Terrance Callan, «Reading the Earliest Copies of 2 Peter», Vol. 93 (2012) 427-450
An examination of the three earliest extant copies of 2 Peter (namely those found in Papyrus 72, Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus) is made in order to determine how the meaning of 2 Peter is affected by differences among the three copies, especially the textual variations among them. These textual variations produce significantly different understandings of Jesus in the three copies of 2 Peter, as well as other less prominent differences in meaning.
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448 TERRANCE CALLAN
first words of the letter identify its author as Simwn Petroj
(Simon Peter) rather than Sumewn Petroj (Simeon Peter) as in
the most likely original text. This has the effect of making the au-
thor more recognizable as the Simwn Petroj mentioned in other
New Testament writings, since this is the form of his name every-
where else but Acts 15,14. And in 2,13 Vaticanus has agapaij
(love feasts) while the likely original text has apataij (deceits).
Perhaps under the influence of the parallel passage in Jude 12, Vat-
icanus locates the misbehavior of the false teachers specifically at
formal celebrations of the Christian church; the likely original text
is less specific about the meals at which the misbehavior occurs.
Jude 12 is the earliest passage to use agaph (love) with this mean-
ing, but this later became common usage. Another early instance
is probably to be seen in Ignatius, Smyrn. 8.2 34.
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The most important differences among the three earliest copies
of 2 Peter concern the way they present Jesus. Readers of 2 Peter in
Codex Vaticanus found Jesus presented the same way as in the prob-
able original text, i. e., as God yet distinct from God. Readers of 2
Peter in P72 found less emphasis on the distinction between Jesus
and God and thus more emphasis on the divinity of Jesus than in the
probable original text of 2 Peter (and in the Codex Vaticanus copy).
Readers of 2 Peter in Codex Sinaiticus found a less explicit presen-
tation of Jesus as God and thus more emphasis on the distinction
between Jesus and God than in the probable original text of 2 Peter
(and in the Codex Vaticanus copy). In conjunction with this, readers
of 2 Peter in Sinaiticus also found a greater emphasis on the tran-
scendence of God than is found in the likely original text.
Readers of 2 Peter in P72 also found it different in other ways
than the probable original text. It presents the view that humans
need salvation from desire rather than from corruption; it is some-
what more consistently presented as a testamentary letter; it views
prophecy as something alongside scripture rather than part of it;
and it has a somewhat less complex eschatology than does the prob-
34
On this see BAUCKHAM, Jude, 2 Peter, 84-85.