Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament

Since its appearance nearly 35 years ago, Black's New Testament Commentary Series has been hailed by both scholars and pastors for its insightful interpretations and reliable commentary. Each book in the series includes: an insightful introduction to the important historical, literary, and theological issues; key terms and phrases from the translation highlighted in the commentary where they are discussed; explanations of special Greek or foreign terms; references to important primary and secondary literature; and a Scripture index.Paul's letter to the Galatians may be the boldest exposition of the gospel and one of the best examples that Paul's theology first and foremost emerged within the framework of a living community. Dunn's sensitivity to the letter's larger flow of thought and his adept hand at guiding us through the sometimes murky waters of Paul's thought combine to make this commentary refreshingly accessible and eminently serviceable. With a penetrating but never pedantic analysis, Dunn opens Paul's letter to the troubled believers in Galatia with a skill that comes only with knowing the subject exceedingly well.

The Epistle to the Galatians

The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English vol.1

In The Gospel of Thomas and Plato , Ivan Miroshnikov offers the first systematic discussion of the Platonist impact on the Gospel of Thomas, arguing that Platonism is indispensable to making sense of those sayings that have long remained exegetical cruces.

The Gospel of Thomas and Plato

Books and Readers in the Early Church: A History of Early Christian Texts

Stephen C. Carlson investigates the text of Paul's Epistle to the Galatians and analyses how that text changed over the course of its transmission in manuscript copies over several centuries. For this study, he collated ninety-two textual witnesses of Galatians and arranged them into a genealogical family tree called a stemma codicum , with assistance from a computer-implemented method used in computational biology known as cladistics . Using this global stemma, he establishes a critical text for the epistle and assesses the nature of the textual variations that occurred throughout the text's history of transmission in over 250 significant variant readings, paying particular attention to possible theological motivations. This is the first study to produce a global stemma of any kind for a New Testament book, an accomplishment that was previously thought to be unfeasible.

The Text of Galatians and Its History

Proponents of the Griesbach hypothesis have often appealed to a tradition handed down by Clement of Alexandria in support of their position that Mark used Matthew and Luke.For example, in the 1984 Jerusalem Symposium on the Interrelations of the Gospels, the position paper for the modern form of the Griesbach hypothesis argued: ‘This one direct statement by Clement, the most highly respected Christian scholar of his day, is of more historical value than all the theories that have ever been propounded about the sequence in which the Gospels were written, including the theories of Augustine’: William R. Farmer, ‘The Statement of the Hypothesis’, The Interrelations of the Gospels: A Symposium (ed. David L. Dungan; BETL 95; Leuven: Leuven University & Peeters, 1990) 145.Other examples include William R. Farmer, The Synoptic Problem: A Critical Analysis (Dillsboro, NC: Western North Carolina, 21976) 1, 225–7, 282; William R. Farmer, ‘The Patristic Evidence Reexamined: A Response to George Kennedy’, New Synoptic Studies: The Cambridge Gospel Conference and Beyond (ed. William R. Farmer; Macon, Ga: Mercer University, 1983) 1–15; Bernard Orchard and Harold Riley, The Order of the Synoptics: Why Three Synoptic Gospels? (Macon, Ga: Mercer University, 1987) 163–8; Bernard Orchard, ‘Response to H. Merkel’, Interrelations, 603; and David L. Dungan, ‘Two-Gospel Hypothesis’, ABD 6.677. Written early in his career in the now lost Hypotyposeis, Clement's information has been preserved for us by Eusebius of Caesarea as follows:But again in those very books Clement presented a tradition of the original elders (παραδωσιν των ανeκαθeν πρeσβυτeρων) about the ‘order’ of the gospels (πeρι της ταξeως των eυαγγeλιων) in this manner: He said that those of the gospels comprising the genealogies were ‘written before’ (προγeγραϕθαι eλeγeν των eυαγγeλιων τα πeριeχοντα τας γeνeαλογιας), that Mark had this ‘disposition’ (ταυτην eσχηκeναι την οικονομιαν): that when Peter was in Rome preaching the word openly (δημοσια) and proclaiming (eξeιποντος) the gospel by the spirit, those present, who were many, entreated Mark, as one who followed him for a long time and remembered what was said, to record what was spoken; but that after he composed the gospel, he shared it (μeταδουναι) with those who wanted it; that, when Peter found out about it, he did not actively discourage or encourage it; but that John, last, aware that the physical facts were disclosed (συνιδοντα οτι τα σωματικα eν τοις eυαγγeλιοις δeδηλωται) in the gospels, urged by friends, and inspired by the spirit, composed a spiritual gospel. So much for Clement. (Eusebius, H.E. 6.14.5–7)My translation, rendering the words in quotation marks as generally as possible to avoid prejudicing the interpretative issues. Other translations, however, are more specific. For example, J. E. L. Oulton translated Clement's statement for the Loeb Classical Library as follows: ‘He said that those Gospels were first written which include the genealogies’: Eusebius, The Ecclesiastical History (ed. G. P. Goold; trans. Oulton; LCL 265; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University, 1932) 2.47, 49.

Clement of Alexandria on the ‘Order’ of the Gospels

The identity of the κατάλυμα in Luke 2.7 has been debated among Western scholars for over five hundred years. Proposals have ranged from an inn to a guest room. This article argues that the term κατάλυμα has a generic sense of ‘place to stay’ and that the final clause of Luke 2.7 should be rendered ‘because they had no space in their place to stay’. Moreover, three clues in the context—Joseph's compliance with the census order, the betrothal of Mary, and the manger—suggest that the accommodations presupposed by Luke are a marital chamber too small for giving birth.

The Accommodations of Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem: Κατάλυμα in Luke 2.7*

Matthew's description of Jesus taking his mount in 21:7 as "and he sat on top of them" has been a crux interpretum for centuries. Some take it literally even though it is impossible for a human to sit on two donkeys at once. Others try to avoid the problem by referring the plural pronoun "them" to the coats the disciples placed on the donkeys instead. I contend that both readings are unsatisfactory, and I bring new evidence and arguments, including Matthew's plenary reading of Zech 9:9 set forth in part 1 of the study (see CBQ 81 [2019] 62-84), to argue that the plural pronoun functions for Matthew as a whole-for-part synecdoche, where the jenny and the colt constitute a conceptual whole such that when Jesus sits on top of "them," he takes his mount on the part that fulfills the Hebrew prophecy.

"The Jenny and the Colt" in Matthew's Messianic Entry, Part 2: Matthew 21:7 as a Reading of Mark 11:7 in Light of Zechariah 9:9

Seit Richard Bentley haben sich Textkritiker und Exegeten erstaunt uber die Notiz in Gal 4,25a gezeigt, dass der Sinai ein Berg in Arabien ist. Fruhe und wichtige Textzeugen bieten verschiedene Lesarten, und der Satz ist – in seinen vier Hauptvarianten – nicht nur grammatikalisch mit Problemen behaftet, sondern auch im Blick auf seine Stellung in Paulus’ Argumentationsduktus. Der Beitrag greift die textkritische Problematik auf und gelangt zu den folgenden Ergebnissen: Ausere Bezeugung, transkriptionale Wahrscheinlichkeitserwagungen wie innere Textkritik legen nahe, dass in V. 25a τὸ γὰρ Σινᾶ ὄρος ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίᾳ zu lesen ist, so dass diese Lesart im kritischen Text geboten werden sollte. Daruber hinaus fuhren andere Hinweise zu der Annahme, dass V. 25a ursprunglich eine Randnotiz war. Kritische Editionen sollten anzeigen, dass der Satz nicht zum ursprunglichen Haupttext des Briefes gehort.

Stephen C. Carlson

Papers

The Text of Galatians and Its History

Clement of Alexandria on the ‘Order’ of the Gospels

The Accommodations of Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem: Κατάλυμα in Luke 2.7*

"The Jenny and the Colt" in Matthew's Messianic Entry, Part 2: Matthew 21:7 as a Reading of Mark 11:7 in Light of Zechariah 9:9

"For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia" : A note on the text of Galatians 4,25