Josep Rius-Camps - Jenny Read-Heimerdinger, «The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles (XVII) (Acts 11:19–12:25).», Vol. 18 (2005) 135-166
The present section deals with the events concerning the conversion of Peter (Acts 9:31–11:18) whereby he at last comes to understand that the good news of Jesus is for Jews and Gentiles alike. Since the Greek pages of Codex Bezae are missing from 8:29 to 10:14 and the Latin ones from 8:20b to 10:4, we have noted in the Critical Apparatus the variants of other witnesses that differ from the Alexandrian text. From 10:4b (fol. 455a), the Latin text of Codex Bezae is available. The Greek text starts at 10:14b (fol. 455b).
138 Josep Rius-Camp and Jenny Read-Heimerdinger
is no evidence for this application outside Acts. The reading of )01* is
strange but seems to have arisen under the influence of the following
word ε αγγελιζ μενοι.
(Ï„ ν κ Ïιον ησο ν) ΧÏιστ ν D d 618 pc w mae ‖ om. B P74 ) rell.
Contrary to popular perception, D05 does not add ΧÏιστ indis-
crimately in Acts4. When ΧÏιστ is present in D05 but not in B03, it
always follows κ Ïιο ησο , never the name ησο alone (cf. 1:21;
4:33; 8:16; 11:20; 15:11; 16:31; 19:5; 20:21; 21:13) except for once when
it follows πα ησο (3:13). Several of these occurrences arise in
the context of the message of salvation (11:20; 15:11; 16:31; 20:21). At
11:20, its use picks up Peter’s reference to the full title of Jesus at 11:17
in the context of the believing Gentiles, and it therefore contributes to
the literary and theological cohesion of the narrative. It is also possible
to interpret the clause in D05 as meaning ‘they announced that the Lord
was Jesus Christ’, where ‘the lord’ would be a concept familiar to the
Greek audience as usually referring to the Emperor (cf. 5:42 D05, where
exactly the same reading is found and where the same interpretation
could be given, except that there the concept of the Lord among Jews
would obviously be associated with Yahweh).
21 κα ν (χε Ï) B P74 ) d rell. ‖ ν δ D (τε p2).
The conjunction δ in D05 brings the new sentence into sharper focus,
causing the narrator’s comment to stand out more than in the B03 text.
(πιστε σα ) B P74 ) A 36. 81. 431. 453. 1175 pc ‖ om. D E H L P Ψ 049.
056. 33. 614 M.
The article before the participle has the effect of giving it an adjectival
force, rendered in the English translation with the relative pronoun, and
according slightly less prominence to the act of believing.
[A’-B] 11:22-24 Barnabas is Sent to Antioch
The structural pattern of this episode is similar to that of the first
[A’-A], and will be repeated again in the third [A’-A’]. This time, it is
Barnabas who is reintroduced into the story and who arrives in Antioch
where he has a positive effect on the gathering of disciples, composed of
Gentiles and Jews.
4
See Read-Heimerdinger, The Bezan Text, 264–67; cf. B.M. Metzger, A Textual Com-
mentary on the Greek New Testament (Stuttgart 1994) 225–26; Barrett, I, 551.