[B-Greek] Ironies of Samaria in Greek
Andrew Ball
anball at gmail.com
Thu Sep 11 17:20:00 EDT 2008
Interesting. Can you comment briefly on why New Testament critics
don't typically follow the Byzantine tradition in general?
> Ironically, this is the Byzantine tradition, the one generally
>
> not followed by NT text critics, but the spelling also upheld
>
> by the oldest papyri in the tightest tradition.
Is it believed that the Byzantine tradition differs from the "oldest
and best" extant manuscripts consistently? Is there a perception that
the Byzantine tradition (meaning editions used by Eastern Orthodox
churches?) has been significantly redacted?
Peace,
Andrew
2008/9/11 Randall Buth <randallbuth at gmail.com>:
> While reading some texts on Samaritans, I was reminded
>
> that September is the season when many students start
>
> to read lists of names as the become acquainted with the
>
> Greek alphabet.
>
>
>
> There are several little ironic twists with
>
> Σαμαρεια/Σαμαρια, and ο Σαμαρειτης /Σαμαριτις.
>
> This posting may sound like text criticism but it is, in fact,
>
> language oriented. We need accurate textual data
>
> in order to discuss the language data rightly. And I was
>
> surprised myself by the ironic inconsistencies in both
>
> UBS and WH.
>
>
>
> Most on this list will be reading from UBS/NA where
>
> the place is Σαμαρεια SAMAREIA
>
> and a man is Σαμαριτης SAMARITHS.
>
>
>
> What is left unexplained to readers is the crossing of
>
> textual bases for such spellings. Σαμαρεια SAMAREIA
>
> is usually preferred by several old Alexandrian texts and
>
> later Byzantine tradition.
>
> For example, at John 4.4, 4.5
>
> B, p75, A, and Byzan. --
>
> all have Σαμαρεια SAMAREIA
>
> א, p66, C, D, W --
>
> have Σαμαρια SAMARIA
>
> Normally, א and p66 are not given high ratings for details,
>
> and the UBS/NA text justly follows
>
> Σαμαρεια SAMAREIA.
>
>
>
> But with the word for a Samaritan man the opposite
>
> happens:
>
> Σαμαριτης SAMARITHS is in UBS/NA!
>
> Luke 10:33 is a nice example:
>
> once again, the old Alexandrian texts and Byzantine
>
> show -ει- -EI-
>
> Σαμαρειτης SAMAREITHS: B, p45, p75, A, Byzan.
>
> while Σαμαριτης SAMARITHS is in א, C, D, W
>
>
>
> The manuscripts are in the same groupings, and broadly
>
> speaking these manuscripts are consistent throughout
>
> the NT on these words. (I will spare your bandwidth on
>
> this point, but it is easily checked with a concordance and
>
> the books of Swanson on Greek NT texts.)
>
> But our UBS/NA is not consistent.
>
> The place is spelled Σαμαρεια SAMAREIA, -EI-
>
> while the person is Σαμαριτης SAMARITHS. -I-
>
>
>
> That is Irony number one.
>
>
>
> But let's look at Westcott and Hort's venerable work.
>
>
>
> WestcottHort consistently spell the place
>
> Σαμαρια SAMARIA
>
> while the man is a Σαμαρειτης SAMAREITHS.
>
> They are exactly the opposite of UBS/NA.
>
>
>
> Even more surprising with Westcott and Hort is the fact
>
> that B, arguably the greatest of the old uncials, consistently
>
> spells Σαμαρεια SAMAREIA. One suspects that their
>
> desire to be different from the Byz tradition lead them
>
> to prefer the א, C, D, W spelling here.
>
>
>
> However, it is fairly clear that the various textual
>
> traditions were consistent. If they spelled the land
>
> Σαμαρεια SAMAREIA then they spelled the person
>
> with ει -EI- Σαμαρειτης SAMAREITHS.
>
> If they spelled the land with ι -I- Σαμαρια SAMARIA ,
>
> then the person was Σαμαριτης SAMARITHS.
>
>
>
> One or the other. -EI- or -I-.
>
>
>
> Finally, we come back to students beginning Greek in
>
> the Fall who will be reading names k.t.l. Can they
>
> read these names correctly? They will probably do so
>
> if they read Σαμαρια/Σαμαριτης
>
> SAMARIA/SAMARITHS. The less-tight Alexandrian
>
> spelling. But this is not the UBS/NA spelling.
>
>
>
> If they have the tight-Alexandrian spelling, which
>
> agrees with the Byz spelling, they need to be using
>
> a Koine pronunciation. ει -EI- is pronounced the same
>
> as ι -I-. Σαμαρεια/Σαμαρειτης
>
> SAMAREIA/SAMAREITHS are pronounced the same
>
> as Σαμαρια/Σαμαριτης SAMARIA/SAMARITHS.
>
> Identically.
>
>
>
> So how was the original NT spelled?
>
> That we don't know.
>
> For one, each author could have spelled these words
>
> according to his own tradition.
>
> Secondly, neither an author nor the NT as a canon has
>
> any guarantee of being consistent on this. But the most
>
> probable was SAMAREIA, SAMAREITHS
>
> Σαμαρεια, Σαμαρειτης.
>
> Ironically, this is the Byzantine tradition, the one generally
>
> not followed by NT text critics, but the spelling also upheld
>
> by the oldest papyri in the tightest tradition.
>
>
> Hopefully the new students will be reading these smoothly,
>
> maybe even correctly. The doubly inverted ironies of our
>
> Greek New Testament traditions will not present a problem.
>
>
> (If the pronunciation of EI as I is new for anyone, please
>
> see the PDF on Koine pronunication at
>
> www.biblicalulpan.org under 'courses' 'Greek demo'.
>
> The website is currently being edited and has added new
>
> Greek material and course dates, even January.)
>
> ERRWSQE
> Randall
>
> --
> Randall Buth, PhD
> www.biblicalulpan.org
> randallbuth at gmail.com
> Biblical Language Center
> Learn Easily - Progress Further - Remember for Life
> ---
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--
=======================
Andrew D. Ball
勃安
deus caritas est
http://www.ibiblio.org/adball/blog/
http://filebox.vt.edu/~anball1/
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