The Epistle of Jude : Its Text and Transmission

This study treats the textual tradition of the Epistle of Jude. After an introductory survey of earlier text-critical research, the two main purposes of this investigation are formulated: to gather and to analyze the complete textual evidence of the Epistle of Jude. The first task, to gather the evidence, involves the collation of all Greek continuous text MSS of the Epistle of Jude. The evidence of 560 Greek MSS, including dozens of lectionaries, is presented in an exhaustive critical apparatus. The major part of these textual witnesses have not received the attention they deserve. Now, for the first time, all these MSS have been examined in a complete book of the NT. The full collation has brought many new readings to light, some of which were only known through ancient versions, and previously known and important readings have gained additional support. The second task is to analyze the evidence from different perspectives. The pursuit of the traditional goal of textual criticism, i.e., the reconstruction of the history of the text, and, ultimately, the "original text" (or "initial text" as here defined), is reflected in the adopted critical text of Jude. An accompanying textual commentary explains the rationale behind the various text-critical decisions in over 100 passages. An innovation is the employment of a new rating system of a more descriptive nature than counterparts. The history of the text is also the history of scribes who read and re-created their texts for various reasons. Hence, there is a constant focus on individual manuscripts and interesting manuscript readings throughout the study. Every manuscript has a unique story to tell about the ancient copyists, owners and users. In particular, the two earliest papyrus witnesses to Jude, P72 and P78 (ca. 300 C.E.), are studied in detail. Plates of these and other selected MSS are published in the volume along with descriptions and transcriptions. The study also includes a treatment of the literary and text-critical relationship between 2 Peter and Jude. It is argued that the Epistle of Jude has literary priority. Further, the textual traditions of the two writings show that scribal harmonization between the parallel accounts occurs relatively infrequently. Two significant witnesses, P72 and Codex Vaticanus (B 03), lack such harmonization altogether