Matthew 2:6 - Sinaiticus scribe bungles Bible Prophecy 101

Steven Avery

Administrator
Found by David W. Daniels, when we were conferencing about the various accents and marks in early Matthew, that Skeat & Milne say were an embellishment attempt by scribe A.

CSP
https://codexsinaiticus.org/en/manu...lioNo=1&lid=en&quireNo=74&side=r&zoomSlider=0


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Amazingly, the scribe connects Matthew 2:6:

Matthew 2:6
And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda,
art not the least among the princes of Juda:
for out of thee shall come a Governor,
that shall rule my people Israel.


with ISAIAH, not Micah! (In the vertical margin note.)
it might be Hoses not Isaiah, but it probably is Isaiah

Micah 5:2
But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah,
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah,
yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel;
whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.


And we have not seen any comments on this from the Sinaiticus scholars!

This is definitely not mentioned at all in Scrivener (who relied on Tischendorf) or Jongkind or Skeat.

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This blunder is referenced in a recent (or forthcoming) paper by Charles Evan Hill.

Irenaeus, the Scribes, and the Scriptures. Papyrological and Theological Observations from P.Oxy. 405 (pre-pub. version)
Charles Evan Hill
https://www.academia.edu/10485335/I...bservations_from_P.Oxy._405_pre-pub._version_


'This is confirmed by a look at the facsimile edition at, for instance. Matt. 2.6, citing Micah 5.1,3, where portions of the original ink show through in the letters next to the diplai and may be compared with the ink of the diplai. p.8

Illustration 4. Codex Sinaiticus (q. 74, f. lv), Matt. 2.6 citing Micah 5.2. Note scribal mistake in attribution to HCAIOY. What look like dots following the diplai are actually line pricks. p-10

Kirk marks prophecy
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Steven Avery

Administrator
James Snapp documents three blunders on the Old Testament references in early Matthew chapters

The BVDB crew did help (a rare occurrence, always appreciated when it happens) by showing that James Snapp also has mentioned this bumbling, and some more, in a blog post:

"Some Manuscripts Say . . ." - The Problem with Footnotes
James Snapp -
January 16, 2017
http://www.thetextofthegospels.com/2017/01/some-manuscripts-say-problem-with.html

Changing emphasis and formatting.


Occasionally, reckless copyists who made such embellishments assigned quotations to the wrong source.

In Codex Sinaiticus, for example, in the margin alongside Matthew 2:5-6, the name “Isaiah” appears in a vertically-written note to identify the prophet whose work is quoted in the text. The prophet being quoted, however, is Micah, not Isaiah.

A little further along in
Codex Sinaiticus, the name “Numbers” appears in a vertically-written note alongside Matthew 2:15, even though the text cited in Matthew 2:15 is Hosea 11:1.

numbers is confirmed

‘Hosea 11:1
“When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.”

Matthew 2:15

matthew 13:35
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.



1685302456139.png

theta is Gospels from Georgia
removed by dots

1685302858263.png


there is also a removal in verse 34
The same thing has happened in Codex Sinaiticus in Matthew 13:35, except the embellishment has been inserted directly into the text; Codex Sinaiticus is one of the few manuscripts that reads “Isaiah the prophet” in Matthew 13:35. This reading was known in the late 300’s by Jerome, who expressed a belief that the passage had previously referred to “Asaph the prophet” and that copyists who did not recognize Asaph’s name changed it to “Isaiah.”

The external evidence for the non-inclusion of Isaiah’s name in Matthew 13:35 is enormous and wide-ranging: it is supported by B, D, W, and by every branch of the Byzantine Text, and by all known Syriac, Latin, Sahidic, and Armenian copies.


The attribution of the quotation to Isaiah is an error, and to some textual critics, this makes it likely to be original, on the grounds that it is thus the more difficult reading. Hort, in 1881, demonstrated his non-belief in inerrancy in his Notes on Select Readings, stating, “It is difficult not to think Ἠσαίου [Isaiah] genuine.” Eberhard Nestle (the originator of the Nestle-Aland compilation) embraced the erroneous reading in his 1901 Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the Greek New Testament. On page 251, after acknowledging that this reading was only attested by a smattering of extant manuscripts, but was also mentioned by Eusebius and Jerome (both of whose explicitly rejected it), Nestle wrote, “It was used still earlier by Porphyrius as a proof of Matthew’s ignorance. It is certainly, therefore, genuine.” ... (continues)

Well done, James. Thanks for doing the legwork. (On the assumption that you ferreted these out.)

The last one may have been simply taking from a mistaken source manuscript. Sinaiticus has many blunders in the text, like Nazareth in Judea.

================

It is rather amazing that, afawk, absolutely nothing has been published about these blunders (at least in English) until 2017. Skeat and Jongkind both missed these Old Testament prophecy reference blunders in talking about Sinaiticus scribal habits.

If Scrivener did not mention them, then Tischendorf likely left it all out as well.
 
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Steven Avery

Administrator
Definite Accent Mark
2nd Page =
1st column 15th line
1685303546673.png


1st column - 3rd row 4th letter and 7th letter
accent
2nd row has a breathing mark
1685303645139.png



7th line .. something over O
1685303825465.png


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Steven Avery

Administrator
This was the numbers prophecy

The first bar over Y - likely ACCENT
Y-N Lord - SON the big line is NS maybe hard breathing mark to Y throws H sound HUIOS

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Steven Avery

Administrator
First column same page
We are looking for the supposed section marks in Sin that are similar to Vaticanus and 579
Is it simply the indentation? Combined with the Rubrication Number ?

Note that in general the Eusebian and Ammonian are same as Alexandrinus
but Alex is lacuna in Matthew?
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Vaticanus in Matthew
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Steven Avery

Administrator
Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity arbeiten zur geschichte des antiken judentums und des urchristentums

Founding Editor Martin Hengel † (Tübingen)

Executive Editors Cilliers Breytenbach (Berlin) Martin Goodman (Oxford)

Editorial Board Lutz Doering (Münster) – Tal Ilan (Berlin) – Judith Lieu (Cambridge) Tessa Rajak (Reading/Oxford) – Daniel R. Schwartz ( Jerusalem) Seth Schwartz (New York) – Christiane Zimmerman (Kiel)

volume 107

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ajec

https://pdfcoffee.com/ancient-judai...nd-christianity-2019-brill-1pdf-pdf-free.html
Scriptural Quotations in the Jesus Tradition

https://books.google.com/books?id=9IN1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA119

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119

references. This sign was introduced into the Christian usage at an early period33 and was not eo ipso bound to Biblical quotations. But in the margins of the great Bible codices it became a reference sign, especially hinting at the presence of a quotation (normally in the New Testament) taken from sacred texts (normally Septuagint).34 This innovation was implemented successively. Hence, diplai are employed in the codices to varying extents.35 It is attention-grabbing however, that we find these markers only in the margins of the quoting texts: that is to say, in the New Testament. There are no corresponding markers at the margins of the quoted texts of the Septuagint text in the pandect codices. In other words, the scriptoria use the citations as a clue for early Christian readers who, they think, ought to be attentive for the scriptures of Israel.36 Perhaps the scriptoria are acting according to the antique rule presbytera kreitta—the old has precedence. In applying this rule to the scriptures, the old texts must not be marked and can be read independently from the younger reception. But the younger texts become marked. Consequently, the text of the Septuagint (the old text) is slightly more highly valued than the New Testament text. If there is an influence between the quoted text and the quotation, the influence typically moves from the Septuagint to the New Testament. The influence is small even in this direction, as we have seen The margins of the codices corroborate that phenomenon: the scriptoria sometimes add shortcuts indicating the sources of the quotations—and they are often mistaken in these shortcuts. For example, in the margin of Sinaiticus at Matt 2:6, ησαιου (“from Isaiah”) is written, but the famous quotation stems from Mic 5:1–3, and we read εν αριθμοις (“in Numbers”) at Matt 2:15, whereas

33  See K. McNamee, “Marginalia and Commentaries in Greek Literary Papyri” (Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1977). The first Christian example is P.Oxy. 3.405 (Camb. MS Add. 4413) containing Irenaeus’ comments (haer. III 9.3) on Matt 3:15–16.

34  The diplé also remained a general reference sign. Therefore, B used the diplé also to mark an inner NT reference in one case: 2 Pet 1:17 (cf. Matt 3:17; 17:5). 35  See the contributions by M. Sigismund and U. Schmid in Von der Septuaginta zum Neuen Testament—Textgeschichtliche Erörterungen (ANTF 43; ed. M. Karrer, S. Kreuzer, and M. Sigismund; Berlin: De Gruyter, 2010), 75–152 and A. Stokowski, “Diplé-Auszeichnungen im Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209 (B): Liste nebst einigen Beobachtungen,” in Textual History and the Reception of Scripture in Early Christianity—Textgeschichte und Schriftrezeption im frühen Christentum (SCS 60; ed. J. de Vries and M. Karrer; Atlanta: SBL, 2013), 93–113. 36  In later times there are some differentiating developments; see J. de Vries, “Texthervorhebungen und Marginalnotizen in den Codices Washingtonianus (W1) und Coislianus (M). Überlegungen zur Textgeschichte,” in Worte der Weissagung. Studien zu Septuaginta und Johannesoffenbarung (ABG 47; ed. J. Elschenbroich and J. de Vries; Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2014), 76–96.

120 ‫ א‬Matt 2:6

Karrer

‫ א‬Matt 2:15

Figure 5.1 Marginalia at Matt 2:6 and 2:15 © British Library Board, Add. MS 43725, fol. 200v, used with permission

Hos 11:1 is more relevant.37 This fact confirms the observation that the scriptoria did not normally cross-check the manuscripts of the quoted books with the text of the quotation itself. 5.2 The Variety of Textual Forms in New Testament Times 5.2.1 Overview We have observed that NT authors quoted different Greek textual traditions. These include the Old Greek, which was still widespread in the first century CE, a textual form comparable to that used by Philo,38 a predecessor of Aquila (see Table 5.2) and the kaige stream (e.g. Joel 3:2 in Act 2:18). Some quotations, which are called in a NT convention pre- or protoTheodontic,39 are in the present research of the Septuagint aligned with Kaige tendencies.40 Readings attested later by Symmachus (see Deut 32:35/Odes 2:35 in Rom 12:19 and Heb 10:30) also exist. Recent studies have, furthermore, 37  The Codex Sinaiticus is readily available at http://www.codex-sinaiticus.net/de/manuscript.aspx (accessed 6 March 2014). 38  See also Gen 2:2 in Heb 4:4 and Philo, Post. 64; Exod 25:40 in Heb 8:5 and Leg. 3.102; Prov 3:11 in Heb 12:5 and Philo, Congr. 177; the combination of quotations in Heb 13:5 and Philo, Conf. 166.

39  See e.g. κατεπόθη ὁ θάνατος εἰς νῖκος in Isa 25:8Theo and 1 Cor 15:54. Cf. J. Schröter, “Das Alte Testament im Urchristentum,” in Das Alte Testament in der Theologie (MJT 25; ed. E. GräbSchmidt; Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2013), 49–81, esp. 64–65. 40  The long citation from Isa 42:1–4 in Matt 12:18–21 belongs to this tradition. See A. van der Kooij, “The Septuagint, the Recension of Theodotion, and Beyond—Comments on the Quotation from Isaiah 42 in Matthew 12,” in Textual History and the Reception of Scripture in Early Christianity—Textgeschichte und Schriftrezeption im frühen Christentum (SCS 60; ed. J. de Vries and M. Karrer; Atlanta: SBL, 2013), 201–218 (esp. 204). The evangelist may be acquainted with the Hebrew language, but draws his quotations primarily from Jewish Greek traditions.
 
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