Josep Rius-Camps - Jenny Read-Heimerdinger, «The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles (XX) (Acts 14:1-27)», Vol. 22 (2009) 107-132
Acts 14:1-27 continues the story of the mission of Paul and Barnabas among the Gentiles, illustrating what happened when they had decided to turn from the Jews (cf. 13.46-47) to devote their attention to the Gentiles. Following an account of Paul's initial struggle with this decision, brought out more clearly in Codex Bezae, Luke describes the mitigated success of his first deliberate attempts to talk with the Gentiles about the gospel. The establishment of the first churches as a result of the missionary work of Paul and Barnabas is described as the passage concludes by bringing the missionaries back to Antioch of Syria, where Luke is careful to maintain the focus on the Gentiles.
The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles 121
The reflexive pronoun in B03 makes clear that Paul and Barnabas tore
their own garments (as a reaction against blasphemy; see H.J. Cadbury,
‘Dust and Garments’, in F.J. Foakes Jackson and K. Lake, The Beginnings
of Christianity, V (London: Macmillan, 1933), pp. 269-77 [271]).
καὶ (ἐξεπήδησαν) D*, et d || om. B P74 ) Ds.m. rell.
The adverbial καί in D05 confers dramatic importance to the act of
rushing out into the crowds (Read-Heimerdinger, The Bezan Text, pp.
208–210; cf. 14.6 above).
14.15 (καὶ) λέγοντεϛ B P74 ) DD rell || φωνοῦντεϛ D* (clamantes et
vociferantes d).
In line with the dramatic emphasis given to the action of Barnabas
and Paul, the verb φωνέω is also more expressive than λέγω.
καὶ (ἡμεῖϛ) B P74 ) rell || om. D d (P45) 049. 1175. 1854. 2492 gigc h;
Chr.— (εὐαγγελιζόμενοι) ὑμᾶϛ B P74 ) rell || ὑμῖν τὸν θεόν D, d it? mae;
Irlat.— ἐπιστρέφειν B P74 ) rell || ὅπωϛ … ἐπιστρήψητε D, ut … converta-
mini d (E) it; Irlat Var.— ἐπὶ θεὸν ζῶντα, ὃϛ ἐποίησεν B P74 )2 A C E Ψ
33. 81. 88. 104. 323. 945. 1175. 1270. 1739. 1891. 2344 || ἐπὶ τὸν (– )*) θ.
τὸν ζ., ὃϛ ἐπ. P45 )* H L P 049. 056. 1. 226. 330. 440. 547. 614. 618. 1241.
1245. 1611. 1646. 1828. 1837. 1854. 2147. 2412. 2492. 2495 || ἐπὶ τ. θ. ζ.
τὸν ποιήσαντα D (h).
The focus of the elements of the speech varies from one text to another.
In B03, Barnabas and Paul first draw attention to their presence (καὶ
ἡμεῖϛ); they are proclaiming good news in a general sense, the content
of the proclamation being left unspecified; their purpose is expressed by
the infinitive ἐπιστρέφειν; the goal of the conversion is presented as a
living god, without the article, who is further qualified with the relative
pronoun as having created heaven and earth. In D05, there is a stronger
focus on the content of the good news, God, who is specified as the object
of proclamation; the purpose is more forcefully expressed by the adverb
ὅπωϛ and the subjunctive verb; God is again specified as the goal of
conversion with the anaphoric article (pace Boismard and Lamouille [II,
p. 100]: ‘D a une leçon double, avec le redoublement de τὸν θεόν’), and
his role as creator is presented as a defining aspect, with the articular
participle τὸν ποιήσαντα (cf. 4.24; 17.24; Ps. 145.6 LXX).
14.16 πάντα (τὰ ἔθνη) B P45.74 ) rell d || κατά D*.
πάντα τὰ ἔθνη in B03 could be understood as including Israel since
they were one of the seventy nations who were thought of as peopling the
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