In textual criticism of the New Testament, Caesarean text-type is the term proposed by certain scholars to denote a consistent pattern of variant readings that is claimed to be apparent in certain

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...

of the four

Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...

, but which is not found in any of the other commonly recognized New Testament text types (

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and Alexandrian). In particular a common text type has been proposed to be found: in the ninth/tenth century Codex Koridethi; in Codex Basilensis A. N. IV. 2 (a Greek manuscript of the Gospels used sparingly by

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

in his 1516 printed Koine New Testament); and in those Gospel quotations found in the third century works of

Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...

, which were written after he had settled in Caesarea. The early translations of the Gospels in

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

and Georgian also appear to witness to many of the proposed characteristic Caesarean readings, as do the small group of minuscule manuscripts classed as Family 1 and Family 13. However, some text critics such as Kurt and Barbara Aland have disputed the existence of a Caesarean text-type.

Description

A particularly distinctive common reading of the proposed text-type is in Matthew 27:16-17, where the bandit released by

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

instead of Jesus is named as "Jesus

Barabbas According to the New Testament, Barabbas () was a Jewish bandit and rabble-rouser who was imprisoned by the Judaea (Roman province), Roman occupation in Jerusalem, only to be chosen over Jesus by a crowd to be pardoned by Roman governor Pontius ...

" rather than—with all other surviving witnesses—just "Barabbas".

notes particularly that the form "Jesus Barabbas" was common in manuscripts in Caesarea, whereas he had not found this reading in his previous residence in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. Otherwise the Caesarean readings have a mildly paraphrastic tendency that seems to place them between the more concise Alexandrian, and the more expansive

text-types. None of the surviving Caesarean manuscripts is claimed to witness a pure type of text, as all appear to have been to some degree assimilated with readings from the

Byzantine text-type In the textual criticism of the New Testament, the Byzantine text-type (also called Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text) is one of the main Textual criticism#New Testament, text types. ...

. Some writers have questioned the validity of this grouping, claiming that the classification is the result of poor research. Insofar as the Caesarean text-type does exist, then it does so only in the Gospels, with most studies focusing on readings in Mark; the text-type is not so well defined in Matthew, Luke and John. The proposed Caesarean witnesses do not appear to have any common distinctive readings in the rest of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

. Some of the Caesarean manuscripts have the so-called Jerusalem Colophon. The Caesarean text-type was discovered and named by Burnett Hillman Streeter in 1924. According to some scholars such as Kurt and Barbara Aland, it is only a hypothetical text-type. There are no pure Caesarean manuscripts. In many cases, it is difficult to decide the original reading of the group, for instance in Mark 1:16: : — ƒ 565. : — ƒ : — 700. : — 28. ; Classification siglia * H. von Soden — Iota (Jerusalem) (I), in part (most strong "Caesarean" witnesses are found in Soden's I group, with family 1 being his I and family 13 being I). *

Kirsopp Lake Kirsopp Lake (7 April 187210 November 1946) was an English New Testament Biblical scholar, scholar, Church history, Church historian, Palaeography#Greek Palaeography, Greek palaeographer, and Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard ...

, an outstanding British textual critic, developed the hypothesis of the relationship between ƒ, ƒ, Θ, 565, 700, and 28. Streeter carried Lake's work further by pointing to Caesarea as the original location of the family. * F. G. Kenyon — Gamma (γ) * M. J. Lagrange — C

Supposed witnesses

The earliest potential witnesses to something alike the Caesarean manuscripts are Papyrus 45 () and some of the (now non-existent) manuscripts used by Origen. According to biblical scholar Teofilio Ayuso, and the quotations of Origen count as "proto-Caesarean", however the full Caesarean text only appears later in manuscripts such as Koridethi (Θ) and the early Armenian and Georgian manuscripts. Notwithstanding this association of and a "proto" or "pre-Caesarean" text-type, biblical scholar Larry Hurtado quashed any sort of affiliation between and the Caesarean text-type. He argued only that and Codex Washingtonianus (W) had a close relationship in the

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark is the second of the four canonical Gospels and one of the three synoptic Gospels, synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from baptism of Jesus, his baptism by John the Baptist to his death, the Burial of Jesus, ...

, but not with any other witness considered to represent the Caesarean text-type. Therefore, Hurtado states "the 'pre-Caesarean' witnesses are not Caesarean at all," and accordingly and W " onot belong to any major text-type." ; Other manuscripts , , , , Uncial 0188, 174, 230, 406 (?), 788, 826, 828, 872 (only in Mark), 1071, 1275, 1424 (only in Mark), 1604, 2437, ℓ ''32''. David Alan Black, ''New Testament Textual Criticism'', Baker Books, 2006, p. 65.

Textual features

(Apparent Caesarean witnesses in Bold) : (''and when the centurion returned to his house in that hour, he found the slave well'') - C ( N) Θ ( 0250) ƒ ( 33. 1241.) g syr : omit. - Majority of MSS (NA26) : (''through Isaiah the prophet'') – Θ ƒ ƒ 33. : (''through the prophet'') — Majority of MSS (UBS3) : (''and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with'') - Majority of MSS : omit. — B D L Z Θ 085 ƒ ƒ it syr sa : (''Jesus Barabbas'') — Θ ƒ 700.* syr arm geo : (''Barabbas'') — Majority of MSS : (''only having one loaf'') — Θ ƒ 565. 700 k sa : omit — Majority of MSS : (''of the Herodians'') — W Θ ƒ ƒ 28. 565. 1365. i k cop arm geo : (''of Herod'') — majority of mss : (''in your hearts, Oh little-faithed ones'') — Θ 28. 565. 700. ''pc'' syr : omit. - Majority of MSS : (''prayer and fasting'') — A C D L W Θ Ψ ƒ ƒ Majority of MSS : (''prayer'') — B 0274 k : (''do not defraud'') — A B C D X Θ 565. 892. 1009. 1071. 1195. 1216. 1230. 1241 1253. 1344. 1365. 1646. 2174. Byz Lect : omit. — B* K W Δ Ψ ƒ ƒ 28 700 1010. 1079. 1242. 1546. 2148. ℓ ''10'' ℓ ''950'' ℓ ''1642'' ℓ ''1761'' syr arm geo : (''a certain man planted a vineyard'') — W Θ ƒ 565 aur c : (''a man planted a vineyard'') — Β C Δ Ψ 33. 1424. : (''seeing him coming, he said towards them'') — Θ 565. 700. c : (''seeing him coming, he said'') — N ƒ 28. : (''he said towards them, "Because...'') — Β C L W Ψ 33. 892. : (''he said towards them'') — D : (''he said towards them, "Because...'') — A Majority of MSS : (''saying that, "I am the Messiah"'') — W Θ ƒ 28 61. 115. 255. 299. 565. 700. 1071. b c g l vg sa bo geo arm arab Cyp : (''saying that, "I am he"'') — Majority of MSS

Notes

References

* {{Cite journal , first=Bruce Manning , last=Metzger , author-link=Bruce M. Metzger , title=The Caesarean Text of the Gospels , pages=457–489 , journal=Journal of Biblical Literature , volume=64 , issue=4 , year=1945, doi=10.2307/3262276 , jstor=3262276

External links

Text Types And Textual Kinship
– from the ''Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism''

Origins of the Caesarean text
Bible versions and translations New Testament text-types Christian terminology