Subject: Mt 15.12 in Sin syr 2

From: Jean VALENTIN <[email-masked]>
Date: Ven, 15 Aož 97 14:31:06 +0200

Objet :      Mt 15.12 in Sin syr 2
Envoyé le :  15/08/97 03:44
Adressé à :  Liste TC-List, [email-masked]

Dear TC-ers,

Another variant (though small) from Sinai Syriac 2 called my attention today.

In Mt 15.12, our standard texts (Greek, Syriac of Pusey-Gwilliam) read (here I give syp):
Then his disciples approached and said to him: do you know that the Pharisees who heard this word stumbled?

Sin syr 2 has a small variant: it adds "to him" after approached (qrbw _lwth_).

I checked to see if it was to be found elsewhere. The first place where I usually look is the two mss of the Old Syriac version. It's neither in sy.c or sy.s.

Tischendorf mentions the Greek ms F. Is it really the only Greek ms?
On the side of versional evidence, we have:

- sahidic (ed. Horner and Kasser)
- bohairic (ed. Horner)
- old latin: ff1 and e
- georgian: ABDE (Opiza, Tbeth, Jruch and Parkhal), followed by the Athonite recension. In fact, the Georgian mss, instead of "to him" have "to Jesus".
- dutch diatessaron of Liege (ed de Bruin, p. 108), Haaren (p. 45), Brussels (unpublished, but I have a copy)
- toscan + venetian diatessaron
- the Persian harmony
- the Harklean syriac version!

in Arabic, the most important versions have it:
- the oldest version, that of Sin Arb 74 and 72 (second half of IXth century, usually considered as translated from Greek)
- the melkite version of the XIth century (Sin arb 69 and its allies)
- even the "alexandrian vulgate" produced by the Coptic Church in the XIIIth century

two hebrew versions:
- the one of Ben Shaphrout, edited by G. Howard (translated from? a lectionary?)
- the one in ms Paris Hebr. 132 (probably from an old latin text)

(Notice the absence of : the latin vulgate and codex Fuldensis, arm-Zohrab, geo-Adysh, syr.c.s, and the Arabic Diatessaron. Ephrem doesn't cite this text).

Is it a real variant or are we to be satisfied with the idea that the verb "to approach" calls for that complement? The testimony of the versions is so massive that I'm reluctant to accept this second explanation - though it may be true for some, we can see the usual grouping of old latin + western diatessaric witnesses + some eastern versions and diatessaric witnesses. For those who adhere to "majority text" theories, if we count the versions, this is clearly the majority :-)

What should we do of all this? Would it in particular be possible that Sinai syriac 2 preserves the true old syriac reading?...

Jean V.

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Jean Valentin - Bruxelles - Belgique
e-mail: [email-masked] /// netmail: 2:291/780.103
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