Josep Rius-Camps - Jenny Read-Heimerdinger, «The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles (XXIII) (Acts 16:1–40)» filologia-neotestamentaria, Vol. 24 (2011) 135-164 page 149

Vol 24 (2011)

Josep Rius-Camps - Jenny Read-Heimerdinger, «The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles (XXIII) (Acts 16:1–40)», Vol. 24 (2011) 135-164

In Acts 16, Paul sets out again on his missionary journey but without Barnabas, Instead he is accompanied by Silas and Timothy, and in part by a group of companions referred to by Luke in the 1^st person. His itinerary follows the leading given by successive divine interventions designed to move him westwards, towards Rome. Most of the action takes place in Philippi, his first stopping place after leaving Asia where he had worked previously. On his arrival there, Paul first seeks out the Jewish community. However, a conflictual encounter with local people leads to his imprisonment, when the jailor provides him with the opportunity to speak about the gospel to Gentiles. Paul’s failure to make the most of this opportunity occasions implicit ciriticism from the narrator of Codex Bezae.

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The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles 149 τῇ δὲ ἐπιούσῃ B P74 ‫ א‬rell || καὶ τῇ ἐπ. ἡμέρᾳ D, et sequenti die d gig l vg.— (εἰς) Νέαν πόλιν B P74 ‫ א‬A DE 467. 1175. 1739. 1838 pc aeth || Νεάπολιν D*, Neapolin d C E H L P M gig vg syp sa bo aeth. B03 conjoins Samothrace with the next leg of the journey with the connective δέ, perhaps to underline the fact that the party did not stop in Samothrace but continued. D05 reads the more expected καί to indicate a continuous chain of events. The spelling of Neapolis in B03, as two words, conforms to classical usage, but examples of a single word as in D05 are to be found in ancient literature or inscriptions (Hemer, Hellenistic History, p. 113, esp. n. 30). 16:12 (ἥτις ἐστὶν) πρώτη (-ης [Clericus cj.] vgmss) τῆς (– B) μερίδος τῆς Μακεδονίας πόλις, κολωνία B H L P 049. 056. 614 M | πρ. τῆς μερ. Μακ. πόλ., κολ. P74 ‫ א‬A C Ψ 33. 36. 69. 81. 88. 323. 547. 945. 1175. 1837. 1891. 2344 pc | πρ. μερὶς Μακ., πόλ. κολ. E a b dem p2 vgW sa || κεφαλὴ τῆς Μακ., πόλ. κολ. D, caput Macedoniae, civitas colonia d syp | πρ. τῆς Μακ., πόλ. κολ. 614. 618. 1241. 1505. 1611. 1739. 2412. 2492. 2495 pc syh. B03 describes Philippi as a first, or leading, city, πρώτη πόλις; what is not clear, however, is what it is the first city of. μερίς means a part or portion, and can be used as a technical term meaning ‘district’, but that use has to be discounted here since Macedonia was not a district but a province made up of four districts (Witherington, Acts, pp. 488–490, esp. 489, n. 77). The omission of the article before μερίδος could be due to hap- lography, especially since the reading is without support. Witherington then, taking the sense of μερίς as ‘portion’, suggests ‘a first (or leading) city of (that) portion of Macedonia’. The problem with this suggestion is that the article, even if it is read, has to be taken as the equivalent of a demonstrative. The conjectured final sigma of πρώτη (see Metzger, Commentary, pp. 394–395) causes it to agree with μερίδος rather than πόλις, which has the advantage of allowing the sense of district for μερίς (‘a city of the first district of Macedonia)’. D05 omits any reference to μερίς, saying that Philippi was a, or the, κεφαλή of Macedonia. If this word is taken in the sense of ‘capital’, the information is wrong, since Thessalonica was the capital. The weaker meaning of ‘chief’ fits better, especially if taken as qualifying the whole phrase and not just the name of Philippi: the chief colony city of Mace- donia. 16:13 Τῇ τε (ἡμέρᾳ) B P74 ‫ א‬A C E H L P 049. 056 M || Τῇ δέ D, Die autem d Ψ 33. 242. 323. 383. 440. 467. 522. 614. 913. 945. 1505. 1518. 1611. 1739. 1799. 1837. 1891. 2138. 2147. 2344. 2412. 2495 e vg syh sa bo; Chr Theoph.