ACTS 12:1 After evkklhsi,aj the Western text adds the information that it was the church in Judea which Herod was persecuting (evn th|/ VIoudai,a|, D 614 itp syrh with * copG67). In this way the following account is brought into closer connection with the preceding resolve to send relief from Anti... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:2 The proposal of Eisler 226 and others to emend the text of this verse by inserting the words VIwa,nnhn kai, after avnei/len has been made in the interest of bolstering the exceedingly weak evidence for the early death of the apostle John. Still less defensible is the view of Pallis 227 t... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:3 In order to define more specifically what it was that Herod did that pleased the Jews, the Western text adds after toi/j VIoudai,oij the words h` evpicei,rhsij auvtou/ evpi. tou.j (+ a`gi,ouj kai, itp) pistou,j (D (itp) syrhmg), which, in the context, may be rendered, “and when he saw tha... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:5 Several Western witnesses (but not codex Bezae) expand the statement, “So Peter was kept in prison,” by adding the words “by a cohort of the king” (_a cohorte regis,_ itp1 vgms syrh with * copG67). What relation this cohort had to the sixteen soldiers of ver. Acts 12:4 is not clear.... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:6 proagagei/n There are four variant readings: proagagei/n (î74 A 8 36a 51 81 307 337 460 467 915 1874 _al_), prosagagei/n (B 33 254), prosa,gein (a Y 5 323 436 440 450 2180), and proa,gein (D E H L P most minuscules). In each pair of variant readings, the aorist tense is to be preferred t... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:7 The Western text differs in several respects from the generally received text: an angel of the Lord appeared “to Peter” (evpe,sth [lit. “stood by”] + tw|/ Pe,trw|, D itp syrh with * copsa); light “shone _forth from him_ [the angel]” (evpe,lamyen, D, + avpV auvtou/, itgig, p syrhmg); inste... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:8-9 Between verses Acts 12:8 and Acts 12:9 copG67 adds the sentence, “But he [the angel] seized him [Peter] and drew him along and took him out, and Peter followed.”... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:10 evxelqo,ntej {A} The circumstantial detail in codex Bezae, namely that Peter and the angel when coming out of prison “walked down the seven steps” (kate,bhsan tou.j z baqmou.j kai,), has seemed to many scholars to possess a verisimilitude that reflects local knowledge of Jerusalem. It s... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:12 sunidw,n Dissatisfied with sunidw,n Hammond 232 conjectured that the text originally read speu,dwn (“making haste”), and Pallis 233 emended it to read suntei,nwn (“hurrying”). ------------------------- 232 Because of its quaint diffidence Hammond’s comment may be quoted in its entiret... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:13 prosh/lqen Instead of prosh/lqen a few witnesses (a B2 3 itp vg) read proh/lqen, “she came forward” (i.e. from the house itself, to answer the knock at the gate).... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:15 o` a;ggeloj By prefixing tuco,n (“_Perhaps_ it is his angel”) the Western text (D syrp) enhances the naïveté of the account, softening the definiteness of the explanation offered to solve the enigma. Except as a Bezan variant reading in Luke 20:13, tuco,n occurs elsewhere in the New Tes... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:17 siga/n In order to prevent the reader of the generally received text from supposing that Peter made his explanation while still standing at the door of the gateway, the Western text adds the graphic touch that, “having motioned to them with his hand that they should be silent, he _came... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:20-22 The account in the Western text of the last days and death of Herod Agrippa I differs in several respects from that in the commonly received text. By using ga,r instead of de, (ver. Acts 12:20) the scribe of D indicates more clearly the reason why it was that, according to ver. Acts... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:23 geno,menoj skwlhko,brwtoj {A} After tw|/ qew|/ codex Bezae, supported in part by copG67 and by Ephraem, 234 continues kai. kataba.j avpo. tou/ bh,matoj( geno,menoj skwlhko,brwtoj e;ti zw/n kai. ou[twj evxe,yuxen (“and _he came down from the platform,_ [and] _while he was still living_ he... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:24 qeou/ Instead of qeou/ codex Vaticanus and the Latin Vulgate unite to read kuri,ou, having been influenced by the expression a;ggeloj kuri,ou of ver. Acts 12:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
ACTS 12:25 Sau/loj After Sau/loj several Western witnesses (614 itp syrh with * copG67) add o]j evpeklh,qh Pau/loj (“who was called Paul”). This appears to be a scribal anticipation of Acts 13:9 (Sau/loj o` kai. Pau/loj), introduced here because of the presence later in the verse of a similar iden... [ Continue Reading ]