This scholarly edition of the Greek text of the Christian Greek Scriptures is published under the Latin title Novum Testamentum Graece. (See SCHOLARLY EDITIONS.) An early version of the text was first published in 1898, under the editorship of Eberhard Nestle. It was later edited by his son Erwin Nestle, then by Kurt Aland, and later coedited by Barbara Aland. This work has been published in 28 editions, the most recent appearing in 2012.

In early editions, the editors constructed the Greek text by comparing texts published by other scholars. Later, the editors also surveyed and analyzed available ancient manuscripts in order to reconstruct as closely as possible the original text of the Christian Greek Scriptures. They attempted to determine which readings of the text were older and which variants originated later. The Nestle-Aland Greek text is currently one of the most widely used and respected resources available. It includes footnotes that show variations in ancient manuscripts. This helps scholars to study how the text was transmitted over the centuries.

The New World Bible Translation Committee used the Westcott and Hort Greek text (first published in 1881) as the primary basis for its initial translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. (See HORT, FENTON JOHN ANTHONY; WESTCOTT, BROOKE FOSS.) In preparing the 2013 revision, the committee also consulted a number of other scholarly editions and reference works, including the 28th edition of the Nestle-Aland Greek text as well as the text by the United Bible Societies. This painstaking research helped the committee to decide which reading to follow in the main text. It should be noted that nearly all the variations between these three scholarly editions​—Westcott and Hort, Nestle-Aland, and United Bible Societies​—reflect very minor differences that rarely affect the meaning.​—See App. A3.