The New Edition of Acts – Listing the Differences between ECM and NA28

At this year’s British New Testament Conference, the Acts group organises a panel discussion on the new Acts volumes in the Editio Critica Maior series (ECM). I thought I share some of my boring preparation so that others need not go through the same tedium (warning, nearly 1,500 words; mainly lists).

1. Differences

At first sight it ought not to be difficult to list the differences between the Editio Critica Maior of Acts and NA28, right? In fact, it is not a straightforward exercise. NA28 presents readings in square brackets, so what is the status of text presented there? And ECM has split text lines, in which two or three options are given, without clear preference for any of the splits; are these equal to the use of brackets? Still, when presenting a split guidance, ECM rejects any other variants not given in the splitted options, so something of a choice has been made, and therefore a split guidance is not identical to a ‘lacuna’. Things get even more complicated if we have a bracketed text in NA28 and ECM presents the two possibilities as a split guideline. Are NA28 and ECM equivalent in such cases or not? And what if ECM presents one of the options of NA28 as suggested by the brackets, but adds another not covered by NA28 (as actually happens)?

The best way of coping with all these complications is simply leave them as they are, without tying ourselves into knots trying to enforce the blanket category of differences. What we do below is present a layered approach, and leave it to you to accept what constitutes a difference, and what doesn’t.

2. ‘Pure’ changes

The first list constitutes the changes where the ECM has a different text from an unbracketed NA28. I count 34 of these, and these are all part of the table found on ECM I,34-35*. These break down into the following categories.

		Articles
		NA28		ECM
2:20b		-		τήν
14:10		-		τῇ
15:17		-		ὁ
15:37		τόν1		-
		Prepositions
		NA28		ECM
2:5		εἰς		ἐν
9:21		εἰς		ἐν
15:4		ἀπό		ὐπό
		Particles and Conjunctions
1:15		ὡσεί		ὡς
2:20a		-		ἥ
16:11		δέ		οὖν
20:6		ὅπου		οὗ
23:5		ὅτι		-
		Pronouns
1:26		αὐτοῖς		αὐτῶν
9:8		οὐδέν		οὐδένα
19:14		τινος		τινες
10:9[1]		ἐκείνων		αὐτῶν
		Nouns
1:10		ἐσθήσεσιν λευκαῖς		ἐσθήτι λευκῃ
18:7[2]		Τιτίου		Τίτου
25:18		πονηρῶν		πονηράν
20:21		-		Χριστόν
		Verbs
5:26		ἦγεν		ἤγαγεν
5:33		ἐβούλοντο		ἐβουλεύοντο
7:7		δουλεύσουσιν		δουλεύσωσιν
8:31		ὁδηγήσει		ὁδηγήση
13:11b		ἔπεσεν		ἐπέπεσεν
16:17		κατακολουθοῦσα		κατακολουθήσασα
20:5		προελθόντες		προσελθόντες
23:10		γινομένης		γενομένης
28:5		ἀποτινάξας		ἀποτιναξάμενος
		Word Order
16:28	μεγάλῃ φωνῇ		φωνῇ μεγάλῇ
23:1		ὁ Παῦλος τῷ συνεδρίῳ		τῷ συνεδρίῳ ὁ Παῦλος
27:8		πόλις ἧν		ἧν πόλις
		‘Complex’
2:3		καὶ ἐκάθισεν		ἐκάθισέν τε
16:13		ἐνομιζομεν προσευχήν		ἐνομιζετο προσευχή

In addition, there is a change where there is a bracket in NA28, but where the change in ECM is bigger than the constraints of the original brackets.

16:12

πρώτη[ς] μερίδος τῆς

πρώτη τῆς μερίδος

In 16:12 ECM has abandoned the conjecture of NA28 and moved to a reading better supported in the Greek tradition (note that ECM forgot the final τῆς of NA28 in its table). Compare the similar case of 17.3 below in the table where ECM has a split guidance at a place where NA28 has a bracketed text

Also, I have split up the variant unit of 16:28, which is in the Textual Changes table in ECM given as

16:28

μεγάλῃ φωνῇ [ὁ]

φωνῇ μεγάλῇ ὁ

Two things are going on. First the word order difference, and secondly the bracketed article before the name ‘Paul’. The change from a bracketed to unbracketed article appears further below.

Thus in this section we have 35 differences.

3. Bracketed Readings in NA28

NA28 has by my count 78 bracketed readings, though 16:12 is already dealt with above. There are four ways in which the ECM relates to these readings: 1) ECM equals NA28 but without the brackets, 2) ECM has the text of NA28 but omits the text in brackets,  3) ECM has a text different from the bracketed text of NA28 without a split guidance; 4) ECM has a split guidance that – at least in part – overlaps with the bracketed reading of NA28. I take it that each of these four categories constitutes a change from NA28 to ECM, since the ECM does not know the category of brackets.

3.1 ECM has the bracketed text of NA28

There are 36 cases where ECM presents the bracketed text of NA28 but now without any indication of indecisiveness. Again I have attempted to make the list less boring by grouping the variants into categories.

	NA28 – ECM without [ ]
	Articles
2.34	[ὁ] κύριος
4.4a	[ὁ] ἀριθμὸς
7.13	[τοῦ] Ἰωσήφ
9.22	[τοὺς] Ἰουδαίους
11.13	[τὸν] ἄγγελον
16.9	[τῆς] νυκτὸς
16.28	[ὁ] Παῦλος
16.29	[τῷ] Σιλᾷ
17.22	[ὁ] Παῦλος
	Articles (II)
11.23	[τὴν] τοῦ θεοῦ
19.8	[τὰ] περὶ
23.30	[τὰ] πρὸς
26.4a	[τὴν] ἐκ
	Prepositions
1.8	[ἐν] πάσῃ
7.3	[ἐκ] τῆς  (2)
	Prefixed Prepositions
1.11	[ἐμ]βλέποντες
3.25	[ἐν]ευλογηθήσονται
13.14	[εἰσ]ελθόντες
	Particles and Conjunctions
12.21	[καὶ]
13.31	[νῦν]
16.1	[καὶ]
19.40	[οὐ]
	Pronouns
4.30	[σου]
7.25	[αὐτοῦ]
7.43	[ὑμῶν]
10.36	[ὃν]
12.17	[αὐτοῖς]
16.36	[τούτους]
23.6	[ἐγὼ]

25.17	[αὐτῶν]
26.26	[τι] τούτων
26.31	[τι] πράσσει
	Nouns
18.26	[τοῦ θεοῦ]
27.41	[τῶν κυμάτων]
	Verbs
2.38	[φησίν,]
15.24	[ἐξελθόντες]

3.2 ECM leaves out the bracketed text of NA28

The second way in which ECM is different to NA28 is when it omits the bracketed text. This happens in the following 16 places.

	NA28	ECM
	Articles
9.12b	[τὰς] χεῖρας	Omit
12.11	[ὁ] κύριος	Omit
15.41	[τὴν] Κιλικίαν	Omit
16.27	[τὴν] μάχαιραν	Omit
	Articles (II)
5.31	[τοῦ] δοῦναι	Omit
	Prepositions
7.22	[ἐν] πασῇ	Omit
10.40	[ἐν] τῇ τριτῇ	Omit
14.3	[ἐπὶ] (2)	Omit
	Particles and Conjunctions
2.33	[καὶ]	Omit
19.15	[μὲν]	Omit
	Pronouns
13.33	[αὐτῶν]	Omit
27.23	[ἐγώ]	Omit
	Nouns (Noun phrases)
3.13(bis)	[ὁ θεὸς] Ἰσαὰκ καὶ  [ὁ θεὸς] Ἰακώβ	Omit
9.12a	[ἐν ὁράματι]	Omit
	Verbs
11.22	[διελθεῖν]	Omit

 3.3 ECM has a different text from the bracketed NA28

	NA28	ECM
4.4b	[ὡς]	ὡσει
23.23	[τινὰς] δύο	δύο τινὰς

At 4.4b the apparatus of NA28 is slightly ambiguous, as it is not perfectly clear whether the omission is preferred as the main alternative or the reading ὡσει. Looking at the evidence I think the omission is seen as the alternative.
The same is true for 23.23, where the brackets might indicate either the alternative word order or the omission.

3.4 ECM has a split guidance where NA28 has brackets

The fourth categoryBrackets and the split guidance are not identical categories of uncertainty. Whereas brackets still represent a choice on behalf of the editors, a split guidance presents full alternatives. Below is the list of these 23 ‘changes’

	NA28	ECM ♦
3.6	[ἔγειρε καὶ]	♦ ἔγειρε καὶ ♦ -
4.28	[σου]	♦ σου ♦ -
5.28	[οὐ]	♦ οὐ ♦ -
6.13	[τούτου]	♦ τούτου ♦
7.10	[ἐφ᾿]	♦ ἐφ᾿ ♦ -
7.18	[ἐπ᾿ Αἴγυπτον]	♦ ἐπ᾿ Αἴγυπτον ♦ -
7.19	[ἡμῶν]	♦ ἡμῶν ♦ -
7.35	[καὶ]	♦ καὶ ♦ -
8.5	[τὴν] πόλιν	♦ τὴν πόλιν ♦ πόλιν
8.33	[αὐτοῦ]	♦ αὐτοῦ ♦ -
9.37	ἔθηκαν [αὐτὴν]	♦ ἔθηκαν αὐτὴν ♦ αὐτὴν ἔθηκαν Two-way split between NA28-text and 3rd alternative
10.19	[αὐτῷ] τὸ πνεῦμα	♦ αὐτῷ τὸ πνεῦμα ♦ τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτῷ Two-way split between NA28-text and 3rd alternative. 3rd alternative not even mentioned in NA28.
10.39	[ἐν]	♦ ἐν ♦ -
12.3	[αἱ] ἡμέραι	♦ αἱ ἡμέραι ♦ ἡμέραι
13.10	[τοῦ] κυρίου	♦ τοῦ κυρίου ♦ κυρίου
13.20	[τοῦ] προφήτου	♦ τοῦ προφήτου ♦ προφήτου
13.38	[καὶ]	♦ καὶ ♦ -
17.3	ὁ χριστὸς [ὁ] Ἰησοῦς	♦ ὁ χριστὸς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ♦ ὁ χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς ♦ χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς
19.1	[κατ]ελθεῖν	♦ κατελθεῖν ♦ ἐλθεῖν
19.6	[τὰς] χεῖρας	♦ τὰς χεῖρας ♦ χεῖρας
26.4b	[οἱ] Ἰουδαῖοι	♦ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ♦ Ἰουδαῖοι
26.16	εἶδές [με]	♦ εἶδές με ♦ εἶδες
26.21	[ὄντα]	♦ ὄντα ♦ -

10.39 is not mentioned in the list in ECM I.35*-37* but is found in the print edition. In the online edition (accessed at time of writing) there is no split (no longer?). It is a bit puzzling that some information found in the print edition is missing in the online version. If we assume that the online version is the most up-to-date, the printed list of split readings is based on a later version of the printed text.

In all but three cases the split guidance of ECM reflects the two options suggested by the use of brackets in NA28, the bracketed text is present or absent.

However, in 9.37 and 10.19 ECM has opted for an alternative that is not indicated by the brackets in NA28. In both these cases the question of presence / absence that was posed by NA28 has become a choice between two word orders in ECM. In 10.19, NA28 does not even mention the second word order alternative of ECM (which shows the limitations of a pocket edition).

4. Split Readings in ECM without Corresponding Brackets in NA28

ECM gives a list of 155 split readings in ECM I.35*-37* (or should it be 156 if we include 10.39?). If we subtract the 23 passages dealt with in the previous section it follows that ECM has at 132 places a split guidance where NA28 presented an unbracketed text. The split readings are normally two-way splits, but there are a number of three-ways (in addition to 17.3 listed above under 3.4).

5. Summary

All this leads to the following numbers, taking the maximalist approach:

‘Pure’ differences	35
NA28 brackets; normal text in ECM	36
NA28 brackets; omitted in ECM	16
NA28 brackets; different, normal text in ECM	2
NA28 brackets; split guidance in ECM	23
NA28 normal text; split guidance in ECM	132
Total number of ‘differences’	244

[edited 19.vii.2018 to move 23.23 from section 3.1 to 3.3, HT Tony Pope]