Saturday, December 31, 2011

Matt 5:48 εν τοις ουρανοις

Although Matthew could have written and elsewhere did write either, it seems that some witnesses reflect a conformation to the exact expression that appears in 6:14, 26, 32, and thus the longer εν τοις ουρανοις of most manuscripts (including [D*] E2 K M S Δ Θ Π Ω 35 118 565 579 700 1006 it; Tert Cl Cl-hom) yielded to the more concise ουρανιος in some (ℵ B Dc [E*] L U W Z Σ f1.13 28 33 892 1241 al a f ff1 l vg). Griesbach (1:59) demurs, arguing that the longer expression "was easily transferred to this place either from 5:45 or from the [verse] immediately following." A possible objection to Griesbach is that the expressions in those locations are different: του πατρος υμων του εν [τοις] ουρανοις (5:45) is in the genitive case and τω πατρι υμων τω εν τοις ουρανοις (6:1) is in the dative, with the result that about half of the words of either actually differ from the consensus reading of 5:48. If conformation occurred, it might rather have happened in the opposite direction, namely, toward the exact wording that appears repeatedly in chapter 6: ο πατηρ υμων ο ουρανιος (6:14, 26, 32). Such also could have motivated the addition of ο ουρανιος after ο πατηρ υμων in 6:8 (28 892c 1424) and 6:15 (M 35). Furthermore, it seems intuitive that the more colloquial "your heavenly Father" might be preferred by scribes over the wordier "your father who is in heaven," and perhaps for this reason Fritzsche (253) says that ο ουρανιος "smells of being a gloss." The same alteration of εν τοις ουρανοις into ουρανιος occurs in Matt 7:11 (M [1424]), 16:17 (f13 565 579), and 23:9 (ℵ B L 0107 f13 33 892 pc). It is also natural that in 18:35 a number of witnesses (ℵ B C2 D K L 33 565 579 892 1241 1424 al) should reflect a preference for the more common ουρανιος over the less common επουρανιος, as also happens twice in 1 Cor 15:48 (in D* F G).

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Matt 5:48 ωσπερ

There are several reasons why ωσπερ, supported by most manuscripts (including D E K M S U W Δ Θ Π 346 565 579 1006 1342), came to be altered to the shorter ως (ℵ B L Z Σ f1.13 33 892 1241; Cl Or). First, it seemed too difficult to some that man should be "just like" or equal to (ωσπερ) God's perfection rather than simply "as" or similar to (ως) it. Second, the far less common ωσπερ (42x in the NT) is much more likely to have yielded to the more common ως (500x in the NT), than vice versa. Third, parablepsis error could have aided the omission of -περ, either (a) from the -π- of ωσπερ to the π- of πατηρ or (b) from the similarity of -ΠΕΡ to the nomen sacrum for father, ΠΗΡ. Furthermore, the alteration of ωσπερ to ως is not unique here, but also occurs elsewhere in a minority of manuscripts or fathers:

Matt 6:5 (ℵ B D Z 33 pc)
Matt 6:16 (ℵ B D Δ f1 892 pc)
Matt 12:40 (Or)
Matt 24:38 (ℵ B L 33 892*)
Luke 18:11 (D L Q Ψ 892 1241 pc)
John 5:21 (ℵ)
John 5:26 (ℵ* D W; Epiph)
Acts 11:15 (D)
1 Cor 10:7 (C D* K P pc)
2 Cor 1:7 (ℵ A B C D* E M P 33 pc)
Eph 5:24 (ℵ A D* F G P 33 pc; omit: B Ψ pc b)

Cf. also the notes on Matt 6:5 ωσπερ, Matt 6:16 ωσπερ, and Matt 24:38 ωσπερ.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Matt 5:47 τελωναι ουτως

Some witnesses have εθνικοι το αυτο (including ℵ B D Z f1 33 205 892 1424 al lat sy-c.h co; Bas), but the same internal criterion that would have us accept εθνικοι due to its variance from τελωναι in 5:46 would also have us reject το αυτο due to its apparent assimilation to the same in 5:46. And although some editors (e.g. Griesbach, Fritzsche, Kühnöl, von Soden) have followed this internal criterion strictly and printed εθνικοι ουτως, there are reasons why τελωναι ουτως should not be rejected automatically:
     (1) The recurrence of τελωναι (5:46, 47) appeared tautological and invited alteration. Just as Bloomfield (GNT, 1:40) argues that ουτως should be rejected on account of its "great probability" of being a correction "to remove a tautology," it is fair to question why the possible recurrence of the relatively insignificant το αυτο would have prompted correction for this reason rather than the much more noticeable double-occurrence of τελωναι, assuming it to be original.
     (2) The nearby use of the relatively rare term εθνικοι (Matt 6:7) in the memorable passage on prayer could have prompted expositors or editors to assimilate one of the occurrences of τελωναι to the expression there, especially since tautology is generally considered a fault of style and thus something to be alleviated rather than created.
     (3) Had τελωναι come about by accident, the non-conformity of ουτως is difficult to explain.
     (4) The famous ecclesiological passage in Matt 18:17, where both εθνικος and τελωνης are linked together, could have influenced someone toward assimilation. By way of example, Justin (1 Apologia 15.9–10) has οι πορνοι . . . οι τελωναι when citing this pericope, perhaps due to the connection of those terms in Matt 21:31–32. Cf. also the use of τα εθνη in Didache 1.3 in reference to the present pericope, perhaps influenced by the similar comparative technique in Matt 6:32, where τα εθνη occurs.
     (5) Although Bloomfield judges that the antithesis favors εθνικοι, he also concedes that the term could have arisen "from a wish to strengthen the antithesis."
     (6) Any of the above alterations could have been assisted by the accidental omission of the text in question by two different occurrences of homoeoteleuton error: (a) the skipping from ποι- of ποιειτε to ποι- of ποιουσιν (resulting in the omission of ουχι και οι [τελωναι ουτως]), as actually occurs in one witness (1330); (b) the skipping of the entire verse from ποιουσιν of 5:46 to ποιουσιν of 5:47, as occurs in 18 witnesses (see below).


Text und Textwert #16 results:

1    τελωναι ουτως
07 017 019 028 037 038 041 045 047 055 0257 2 3 6 7 8 9 11 12 14 15 18 23 24 25 26 27 29 30 34 35 36 37 40S 43 45 46 47 49 51 52 53 54 55 56 58 61C 63 65 66 68 70 71 72 73 75 76 77 78 80 83 84 86 89 90 98 100 105 106 107 108 109 111 114 117 119 120 123 125 128 129 130 133 134 136 137 138 140 141 142 143 144 147 148 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 160 162 167 169 170 171 175 178 179 180 182 183 185 186 187 188 189 190 192 195 196 198 200 201 202 204 207 208 211 212 213 214 217 218 219 220 224 225 226 227 228 229 231 232 234 236 237 238 240 243 244 245 246 247 248 259 260 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 274 275 276 278 280 282 283 284 286 288 289 290 291 293 295 296 297 298 301 303 304 305 306 324 329 330 334 343 344 345 347 350 351 353 354 355 358 359 360 361 363 364 365 366 367 373 374 375 376 377 379 380 386 387 388 390 391 392 393 394 399 402 405 406 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 417 419C 420 422 428 431 438 439 440 444 445 446 448 449 461 470 473 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 489 490 491 493 494 495 497 500 501 504 505 506 507 509 510 511 512 516 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 527 528 529 530 535 544 546 547 548 549 550 551 553 554 555 557 558 563 564C 565 568 569 574 575 578 579 581C 583 584 586 592 594 595 597 600 645 649 651 652 655 660 662 663 664 666 668 672 676 677 679 680 683 684 685 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 696 697 699 706 707 708 711 713 714 715 717 718 719 722 724 725 727 728 729 730 731 733 734 735 736 737 738 741 744 746 747 750 751 752 753 754 757 758 761 762 764 765 766 768S 769 772S 774 775 777 778 779 780 781 784 785 786 787 789 790 793 794S 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 804 805 808 809 811 817 818 819 820 824 825 827 830 833 834 835 836 839 842 843 844 845 851 854 855 856 858 860 861 864 872 873 875 877 878 880 881 886 888 889 890 896 899C 900 902 906 922 924 925 926 927 928 929 931 932 933 934 935 938 939 940 942 943 944 945 946 948 949 951 952 954 955 956 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 970 971 972 973 975 980 982 986 987 988 989 991 992 994 995 997 998 999 1003 1005 1007 1008 1010 1011C 1013 1014 1015 1018 1019 1020 1021 1026 1028 1030 1033 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1042S 1043 1046 1047S 1048 1052 1056 1057 1059 1060 1061 1062 1063 1064 1065 1068 1072 1073 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079 1080 1081 1082 1083 1084 1085 1086 1088 1089 1090 1092 1095 1096 1097 1110 1111 1114 1117 1120 1122 1123 1125 1126 1127 1130 1131 1132 1133 1135 1137 1138 1145 1146 1149 1152 1155 1159 1160 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167 1168 1169 1170 1172 1173 1174 1176 1179 1180 1181 1182 1185 1188 1189 1190 1191 1193 1196 1197 1198 1199 1200 1203 1206 1207 1208 1210 1211 1213 1214 1215 1217 1218 1219 1221 1222 1223 1225 1226 1227 1228 1229 1232 1233 1234 1235 1236 1238 1239 1240 1242 1243 1247 1250 1251 1252 1261 1262 1263 1266 1278 1280 1281 1290 1291 1292 1293 1296 1297 1298 1299 1301 1302 1303 1305 1310S 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 1318 1319 1320 1321 1322 1323 1324 1325 1327 1328 1329 1333 1334 1335 1336 1338 1339 1340 1341 1343 1344 1345 1346 1347 1348 1350 1352 1353 1354 1355 1357 1358 1359 1362 1364 1375 1383 1384 1385 1388 1391 1392 1394 1395 1396 1397 1399 1400 1401 1402 1403 1406 1407 1409 1410 1413 1414S 1415 1418 1420 1422 1438 1439 1441 1442 1444 1445 1446 1447 1449 1450 1452 1453 1454 1456 1457 1458 1460 1461 1462 1463 1464S 1465 1466 1467 1468 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1480 1482 1483 1484 1486 1487 1488 1489 1491 1492 1493 1495 1496 1498 1499 1501 1503 1505 1506 1508 1510 1511 1521 1530 1531 1532 1533 1536 1538 1539 1540 1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1546 1547 1548 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1555 1557 1558 1559 1560 1562 1564 1570 1572 1577 1580 1581 1583 1584 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589 1590 1591 1592 1594 1595 1597 1600 1601 1602 1603 1605 1609 1613 1615 1617 1620 1622 1624 1625 1628 1629 1633 1634 1635 1637 1639 1641 1642 1643 1646 1647 1649 1651 1652 1653 1659 1660 1664 1665 1667 1668 1670 1671 1672 1677 1678T 1680 1682 1685 1686 1687 1688 1690 1691 1694 1697 1698 1699 1700 1701 1702 1703C 1704 1713 1780 1797 1800 1802 1813 1814 2095 2097 2099 2101 2107 2108 2109 2112 2117 2118 2122 2123 2126 2127 2131 2132 2133 2135 2141 2142 2146 2147 2148 2159 2172 2173 2174 2175 2176 2177 2178 2181 2191 2193 2195 2199 2201 2204 2206 2207 2215 2217 2224 2229 2236 2255 2260 2261 2263 2265 2266 2267 2273 2277 2278 2280 2281 2284 2287 2290S 2291 2292C 2295 2296 2297 2301 2304 2307 2314C 2321 2324 2328 2352 2354 2355 2362 2367 2369 2370 2371 2373 2374 2375 2382 2383 2386 2387 2388 2390 2396 2398 2400 2404 2406 2407 2411 2414 2415 2420 2422 2426 2430 2439 2442 2444 2454 2458 2460 2470 2471 2472 2476 2477 2478 2479 2482 2483 2487 2488 2489 2490 2492 2494 2496 2497 2499 2502 2503 2508 2509 2510 2511 2515 2516 2520 2521 2523 2524 2525 2528S 2539 2545 2551 2554 2555 2559S 2561 2562 2567 2571 2577 2578 2579 2581 2583 2585 2590 2591 2592 2598 2604 2605 2606 2608 2610 2612 2614 2615 2616 2620 2622 2624 2633 2634 2635 2636 2637 2645 2646 2653 2656 2658 2660 2665 2666 2670 2673 2684 2685 2687 2689 2691 2692 2693S 2694 2695 2702 2703 2705 2707 2708 2710 2713 2714 2715 2718 2727 2728S 2729 2730 2735 2745 2749 2754 2756 2760 2765 2766 2767 2770 2775 2781 2783 2787 2788 2806 2808 2809 2812 2836
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1151

1B    τελωναι τουτως
1631
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1C    τελωνες ουτως
17 287 745
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 3

1D    πλωναι ουτως
61*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

2    εθνικοι το αυτο
01 03 05 035 1 5 33 44 163 164 184 205 209 262 279 335 348 349 372 395C 418 447 513 517 561 566 803 892 1044 1071 1074 1118 1216 1241 1279 1282 1421T 1424 1443 1481 1502 1573 1579 1582 1666 1675 1678L 1695 1816 1823 2465 2530 2680 2701S 2726 2786
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 56

3    τελωναι το αυτο
021 030 032 042 4 10 13 16 19 21 28 31 38 39 48 57 60 67 112 113 116 118S 124 126 127C 132 135S 146 149 191 193 210 235 263 273 277 285 299 310 331 333 346 352 371 395* 423 471 492 496 498 515 532 534 543 552 556 564* 571 577 580 585 587 588 590 591C 596 700 703 726 732 740 755 759 760 763 776 782 783 788 791 822 826 863 893 895 901 903 923 930 937 953 957 968 969 974 978 979 983 996 1000 1001 1006 1012 1017 1024 1032 1050 1053 1091 1113 1144 1148 1171 1186 1194 1195 1202 1224 1237 1248 1269 1272 1273 1285 1288 1289 1294 1309 1317 1326 1342 1356 1377 1386 1389 1390 1393 1421L 1432 1434 1435 1436 1451 1479 1485 1490 1497 1500 1528 1556 1563 1576 1578 1606 1623 1630 1640 1661 1676 1692 1693 1703* 1712 1808 1901 1966 2120 2139 2182 2213 2220 2221 2283 2292* 2314* 2317 2323 2356 2381 2394 2405 2446 2452 2467 2507 2533 2546 2557 2613 2623 2676 2706 2709 2722 2724 2757 2780 2810
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 198

3B    τελωναι το αυτον
828
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

3C    τελωναι το αυτος
419*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

4    τελωναι τουτο
582 657C 720 723 871 1029 1178 1387 1534 2100 2322 2372C 2397 2550 2650 2774
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 16

5    εθνικοι τουτο
22 1093 1187 1192 1365 1604 2372* 2831
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 8

6    εθνικοι ουτως
59 131 159 161 165 173 174 199 230 233 251 443 560 716 806 852 904 905 941 1004 1023 1025 1058 1121 1136 1204 1205 1212 1230 1260 1367 1448 1575 1645 2315 2737
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 36

7    εθνικοι ως αυτως
20 215 300 537 773 1404
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 6

8    εθνικοι ως αυτως το αυτο
122 1268 1494 1632 2603C
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 5

U    Homoeoteleuton: περισσον ποι[ειτε ... αυτο ποι]ουσιν
1330
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

V    Omission of vs. 47
0211 64 261 389 435 581* 591* 792 1009 1011* 1408 1455 1519 1535 1804 2518 2586 2734
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 18

W    Uncertain whether #3 or #4
899*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Matt 5:47 φιλους

The term φιλους of most manuscripts (including E K L M S U W Δ Θ Π Σ 33 1006 1342 1506 f h sy-h; Bas Lcf) is altered to αδελφους in some Greek manuscripts and other witnesses (ℵ B D Z f1.13 205 892 pc lat sy-c.p co; Cyp), and also the Textus Receptus, in order to provide a Judeo-Christian gloss or to give variation to what was thought tautological, namely, the correspondence of τους φιλους with τους αγαπωντας υμας (5:46). Cf. also the following note, Matt 5:47 τελωναι ουτως.
     Erasmus (2:30) notes that the Jews call each other brothers no matter their relation, and although he states that "most Greek manuscripts have τους φιλους υμων," he nevertheless prints αδελφους, which in turn was followed by nearly all editors until Wettstein (1:316) corrected it in the margin of his text. Bèze (1:41) follows Erasmus but also states that in his time τους φιλους is read "in all the old manuscripts." Grotius (1:213) suggests that φιλους arose in certain manuscripts by way of explanation. Apart from Wettstein (and later von Soden and Vogels), basically everyone supports the authenticity of the minority reading, αδελφους. Fritzsche (252) says that no one would have ever changed φιλους into αδελφους, Bloomfield (GNT, 1:39–40) says φιλους is "evidently a gloss," and even Scholz (1:13), who usually follows the majority text, reads αδελφους.
     Nevertheless, there are several reasons why the reading φιλους, which predominates in the Greek textual tradition, could have given rise to αδελφους.
     First, the meaning of φιλους already present in the preceding verse by way of τους αγαπωντας υμας could have perpetrated an annoyance on certain readers, scribes, editors, translators. For example, one of Mill's reasons for rejecting φιλους is because "mention of those who love, or friends, occurs in the preceding sentence" (14). Griesbach (1:59) likewise mentions that Christ already talks about friends in the previous verse but here wishes to address the Jews specifically; so also Kühnöl (170–1), who contends that "'friends' cannot be understood suitably in this place, since the discussion about them was in verse 46." Thus if the tautology annoyed modern minds, it must also have annoyed the ancients'.
     Second, the sheer frequency and ecclesiological significance (cf., e.g., 1 Thess 5:26) of the term αδελφος, which occurs thirty times more frequently than φιλος in Matthew, not only would have been less likely to have been altered, if original, but also would have been a likely choice to replace the less common term, especially given the similar pronunciation and spelling of φιλους and αδελφους.
     Third, the word αδελφος already occurs earlier in the chapter (5:22, 23, 24) with the same meaning that commentators give to it here, and no scribes felt a desire to alter it there; on the contrary, the very presence of the term in such near vicinity is more likely to have invited alteration toward it in the present case than, were it original, away from it.
     Fourth, seemingly tautological statements are not uncommon in Matthew, and should not be militated against unnecessarily here (cf., e.g., 5:29, 30; 6:14, 15, etc.). For these reasons φιλους, the reading in most manuscripts, may in fact be original.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Matt 5:45 τοις

This represents one of many variations between the Textus Receptus and the Byzantine textform. Many witnesses do not have the article τοις before ουρανοις (ℵ B D L W Δ Σ f1 33 157 565 700 892 1241 pm), and consequently it is not received in the editions of Erasmus, Estienne, Bèze, Mill, Bengel, Wettstein, Matthäi, Griesbach, or even the Byzantine text proponent Scholz, who indicates that manuscripts with τοις are in the minority.
     On the other hand, the Complutensian Polyglot includes it along with a divided but (according to Soden) apparent majority of Greek manuscripts (including K S U Θ Π f13 33 124 205 209 565 661 1006 1342 1424 1506 1582c pm), Clement, Origen (3x), the Apostolic Constitutions, Chrysostom, etc., and it is received in Hodges-Farstad and Robinson-Pierpont, although the latter indicates relative uncertainty by placing the omission in the margin. Matthew certainly makes use of the expression elsewhere both with and without the article:

With the article:
5:16 τον πατερα υμων τον εν τοις ουρανοις
6:1 τω πατρι υμων τω εν τοις ουρανοις
6:9 πατερ ημων ο εν τοις ουρανοις
7:11 ο πατηρ υμων ο εν τοις ουρανοις
16:17 ο πατηρ μου ο εν τοις ουρανοις

Without the article:
12:50 του πατρος μου του εν ουρανοις
18:14 του πατρος υμων του εν ουρανοις
18:19 του πατρος μου του εν ουρανοις

     It is certainly possible that a few scribes could have added the article as apparently happens in a few manuscripts in 10:32, 33 (B f13 892 al), 18:10 (B 892 pc), 22:30 (ℵ B L I f1.13 33 892 1424 al), etc., just as also a few apparently omitted it in 6:1 (ℵ* D Z 0250 f1 33 pc), 16:17 (B), 23:9 (D W Δ Θ f1 pc), etc. Three possible reasons in favor of the addition of τοις include: (1) individual scribes often carelessly omitted especially small and unnecessary words (see note on Matt 1:22 του); (2) it was thought the text would read better without two dental-initial articles on the same line (cf. Griesbach's comment on Matt 1:22 του); (3) it reflects cross-contamination from 2nd-century bilingual Latin-Greek manuscripts, since Latin has no definite article.
     On the other hand, Matthew's style is to omit the article before ουρανοις when the prepositional phrase follows a genitive expression (e.g., 7:21; 12:50; 18:10, 14, 19), and for this reason the large minority of manuscripts (without τοις) is likely correct. Cf. the note on Matt 7:21 ουρανοις for a fuller discussion of the situation.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Matt 5:44 επηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας

Cf. the note on Matt 5:44 ευλογειτε . . . υμας, which is inseparably connected with the present variation. The witnesses that here do not have επηρεαζοντων υμας και (Aleph B f1 22 279 660* 1192 2701 2786* k sy-s.c sa bo-pt; Or-pt Cyp) are practically identical with those that omit the nine words earlier in this verse. It is peculiar that Meyer (111), who accepts the authenticity of those nine words, says that επηρεαζοντων υμας και is "very suspicious" and "betrays itself as an interpolation" from Luke 6:28. At least 44 manuscripts instead omit και διωκοντων υμας, either due to homoeoteleuton error or, as Küster notes (cf. Mill, 13), because "the preceding expression includes the sense of it." This latter motivation, which probably played a role in the larger omission earlier in this verse and in the same witnesses, almost certainly may be applied to the omission of επηρεαζοντων υμας και. Indeed, although Griesbach thinks these words as the others in the verse were imported from Luke 6:27–8, he concedes, "We nevertheless confess that the words επηρεαζοντων υμας και, which can be left out without harming the sense, also could have been omitted wrongly by careless scribes" (1:58). Kühnöl (167) similarly reasons, "But also these very words, επηρεαζοντων υμας και, are omitted by some manuscripts, versions, and fathers, by Origen five times, although he has them twice; but it appears that this omission must be attributed to the carelessness of scribes." Consulting the fathers is instructive: Origen sometimes has διωκοντων υμας and sometimes επηρεαζοντων υμας; Clement, who is earlier, has επηρεαζοντων ημιν, while Theophilus similarly has επηρεαζοντων υμας; the Latin of Irenaeus has et orate pro eis qui vos oderunt, which, the critic being mindful of the motivation behind the larger omission to balance this verse with the clauses of 5:43, probably renders και προσευχεσθε υπερ των μισουντων υμας; Cyprian unsurprisingly agrees with Bobiensis (k/1) and renders διωκοντων υμας. Thus the motivation for scribal omission of one or the other phrase is clear: the use of two similar terms, επηρεαζοντων and διωκοντων, appeared superfluous, with some scribes choosing one and others another to "improve" the style, but most simply copied both terms as transmitted previously. Consequently, the original wording is preserved in most Greek witnesses (including D E K L M S U W Δ Θ Π Σ Ω 055 0211 0257 f13 33), the oldest Old Latin witness (a/3) and other important ones (b/4 c/6 f/10 h/12), the oldest Coptic witness (mae-1), Eusebius, the Apostolic Constitutions, Chrysostom, and others. In addition, it is quite possible that the earliest allusion to the consensus reading appears as early as the mid-second century in Polycarp, To the Philippians 12.3, where Polycarp urges the Philippians to pray "for those who persecute and hate you" (orate . . . pro persequentibus et odientibus vos).


Text und Textwert #15 results:

1    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
07 017 019 021 028 030 037 038C 041 042 045 055 0211 0257 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 34 35 36 37 38 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59C 60 61 63 64 65 66 67 68 70 71 72 73 75 76 77 78 80 83 84 86 89 90 98 100 105 106 107 108 109 111 112 113 114 116 117 118S 119 120 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135S 136 137 138 140 141 143 144 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154C 155 158 159 161 162 164 165 167 170 171 174 175 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 192 195 196 198 199 200 201 202 204 207 208 210 212 213 215 217 218 219 220 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 234 236 237 238 240 243 244 245 246 247 248 251 259 260 261 262 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 280 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 293 294 296 298 299 300 301 303 304 305 306 310 324 329 330 331 333 334 335 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 351 352 353 354 355 358 359 360 361 363 364 365 366 367 371 373 374 375 377 379 380 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393C 394 399 402 405 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 418 419 420 422 431 435 438 439 440 443 444 446 447 448 449 461 470 471 473 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 500 501 505 506 507 509 510 511 512 513 515 516 517 518 520 521 522 523C 525 527 528 529 530 532 533 534 535 537 543 544 546 547 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 560 561 563 564 565 566 568 569 574 575 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 590 591 592 594 596 597 600 645 649 651 652 655 657 660C 662 663 664 666 668 672 676 677 679 680 683 684 685 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 696 697 699 700 703 706 707 708 711 713 714 715 717 718 719 720 723 724 725 726 727 729 730 731 732 734 736 737 738 741 744 745 746 747 750 752 753 754 755 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 768 769 772S 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 793 794S 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 804 806 808 809 811 817 818 820 822 824 825 826 827 828 830 833 834 835 836 839 842 843 844 845 851 852 854 855 858 861 863 864 871 875 877 878 880 881 886 890 892 893 896 900 901 902 903 905 906 923 924 925 926 928 929 931 932 933 934 935 937 938 939 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 948 951 952 953 955 956 957 958 959 960 961 963 964 965 966 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 978 979 980 983 986 987 988 989 991 992 994 997 998 999 1000 1001 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1017 1018 1019 1020 1023 1024 1025 1026 1028 1030 1032 1033 1035 1036 1037 1040 1041 1044 1046 1050 1052 1053 1056 1057 1058 1059 1060 1061 1063 1065 1068 1071 1072 1073 1075 1076 1077 1078C 1079 1080 1082 1083 1084 1085 1086 1088 1089 1090 1092 1093 1095 1096 1097 1110 1111 1113 1117 1118 1120 1121 1122 1123 1125 1126 1127 1130 1131 1132 1133 1135 1136 1138 1144 1145 1146 1148 1149 1152 1155 1160 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167 1168 1169 1170 1171 1172 1173 1174 1178 1179 1180 1182 1185 1186 1187 1188 1189 1190 1191 1193 1195 1196 1197 1198 1199 1200 1202 1203 1204 1205 1206 1207 1208 1210 1211 1212 1214 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 1221 1222 1223 1224 1225 1226 1227 1228 1229 1233 1234 1235 1236 1237 1238 1239 1240 1242 1243 1247 1248 1250 1251 1252 1260 1261 1262 1263C 1266 1268 1269 1273 1278 1281 1282 1285 1288 1290 1291 1292 1293 1294 1296 1297 1298 1301 1302 1303 1305 1309 1310S 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 1317 1318 1319 1322 1323 1324 1326 1327 1328 1329 1330 1333 1334 1335 1336 1338 1339 1340 1341 1343 1346 1347 1350 1352 1353 1354 1355 1356 1357 1358 1359 1362 1364 1365 1367 1375 1377 1383 1384 1385 1387 1388 1390 1391 1392 1393 1395 1397 1399 1400 1401 1402 1404 1408 1409 1410 1413 1414S 1415 1418 1421 1422 1424 1432 1434 1435 1436 1438 1439 1441 1442 1443 1444 1445 1446 1447 1448 1449 1451 1452 1453 1454 1455 1456 1457 1458 1460 1461 1462 1463 1464S 1465 1466 1468 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1479 1480 1482 1483 1484 1485 1486 1487 1488 1489 1490 1491 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500 1501 1503 1508 1510 1511 1519 1521 1528 1530 1531 1534 1535 1536 1538 1539 1540 1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1547 1548 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1555 1556 1559 1560 1562 1563 1564 1570 1572 1573 1575 1576 1577 1578 1579 1580 1581 1583 1584 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589 1590 1591 1592 1594 1595* 1597 1600 1601 1602 1603 1604 1605 1606C 1609 1612 1613 1615 1617 1620 1622 1623 1624 1625 1628 1629 1630 1632 1633 1634 1635 1637 1639 1640 1641 1642 1643 1645 1646 1647 1649 1651 1652 1653 1659 1660 1664 1665 1666 1667 1671 1672 1675 1676 1677 1678 1680 1682 1685 1686 1687 1688 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1697 1698 1699 1700 1701 1702 1703 1713 1797 1800 1802 1804 1808* 1813 1814 1901 1966 2095 2097 2099 2100 2101 2109 2112 2117 2118 2120 2122 2123 2126 2127 2131 2132 2133 2135 2139 2141 2142 2146 2147 2148 2172 2173 2174 2175 2176 2177 2181 2182 2193 2199 2201 2204 2206 2213 2215 2217 2220 2221 2223 2224 2229 2238 2260 2261 2263 2265 2266 2267 2273 2277 2278 2280 2281 2283 2284 2287 2291 2292C 2295 2296 2297 2301 2304 2307 2314 2315 2317 2321 2322 2323 2324 2328 2352 2354 2355 2356 2362 2367 2369 2370 2371 2372 2373 2374 2375 2381 2382 2383 2386 2387 2388 2390 2394 2396 2397 2398 2400 2404 2405 2406 2407 2411 2414 2420 2422 2426 2430 2439 2442 2444 2452 2454 2458 2460 2465 2467 2470 2471 2472 2476 2477 2478 2479 2482 2483 2487 2488 2489 2490 2492 2494 2496 2497 2499 2502 2503 2507 2508 2509 2510 2511 2515 2516 2518 2520 2523 2525 2528S 2530 2539 2545 2546 2550 2551 2554 2555 2557 2559S 2561 2562 2567 2571 2577 2578 2579 2581 2583 2586 2590 2591 2592 2598 2603 2604 2605 2606 2608S 2610 2613 2614 2615 2616 2620 2622 2623 2624 2633 2634 2635 2636 2637 2645 2646 2650 2653 2656 2658 2660 2665 2666 2670 2673 2684 2687 2689 2691 2692 2693S 2694 2695 2697 2702 2703 2706 2707 2708 2709 2710 2713 2714 2718 2722 2726 2727C 2728S 2729 2730 2734 2735 2745 2749 2754 2756 2757 2760 2765 2766 2767 2770 2780 2781 2783 2787 2788 2806 2808 2809 2812 2831* 2836
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1321

1B    προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
032 728 751 792 889 899C 1021 1159 1289 1403 1406 1505 1808C 2236 2715
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 15

1C    προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων και διωκοντων υμας
949 1506
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 2

1D    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρειαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
1546
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1E    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των υπηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
1232
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1F    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων και διωκοντων υμας
05 39 40S 157 169 263 423 716 735 740 856 954 995 1043 1048 1345 1394 1582C 1780 1823 2195 2290S 2705 2737 2774 2775
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 26

1G    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας και των διωκοντων υμας
1008
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1H    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων
10 33 154* 163 178C 179 193 214 235 297 417 519 733 819 860 873 895 1039 1047S 1074 1091 1137 1181 1194 1342 1386 1396 1467 1481 1532 1533 1557 1595C 1695 1704 1712 2108 2159 2207 2676 2680
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 41

1I    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας και μισουντων και διωκοντων υμας
904
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1J    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηριαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
2831C
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1K    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των πηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
2585
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1L    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων ημας
173 2107
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 2

1M    και προσευχετε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
1272
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1N    και ευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
376 803 888 922 927 982 1280 1558 1670 1816 2178 2191 2255
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 13

1O    και ευχεσθε υπερ των επιρεζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
722
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1P    και προσευχεσθε υπερ αυτων των επηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
2727*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1Q    και προσευχεσθε υπερ επηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
1114
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1R    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηραζωντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
1064
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1S    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των πηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
295
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1T    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηραζοντων και διωκοντων υμας
372C
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1U    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων ημας και διωκοντων υμας
038* 1042S 1213 2612
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 4

1V    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμων και διωκοντων υμας
485
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1W    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμιν και διωκοντων υμας
406
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1X    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας και των διωκοντων υμας
142 1420
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 2

1Y    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντας υμας
1062
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1Z    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας και αδικουντων υμας
523* 524
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 2

1ZA    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων ημας
1348 1606* 2521
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 3

2    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των διωκοντων υμας
01 03 1 22 205 209 279 660* 1192 1582* 2701S 2786*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 12

3    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας
047 156 160 178* 191 211 233 350 393* 395 504 571 595 872 930 1078* 1081 1230 1241 1263* 1279 1299 1320 1321 1325C 1389 1450 1502 1631 1668 2292* 2446 2524 2533 2685 2724 2786C 2810
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 38

3B    προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας
899*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

3C    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων ημας
1038
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

3D    και ευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας
445
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

3E    και προσευχεσθε απο των επηρεαζοντων υμας
548
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

3F    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηραζοντων υμας
372*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

3G    και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμιν
180
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

4    και διωκοντων υμας
996 1661
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 2

4B    και διωκοντων ημας
59*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

5    Omit
428 1325*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 2

Friday, December 2, 2011

Matt 5:44 ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας

As a lasting trace of an early motivation to balance the text or to remove an apparent tautology, a few manuscripts (ℵ B f1 22 279 660* 1192 2786*) and other witnesses omit these nine words and also three words later in the verse (cf. the following note, Matt 5:44 επηρεαζοντων . . . υμας). Aland and Aland (Text, 306) think the longer form is "nothing more than an adaptation from the parallel text of Luke 6:27–28," underscored by the "variety of forms in which this occurs in the manuscript tradition."
     Erasmus (2:29), labeling the clause ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας as "added from another place," says Jerome and Chrysostom did well not to add it and wonders whether some studious person added it from Romans [12:14] on account of the expression's similarity. Bèze (1:40) says the expression ευλογειτε is not very appropriate in this place, since the Holy Spirit is not a condoner of falsehood (cf. Matt 25:34; 26:26), and suggests that the clause perhaps crept in from Luke [6:28], an action Mill (13) thinks is certain. Küster neutralizes Mill's dogmatism by charging that various witnesses omitted the various short clauses on account of the recurrence of the word υμας. Mastricht (Appendix:2–3) proposes that his canon 26 accounts for the omission: "Scribes, for the sake of conciseness, frequently omitted words which they considered superfluous or unnecessary, especially when the sense would not be disturbed or changed" (13).
     Bengel (Gnomon, 183–4) boldly states that all four clauses should be read (αγαπατε . . . ευλογειτε . . . καλως ποιειτε . . . προσευχεσθε), "although the third is almost contained in the first, and the second in the fourth by Chiasmus: on which account St Luke transposes them." He calls attention to the correspondence of αγαπησητε (5:46) with the same verb in 5:44, and ασπασησθε (5:47) with ευλογειτε in 5:44. He also indicates (Apparatus, 99) that the clauses do not derive from Luke, since the order there is different, and that homoeoteleuton would have facilitated the omissions.
     Wettstein (1:313) is persuaded by the "consensus of the manuscripts," and argues that the clauses "were omitted by those who thought that goodness could be found in love, and blessing in prayers. However, by far it has a greater emphasis if we suppose that the precept was driven home in hard fashion four times and distinctly in pieces.” Matthäi (79–80) attributes the omission in the Vulgate to Origen's influence and the scholia, and the omission of καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας in some manuscripts to scribal error due to the double υμας.
     Fritzsche (247–8) is not surprised that some fathers neglected the expressions since the thought of all is encapsulated in just the first and the last, and this natural reduction would call the entire passage to a reader's memory; scribes also could have easily confused υμων with υμας and committed the mistake. He then argues that the different order in Luke is significant, since if scribes hastily recorded the words in the margin from memory but in the wrong order, others would have corrected the mistake and the majority would not have followed the arrangement that differed from Luke. He adds that the sentence without the nine words "arguably comes out rather bare," and most importantly that 5:47 looks back to the expression ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας (already mentioned by Bengel).  Kühnöl (167) and Meyer (111) follow Fritzsche.
     Robinson (in email correspondence) notes not only Luke's different order but also his use of υμιν (in the Byzantine textform) instead of Matthew's υμας, and asks, quoting Gordon Fee in another context, "Why, with regard to this matter in general, would anyone go about trying to disharmonize the Gospels?" Robinson himself then asks, "Further, even if such misharmonizing had occurred, why then did subsequent Byzantine scribes not correct the order of clauses to match the Lukan order, as well as correct the Alexandrian υμας to the Byzantine υμιν? Such issues call into serious question the claim of 'harmonizing' when such did not properly occur." Citing a journal article by J. C. O'Neill, Robinson remarks that "the normal 'editorial policies' of the Alexandrian revisers included abridgment (sometimes severe) for stylistic smoothness –– a factor that did not tend to transcend the location where such occurred, thus no necessary abridgment in parallel locations. Furthermore, the contextual reason to abridge the four clauses into two was to balance precisely the two very concise clauses in 5:43, namely, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemies."
     To summarize the reasons for inclusion: (1) most manuscripts have the precise wording; (2) the clause order and wording in Luke is different; (3) the four clauses form a chiasmus; (4) 5:46 and 5:47 look to the αγαπατε and ευλογειτε clauses, respectively; (5) some thought the clauses were either difficult or tautological; (6) homoeoteleuton error accounts for a number of variations; (7) influence from Origen or his "accurate" manuscripts, or other fathers including via the scholia; and (8) most likely, intentional abridgement to balance precisely the clauses with those of 5:43. Finally, the omission of one or another of the clauses through a combination of the above factors throughout the transmission history led to successive intermittent alterations and attempted repairs, yet the vast majority of the manuscripts preserves the precise wording of the original unharmed.

Text und Textwert #14 results:

1    ευλογειτε τους καταρω(ο)μενους υμας καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας
05C1 07 017 019 021 028 030 031 032 037 038 041 042 045 047C 055 0211 0257 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 20C 21 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 33 34 35 36 37 38C 39 40S 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 60 61 63 65 66 67 68 70 71 72 73 75 76 77 78 80 83 84 86 89 90 98 100 105 106 107 108 109 111 112 114 116 117 119 120 122 123 124 125 126T 127 128 129 131 132 133C 136 137 138 140 141 142 143 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154C 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 167 169 170 171 173 174 175 178 179 180 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 196C 198 199 200 201 202 204 207 208 210 211 212 214 215 217 218 219 220 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233C 234 235 236 237 238 240 244 245 246 247 248 251 259 260 261 262 263 265 266 268 269 270 271 272 273 274C 275 276 277 278 280 282 283 284 285 287 288 290 291 293 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 303 304 305 310 324 329 330 331 333 334 335 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 355 358 359 360 361 363 364 365 366 367 371 373 374 375C 376 377 379 380 386 387 388 389 390 391 393 394 399 402 405 406 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 417 418 419 420 422 423 428 431 438 439 440 443 444 445 447 448 449 461 470 471 473 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 483 484 485 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 500 501 504 505 506 507 509 510 511 512 513 515 516 517 518 520 521 522 523 524 527 528 529 530 532 534 535 537 543 544 546 547 548 549 550 551 553 554 556 557 558 560 561 563 564 565 566 568 569 575 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585* 586 587 588 591 592 594 597 600 645 649 651 652 655 657 660C 662 663 664 666 668 672 676 677 679 680 683 684 685 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 696 697 699 700 703 706 707 708 711 713 714 715 717 718 719 720 722 725 726 727 729 730 731 734 735 736 738 741 744 745 746 747 751 752 753 754 755 757 758 760 761 762 763 765 766 768S 769 772S 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 781 782 783 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794S 795 796 797 798 799C 800 801 803 804 806 808 809 811 817 818 819 820 822 824 825 826 827 828 830 833 834 835 836 839 843 844 845 852 855 856 858 860 861 863 864 871 873 875 877 878 880 881 886 888 889 890 892 893 895 896 899 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929C 931 932 934 935 937 938 939 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 948 949 951 952 953 954 955 957 958 959 960 961 963 964 965 966 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 978 980 982 983 986 987 988 989 991 992 994 995 996 997 998 999 1000 1001 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021 1023 1024 1025 1026 1028 1030 1032 1033 1035 1036 1037 1039 1040 1041 1042S 1043 1044 1046 1047S 1048 1050 1052 1053 1056 1057 1058 1059 1060 1061 1062 1063 1064 1065 1068 1072 1074 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079 1080 1082 1083 1084 1085 1086 1088 1089 1090 1091 1092 1095 1096 1097 1110 1111 1114 1117 1118 1120 1121 1122 1125 1126 1127 1130 1131 1132 1133 1135 1136 1138 1144 1145 1146 1148 1149 1152 1155 1159 1160 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167 1168 1169 1170 1171 1172 1173 1174 1178 1179 1180 1181 1182 1185 1186 1187 1188 1189 1190 1191 1193 1194 1195 1196 1197 1198 1199 1200 1202 1203 1205 1206 1207 1210 1211 1212 1214 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 1222 1223 1224 1225 1226 1227 1228 1232 1234 1235 1236 1237 1238 1240 1241 1242C 1243 1247 1248 1250 1251 1252 1261 1262 1266 1268 1269 1272 1278 1279 1280 1281 1282 1285 1289 1290 1292 1293 1294 1296 1297 1298 1301 1305 1309 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 1317 1318 1319 1320 1321 1322C 1323 1324 1326 1327 1328 1329 1330 1333 1334 1335 1336 1338 1339 1340 1341 1342 1343 1345 1346 1347 1348 1350 1352 1353 1354 1355 1356 1357 1358 1359 1362 1364 1365 1367 1375 1377 1383 1384 1385 1386 1387 1388 1389 1390 1391 1392 1393 1394 1395 1396 1397 1399 1400 1401 1402 1403 1404 1406 1407 1409 1410 1413 1414S 1415 1418 1420 1421 1422 1424 1432 1434 1435 1436 1438 1439 1441 1442 1443 1444 1445 1446 1447 1448 1450 1452 1453 1454 1455 1456 1457 1458 1460 1461 1462 1463 1464S 1465 1466 1467 1468 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1479 1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 1485 1486 1487 1488 1489 1490 1491 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500 1501 1503 1505 1506 1508 1510 1511 1519 1521 1528 1530 1531 1532 1533 1535 1536 1538 1539 1540 1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1546 1547 1548 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1555 1556 1557 1558 1559 1560 1562C 1563 1564 1570 1572 1573 1575 1576 1577 1579 1580 1581 1582C 1583 1584 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589 1590 1591 1592 1595 1600 1601 1602 1603 1604 1605 1606 1609 1612 1613 1615 1617 1620 1622 1623 1624 1625 1628 1629 1630 1631 1632 1633 1634 1635 1637 1639 1641 1643 1645 1646 1647 1649 1651 1652 1653 1659 1660 1661 1664 1665 1666 1667 1668 1670 1671 1672 1676 1677 1678 1680 1682 1685 1686 1687 1688 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1695 1697 1698 1699 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1712 1713 1800 1804 1808C 1813 1814 1816 1823 1901 1966 2095 2097 2099 2101 2107 2108 2109 2112 2117 2118 2120 2122 2123 2126 2127 2131 2132 2133 2135 2139 2141 2142 2146 2147 2148 2159 2172 2173 2174 2175 2176 2177 2178 2181 2182 2191 2193 2195 2199 2201 2204 2206 2213 2215 2217 2220 2221 2222 2223 2224 2229 2236 2238 2255 2260 2261 2263 2265 2266 2273 2277 2278 2280 2281 2283 2284 2287 2290S 2291 2292 2295 2296 2297 2301 2304 2307 2315 2317 2321 2322 2323 2324 2328 2352 2354 2355 2356 2362 2367 2369 2370 2371 2372 2373 2374 2375 2382 2383 2386 2387 2388 2390 2394 2396 2397 2398 2400 2404 2405 2406 2407 2411 2414 2420 2422 2426 2430 2442 2444 2446 2452 2454 2458 2460 2465 2467 2470 2472 2476 2477 2478 2479 2482 2483 2487 2489 2490 2492 2494 2496 2497 2499 2502 2503 2507 2508 2509 2511 2515 2516 2518 2520 2523 2524 2525 2528S 2530 2539 2545 2546 2550 2554 2555 2557 2561 2562 2567 2571 2578 2579 2581 2585 2586 2590 2591 2592 2598 2603 2604 2605 2606 2608S 2610 2612 2613 2614 2615 2616 2620 2622 2623 2624 2633 2635 2636 2637 2645 2646 2653 2656 2658 2660 2665 2670 2673 2676 2680 2684 2685 2687 2689 2691 2692 2693S 2694 2695 2697 2701S 2702 2703 2705 2706 2707 2709 2710 2713 2714 2715 2718 2722 2724 2726 2727 2728S 2729 2730 2734 2737 2749 2754 2756 2757 2760 2765 2766 2767 2770 2774 2775 2780 2781 2783 2786C 2787 2806 2808 2809 2812 2831 2836
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1359

1B    ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν ημας
59 372 446 1093 1213 1229 1233 2314 2521
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 9

1C    ευλογειτε τους εχθρους υμων ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας
047*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1D    ευλογειτε τον καταρωμενον υμας καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας
979
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1E    ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμιν καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας
05* 118S 577 585C 1204 1408 2745
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 7

1F    ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους ημας καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας
784 1073
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 2

1G    ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους ημων καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας
1081
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1H    ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας
64 732 929* 1038 1263 1797
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 6

1I    ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσουσιν υμας
1322*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1J    ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας καλως ποιειτε τοις μισησουσιν υμας
1451
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1K    ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας καλως ποιειτε τους μισουντας υμας
2 126L 195 289 525 724 750 872 956 1239 1303 1502 1640 1802 2267 2488 2559S 2708
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 18

1L    ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας και καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας
17C
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

2    Omit
01 03 1 22 205 209 279 660* 1192 1582* 2533 2786*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 12

3    ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας καλως ποιειτε
1578
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

4    ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας
17* 20* 31 38* 58 113 133* 135S 144 154* 193 196* 213 243 274* 306 354 392 435 482 519 552 571 574 590 596 723 733 737 759 799* 842 851 854 930 962 1071 1113 1137 1208 1273 1288 1291 1299 1302 1310S 1534 1594 1597 1642 1675 1780 1808* 2100 2207 2381 2577 2583 2634 2666 2735 2810
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 62

5    ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας και διωκοντας υμας
1325*
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

6    καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας
11 130 233* 267 395 780 933 1230 1242* 1260 1449 2551 2650 2788
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 14

7    ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας και διωκοντας υμας καλως ποιειτε τους μισουντας υμας
1325C
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

8    καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας
134 286 740 1123 1221 1562* 2439 2471 2510
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 9

8B    καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν ημας ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας
716
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

9    ευλογειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας
728
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

10    ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας καλως
555
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Matt 5:42 δανεισασθαι

The insignificant spelling variation δανισασθαι occurs in a some witnesses (including ℵ B D W Δ Σ 33 892 1241 al), and the same spelling occurs in a few largely related witnesses in Luke 6:34, 35 (ℵ B W Ξ 047 157 579 892). Interestingly, the scribe of Vaticanus (B/02) originally wrote -ει- before correcting himself, perhaps indicating the presence of δανεισασθαι in his exemplar. The philologist Lachmann preferred the majority spelling both here and in Luke.

Matt 5:42 διδου

A few early witnesses (ℵ B D W f13 892 pc; Cl) have the aorist imperative δος instead of the present imperative διδου of most witnesses (including E G K L M S U V Δ Θ Π Σ f1 33 1006 1342 1506). While some, as Meyer (111), argue that most manuscripts were corrupted from the parallel of Luke 6:30, which has διδου, such a judgment unjustly discounts other internal considerations, such as: (1) the manuscripts that have δος are largely related, lessening the impact of their testimony; (2) Matthew uses διδωμι with an imperfective kind of action elsewhere (7:11; 13:8; 24:45); (3) the aorist δος may reflect assimilation to the tense of the nearby aorist imperatives στρεψον (5:39) and αφες (5:40); (4) in the NT δος (15 times) is used far more than διδου (2 times), making the latter more likely to be altered into the former than vice versa; and (5) the presence of δος in the famous nearby passage of the Lord's model prayer (6:11) may have influenced some to use it here. For these reasons it would seem imprudent to reject the reading διδου that appears in most witnesses.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Matt 5:39 την δεξιαν σιαγονα

The Greek manuscript tradition is significantly divided between two readings:

(1) την δεξιαν σιαγονα (ℵ W Σ f1 33 892 1241 pm a f [h])
(2) την δεξιαν σου σιαγονα (E G K L M S U V Δ Π Θ f13 565 579 700 1424 pm c g1)

Reading one (1) is printed in the text of Robinson-Pierpont (2005) and Wilbur Pickering; reading two (2) is printed in Hodges-Farstad (1985), the bracketed text of Robinson-Pierpont (1991), and the margin of Robinson-Pierpont (2005). A third reading (3), την δεξιαν σιαγονα σου, preferred by the editors of NA27/UBS4, is only minimally supported (B; Eus), and may reflect a scribal attempt to place the possessive pronoun in its default position. A fourth reading (4), την σιαγονα σου (without δεξιαν), no doubt reflects versional and patristic influence (D k sy-s.c). Transcriptional considerations between readings one (1) and (2) are divided. On the one hand, as Rinck (250) notes, "It appears that σου arose from the following syllable σιαγ. being read twice and therefore it should be rejected. For it is absent from eastern witnesses (and 1. 33), and in western witnesses traces survive where it was either written above the line or in the margin. For a reason later emerged that δεξιαν should be omitted in some Latin documents and that the σου should be transposed to follow σιαγονα.” Maurice Robinson (in private correspondence) also notes that σου could have arisen due to its presence in Matt 5:30, yet likeness of construction could also indicate likeness of authorship, i.e., Matthew for both (cf. η δεξια σου χειρ in 5:30 with την δεξιαν σου σιαγονα in 5:39). Arguing for reading two (2), Bengel (Apparatus, 99) states that σου "easily disappeared before σιαγονα, since it was left out by Luke [6:29]," or "because it could be left out due to the preceding σε" (so Wettstein, 1:309), or, as Griesbach (1:55–6) adds, "especially because the sense remains unharmed without it." Assuming, then, the priority of reading two (2) over readings three (3) and four (4), Griesbach continues, "But those who transposed σου to follow σιαγονα either wished to avoid cacophony or [simply] did it carelessly.” As scribes tended to omit words, especially short ones,  Robinson fairly admits the possibility of the σου dropping out by homoeoarchton error (a scribe skipping from the first letter of σου to the first letter of σιαγονα). Matthäi (76–7), perhaps rightly, argues that the omission of δεξιαν in reading four (4) is related to a perceived difficulty in the phrase and quotes Origen's observation of the improbability of the right cheek being struck first, since most people, being right-handed and thus swinging with their right hand, would not strike the right cheek first but rather the left. And so the omission of δεξιαν removed the apparent difficulty. In the end, either reading one (1), την δεξιαν σιαγονα, or reading two (2), την δεξιαν σου σιαγονα, is to be preferred.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Matt 5:39 ραπισει επι

Some witnesses (ℵ* B W Σ pc) have the more vivid present tense with a different preposition (ραπιζει εις) instead of the future ραπισει with επι as in most witnesses (including D L Θ f1.13 892 1006 1506 mae1 bo). The variations ραπισει/ραπιζει and επι/εις could have arisen through attempted repair of a common transcriptional error, namely, the scribe skipping the six letters after "ραπι" due to the identical letters that make up the end of επι. Meyer's suggestion (110) that the future ραπισει is a conformation to 5:41 is unlikely, since it is at least equally possible that a scribe merely wanted to enliven the expression, conform the tense to previous usage (5:29, 30, 32, 36), or both. Furthermore, the preposition εις would have garnered sympathy over επι due to the following accusative case, when the genitive case following ραπιζω + επι was rather to be expected as in classical usage (cf. Bloomfield, GNT, 1:37). Not unsurprisingly, a few manuscripts (ℵ* D W Θ 700 892 2542 pc) also read εις instead of επι in the parallel passage of Luke 6:29. There is altogether little reason to abandon the reading of most witnesses which likely reflects intentional authorial conformity within the paragraph, namely, οστις σε ραπισει . . . οστις σε αγγαρευσει . . . . Cf. also the notes on Matt 4:5 ιστησιν and Matt 4:9 λεγει.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Matt 5:36 μιαν τριχα λευκην η μελαιναν ποιησαι

The word order found in most manuscripts (including E K M S U V Δ Π Σ 1006 1506 sy-p.h) contributed to the many existing variations of this phrase, either through (1) scribal desire to bring the complementary infinitive closer to the verb, (2) editorial attempt to polish the expression, (3) imperfect correction of an initial homoeoteleuton error from δυνασαι to ποιησαι, which resulted in a text without μιαν τριχα λευκην η μελαιναν ποιησαι, (4) attempted repair of a conjecture, or (5) a combination of these factors. As this pericope is unique to Matthew, there was no standard to which scribes could turn for help, and consequently the following variations appear:

(1) μιαν τριχα λευκην ποιησαι η μελαιναν (ℵ B W Θ 33 892 1342 pc lat) [ℵ*: τριχαν]
(2) μιαν τριχα λευκην ποιησαι μελαιναν (L pc; Chr) [L: τριχαν]
(3) μιαν τριχα ποιησαι λευκην η μελαιναν (0250 f13 700 h)
(4) ποιησαι τριχα μιαν λευκην η μελαιναν (D f1 205 k; Cl Cyp GrN Aug) [D*: ποιειν; f1 205: μιαν τριχαν]

Fritzsche (240–41) thinks reading #2 arose from someone trying to remove a perceived absurdity, namely, that no one would ever even want to make or produce a white hair, which is a sign of age, and so the expression "you cannot make a white hair black" arose. Incidentally, Kühnöl (159) mentions an expositor (Wakefield) who actually conjectures this reading, but with a different word order (μιαν τριχα λευκην μελαιναν ποιησαι). Still the reading (or conjecture) is old as confirmed by Codex L/019 and Chrysostom, but, not surprisingly, it also created another difficulty, namely, that people can make a white hair black through dye. Thus Bloomfield (GNT, 1:36) considers reading #1 "a vain alteration proceeding from the polishing school of Critics . . . for the sake of removing a difficulty," and indeed the reading is a more classical construction, making it, all things being equal, less likely to be original.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Matt 5:32 μοιχασθαι

Due to the widespread understanding, regardless whether correct or not, that the verb μοιχαομαι was to be used for a man and μοιχευομαι (passive voice) for a woman, it is not surprising that some scribes, influenced by patristic comments or a desire for atticistic purity, altered μοιχασθαι into μοιχευθηναι (as reflected in ℵ B D W Θ f1.13 22. 33. 157. 660. 892; Cl Or Chr Theoph). The original μοιχασθαι is nevertheless preserved in most manuscripts (including E K L M S U V Δ Π Σ Ω [Byz ca. 1450 mss] 565. 579. 700. 1006. 1241. 1342. 1424. 1506; Bas). Wettstein (1:303) explains the alteration first by pointing to Theodoret and other passages where the passive verb is used for an adulteress and then by citing Thomas Magister, who cites the critical canon that "the man μοιχαται, but the woman μοιχευεται" (μοιχαται ο ανηρ, μοιχευεται δε η γυνη). "But," reasons Tischendorf (8th ed., 1:21), "this is not such a distinction that we think the evangelist neglected more than copyists, to whom μοιχασθαι, which without doubt was used in the same sense, could have seemed more suitable to be put down in conformation with μοιχαται (both here and in 19:9)." Yet, as Bloomfield (GNT, 1:36–7) states, if Mark could have neglected the distinction (cf. Mark 10:12), why not Matthew? Griesbach (1:54) provides a good summary: "μοιχασθαι is to be preferred over μοιχευθηναι. The latter was substituted in place of the former to satisfy the precepts of the grammarians, who wish to use μοιχευειν and μοιχασθαι with regard to husbands, but μοιχευεσθαι with regard to wives, and to clarify that the verb in this place should be taken in the passive sense. Hence also in 19:9 some [i.e. B C* N f1 ff1 bo] wrote ποιει αυτην μοιχευθηναι instead of μοιχαται, and already Clement of Alexandria in that very place by reason of explanation added the following to the words μοιχαται αυτην: τουτ εστιν, αναγκαζει μοιχευθηναι ["that is, he causes her to commit adultery"]. Therefore it is not at all remarkable that Origen also exhibits μοιχευθηναι in our passage.” Similarly, Meyer (303) calls μοιχευθηναι a "gloss (to be seduced to adultery) to distinguish it from μοιχαται, which follows." Hence the consensus reading should be retained.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Matt 5:32 ος αν απολυση

Influenced by the beginning of the identical formulation of words in 5:22, 28 (i.e., εγω δε λεγω υμιν οτι πας ο . . .), the expression ος αν απολυση not surprisingly was altered into the more emphatic πας ο απολυων as reflected in many manuscripts (ℵ B K L M W Θ Δ Π Σ f1.13 33 157 565 700 892 1241 al c f ff1 g2 l m vg sy-p; Or-pt). The original ος αν απολυση is found in most Greek witnesses (including D E G S U V [0250] 346 579 1006 [0250: οστις αν απολυση]), the oldest and more significant Old Latins (a/3, 4th cent.; b/4, 5th cent.; h/12, 5th cent.; k/1, 400), the Old Syriac (sy-s, 400; sy-c, 5th cent.), the Bohairic, and is corroborated by a citation of Origen in the third century. The harmonization of most witnesses here to Matt 19:9, as Michael Holmes suggests ("The Text of the Matthean Divorce Passages: A Comment on the Appeal to Harmonization in Textual Decisions," Journal of Biblical Literature 109:4 [1990]: 651–64 [specifically, 659]), seems less likely than the reasons adduced below on the ground of its further distance from the present passage and that the many other discrepancies between the two passages appear completely untouched (i.e., accidental harmonization of just these words to a more remote passage than those adduced below seems less likely, while intentional harmonization of just these words is hard to imagine).
     On the origin of the minority reading, Wettstein (1:303), Kühnöl (153), and Bloomfield (GNT, 1:36) call it a harmonization from Luke 16:18, while Griesbach (1:53–4), Fritzsche (236), and Meyer (110) mention (in addition) assimilation to 5:22, 28 as the cause. No doubt the latter of these explanations is most likely. Griesbach rightly notes that the majority reading is "not free from the appearance" that it "was repeated from the preceding sentence," but it nevertheless should be preferred, since it seems that "Matthew deliberately used the same words that he had used in the preceding verse. Πας ο απολυων, which could have been more pleasing to some as it is more emphatic, was imported to this place from 5:22 and 5:28 or from Luke 16:18.” Fritzsche simply says that πας ο απολυων "smells like a gloss, for which verses 22 and 28 gave opportunity." Therefore, although the result of internal considerations is somewhat conflicting, it seems best in this case to follow those many manuscripts that have preserved the better text on a more habitual basis, and thus ος αν απολυση is preferable.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Matt 5:31 οτι

The conjunction οτι following ερρεθη δε came to be missing in a number of witnesses (ℵ B D L f1.13 33 565 700 892 1241 1424 pc lat; Chr) for any of several reasons: (1) scribal error; (2) superfluousness; (3) assimilation to the repeated nearby expression where no οτι follows ερρεθη (5:21, 27, 33, 38, 43). Griesbach (1:53) suggests transcriptional error and, rather significantly, appeals to the number of manuscripts in such cases: "Although the select manuscripts B C D 1. 33 with a few others and Chrysostom omit οτι, I rather prefer to retain it, since, with ος following, it most easily could have escaped the notice of the eyes of one or another scribe. In judging omissions of this kind, where that in broad daylight could have caused scribes to err, we think that some degree of weight ought to be assigned to the number of manuscripts." Bloomfield (GNT, 1:36) remarks that critics "cancelled the word as pleonastic and unnecessary," that "internal evidence is in favour of the word, from the greater probability of its being removed than inserted," and that in such cases "ancient Versions and Fathers are of little weight." Thus the presence of οτι, contained in most manuscripts (including E G K M S U V W Δ Θ Π Σ) and corroborated by reasonable internal evidence, is preferable to the omission. Cf. also the note on Matt 6:5 οτι.

Note: Bloomfield lists a number of passages, such as the following, where οτι is absent in particularly influential witnesses: Matt 9:18 (ℵ D f1.13 33 892 pc lat); 20:12 (ℵ B D 085 f1 1424 pc lat sy-s.c.p); 21:16 (ℵ D 983 1506 pc it vg-mss); 23:36 (P77 ℵ B D L Θ f1.13 205 579 700 892* pc); 26:29 (P45 ℵ B D Z Θ f1.13 33 205 892* al); Mark 1:27 (ℵ B L 33 f1 205 565*), 40 (D lat sy-p); 2:16 (ℵ B Cvid D L W Θ 33 1342 1424 2542 pc latt sa bo); 5:23 (D f13 a c e sy-p); 6:16 (ℵ B D L Θ f1 33 205 565 700 892 1342 pc latt sy-s.p), 18 (D 892 pc lat); 7:6 (ℵ B L Δ Θ 33 579 1342 pc sy-s.p); 8:24 (D W Θ f1.13 205 565 700 1424 2542 al latt co); 12:6 (L W Δ 1 33 788 892* al it), 29 (D W Θ f1 205 565 700 788 2542 al it sy-s); Luke 7:22 (ℵ B L W Θ Ξ Ψ f1.13 205 579 700 892 1342 1424 2542 pc it bo); 19:46 (ℵ B L Θ f1.13 892 2542 pc c l co); John 4:42 (B Ws pc b f r1 sy-c; Ir-lat); 7:31 (ℵ B D L T U X Δ f1 33 lat sy-c.p); 8:33 (f1 al b c ff2 l vg); 9:23 (D L a c e l); 13:33 (P66 ℵ* D W 579 1241 pc lat); 18:6 (ℵ A B D L N W Θ Ψ 0250 f1 33 565 al latt), etc.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Matt 5:30 βληθη εις γεενναν

Some manuscripts (ℵ B f1 33 205 892 pc [lat] sy-c [mae1] bo) alter the word order and the verb to read εις γεενναν απελθη against the reading of most manuscripts (including E G K [L] M S U V W Γ Δ Θ Π Σ 0233 f13 f vg-ms sy-p.h sa [L: βληθησει εις την γεεναν]). Matthäi (72–3), commenting on 5:29, blames the the widespread influence of Origen for the alteration of βληθη into απελθη, which is represented there in D/05, the Old Latin (a b c d g1 h), the Old Syriac (sy-s.c), and the Bohairic (bo). These same versions also in 5:30 form the major support for απελθη, which is in only two Greek manuscripts from before the ninth century (ℵ B). From this situation it is at least possible, as many early Western and Alexandrian manuscripts were bilingual, that the alteration toward απελθη in Greek in both 5:29 and in 5:30 occurred due to versional cross-contamination. Also in this connection is Codex Bobiensis (k/1), an early and influential Old Latin manuscript with strong and sometimes unique affinities with ℵ B, which has no verb at all for rendering βληθη/απελθη in either verse, a circumstance that could have prompted the introduction of a verb other than the original in any descending copies and then in those that depended on them. Alternatively, Wettstein (1:302), Griesbach (1:52–3), Fritzsche (235), Kühnöl (152), and Bloomfield (GNT, 35) all consider απελθη to be an alteration derived from Mark 9:43, where that word fits well to the context but is "less suitable" (so Griesbach) and "thoroughly inept" (so Fritzsche) at this place in Matthew, perhaps due to the subject (το σωμα). Fritzsche also suggests a solution involving error of the eye (or one should say more likely of the ear while a scribe copied by dictation), namely, that the last syllable of γεενναν before βληθη caused confusion and resulted in αβληθη, which was immediately altered by conjecture to απελθη. This solution requires the earlier transposition of words, perhaps from 3:10 or 7:19. Another passage that could have suggested απελθη is 25:46. Yet Whitney (1:66) reasons that απελθη was "originally an endeavor to avoid the harsher word βληθη," and rightly cautions that internally the dissimilarity of βληθη in 5:29 and απελθη in 5:30 should carry no weight in the decision, since Jesus' "discourses, parables, and conversations generally are distinguished for the sameness of the phraseology in which identical thoughts are expressed," noting elsewhere (1:150) Jesus' fondness for lack of variety of expression, one example being ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη (5:21, 27, 33, 38, 43). In the end, versional influence or harmonization to Mark 9:43 seem the most likely explanations for prompting the editorial alteration.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Matt 5:25 σε παραδω

In most manuscripts the words σε παραδω occur twice, but the second occurrence (after κριτης) is missing in a few manuscripts (p64vid ℵ B 0275 f1.13 205 892 pc k). Mill (12) notes that the expression was omitted because it was superfluous, and Meyer (110) that it was passed over as unnecessary "because its emphasis was mistaken." Whitney (1:66) likewise reasons that the words "appear to have been omitted with a view to freeing the sentence from a seemingly unnecessary repetition." Metzger (13) calls on the pre-Caesarean witnesses (f1.13), the Old Latin k, and the Latin translation of Irenaeus to try to argue against "the absence of the words as due to literary refinement." Yet f1.13 are merely secondary witnesses, the translator of k was certainly not immune to such motivations to omit text, and the support of Irenaeus is imaginary for reasons mentioned below. The following is the pertinent Latin text of Irenaeus (Adversus haereses 1.25.4) accompanied by my own retroversion into Greek:

cum es cum adversario tuo in via, da operam ut libereris ab eo,
ως ει μετα του αντιδικου σου εν τη οδω, δος εργασιαν απηλλαχθαι απ αυτου,

ne forte te det iudici et iudex ministro et mittat te in carcerem.
μηποτε σε δω προς τον κριτην, και ο κριτης τω υπηρετη και βαλει σε εις φυλακην.

Of the 26 Latin words and 30 Greek words, only one may be said to belong to Matthew alone, viz. ministro (= υπηρετη), but even this word is within the semantic domain of Luke's πρακτωρ and could have merely been introduced by the interpreter who was remembering Matthew. The entire first line is only from Luke, and in the second line the subject of det is omitted as in Luke, and et mittat te in carcerem is also from Luke. Thus the entire citation probably proceeds from Luke. Besides, while indeed fathers may be used to show the presence of text, they can rarely be used to prove the omission of text for the simple reason that they often omitted text themselves, often for the same reason as the few manuscripts in question here. A perfect example is Clement, who in Stromata 4.95 has γεγραπται γαρ μη ποτε παραδω σε τω κριτη ο κριτης δε τω υπηρετη της αρχης του διαβολου. Now if Clement omitted the subject ο αντιδικος because it was superfluous, how can any honest critic be certain that he did not also do the same with the second σε παραδω for the same reason? And so the seemingly superfluous expression is supported not only by the overwhelming preponderance of Greek witnesses (including D E K L M S U V W Γ Δ Θ Π Σ 33), but also by all the other Old Latin witnesses including Vercellensis (a/3)––contemporary with ℵ B––and four others of the fifth century (b/4 d/5 ff2/8 h/12), the Old Syriac, Peshitta, and all of the Coptic versions.

Matt 5:25 εν τη οδω μετ αυτου

Although the phrase is transposed to read μετ αυτου εν τη οδω in a number of witnesses (ℵ B D L W 0275 f1.13 33 205 892 pc it sy-s.c.p sa-mss bo-pt; Did), the word order of most witnesses (including E K M S U V Γ Δ Θ Π Σ 0233 f ff1 g2 k vg sy-h sa-mss mae1) is corroborated by  Clement of Alexandria in the third century (Stromata 4.95). Bloomfield (Annotations, 5) calls the transposition an apparent "correction of position such as was likely enough to occur to Alexandrian critics." The transposition in the versions may be due to idiomatic usage, and once entrenched in enough Old Latin, Old Syriac, and even Coptic manuscripts, the regard for those better-understood languages in bilingual manuscripts of the earliest centuries would naturally have led to alterations in some of their Greek counterparts and then in their descendents in turn. Hence the endurance of this transposition, which easily could have occurred independently in Greek copies regardless, would have been strengthened. Still the preponderance of the consensus reading, now extant in nearly 1600 Greek manuscripts and supported by the diversity of major representatives from every text-type, could hardly be diminished. Moreover, were the transposition as reflected in the few Greek manuscripts original, there is no good reason why nearly all the Greek copies would have militated against it.

For Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 4.95, cf. Wilhelm Dindorf, Clementis Alexandrini opera (4 vols.; Oxonii: Clarendoniano, 1869) 2:371.

Note: Carpocrates of the second century (as cited by Epiphanius, Panarion 27.5.3 [Karl Holl, Epiphanius {2 vols.; Die griechische christliche Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte 25, 31; Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1915, 1922} 1:306]) indeed has "ισθι ευνοων τω αντιδικω σου εν ω ει εν τη οδω μετ αυτου," yet after this he has elements that are more Lukan, such as "και δος εργασιαν απηλλαχθαι απ αυτου" and "και ο υπηρετης βαλη σε εις φυλακην." Nevertheless, the precision of the former definitely aligns with the corresponding Byzantine form of Matt 5:25.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Matt 5:23 και εκει

A number of manuscripts have the insignificant orthographical variant κακει (ℵ B L S W Γ Σ 33 892 al; Or), reflecting crasis of the two words. Generally, one might expect scribes to alter και εκει into the shorter κακει, as reflected, e.g., in ℵ/01 in Matt 27:55, Mark 1:38; 14:15; Luke 22:12 (κακεινος); John 3:22, etc., but it is also evident that occasionally the longer spelling found its way into the text of a minority of manuscripts, perhaps for emphasis, as in Mark 10:1 and John 19:35.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Matt 5:22 εικη

Only eight Greek manuscripts from before the 13th century omit εικη (p64 ℵ* B Ω 135 137* 364 371*), which Metzger (13) nevertheless dismisses with a single sentence: "Although the reading with εικη is widespread from the second century onwards, it is much more likely that the word was added by copyists in order to soften the rigor of the precept, than omitted as unnecessary."

Metzger's statement mirrors that of Erasmus (2:25–26), who after invoking the authority of Jerome who said that it was "not found in the old and trustworthy exemplars" states, "And it appears that it was added by some impudent person who wanted, as it were, to mitigate that which in general appeared to be a rather hard saying." Bèze (1:31) offers no reasons but assumes the authenticity of εικη: "Therefore not all anger is to be condemned, such as that kind which is commended in the name of zeal and also that which the Peripatetic philosophers not insincerely call 'the crag of fortitude': but in the end what is censured is that [anger] which is either unjust or immoderate (Eph 4:26)." Grotius (1:117) likewise concurs: "The anger which has the best justification is that which is derived from the indignation of the offended Divine, namely, that of which kind Christ exhibited in Mark 3:5." Mill (12) boldly states that "there is no reason why the expression εικη should have been omitted" (emphasis mine), and that although it was admitted into the text from the margin of some manuscript to soften what was thought to be a rather hard saying, it nevertheless is "ancient" because "it entered the manuscripts basically from apostolic times." Whitby (Examen, 108–9) responds to the notion that εικη was added from the margin of some manuscripts thus: "Indeed I favor very little this kind of reasoning, neither do I easily believe that something uncustomary could have crept into the text that was publicly recited in the Churches of Christianity without a rather weighty cause which I wholly fail to discover in this place." He nevertheless does agree with a certain sentiment of Mill, namely, that "indeed no one would have omitted the expression on purpose; however, it could have been omitted from the negligence of scribes, since it is generally admitted that such occurred very often in other places." Whitby (Paraphrase, 5:72–3) rightly judges that Justin's citation (ος δ αν οργισθη, ενοχος εστιν εις το πυρ) cannot be considered as evidence against εικη, since it is "only a brief recapitulation of the whole: and you may as well argue, that neither Raca nor μωρε was in that verse, as that εικη was not there." Mastricht (Appendix:2) comments in favor of the word: "Sense does not escape the expression should the passage be alleviated or explained rightly; for 'anger' passion is natural to man, and if it is controlled, he does not sin in his behavior. Cf. Eph 4:26 where it says 'without a cause' in certain Latin manuscripts." Bengel (Apparatus, 98; Gnomon, 174) defends the omission and likewise mentions no reason why εικη, if original, might have been omitted.

The primary patristic comments are conveniently quoted in Wettstein (1:296–7). Jerome (Commentariorum in Matthaeum) at Matt 5:22: "In certain manuscripts 'without a cause' [sina causa] is added. As for the rest, in the true ones the sentence is definite, and anger is completely taken away, with the Scripture saying, 'He who is angry with his brother.' For if we are commanded to offer the other cheek to the one striking us, and to love our enemies, and to pray for those who persecute us, every occasion for anger is removed. Therefore 'without a cause' must be erased, since the anger of man does not perform the righteousness of God." Jerome (Commentariorum in Epistulam ad Ephesios) at Eph 4:31: "'Without a cause' was added in vain, for we are not permitted to be angry even with a cause." Jerome (Adversus Pelagianos 2): "But 'without a cause' was not added in most old manuscripts with the result of course that we should not be angry even for any reason." Augustine (Retractationum 1.19): "The Greek manuscripts do not have 'without a cause,' as placed here, although the sense itself is the same." John Cassian (De institutis coenobiorum 8.20): "'Without a cause' is superfluous and was added by those who did not at all think that anger should be excluded in the case of just causes, since certainly no one, however provoked without reason, says that he is angry without a cause. Therefore it appears that it was added by those who did not understand the intention of Scripture to cut off the fuel of voluntary anger by all means and to leave no occasion at all for indignation, lest, when we are commanded to be angry with justification, even without justification an occasion is provided for us to become angry."

Wettstein (1:296–7) observes that Augustine's comment that the Greek copies did not have "without a cause" is uncritical since he was merely copying Jerome, and Jerome was speaking to the situation of the Latin manuscripts and not of the Greek. Against Jerome's theological reason for omitting εικη, Wettstein responds that it is "rather light," for "it is just as much that the Legislator can command that we take off natural anger as that we cut off all anger; which is why anger is so often spoken of, being attributed so many times to God, and to Christ in Mark 3:5. Paul certainly in Eph 4:26 does not forbid us to be angry, but rather wants us to be so angry that we do not sin. . . . Consequently, the sole authority of Jerome could not induce us to attempt to change anything whatsoever against the consensus of the Greek and Latin fathers and versions."

Matthäi (68–9) judges that εικη was removed "on the authority of certain interpreters," and calls attention to this passage's Greek scholium which is entitled "The practice of the law" and the origin of which he connects with Origen: "But others say that εικη was added by some in vain. Wherefore one must not be angry at all. For how is a place left open for some to be angry when we are commanded to love even our enemies?" The verbal similarities ("almost word for word") between this scholium and Jerome's quotations led Matthäi to use violent language: "Jerome . . . judged that εικη should be erased. Why? Of course, because it was omitted by Origen, whom he imitated like a slave, but also whose commentaries and other written works he fraudulently and criminally commends in place of the manuscripts of the New Testament."

Griesbach (1:46–50) boldly introduces a more mature argument for the authenticity of εικη: "We have no doubt that it was omitted on purpose. For so rigid was the teaching on behavior among most of the teachers of the ancient church that they supposed that not only 'to be angry without a cause' but also all anger whatsoever was to be prohibited under Christian law. One of them supposed that the εικη, as if impeding the zeal of Christian perfection and being less suitable to our most holy teacher, had been inserted into the text by those who were wishing to reach heaven by a more favorable way. Therefore he erased it by dots above or below in his own manuscript. He was followed afterwards by others who were influenced by the same prejudiced opinions when coming across the verse." Griesbach concedes that the variation already existed in Origen's time, but that Origen approved of the shorter reading, partly for theological reasons, partly also perhaps because εικη seemed superfluous. He also notes that the witnesses against εικη "are refuted by other equally old and weighty manuscripts originating from the same families," not to mention the manuscripts that even Jerome and Augustine confessed to contain it, including "all other Greek manuscripts (Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine) . . . . And so εικη is victorious both by the multitude and, which is greater, by the weightiness of the witnesses. . . . But yet in this kind of reading, where integrity of judgment is very easily corrupted by comments of theological opinions, we very willingly concede that one cannot assign so much weight to the allegations of the fathers as he can to them in places of a different kind." He continues, "What pertains to the internal importance of probability, everyone who is acquainted with the spirit of the first centuries and the character of the earlier fathers will grant to us that there were by far more incentives present for the word εικη to have been deleted than added." Moreover, after reviewing the statements of Jerome and John Cassian, Griesbach observes, "Jerome attributes so much to reasons of this kind that when he was observing that manuscripts disagreed among themselves he boldly (see his comment in that place) pronounced: 'Therefore "without a cause" ought to be scratched off!' This because he considered it so wrong that not long before he seriously asked someone whether any prudent man would bring together documentation of some importance that would be of such critical understanding to the faith [as this passage without εικη]."

Kühnöl (143–4) defends the expression, while Bloomfield (Annotations, 4–5) says the problem in his mind remains "an open question." Scrivener (Six Lectures, 119–22) deals with the passage at length, calling Jerome Origen's "follower" and the later versions that omit εικη "distinctly traceable to the influence of Origen over Jerome's mind." Scrivener, like Griesbach, compares the motive for the omission here with that for the omission of "falsely" (ψευδομενοι) in 5:11 by D and some Latin manuscripts. He continues, "We will not hesitate to say that on the whole external evidence preponderates in favour of the retention of 'without cause.' It is the earlier, fuller, less equivocal."

Whitney (1:64–5) rightly explains that anger is "a feeling perfectly compatible with a holy, sinless frame of mind," and, considering Mark 3:5 and Eph 4:26, that there is "a holy anger as well as one that is sinful; the former awakened by a just provocation, being a righteous indignation, while the latter is without just ground, and is to be condemned. . . . Εικη seems to have been stricken out of the text under a misapprehension of the true meaning of οργιζομενος," for if one gives to οργιζομενος "the stronger sense of cherishing angry feelings or harboring a wrathful, malicious purpose, of course the bracketed words are not only superfluous, but altogether inappropriate. But this is a sense which the word hardly admits." Whitney's concluding sentence well summarizes transmissional probabilities: "The false reading of these manuscripts was evidently confined within comparatively narrow limits, and soon disappeared, the offensive word being everywhere recognized as genuine."

To summarize: (1) at least 1449 Greek manuscripts have εικη, including the Old Latin, Syriac, Coptic, and others, and many church fathers; (2) the word was offensive to some, like Jerome, a circumstance that easily could have occasioned its removal; (3) a misapprehension of οργιζομενος to mean malicious hatred, which is always sinful (cf. Matt 5:44, and Jesus' correspondence of anger and hatred in 5:21–22), could have caused some to omit the word as superfluous; (4) εικη could have been omitted accidentally, either from the sheer brevity of the word, from parablepsis error (ε . . . ε), or both. For a brief modern treatment of the passage, see David Alan Black ("Jesus on Anger: The Text of Matthew 5:22a Revisited," Novum Testamentum 30:1 [1988]: 1–8).

Text und Textwert #13 results:

1    αυτου εικη
01C2 05 07 017 019 021 028 030 031 032 036 037 038 041 042 047 055 0211 0233 0257 0287 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 43 44 45 46 47 49 51 52 53 54 55 57 58 59 60 61 63 64 65 66 67 68 70 71 72 74 75 76 77 78 80 83 84 86 89 90 98 100 105 107 108 111 112 113 116 117 118 119 120 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 136 137C 138 140 141 142 143 144 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 160 161 162 163 164 167 169 170 171 174 175 178C 179 180 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 199 200 201 202 204 205 207 208 209 210 212 213 214 215 217 218 219 220 224 225 226 227C 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 240 243 244 245 246 247 248 251 259 260 261 262 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277C 278 279 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 293 296 297 298 299 300 301 303 304 305 306 310 324 329 330 331 333 334 335 343 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 358 359 360 361 363 366 367 371C 373 374 375 376 377 379 380 386 387 388C 390 391 392 393 394 395 399 402 405 406 408 409 410 411 413 414 415 418 419 420 422 423 428 431 435 438 439 440 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 461 470 471 473 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485C 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 501 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 523 524 525 527 528 529 530 532 534 535 537 543 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 560 561 563 564 565 566 568 569 571 573 574 575 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 590 592 594 596 597 600 645 649 651 652 655 657 660 662 664 666 668 672 676 677C 679 680 683 684 685 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 696 697 699 700 703 706 707 708 709 711 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 733 734 735 736 737 738 740 741 744 745 746 747 750 751 752 753 754 755 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 768 769 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 783 785 786 787 788 789 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 803 804 806 808 809 811 817 818 819 820 822 824 825 826 827 828 830 833 834 835 836 837 839 842 843 844 845 851 852 854 855 856 858 860 861 863 864 871 872 873 875 877 878 880 886 888 889 890 891 892 893 895 896 898 899 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 937 938C 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 948 949 951 952 953 954 955 956 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 978 979 980 982 983 986 987 988 989 992 994 995 996 997 998 999 1000 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021 1023 1024 1025 1026 1028 1029 1030 1032 1033 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1042 1043 1044 1046 1047 1048 1050 1052 1053 1054 1056 1057 1058 1059 1060 1061 1062 1063 1064 1065 1068 1071 1072 1073 1074 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079 1080 1081 1082 1083 1084 1085 1086 1088 1089 1090 1091 1092 1093 1095 1096 1097 1110 1111 1113 1114 1117 1120 1121 1122 1123 1125 1126 1127 1130 1131 1132 1133 1135 1136 1137 1138 1139 1144 1145 1146 1148 1149 1152 1155 1158 1159 1160 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167 1168 1169 1170 1171 1172C 1173 1174 1178C 1179 1180 1181 1182 1185 1186 1188 1189 1190 1191 1192 1193 1194 1195 1196 1198 1199 1200 1202 1203 1204 1205 1206 1207 1208 1209 1210 1211 1212 1213 1214 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 1221 1222 1223 1224 1225 1226 1227 1228 1229 1230 1232 1233 1234 1235 1236 1237 1238 1239 1240 1241 1242 1243 1247 1248 1250 1251 1252 1260 1261 1262 1263 1266 1268 1269 1273 1278 1279 1280C 1281 1282 1285 1288 1289 1290 1291 1292 1293 1294 1296 1297 1298 1299 1301 1302 1303 1305 1309 1310 1313 1314 1315 1316 1317 1318 1319 1320 1321 1322 1323 1324 1325 1326 1327 1328 1329 1330 1331 1333 1334 1336 1338 1339 1340 1341 1342 1343 1345 1346 1347 1350 1352 1353 1354 1355 1357C 1358 1359 1362 1364 1365 1367 1375 1377 1383 1385 1386 1387 1388 1389 1390 1391 1392 1393C 1394 1395 1396 1397 1398 1399 1400 1401 1402 1403 1404 1406 1408 1409 1410 1413 1414 1415 1416 1418 1420 1421 1422 1424 1432 1434 1435 1436 1438 1439 1440 1441 1442 1443 1444 1445 1446 1447 1448 1449 1450 1452 1453 1454 1455 1456 1457 1458 1460 1461 1462 1463 1465 1466 1467 1468 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1479 1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 1485 1486 1487 1488 1489 1490 1491 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500 1501 1502 1503 1505 1506 1508 1510 1511 1519 1521 1528 1530 1531 1532 1533 1534 1535 1536 1538 1539 1540 1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1546 1547 1548 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1555 1556C 1557 1558 1559 1560 1562 1563 1564 1570 1572 1573 1575 1576 1577 1578 1579 1580 1581 1582 1583 1584 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589 1590 1591 1592 1594 1595 1597 1600 1601 1602 1603 1604 1605 1606 1608 1612 1613 1615 1617 1620 1622 1623C 1624 1625 1628 1629 1630 1631 1632 1633 1634 1635 1637 1639 1640 1641 1642 1645 1646 1647 1649 1651 1652 1653 1659 1660 1661 1664 1665 1666 1667 1668 1670 1671 1672 1675 1676 1677 1678 1680 1682 1685 1686 1687 1688 1690 1691 1692 1694 1695 1697 1698 1699 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1712 1713 1780 1797 1800 1802 1804 1808C 1813 1814 1816 1823 1901 1966 2095 2097 2099 2100 2101 2107 2108 2109 2112 2117 2118 2120 2122 2126 2127 2131 2132 2133 2135 2141 2142 2146 2147 2148 2159 2172 2173 2174 2175 2176 2177 2178 2181 2182 2191 2193 2195 2199 2201 2204 2206 2207 2213 2215 2217 2220 2221 2223 2224 2229 2236 2238 2255 2260 2261 2265 2266 2267 2273 2277 2278 2280 2281 2284 2287 2290 2291 2292 2295 2296 2297 2301 2304 2314 2315 2317 2321 2322 2323 2324 2328 2352 2354 2355 2356 2362 2367 2369 2370 2371 2372 2373 2374 2375 2382 2383 2386 2387 2388 2390 2394 2398 2400 2404 2406 2407 2411 2414 2415 2420 2422 2426 2439 2442 2444 2446 2451 2452 2454 2458 2465 2467 2470 2471 2472 2474 2475 2476 2477 2478 2479 2482 2483 2487 2488 2489 2490 2492 2494 2496 2497 2499 2502 2503 2507 2508 2509 2510 2511 2518 2520 2521 2523 2524 2525 2528 2530 2533 2539 2545 2546 2550 2554 2555 2557 2559 2561 2562 2567 2571 2577 2578 2579 2581 2583 2585 2590 2591 2592 2598 2603 2604 2605 2606 2608 2610 2612C 2613 2614 2615 2616 2620 2622 2623 2624 2633 2635 2636 2637 2645 2646 2650 2653 2656 2658 2660 2665 2670 2676 2680 2684 2685 2687 2689 2691 2692 2693 2694 2695 2697 2701 2702 2703 2705 2707 2708 2709 2710 2713 2714 2715 2718 2722 2724 2726 2727 2728 2729 2730 2734 2735 2745 2749 2754 2756 2757 2760 2765 2766 2767 2770 2774 2775 2779 2780 2781 2783 2786 2787 2788 2806 2808 2809 2810 2812 2826 2831 2835 2836
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1437

1B    αυτω εικη
165 1118 1187 1609 1643
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 5

1C    αυτου {οργιζομενος} εικη
939
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

2    αυτου
P64 01* 03 045 48 73 109 135S 137* 198 263 364 371* 372 500 663 782 784 1001 1272 1356 2263 2283 2397 2405 2430S 2706 2737
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 28

3    εικη
5 388* 412 732 938* 1693
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 6

U1 Homoeoteleuton: τη κρισει (5:21) [... τη κρισει (5:22)]
173 178* 211 227* 277* 295 344 389 485* 522 544 546 591 677* 805 1009 1015 1172* 1178* 1280* 1357* 1393* 1556* 1623* 1808* 2381 2516 2673
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 28

U2    Homoeoteleuton: τω αδελφω αυτου [... τω αδελφω αυτου]
1312
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Matt 5:20 η δικαιοσυνη υμων

Almost all earlier and many later manuscripts prepose the pronoun to read υμων η δικαιοσυνη (p64[67]vid ℵ B E K L M S V W Γ Δ Θ Π Ω 047 0211 892 1241 pm; Ju Cl-pt), but many manuscripts (perhaps most according to Tischendorf and Soden) place the pronoun after the subject (including U Σ f1.35 33. 565. 1424 pm latt; Cl-pt Or). Lachmann's departure (1:20) from the earlier manuscripts is remarkable if not accidental. While the reading with the preposed pronoun could have originated due to the order of the words in 5:16 (υμων τα καλα εργα), it is equally likely (if not more so) that this reading could have prompted scribes to place the pronoun after the subject in conformity with its more usual position. The preposing of the pronoun may indicate an emphasis, either by the author himself or secondarily by scribes, on the nature of the listeners' righteousness in contradistinction to that of the scribes and the Pharisees (cf. Bengel, Gnomon, 171–2). Griesbach (1:46) notes that "not a few manuscripts, having changed the order, read υμων η δικαιοσυνη," and further cautions that "rarely can a decisive judgment be rendered due to the great license of scribes in transposing words and the negligence of the majority of learned men who have examined manuscripts in noting discrepancies of this kind." Because (a) the reading with the preposed pronoun has impressive external support as well as perhaps a slight advantage on internal grounds, and (b) the picture of most Byzantine minuscules is not sufficiently clear (cf. Hodges-Farstad's "Mpt" [indicating a Byzantine split] for both readings), it seems best to acknowledge the intrinsic value of both readings until the state of the early minuscules (9th–11th centuries) is better known.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Matt 5:13 βληθηναι εξω και

There is little reason to reject exactly what one would expect to find in Matthew, namely, "the more Semitizing paratactic construction" (Metzger, 13), in favor of the hypotactic construction βληθεν εξω that appears in only a few witnesses (p86* ℵ B C f1 33 205 892 pc; Origen). The latter expression has "every appearance of being a correction of style by the Alexandrian Grammarians" (Bloomfield, GNT, 1:32; so also Meyer, 110; Whitney, 1:63). Alternatively, the extremely common scribal itacism representing -αι as -ε (as, e.g., in Codex Alexandrinus [A/02]) would have resulted in βληθηνεεξω, which then quite naturally could have been corrected to βληθεν εξω with the following και then being deemed unnecessary. In any case, there is greater likelihood that a worse Greek expression would be changed into a better Greek expression than vice versa. The broad consensus reading has sufficient early and widespread support in D W Θ Σ f13, etc.

Matt 5:11 ρημα

Although three old Greek manuscripts (ℵ B D) omit ρημα after πονηρον, as do several versions (lat sy-s.c sa bo) and Tertullian, the preponderance of the external evidence in favor of ρημα is corroborated by the following internal considerations: (1) its Hebraistic character is internally consistent with Matthew; (2) its Hebraistic, unclassical, and seemingly superfluous character, especially as the expression πονηρον ρημα is not found in the rest of the NT, is expected to have occasioned its omission in some witnesses (so Bloomfield, GNT, 1:31); (3) especially applicable to the versions, it "could be left out without harming the sense" and so "was neglected by a hurrying scribe" (Griesbach, 1:44; cf. also Meyer, 110); and (4) its position following the syllable ρον (of πονηρον) could have contributed to its omission (Meyer, 110). In addition, the suspicion of contamination from the versions is greatly increased when a small minority of Greek manuscripts omits a single word in unison with parts of the three major early versions. Not insignificantly, OL q/13 (6th/7th cent.), the Syriac Peshitta and Harklean, and the oldest Coptic witness (mae-1) include ρημα (in addition to C W Θ Σ f1.13, etc.).

Text und Textwert #12 results:

1    παν πονηρον ρημα καθ υμων
04 07 017 021 028 030 031 032 036 037 041 042 045 047 055 0211 0257 0297 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40S 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 59C 60 63 64 65 66 67 68 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 80 83 84 86 89 90 98 100 105 106 107 108 109 111 112 113 116 117 118S 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135S 136 137 138 140 141 142 143 144 146 147 148 149 150 151 153 154 155 156 157 158 160 161 162 163 164 165 167 169 170 171 173 174 175 178 180 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 198 199 200 201 202 204 205 207 208 209 211 212 213 214 217 218 219 220 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 240 243 244 245 246 247 259 260 261 262 263 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 293 295 296 297 299 300 301 303 304 305 306 310 324 329 330 331 333 334 335 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 354 355 358 359 360 361 363 364 365 366 367 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 379 380 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 399 402 405 406 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 418 419 420 422 423 428 431 435 438 439 440 443 445 446 447 448 449 461 470 473 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 500 501 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 512 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 527 528 529 530 532 534 535 537 543 544 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555S 556 557 558 560 561 563 564 565 566 568 569 571 573 574 575 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 590 591 592 594 596 597 600 645 649 651 652 655 657 660 662 663 664 666 668 672 676 677 679 680 683 684 685 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 696 697 699 700 703 706 707 709 711 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738 740 744 745 746 747 750 751 752 753 754 755 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 765 766 768S 769 772S 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 785 786 787 788 789S 791 793 794S 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 803 804 805 806 808 809C 811 817 818 819 820 822 824 825 826 827 828 830 833 834 835 836 837 839 842 843 844 845 851 852 854 856 858 860 861 863 864 871 872 873 875 877 878 880 886 888 889 890 891 892 893 895 896 899 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 922 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 937 938 939 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949 951 952 953 954 955 956 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 978 979 980 982 983 986 987 988 989 992 994 995 996 997 998 999 1000 1001 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1017 1018 1019 1021 1023 1024 1025 1026 1028 1029 1030 1032 1033 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1043 1044 1046 1047S 1048 1050 1052 1053 1054S 1056 1057 1058 1059 1060C 1061 1062 1063 1064 1065 1068 1071 1072 1073 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079 1080 1081 1082 1083 1084 1085 1086 1088 1089 1090 1091 1092 1093 1095 1097 1110 1111 1113 1114 1117 1118 1120 1121 1122 1123 1125 1126 1127 1130 1131 1132 1133 1135 1136 1137 1138 1139 1144 1145 1146 1148 1149 1152 1155 1158 1159 1160 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167 1168 1169 1170 1171 1172 1173 1174 1178 1179 1180 1181 1182 1185 1186 1187 1188 1189 1190 1191 1192 1193 1194 1195 1196 1197 1198 1199 1200 1202 1203 1204 1205 1206 1207 1208 1209 1210 1211 1212 1213 1214 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 1221 1222 1224 1225 1227 1228 1229 1230 1232 1233 1234 1235 1237 1238 1239 1240 1241 1242 1243 1247 1248 1250 1251 1252 1253 1260 1261 1262 1263 1266 1268 1269 1272 1273 1278 1279 1281 1282 1285 1288 1289 1290 1291 1292 1293 1294 1296 1297 1298 1299 1301 1302 1303 1305 1309 1310S 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 1317 1318 1319 1320 1321 1322 1323 1324 1325 1326 1327 1328 1329 1330 1331 1333 1334 1336 1338 1339 1340 1341 1342 1345 1346 1347 1350 1352 1353 1354 1355 1356 1357 1358 1359 1362 1364 1365 1367 1375 1377 1383 1385 1386 1387C 1388 1389 1390 1391 1392 1393 1394 1395 1396 1397 1398 1399 1400 1401 1402 1403 1404 1406 1408 1409 1410 1413 1414S 1415 1416 1418 1421 1422 1424 1432 1434 1435 1436 1438 1439 1440 1441 1442 1443 1444 1445 1446 1447 1448 1449 1450 1452 1453 1454 1455 1456 1457 1458 1460 1461 1462 1463 1464S 1465 1466 1467 1468 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1479 1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 1485 1486 1487 1488 1489 1490 1491 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500 1501 1502 1503 1505 1506 1508 1510 1511 1519 1521 1528 1530 1531 1532 1534 1535 1536 1538 1539 1540 1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1547 1548 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1555 1556 1557 1558 1559 1560 1562 1563 1570 1572 1573 1575 1576 1578 1579 1580 1581 1582S 1583 1584 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589 1590 1591 1592 1594 1595 1597 1600 1601 1603 1604 1605 1606 1608 1609 1612 1613 1615 1617 1620 1622 1623 1625 1628 1629 1630 1631 1632 1633 1634 1635 1637 1639 1640 1641 1642 1643 1645 1646 1647 1649 1651 1652 1653 1659 1660 1661 1664 1665 1666 1667 1668 1670 1671 1672 1675 1676 1678 1680 1682 1685 1686 1687 1688 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1695 1697 1698 1699 1700 1702 1703 1704 1712 1713 1797 1800 1802 1804 1813 1814 1816 1823 1901 1966 2095 2097 2099 2101 2109 2112 2117 2118 2120 2122 2123 2126 2127 2131 2132 2133 2135 2139 2141 2142 2146 2147 2148 2159 2172 2173 2174 2175 2176 2177 2178 2181 2182 2191 2193 2195 2199 2201 2204S 2206 2207 2213 2215 2217 2220 2221 2224 2229 2236 2238 2255 2260 2261 2263 2265 2266 2267 2269 2273 2277 2278 2280 2281 2283 2287 2290S 2291 2295 2296 2297 2301 2304 2306 2314 2315 2317 2321 2322 2323 2324 2328 2352 2354 2355 2356 2362 2367 2369 2370 2371 2372 2373 2374 2381 2382 2383 2386 2387 2388 2390 2394 2398 2400 2404 2405 2406 2407 2411 2414 2415 2420 2422 2426 2430S 2439 2442 2444 2446 2451 2452 2454 2458 2465 2467 2470 2471 2472 2474 2475 2476 2477 2478 2479 2483 2487 2488 2489 2490 2492 2494 2496 2497 2499 2502 2503 2507 2508 2509 2510 2511 2516 2518 2520 2523 2524 2525 2528S 2530 2533 2539 2545 2546 2550 2554 2555 2557 2559S 2561 2562 2567 2571 2578 2579 2581 2583 2585 2590S 2591 2592 2598 2603 2604 2605 2606 2608S 2610 2612 2613 2614 2615 2616 2620 2622 2623 2633 2635 2636 2637 2645 2646 2650 2653 2656 2658 2660 2665 2666 2670 2673 2676 2680 2684 2685 2687 2691 2692 2694 2695 2697 2701S 2702 2703 2705 2706 2707 2708 2709 2710 2713 2714 2715 2718 2721 2722 2724 2726 2727 2728S 2729 2730 2734 2735 2737 2745 2749 2754 2756 2757 2760 2765 2766 2767 2770 2773 2774 2775 2780 2781 2783 2786 2788 2806 2808 2809 2810 2812 2835 2836
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1441

1B    παν ρημα πονηρον καθ υμων
1223
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1C    παν ρημα πονηρον καθ ημων
784
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

1D    παν πονηρον ρημα καθ ημων
59* 179 215 251 280 298 353 471 511 741 792 855 923 957 1020 1042S 1060* 1074 1096 1226 1236 1280 1546 1602 1624 1780 1808 2107 2292 2397 2482 2521 2624 2689S 2693S 2831
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 36

1E    παν πονηρον ρημα καθη υμων
038
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

2    παν πονηρον καθ υμων
01 03
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 2

3    καθ υμων παν πονηρον
05
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1

4    παν πονηρον ρημα
1387* 2100 2577
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 3

5    παν ρημα καθ υμων
58 61 444 809* 1533C 2284
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 6

6    παν πονηρον ρημα κατ εμου
248
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1