. ▁The ▁two ▁chief ▁works ▁of ▁the ▁first - century ▁Roman ▁historian ▁T ac it us , ▁Ann ales ▁and ▁Historia e , ▁each ▁surv ive ▁in ▁only ▁a ▁single ▁medieval ▁manuscript . ▁ ▁There ▁are ▁a ▁total ▁of ▁ 4 7 6 ▁ext ant ▁non - Christ ian ▁manuscript s ▁dated ▁to ▁the ▁second ▁century . ▁ ▁These ▁texts ▁were ▁all ▁written ▁by ▁hand , ▁by ▁copying ▁from ▁another ▁hand written ▁text , ▁so ▁they ▁are ▁not ▁al ike ▁in ▁the ▁manner ▁of ▁a ▁printed ▁work . ▁The ▁differences ▁between ▁them ▁are ▁called ▁variants . ▁ ▁A ▁variant ▁is ▁simply ▁any ▁variation ▁between ▁two ▁texts , ▁and ▁while ▁the ▁exact ▁number ▁is ▁somewhat ▁disput ed , ▁sch ol ars ▁agree ▁the ▁more ▁texts , ▁the ▁more ▁variants . ▁This ▁means ▁there ▁are ▁more ▁variants ▁concerning ▁New ▁Testament ▁texts ▁than ▁Old ▁Testament ▁texts . ▁Vari ants ▁are ▁not ▁even ly ▁distributed ▁throughout ▁the ▁texts . ▁ ▁Text ual ▁scholar ▁Kurt ▁Al and ▁explains ▁that ▁chart ing ▁the ▁variants ▁shows ▁the ▁New ▁Testament ▁is ▁ 6 2 . 9 % ▁variant - free . ▁ ▁Many ▁variants ▁origin ate ▁in ▁simple ▁miss p ell ings ▁or ▁mis - copy ing . ▁For ▁example , ▁a ▁scri be ▁would ▁drop ▁one ▁or ▁more ▁letters , ▁skip ▁a ▁word ▁or ▁line , ▁write ▁one ▁letter ▁for ▁another , ▁trans pose ▁letters , ▁and ▁so ▁on . ▁ ▁Some ▁variants ▁represent ▁a ▁scri bal ▁attempt ▁to ▁simplify ▁or ▁harm on ize , ▁by ▁changing ▁a ▁word ▁or