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Question for Greek Scholars 1Cor 9:20
#1
February 1, 2009

There is a parenthetical expression in the middle of the current modern English versions of 1 Cor 9: 20, namely, "...(though I myself am not under the law)..." This apparently comes from the Minority Greek text because it is not in the Byzantine Greek text or in the Textus Receptus. Also, it is not in the Peshitta!

My guess is that it is just a scribal insertion of some scribe's opinion since it interrupts Paul's logical thoughts.

Can anyone tell me what Greek texts have this insertion and when it probably happened? I think that the answer is in NA27, but I can't read the codes.

Thanks...

Otto
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#2
Shalom Otto,

I do not consider myself a Greek scholar but thought that will have a stab at this one for you.

An old edition of NA which I have has the following footnotes to this verse, i.e. concerning "me on autos hypo nomon" phrase:
{A} - (degree of certainity, A- text is virtually certain)
Then a list of uncials: Alef, A, B, C, D*, F, G, P
Uncials codes in NA are:
Alef = Sinaiticus
A = Alexandrinus
B = Vaticanus
C = Ephraemi Rescriptus
D = Claromontanus (?)
F = Cambridge IX c.
G = Boernerianus, IX c.
P = Leningrad IX c.
and also several minuscules: 33, 104, ..., syrh (Peshitta Harclean), vulgate

The phrase is ommited in uncials:
Dc, K, Psi (Dc = IX century, K = Moscow IX c, Psi = Athos VIII c.)
several minuscules: 81, 88, ..., Byz (majority of Byzantine manuscripts), syrp (Syriac Peshitta)
Note: the above is not a full list as you have it in NA with Origen, Chrisostom and others. It would be very interesting to see how they used and interpreted this verse.

I have found the following list of papyri and manuscripts very useful in the past
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.kchanson.com/papyri.html">http://www.kchanson.com/papyri.html</a><!-- m -->
You have the codes there, I think the same as in NA, (but not sure, also not sure how accurate this list is or when last updated).

If you would like to see the scan of the text, for example in Sinaiticus, it is here:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.csntm.org/Manuscripts/GA%2001/GA01_071b.jpg">http://www.csntm.org/Manuscripts/GA%2001/GA01_071b.jpg</a><!-- m -->
1 Cor 9:20 spans from the bottom of the second column to the top of the third,
incriminated text is right at the top of the third column.

It doesn't look like scribal insertion or correction to me, the change in the text must have happened before IV century and then propagated. The agenda seems obvious. Some argue that is more natural in Greek to have this bit as it balances grammatical chiasm or some other mumbojumbo.

Peace and blessings,
Jerzy
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#3
Dear Jerzy,

Your comments have helped me immensely in understanding the coding of NA-27, which I have.

The entries of manuscripts that omit the insertion seemed to be few until I realized that the funny Capital M included not only the Koine text but also the whole body of about 50 Byzantine manuscripts and several other related documents.

It appears that only the Minority text documents have the insertion.

Sincerely,

Otto
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