From: Steven Craig Miller (scmiller@www.plantnet.com)
Date: Tue Mar 21 2000 - 05:57:02 EST
<x-flowed>To: Theodore H. Mann,
<< Why does UBS3 only give TOU QEOU, in 1 Cor. 2:14, a "C" rating? I would
think that any text that can be found in p46, plus such a long list of
witnesses, would rate higher than that. >>
Bruce M. Metzger, in his "A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament"
(1975), writes:
<< The omission of TOU QEOU (an omission which sharpens the precision of
the apostle's argument) is supported by several Greek minuscules (...), the
Syriac Peshitta, and a variety of patristic writers (...). On the other
hand, the overwhelming consensus of Greek witnesses and ancient versions
reads TOU QEOU (the singular reading hAGIOU in the Ethiopic is an
understandable substitution), as well as a variety of patristic writers,
some of whom also quote the shorter form of the reading. Although the
Committee seriously considered the possibility that the shorter reading be
the original text, in view of the weight, age, and diversity of external
evidence supporting TOU QEOU, it felt compelled to include these words in
the text, despite the possibility that they may have been a natural
addition introduced by copyists. >>
The omission of this variant reading in UBS4 does not necessarily mean that
the Committee was no longer bothered by the possibility that the shorter
reading might be "the original text," rather the omission means that the
Committee didn't feel that this variant reading was important for
translators. One needs to keep in mind that the UBS text was designed for
translators. The preface of the 1st edition began:
<< To meet the growing need for an edition of the Greek New Testament
specially adapted to the requirements of Bible translators throughout the
world ... >>
Although the omission does not necessarily imply that they had raised their
evaluation of this reading, they could have done that too.
-Steven Craig Miller
Alton, Illinois (USA)
scmiller@www.plantnet.com
FWIW: I'm neither a clergy-person, nor an academic (and I have no post-grad
degrees).
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