Lk 2:2 hAUTH EGENETO APOGRAFH PRWTH (D05)
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Wed Sep 18 08:33:50 EDT 2002
As indicated in the subject-header, the focus here is the reading of Codex
Bezae (D05) for the text indicated; it is another in the sequence of issues
regarding readings of D05 raised by our French correspondent, Mme. Sylvie
Chabert d'Hyères.
Preliminary comments: I am very hesitant inaugurate a new thread on this
vexed GNT verse, inasmuch as it is "beset with land-mines": (a) very
diverse opinions and convictions have been expressed on this list regarding
it by persons whose judgment I respect even when I disagree with them, and
(b) what this text says and what it means are of critical importance to
those holding diverse hermeneutical, historical, and theological
assumptions. I certainly do not hope nor desire to see here yet another
restatement of all the positions taken on all sides of the issues involved;
those who care deeply about the issue may wish to consult the archives at
http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/archives/index.html
and look at the following threads:
1995: Sept 6-Oct 6 (Subject-header: "PRWTH in Lk 2:2")
1999: Dec 23-29 (Subject-header: "Lk 2:2")
2000: Dec 12-13 (Subject-header: "Rendering PRWTH as "earlier" in Luke 2:2")
2001: June 26-29 (Subject-header: "The text of Luke 2:2 and word order")
What I do hope is (a) that the text-critical question of which MS reading
or which reconstruction of the putative original text of the passage is
preferable may be ignored here altogether, and (b) that those who wish to
contribute to discussion of this topic may steer clear of those
hermeneutical, historical, and theological predilections and focus strictly
upon the grammatical factors bearing upon what the text according to Codex
Bezae (D05) may legitimately be understood to mean.
The MSS: It may help to note the alternative readings as indicated in
Swanson (Reuben Swanson Editor, 1995. Sheffield, England; William Carey
International University Press, Pasadena, USA):
1 - hAUTH APOGRAFH PRWTH EGENETO B, Aleph-c; 565, 700, 1346...
2 - hAUTHN APOGRAFHN EGENETO PRWTH Aleph*
3 - hAUTH EGENETO APOGRAFH PRWTH D
4 - hAUTH hH APOGRAFH PRWTH EGENETO A C E K L M U, 33 ...
5 - hAUTHN APOGRAFH PRWTH EGENETO W
It should be noted also that what follows in all the MSS is hHGEMONEUONTOS
THS SURIAS KURHNIOU, the only variants being alternative spellings of the
proper name KURHNIOU. The "critical text" (NA27/USB4) displays reading #1
above; NA27 does indicate the alternative word-order of D05, but not very
clearly. Our concern, then, is: how do we understand the text of D05: hAUTH
EGENETO APOGRAFH PRWTH hHGEMONEUONTOS THS SURIAS KURHNIOU?
hAUTH: In this instance it must be a pronoun. While understanding it as a
demonstrative adjective in #1 above is awkward owing to the absence of the
expected article (we expect hAUTH hH APOGRAFH--and indeed we may guess that
the presence of the article in #4 above is either a correction of #1 or at
least conceivably was the original text--but that is altogether tangential
here), it is by no means uncommon for the demonstrative PRONOUN to take the
gender and number of its referent noun in the predicate (cf. Smyth, #1178a).
EGENETO: Can this really be an appropriate aorist equivalent to the
imperfect HN--and therefore can it take a predicate word? If so, then the
sense of the reading of D05 must be: "This was a first (or 'earlier')
registration/enrollment ..." I am somewhat dubious, however, about
understanding GINOMAI as a simple copula; BDAG shows the verb in an
existential sense (#8), but not, so far as I can see, as a copula linking a
subject to a predicate word. My own survey of LSJ-Glare doesn't really
quite convince me that usage as a copula equivalent to an aorist of EIMI is
standard, but I am open to a demonstration that I am wrong on this.
APOGRAFH: BDAG notes this as "administrative term 'list, inventory' of the
statistical reports and declarations of citizens for the purpose of
completing the tax lists and family registers ... Lk 2:2 the word means
census, registration, of the census taken by Quirinius." BDAG also notes
"The chronology is full of problems, on which see the handbooks." and then
goes on to cite literature on the problems (which problems, of course,lie
outside the parameters of B-Greek discussion--I merely note this for
interested parties who may wish to consult the bibliography cited by BDAG).
PRWTH: "first" or possibly "earlier" (Hellenistic PRWTOS for PROTEROS):
"This was an earlier registration/enrollment." If that is the case, then
presumably there was another registration/enrollment about which readers
might have been expected to know. I might just add that I would NOT argue
for the reading of D05 what I have argued of reading #1 above, that PRWTH
is predicative and adverbial in force (PRWTH EGENETO = "first took place");
the word-order of D05 seems to me to require that PRWTH be understood as
attributive to APOGRAFH.
hHGEMONEUONTOS THS SURIAS KURHNIOU: I would maintain that this is the
standard Lucan genitive absolute of time reference and indicates that the
registration/enrollment took place when Quirinius held imperial
administrative authority over Syria. But there have been suggested two
alternative interpretations: (1) that this genitive phrase is simply
"possessive" with APOGRAFH PRWTH: "a first registration of (the one)
governing Syria, Quirinius"; I must say that the presence of the participle
and absence of an article turning it into a substantive makes this seem
less likely to me; (2) it has also been maintained that the genitive phrase
is complementary to PRWTH when PRWTH is understood as equivalent to PROTERA
and having prepositional force: "prior to Quirinius holding imperial
administrative authority over Syria." While this seems dubious to me, I am
aware that it is maintained by some others whose opinions I respect.
So there it is; alternative opinions are invited, with the proviso that any
discussion remain focused on the grammatical issues of interpretation of
the Codex Bezae (D05) reading in Lk 2:2, and NOT on historical,
theological, or hermeneutical--or even text-critical--issues.
--
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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