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Epp, It'S All About Variants It's All about Variants: A Variant- Conscious Approach to New Testament Textual Criticism Eldon Jay Epp Harvard Divinity School* The goal of New Testament textual criticism would appear to be simple enough: to restore the original text written by each author of the New Testament books. Upon examination, however, the notion of simplicity vanishes immediately and each of the key terms here—"restore," "original," "text," and "author"—has its problematic aspects, but more importantly the simply stated goal itself turns out to be inadequate. Grist for the text-critical mill consists of textual readings or variants, which for the relatively small collection of writings called the New Testament are not merely in the hundreds or thousands, or even the tens of thousands, but run to perhaps a third of a million. They stem from the nearly 5,500 Greek manuscripts, some 10,000 versional manuscripts, and innumerable patristic citations of New Testament passages. Over time, variants have been valued differently by various textual critics depending largely upon their views of the goal of textual criticism. When that goal is defined as restoring the original text of the various authors, variants tend to have a binary character—they are either in or out, that is, accepted or rejected. If accepted they assume a position in the privileged critical text that often has been labeled "original," but if rejected, variants are relegated to the apparatus at the foot of the page (in much smaller type!). At the opposite end of the spectrum, when the goal of textual criticism is to explore the wealth of information about the history and thought of the early churches that is disclosed by variant readings, then all meaningful variants are held in much higher esteem. Therefore, the issue of goals is closely interrelated with the value *This article was written while the author was Visiting Professor of New Testament at HDS. HTR 10O 3 (2007) 275-308 276 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW attributed to variants, and vice versa: the perceived worth of variants also shapes the definition of text-critical goals. These are the fascinating issues to be explored here. • Variants and 'Original Text" in New Testament Textual Criticism Since the Renaissance, New Testament textual critics have assumed responsibility for providing critical editions of the New Testament writings, namely, texts with an accompanying apparatus showing the variations among the manuscripts and indicating the support for each variant. Since variants occupy central stage in this process, it is essential to understand their nature, and this requires careful definitions of the terminology employed and thoughtful delineation of related concepts. A larger issue arises when those who use the critical editions—and the textual critics themselves—ask what the resultant text represents. As noted above, the traditional answer affirms that establishing "the original text" is the goal, although frequently proffered with qualifications and at times very differently formulated. The goal of textual criticism, therefore, also requires clarification. A. Classification of Readings and Variants Ernest Cadman Colwell's seminal articles in the mid-1960s began a process of clarifying several concepts basic to the discipline of New Testament textual criticism, including grouping manuscripts, quantitative measurement of manuscript relationships, the nature of text-types, and classifying textual variants.1 All of these approaches are essential for assessing the value to be placed on the thousands of manuscripts transmitting the text from earliest times to the invention of printing and therefore each approach contributes to the methodologies utilized in constructing a critical edition. Colwell was led to investigate these matters in his role as chair of the American Executive Committee of the International Greek New Testament Project (IGNTP), beginning when he was president of the University of Chicago (1945-1951), then vice president of Emory University (1951-1957) and finally president of the School of Theology at Claremont (1957-1968), with the Project's headquarters moving with him. The IGNTP, however, did not intend to produce a critical text but only a comprehensive apparatus of variants that would facilitate the subsequent construction of a critical text. Decisions were necessary about the kinds of variants to be included in this extensive apparatus, and Colwell, with his collaborator, Ernest 1 Ernest Cadman Colwell, "Scribal Habits in Early Papyri A Study in the Corruption of the Text," in The Bible in Modern Scholarship (ed J Philip Hyatt, Nashville, Tenn Abingdon, 1965) 370-89, repr as "Method in Evaluating Scribal Habits A Study of ?p45, $p66, $p7\" in idem, Studies in Methodology in Textual Criticism of the New Testament (New Testament Tools and Studies 9, Leiden Brill, 1969) 106-24, Ernest C Colwell and Ernest W Tune, "Variant Readings Classification and Use," Journal of Biblical Literature 83 (1964) 253-61, repr as "Method in Classifying and Evaluating Variant Readings," in Colwell, Studies in Methodology, 96-105 ELDON JAY EPP 277 W. Tune, first explored the unit of variation, termed by them a "variation-unit,"2 which is a segment of text containing "at least two variant forms" consisting of "elements of expression in the Greek text which regularly exist together,"3 each supported by at least two Greek manuscripts. The segment of text, in other words, consists of a normal and proper grammatical combination, although always seeking the shortest segment that can accommodate all the variants at that point. The extent of the variation-unit depends, therefore, on the nature of the variation in the individual manuscripts in each instance; for example, the variation unit may contain a noun, or an article and a noun, or an article, a noun, and a verb, etc., or may involve more complex constructions. Clarity in grasping the character of the variation is always the objective, so that the reader can assess the support among the array of witnesses. Colwell and Tune then classified variants as either "insignificant" or "significant." Nonsense readings, dislocated readings (clear, demonstrable scribal errors), and singular readings (found in only one Greek manuscript) were labeled "insignificant" and were to be excluded from the critical apparatus, for they do not aid "in establishing group relationships of manuscripts."4 Singular readings, however, were considered valuable for assessing the characteristics of the scribe or scribes of an individual manuscript—studies pursued for $p45, $p66, and $p75 by Colwell himself,5 and by others since then.6 Significant variants, on the other hand, were "meaningful" readings, those that can be construed grammatically and not only make sense, but usually offer an altered or alternative picture. Naturally, agreement to various aspects of these proposals was not universal, and subsequently the New Testament Textual Criticism Seminar of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) dedicated an annual session7 to definitions of pivotal 2 See Colwell and Tune, "Variant Readings," 254 = Colwell, Studies in Methodology, 97 3 Colwell and Tune, "Variant Readings," 254-56, quotations from 254 and 255, respectively = Colwell, Studies in Methodology, 97-100, quotations from 97 and 99, respectively For subsequent refinements in defining "variation unit", see note 7, below 4 Colwell and Tune, "Variant Readings," 260 = Colwell, Studies in Methodology, 104 Grouping manuscripts is essential in managing data from the enormous number of New Testament manuscripts, especially those of later date On variant classification, see "Variant Readings," 257-61 = Colwell, Studies in Methodology, 100-5 5 Colwell, "Scribal Habits in Early Papyri," 370-89 = Colwell, Studies in Methodology, 106-24 6 Notably James R Royse, "Scribal Habits in the Transmission of New Testament Texts," in The Critical Study of Sacred Texts (ed Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, Berkeley Religious Studies Series 2, Berkeley, Calif Graduate Theological Union, 1979) 139-61, idem, "Scribal Tendencies in the Transmission of the Text of the New Testament," in The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research Essays on the Status Quaestionis (ed Bart D Ehrman and Michael W Holmes, Studies and Documents 46, Grand Rapids, Mich Eerdmans, 1995) 239-52, idem, Scribal Habits in Early New Testament Papyri (NTTSD 1, Leiden Brill, 2007) 7 At the 1974 Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in Washington, D C The two papers published were by Gordon D Fee, "On the Types, Classification, and Presentation of Textual Variation," in Studies in the Theory and Method of New Testament Textual Criticism (ed Eldon Jay 278 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW terms employed in the discipline, basically reexamining what is meant by a textual "reading" and by a textual "variant." As it turned out, the task was no simple matter, for amon g the questions were the following: Whe n i s a reading a variant? What are the limits of a "variation unit"? Are orthographic changes, especially in proper nouns, significant o r insignificant? D o singular readings (i n Greek manuscripts) remain singula r whe n the same variant appears i n a version? This last question has particular relevance, for example, in identifying constituents of the fragmented D-text (or "Western" text) of Acts, where Codex Bezae (its best but certainly not a perfect representative) has numerous "singular" readings that find support in Old Latin, Old Syriac, or Coptic witnesses. For instance, Coptic G67 supports Codex Bezae i n several "singular " readings. 8 Shoul d these still b e calle d "singular"? I think not. Variants cam e t o th e forefron t als o wit h th e renewed interes t i n so-calle d theologically motivated variants in the New Testament textual tradition, requiring fresh approache s i n distinguishin g betwee n "intentional " and "unintentional " alterations to the text. These categories overlap with "significant" and "insignificant" variants, for, whil e intentiona l changes are inevitably significan t o r meaningful , some unintentiona l variants, suc h a s th e ofte n unconsciou s harmonizations to parallel texts or conformity to Septuagintal or liturgical forms , are also readings that make sense.
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