This morning I was teaching through the Greek text of James 1 and thinking about the relation of 1:8 to 1:7.
μὴ γὰρ οἰέσθω ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος ὅτι λήμψεταί τι παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου,
ἀνὴρ δίψυχος, ἀκατάστατος ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ. (Jam 1:7-8, punctuation as in NA27/28)
Working from NA28, I commented that one almost would expect γάρ in the second line, ἀνὴρ γὰρ δίψυχος ... or at least, the second line expects to be read as such. My student told me immediately that this is what some manuscripts actually had done, only to confirm my impression that I had a smart student in front of me. In my NA28 the variant is not noted, but it turned out to be in her edition, which is NA27. Still, impressive reading of the apparatus.
Lessons:
1) I could have prepared for this eventuality by working from the ECM.
2) When teaching grammar and syntax I would like a selection of textual variants based on different criteria than when teaching textual criticism or when studying the history of the text.
3) I can see a whole new cottage industry for specialized Greek New Testaments, a little bit along lines of the targeted versions of any English translation ('The Devotional Bible', 'The Bible for Couples', 'The Bikers' Bible', 'The Teenage Bible', etc.). What about 'The GNT for Teachers', 'The GNT for Exegetes', 'The GNT for Students of the Old Testament', 'The GNT for Syriac Scholars', 'The GNT for those with Byzantine Leanings', 'The GNT for Discourse Grammarians'. The possibilities are endless: each group is served with a different selection of variants, a different introduction, different pictures in the text. We get targeted marketing, different study groups at SBL, boring text-critics bending over backwards to find new audiences to be served with the labour of their hands, increased profit, economic recovery, financial wealth. What are we waiting for?
4) I'll have to keep NA27 on my desk.
μὴ γὰρ οἰέσθω ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος ὅτι λήμψεταί τι παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου,
ἀνὴρ δίψυχος, ἀκατάστατος ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ. (Jam 1:7-8, punctuation as in NA27/28)
Working from NA28, I commented that one almost would expect γάρ in the second line, ἀνὴρ γὰρ δίψυχος ... or at least, the second line expects to be read as such. My student told me immediately that this is what some manuscripts actually had done, only to confirm my impression that I had a smart student in front of me. In my NA28 the variant is not noted, but it turned out to be in her edition, which is NA27. Still, impressive reading of the apparatus.
Lessons:
1) I could have prepared for this eventuality by working from the ECM.
2) When teaching grammar and syntax I would like a selection of textual variants based on different criteria than when teaching textual criticism or when studying the history of the text.
3) I can see a whole new cottage industry for specialized Greek New Testaments, a little bit along lines of the targeted versions of any English translation ('The Devotional Bible', 'The Bible for Couples', 'The Bikers' Bible', 'The Teenage Bible', etc.). What about 'The GNT for Teachers', 'The GNT for Exegetes', 'The GNT for Students of the Old Testament', 'The GNT for Syriac Scholars', 'The GNT for those with Byzantine Leanings', 'The GNT for Discourse Grammarians'. The possibilities are endless: each group is served with a different selection of variants, a different introduction, different pictures in the text. We get targeted marketing, different study groups at SBL, boring text-critics bending over backwards to find new audiences to be served with the labour of their hands, increased profit, economic recovery, financial wealth. What are we waiting for?
4) I'll have to keep NA27 on my desk.