109 Son and Chosen. A Text-critical Study of John 1,34 Fourth Gospel in the form of the Father– the Son relationship statement by Jesus. Conclusion The text in John 1,34 has suffered an early corruption that has pro- duced several variant readings. Previous proposals have not yielded gen- erally accepted results and opinions have been polarised into two main camps over which variant is the “original”: υ ς το θεο or κλεκτ ς το θεο . The alternative approach by Rodgers has abandoned the results of both camps and produced a conjectural emendation μονογεν ς κλεκτ ς υ ς το θεο . Each solution has proven problematic and I have attempted a fresh look at the text-critical crux in John 1,34 based on the new information regarding the original reading in P75. I conclude that second century scribal habits are the reason for textual corruption and only one manuscript has retained the “original” reading. Thus, this textual dilemma can be solved successfully only if transcriptional probabilities play the key role in determining the relationships between the known variants. This needs to be conducted in such a way that the external evidence is not allowed to dictate any reading invalid on a priori basis, singular or otherwise. This means methodologically that singular (and sub-singular) readings should be evaluated on the basis of transcriptional probability instead of being tossed aside. They may prove to be the key to solve some perennial textual problems57. This requires more research, which is beyond the scope of this article. I propose that John the Baptist declared of Jesus that ο τ ς στιν υ ς κλεκτ ς. Such a reading changes the intrinsic probabilities of the text of the Fourth Gospel and affects the theology of the Fourth Evangelist. It explicitly refers to Jesus as the New Israel i.e. the Chosen Son. Timo Flink Department of Western Theology University of Joensuu Yliopistokatu 4 80101 Joensuu (FINLAND) 57 This practice is also seen in the recent ECM volume containing Jude. The editors have selected a variant reading μ ς παξ π ντα τι ‘Ιησο ς based on Codex Vaticanus alone in a textual variation unit in Jude 5 that includes 30 more or less different variant read- ings. See B. Aland et al, Novum Testamentum Graecum Editio Critica Maior IV. Catholic Epistles. Installment 4. The Second and Third Letter of John. The Letter of Jude (Stuttgart 2005) 410.