Josep Rius-Camps, «The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles (XIX) (Acts 13:13-43).», Vol. 20 (2007) 127-146
In Acts 13:13-43, Paul and Barnabas are seen continuing their missionary activity, notably in Antioch of Pisidia where Luke describes their visit to the synagogue. He recreates in some detail Paul’s first speech, which is noteworthy for the way in which he presents Jesus as the Messiah first and foremost for Israel, a perspective with which Luke is at odds in Codex Bezae. Paul’s overriding concern for his own people, the Jews, to accept his message is strongly in evidence. However, their negative reaction when he extends the message of Jesus to Gentiles causes him, together with Barnabas, to turn from the Jews to the Gentiles. In the Alexandrian text, their announcement of this fact refers to a change on a local scale within Antioch, but in the Bezan text they make a declaration that represents a radical decision and an event of momentous significance in the history of Israel: in view of the Jews’ hostility to the message of Jesus, they will no longer have privileged possession of the Word of God, the Torah that had originally been entrusted to Israel, since it is to be henceforth shared with the Gentiles. The idea of the sharing of the heritage of Israel with the Gentiles is one that will provoke opposition to Paul wherever he preaches to the Jews in future locations, and a theme that Luke will develop over the subsequent chapters.
The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles 141
verb; it could equally well be that the subjunctive á¾– dropped out because
of its similarity in pronunciation to the vowel of εἰϛ: if it were present, the
clause would read literally: ‘so that he might be for execution’.
13:29 (ὡϛ δὲ) á¼Ï„έλησαν B P74 ) (-σεν DA, consummaverunt d) rell
‖ á¼Ï„έλουν D*.– (πάντα) Ï„á½° γεγÏαμμένα πεÏὶ αá½Ï„οῦ B ‖ Ï„. Ï€. αá½. γεγ.
εἰσίν D*, de illo scripta sunt d (- εἰσίν: Ds.m. P45.74 ) rell).– á¾Ï„οῦντο τὸν
Πιλᾶτον τοῦτον μὲν σταυÏῶσαι D*, petierunt Pilatum hunc crucifigi
d (t syhmg mae) ‖ om. B P45.74 ) Ds.m. rell.– καθελόντεϛ B P74 ) rell ‖ καὶ
á¼Ï€Î¹Ï„υχόντεϛ πάλιν καὶ καθ. D (et impetraverunt iterum et deposuerunt d
t syhmg mae).– καὶ (ἔθηκαν) D*, et d ‖ om. B P45.74 ) Ds.m. rell.
B03 views the acts so far as bringing to an end the fulfilment of the
prophecies concerning Jesus, following which they removed him from
the cross and buried him. D05, in contrast, sees the next events as con-
tinuing to fulfil the Scriptures: the Jews’ request for crucifixion and their
request to remove his body and bury it, underlining Jesus as the topic of
the Scriptures by the fronted position of the prepositional phrase πεÏὶ
αá½Ï„οῦ and the verb εἰσίν. In that text, μέν is used adverbially, anticipat-
ing the second request that is implied in the following clause with καὶ
á¼Ï€Î¹Ï„υχόντεϛ πάλιν. The final καί in this sequence, after a participle and
before a main verb, underlines the special significance of their placing the
body in the tomb (Read-Heimerdinger, The Bezan Text, p. 236).
13:30 ὠδὲ θεὸϛ ἤγειÏεν αá½Ï„ὸν á¼Îº νεκÏῶν B P45.74 ) rell ‖ ὃν ὠθ. ἤγ. D
(quem deus vero excitavit d) gig sin (+ a mortuis).
The comment in either text is laconic, but in D05 it is extremely so
with Jesus, the referent of the relative pronoun, as the pivot between the
action of the Jewish leaders on the one hand (they put him in a tomb),
and of God on the other (he raised him). For á¼Îº νεκÏῶν, cf. Lk. 9:7; Acts
3:15; 4:10; 10:41; 13:34; 17:3.31; for its omission, cf. Lk. 9:22; 24:6.34; Acts
5:30; 10:40; 13:37. With the relative pronoun, D05 preserves the paratacti-
cal style that is typical of kerygmatic proclamations.
13:31 ὃϛ (ὤφθη) B P74 ) rell ‖ οὗτοϛ D, hic qui (visus est) d.
B03 begins a new sentence, with the nominative relative pronoun link-
ing back to the previous αá½Ï„όν, whereas D05 begins with a demonstra-
tive, now placing Jesus firmly in the spotlight. This is the second of three
additional uses of the demonstrative in the Bezan text to refer to Jesus (cf.
13:29, τοῦτον; 13:38, διὰ τούτου).
á¼Ï€á½¶ ἡμέÏαϛ πλείουϛ τοῖϛ συναναβᾶσιν αá½Ï„á¿· ἀπὸ τῆϛ Γαλιλαίαϛ εἰϛ
ἸεÏουσαλήμ B P45.74 ) rell ‖ Ï„. συν-αναβαίνουσιν (-βᾶσιν Ds.m.) αá½. ἀπὸ Ï„.
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