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) 129
the holy city. According to Parker, ‘DB has supplied the wrong preposi-
tion, agreeing by chance with L’31; however, according to the pattern of
prepositions εἰς/á¼Î½ followed by D05, it is quite normal for á¼Î½ to express
an activity that went on in a place (worship) despite a main verb of move-
ment that requires εἰς32.
8:28 ἦν δέ (ὑποστÏέφων) B C 431. 614. 913. 1108. 1175. 1611. 2138. 2412
e p ‖ ἦν τε D ) rell, lac d.
By virtue of this variant and the next two (see below), D05 produces
a sentence that ties the activity of the eunuch closely to his return from
Ierousalem, beginning with τε to indicate the close relationship between
the two main actions: á¼Î»Î·Î»á½»Î¸ÎµÎ¹ (in the pluperfect) … ἦν τε ὑποστÏέφων
... καθήμενος ... ἀναγινώσκων. Not so in B03, which moves on to a new
development in the story with the return journey, and then separates
out the different activities: ἦν δὲ á½Ï€Î¿ÏƒÏ„Ïέφων ... καὶ καθήμενος... καὶ
ἀνεγίνωσκεν.
καὶ καθήμενος á¼Ï€á½¶ τοῦ á¼…Ïματος αá½Ï„οῦ... B P74 ) DB rell ‖ καθ. á¼Ï€á½¶ Ï„.
á¼…Ïμ. D* syp, lac. d; Cass.
See previous comment.
καὶ ἀνεγίνωσκεν B P50 )c C E H L P Ψ 049. 056. 1. 69 M … ἀνεγίνωσκεν P74
)* (A) 33. 88. 323. 945. 1175. 1270. 1505. 1739. 1837. 1891. 2344. 2495 al
r ‖ ἀναγινώσκων D lat mae sa, lac. d; Cass.
The effect of tying the eunuch’s activity closely to the fact of his re-
turning from Jerusalem (see comments on first vl of this verse) is to link
his reading of the Scriptures to his visit to Ierousalem.
8:29
See explanation of witnesses used for Acts 8:29–10:4 in the introduc-
tion to this section (above).
8:30 Ï€ÏοσδÏαμών B P74 ) rell ‖ Ï€Ïοσελθών P50 181. 460 pc syp sa mae.
While B03 indicates that Philip hurried to carry out the angel’s order,
the WT shows his compliance by taking up the verb of the command
(Î Ïόσελθε... Ï€Ïοσελθών).
31
Codex Bezae: An Early Christian Manuscript (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1994), p. 149.
32
Read-Heimerdinger, The Bezan Text, pp. 192-97.
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