Josep Rius-Camps, «The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles (XX) (Acts 13:44-52)», Vol. 21 (2008) 139-146
In Acts 13:44-52, Luke narrates the events in Antioch of Pisidia that follow his speech in the synagogue. A series of critical variant readings arise in the text of Codex Bezae that alter significantly the perspective of the narrative. While the Alexandrian text presents the incidents, and the response of Paul and Barnabas to them, as being of local relevance and importance, Codex Bezae indicates that they also relate to a wider dimension involving the whole history of Israel, and their relationship as a people with God and with the Gentiles. Indeed, in the face of the hostile reaction of the Jews to their message about Jesus, Paul and Barnabas declare that the time has come for the gifts that had hitherto been their privilege to be shared on a universal scale with non-Jews. Thus, this passage is a key text for understanding the on-going relationship between Paul and the Jews throughout the rest of his mission.
The Variant Readings of the Western Text of the Acts of the Apostles 143
ἀντιλέγοντες καὶ (βλασφημοῦντες) D, contradicentes et d H5 P 049. 056.
097. 614 M p* syh; Chr | á¼Î½Î±Î½Ï„ιο<á½»>μενοι καί E gig || om. B P74 ) A C
L Ψ 33. 36. 81. 88. 307. 323. 453. 610. 945. 1175. 1270. 1409. 1505. 1678.
1739. 1837. 1891. 2344. 2495 al lat syp co aeth.
The repetition of the verb ἀντιλέγω in D05 is superfluous to the
meaning, but not to the force, of the narrator’s description of the Jews’
attack on Paul, who were furious with Paul’s preaching to the Gentiles
according to this text, rather than simply his popularity as it emerges in
the B03 text.
13.46 παÏÏησιασάμενοί τε B P74 ) A C Ψ 81. 323. 440. 1270. 1837.
2344 | παÏ-οι δέ E L H5 P 049. 056 M, adhibita vero fiducia d ||
παÏÏησι<ασ>άμενός τε D(*).A 242. 917. 1175. 1874 pc | παÏ-ος δέ 1243.
1646.— (ὠΠαῦλος καὶ) ὠβαÏναβᾶς B P74 ) rell || βαÏ. D 104. 876. 1108.
1245. 1505. 1518. 1611. 1646. 1838. 1898. 2138. 2495 pc; Chr Theoph.
τε as the sentence connective confers a particular importance on
the speech of Paul and Barnabas (Levinsohn, Textual Connections, pp.
135–36: ‘…when τε introduces a response, the effect is to give prominence
to the response, over against the event which produced it. The response
then provides the lead-in to a significant development in the story’; cf.
21.30; 24.10 [D05 lac.]).
In D05, it is Paul especially to whom the singular participle
παÏÏησιασάμενος refers; at the same time, the use of one article for the
two names is an indication that he is regarded as acting in unison with
Barnabas when they speak (εἶπαν; cf. on 13.43a above).
(εἶπαν) Ï€Ïὸς αá½Ï„ούς D, ad eos d || om. B P74 ) rell.
D05 specifies the addressees of the speech, not because there is any
ambiguity but as a means to underline their identity as the Jews who have
been opposing Paul’s teaching (v. 45), already highlighted by D05 for
their actions of contradicting and blaspheming (see above).
(ὑμῖν) ἦν ἀναγκαῖον Ï€Ïῶτον λαληθῆναι B P74 ) A E H5 L P 049. 056.
33. 1739 M | ἀν. Ï€Ï. λαλ. C 440 | ἦν Ï€Ï. ἀν. λαλ. 547c | ἦν ἀν. λαλ. Ï€Ï. Ψ
| ἀν. ἦν. Ï€Ï. λαλ. 1175 || Ï€Ï. ἦν λαλ. D, oportebat primum loqui d.
The presence of the adverb ἀναγκαῖον, ‘necessary’, in B03 operates
in conjunction with the place of the other adverb, Ï€Ïῶτον, before the
infinitive it qualifies, to give the sense, ‘To you it was necessary … to be
spoken first’. The absence of ἀναγκαῖον in D05 results in the structure:
ἦν + dative of the person + infinitive, which expresses possibility (Dele-
becque, Les deux Actes, p. 241); with, furthermore, the adverb Ï€Ïῶτον
qualifying the dative pronoun, the meaning is somewhat different: ‘‘You
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