Do Byzantine MSS Have Less Disagreements? (Part 2)

            Today we continue to look into a question about the rates of disagreements in the two main Alexandrian manuscripts (Vaticanus and Sinaiticus), asking if their rate or disagreement is uniquely high compared to other pairs of manuscripts, particularly manuscripts which attest to the Byzantine Text.  Our sample manuscript-pair to contrast with B and À are Codex Alexandrinus (A) and minuscule 2474 (the Elfleda Bond Goodspeed Gospels). 

            In Part 1, we saw that in Luke 19:1-27, while B and À disagree 20 times (including three transpositions), A and 2474 disagree 14 times.  We also saw that the disagreements in B and À in those verses involve 49 letters’ worth of disagreement – but in A and 2474, the disagreements involve 69 letters’ worth of disagreement. 

            Now let’s see how each pair of manuscripts disagrees in Luke 19:28-48, using the same ground-rules as before.

Luke 19:28-48:  Comparison of Codex A and 2474

28 – no differences

29 – no differences

30 – 2474 reads ω instead of ον before ουδεις (+1, -2)

30 – (2474 transposes so as to read αυτον αγάγετε)

30 – 2474 reads μοι at the end of the verse (+3) [Agreeing with G and N.] 

31 – no differences

32 – no differences

33 – no differences

34 – no differences

35 – (2474 transposes so as to read εαυτων τα)

36 – 2474 reads αυτων instead of εαυτων (-1)

37 – no differences

38 – 2474 does not have βασιλευς (-8)

38 – 2474 transposes so as to read ειρήνη εν ουνω

39 – no differences

40 – (several itacisms here, but no significant variants)

41 – 2474 reads αυτη instead of αυτην (-1)

42 – 2474 reads σου after ημερα (+3)

42 – Codex A does not have νυν δε εκρύβη απο οφθαλμων σου (-25) [h.t. error]

43 – no differences

44 – 2474 reads λιθων instead of λιθον (+1, -1)

45 – no differences

46 – Codex A reads οτι after γεγραπται (+3)

46 – 2474 reads κληθήσεται instead of εστιν (+10, -5)

46 – 2474 transposes so as to read εποιήσατε αυτον

47 – Codex A does not have οι after αρχιερεις και (-2)

48 – no differences

Luke 19:28-48:  Comparison of À and B

28 – no differences

29 – B reads εγετο instεad of εγενετο (-2)

29 – B does not have Ελεων (-5)

30 – À does not have και after εκαθισεν (-3)

31 – no differences

32 – no differences

33 – no differences

34 – no differences

35 – À reads επεβίβασαν instead of επεβίσαν (+2)

36 – À reads αυτων instead of εαυτων (-1)

37 – À reads πασων instead of παντων (+3, -4)

38 – À does not read ὁ ερχόμενος (-10)

38 – À reads εν before ειρήνη (+2)

39 – no differences

40 – B does not read οτι before εαν (-3)

41 – no differences

42 – no differences

43 – À reads περεμβαλουσιν instead of περιβαλουσιν (+2, -1)

43 – À does not read σε before και συνέξουσιν (-2)

43 – À does not read σε before πάντοθεν (-2)

44 – no differences

45 – no differences

46 – À does not read και εσται before ο οικος (-8)

47 – À does not read ιερω.  Οι δε (-8)

48 – no differences

            And now for the totals:  A and 2474 disagree 14 times in Luke 19:28-48, and these differences involve 58 letters’ worth of difference. Meanwhile, B and À disagree 15 times in Luke 18:28-49, and these differences involve 66 letters’ worth of difference. 

            In Luke 19 (combining the results in Parts 1 and 2), A and 2474 disagree 28 times, and their disagreements involve 127 letters’ worth of difference.  B and À disagree 35 times, and their disagreements involve 115 letters’ worth of difference.  All in all, this comparison indicates that the texts of Byzantine manuscripts are capable of as much intramural competition, so to speak, as the texts of Alexandrian manuscripts.

           But the possibility exists that we are looking non-typical samples.  Let’s dig a little further in Part 3 by exploring one of the sub-groups of the Byzantine Text:  manuscripts from family 35, which has a reputation for uniformity.