4. The Text of the Bible

1
4. The Text of the Bible

• BIB586 Biblical Introduction

2
4. The Text of the Old Testament

• 3.1 Proto-Masoretic Masoretic Texts
• 3.2 Pre-Samaritan Samaritan Pentateuch
• 3.3 Septuagint
• 3.4 Targumim
• 3.5 Peshitta
• 3.5 Vulgate

3
3.0 Introduction

• R. Ishmael "My son, be careful, because your
  work is the work of heaven should you omit
  (even) one letter or add (even) one letter, the
  whole world would be destroyed" b. Sot. 20a

4
3.0 Introduction

• There are many witnesses to the Old Testament
  (First Testament). The Hebrew is the easiest to
  deal with, while the translations are dealt with
  in a secondary manner, due to the problem of
  retroversion.
• Until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls,
  however the earliest Hebrew witness to the
  Scriptures were the Nash Papyri (1st-2nd century
  CE).

5
3.0 Introduction

• "Interest in the text of the Bible began in the
  first centuries of the common era when learned
  church fathers compared the text of the Hebrew
  Bible and different Greek versions. In the third
  century Origen prepared a six-column edition
  (hence its name Hexapla) of the Hebrew Bible,
  which contained the Hebrew text, its
  transliteration into Greek characters, and four
  different Greek versions. Likewise, Jerome
  included in his commentaries various notes
  comparing words in the Hebrew text and their
  renderings in Greek and Latin translations."
  Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 16

6
3.1 Proto-Masoretic Masoretic Texts

• "The name Masoretic Text refers to a group of
  manuscripts and other sources all of which are
  close to each other. Many of the elements of
  these manuscripts and even their final form were
  determined in the early Middle Ages, but they
  continue a much earlier tradition. The name
  Masoretic Text was given to this group because of
  the apparatus of the Masorah attached to it. This
  apparatus, which was added to the consonantal
  base, developed from earlier traditions in the
  seventh to the eleventh centuries the main
  developments occurring in the beginning of the
  tenth century with the activity of the Ben Asher
  family in Tiberias. Tov, Textual Criticism of
  the Hebrew Bible, 16

7
3.1 Proto-Masoretic Masoretic Texts

• "The received consonantal text preceded the one
  that includes the vocalization and accents. Both
  of these circulated in many slightly deviating
  forms, and were finally stabilized only with the
  advent of the printed Rabbinic Bible toward the
  end of the 15th century. However, earlier forms
  of the MT come close to such a stabilization.
  The earliest attestations of the consonantal
  framework of the MT-found in many, but not all,
  Qumran texts - date to around 250 BC. Their
  resemblance (especially 1QIsab) to the medieval
  form of the MT is striking, showing how accurate
  the transmission of the MT was through the ages.
  These earliest attestations are called
  proto-Masoretic since their consonantal
  framework formed the basis for the later
  Masoretic mss. Tov, "Text Criticism (OT), ABD

8
3.1 Proto-Masoretic Masoretic Texts

• The Masoretic Text (MT) Contains
• The consonantal text found in the proto-Masoretic
  texts of the Second Temple era and the Masorah
  which developed later
• The vocalization developed by the Masoretes
• Para-textual elements
• Accentuation
• The apparatus of the Masorah

9
3.1.1 The Consonantal Text

• The MT probably developed from the Pharisees (?),
  with possible Temple ties.
• The History of the Consonantal Text of the MT
• 1. The period of internal differences in the
  textual transmission.
• This period comes to an end at the time of
  destruction of the Second Temple.
• N.B. the Qumran material contains not only
  proto-Masoretic texts, but also pre-Samaritan,
  Hebrew source for the LXX, Qumran original, and a
  "non-aligned"

10
3.1.1 The Consonantal Text

• The differences in the proto-Masoretic group and
  the later MT tended to be limited to single words
  and phrases.
• "Talmudic and later rabbinic literature have
  preserved other early variants. Still other
  early variants are found in the Masoretic
  madinh9a)e4 and ma(arba)e4 readings and in the
  Masoretic handbook Minh9at Shay." Tov

11
3.1.1 The Consonantal Text

• 2. The Period of relatively high degree of
  textual consistency.
• From the destruction of the Second Temple until
  the 8th century CE.
• Documents from the Judean Desert (Wad4
  Murabba(at and Nah9al H9ever ) written before the
  Bar-Kochba rebellion (132-135 CE) . . . Cairo
  Genizah material.
• "Non-Hebrew sources from this period include the
  Greek translations by Kaige-Theodotion, Aquila,
  and Symmachus, the Aramaic Targums, and the
  Vulgate." Tov

12
3.1.1 The Consonantal Text

• "All textual evidence preserved from the second
  period reflects MT, but this fact does not
  necessarily imply the superiority of that textual
  tradition. The communities which fostered other
  textual traditions either ceased to exist (the
  Qumran) or dissociated themselves from Judaism
  (the Samaritans and Christians)." Tov

13
3.1.1 The Consonantal Text

• 3. The Period of almost complete textual unity.
• From the 8th century until the end of the Middle
  Ages.
• "The earliest dated Masoretic mss proper are from
  the 9th century, and are characterized by the
  introduction of vocalization, cantillation signs,
  and the Masorah. The consonantal texts of the
  individual codices are virtually identical." Tov

14
3.1.2 Vocalization

• "Vocalization and accents were added to the
  consonantal text of MT at a relatively late
  stage. This additional layer of information is
  known only from the MT, but is similar to the
  tradition of reading the Sam. Pent. During the
  Middle Ages the Samaritans developed a system of
  vocalization, but the mss of the Sam. Pent.
  remain without systematic vocalization."
• Qumran used vowel letters matres lectionis
• "The purpose of vocalization was to solidify the
  reading of the text in a fixed written form on
  the basis of the oral tradition which had been
  stable in antiquity. As with all other

15
3.1.2 Vocalization

• forms of reading (vocalization), the Masoretic
  system reflects the exegesis of the Masoretes,
  although the greater part of it is based on
  earlier traditions." Tov
• Three Systems of Vocalization
• Tiberian (North-Palestinian)
• Palestinian (South-Palestinian) vowel signs are
  placed above the consonants
• Babylonian subdivided into simple and compound
  vowel signs are placed above the consonants.

16
3.1.2 Vocalization

• "In the circles that occupied themselves with the
  vocalization of the biblical text from the 8th to
  the 10th century AD in Tiberias, the most
  prominent families were those of Ben-Asher and
  Ben-Naphtali. The Ben-Asher system was later
  accepted universally, while that of Ben-Naphtali
  came into disuse. It is not known whether any of
  the transmitted mss offer a purely Ben-Naphtali
  tradition hence not all details about this
  system of vocalization are known, even though one
  learns much from the variants between it and
  Ben-Asher." Tov

17
3.1.2 Vocalization

• N.B. Moshe Goshen-Gottstein's discussion of the
  Ben Asher witness
• Second Rabbinic Bible eclectic text (BH1-2)
• codex Leningrad B 19a (AD 1009) (BH3-BHS)
• But, the Aleppo Codex is considered the best
  (Hebrew University Library Project)

18
3.1.3 Para-Textual Elements

• "Once it became unacceptable to make any more
  changes to the biblical text, the earliest
  generations of the sope6rm directed their
  activities toward accurately recording all the
  peculiarities in their mss." Tov
• 1. Paragraph Divisions
• "With painstaking care the Masoretes transmitted
  the division of the text into paragraphs (Heb
  pa4ra4sa, pl. pa4ra4siyyot), which resembled
  the system now also attested in most Qumran
  texts. They distinguished between small textual
  units separated from each other by open spaces
  between verses within the line (pa4ra4sa
  se6tuma, closed section, indicated with the
  letter samek), and

19
3.1.3 Para-Textual Elements

• larger textual units separated from each other by
  spaces that leave the whole remaining line blank
  (pa4ra4sa pe6tuh9a, open section, indicated
  with the letter pe). The Masoretes also
  indirectly indicated versification (with the
  silluq accent), following an ancient tradition
  indicated (by spaces) in a few Qumran texts
  (1QLev, 4QDan a, c) and in several Greek texts
  such as 8H9evXll." Tov
• 2. Inverted Nun
• Num 10.35-36 and Ps 107.23-28, 40 (x7?)
• Thus it is stated in Sifre on Numbers (section
  84) "the section wrah snb yhyw is naqud (dotted)
  before it and after it because this is not its
  place.

20
3.1.3 Para-Textual Elements

• The opinion of Rabbi is that it forms a book
  itself." Israel Yeivin, Introduction to the
  Tiberian Masorah, 46
• "That the Inverted Nun indicate here a
  dislocation of the text is also attested by the
  Septuagint. In the recension form which this
  Version was made, verses 35, 36 preceded verse
  34, so that the order of the verses in question
  is Numb X. 35, 36, 34 and this seems to be the
  proper place for the two verses." C. D.
  Ginsburg, Introduction to the Massoretico-Critical
  Edition of the Hebrew Bible, 343

21
3.1.3 Para-Textual Elements

• 3. Extraordinary Points (Puncta Extraordinaria)
• "Supralinear (occasionally in combination with
  infralinear) points are found in fifteen places
  in the OT (e.g., Gen 334 Ps 2713). While
  these points originated from scribal notations
  indicating that the elements thus highlighted
  should be deleted (a convention used in many
  Qumran texts), within the Masoretic corpus these
  symbols were reappropriated to indicate doubtful
  letters ." Tov

22
3.1.3 Para-Textual Elements

• 'Abot R. Nat. "The words "unto us and to our
  children" (Deut 29.28) are dotted. Why is that? .
  . . This is what Ezra said If Elijah comes and
  says to me, "Why did you write in this fashion?"
  And if he says to me, "You have written well," I
  shall remove the dots from them.
• De Lagarde used these dots as the bases to argue
  that all MT manuscripts were copied from a single
  source.

23
3.1.3 Para-Textual Elements

• 4. Suspended Letters (Litterae Suspensae)
• "In the mss some letters are intentionally placed
  higher than those around them (i.e.,
  superscripted between surrounding letters). A
  good example is the suspended nun in Judg 1830,
  where the text with the nun is read mnsh
  (Manasseh) or without the nun as msh (Moses).
  As in the Qumran texts, the suspended letters
  indicate later additions, which nevertheless were
  transmitted as such in the MT ." Tov

24
3.1.3 Para-Textual Elements

• 5. Special Letters
• "The special form of some letters directs the
  readers attention to details that were important
  for the Masoretes, such as the middle letter or
  word in a book. For a littera minuscule see Gen
  24 for a littera majuscule, see Lev 1333. In
  other instances imperfectly written letters are
  indicated especially. " Tov

25
3.1.3 Para-Textual Elements

• 6. Ketib-Qere
• "In a large number of instances ranging from
  848 to 1566 according to the different traditions
  the Masorah parva (smaller Masorah) notes that
  one should disregard the written text (Aramaic
  ketib, "what is written") and read instead a
  different word or words (Aramaic qere, "what
  is read")." Tov
• "Opinions vary about whether the Qere represents
  a Masoretic correction, a textual variant, or
  something else."

26
3.1.3 Para-Textual Elements

• "Opinions vary about whether the Qere represents
  a Masoretic correction, a textual variant, or
  something else." Tov
• "Initially, the Qere was intended as a
  correction, particularly to discourage blasphemy,
  such as the Qere perpetuum (the constant Qere) of
  the written Tetragrammaton (YHWH) to be read as
  )a6do4na4y. Subsequently, the already existing
  system of incorporating corrections as marginal
  notes was also used to preserve for posterity
  deviant/variant readings. Still later, all these
  marginal notes came to be (mis)understood as
  corrections. Recently, Barr (1981) suggested
  that the Qere words originated in the reading
  tradition because there is never more than one
  Qere word." Tov

27
3.1.3 Para-Textual Elements

• "The second group of notations associated with
  the Masorah parva is indicated by the notation
  se6brn, followed by an almost identical word
  (e.g., mmnw/mmnh in Judg 1134). The se6brn
  notations closely resemble those of the Qere
  indeed, various words indicated as Qere in some
  mss are indicated as se6brn in others. The
  term is an abbreviation of se6brn
  we6ma(tn, i.e., one might think (sbr) that x
  should be read instead of y, but that is a wrong
  assumption (ma(tn)." Tov

28
3.1.3 Para-Textual Elements

• "Third, the Masorah parva mentions some 250
  consonantal variants between Palestinian
  (ma(arba4)e, or western) and Babylonian
  (ma4dnh9a4)e, or eastern) readings." Tov

29
3.1.3 Para-Textual Elements

• 7. Corrections of the Scribes (Tiqqune
  sope6rm)
• "The term refers to words (18 or 11 depending on
  the sources the oldest source is the Mekilta on
  Exod 157) that tradition says were changed by
  the sope6rm e.g., my wickedness (Num 1115
  MT) replaced an original reading your
  wickedness. All supposed emendations concern
  minor changes in words that the sope6rm deemed
  inappropriate for God or (in one instance) Moses
  (Num 1212). In some sources these corrections
  are called kinnuye sope6rm (euphemisms of
  the scribes), implying

30
3.1.3 Para-Textual Elements

• that the sope6rm had a different understanding
  of these words without, however, changing the
  text itself. Many details in the list of
  tiqqunm are dubious. Nevertheless, it is
  considered likely that theological alterations
  have been made in the text, even though the
  specific tiqqune6 sope6rm which have been
  transmitted may not give the best examples of
  this process" Tov

31
3.1.4 Accentuation

• "The accents, also named cantillation signs,
  which add an exegetical layer and musical
  dimension to the consonants and vowels, have
  three different functions
• 1. To direct the biblical reading in the
  synagogue with musical guidelines
• 2. To denote the stress in the word
• 3. To denote the syntactical relation between the
  words as either disjunctive or conjunctive" Tov

32
3.1.5 The Apparatus of the Masorah

• "The Masorah in the narrow and technical sense of
  the word refers to an apparatus of instructions
  for the writing of the biblical text and its
  reading. This apparatus was prepared by
  generations of Masoretes and was written around
  the text. The purpose of this apparatus was to
  ensure that special care would be exercised in
  the transmission of the text." Tov

33
3.1.5 The Apparatus of the Masorah

• Two main parts to the Masorah
• 1. Masorah parva Mp written as Aramaic notes
  in the side margins of the text. Includes
• The number of specific occurrences of spellings
  or vocalizations.
• The Qere, Sebirin, and all para-textual
  notations.
• Special details like shortest verse or the middle
  verse in the Torah, etc.

34
3.1.5 The Apparatus of the Masorah

• 2. Masorah magna Mm written as Aramaic notes
  in the upper or lower margins of the text.
• "This apparatus is closely connected with the Mp
  as its function is to list in detail the
  particulars mentioned by way of allusion in the
  Mp, especially the verses referred to by the
  apparatus." Tov

35
3.1.5 The Apparatus of the Masorah

• Some Editions of the Masorah
• C. D. Ginsburg, The Massorah Compiled from
  Manuscripts, Alphabetically and Lexically
  Arranged, vols. I-IV (London/Vienna, 1880-1905
  repr. Jerusalem 1971)
• G. E. Weil, Massorah Gedolah manuscrit B.19a de
  Leningrad, vol. I (Rome, 1971).
• D. S. Loewinger, Massorah Magna of the Aleppo
  Codex (Jerusalem, 1977).

36
3.1.6 MT Manuscripts

• Qumran, Murabba'at, Masada
• Nash Papyrus (Exod 20.2-17, partly Deut 5.6-21)
• Geniza fragments
• Ben Asher Manuscripts
• Codex Cairensis (Former Latter Prophets, 895
  CE)
• Aleppo Codex (Shelomo ben Buya'a wrote the
  consonants, while Aaron Ben Asher vocalized and
  accentuated the codex, 925 CE) lost Gen
  1.1-Deut 28.26 SoS 3.12-the end, i.e., Qoheleth,
  Lamentation, Esther, Daniel, and Ezra.

37
3.1.6 MT Manuscripts

• Ben Asher Manuscripts
• A Tenth-century codex from the Karaite synagogue
  in Cairo containing the Pentateuch.
• Codex Leningrad B 19A (from 1009)
• Codex B.M. Or. 4445, indicated as B (significant
  sections of the Torah from the first half of the
  tenth century)
• Codex Sassoon 507 of the Torah (tenth century)
• Codex Sassoon 1053 of the Bible (tenth century)

38
3.1.6 MT Manuscripts

• Printed Editions
• "Earliest editions included portions (all with
  Rabbinic commentary and to some extent with
  Targum), e.g. Psalms, 1477 (Bologna?), Prophets,
  1485/86 (Soncino), Writings, 1486/87 (Naples),
  Pentateuch, 1491 (Lisbon), etc. and complete
  Bibles, e.g., Soncino, 1488, Naples, 1491/93,
  Brescia, 1494. The first Rabbinic Bible was
  edited by Felix Pratensis and was also published
  by Daniel Bomberg in 1516/17, a considerable
  critical achievement with in large measure served
  as a basis for the second Rabbinic

39
3.1.6 MT Manuscripts

• Printed Editions
• Bible of Jacob ben Chayyim." Würthwein, The Text
  of the Old Testament, 37
• The Second Rabbinic Bible of Jacob ben Chayyim
  (published by Daniel Bomberg in Venice, 1524/25)
• Hebrew texts Targum comments by Rashi, Ibn
  Ezra, Kimchi, etc.
• 925 leaves in four folio volumes index
• However this was an eclectic text, therefore not
  the best ben Asher representation.

40
3.1.6 MT Manuscripts

• Printed Editions
• "Particularly important for the advance in
  biblical research have been the so-called
  polyglots, multilingual editions that give the
  text of the Bible in parallel columns in Hebrew
  (MT and Sam. Pent.), Greek, Aramaic, Syriac,
  Latin, and Arabic, accompanied by Latin
  translations and introduced by grammars and
  lexicons. The first is the Complutensian
  Polyglot (1514-17), prepared by Cardinal Ximenes
  in Alcala (Latin Complutum). The second was
  published in Antwerp (1569-72), the third in
  Paris (1629-45), and the fourth, the most
  extensive, in London (1654-57), edited by B.
  Walton and E. Castell." Tov

41
3.1.6 MT Manuscripts

• Printed Editions
• Johann Heinrich Michaelis (1720)
• Benjamin Kennicott Vetus Testamentum Hebraicum
  cum variis lectionibus, 2 vol. (Oxford,
  1776-1780) 600 mss, 52 editions of the Hebrew
  text and 16 mss of the Samaritan.
• J. B. de Rossi collected variants 1,475
  manuscripts and editions.
• S. Baer Franz Delitzsch (1869ff.) not
  completed

42
3.1.6 MT Manuscripts

• Printed Editions
• C. D. Ginsburg (British Foreign Bible Society,
  1908ff. 1926) Jacob ben Chayyim text.
• Norman H. Snaith (British Foreign Bible
  Society, 1958) Ms. Or. 2626-2628.
• BH1-2 used the Jacob ben Chayyim text.
• BH3 and BHS have used the Codex Leningrad B 19A
• Hebrew University Bible (HUB) using the Aleppo
  text.

43
The First Edition of the Psalter, 1477 Bologna,
with David Kimhi
44
Complutensian Polyglot (1514-17)
45
Codex Cairensis 827CE, Moshe ben Asher
46
Aleppo Codex Shelomo ben Buya(a, 930CE
47
Aleppo Codex Shelomo ben Buya(a, 930CE
48
Codex 17, Firkowitsch Collection 930CE
49
Codex Leningrad B19A 1008-9CE
50
Codex Leningrad B19A 1008-9CE
51
Benjamin Kennicott Vetus Testamentum Hebraicum
cum variis lectionibus, 2 vol. (Oxford, 1776-1780)
52
Kennicott
53
Benjamin Kennicott Vetus Testamentum Hebraicum
cum variis lectionibus, 2 vol. (Oxford, 1776-1780)
54
Benjamin Kennicott Vetus Testamentum Hebraicum
cum variis lectionibus, 2 vol. (Oxford, 1776-1780)
55
3.2 Pre-Samaritan Samaritan Pentateuch

• "The Samaritan Pentateuch contains the text of
  the Torah, written in a special version of the
  "early" Hebrew script as preserved for centuries
  by the Samaritan community. This text is
  permeated with ideological elements which,
  however, form only a thin layer added to the
  text. Scholars are divided in their opinion on
  the date of this version, but it was probably
  based on an early, pre-Samaritan, text, similar
  to those found in Qumran." Tov

56
3.2 Pre-Samaritan Samaritan Pentateuch

• 3.2.1 Origin Background
• "The Samaritans themselves believe that the
  origin of their community goes back to the time
  of Eli (11th century BC), when the Jews
  withdrew from Shechem to establish a new cult in
  Shiloh, which was later brought to Jerusalem.
  According to this conception, the Jews split off
  from the Samaritans, not the other way around. A
  different view is reflected in 2 Kgs 1724-34,
  according to which the Samaritans were not
  originally Jews, but pagans brought to Samaria by
  the Assyrians after the fall of Samaria in the
  8th century BC. In accordance with this
  tradition, in the Talmud the Samaritans were
  indeed named Kythians (cf. 2 Kgs 1724). " Tov

57
3.2 Pre-Samaritan Samaritan Pentateuch

• 3.2.2 Character of the Samaritan Pentateuch
• ". . . it differs from MT in some six thousand
  instances. While it is true that a great number
  of these variant are merely orthographic, and
  many others are trivial and do not affect the
  meaning of the text, yet it is significant that
  in about 1,900 instances SP agrees with LXX
  against MT." Würthwein, 42-43

58
3.2 Pre-Samaritan Samaritan Pentateuch

• 1. Harmonizing Alterations
• "The Sam. Pent. contains various kinds of
  harmonizing alterations, especially additions (to
  one passage on the basis of another one) that, by
  definition, are secondary. These alterations
  appear inconsistently (i.e., features which have
  been harmonized in one place have been left in
  others). The Sam. Pent. was not sensitive to
  differences between parallel laws within the
  Pentateuch, which, as a rule, have remained
  intact, while differences between parallel
  narrative accounts, especially in the speeches in
  the first chapters of Deuteronomy and their
  sources, were closely scrutinized." Tov

59
3.2 Pre-Samaritan Samaritan Pentateuch

• "Thus, in the MT the Fourth Commandment in Exod
  208 begins with za4kor (remember) and in
  Deut 512 with sa4mor (observe), but the Sam.
  Pent. reads sa4mor in both verses. " Tov
• ". . . parallel verses from Deut 19-18 are added
  in Exodus (after 1824 and within v 25),
  resulting in a double account of the story of
  Moses appointing of the judges."
• Addition of details

60
3.2 Pre-Samaritan Samaritan Pentateuch

• 2. Linguistic Corrections this is found in both
  the Pre-Samaritan and SP in general.
• 3. Sectarian Changes in the Samaritan Pentateuch
• "This concerns the most important doctrinal
  difference between the Jews and the Samaritans
  the central place of worship (Jerusalem for the
  Jews, Mount Gerizim for the Samaritans)." Tov
• ". . . the Samaritans added a commandment to the
  Decalog (after Exod 2014 and Deut 518) that
  secured the centrality of Mount Gerizim in the
  cult. This commandment is

61
3.2 Pre-Samaritan Samaritan Pentateuch

• composed of a series of biblical pericopes that
  mention such a central cult in Shechem (Deut
  1129a 272b, 3a, 4-7 1130 in this
  sequence). The addition of this material as the
  Tenth Commandment was made possible by changing
  the First Commandment into an introductory
  clause." Tov
• ". . . various alterations in Deuteronomy where
  the characteristic expression the place which
  the Lord your God will choose is changed to the
  place which the Lord your God has chosen (e.g.,
  Deut 1210, 11).

62
3.2 Pre-Samaritan Samaritan Pentateuch

• From the Samaritan perspective, Shechem was
  already the chosen place in the time of Abraham,
  whereas from the historical perspective of
  Deuteronomy, the choice of Gods place
  (Jerusalem) yet lay in the future, after the
  conquest of the land and the election of David."
  Tov
• 4. Orthography in the SP
• The use of matres lectionis
• 5. Pre-Samaritan Texts
• "There are large harmonizing additions from
  Deuteronomy in Exodus and Numbers

63
3.2 Pre-Samaritan Samaritan Pentateuch

• (and in one case, vice versa), well attested in
  4QpaleoExm, 4Q158, 4Q364 (both biblical
  paraphrases), 4QNumb, 4QDeutn, and 4Q175
  (Test)." Tov
• 6. Modern Editions of the SP
• A. F. von Gall, Der hebräische Pentateuch der
  Samaritaner, (Giessen, 1914-18 repr. Berlin,
  1966).
• A R. Sadaqa, Jewish and Samaritan Version of
  the Pentateuch - With Particular Stress on the
  Differences between Both Texts, (Tel Aviv,
  1961-65).

64
Samaritan Pentateuch 1215/6 - Num 34.26-35.8
65
A. F. von Gall, Der hebräische Pentateuch der
Samaritaner, (Giessen, 1914-18 repr. Berlin,
1966)
66
3.3 Septuagint

• "LXX is a Jewish translation which was made
  mainly in Alexandria. Its Hebrew source differed
  greatly from the other textual witnesses (MT, T,
  S, V and many of the Qumran texts), and this
  accounts for its great significance in biblical
  studies. Moreover, LXX is important as a source
  for early exegesis, and this translation also
  forms the basis for many elements in the NT."
  Tov

67
3.3 Septuagint

• Date "According to the generally accepted
  explanation of the testimony of the Epistle of
  Aristeas, the translation of the Torah was
  carried out in Egypt in the third century BCE.
  This assumption is compatible with the early date
  of several papyrus and leather fragments of the
  Torah from Qumran and Egypt, some of which have
  been ascribed to the middle or end of the second
  century BCE (4QLXXLeva, 4QLXXNum, Pap. Pouad 266,
  Pap. Pylands Gk. 458)." Tov

68
3.3 Septuagint

• Witnesses
• 1. Early texts written on papyrus and leather
  including both scrolls and codices.
• 2nd Century BCE onward, many fragments in
  Palestine Egypt.
• Chester Beatty / Scheide Collection (Egypt, 1931)
  contained most of the books, even Daniel.
• Also Qumran 4QLXXLeva
• 2. Uncial (uncialis) or majuscule (majusculus)
  manuscripts from the fourth century onwards,
  written with "capital" letters.
• 3. Minuscule (minusculus) or cursive manuscripts,
  written with small letters, from medieval times.

69
3.3 Septuagint

• Witnesses
• 2. Uncial (uncialis) or majuscule (majusculus)
  manuscripts from the fourth century onwards,
  written with "capital" letters.
• B Vaticanus, dates from the 4th century and is
  considered the best complete manuscript of the
  LXX. Relatively free of corruption and influences
  of the revisions of LXX.
• S or a Sinaiticus, dates from the 4th century
  and usually agrees with B, when the two reflect
  the Old Greek translation, but S

70
3.3 Septuagint

• Witnesses
• is influenced by the later revisions of the LXX.
• A Alexandrinus dates from the 5th century and
  is greatly influenced by the Hexaplaric tradtion
  and in several books represents it faithfully.
• 3. Minuscule (minusculus) or cursive manuscripts,
  written with small letters, from medieval times.

71
Codex Vaticanus LXX, - B Cod. Vat. Gr. 1209
72
3.3 Septuagint

• Witnesses
• 3. Minuscule (minusculus) or cursive
  manuscripts, written with small letters, from
  medieval times.
• Many minuscule manuscripts from the ninth to the
  sixteenth centuries are known. N.B. Göttingen and
  Cambridge editions.

73
3.3 Septuagint

• Critical Editions
• 1. A. E. Brooke, N. McLean and H. St. J.
  Thackeray, The Old Testament in Greek according
  to the Text of Codex Vaticannus (Cambridge,
  1906-1940) known as "The Cambridge Septuagint".
• Gen-Neh, Esther, Judith, Tobit according to B,
  and where that manuscript is lacking, ti has been
  supplemented by A or S.

74
"The Cambridge Septuagint"
75
3.3 Septuagint

• Critical Editions
• 2. Ziegler, ed., Göttingen Septuaginta, Vetus
  Testamentum Graecum auctoritate Societatis
  Litterarum Göttingensis editum.
• This is the most precise and thorough critical
  edition of the LXX.

76
Göttingen Septuaginta
77
3.3 Septuagint

• Importance of LXX for Biblical Studies
• Gen genealogies, chronological data
• Exod the second account of the building of the
  Tabernacle in chapters 35-40
• Num sequence differences, pluses and minuses of
  verses
• Josh significant transpositions, pluses, and
  minuses
• Sam-Kgs many major and minor differences,
  including pluses, minuses, and transpositions,
  involving different chronological and editorial
  structures

78
3.3 Septuagint

• Jer differences in sequence, much shorter text
• Eze slightly shorter text
• Pro differences in sequence, different text
• Dan Est completely different text, including
  the addition of large sections, treated as
  "apocryphal."
• Chr "synoptic" variants, that is, readings in
  the Greek translation of Chronicles agreeing with
  MT in the parallel texts.

79
3.3.1 Revisions of the Septuagint

• General
• LXX and the revisions share a common textual
  basis.
• The revision corrects the LXX in a certain
  direction.
• Kaige-Theodotion
• The Greek scroll of the Minor Prophets found in
  Nahal Hever was identified as an early kaige
  revision of the LXX by Barthelemy (1952).
• Also in 6th column of the Hexapla and in the
  Quinta (fifth) column of the Hexapla . . . .

80
3.3.1 Revisions of the Septuagint

• Kaige-Theodotion
• Supplanted the current Greek version of the Book
  of Daniel . . . ." Jellicoe, The Septuagint and
  Modern Study, 84
• Corrected the LXX with a Hebrew text.
• Aquila
• Aquila prepared his revision in approximately 125
  CE. Some biblical books have two different
  editions.
• Student of R. Akiba
• "Aquila . . . Made an attempt to represent
  accurately every word, particle, and even

81
3.3.1 Revisions of the Septuagint

• Aquila
• morpheme. For example, he translated the nota
  accusativi ta separately with su,n, "with,"
  apparently on the basis of the other meaning of
  ta, namely "with"." Tov
• The Aquila Onqelos theory.
• Symmacus
• 2nd or 3rd century CE either an Samaritan who
  had become a proselyte or and Jewish-Christian
  Ebionite.
• "Two diametrically opposed tendencies are

82
3.3.1 Revisions of the Septuagint

• Symmacus
• visible in Symmachus's revision. On the one hand
  he was very precise, while on the other hand, he
  very often translated ad sensum rather
  representing the Hebrew words with stereotyped
  renderings." Tov
• Hexapla
• Origen in the mid-3rd century CE.
• Six columns
• Obelos (?) elements in Greek, but not in Hebrew

83
3.3.1 Revisions of the Septuagint

• Hexapla
• Asteriskos (?) extant in Hebrew, but not in
  Greek, which were added in the fifth column from
  one of the other columns.
• Post-Hexaplaric Revisions
• Lucian (d. 312 CE). (b, o, c2, e2 in the
  Cambridge Septuagint).
• Known from both Greek and Latin sources, now in
  Hebrew (4QSama).

84
3.4 Peshitta

• Peshitta means "the simple translation or
  plain"
• "Peshitta is of Christian or Jewish-Christian
  origin.
• "The quality of the Peshitta (Syriac translation)
  varies from book to book, ranging from fairly
  accurate to paraphrastic. The Heb Vorlage of the
  Peshitta was more or less identical with MT. The
  Peshitta offers fewer variants than the LXX, but
  more than the Targums and the Vulgate." Tov

85
3.5 Targumim

• Targum means explanation, commentary or
  translation.
• Both Jewish and Samaritan Targumim exist. However
  the Jewish Targumim had a higher status within
  their own community.
• Jewish Targumim exist for all the books of the
  Hebrew Bible except Ezra, Nehemiah and Daniel.
• The Targumim reflect a Hebrew text that is very
  close to the MT, except for the Job Targum from
  Qumran.

86
3.5 Targumim

• Targum Onqelos (Torah)
• Translated by Onqelos the proselyte, "under the
  guidance of R. Eliezer and R. Joshua"
• Date first, third or fifth century CE?
• As a rule Onqelos follows the plain sense of
  Scripture, but in the poetical sections it
  contains many exegetical elements.
• Sperber argues that there are 650 minor variants
  in the Targum Onqelos.

87
3.5 Targumim

• Palestinian Targumim (Torah)
• Jerusalem Targum I Targum Pseudo-Johnathan.
• Jerusalem Targum II, III The Fragment(ary)
  Targum(im)
• Targumim from the Cairo Genizah
• Vatican Neophyti 1 discovered in 1956 in a
  manuscript dating 1504 1st/2nd century CE but
  others 4th/5th century CE.

88
3.5 Targumim

• Targum to the Prophets
• Targum Jonathan to the Prophets varies from book
  to book.
• Targum to the Hagiographa

89
3.5 Targumim

• "The quality of the translation of the Aramaic
  Targums varies from Targum to Targum and from
  book to book (see especially Komlosh 1973). As a
  rule, the Targums from Palestine are more
  paraphrastic in character than the Babylonian
  ones. The more literal translations of 11QtgJob
  and 4QtgLev, though found in Palestine, are an
  exception to this rule." Tov

90
3.5 Targumim

• "The Targums usually reflect the MT deviations
  from it are based mainly on exegetical
  traditions, not on deviating texts. An exception
  must be made for 11QtgJob, which contains
  interesting variants and which possibly lacks
  some verses of the MT (4212-17), a fact which
  would be significant for the literary criticism
  of the book. It may perhaps be assumed that
  other Targums in an earlier stage of their
  development also contained more variants than in
  their present form. Targum Onqelos as a rule
  contains more variants than the Palestinian
  Targums." Tov

91
3.6 Vulgate

• "Though occasionally reflecting variants, this
  Latin translation almost always reproduces MT."
  Tov

92
3.2 The Text of the Second Testament

• 3.2.1 The Text of the N.T.
• 3.2.2 N.T. Text Criticism

93
3.2.1.1 Greek Manuscripts General

• "Greek mss of the NT, now numbering more than
  5,300, customarily have been characterized in
  three differing ways (1) by the material upon
  which they are written (papyrus, parchment, or
  paper) (2) by their calligraphic type (uncial or
  minuscule handwriting) and (3) by the function
  of the document containing the text
  (continuous-text ms, lectionary, or patristic
  quotation). The traditional way of listing them,
  however, cuts across these categories (utilizing
  one or two from each) and follows the scheme of
  papyri, uncials, minuscules, lectionaries, and
  patristic quotations." Eldon Jay Epp, "Textual
  Criticism (NT)," ABD

94
3.2.1.1 Greek Manuscripts General

• Statistics (as of 1989)
• Papyri Catalogued (96)
• Uncial MSS Catalogued (299)
• Minuscule MSS Catalogued (2,812)
• Lectionaries Catalogued (2,281)
• Total (5,488)
• Metzger, The Text of the New Testament Its
  Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration, 262

95
3.2.1.2 Transmission

• 1. What is Required? ". . . knowledge of ancient
  writing materials, of paleography, of scribes and
  scribal habits, of scribal errors and
  transcriptional probabilities, of scriptoria and
  their procedures, and of the availability and
  mobility of literary texts in the early Christian
  world. In a broader context, it also requires
  knowledge of the nature, development, and spread
  of early Christianity, including details of the
  relevant geographical areas, the cultural and
  ecclesiastical milieu of Christianity in those
  various areas, and the theological and personal
  influences that shaped Christian faith. For the
  earliest times and even for some later periods,
  our

96
3.2.1.2 Transmission

• understanding of the NT text is inhibited by a
  lack of detailed knowledge just as often,
  perhaps, the neglect of data provided by Church
  history has prevented advances in the
  discipline."
• 2. NT Textual Materials "As early as 1707, John
  Mill claimed that the (relatively few) NT mss
  examined by him contained about 30,000 variant
  readings 200 years later B. B. Warfield
  indicated that some 180,000 or 200,000 various
  readings had been counted in the then existing
  NT mss, and in more recent times M. M. Parvis
  reported that examination of only 150 Greek mss
  of Luke revealed about 30,000 readings there
  alone, and he suggested that the actual quantity
  of variant readings among all NT

97
3.2.1.2 Transmission

• manuscripts was likely to be much higher than
  the 150,000 to 250,000 that had been estimated in
  modern times. Perhaps 300,000 differing readings
  is a fair figure for the 20th century."
• 3. "It is not difficult to imagine how the NT
  writings were employed in the early decades of
  Christianity and how they were circulated in that
  initial period and in the succeeding decades. For
  instance, an apostolic letter or a portion of a
  gospel would be read in a worship service
  visiting Christians now and again would make or
  secure copies to take to their own congregations,
  or the church possessing it might send a copy to
  another congregation at its own initiative or
  even at the request of the writer (cf. Col 416)
  and quite rapidly numerous early Christian

98
3.2.1.2 Transmission

• writings-predominantly those that eventually
  formed the NT-were to be found in church after
  church throughout the Roman world. Naturally, the
  quality of each copy depended very much on the
  circumstances of its production some copies must
  have been made in a rather casual manner under
  far less than ideal scribal conditions, while
  others, presumably, were made with a measure of
  ecclesiastical sanction and official solicitude,
  especially as time passed. Great Church centers,
  such as Antioch, Alexandria, Ephesus, Rome, Lyon,
  and Carthage, must have issued copies of the
  Scriptures, or parts thereof, for their
  constituent churches, and when the Christian
  Church gained the official favor of the Roman
  Empire under

99
3.2.1.2 Transmission

• Constantine, the emperor himself commissioned 50
  copies of the Scripture on fine parchment. . .
  by professional scribes for new churches in
  Constantinople (Eusebius, Vita C. 4.36). This
  occurred about AD 331, some 280 years after Paul
  penned the first of his letters and about 260
  years after the first gospel, Mark, was written.
  Codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, the two oldest
  parchment manuscripts of the NT (except for
  fragments), are elegant copies of the kind that
  Constantine must have had in mind, and they come
  from precisely this period-the mid-4th century."
  Epp

100
3.2.1.3 Manuscripts

• 1. According to Types of Material
• "Papyrus mss, in codex form, were used by
  Christians from the earliest times into the 8th
  century. They constitute only 3 of NT
  continuous-text mss and less than 2 of all NT
  mss, though, of course, far less than that in the
  amount of extant Greek NT text, since most of the
  papyri are highly fragmentary. Qualitatively,
  however, they enjoy an importance inversely
  proportionate to the small amount of text they
  presently preserve." Epp

101
3.2.1.3 Manuscripts

• 1. According to Types of Material
• "Parchment codices were standard for copies of
  the NT text until the very late Middle Ages when
  paper finally replaced parchment (14th-15th
  centuries) and when printing replaced hand
  copying (15th century). Roughly 75 of all Greek
  NT mss are on parchment (ca. 4,000, including
  some 2,400 continuous-text mss and some 1,600
  lectionaries). Paper mss, therefore, are more
  common than might be supposed, numbering roughly
  1,200 (somewhat evenly divided between the
  minuscules and lectionaries) and ranging in date
  from the 12th to the 19th centuries, with most
  originating in the latter part of this period."
  Epp

102
3.2.1.3 Manuscripts

• 1. According to Types of Material
• ". . . around the turn of the 2d/3d century (AD
  200), NT mss began to be copied on parchment or
  vellum. . . . The stability of parchment also
  permitted its reuse, after scraping and washing
  the existing writing off the surface such a ms
  is called a palimpsest (i.e., scraped again).
  Some 50 NT mss prior to the 11th century are
  palimpsests, among which the most famous is Codex
  Ephraemi Syri Rescriptus (C), whose NT text dates
  to the 5th century. " Epp

103
3.2.1.3 Manuscripts

• 2. Calligraphy
• "As for calligraphy, until the 9th century Greek
  ms of the NT (both papyrus and parchment) were
  written exclusively in uncial script (using
  large-sized, unconnected capital letters), and
  uncials continued to be employed in the following
  century. Minuscule script (using lowercase,
  cursive or running - connected - letters) was
  used from the 9th century on. The earliest dated
  NT minuscule (no. 461) was copied in 835.
  Minuscule script, as its name implies, was
  smaller, requiring less space, and its connected
  style permitted more rapid writing. Minuscules,
  therefore, were easier and quicker to produce and
  less expensive than uncials, and the legacy of NT
  textual materials is likely to

104
3.2.1.3 Manuscripts

• 2. Calligraphy
• be larger than might have been the case had the
  uncial hand persisted. About 12 of NT mss are in
  uncial script (some 650) and 88 in minuscule
  (some 4,650). NT uncial mss are found on papyrus
  and parchment, minuscules on parchment and
  paper." Epp

105
3.2.1.4 Function Form

• 1. Continuous-Text MS
• ". . . a ms recording the text of at least one NT
  book (even if no longer fully preserved) in a
  continuous fashion without additional context
  (though occasionally an interlinear or separate
  commentary to the text may be part of the ms).
  These mss may be written on papyrus, parchment,
  or paper and may be either in uncial or minuscule
  hand. Continuous-text NT mss number about 3,125,
  including about 94 different papyri in uncial
  script, about 270 different uncial mss on
  parchment, and around 2,750 minuscules on
  parchment or paper (of which more than 2,100 are
  on parchment)." Epp

106
3.2.1.4 Function Form

• 2. Lectionary
• "Lectionaries are mss containing portions of
  biblical text for reading in church services. NT
  lessons from the Gospels and Epistles are
  arranged not in the order of the NT canon, but in
  accordance either with the Church year (called
  the synaxarion) . . . . Lections vary in length
  from a few verses to a few chapters, with a
  customary length of about ten verses." Epp
• Carefully copied from an exemplar lectionary.
• Basically Byzantine text type.

107
3.2.1.4 Function Form

• 3. Lectionary
• "NT lectionary mss in Greek number around 2,200,
  of which nearly 90 (more than 1,900) are
  minuscules and the rest uncials (about 270). Two
  uncial lectionaries date as early as the 4th and
  5th centuries, about seven more in the 6th and
  7th, with large numbers originating in the 9th
  and 10th, and with vast numbers of minuscule
  lectionaries stemming from the 11th and 12th
  centuries and thereafter. Over all, 75 are on
  parchment, with the rest on paper (dating from
  the 12th century on), and the majority of
  lectionaries consist of gospel readings." Epp

108
3.2.1.4 Function Form

• 4. Helps
• "Words and sentences usually were not separated
  from one another, occasionally leading the reader
  to divide words in alternate ways with differing
  meanings virtually no punctuation occurred until
  the 6th or 7th centuries similarly, breathing
  marks and accents are rare prior to the 7th
  century, though after this time they occasionally
  were added by a later hand to NT lectionary mss
  in Greek number around 2,200, of which nearly 90
  (more than 1,900) are minuscules and the rest
  uncials (about 270)." Epp

109
3.2.1.4 Function Form

• 4. Helps
• "To assist in locating parallel passages in the
  gospels, Eusebius (ca. 263-339) devised a system
  of ten canons or tables (known as the Eusebian
  Canons) that divided the gospel material into
  sections and identified those that were found in
  all four gospels (canon I), those in each
  combination of three gospels (canons II-IV)
  those in each combination of two gospels (canons
  V-IX), and finally those sections in only one of
  the gospels (canon X). Thus, all the possible
  combinations were exhausted. Each section in each
  gospel was then numbered consecutively, and these
  section numbers, along with their appropriate
  canons, were placed-in colored ink-in the margin
  of a ms.

110
3.2.1.4 Function Form

• 4. Helps
• The reader, by looking up the section number in
  the designated canon, could find the numbers of
  any parallel sections in other gospels. . . ."
  Epp
• N.B. Nestle-Aland27, 84-89

111
3.2.1.5 Papyri

• 1. "Presently 96 NT papyri have been identified,
  though two of these are portions of others (P33
  P58 P64 P67), leaving a total of 94 different
  papyri. They range in date from the 2d century to
  the 8th, and all but four are from codices (the
  four, P12, P13, P18, P22, are from scrolls,
  though all are exceptional in that they are
  either written on both sides or are on reused
  papyrus). These 94 papyri range in extent of
  coverage from tiny fragments (like P52 of John)
  to extensive portions (in papyri like P66, P75,
  and P72)."

112
3.2.1.5 Papyri

• 2. See
• Metzger, The Text of the New Testament, 36-42.
• Kurt Aland Barbara Aland, The Text of the New
  Testament, 83-102.
• 3. "In Studying any New Testament text it is
  important to know in which papyri (and uncials)
  it is found. But a great amount of effort is
  required to find this information in the
  literature." Therefore see charts 5 6 in Aland
  Aland

113
3.2.1.5 Uncials

• 1. "As a classification of NT mss, uncials is
  not used to refer to all NT mss written in uncial
  characters (about 650), but only to
  continuous-text mss so written on parchment
  (about 270). Thus, the papyri and the more than
  270 lectionary mss written in uncials are
  classified under papyri and lectionaries,
  respectively, and not here." Epp
• 2. "Continuous-text uncials total about 290, but
  the number of different uncials is closer to 270,
  due to the continuing process of uniting
  separated fragments with their original mss.
  Uncials date from the 2d/3d century through the
  10th century. Only 4 predate the early 4th
  century (0189, 0220, 0162, 0171) 14 stem from
  the 4th century including the two most famous
  uncials, Codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus but 54

114
3.2.1.5 Uncials

• survive from around AD 400 to 500 and uncials
  increase as one moves into the later 6th and
  through the 9th centuries, with the last 19
  originating in the 10th century. . . ." Epp
• 3. ". . . in reality only 35 percent of all
  uncials survive in more than two leaves. To be
  more precise, only 59 uncials (about 22 percent)
  contain more than 30 leaves and only 44 uncials
  (about 16 percent) have more than 100 leaves. Of
  this latter group, 17 contain 100 to 199 leaves
  16 have 200 to 299 9 have 300 to 399 and only 2
  have more than 400 (Bezae 05 with 415 and
  Claromontanus 06 with 533 leaves)." Epp

115
3.2.1.5 Uncials

• 4. "Codex Sinaiticus (a) is the only uncial
  presently containing the entire NT (though
  Alexandrinus still contains portions of every NT
  book). Sinaiticus also has virtually all of the
  OT, as well as the Epistle of Barnabas and the
  Shepherd of Hermas. It dates from the 4th century
  and its large pages contain four columns each-the
  only NT ms written in this fashion.

116
3.2.1.5 Uncials

• 5. "Codex Alexandrinus (A) is of somewhat later
  date-in the 5th century-and lacks only portions
  of Matthew (up to 256), John (650-852), and 2
  Corinthians (413-126) from its NT, and it
  contains the OT, as well as 1-2 Clement. It is
  written in two columns and its text appears to
  have been copied from different exemplars, for
  its gospel text is akin to the Byzantine type,
  while the remainder of the NT has a text like
  that in Sinaiticus and Vaticanus."

117
3.2.1.5 Uncials

• 6. "Codex Vaticanus (B), 4th century, is written
  in three columns and contains all of the NT
  except an extensive portion from Heb 914 through
  Revelation it also has the OT, though it begins
  with Gen 4628 and lacks Ps 105271376.
  Vaticanus would be regarded by all as the most
  valuable uncial ms of the NT, and by many as the
  most important of all NT mss, due to the
  combination of its early date, its broad coverage
  of the NT, and the excellent quality of its text,
  which-for the overlapping portions-is strikingly
  similar to that in P75."

118
3.2.1.5 Uncials

• 7. "Codex Bezae Cantabrigiemis (D) contains, on
  Greek and Latin facing pages, the four gospels
  (in the order Matthew, John, Luke, Mark), Acts
  nearly complete, and a small portion of 3 John.
  Its date is 5th century, or possibly late 4th. It
  is written in one column, but in sense lines
  rather than in the usual fashion of simply
  filling the lines. Bezae, with many striking
  additions to the text (and some omissions), is
  the major Greek representative of the so-called
  Western type of text, which some have considered
  the earliest form of the NT text, but which
  others have viewed as a later, derivative
  development."

119
3.2.1.5 Uncials

• 8. "Codex Washingtonianus (W), also known as the
  Freer Gospels, has the four gospels virtually
  complete (though in the order of Matthew, John,
  Luke, and Mark) and dates from the early 5th
  century. Its text is of mixed character, with
  various sections of varying length representing
  rather different textual types Byzantine in
  Matthew and most of Luke Alexandrian in the rest
  of Luke and most of John and so-called Western
  in Mark 11-530, but like the text of P45 in
  531-1620. It may be best known for the material
  it inserts into the

120
3.2.1.5 Uncials

• already longer ending to Mark (169-20) that it
  shares with other witnesses it adds at 1614 a
  paragraph that includes an excuse by the
  disciples in response to the risen Christs
  chiding of them for unbelief."
• 8. See also
• Metzger, 42-61.
• Aland Aland, 103-128.

121
3.2.1.5 Minuscules

• 1. "Some 80 percent of the minuscules are solid
  representatives of the Majority text and to that
  extent at least they will contribute little to
  the establishment of the original text, for the
  Byzantine or Koine text (to use two other terms
  for the Majority text) is a text type that
  developed from the early 4th century on and
  became the well-established and official
  ecclesiastical text of the Byzantine Church."
  Epp

122
3.2.1.5 Minuscules

• 2. ". . . approximately 10 percent of them offer
  a valuable early text which can compete with even
  the best of the uncials." Aland Aland, 128
• 3. See
• Metzger, 61-66
• Aland Aland, 128-158.

123
3.2.1.5 Lectionaries

• 1. "Though the lectionary mss of the NT number
  2,200 or more, they are not often cited in the
  critical apparatus of Greek NT texts because they
  overwhelmingly preserve a Byzantine text and are
  not critical in establishing the original NT
  text. Greek lectionaries do not include the
  Apocalypse, for there were no readings from this
  book in the Church year the same applies to some
  passages of Acts and the Epistles." Epp
• 2. See Aland Aland, 163-170.

124
3.2.1.5 Patristics

• 1. "Passages of the NT quoted by writers in the
  early Church constitute an important body of data
  for textual criticism, for they provide narrowly