UBS6 commentary error

UBS5/6 Error

I received my UBS6 textual commentary today and notice that it perpetuates an error in the UBS5 critical apparatus on 1 Timothy 1:4. It says GA 0150 reads εκζητησεις, supporting the UBS reading, but in fact 0150 reads ζητησεις. But the commentary makes a good point of speculation, that the EC ending of the previous word was confused with EK in the beginning of εκζητησεις. I can see this easily happening with a scribe whose primary language was Latin.

In my understanding of the context, εκζητησεις fits better, meaning “uncertainties” as opposed to “furthering the program of God which is in faith.”

1 Timothy 3:3 Variant

1 Timothy 3:3 “not given to wine, not violent but gentle, not combative, not a moneylover;”

Concentrating on the phrase “not violent but gentle.” This was the NA28 text. The Textus Receptus and Robinson-Pierpont text inserts “not greedy for gain” between “not violent” and “but gentle.” This breaks up the train of thought, plus it is very weakly attested in the Greek manuscripts, and doesn’t even have the Harklean Syriac with it:

1 Tim 3:3 txt αλλ’/αλλα ℵ A D F G K L P 0150 33 pm it-d,g vg syr-p,h-txt cop-sa,bo arm eth TH NA28 {\} ‖ μη αισχροκερδη αλλ’ pm syr-h-mg (Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:8) TR RP

Byz advocates say the αλλα is contrasting one set of 3 traits against the set of 3 traits that follows αλλα.  This is a long stretch in my view.  That explanation would make more sense to me if the first 3 were negatives- “not” something, and then all the 3 traits following the αλλα are positives, that is, not these 3 things, but ARE these 3 things. No, this is a case of Byz advocates stubbornly defending a reading that is very weak, with a looooong stretch.

parablepsis by homoioteleuton

Homoioteleuton Example

In New Testament textual criticism there occurs a phenomenon known as homoioteleuton, “same ending.” A scribe who is making a copy of a manuscript skips a phrase or line and proceeds with a different phrase or line that ends the same way as the one he was supposed to copy and write. The skipping of the eye is called parablepsis.

Here is the latest example of parablepsis by homoioteleuton that I have found. It is in a 9th century majuscule identified as G (012), in 1 Timothy chapter 3. Following are verses 6 – 8, where both v. 6 and v. 7 end with του διαβολου, “of the devil.” Then v. 8 starts with Διακονους, “deacons.”

1Ti 3:6 Μη νεοφυτον ινα μη τυφωθεις εις κριμα εμπεση του διαβολου.
1Ti 3:7 Δει δε και μαρτυριαν καλην εχειν απο των εξωθεν ινα μη εἰς ονειδισμον εμπεση και παγιδα του διαβολου.
1Ti 3:8 Διακονους ωσαυτως σεμνους μη διλογους μη οινω πολλω προσεχοντας μη αισχροκερδεις

A later scribe or editor marked the end of verse 6 with an asterisk, to draw attention to the oversight. The image above is a snippet of the manuscript image, showing the asterisk at the end of v. 6, then the beginning of v. 8 which starts with Διακονους. (The words above the Greek text are the Latin for the same text.)

1 Timothy Chapter 1

¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour and Christ Jesus our hope;

²to Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³The reason I asked you to remain at Ephesus while I went on to Macedonia, was so that you might command some not to teach differing doctrine, ⁴neither to give attention to inconclusive legends and genealogies, which produce uncertainties rather than furthering the program of God which is in faith. ⁵Now the goal of the commandment is love from a pure heart and good conscience, and faith that is unpretended; ⁶from which some have strayed away, and detoured into idle talk. ⁷Desiring to be teachers of the law, they have no understanding of what they are saying, not even about the things they are dogmatically asserting.

⁸But we know that the law is good, if one uses it correctly, ⁹knowing this, that the law is not there for the righteous person, but for the lawbreakers and the rebellious, the ungodly and the sinful, the unholy and profane, assaulters of fathers and assaulters of mothers, murderers, ¹⁰fornicators, homosexuals, human traffickers, liars, perjurors, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching ¹¹in accordance with the glorious gospel of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

¹²I am thankful to Christ Jesus our Lord who enabled me. Because he deemed me trustworthy, he appointed me to this stewardship, ¹³even though I was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and violent. But I received mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. ¹⁴And with faith and love in Christ Jesus, the grace of our Lord abounded all the more.

¹⁵This statement is trustworthy, and deserving of all acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶But I received mercy for this reason: so that in me first, Christ Jesus might show forth all longsuffering, as a pattern for those who in the future were to believe on him unto eternal life. ¹⁷Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

¹⁸This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, in accordance with the prophecies that were made about you before, that with them you might soldier a good warfare, ¹⁹holding onto faith, and also a good conscience, which some having cast off, have experienced shipwreck as to faith; ²⁰among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered over to Satan, so they may learn not to blaspheme.

Roman versus Greek

The King James Version Bible was heavily influenced by the Latin Vulgate Bible. One example of this is in Acts 14:12, where the people called Paul Hermes in the Greek, but the KJV says Mercury there, which was the Roman version of the messenger god, or the god who ruled communication and speech. The American Standard Version was the last translation to keep the Roman Mercury.
KJV – Mercurius
ASV – Mercury
ESV – Hermes
NASB – Hermes
NIV – Hermes
NRSV – Hermes
CSB – Hermes

Another example is Mars Hill, in Acts 17:19-34, where the Greek actually says Aries Hill. Mars was the Roman version of the god of war, while Aries the Greek version. A few English translations say Mars Hill, but most translations here cop out, and just transliterate the Greek phrase as Areopagus.

Read my translation of the Acts of the Apostles.

True Son Timothy

In 1 Timothy 1:2, The King James Version says “to Timothy, my OWN son in the faith.” The Greek word is γνησίῳ. Other translations render this word as follows:
ESV, NIV, NASB, CSB, NAB- true
ISV, NET – genuine
NRSV- loyal
I think this means “true son” in the sense of 2 Cor. 5:16, “Therefore from now on we know no man after the flesh” and Matt. 12:50, “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, that person is my brother
and sister and mother.”

GA 0319 in Philemon

I have collated 0319 for the main variants in Philemon as follows:

v. 2 – τη αγαπητη with TR RP, versus τη αδελφη – NA28

v. 6a – εν ημιν with RP NA28, versus εν υμιν – 𝔓⁶¹ 𝔓¹³⁹vid TR

v. 6b – χριστον ιησουν with TR RP, versus χριστον – 𝔓¹³⁹ NA28

v. 7 – χαραν with TR NA28, versus χαριν – RP

v. 9 – ιησου χριστου with TR RP, versus χριστου ιησου – NA28

v. 10 – δεσμοις 0319* with NA28, versus 0319c-vid – δεσμοις μου with TR RP

v. 11 – δε σοι with TR RP, versus δε [και] σοι – NA28

v. 12 –
σοι συ δε αυτον τουτ’ εστιν τα εμα σπλαγχνα προσλαβου with C² D versus
συ δε αυτον τουτ’ εστιν τα εμα σπλαγχνα προσλαβου – TR RP versus
σοι αυτον τουτ’ εστιν τα εμα σπλαγχνα – NA28

v. 17 – ουν με with RP NA28, versus ουν εμε – TR

v. 18 – ελλογει with TR RP, versus ελλογα – NA28

v. 20 – σπλαγχνα εν κυριω with TR RP, versus σπλαγχνα εν χριστω – NA28

v. 21 – ο λεγω with TR RP, versus α λεγω – NA28

v. 23 – ασπαζονται with TR RP, versus ασπαζεται – NA28

v. 25a – κυριου ημων with TR RP, versus κυριου – NA28

v. 25b – υμων αμην with TR RP, versus υμων – NA28