Although we do not possess the original manuscripts of the New Testament, we do have over 99.9 percent of the original text, and this is because of the faithful work of manuscript copyists over the centuries. Yet the copying of the New Testament was a long and arduous process. Though it seems strange to us today, in antiquity, it was not customary to sit at a table or a desk while writing. Rather, it was customary for scribes to stand while making brief notes or to sit on a stool or bench (or even on the ground), holding their scroll on their knees. Something of the drudgery of copying manuscripts can be gleaned from the notes they often placed at the close of their books. The following are some examples:

"He who does not know how to write supposes it to be no labor; but though only three fingers write, the whole body labors."

"Writing bows one's back, thrusts the ribs into one's stomach, and fosters a general debility of the body."

In an Armenian manuscript of the Gospels, there is a note that complains that a heavy snowstorm was raging outside and that the scribe's ink froze, his hand became numb, and the pen fell from his fingers.

"As travelers rejoice to see their home country, so also is the end of a book to those who toil [in writing]."

"The end of the book; thanks be to God!"

"There is no scribe who will not pass away, but what his hands have written will remain forever."