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 145
(see v. 38), with the result that it could have a double force: righteousness
with God is for everyone believing in Jesus, and it is also by him (rather
than by the Law). In B03, á¼Î½ τούτῳ could be neuter, the same referent
as the demonstrative pronoun at the beginning of v. 38; together with
the absence of παÏá½° θεῷ, it causes Paul’s conclusion to be rather more
impersonal than in the D05 account.
13:41 á¼”Ïγον (ὃ οὠμή) B P74 ) A C Ψ 33. 36. 81. 453. 945. 1175. 1270.
1739. 1765. 1827. 2344 al vg sa bo ‖ om. D d E H5 L P 049. 056. 614 M
gig p syp.h aeth.– á¼ÎºÎ´Î¹Î·Î³á¿†Ï„αι B P74 ) Ds.m. rell ‖ -γήσεται D*, exposuerit d
88. 330. 467. 915. 1241. 1837. 1838.
The repetition of á¼”Ïγον in apposition to the first mention of the word
is not present in the LXX text of Hab. 1:5 that Paul is quoting, which is
to say that B03 departs from it on that point. However, on the tense of
á¼ÎºÎ´Î¹Î·Î³á½³Î¿Î¼Î±Î¹, it is D05 that departs from the LXX in using the future
indicative instead of the present subjunctive.
καὶ á¼Ïƒá½·Î³Î·ÏƒÎ±Î½ D, et tacuerunt d (-σεν: 614. 2412 syh** mae) ‖ om. B P74 )
rell.
The silence with which the people in the synagogue receive Paul’s
proc-lamation, according to D05, is an indication that they do not accept
his words (cf. 15:12, esp. in D05). It may be a conscious echo of Hab. 2:20:
‘The Lord is in his holy Temple; let all the earth keep silence before him’,
since Paul has just cited a prophecy from that book.
13:42 (αá½Ï„ῶν) εἰϛ τὸ μεταξὺ σάββατον ἠξίουν B (bo; Chr) | εἰϛ Ï„. μ. σ.
E | εἰϛ Ï„. μ. σ. παÏεκάλουν 36. 307. 453. 610. 1678 | παÏ. εἰϛ Ï„. μ. σ. P74
) A C Ψ 097. 33. 81. 104. 181. 323. 440. 614. 927. 945. 1175. 1270*. 1611.
1739. 1837. 1891. 2344. 2412 al lat syp.h sa mae (aeth); Chrlem | παÏ. Ï„á½°
ἔθνη εἰϛ Ï„. μ. σ. H5 L P 049. 056. 88. 2492 M ‖ παÏ. εἰϛ Ï„. ἑξῆϛ σ. D, in
sequente sabbato d.
There are several variants involved in this clause: 1) the word qualify-
ing τὸ σάββατον and signifying ‘next’: D05 is alone in reading the classi-
cal adverb ἑξῆϛ in place of the later word, μεταξύ, that is found in all the
other witnesses; 2) the verb signifying that they asked Paul and Barnabas
to speak again: B03 is alone in reading ἀξιόω in place of παÏακαλέω
(E has no verb); παÏεκάλουν echoes the request of the synagogue rulers
in 13:15, that some exhortation be spoken to them; 3) the word order
of the verb in relation to the time phrase: B03 places the time phrase
first, as does a series of minuscules with the alternative verb; all the other
readings have the verb first; 4) the subject of the verb: the M reading
makes it explicit as the Gentiles, contrasting them with the Jews whose
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