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 123
14.18 μόλιϛ (κατέπαυσαν) B P74 ) rell || μόγιϛ D 1175 pc cogr.
The two words mean ‘hardly, with difficulty, only just’, with μόγιϛ
the earlier of the synonyms, used by Homer and later by Plato; both arise,
however, in later Hellenistic literature. At Lk. 9.39, the same vl is found,
with B03 again reading μόλιϛ and D05 with )01 μόγιϛ; D05 also reads
μόγιϛ at Lk. 23.53. Cf. vl at Rom. 5.7.
14.19 Ἐπῆλθαν δέ B (P74illeg) ) A H L P Ψ 049. 056. 0142. 1. 104. 226.
330. 547. 614. 618. 1241. 1243. 1505. 1611. 1828. 2147. 2412. 2492. 2495
ar gig vg syp.h sa bo aeth | Ἀπ- δέ P45 || ∆ιατριβόντων (+ δὲ DB) αὐτῶν καὶ
(– C) διδασκόντων ἐπῆλθον D* (Moras facientes eos et docentes super-
venerunt autem d) C E 6. 33. 36. 69. 81. 88. 323. 325. 326. 436. 440. 453.
630. 927. 945. 1175. 1270. 1646. 1739. 1837. 1877. 1891 al h syhmg mae;
Cass Bedamss acc. to.— ἀπὸ Ἀντιοχείαϛ καὶ Ἰκονίου Ἰουδαῖοι B P74 ) (+
τινεϛ: E 467) rell (+ quidam vg) | ἀπὸ Ἀντ. κ. Ἰκ. P45 || τινεϛ Ἰουδ. ἀπὸ Ἰκ.
κ. Ἀντ. D (Iudaei ab Iconio et Antiochia d) h (syp.hmg) mae; Ephrpt.
B03 moves directly into the next development of the story, causing the
arrival of Jews from Antioch and Iconium to follow on directimmediately
from the attempts of the crowds to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas. The
word order brings the places into focus, implicitly contrasting them with
Lystra where the action takes place. With an additional genitive absolute
clause D05 presents, on the contrary, the interaction of Paul and Barna-
bas with the crowds as continuing (cf. 14.7c D05) for some time before
some (τινεϛ) Jews came to Lystra. Since Paul and Barnabas are in focus
in this clause, it is between them and the Jews that a contrast is made,
by virtue of the word order, rather than between the cities. The absence
of connective to introduce the genitive absolute (added by Corrector B)
is unusual in Luke’s work, though not unknown (cf. Lk. 8.49: ἔτι αὐτοῦ
λαλοῦντοϛ; Acts 10.44: ἔτι λαλοῦντοϛ τοῦ Πέτρου; Boismard and La-
mouille comment: ‘D d sont les seuls à omettre la particule δέ; une telle
absence de liaison n’est pas étrangère au style du TO’ (II, p. 101). It may
cause the reference to staying on in Lystra to refer to the whole time (cf.
14.7c), not a new span of time (see Read-Heimerdinger, The Bezan Text,
pp. 248–49).
The different order in which the names of the towns from which the
Jews came to Lystra are cited reflects a difference in point of view: B03
gives them in the order in which they had appeared in the narrative,
starting with the one furthest away from the Lystra story; D05 gives them
in order of their geographical proximity to Lystra, starting with the closest.
(καὶ) πείσαντεϛ B P45vid.74 ) rell || ἐπισείσαντεϛ D, instigassent d h syhmg.
According to B03, the Jews won the crowds over so that they joined
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