Later copies read “God” (theos).

In the oldest Greek manuscripts “God” was written as a short abbreviation that looks very like the word “who” with an extra line or two. A copyist could change one into the other with a few strokes of the pen. In several old manuscripts a later hand has made exactly that change.

Bart D. Ehrman (The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, 1993) discusses this verse as one where scribes may have strengthened the wording to support belief in Christ’s divinity. Isaac Newton made the same point about this verse three centuries earlier.

5The Islamic perspective

The Qur’an describes Jesus as a messenger, a word from God and a spirit from him, and like the messengers before him, a man who ate food:

O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not "Three" - Cease! (it is) better for you! - Allah is only One Allah. Far is it removed from His Transcendent Majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is sufficient as Defender.
Qur’an 4:171 · PickthallRead in context →
The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger, messengers (the like of whom) had passed away before him. And his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat (earthly) food. See how We make the revelations clear for them, and see how they are turned away!
Qur’an 5:75 · PickthallRead in context →

Muslims point to the same letter, two chapters earlier: “there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). In the oldest reading of 3:16, the letter keeps that distinction clear.

6Objections and responses

“The change is a single letter, probably an accident.”

Response: It may have begun as an accident. But in the manuscripts the change runs in one direction, from “who” to “God”, and later correctors went back and altered older copies. That suggests the new reading was welcome because it fitted what scribes believed.

“Even with ‘He who’, the verse teaches that Christ came in the flesh.”

Response: Being “manifest in the flesh” can describe someone sent by God into the world, as Jesus says God sent him (John 17:3). The same letter calls Jesus “the man Christ Jesus” and calls God the only one who is “immortal, invisible” (1 Timothy 1:17; 2:5).

7Conclusion

Both sides agree that the oldest manuscripts read “He who was manifested in the flesh” and that later copies read “God”. Christians see a change that does not affect their faith. Muslims see a change that made a verse say more than it first did.

Compare 1 Timothy 3:16 in the King James Version with any modern translation.

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