Mark 1:1, is “the Son of God” original?
Whether Mark 1:1 originally includes “the Son of God” remains contested: the opening is transmitted as Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ and with υἱοῦ θεοῦ added.
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.
“The base text reads υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ·. The copies also carry υἱοῦ θεοῦ· [greek majuscule; greek manuscript; early greek manuscript tradition], the omission [greek manuscript; early greek manuscript tradition]; the committee kept the base text. The external evidence favors υἱοῦ θεοῦ·, but the internal evidence is not decisive enough to overturn the default.”
“The base text reads χριστοῦ. The copies also carry υἱοῦ θεοῦ [greek majuscule; greek manuscript; early greek manuscript tradition], υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ [greek majuscule; greek manuscript; later majority tradition]; the committee kept the base text. Default wording chosen; evidence is not decisive enough for high confidence”
At this verse, the APB 3.5 textual decision keeps χριστοῦ as its base wording, matching the committee's printed sentence, The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Its record says, “The base text reads χριστοῦ.” It adds, “Default wording chosen; evidence is not decisive enough for high confidence”. The three readers worked blind to reference, book, and manuscript names; their decision records a reading choice under that procedure.
The argument for each reading
If “Son of God” belongs
Reading A gives the opening the words υἱοῦ θεοῦ, “Son of God.” Nestle-Aland 28 (2012) prints that form, while Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Textform (2005) has υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ, a fuller form with the article. The apparatus line records both expansions after χριστοῦ: υἱοῦ θεοῦ for Treg and NA28, and υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ for RP. This side can point to the phrase's presence in two critical or majority-edition presentations and to its two transmitted forms. The variation between those forms also matters: the question concerns both the phrase's presence and, where present, whether the article belongs.
If the short opening is original
Reading B ends the opening at Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ, …of Jesus Christ. Westcott-Hort (1881) prints the short opening, and the original hand of ℵ* (4th century A.D.) lacks the phrase, though its row reports that a corrector added it. The apparatus likewise sets χριστοῦ for WH against additions. This account takes seriously that the shorter wording appears in both a critical edition and the initial writing of a manuscript. It also fits the APB's printed wording, which ends the verse with Jesus Christ. The question remains how the later correction and the editions should be weighed.
The wording changes whether the opening explicitly includes the title “Son of God” or ends with Jesus Christ. It does not change the APB wording supplied for Mark 1:2. Christian doctrine should not be decided from this unit alone: most doctrines rest on many passages. The packet preserves competing forms and a committee choice made without high confidence.
Common questions
Does Mark 1:1 include “the Son of God”?
The packet records both forms. NA28 and RP include the phrase, while WH and the original hand of ℵ* support an opening ending at Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ.
What did the APB committee print at Mark 1:1?
The APB prints: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Its 3.5 decision says, “Default wording chosen; evidence is not decisive enough for high confidence”.
Does this variant change Mark 1:2?
No change to the supplied APB wording for Mark 1:2 follows from this unit. The variant concerns whether Mark 1:1 ends with Jesus Christ or adds Son of God.
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.