SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHE S ... - Emanuel Tov

APPENDIX 5
SCRIBAL FEATURES OF EARLY WITNESSES
OF GREEK SCRIPTURE
This appendix analyzes several scribal features displayed in early witnesses of Greek Scripture
with an eye toward discovering links with early Jewish scribal traditions such as those known
from the Hebrew scrolls from the Judean Desert. Special attention is paid to the indication of
verses, sections, paragraphoi, ekthesis, and the writing of the divine names. The parameters of
this investigation are as follows:
• The coverage of the Greek texts is intentionally vague (‘Greek Scripture’), since the dividing line between the
so-called Old Greek translation and other early translations and revisions is often unclear, as are the exact limits of
what may be considered Scripture.
• All early papyri that could be located in the libraries of Tübingen and Macquarie University (especially in the
Ancient History Documentary Research Centre [AHDRC]) were examined, with the exclusion of very fragmentary
texts. The table, which is rather exhaustive, lists in presumed chronological sequence, all the texts that were given
dates up to and including the fourth century CE in their publications. Most texts examined were dated to the third
and fourth centuries CE (see the statistics in Van Haelst, Catalogue, 419). The large codices A, B, S, and G are
excluded from the analysis.
• The distinction between Jewish and Christian copies is relevant in as far as the former are more likely to
preserve ancient Jewish scribal practices. Although this distinction is often very difficult, all texts antedating the
middle of the first century CE are Jewish. According to K. Treu, “Die Bedeutung des Griechischen für die Juden im
römischen Reich,” Kairos NF 15 (1973) 123–44, it is possible that several texts written after that period might also
be recognized as Jewish; they are indicated in the first column of the table as ‘Jewish (Treu).’ A major though not
exclusive criterion for the Jewish nature of a text is the writing in scrolls, indicated as ‘S’ in the second column of
the table (see already C. H. Roberts, “The Christian Book and the Greek Papyri,” JTS 50 [1949] 155–68, especially
157–8). The Christian nature of Scripture texts can usually be detected by their inscription in codex form (indicated
as ‘C’ in the second column), and their use of abbreviated forms of the divine names (indicated in the seventh
column). See further Kraft, “Textual Mechanics.”
• Texts and plates were examined in their editio princeps or in a central edition, located with the aid of Aland,
Repertorium; Van Haelst, Catalogue (both until 1976); and the index of the AHDRC. Biblio-graphical details
concerning the papyri listed below are either found or are otherwise apparent for the user of these sources (such as
volumes of P.Oxy. subsequent to 1976). In the fifth and sixth columns, the data is indicated as ‘x’ (= extant), ‘—’
(= not extant), and ‘no evidence.’
The table lists information on the following items:
• Name and suggested date, together with a possible reference to the Jewish nature of the source.
• Scroll (S) or Codex (C). This information is based on the plates provided and on the indications in the
various sources: Aland, Repertorium; Van Haelst, Catalogue; and especially the AHDRC index. Items listed by
AHDRC as ‘sheet’ are listed below as ‘—’.
• Indication of biblical verses or parts of verses through spacing or other systems, or the lack of such
indications. The notation ‘spaces’ or sim. refers to spaces after verses, sometimes also indicated after groups of
words or hemistichs.
• Indication of section divisions through spacing or additional systems, or the lack of such indications.
• Indication of paragraphoi (straight line, unless indicated as ‘wedge-shaped’).
• Ekthesis (enlarged letters protruding into the margin at the beginning of new sections).
• Special features used in the writing of the divine names. The notation ‘k(uvrio)"‘ implies that the abbreviated
form of this word is included in the text, usually together with other abbreviated nomina sacra. The notation
‘q(eov)"‘ implies that k(uvrio)" has not been preserved, but other abbreviated nomina sacra, mainly q(eov)", do
appear in the text.
• Writing of poetical texts in stichographic layout (yes/no and irrelevant, indicated as ‘—’).
Scribal Features of Early Greek Sources