Caesarean text-type

In textual criticism of the New Testament, Caesarean text-type is the term proposed by certain scholars to denote a consistent pattern of variant readings that is claimed to be apparent in certain Koine Greek manuscripts of the four Gospels, but which is not found in any of the other commonly recognized New Testament text-types (Byzantine, Western and Alexandrian). In particular a common text-type has been proposed to be found: in the ninth/tenth century Codex Koridethi; in Codex Basilensis A. N. IV. 2 (a Greek manuscript of the Gospels used, sparingly, by Erasmus in his 1516 printed Koine New Testament); and in those Gospel quotations found in the third century works of Origen, which were written after he had settled in Caesarea.^[1]^[2] The early translations of the Gospels in Armenian and Georgian also appear to witness to many of the proposed characteristic Caesarean readings, as do the small group of minuscule manuscripts classed as Family 1 and Family 13. However, some text-critics, such as Kurt and Barbara Aland have disputed the existence of a Caesarean text-type.^[3]

Description

A particularly distinctive common reading of the proposed text-type is in Matthew 27:16-17, where the bandit released by Pontius Pilate instead of Jesus is named as "Jesus Barabbas" rather than — with all other surviving witnesses — just "Barabbas". Origen notes particularly that the form "Jesus Barabbas" was common in manuscripts in Caesarea, whereas he had not found this reading in his previous residence in Alexandria. Otherwise the Caesarean readings have a mildly paraphrastic tendency that seems to place them between the more concise Alexandrian, and the more expansive Western text-types. None of the surviving Caesarean manuscripts is claimed to witness a pure type of text, as all appear to have been to some degree assimilated with readings from the Byzantine text-type.

Some writers have questioned the validity of this grouping, claiming that the classification is the result of poor research. Insofar as the Caesarean text-type does exist (in Matt, Luke and John is not well defined), then it does so only in the Gospels. The proposed Caesarean witnesses do not appear to have any common distinctive readings in the rest of the New Testament. Some of the Caesarean manuscripts have the so-called Jerusalem Colophon.

The Caesarean text-type was discovered and named by Burnett Hillman Streeter in 1924.^[2] According to some scholars such as Kurt and Barbara Aland, it is only a hypothetical text-type.^[3]

There are no pure Caesarean manuscripts. In many cases, it is difficult to decide the original reading of the group, for instance in Mark 1:16:^[1]^: LIII

αμφιβαλλοντας τα δικτυα — ƒ¹³ 565.

αμφιβληστρα βαλλοντας — ƒ¹

αμφιβληστρον βαλλοντας — 700.

βαλλοντας αμφιβληστρον — 28.

Classification

H. von Soden — Iota (Jerusalem) (I), in part (most strong "Caesarean" witnesses are found in Soden's I^α group, with family 1 being his I^η and family 13 being I^ι).

Kirsopp Lake, an outstanding British textual critic, developed the hypothesis of the relationship between ƒ¹, ƒ¹³, Θ, 565, 700, and 28.^[4] Streeter carried Lake's work another step forward by pointing to Caesarea as the original location of the family.^[5]

F. G. Kenyon — Gamma (γ)^[6]

M. J. Lagrange — C

Supposed witnesses

The earliest potential witnesses to something alike the Caesarean manuscripts are 𝔓⁴⁵ and some of the (now non-existent) manuscripts used by Origen (185 – c. 253). According to biblical scholar Teofilio Ayuso, Papyrus 45 and the quotations of Origen count as "proto-Caesarean", however the full Caesarean text only appears later in manuscripts such as Koridethi (Θ) and the early Armenian and Georgian manuscripts.^[7] Notwithstanding this association of 𝔓⁴⁵ and a "proto" or "pre-Caesarean" text-type, biblical scholar Larry Hurtado quashed any sort of affiliation between 𝔓⁴⁵ and the Caesarean text-type. He argued only that 𝔓⁴⁵ and Codex Washingtonianus (W) had a close relationship in the Gospel of Mark, but not with any other witness considered to represent the Caesarean text-type. Therefore, Hurtado states "the 'pre-Caesarean' witnesses are not Caesarean at all," and accordingly 𝔓⁴⁵ and W "[do] not belong to any major text-type."^[8]^[9]

Sign	Name	Date	Content
Θ (038)	Codex Koridethi	9th	Mark
565.	Minuscule 565	9th	Gospels
28.	Minuscule 28	11th	Gospel of Mark
700.	Minuscule 700	11th	Gospels
1. and rest of ƒ¹	Minuscule 1, 118, 131, 209	12th 11th-15th	only Gospels
13. and rest of ƒ¹³	Minuscule 13, 69, 124, 346	13th 11th-15th	Gospels only Gospels

Other manuscripts

𝔓²⁹, 𝔓³⁸, 𝔓⁴¹, 𝔓⁴⁸, Uncial 0188, 174, 230, 406 (?), 788, 826, 828, 872 (only in Mark), 1071, 1275, 1424 (only in Mark), 1604, 2437,^[10] ℓ 32.

Textual features

(Apparent Caesarean witnesses in Bold)

Matthew 8:13

και υποστρεψας ο εκατονταρχος εις τον οικον αυτου εν αυτη τη ωρα ευρεν τον παιδα υγιαινοντα (and when the centurion returned to his house in that hour, he found the slave well) - א‎ C (N) Θ (0250) ƒ¹ (33. 1241.) g¹ syr^h

omit. - Majority of MSS^[11]^: 18

Matthew 13:35

δια Ησαιου του προφητου (through Isaiah the prophet) – Θ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 33.

δια του προφητου (through the prophet) — Majority of MSS^[12]^: 50

Matthew 20:23

και το βαπτισμα ο εγω βαπτιζομαι βαπτισθησεσθε (and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with) - Majority of MSS

omit. — א‎ B D L Z Θ 085 ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ it syr^{s, c} sa^[11]^: 56

Matthew 27:16–17

Ιησουν τον Βαραββαν (Jesus Barabbas) — Θ ƒ¹ 700.* syr^{s, pal} arm geo

τον Βαραββαν (Barabbas) — Majority of MSS

Mark 8:14

ενα μονον αρτον εχοντες (only having one loaf) — 𝔓⁴⁵ Θ ƒ¹ 565. 700 k sa

omit — Majority of MSS

Mark 8:15

των Ηρωδιανων (of the Herodians) — 𝔓⁴⁵ W Θ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 28. 565. 1365. i k cop^sa arm geo

Ηρωδου (of Herod) — majority of mss

Mark 8:17

εν ταις καρδιαις υμων, ολιγοπιστοι (in your hearts, Oh little-faithed ones) — Θ 28. 565. 700. pc syr^h

omit. - Majority of MSS

Mark 9:29

προσευχη και νηστεια (prayer and fasting) — 𝔓⁴⁵ A C D L W Θ Ψ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ Majority of MSS

προσευχη (prayer) — א‎ B 0274 k

Mark 10:19

μη αποστερησης (do not defraud) — א‎ A B² C D X Θ 565. 892. 1009. 1071. 1195. 1216. 1230. 1241 1253. 1344. 1365. 1646. 2174. Byz Lect

omit. — B* K W Δ Ψ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 28 700 1010. 1079. 1242. 1546. 2148. ℓ 10 ℓ 950 ℓ 1642 ℓ 1761 syr^s arm geo^[12]^: 165

Mark 12:1

ανθρωπος τις εφυτευσεν αμπελωνα (a certain man planted a vineyard) — W Θ ƒ¹³ 565 aur c

αμπελωνα ανθρωπος εφυτευσεν (a man planted a vineyard) — א‎ Β C Δ Ψ 33. 1424.

Mark 12:7

θεασαμενοι αυτον ερχομενον ειπαν προς εαυτους (seeing him coming, he said towards them) — Θ 565. 700. c

θεασαμενοι αυτον ερχομενον ειπον (seeing him coming, he said) — N ƒ¹³ 28.

προς εαυτους ειπαν οτι (he said towards them, "Because...) — א‎ Β C L W' Ψ 33. 892.

ειπαν προς εαυτους (he said towards them) — D

ειπον προς εαυτους οτι (he said towards them, "Because...) — A Majority of MSS

Mark 13:6

λέγοντες ὅτι Ἐγώ ο Xρηστός (saying that, "I am the Messiah") — W Θ ƒ¹³ 28 61. 115. 255. 299. 565. 700. 1071. b c g² l vg^mss sa bo geo^b arm arab^ms Cyp

λέγοντες ὅτι Ἐγώ εἰμι (saying that, "I am he") — Majority of MSS

References

^ ^a ^b Lake, Kirsopp (1902). Codex 1 of the Gospels and its Allies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 1-59244-836-4.
^ ^a ^b Streeter, Burnett Hillman (1926). The Four Gospels: A Study of Origins Treating of the Manuscript Tradition, Sources, Authorship, & Dates (2 ed.). London: Macmillan.
^ ^a ^b Aland, Kurt; Aland, Barbara (1995). The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism. Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.
^ Lake, Kirsopp; Blake, Robert (1923). "The Text of the Gospels and the Koridethi Codex". Harvard Theological Review. 16 (3): 267–286. doi:10.1017/S0017816000013742. JSTOR 1507787. S2CID 163050334.
^ Wisse, Frederik (1982). The Profile Method for Classifying and Evaluating Manuscript Evidence. Michigan: Eerdmans. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-8028-1918-5.
^ Kenyon, Frederic G. (1912). Handbook to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament. London: Macmillan & Co. pp. 334–338.
^ Colwell, Ernest Cadman (1969). Studies in Methodology in Textual Criticism of the New Testament. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-37927-5.
^ Hurtado, Larry W. (1981). Text-Critical Methodology and the Pre-Caesarean Text: Codex W in the Gospel of Mark. Michigan: Eerdmans. p. 88. ISBN 0-8028-1872-2.
^ Metzger, Bruce Manning; Ehrman, Bart D. (2005). The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 310–311. ISBN 0-19-516667-1.
^ David Alan Black, New Testament Textual Criticism, Baker Books, 2006, p. 65.
^ ^a ^b Aland, Kurt; Black, Matthew; Martini, Carlo Maria; Metzger, Bruce M.; Wikgren, Allen, eds. (1981). Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (26 ed.). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstiftung. ISBN 3-438-051001. (NA26)
^ ^a ^b Aland, Kurt; Black, Matthew; Martini, Carlo Maria; Metzger, Bruce Manning; Wikgren, Allen, eds. (1983). The Greek New Testament (3rd ed.). Stuttgart: United Bible Societies. ISBN 9783438051103. (UBS3)

Sources

Metzger, Bruce Manning (1945). "The Caesarean Text of the Gospels". Journal of Biblical Literature. 64 (4): 457–489. doi:10.2307/3262276. JSTOR 3262276.

External links

Text Types And Textual Kinship – from the Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism
Concerning the "Caesarean Text"
Origins of the Caesarean text

[codex1-1] Lake, Kirsopp (1902). Codex 1 of the Gospels and its Allies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 1-59244-836-4.

[origins-2] Streeter, Burnett Hillman (1926). The Four Gospels: A Study of Origins Treating of the Manuscript Tradition, Sources, Authorship, & Dates (2 ed.). London: Macmillan.

[TENT-3] Aland, Kurt; Aland, Barbara (1995). The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism. Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.

[4] Lake, Kirsopp; Blake, Robert (1923). "The Text of the Gospels and the Koridethi Codex". Harvard Theological Review. 16 (3): 267–286. doi:10.1017/S0017816000013742. JSTOR 1507787. S2CID 163050334.

[5] Wisse, Frederik (1982). The Profile Method for Classifying and Evaluating Manuscript Evidence. Michigan: Eerdmans. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-8028-1918-5.

[6] Kenyon, Frederic G. (1912). Handbook to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament. London: Macmillan & Co. pp. 334–338.

[7] Colwell, Ernest Cadman (1969). Studies in Methodology in Textual Criticism of the New Testament. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-37927-5.

[8] Hurtado, Larry W. (1981). Text-Critical Methodology and the Pre-Caesarean Text: Codex W in the Gospel of Mark. Michigan: Eerdmans. p. 88. ISBN 0-8028-1872-2.

[9] Metzger, Bruce Manning; Ehrman, Bart D. (2005). The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 310–311. ISBN 0-19-516667-1.

[10] David Alan Black, New Testament Textual Criticism, Baker Books, 2006, p. 65.

[na26-11] Aland, Kurt; Black, Matthew; Martini, Carlo Maria; Metzger, Bruce M.; Wikgren, Allen, eds. (1981). Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (26 ed.). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstiftung. ISBN 3-438-051001. (NA26)

[ubs3-12] Aland, Kurt; Black, Matthew; Martini, Carlo Maria; Metzger, Bruce Manning; Wikgren, Allen, eds. (1983). The Greek New Testament (3rd ed.). Stuttgart: United Bible Societies. ISBN 9783438051103. (UBS3)

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