This paper briefly describes the nomina sacra system – graphic textual demarcations of words such as “God,” “Lord,” “Jesus,” “Christ” and “Spirit” – and its significance in the New Testament manuscript tradition, as well as provides an explanation of why nomina sacra is emphasised in the biblical text. In early Christian Greek Bible manuscripts, we usually find the central words “God,” “Lord,” “Jesus,” “Christ” and “Spirit” specifically demarcated in the text by contraction – a contraction of the first and last letters of the word with a horizontal line across the abbreviation. Names like “God” (Greek: ⲑⲉⲟⲥ, where ⲥ = the letter sigma), “Lord” (ⲕⲩⲣⲓⲟⲥ), “Jesus” (ⲓⲏⲥⲟⲩⲥ), “Christ” (ⲭⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ) and “Spirit” (ⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁ) are thus highlighted in our oldest extant Greek New Testament majuscule texts and written as ⲑ̅ⲥ̅, ⲕ̅̅ⲥ̅, ⲓ̅ⲥ̅, ⲭ̅ⲥ̅ and ⲡ̅ⲛ̅ⲁ̅ respectively. These particularly emphasised words are usually referred to by biblical scholars as nomina sacra, “sacred names.” Still today, the lay person may recognise from Christ icons the Greek nomina sacra for “Jesus,” ⲓ̅ⲥ̅ and “Christ,” ⲭ̅ⲥ̅. Church leaders like John Henry Newman in the 19th century and Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the 20th century were aware of these special Christian markings in the Bible manuscripts. Newman even used a selection of these sacred name markers in his own authored writings.
This paper provides two reasons why nomina sacra should be highlighted in contemporary New Testament writings. First, it notes that the Greek New Testament manuscript tradition is unambiguous when it comes to emphasising the core group of sacred name markings – GOD, LORD, JESUS and CHRIST (nomina sacra here in small caps). This writing practice links nomina sacra to the broader early Jewish and early Christian treatment of the sanctity of the divine Name, YHWH. Second, this practice offers support also to present-day Bible publishers and translators, who reflect on how this early scribal–editorial convention can best be reproduced in printed Bibles. The paper discusses three possible strategies for demarcating nomina sacra in contemporary Bible editions.