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 1st 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.
154 Josep Rius-Camps and Jenny Read-Heimerdinger
4:10.18; 6:8 D05; 8:16; 10:48; 14:10 D05; 15:26; 18:8 D05; 19:5.13.17; 21:13;
see Read-Heimerdinger, The Bezan Text, pp. 256–271).
The construction of ἵνα + subjunctive in D05 is a feature of Koine
Greek, in place of the classical infinitive.
(καὶ) ἐξῆλθεν αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρα B P45vid.74 אrell || εὐθέως ἐξ. D sams aeth.
The phrase of B03, αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρα, is exclusive to Luke (Lk. x 6; Acts x
2 [– 16:18 D05]). On the other hand, εὐθέως is found in Matthew x 12,
Mark x 27 D05 only (AT reads εὐθύς); John x 3; Luke x 15 (Lk. x 6; Acts
x 9 [+ 13:11 D05; 14:10 D05; 16:18 D05; 19:6 D05). The B03 expression is
more emphatic, and more solemn in tone.
16:19 καὶ (– A*) ἰδόντες B A* | ἰδόντες δέ P45.74 אA2 rell || ὡς δὲ εἶδαν D
(cum vidissent d).— (οἱ κύριοι) αὐτῆς B P45.74 אA2 rell || τῆς παιδίσκης
D, eius puelles[ae] d.
In the text of B03, the connective καί, the present participle ἰδόντες,
as well as the genitive pronoun αὐτῆς referring to the slave girl, all func-
tion together to portray the slave girl’s owners as present on the scene
when she was shouting out (cf. 16:18). In D05, the connective δέ, the
subsidiary time clause and the genitive of the noun τῆς παιδίσκης, all
combine, on the contrary, to portray the masters as absent. This factor
reinforces the interpretation that the girl’s words in D05 were addressed
to Paul in particular.
(ὅτι) ἐξῆλθεν ἡ ἐλπίς B P45.74 אrell (ispes et d!) || ἀπεστερῆσθαι D.— (τῆς
ἐργασίας αὐτῶν) ἧς εἶχαν δι’ αὐτῆς D, (reditus eorum) quem habebant
per ipsam d || om. B P45.74 אrell.
In a clause of indirect speech, B03 reads a conjugated verb ἐξῆλθεν, with
the subject ἡ ἐλπίς. D05 has a perfect passive infinitive (of ἀποστερέω, cf.
1 Tim. 6:5; Winer, Grammar, pp. 426-427, 718), of which the implied sub-
ject is the same as that of the main verb, that is the masters (cf. 4:16 D05;
27:10 [D05. lac.]; B-D-R, §397.5, n. 13). Contra Delebecque (Les deux
Actes, p. 102) who notes that ἀπεστερῆσθαι ‘est une faute de copiste’ and
with Blass and Rehkopf corrects it unnecessarily to ἀπεστέρηνται.
τὸν (Σιλᾶν) B P45.74 אA2 rell || om. D C 88. 618. 915. 919. 1898 pc.
By the omission of the article before Silas in D05, he is viewed as
forming a united pair with Paul. B03 usually (but cf. 17:4 B03) retains
the article with Silas when he is mentioned with Paul, so maintaining his
separate identity (and that of Paul; cf. 16:29 B03; and 17:10.14, where τε
has a similar effect of reinforcing the distinctiveness of the characters
already indicated by the presence of the article before each name). In
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