THE ALTERATION OF LUKE'S TRADITION BY THE TEXTUAL VARIANTS IN CODEX BEZAE by GEORGE EDWARD RICE Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Thesis Advisor: Eldon Jay Epp Department of Religion CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY June 1974 COPYRIGHT BY GEORGE EDWARD RICE 1974 THE ALTERATION OF LUKE'S TRADITION BY THE TEXTUAL VARIANTS IN CODEX BEZAE Abstract by GEORGE EDWARD RICE The uniqueness of the Greek text of Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis (D) has been widely acknowledged by New Testament scholars, for no other New Testament manuscript has so many and such remarkable variant readings. In the past, some of the more noticeable variations in D have been examined in detail; however, such investigations have been confined largely to the immediate context of the individual variants. Eldon Jay Epp, in his work on The Theological Ten- dency of Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis in Acts (Cambridge: University Press, 1966), broke with the traditional ap- proach to the study of D's text and discovered that by examining the whole text of Acts as a unit definite theol- ogical biases could be seen running throughout the variant readings. This approach helps to avoid erroneous conclusions concerning D's alterations by: (1) examining variations in the light of the entire scheme of alterations within a given book, as well as in the light of the im- mediate context of each variant, and (2) thus allowing conclusions to be drawn which are consistent with the entire scheme of alterations and, therefore, avoiding the temptation to ignore an isolated variant because no im- mediate rationale presents itself to explain its presence. The close affinity of the books of Luke and Acts, as evidenced by these books' own introductions, opens the possibility that similar biases may be found running through the variant readings in D's text of Luke. It is the purpose of this study: (1) to examine the complete text of Luke in D, (2) to isolate its variant readings by comparing D's text against the text of Codex Vaticanus (B) in Luke, (3) to determine whether D's variants alter the accepted textual tradition of Luke by manifesting certain biases, and (4) to ascertain whether these biases appear consistently in the variant readings of D. The following theological biases would appear to emerge from the D-variants in Luke: 1. Jesus is exalted beyond his portrayal in the normal text of Luke as the Messianic son of David, as the compassionate healer, as one equal with the Father, and as the present Son of Man. iii 2. An anti-Judaic bias is present. This can be seen in the attempt to set aside Jewish institutions, by advancing in time priestly plottings of Jesus' death, and by portraying the people of Jerusalem as unresponsive to Jesus' ministry and as more hostile to Jesus during the passion. 3. Dominant characters, e.g. Jesus' mother, John the Baptist, and Peter, are elevated beyond their signifi- cance in the normal text. 4. The disciples in general are protected from behavior recorded by Luke that is not compatible with their position. 5. Gentiles are more favorably treated than in the normal text. This examination of D's text in Luke leads to the further conclusion that the copyist functioned as an editor. A remaining question is the extent of D's editorial activity in the other gospels, but this is beyond the scope of the present investigation. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For the inspiration, guidance, and encouragement that is necessary to complete an undertaking such as this, an expression of gratitude is due to a number of in- dividuals. To Dr. Eldon Jay Epp, Harkness Professor of Biblical Literature, I owe a debt of gratitude for the inspiration to pursue the fascinating subject of textual criticism and for his guidance through the experience of producing this dissertation. A word of appreciation is due to John Wood, a colleague at Atlantic Union College and personal friend, who read the manuscript of this work and made helpful suggestions before it was typed in final form. A word of appreciation is due to Mrs. Anita Jacobs for her patience in typing the final draft, and especially for her effort to learn the Greek keyboard. For the encouragement and financial help that en- abled both my wife and myself to pursue our respective educational interests simultaneously, an eternal debt of gratitude is owed to my parents, Mr. and Mrs. George H. Rice and to my father and mother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Glenn E. Bowen. Words are not sufficient to express my gratitude to my wife and daughter for their patience, understanding, and willingness to endure the many inconveniences that the pursual of my education has caused them. Especially am I grateful to my wife for her willingness to provide for the family when her education was completed and my time was completely occupied by class work. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE TEXT OF CODEX BEZAE IN ST. LUKE 1 The Problem 1 The Purpose 5 A Brief Description and History of D . ▪ 6 A Summary of Luke's Textual Tradition . ▪ 8 Methodology 11 II. PROMINENT CHARACTERS AND THEIR ROLE IN D . 14 Mary, The Mother of Jesus 14 John the Baptist 32 Peter and the Close Followers of Jesus . ▪ 54 Conclusion 84 III. THE GLORIFIED JESUS 88 The Child Jesus 88 The Messianic King 95 Jesus' Relation to the Father 105 The Miracles of Jesus 109 Conclusion 121 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE SON OF MAN 123 The Kingdom of God 123 The Son of Man 154 Conclusion 156 V. IN DEFENSE OF THE GENTILES 159 VI. ANTI-JUDAIC SENTIMENTS OF D 174 The Role of Jerusalem 175 D's Use of novnpOs ("Evil") 180 Other Anti-Judaic Statements 184 vii The Sabbath Controversies 193 Conclusion 220 VII. THE PASSION, RESURRECTION, AND ASCENSION IN D 223 The Lord's Supper 223 Trial and Crucifixion 230 The Empty Tomb 238 Post Resurrection Appearances 246 Ascension 253 Conclusion 258 VIII. CONCLUSION 260 BIBLIOGRAPHY 264 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS I. TEXTUAL WITNESSES Greek Codices Century or Date Papyri 45 P Chester Beatty III P75 P. Bodmer XIV, XV Early III Uncials X Sinaiticus IV A Alexandrinus V B Vaticanus IV C Ephraemi Rescriptus V D Bezae Cantabrigiensis V/VI L Regius VIII N Purpureus Petropolitanus VI W Freer Gospels V O Koridethi IX 0124 VI Minuscles 1 XII 4 XIII 13 XIII 28 XI 69 XV 131 XIV 157 XII 273 XIII 565 IX 1424 IX/X 1675 XIV Latin Codices a Vercellensis V b Veronensis V C Colbertinus XII/XIII e Palatinus V f VI 1 Bixianus ff Corbeiensis I X ix ff2 Corbeiensis II V i Vindobonensis V 1 Rehdigeranus VII/VIII q Monacensis VII r1 Usserianus VII Versions Coptic copbo Bohairic III/IV copsa Sahidic Latin vg Vulgate A.D. 384 Syriac c Curetonian V sYs Harclean A.D. 616 4h1D Peshitta V s pal Palestinian VI syY ph Philoxenian V/VI sys Sinaitic IV/V II. MISCELLANEOUS Byzantine manuscripts al A greater number of manuscripts, also out of other groups it A greater number of Old Latin manuscripts lat Vulgate and some Old Latin manuscripts latt Complete Latin tradition pc A few other manuscripts pl Most witnesses Pm Majority of remaining witnesses rell All witnesses except those enumerated TR Textus Receptus CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE TEXT OF CODEX BEZAE IN ST. LUKE The Problem In pursuit of its ultimate goal of establishing the original text of the New Testament, the work of textual criticism has centered mainly on the task of identifying the place of individual witnesses within families, tribes, sub-text-types and text-types. By collating the variant readings and computing the results, a given manuscript can be identified as being, for example, Alexandrian, Caesarean, Western, or Byzantine in character.1 As important as this work is for purposes of building a critical text, counting variants does not aid in understanding the degree of differ- ence in meaning between a variant reading and the accepted norm. K. W. Clark says: Counting words is a meaningless measure of textual vari- ation, and all such estimates fail to convey the 1The science of manuscript identification has been refined and perfected by such scholars as Ernest C. Colwell. The results of 30 years of labor in perfecting methods of working with manuscripts can be found in a compilation of essays produced for professional publications by Colwell, Studies in Methodology in Textual Criticism of the New Test- ament, Vol. IX of New Testament Tools and Studies, ed. by Bruce M. Metzger (9 vols.; Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1969). 1 2 theological significance of variable readings. Rather it is required to evaluate the thought rather than to compute the verbiage. How shall we measure the theol- ogical clarification derived from textual emendation where a single word altered affects the major concept in a passage? . By calculating words it is impos- sible to apprecate the spiritual insights that depend upon the words.4 Although Westcott and Hort championed the belief that alter- ations of the text did not result from motives to deliber- ately create changes,3 the fallacy of this position is now generally accepted.4 For example, after comparing various passages from the Alexandrian and Western texts, Frederic Kenyon makes the following observation: Anyone who examines the samples given above, which in- clude the more important and characteristic variations between the D and 8 texts, will see that no theory of accidental omissions will account for them.