The Editio Critica Maior (ECM) provides the full range of resources
necessary for scholar research in establishing the text and
reconstructing the history of the New Testament text during its first
thousand years.
These include:
* All the variants found in the selected Greek manuscripts and in
citations by the Greek Fathers
* The evidence of the three most important early versions (Latin,
Coptic, and Syriac) where they witness variants in the Greek text.
* The evidence of other versions (Armenian, Georgian, Old Church
Slavonic and Ethiopic) where they witness variants in the Greek
text, and to the extent they are available in editions.
The supplementary studies support the textual decisions. It contains
descriptions of New Testament manuscripts, with definitions of
their textual character in the light of the total evidence, and an
arrangement of the manuscripts and manuscript groups by their
role in the development of the text. This promotes greater clarity in
the definition of external criteria for decisions on variant readings,
guarantees a more thorough perspective on the textual scene and
stimulates further research. A textual commentary discusses all
passages where difficulties are found in textual traditions.