From: Harold R. Holmyard III (hholmyard@ont.com)
Date: Thu Jan 18 2001 - 21:41:52 EST
Dear Neal,
You ask:
>My question is more of a text critical one than a Greek language question. Can
>anyone shed any light on why Acts 9:31 should contain the singular EKKLHSIA
>versus the plural EKKLHSIAI? (I hope that transliteration is correct.)
It seems that there are a couple of reasons for selecting the singular
rather than the plural. First, many of the earliest witnesses to the text
have the singular: P74, Aleph, A, B, C. There are other manuscripts, as
well as versional and patrisitc support for the reading. The manuscripts
that have the plural are divided because they show considerable variation,
a fact that could suggest they are secondary.
The second reason to favor the singluar is that it seems the harder
reading. It is natural to expect the plural here, and perhaps the changes
were made to reflect what is natural to expect. Changing from the singular
to the plural requires several other grammatical changes, a fact which
could help to explain the variation among the witnesses for the plural
reading.
Use of the singular for the corporate church is a usage in the NT, so it
would not be impossible here. See, e.g., Matt 16:18; 1 Cor 12:28.
Yours,
Harold Holmyard
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