TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism:
Volume
7 (2002)
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Editorials and General Information for
Readers
Obituary: Dominique
Barthélemy, O.P.
Articles
Johann Cook, The
Translator(s) of the Septuagint of Proverbs
- Abstract:The translator(s) of the Septuagint of
Proverbs had a unique approach towards their parent text. On a micro-level
some individual lexical items are varied, while others are rendered
consistently. This approach can be described as one of both diversity and
unity. This method of translation does not prevent the translator from
interpreting in individual instances, even where a specific Hebrew word is
normally translated consistently with a single Greek word. On the
macro-level the Greek translation of Proverbs also exhibits unique
features. The order of some chapters towards the end of the book should be
ascribed to its translator(s), as should the removal of the names of Agur
and Lemuel, who are mentioned in the Hebrew text as authors of some of the
material. In the final analysis, this interpretive approach is ascribed to
the translator's ideology, which is characterised by a fundamentally
conservative Jewish religious attitude. This inference is, inter
alia, based upon the prominent role of the law of Moses in LXX
Proverbs. Caution should be exercised, however, since there are a number
of burning textual problems that have to be accounted for.
Maurice A. Robinson, Crossing Boundaries in New Testament Textual
Criticism: Historical Revisionism and the Case of Frederick Henry
Ambrose Scrivener
- Abstract: In an article published in 1995,
Daniel Wallace correctly pointed out that Scrivener's text-critical
views were not identical to those of Dean Burgon; also, that it is
misleading for certain "majority text" supporters simply to
lump Burgon and Scrivener together as though they supported the
traditional text in precisely the same manner. Unfortunately, in
making the point regarding revisionist misuse of Scrivener, Wallace
has himself caricatured Scrivener in a revisionist manner.
Matthew Spencer, Klaus Wachtel and Christopher J. Howe, The Greek Vorlage of the
Syra Harclensis: A Comparative Study on Method in Exploring Textual
Genealogy
- Abstract: Computer methods are increasingly
important in textual criticism. We describe and compare two methods of
stemma reconstruction: Mink's Genealogical Method (developed for use
with the Greek New Testament) and the cladistic maximum parsimony
method (developed in evolutionary biology). We use both methods to
study a group of Greek texts of the Letter of James that are closely
related to the Syriac Harclensis. We show that the methods are
fundamentally different in aims and approaches, although there are
some points of agreement in the results they produce. The Genealogical
Method is most suitable when the priority of each individual reading
can be assessed. Maximum parsimony can be used when such assessments
are not possible or not desired.
J. C. Thorpe, Multivariate Statistical Analysis for Manuscript
Classification
- Abstract: The use of multivariate statistics for
the analysis and classification of New Testament manuscripts is
examined, the problem of coding the manuscripts for statistical
analysis is considered, and various coding schemes are presented. The
operation and suitability of a number of statistical techniques for
manuscript classification is also discussed.
Tommy Wasserman, The Patmos Family of New Testament MSS and Its Allies
in the Pericope of the Adulteress and Beyond
- Abstract: This article examines the genetic
relationships among 34 MSS suspected of being related because of a
peculiar shared reading in John 8:8b-9a: "he wrote on the ground
the sins of each..." A quantitative analysis detected several
independent families, including new family P members and a dozen MSS forming "family
Patmos/M;" this family, in turn, includes the original Patmos
family discovered by Silva New in 1932. The results show that whereas
there may be overlap, the history of readings is not synonymous with
the history of MSS. The more genetically significant a reading, the
more potential it has to affect unrelated MSS.
Richard D. Weis, Biblia
Hebraica Quinta and the Making of Critical Editions of the Hebrew
Bible
- Abstract: Three scholarly editions of the Hebrew
Bible, each with its own distinct character, are currently being
developed. Weis presents the Biblia Hebraica Quinta edition and
compares it with earlier editions in the BH series and with the
Hebrew University Bible and the Oxford Hebrew Bible.
After developing a typology for describing editions of the Hebrew
Bible, he concludes that BHQ is a prescriptive critical
edition of the collative type.
Textual Notes
Charles E. Hill, A Notice
of Corrections in Standard Editions of Two Johannine Manuscripts
- Abstract: The author reports on three minor
errors in the standard editions of 90 (P. Oxy. 3523) and 0232 (P. Antinoopolis
12).
Reviews
One of the goals of TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism
is to provide informative and timely reviews of books in the field of
biblical textual criticism. Anyone who would like to suggest a book for
review or who would like to volunteer to be a reviewer may contact the TC
book review editor, Leonard Greenspoon (ljgrn@creighton.edu) or the general
editor, James R. Adair (jadair@rosetta.reltech.org).
James R. Adair, An
Inductive Method for Reconstructing the Biblical Text: Illustrated by an
Analysis of 1 Samuel 3 (Bernard A. Taylor, reviewer)
Kim Haines-Eitzen, Guardians of Letters: Literacy, Power, and the
Transmitters of Early Christian Literature (D. C. Parker,
reviewer)
Kim Haines-Eitzen, Guardians of Letters: Literacy, Power, and the
Transmitters of Early Christian Literature (Ulrich Schmid,
reviewer)
D. G. K. Taylor, ed., Studies in the Early Text of the Gospels and
Acts (William L. Petersen, reviewer) - see also a rebuttal by Kent
D. Clarke and Petersen's response
W. M. Thackston, Introduction to Syriac (Robert F. Shedinger,
reviewer)