Subject: COLLATION

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 96 14:22:07 -0500

Jim West wrote:

 > The necessity of important manuscripts in every researcher's hand 
 > can be demonstrated by a brief comparison of  the apparatus of NA27 with 
 > P75 (at Luke 24:51- John 1:16)
 > 
 > NA27 does not note the (apparent?) change of spelling for skotia in 
 > verse 5 (P75 has skoteia); nor does it mention that P75 has martyrion for 
 > its martyrian.  Likewise there is no notice that kekragen in NA27 is 
 > kekrage in P75. (the moveable nu is absent).
 > 
 > True enough, these are "orthographic" differences.  But such items 
 > are of interest, and are in fact textual variants.

With respect to the variants you note here, they were probably excluded on
several grounds.  

First, there just isn't room in the NA27 apparatus to include every itacism.  

Second, the introduction of the NA27 clearly states that v.l. will generally be
included if they make one of two contributions, either toward determining the
correct reading (if some doubt exists) or helping trace the history of the v.l.

Third, P75 (and the other papyrii, for that matter) shows some strange
variations in spelling (check the plate of P75 in Metzger's *Text*--you'll see
John's name spelled two different ways, IWANNHS and IWANHS, on a single leaf!)
The papyrii largely come from places and times where spelling was not
standardized, as we think of it.  The variations you describe are "normal" for
the papyrii, and text critics usually note these itacisms and then disregard
them.
                                                                   
Grace and peace, 

Perry L. Stepp, Baylor University