Josep Rius-Camps, «The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles (XIX) (Acts 13:13-43).», Vol. 20 (2007) 127-146
In Acts 13:13-43, Paul and Barnabas are seen continuing their missionary activity, notably in Antioch of Pisidia where Luke describes their visit to the synagogue. He recreates in some detail Paul’s first speech, which is noteworthy for the way in which he presents Jesus as the Messiah first and foremost for Israel, a perspective with which Luke is at odds in Codex Bezae. Paul’s overriding concern for his own people, the Jews, to accept his message is strongly in evidence. However, their negative reaction when he extends the message of Jesus to Gentiles causes him, together with Barnabas, to turn from the Jews to the Gentiles. In the Alexandrian text, their announcement of this fact refers to a change on a local scale within Antioch, but in the Bezan text they make a declaration that represents a radical decision and an event of momentous significance in the history of Israel: in view of the Jews’ hostility to the message of Jesus, they will no longer have privileged possession of the Word of God, the Torah that had originally been entrusted to Israel, since it is to be henceforth shared with the Gentiles. The idea of the sharing of the heritage of Israel with the Gentiles is one that will provoke opposition to Paul wherever he preaches to the Jews in future locations, and a theme that Luke will develop over the subsequent chapters.
The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles 133
Critical Apparatus
13:14 (Ἀντιόχειαν) τὴν Πισιδίαν B P45.74 ) A C 453. 1175 pc ‖ τῆϛ Π-ίαϛ
D, Pisidiae d E H L P Ψ 049. 056. 0142. 33. 1739 M lat sy co; Chr.
Antioch was an important town, strictly speaking not in Pisidia but
just inside the more north-westerly region of Phrygia and in the Roman
province of Galatia. Since there was another Antioch well within Phrygia
(there were some 16 of them altogether!), it seems that the one Paul visited
was known as the Pisidian Antioch because of its proximity to that region;
the adjective Πισιδίαν of B03 is not, however, attested elsewhere. Because
in the time of Diocletian (295 CE) Antioch was assigned to Pisidia, it has
been assumed that the D05 reading is evidence of this reorganization of the
provinces (Witherington, Acts, pp. 404-405; Metzger, Commentary, 1st
edn 1975 [but not 2nd edn 1996]). However, as noted by C.J. Hemer (The
Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History (ed. C.H. Gempf; Tübingen
1989), p. 228, n. 24), ‘Antioch was assigned to Pisidia by Pliny (Nat. Hist.
5.24.94), and Ptolemy (Geog. 5.4.9) calls the city Ἀντιόχεια Πισιδίαϛ’.
Further historical information and helpful photographs of Antioch
can be found online at T. Bolen, www.bibleplaces.com/pantioch.htm, n. p.
(accessed 12.1.2007).
(καὶ) á¼Î»Î¸á½¹Î½Ï„εϛ B )* C 81. 1175 pc ‖ εἰσελθ- D, (et) cum introissent d
P74 )2 E H L P Ψ 049. 056. 33. 1739 M latt sy.
The compound εἰσελθόντεϛ in D05 echoes the action of Jesus in the
par-allel passage of Lk. 4:16 (where the line is accidentally omitted in D05).
(συναγωγὴν) τῇ ἡμέÏá¾³ τῶν σαββάτων B P74 ) rell, die sabbatorum d ‖
τὴν ἡμετέÏαν (ν erasit Ds.m.) Ï„á¿· σαββάτῳ D* (gig sin sa mae).
This is the second mention of the ‘we’-group in the D05 text (cf. 11:28
D05), this time an oblique one, making two additional first person refer-
ences before the first one attested by both texts at 16:10. There is another
additional reference at 21:29 D05.
13:15 (εἴ Ï„á½·Ï› á¼ÏƒÏ„ιν) á¼Î½ ὑμῖν λόγοϛ παÏακλήσεωϛ B P74 ) rell ‖ λόγου (-οϛ
DA), σοφίαϛ, á¼Î½ ὑμῖν, παÏακλ. D*, (si quis est) sermo et intellectus in
vobis exhortationis d mae.
In B03, τιϛ functions as an adjective qualifying λόγοϛ, and á¼Î½ ὑμῖν is
locational, ‘among Paul and his companions’ (it is not simply the equiva-
lent of ‘you have’, which is expressed by the simple dative, without the
preposition á¼Î½ [Winer, Grammar, pp. 272-273, contra B-D-R, §220.1; cf.
B-A-G, á¼Î½, IV.4.a]). In D05, it functions as a personal pronoun and goes
with á¼Î½ ὑμῖν (‘one of you’) which, especially separated from τιϛ, conveys
FOLLOW US