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.
The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles 143
to the antecedent. The same explanation for the dative pronoun is valid
for D05, but the construction there is rather: ἀνδρί, Ἰησοῦ, ὃν ὥρισεν,
where ‘Jesus’ stands in apposition to ‘a man’ and is the subject of the
aorist infinitive παρασχεῖν (an action which it is his purpose to accom-
plish, just as with the infinitive κρῖναι; see Delebecque, Les deux Actes,
p. 268).
17:32 περὶ τούτου καὶ πάλιν B P74 a A 33. 945. 1175. 1739. 1891. 2344
|| π. τ. πάλιν D, de hoc iterum d E gig vg | πάλιν π. τ. H L P Ψ 049. 056.
614 M.
D05 lacks the emphatic adverb καί.
17:34 κολληθέντεϛ (αὐτῷ) B P74 a DD rell, cum esitassent d vg ||
ἐκολλήθησαν D* gig.— Ἀρεοπαγίτηϛ B || τιϛ Ἀρ. D, quis Areopagita d
h vgC | ὁ Ἀρ. P74vid a A E H L P Ψ 049. 056. 33vid. 1739 M.— καὶ γυνὴ (+
τίμια E) ὀνόματι Δάμαριϛ B P74 a A E rell || εὐσχήμων D, conplacens
d e.
cum haesitassent in d5 translates κολληθέντεϛ, taking the verb haesito
in the literal sense of ‘stick fast, remain fixed in a place’. Although it
is possible to understand the two finite verbs as being linked asyndeti-
cally in D05* – ἐκολλήθησαν αὐτῷ, ἐπίστευσαν – it could also be that
the original copyist accidentally omitted a relative pronoun <οἱ> before
ἐκολλήθησαν. On this reading, in D05 as in B03, the men who joined
with Paul and believed are among those Stoics who had asked to hear
him again.
Both B03 and D05 consider Dionysius to be a member of the Areopa-
gus council, but with τιϛ D05 accords him the role of being a representa-
tive. a01 and the rest of the MSS go further by portraying him, with the
article, as a supreme example of an Areopagite. While D05 qualifies him
as being of good standing, εὐσχήμων, B03 adds the name of a woman,
Damaris.
[B'] 18:1-17 Greece II: Corinth
The sequence is relatively brief, and is made up of two episodes.
The theme of the relations between Jews and Gentiles as they react to
Paul’s teaching, seen throughout the mission as early as in Paphos (cf.
Bar-Iesoua and Sergius Paulus, 13:6-12), takes on a new turn here as he
has an increasingly positive impact on the Gentiles. Just as in previous
sequences, Paul is seen in the first episode in the synagogue of the city,
and in the second in the wider context of the city itself:
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