Categories of New Testament manuscripts

New Testament manuscripts in Greek are categorized into five groups, according to a scheme introduced in 1981 by Kurt and Barbara Aland in The Text of the New Testament. The categories are based on how each manuscript relates to the various text-types.^: 381 Generally speaking, earlier Alexandrian manuscripts are category I, while later Byzantine manuscripts are category V.^{: 381–382} Aland's method involved considering 1000 passages where the Byzantine text differs from non-Byzantine text. The Alands did not select their 1000 readings from all of the NT books; for example, none were drawn from Matthew and Luke.