Josep Rius-Camps - Jenny Read-Heimerdinger, «The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles (XXIV) (Acts 17:1–18:23).», Vol. 25 (2012) 119-160
In these final sequences of Part III of the Book of Acts, the second phase of Paul’s missionary journey continues through Macedonia before moving on to Greece where he spends a brief time in Athens before a more extended stay in Corinth. Despite the divine intervention in Philippi in the previous sequence, which focused attention on the evangelisation of the Gentiles, Paul fails to follow this up but reverts to his earlier practice of devoting his energy first and foremost to the Jews in the synagogues. In Athens, his wellknown attempt to speak to the Gentiles meets with little favour; it is only in Corinth, after fierce opposition from the synagogue, that Luke records more successful efforts to include the Gentiles as well as the Jews in his preaching activity.
128 Josep Rius-Camps and Jenny Read-Heimerdinger
καὶ τῶν Ἑλληνίδων (DB) γυναικῶν (DE) τῶν εὐσχημόνων καὶ ἀνδρῶν
οὐκ ὀλίγοι (ἀνδ. οὐκ ὀλ. DH) B P74 a Dcorrs. rell || κ. τ. Ἑλλήνων καὶ τ.
εὐσχ. ἄνδρεϛ καὶ γυναῖκεϛ ἱκανοὶ ἐπίστευσαν D*, et Graecorum et non
placentium et viri et mulieres pleres crediderunt d.
B03 continues by describing other people who believed as οὐκ ὀλίγοι,
where the litotes contrasts with the positive πολλοί referring to the Jew-
ish believers. These are distinguished Greek citizens, the women being
highlighted in comparison with the men.
D05, having made clear that some Jews did not believe, continues like
B03 to mention the distinguished Greek citizens, with the difference that
it repeats the verb ἐπίστευσαν because of the intervening clause, and it
treats the men and women equally. It would be possible grammatically
to understand the Greeks and the distinguished people as two different
groups, but it is perhaps more natural to interpret the καί between them
as adverbial and to take the two words in apposition. It is striking how
successive correctors of D05 have sought to bring the text into line with
B03.
17:13 τῆϛ (Θεσσαλονίκηϛ) B P45 a A H L P Ψ 049. 056. 33. 1739 M
|| om. D P74 E 242. 614. 913. 945. 1108. 1505. 1611. 2138. 2412. 2495
pc.— (καὶ) ἐν τῇ Βεροίᾳ κατηγγέλη ὑπὸ τοῦ Παύλου ὁ (DE) λόγοϛ τοῦ
(DE) θεοῦ ἦλθον B P74 a rell || λόγοϛ θεοῦ κατ. εἰϛ Βεροίαν καὶ (– Ds.m.)
ἐπίστευσαν, καὶ ἦλθον εἰϛ αὐτήν (– Ds.m.) D*, verbum dei adnuntiatum
est in Beroeam et crediderunt, et venerunt in eam d.
The article before the name of Thessalonica in B03 is anaphoric, as it
is before Beroea in the following subordinate clause. The absence of the
article in D05 draws attention to the contrast between Thessalonica, on
the one hand, and Beroea (also without the article) on the other.
The clause expressing the content (ὅτι) of what the Jews from Thes-
salonica knew is worded differently. B03 contrasts Thessalonica with
Beroea by fronting the name of the second town before the verb; the focus
of the Jews’ concern is Paul’s activity, his announcing of the word of God;
on account of this, they went to Beroea. The focus of their concern in
D05 is the word of God, that it is being proclaimed to Beroea (where the
preposition εἰϛ has the effect of personifying the town) and that the peo-
ple there believed the word. The absence of articles in the phrase λόγοϛ
θεοῦ highlights it, because in the synagogue the expected phrase would
be ὁ λόγοϛ τοῦ κυρίου.
The action of the Jews in both cases was to go to Beroea, an action
that D05 again underlines with the preceding adverbial καί (see Read-
Heimerdinger, The Bezan Text, pp. 208–210) and the pronominal phrase
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