Textual tradition of Romans in the Greek lectionaries (9th–13th century)

Abstract

Adding to the intricate NT textual tapestry that has been woven over the last two millennia, we encounter the Greek lectionaries. These books, which are laden with liturgical and textual complexities, were one of the primary carriers of the biblical text in the context of the Byzantine Church. As such, they comprise almost half of the extant witnesses to the Greek NT. Despite the vast number of lectionaries, they have been largely neglected by NT textual scholarship. Consequently, little is known about their text and structure.

In this study, I delve into the text of Romans transmitted in 71 Greek lectionaries dated from the ninth to the thirteenth century to improve our understanding of this tradition. The main question proposed by this investigation concerns the state of the text of Romans in the lectionaries. The lectionaries, however, exhibit numerous complexities. For this reason, matters besides the text must precede the textual inquiry. Thus, this study begins in the Introduction with a broader approach that attempts to contextualize the lectionaries in their proper setting in the Byzantine Church. As such, the Introduction seeks to clarify the (confusing) issue of lectionary terminology and explore the subject of lectionary structure. On the one hand, lectionary terminology needs to be addressed because it determines how one refers to the content and structure of the lectionaries. On the other hand, lectionary structure must be carefully considered because of textual alterations occasioned by liturgical modifications to the biblical text. Besides being relevant for NTTC, the discussions of lectionary terminology and structure are also significant for other disciplines, especially liturgical studies. Thus, although the central question of this study concerns the text of Romans in the lectionaries, it is hoped that this investigation will illuminate other debated or unresolved issues in lectionary studies.

After the Introduction, I briefly outline methods available to determine the textual character of NT MSS, focusing especially on the methods adopted in recent lectionary investigations and what method the present research follows. This study is more comprehensive than previous ones since it relies on the collation of full texts instead of selected test passages only. This extensive collation is presented in a textual apparatus. The central question of the study is approached from three main directions: the text of Romans within the lectionary tradition, in relation to the text transmitted in the continuous text tradition as preserved in 56 witnesses, and in relation to three editions: NA28, the 2005 edition prepared by Maurice A. Robinson and William G. Pierpont, and the Greek text edited by Antoniades in 1904 and currently published by the Apostoliki Diakonia. By including these three editions, it is possible to gain insights into the text of the lectionaries in relation to the reconstructed initial text of the NT (the Ausgangstext), the text of the majority of continuous text witnesses, and the text of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Among several conclusions, this initial investigation shows that from the ninth to the thirteenth century, the lectionaries transmit a highly stable text of Romans. With a few exceptions, the surveyed MSS largely preserve the late form of the Byzantine text. At the same time, the witnesses display significant discrepancies with the text transmitted in the continuous text tradition of the Byzantine period. The lectionaries also show substantial incongruencies within the lectionary tradition, so that the text transmitted by the lectionaries is not as monolithic as one might presume. This investigation, therefore, represents one more step in advancing our understanding of the NT in its late Byzantine form. Besides these and other findings, this study makes several contributions to the disciplines of NTTC. To name a few, this exploration identifies pairs and clusters of lectionaries, as well as representatives of the Majority text of the lectionaries. It also provides a wealth of data laid out in the appendices. Moreover, this investigation makes contributions in the field of liturgical studies, especially by explaining the development of the weekday reading cycle of the epistles.