Acts 13

Acts 13:18

:TEXT: “he put up with them in the wilderness.”

S A*(vid) B C2 D P 81 614 945 1241 1739 2495 Byz Lect one lat vg

KJV ASVn RSV NASV NIV NEB TEV RANK: DNOTES: “he like a nurse cared for them in the wilderness.”

p74 Ac C* E Psi 33vid three lat syr cop

ASV RSVn NASVn NIVn NEBn TEVnCOMMENTS: The difference in the two readings is only one letter: the text reading has a “p” and the reading in the notes has a “ph” or “f.” Thus the variation is due to a mistake of the ear. It is difficult to know which is original. The allusion is to Deuteronomy 1:31 where the Greek Old Testament shows the same variation. Since most Old Testament manuscripts read “he like a nurse cared for,” it is slightly more probably that “he put up with” was changed to “he like a nurse cared for” to read like the prevailing Old Testament text than vice versa.

Acts 13:33

:TEXT: “written in the second psalm”

p74 S A B C E P Psi 33 81 614 945 1241 1739 2495 Byz two lat vg syr cop

KJV ASV RSV NASV NIV NEB TEV RANK: DNOTES: “written in the first psalm”

D three lat

NEBnNOTES: “written in the psalm”

p45vid (“psalms”) 522 1175

none

In both the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds there are examples of Jewish rabbis treating the first and second psalms as one psalm, thus making the quotation (Psalms 2:7) from the first psalm rather than the second psalm. The Greek Old Testament treats these as two separate psalms, making the quotation from the second psalm. This explains the two different readings “first” and “second.” But did Luke follow the Greek Old Testament or the Jewish rabbinic method of numbering the psalms? Since there is no evidence that the rabbinic method of numbering the psalms was in use in the first century and because only a few Western manuscripts have the reading “first,” it is likely that Luke originally wrote “second.” Although it is possible that the omission of either word is original, it is unlikely that so many manuscripts would have added a number if that had been the case.

Acts 13:44

:TEXT: “gathered together to hear the word of the Lord.”

p74 S A B3 33 81 945 1739 two lat earlier vg cop(south)

ASVn NASVn NIV TEV RANK: CNOTES: “gathered together to hear the word of God.”

B* C E P Psi 614 1241 2495 Byz two lat later vg syr cop(north)

KJV ASV RSV NASV : “gathered together to hear much word that Paul made about the Lord.”

D (both Greek and Latin)

The phrase “the word of God” is much more common in the New Testament than “the word of the Lord”; thus copyists would be more likely to change the less common phrase to the more common one than vice versa. See below.

Acts 13:48

:TEXT: “and glorifying the word of the Lord”

p45 p74 S A C P Psi 33 81 945 1241 1739 2495 Byz three lat vg most cop(south)

KJV ASVn NASV NIV NEB TEV RANK: CNOTES: “and glorifying the word of God”

B E (Greek only) cop(north) one cop(south)

ASV RSV NASVnOTHER: “and accepted the word of God”

D (Greek only) one lat (“the word of the Lord”) OTHER: “and glorifying God”

614 syr

The expression “glorify the word of the Lord” or “glorify the word of God” does not occur elsewhere in scripture which caused copyists to change it in some way (“accept the word” or “glorify God”). Although it is possible that “the word of the Lord” was borrowed by copyists from verse Acts 13:49, since the phrase “the word of God” is much more common in the New Testament than “the word of the Lord,” copyists would be more likely to change the less common phrase to the more common one than vice versa.