1 Peter 1:11
In this verse all manuscripts except one (Codex B) read πνευμα Χριστου (“the Spirit of Christ”). The scribe of B
shortened it to πνευμα
(“the Spirit”) perhaps because he may not have understood how Christ’s Spirit
could be present before Christ’s incarnation in the OT prophets (who predicted
the coming of Christ and his experiences of suffering and being glorified).
Because the Son of God was to become the Christ, he revealed himself in the OT
by his Spirit in and through the prophets. The title, “the Spirit of Christ,”
shows up one other time in the NT—in Rom 8:9, which identifies “the Spirit of
Christ” with the indwelling Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit; thus, it is
“the Spirit of Christ.” Acts 16:7 has a similar phrase, “the Spirit of Jesus,”
and Phil 1:19 has the phrase “Spirit of Jesus Christ.” (Philip W.
Comfort, New Testament Text and Translation Commentary: Commentary on the
Variant Readings of the Ancient New Testament Manuscripts and How They Relate
to the Major English Translations [Carol Stream, Ill.: Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., 2008], 736)
