DWThe Direct WitnessAccount

The evidence beneath the English

Every consequential choice
leaves a record.

The published library was developed through direct Greek analysis, lexical work, and manuscript comparison. Where surviving witnesses materially disagree, the competing Greek readings and their effect on English remain open to the reader.

6,497

chapter-level decision records generated from the live translation registry

1

public provenance schema, designed to remain machine-readable and auditable

SBLGNT

standardized inspectable Greek reference edition

Textual basis

SBL Greek New Testament

Edited by Michael W. Holmes. The project's standardized, publicly inspectable Greek reference edition. It is not presented as retroactive proof that every existing chapter originated from one uniform printed edition.

This is an honest reference claim, not a retroactive claim that all completed work began from one uniform printed edition. Material manuscript forks remain independently documented at the reading they affect.

SBLGNT project · Text and apparatus · License

Translation record

Luke 2

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luke.2.lk2FirstCensus

αὕτη ἀπογραφὴ πρώτη ἐγένετο

TRANSLATIONmoderate confidence

How should Luke relate this registration to Quirinius?

Prōtē normally means first. Proposals such as ‘before Quirinius governed’ try to resolve chronology but require an unusual construction.

Why this default

“The first registration” follows the ordinary force of prōtē and the straightforward relation to Quirinius; rendering it “before” would solve a historical difficulty by imposing an exceptional syntax.

Evidence

ExternalNo separate external-evidence note is recorded for this stable-text decision.

InternalThe decision record relies on the stated lexical, grammatical, or translation rationale.

Project defaultthe first registration, made

Project default · ordinary syntax

Alternativethe registration made before

Chronological proposal

Alternativethe registration that first began

Process foregrounded

Reference roleStandardized inspectable reference; manuscript forks are independently reopened.

Revision historyNo decision-level revision has been recorded since the provenance ledger was introduced.

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Record integrity

One registry drives both the reader and this record.

The manifest is regenerated from the translation source before every production build. Its source digest is 7c4cbee907fbc0e84976d6e78a615134e2288f8197ce8abcf67b0452155ddc84.

Decision-level revision history begins with this ledger. Earlier development is not reconstructed into false precision; future material changes can be appended to the relevant record with their reason and date.