The Message of Acts in Codex Bezae - Library of New Testament Studies by Jenny Read-Heimerdinger & Josep Rius-Camps Paperback

Book Synopsis

His book is a comparison of the message of Acts transmitted by Codex Bezae with that of the more familiar Alexandrian text, represented by Codex Vaticanus. For each section of Acts, there is a side by side translation of the Bezan and Alexandrian manuscripts, followed by a critical apparatus and, finally, a commentary that explores the differences in the message of the two texts. It is concluded that the Bezan text, with its interest in internal Jewish affairs and its focus on the struggles of the early disciples to free themselves from their traditional Jewish expectations and to achieve, despite their mistakes, a more accurate understanding of their master's teaching, is the earlier of the two texts.

Review Quotes

"I appreciate this book very much. I was fascinated by the author's many fresh readings and unusual interpretations of the book of Acts. I look forward to reading the second volume of this commentary." --Tobias Nicklas, Radboud University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands, Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism, 2006

"This commentary is valuable in many respects, not least for its keen attention to linguistic detail, which will be valuable whatever one may think of the claim of Bezan priority." --Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2005