ON A PASSAGE IN ACTS XV. 23.
Dr. Burton (Greek Test., Oxford, 1848), in a note on the words ὁι πρεσβύτεροι καὶ ὁι ἀδελφοί (Acts xv. 23.), says: "Most MSS. read ὁι πρεσβύτεροι ἀδελφοί." I should feel much obliged to any of your readers who could kindly direct me to some particular manuscripts, to which Dr. Burton may possibly have alluded when he wrote the above note; or who could refer me to any Greek MSS. of authority, in which the καὶ is not found. I have been enabled to consult the Codex Laudianus, a MS. of the seventh century; also the MS. Canon, of the early part of the tenth century; and the Codex Ebner., of the twelfth century. In neither of these is the καὶ missing. Nor am I aware of any Greek Bible or New Testament printed without the καὶ; nor indeed of any translation without the conjunction (though there may be some such) in Latin, or in any other language, with the single exception of the Vulgate after St. Jerome, and its several versions. The Bibles of Sixtus V. and Clement VIII., agreeing in this particular, read alike, "Apostoli et seniores fratres." On the other hand, Vutablus, in his new translation, reads, "Apostoli et presbyteri et fratres;" which is likewise the reading of the interp. Syriac., as given in the Biblia Regia; also of Beza, as given in the edition of the Bible, Oliva Roberti Stephani, 1556; whilst in the Novum Testamentum e Græco archetypo Latino sermone redditum, Theodoro Beza interprete, ed. Hanov. 1623, the reading is, "Apostoli, et seniores, et fratres;" which is also the reading in Bibl. Sacr. ex Sebastiani Castellionis interpretatione, ed. Francofurti, 1697. To which may be added the Biblia Gallica, 1580; the Bibl. Belg., ed. Leydæ, 1737; and Luther's German Bible,—all which retain the and.
I have also consulted a more important version, namely, the ancient Italic, which also reads, "Apostoli, et seniores, et fratres;" but which (in Pet. Sabatier's edition, Par. 1751) has appended to the verse the following note:
"V. 23.—MS. Cantabr. Scripserunt epistolam per manus suas continentem hæc, Apostoli, et presbyteri fratres, hiis qui sunt per Antiochiam, et Syriam, et Ciliciam, qui sunt ex gentibus fratribus, salutem.—Græc. textui Laud. consonat [versio Italica], nisi quòd habet κατὰ τὴν Ἀντιόχειαν, καὶ Συρίαν, καὶ Κιλικίαν, pro Antiochiæ, et Syriæ, et Ciliciæ. MSS. quidam, pro χειρὸς manum, legunt χειρῶν, cum Vulg.; aliique plures tollunt καὶ post seniores. Irenæus, l. iii. c. 12. p. 199. a. legit: Apostoli, et presbyteri fratres, his qui sunt in Antiochia, et Syria, et Cilicia, fratribus ex gentibus salutem. S. Pacian., Paræn. ad Pœnit., p. 315. h.: Apostoli, et presbyteri fratres, his qui sunt Antiochiæ, et Syriæ, et Ciliciæ, fratribus qui sunt ex gentibus salutem. Vigil. Taps. l. xii. De Trin., p. 329. c.: Apostoli, et presb. fratres, iis, qui Antiochiæ, et Syr., et Cilic. fratribus qui sunt ex gentibus salutem."
This note certainly goes far to corroborate (if indeed it was not the chief authority for) Dr. Burton's assertion; but it does little to satisfy my curiosity on a point, which I conceive to be of considerable interest, and of no slight importance, at the present time. The Cambridge MS. appears to be in Latin only; as is also the passage referred to in Irenæus, whose original Greek is lost. So that, after all, there is some ground to suspect that there in fact exists no Greek manuscript whatsoever without the καὶ.
I will add another note, which I find at the passage in Irenæus (Contr. Hær., lib. iii. cap. 14. p. 199., ed. Par. 1710):
"Sic cum Irenæo habent codd. Cantabrig. et Alexand. et Vulgatus interpres. At in editis Græcis: πρεσβύτεροι καὶ ὁι ἀδελφοί."
J. Sansom.
Oxford.