Ephesians 1:1, a letter addressed to… whom?
Ephesians 1:1 preserves both an open address, τοῖς ἁγίοις τοῖς οὖσιν, and ἐν Ἐφέσῳ, in Ephesus. The witnesses leave the letter’s destination in dispute.
The APB text at this verse
The manuscripts, editions, and versions
The committee record at this verse
The APB's translation committee works blind: it is never told it is translating the Bible, never given a book name or a verse number, and it never sees the witnesses above. Since revision 3.5, the places where the manuscripts disagree are decided before translation by three readers, Grok 4.3, GPT-6 Astra, and Claude Fable 5.1, who see the readings and the witnesses by age and class but never a reference or a manuscript name. Whatever was done at this verse was done on the language and the evidence alone, and the record is public.
Ephesians 1:1: a reading other than the base text adopted.
“The base text reads Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ. The copies also carry Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ [greek majuscule; later majority tradition]; the committee kept the base text. Default wording Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ is retained; the external evidence is early and independent, and the internal evidence favors the harder order.”
“The base text reads ἐν Ἐφέσῳ; the committee adopted the omission on the evidence of the copies. The committee departed from the default because the omission is backed by the papyrus and the two earliest majuscules and because the shorter, harder wording best explains the fuller one. The case is not certain: the longer wording also has early support and the awkwardness of τοῖς οὖσιν standing alone could be argued to have arisen from a lost or deliberately blanked address. Another reader should weigh whether the early witnesses for inclusion are truly independent of one another.”
At this verse, the blind committee adopted the omission and its printed text therefore addresses the holy ones who are faithful in Christ Jesus without a city. Its decision states: “The committee departed from the default because the omission is backed by the papyrus and the two earliest majuscules and because the shorter, harder wording best explains the fuller one.” The pericope’s audit verdict is clean.
The argument for each reading
If a circular letter
Reading A leaves the address at τοῖς ἁγίοις τοῖς οὖσιν, without a city. The packet identifies Papyrus 46, Sinaiticus & Vaticanus (first hands) as the three earliest witnesses and says that all three lack ἐν Ἐφέσῳ. Their correctors added the city. This form can be read as an address left open, fitting the possibility of a circular letter whose destination could be supplied for each city. The committee’s decision also describes the omission as the shorter, harder wording and says that it is backed by the papyrus and the two earliest majuscules. The wording remains awkward standing alone, a difficulty the committee record itself acknowledges.
If addressed to Ephesus
Reading B supplies ἐν Ἐφέσῳ, making the addressees explicitly located in Ephesus. NA28 prints the words, and its witness row says that all four editions print them. The raw apparatus likewise lists ἐν Ἐφέσῳ for WH, Treg, NA28, and RP, while WHapp records its absence. The committee record says that the longer wording has early support. It also raises a concrete explanation for the shorter form: the awkwardness of τοῖς οὖσιν standing alone could have arisen from a lost or deliberately blanked address. The record further asks whether the early witnesses for inclusion are truly independent of one another.
The committee’s record calls the case uncertain. It leaves open whether the open wording reflects a blank address, a lost address, or another history of transmission. This variant concerns the destination named in Ephesians 1:1; no verse is deleted, and the packet does not settle a wider conclusion about the letter’s original circulation.
Common questions
Was Ephesians originally addressed to Ephesus?
The packet preserves two readings: ἐν Ἐφέσῳ names Ephesus, while τοῖς ἁγίοις τοῖς οὖσιν leaves the city unstated. The committee adopted the omission, while describing the case as uncertain.
Which early witnesses omit in Ephesus?
Papyrus 46, Sinaiticus & Vaticanus (first hands), listed as P46 ℵ* B*, omit ἐν Ἐφέσῳ. Their row says that correctors added the city.
Does this variant remove part of Ephesians 1:1?
No verse is deleted. The difference is whether the address includes ἐν Ἐφέσῳ or continues from τοῖς ἁγίοις τοῖς οὖσιν without a named city.
Related entries
Witness readings for critical editions are quoted from the SBLGNT apparatus (CC BY 4.0); Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible). Readings of ancient manuscripts and versions are cited as published scholarly fact with their sources linked above. The page does not declare which reading is original.
The registry gives no verdict
The registry does not say which reading is original. Each page lists the witnesses, shows what the committee did with the same text, and leaves the judgment to the reader.