Lk 1:79 FWS (Codex Bezae 05)

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue Sep 10 08:38:32 EDT 2002


I hereby submit the twelfth of the questions concerned with distinctive
readings of Codex Bezae in chapter 1 of the text of Luke's gospel.

Lk 1:78-79
NA27/USB4: ... EN hOIS EPISKEYETAI hHMAS ANATOLH EX hUYOUS, (79) EPIFANAI
TOIS EN SKOTEI KAI SKIAi QANATOU KAQHMENOIS, ... ;
D05: ... EN hOIS EPESKYATO hHMAS ANATOLH EX hUYOUS (79) EPIFANAI FWS TOIS
EN SKOTEI KAI SKIAi QANATOU KAQHMENOIS ...

FWS does not appear in the critical text but only in Codex Bezae. Should it
there be deemed as (1) an attribute of ANATOLH and subject of an
intransitive EPIFANAI (which might be either transitive or intransitive
here--cf. citation from BDAG below): "a light to shine (upon)" or as (2)
direct object of a transitive EPIFANAI: "to make a light shine (upon).

How is this phrase in Codex Bezae best rendered, in view of the fact that
ANATOLH might seem in Codex Bezae to allude to the "face of the Lord in
1:76 (PRO PROSWPOU KURIOU in D05 where ENWPION KURIOU is the reading of the
critical text: PROPOREUSHi gar ENWPION (or PRO PROSWPOU KURIOU) hETOIMASAI
hODOUS AUTOU. On the other hand, I think it might reasonably be argued that
PRO PROSWPOU with KURIOU is strictly idiomatic and means simply "ahead of"
or "preceding" as in the texts cited regularly with accounts of the
appearance of John the Baptist as "the messenger sent ahead of the Lord";
if that is so, then PRO PROSWPOU KURIOU is hardly different in meaning from
ENWPION KURIOU.

BDAG: APOFAINW
	2. to provide illumination, give light to, act., ext. of mng. 1: Lk
1:79. There is a slight diff. between this apparently intr. use and the
next, which is clearly trans. (On the theme of divine consideration in
providing light in darkness s. X. Mem. 4, 3, 4.)
	3. to make one's presence known, become apparent, act., ext. of
mng. 1 (Theocr. 2, 11 of stars; Polyb. 5, 6, 6 of daylight; Dt 33:2; Ps
117:27) of sun and stars Ac 27:20. Cp. 2 above.
-- 

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
Most months:: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu OR cwconrad at ioa.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/



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