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.
