Josep Rius-Camps - Jenny Read-Heimerdinger, «The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles (XVIII).», Vol. 19 (2006) 99-112
13:1-12 is the section covered by these notes, a passage that marks
an important development in the narrative as Paul becomes the main
protagonist for the rest of the book of Acts. It is in these verses that the
Holy Spirit calls him, by his name of Saul, to be the collaborator of Barnabas
for the work of spreading the message of Jesus to the Gentiles. The mission
begins in Cyprus, where Paul’s strategy of visiting the Jews first, in order to
prepare them for the entry of the Gentiles into Israel, will be shown up by
Luke, in the text of Codex Bezae, to be out of step with the plan of Jesus.
105
The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles
imply descent into places of death (even symbolical) or danger: Hades
(Lk. 10:15); water of baptism (Acts 8.38); the sweat of Jesus falling to the
ground (Lk. 22.44 a01* D05); the tumultuous Sanhedrin (Acts 23:10).
Variant readings with the same strong sense are found in D05 at Acts 12:10
(the Temple figuratively)7.23 (the king’s throne). A further occurrence
of καταβαίνω is found at Acts 16:8 AT but without metaphorical
connotations. The correlative, ἀναβαίνω, expresses the opposite notion
of movement towards a sacred place (e.g. Lk. 18:10; Acts 18:22; 25:1).
The occurrence of καταβαίνω here in D05 can be compared with that of
14:25 (no vll) where Paul and Barnabas go down to Attalia. Both Seleucia
and Attalia were ports from which the pair set sail (ἀπέπλευσαν), so that
their ‘going down’ was to the sea, a place of potential danger in contrast
to the safety and security of the land.
In B03, the verb is finite, resulting in two finite verbs following the
passive participle á¼ÎºÏ€ÎµÎ¼Ï†Î¸á½³Î½Ï„εϛ (κατῆλθον ... τε ἀπέπλευσαν), with the
conjunction τε conferring greater importance on the second action of
sailing away8. In D05, the first verb is rendered as an active participle
καταβάντεϛ, which is set in contrast with the first, á¼ÎºÏ€ÎµÎ¼Ï†Î¸á½³Î½Ï„εϛ, by
means of δέ. Since ἀπέπλευσαν is then the only conjugated verb, no
conjoining τε is necessary.
δέ in D05 does not introduce a new clause and so is not to be taken as
the correlative of μέν οὖν9. Rather, the particle marks a certain disjunction
between the two participles it conjoins (á¼ÎºÏ€ÎµÎ¼Ï†Î¸á½³Î½Ï„εϛ ... καταβάντεϛ δέ)
– the first is passive with the Holy Spirit as the agent whereas the second
is active showing that Barnabas and Saul, once sent out by the Spirit, take
the initiative themselves.
5 καὶ γενόμενοι B P74 a rell, et d ‖ γεν. δέ D.— á¼Î½ Σαλαμῖνι B P74 a2 rell
‖ á¼Î½ τῃ/ Σ. D | εἰϛ Σαλαμίνη a* (1243).
With δέ, D05 signals that this clause is the correlative of the μὲν οὖν
clause of v. 4. An analysis of μὲν οὖν ... δέ clause sequences in Acts
indicates that the two clauses present events that result (οὖν) from the
previous incident, with the first (μέν) being a preliminary to the second
(δέ)10. The δέ clause in B03, on the other hand, is held over to v. 611.
See J. Rius-Camps – J. Read-Heimerdinger, The Message of Acts in Codex Bezae.
7
A Comparison with the Alexandrian Tradition, II, Acts 6.1–12.25: From Judaea and
Samaria to the Church in Antioch (New York – London 2006) 357.
S.H. Levinsohn, Textual Connections in Acts (Atlanta 1987) 129–135.
8
See 13:5 below.
9
See Levinsohn, Textual Connections, 138–150; Read-Heimerdinger, The Bezan Text,
10
237–240.
See below.
11
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