Josep Rius-Camps - Jenny Read-Heimerdinger, «The variant readings of the western text of the acts of the apostles (XIII)», Vol. 15 (2002) 111-132
Josep Rius-Camps continues his series of notes on the readings of Codex Bezae in the text of Acts, in collaboration with Jenny Read-Heimerdinger. The present section deals with the events following Stephen’s death, namely the persecution of the Jesus-believers and the ministry of Philip.
Having undertaken a joint project to publish in English a commentary comparing the message of the Bezan text of Acts with that of the Alexandrian
tradition, adopting as a basis the commentary in Catalan of Josep Rius-Camps, we will continue the series of notes on the Acts of the Apostles
in both our names using the format of the English publication (of which the first volume on Acts 1–5 has recently appeared).
The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles (XIII) 121
Critical Apparatus
8:4 διῆλθον B D P74 )c rell … διῆλθον κατὰ πόλεις καὶ κώμας g2 w p (sa
mae); Aug … adnuntiabant d … ἦλθον )*.
In the readings of the versions an attempt to give a goal to the verb
διῆλθον can be observed; )01* gets round the problem in a different way
by using the simple verb which does not require a goal. The use of the
verb διέÏχομαι in an absolute sense is rare (though it occurs again at
10:38); when the story of the dispersion is picked up at 11:19, διῆλθον is
repeated with the direction specified this time (ἕως Φοινίκης καὶ ΚύπÏου
καὶ Ἀντιοχείας).
8:5 εἰς τὴν πόλιν B P74 ) A 69. 1175. 2344 pc ‖ εἰς πόλιν D C E Ψ 049.
056. 33. 1739 M co.
B03’s reference to ‘the city of Samaria’ sounds as if it means ‘the city
called Samaria’, although in the time of Augustus, when Samaria was
rebuilt by Herod the Great, it had been renamed Sebaste. The absence
of the article makes D05’s reference to Samaria a reference to the region,
and the city is not named as if it were typical of any city in the country.
Two other places where Luke mentions a city may be compared to the
construction of D05, though there the city is given a name: first, at Lk.
1:26, Gabriel is sent ‘to a city of Galilee (Judaea, )01) called Nazareth’, εἰς
πόλιν τῆς Γαλιλαίας (Ἰουδαίας) á¾— ὄνομα ÎαζαÏέθ (εἰς πόλιν Γαλιλαίαν,
D05); secondly, at Jn 4:5, Jesus is said to arrive ‘at a city of Samaria called
Sychar’, εἰς πόλιν τῆς ΣαμαÏείας λεγομένην Î£Ï…Ï‡á½±Ï (omit ) 01, probably
through haplography).
8:6 Ï€Ïοσεῖχον δὲ οἱ ὄχλοι B P74 ) A C DC 81. 88. 226. 323. 618. 945. 1175.
1739. 1891. 2344 (d) | Ï€Ïοσεῖχόν τε οἱ ὄχλοι E H P Ψ 049. 056. 33. 69.
614. 1241. 1245. 1611. 2412. 2492. 2495 al ‖ ὡς δὲ ἤκουον πᾶν, οἱ ὄχλοι
Ï€Ïοσεῖχον D* (syp mae).
The reading of D05 needs to be considered in combination with the
variant at the end of the verse (see below). It is possible to take πᾶν as a
neuter singular, signifying ‘anything’7, and to understand Luke as meaning
that the Samaritans were in the habit of listening to anything whatsoever,
without discrimination. In accordance with their custom, they started
listening eagerly to what Philip was saying. B03 eliminates the clause and
7
H.G. Liddell, R.J. Scott and H.S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon: A New Edition
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1940); pace E. Delebecque, Les deux Actes des Apôtres (EBib,
NS, 6; Paris: J. Gabalda, 1986), p. 62.
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