WETTSTEIN, Johannes Jakob. - Philologist and textual critic, Protestant, b. Basel 5 March 1693, d. Amsterdam 22 March 1754.
Son of a Calvinist pastor, he taught philosophy and ecclesiastical history, but soon devoted himself to the study of the New Testament, consulting manuscripts in Basel, Zurich, Berne, Lyons, Paris and England. Certain doctrinal attitudes, branded as Socinian, and his claim to offer a text of the New Testament that would shake confidence in the *textus receptus*, made him many enemies, so that he was forced to leave Switzerland. He went to Amsterdam (1733), where he published his major work. There had already appeared his *Prolegomena ad Novi Testamenti Graeci editionem accuratissimum* (1730), followed by the *Novum Testamentum Graecum* (2 vols., Amsterdam 1751–52). In this pioneering work W. used about 100 manuscripts and many patristic texts. Without altering the *textus receptus*, he supplied abundant material in his notes, from which the intelligent reader could choose readings far superior to those printed in the text. The desire for a new edition of the work by the “Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge” is still alive (cf. E. von Dobschutz, *Der Plan eines neuen W.*, in *Zeitschr. für die neutest. Wiss.* 21 [1922], pp. 146–48).
While studying the various manuscripts, W. devised a system of classification still partly in use today, despite H. von Soden’s attempt at innovation (v.). He designated uncial manuscripts by capital letters and minuscule manuscripts by Arabic numerals. The main drawback is the limited number of letters and the fact that two or more manuscripts containing different material may be represented by the same sign, since W. began new series according to content (Gospels, Catholic Epistles, Pauline Epistles, Apocalypse).