Several important ancient copies of Paul’s letters read, “by faith of
God and Christ [εν πιστει . . . τη
του θεου
και Χριστου].” (These include P46, our earliest copy of Paul’s
letters; B, a fourth-century copy of the Greek Bible; and several manuscripts
in the Western tradition [D, F, G]) Arguably the external evidence in support
of the translation “by faith of the Son of God” is slightly better. (Witnesses
include the fourth-century Codex Sinaiticus [א], the fifth-century Codex
Alexandrinus [A], the important ninth-century manuscript 33, and the important
tenth-century manuscript 1739. The majority of manuscripts, which are in the
Byzantine text tradition, also have this reading. All the ancient versions have
this reading as well.) (Kevin W.
McFadden, Faith in the Son of God: The Place of Christ-Oriented Faith within
Pauline Theology [Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2021], 212)
