Funded Postdoc on Apocrypha at UOslo

Although Coptic flourished during the Roman period in Coptic monasteries and in the broader setting of the early Christian movement, the language did not function as a compositional medium until the sixth century, after which a variety of truly Coptic literature (which survives today both extant and often untranslated) appeared. Hugo Lundhaug‘s Storyworlds in Transition ERC project will engage with this extensive corpus of Coptic Apocrypha as well as earlier texts such as those from the Nag Hammadi discovery. The project is advertising a postdoctoral position with a generous stipend ($60K/year). The position would start 01 Aug 2020.

The postdoc is expected to work in close collaboration with the PI of the APOCRYPHA project to locate and systematically analyze with regard to the material features all Coptic manuscripts containing apocryphal materials, and to study from the perspective of Material Philology the production and transmission of Coptic apocrypha. Material Philology is here understood on the one hand as an approach that takes the fluidity of textual transmission in a manuscript culture fully into consideration, studying its causes, mechanisms, and effects; and on the other it entails an in-depth focus on the material artifacts constituted by the extant manuscripts.

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Erasmus, the KJV, and the Order of Matt 23.13–14

If you are dutifully reading your Robinson-Pierpont (RP) Byzantine Greek NT alongside your Nestle-Aland or THGNT (as you should be), you will notice that they diverge at Matt 23.13–14. The Byzantine text here reads

13. Οὐαὶ δέ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι, ὑποκριταί, ὅτι κατεσθίετε τὰς οἰκίας τῶν χηρῶν, καὶ προφάσει μακρὰ προσευχόμενοι· διὰ τοῦτο λήψεσθε περισσότερον κρίμα. 14. Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι, ὑποκριταί, ὅτι κλείετε τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ὑμεῖς γὰρ οὐκ εἰσέρχεσθε, οὐδὲ τοὺς εἰσερχομένους ἀφίετε εἰσελθεῖν.

13. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation. 14. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven before men. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.

Matt 23 in the 1611 KJV

The NA27 omits the first woe and numbers the second as v. 13. The KJV has both verses but inverts the order (and the versification) of the RP. (I’ll follow the RP versification rather than the KJV in the rest of this post.)

Normally, I expect the KJV to match the Byzantine textform, so what’s the deal here? It turns out the RP is indeed following the order of most manuscripts whereas the KJV is following most printed editions, editions that go back to Stephanus and before him to Erasmus. For a full list, see Abbot here). Erasmus’s first edition of 1516 has the KJV order. The Complutensian, however, has the reverse. Both orders are found in the two most important editions of Stephanus. In his beautiful 1550 edition, he has the RP order. But, in his 1551 edition, he reverses course, giving the Erasmian order and adds the versification followed by most since then.

Longform Guardian Article on the Mark Fragment Saga

This morning, the Guardian published a long story titled “A scandal in Oxford: the curious case of the stolen gospel.” Its about Dirk Obbink and the stolen Oxyrhynchus fragments. It’s quite good and worth reading in full. Here I highlight things that stood out as new or noteworthy.

Obbink has been suspended from Oxford.

Since October, he [Obbink] has been suspended from duties following the biggest scandal that has ever hit, and is ever likely to hit, the University of Oxford’s classics department.

We get some sense of how much these items might have been selling for.

The Greens, advised by Carroll, were buying biblical artefacts, such as Torahs and early papyrus manuscripts of the New Testament, at a dizzying pace: $70m was spent on 55,000 objects between 2009 and 2012, Carroll claimed later. The market in a hitherto arcane area of collecting sky-rocketed. “Fortunes were made. At least two vendors who had been making €1-2m a year were suddenly making €100-200m a year,” said one longtime collector. 

The prices of the items [on the MOTB sale contracts] were redacted, but an expert told me he thought they could have been sold for $200,000 each. 

No price is mentioned [in the Christie’s brochure for the Sappho papyrus], but a collector familiar with the field estimates a likely figure of around $800,000.

$200k seems low for a “first-century” NT fragment, but I’m hardly knowledgeable in this area. In any case, it appears that Obbink was not only making enough money to buy his “castle” in Waco, but also to upgrade his home in Oxford.

From Bedouin to Scholars: The Discovery and Preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls largely belong to the realm of scholars and researchers. However, this was not always the case. When the scrolls were discovered, they belonged to the realm of Bedouin. The Bedouin sold those first few manuscripts to merchants. Finally, some were sold to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem while others were sold to the religious leaders of St. Mark’s Monastery. In this post, I will discuss five important figures associated with the discovery and the early preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This list is quite diverse. It includes Bedouin, a merchant, a religious leader, and two scholars. Truly, many different people are due credit for the discovery and preservation of these fascinating manuscripts. For a full discussion of these figures, I recommend Weston Fields’ work Dead Sea Scrolls: A Full History. Citations to his work are found in parentheses.

 

Juma (left) and Mohammad ed-Dib (right)
Photo by John C. Trever

1) Mohammad ed-Dib, a member of the Taʿamireh Bedouin, is credited with the discovery of these manuscripts in either late 1946 or early 1947. The discovery happened when a rock was thrown to guide the Bedouin’s herds. This stray rock “coincidentally” broke something inside a nearby cave. Mohammed and another friend investigated the cave the following day and discovered the first manuscripts now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls (25). The greatest archeological find of the last century was, thus, a mere accident.

2) Kando (Khalil Eskander Shahin), a Syrian Orthodox shop owner in Bethlehem, verified shortly after this discovery that the scrolls were leather. Kando’s involvement with the Scrolls would from this point be extensive. In fact, the Bedouin would bring the manuscripts to Kando, who was their sole dealer. As the Scrolls dealer, he would sell the manuscripts to de Vaux at the École (the “French School” [see 147-154]) on behalf of the Bedouin.

3) Mar Samuel of St. Mark’s Monastery in Jerusalem purchased 1QIsaa, the Habakkuk Commentary, and the Manual of Discipline from the Bedouin on July 19, 1947 (33). He had the opportunity to buy 1QIsab, the War Scroll, the Thanksgiving Scroll, and the Genesis Apocryphon but missed the opportunity because of miscommunication (29-30). Samuel immediately believed the scrolls to be ancient, but most others were less certain (see 39 for a list of the uninterested observers).

4) Father van der Ploeg was the second person outside of the local Arab community to see the scrolls. Although van der Ploeg recognized the antiquity of the scrolls, he had little involvement in their publication (see 33-35).

5) Eleazar Sukenik was a professor of archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and specialized in Hebrew epigraphy and the archaeology of ancient synagogues (41). According to Fields, he was the first person with the skills necessary to evaluate the scrolls properly (39-40). His first acquaintance with the scrolls was at the gateway to military Zone B with a barbed wire fence between him and his friend, an antiquities dealer, Nasir Ohan. This meeting took place on November 24, 1947 (41). On November 30, 1947, Sukenik decided to buy the manuscripts presented to him (likely the War Scroll and Thanksgiving Scroll) for the Hebrew University (45). Sukenik later purchased 1QIsab, a fragment of Isaiah, and possibly some Daniel fragments on December 22, 1947 (50).

View of Qumran Cave 4 discovered by Bedouin in 1952

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is a fascinating story. The fact that they were discovered by “accident” by Bedouin only adds to the intrigue. Indeed, modern scholars owe a great deal of gratitude to past scholars; this much is certain. Gratitude, however, must also be extended to Bedouin, merchants, and shop owners.

The Greek Manuscripts of the Comma Johanneum (1 John 5:7–8)

Warning: long post because there’s a lot of detail here.

Although it is one of the easiest text-critical decisions, a lot of attention often goes to the Comma Johanneum (henceforth, CJ), the addition at 1 John 5:7–8 (addition in italics): “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (1 John 5:7-8 KJV).” A lot of people who take a textus receptus position vigorously defend the CJ because of its theological value. This was actually one of my first tastes of the implications of textual criticism—I was doing evangelism with my John MacArthur NKJV Study Bible back when I was much younger and found this amazing verse that ‘proves’ the Trinity, until my friend told me I couldn’t use it because it wasn’t original to 1 John but not to worry because there was ample proof of the Trinity elsewhere in Scripture. As it turns out, a mere appeal to 1 John 5:7–8 without also having a Trinitarian interpretation of the passage does not automatically ‘prove’ the Trinity, because Oneness Pentecostals (=a branch of Pentecostalism that denies the Trinity) who use the KJV also appeal to this passage as a proof of their anti-Trinitarian doctrine—they claim that the phrase “and these three are one” teaches their “oneness” doctrine (a great example here).

The Tyndale House Greek New Testament gives special treatment to the CJ by breaking its normal pattern of citing very few witnesses, and in the last few days, I decided to examine each of the Greek manuscripts that contain some form of the CJ to learn a bit more about each of them. The following are some of my findings. There are 10 Greek manuscripts that have the CJ, but only three of them have it in the same form as in Stephanus’ 1550 edition and Scrivener’s edition reprinted by the TBS—these three are 221marg, 2318 and 2473. All ten of these manuscripts are indexed for 1 John 5:7–8 at the INTF’s VMR, so you are free to verify them yourself. Regarding scribes and manuscript acquisition histories/provenance, I got all of that information from a combination of catalogues of manuscripts in those libraries (see the short bibliography at the end of this post) and shelfmarks/information given at the online Liste.

Before I get there, I want to mention that sometimes an eleventh Greek manuscript is cited. GA 635 is sometimes cited as having the CJ in the margin, but it does not.

GA 635 

I can’t make out all the words, but I’m seeing το πν(ευμ)α το αγιο(ν) και ο π(ατ)ηρ (και)...the rest is more difficult. αιματος? It’s probably an obvious solution, and I’m happy to update the post if someone has a better image or can make more sense of it. There are a number of notes like this in the margins of 635, and there isn’t room for the whole CJ here anyway, so I didn’t want to spend too much time on it.

The New Testament in Antiquity and Byzantium: Festschrift for Klaus Wachtel

Back in early November, Elijah noted Klaus Wachtel’s retirement from his many years of service at INTF. It seems, however, that we haven’t yet noted that Klaus was also honored with a Festschrift later that month at SBL. Congratulations, Klaus!

The New Testament in Antiquity and Byzantium: Traditional and Digital Approaches to its Texts and Editing, A Festschrift for Klaus Wachtel
Ed. by H.A.G. Houghton, David C. Parker, Holger Strutwolf

Description

Klaus Wachtel has pioneered the creation of major editions of the Greek New Testament through a blend of traditional philological approaches and innovative digital tools. In this volume, an international range of New Testament scholars and editors honour his achievements with thirty-one original studies. Many of the themes mirror Wachtel's own publications on the history of the Byzantine text, the identification of manuscript families and groups, detailed analysis of individual witnesses and the development of software and databases to support the editorial process. Other contributions draw on the production of the Editio Critica Maior, with reference to the Gospels of Mark and John, the Acts of the Apostles, the Pauline Epistles and the Apocalypse. Several chapters consider the application of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method. A wide selection of material is considered, from papyri to printed editions. The Greek text is analysed from multiple perspectives, including exegesis, grammar and orthography, alongside evidence from versions in Latin, Syriac, Coptic and Gothic. This collection provides new insights into the history of the biblical text and the creation, development, analysis and application of modern editions.

xvii, 482 pages; 12 Fig., 30 Tables

Table of Contents

Klaus Wachtel: An Appreciation
Klaus Wachtel: Bibliography

1. Michael W. Holmes, The “Western” Text of Acts: A Challenge for Historians
2. Christina M. Kreinecker, In anderen und eigenen Sprachen: wenn alle sprechen und alle verstehen. Ein textkritisch-exegetisch motivierter Blick auf Apg 2,1–13
3. Andreas Juckel, Acta 2:1–22 in der Revision des Jakob von Edessa
4. Tommy Wasserman, New Traces of an Old Text: The Corrections of Gregory-Aland 424 in Acts 1–14
5. Carla Falluomini, The Longer Ending of Mark in Gothic
6. Christian-B. Amphoux, La géographie marcienne et ses corrections ecclésiales
7. Christian Askeland, A Coptic Papyrus without John 21?
8. Annette Hüffmeier, GA 382: Byzantinisches „Allerlei“
9. J.K. Elliott, The Case of the “Rule of Three” in the Gospels
10. Hans Förster, The “Power on the Head” of a Woman. A New Appraisal of 1 Corinthians 11:10 and its Variants
11. Georg Gäbel, The Text of Hebrews in GA 1739, in Selected Other Greek Manuscripts, and in Works of Origen: Preliminary Quantitative Assessments
12. Roderic L. Mullen, Photius: A Re-evaluation of the Johannine Evidence in Light of Modern Tools
13. Marcus Sigismund, ὡς ἐν τῇ Ἀποκαλύψει λέγεται. (Vermeintliche) Apk-Zitate am Ende der byzantinischen Epoche
14. Dirk Jongkind, Manuscripts of the Greek Bible
15. Georgi Parpulov, K^r in the Gospels
16. Jan Graefe, Eine Dromone in GA 013? Gedanken zu einer Schiffszeichnung 
17. Jan Krans, The Earliest Printed Portions of the Greek New Testament
18. Martin Karrer, Von den Evangelien bis zur Apk. Die Ordnung der Schriften in der Edition des
19. Holger Strutwolf, Von den Kanones der Textkritik zu einer Theorie der Variantenentstehung im Rahmen der Kohärenzbasierten Genealogischen Methode. Einige vorläufige Überlegungen
20. Gerd Mink, Manuscripts, Texts, History, and the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM): Some Thoughts and Clarifications 
21. Gregory S. Paulson, Improving the CBGM: Recent Interactions
22. Peter J. Gurry, The Byzantine Text as the Initial Text 
23. D.C. Parker, Family 1 in the Gospel of John: Its Members, Text and the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method 
24. H.A.G. Houghton, An Initial Selection of Manuscripts for the Editio Critica Maior of the Pauline Epistles
25. Bruce Morrill and Ulrich B. Schmid, Editorial Activity and Textual Affiliation: The Case of the Corpus Paulinum 
26. Darius Müller, Die mehrheitsbildenden Gruppen der Apokalypse-Überlieferung: Textgeschichtliche und editorische Herausforderungen 
27. Marie-Luise Lakmann, Transkription und Kollation neutestamentlicher Handschriften. Analyse der Fehlermöglichkeiten und ihrer Ursachen
28. Bill Warren, A Text-Critical Approach to Punctuation in the New Testament: 1 Corinthians 14:33
29. Peter J. Williams, When Does συν- Assimilate?
30. Siegfried G. Richter und Katharina D. Schröder, Digitale Werkzeuge zur Systematisierung koptischer Handschriften
31. Wilhelm Blümer, Die Vetus Latina-Edition der Apostelgeschichte: Überlegungen zu Chronologie, Konstituierung und Disposition der „Texttypen“ 

Index

Contributors photo (courtesy of Jeff Cate)