Acts of the Apostles

Here you can discuss all things Ancient Greek. Use this board to ask questions about grammar, discuss learning strategies, get help with a difficult passage of Greek, and more.
Post Reply
C. S. Bartholomew
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 1259
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:03 pm

Acts of the Apostles

Post by C. S. Bartholomew »

Winding down on Agamemnon. Wondering what anyone would like to read. Kind of ready to do some narrative after nine months of Tragedy. Thinking about doing the book of Acts using Culy-Parsons[1], Fitzmyer AB, Barrett ICC, F.F.Bruce, H.A.W. Meyer, H. Alford ...

Been about 15 years since I did a long study of this book with particular attention given to the western text. Now that Codex Bezae[2] is online it would be a good project to repeat and of course I can dig out my notes from the 1990s and reuse them.

Anyone interested in doing that?

[1]Acts: A Handbook on the Greek Text of Acts. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2003.
[2]http://epapers.bham.ac.uk/1663/1/Bezae% ... xml#B02K16
Last edited by C. S. Bartholomew on Sun Jun 16, 2013 5:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
C. Stirling Bartholomew

radagasty
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 26
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2013 12:00 am

Re: what next? Acts of the Apostles

Post by radagasty »

I would certainly be interested in reading through the Acts of the Apostles. How fast do you envisage going?

I have to say, though, that my Greek is much weaker than my Latin. In fact, this is my first post in the Greek forums.

C. S. Bartholomew
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 1259
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:03 pm

Acts of the Apostles

Post by C. S. Bartholomew »

radagasty wrote:I would certainly be interested in reading through the Acts of the Apostles. How fast do you envisage going?

I have to say, though, that my Greek is much weaker than my Latin. In fact, this is my first post in the Greek forums.
No reason to rush through it. I might start out by doing some reading in chapters 20-28 but would be willing at anytime to entertain questions anywhere in the book. We could treat this as an Acts discussion forum where anything pertaining to the Greek text of Acts could be discussed at anytime and with occasional dipping into the Latin versions including Codex Bezae. My Latin is certainly rudimentary so you could be of help in that department.

I cannot seem to lay my hands on my late 1990s notes so I will probably be doing this project from scratch.
C. Stirling Bartholomew

C. S. Bartholomew
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 1259
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:03 pm

Re: Acts of the Apostles

Post by C. S. Bartholomew »

Acts 1:1-2 Codex Bezae
πραξις αποστολων    
τον μεν πρωτον λογον εποιησαμην   
περι παντων ω θεοφιλε 
ων ηρξατο ιης ποιειν τε     
και διδασκειν 
αχρι ης ημερας 
ανελημφθη εντειλαμενος τοις αποστολοις 
δια πνς αγιου ους εξελεξατο και εκελευσε 
κηρυσσειν το ευαγγελιον 

Acts 1:1 NA27 Τὸν μὲν πρῶτον λόγον ἐποιησάμην περὶ πάντων, ὦ Θεόφιλε, ὧν ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς ποιεῖν τε καὶ διδάσκειν, 2 ἄχρι ἧς ἡμέρας ἐντειλάμενος τοῖς ἀποστόλοις διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου οὓς ἐξελέξατο ἀνελήμφθη.
Culy-Parsons:2003 note that μεν without δε is frequent in Acts. S.Levinsohn:2000 p. 170-171 claims it is used both with and without δε to mark text which is background. I would suggest that in Acts 1:1 it also marks a contextualizer, i.e., a segment of text which situates the following narrative within a larger narrative framework. Attic Tragedy has several examples of μεν with or without δε in the first clause of the play. I haven't studied all of these.

Aeschylus Agamemnon

{ΦΥΛΑΞ}
Θεοὺς μὲν αἰτῶ τῶνδ' ἀπαλλαγὴν πόνων,

Aeschylus Supplices

{ΧΟΡΟΣ ΔΑΝΑΙΔΩΝ}
Ζεὺς μὲν ἀφίκτωρ ἐπίδοι προφρόνως
στόλον ἡμέτερον νάιον ἀρθέντ'

Aeschylus Eumenides

{ΠΡΟΦΗΤΙΣ}
Πρῶτον μὲν εὐχῇ τῇδε πρεσβεύω θεῶν
τὴν πρωτόμαντιν Γαῖαν· ἐκ δὲ τῆς Θέμιν,
ἣ δὴ τὸ μητρὸς δευτέρα τόδ' ἕζετο

Soph. ΤΡΑΧΙΝΙΑΙ
1 {ΔΗΙΑΝΕΙΡΑ}
1 Λόγος μέν ἐστ’ ἀρχαῖος ἀνθρώπων φανεὶς
2 ὡς οὐκ ἂν αἰῶν’ ἐκμάθοις βροτῶν, πρὶν ἂν
3 θάνῃ τις, οὔτ’ εἰ χρηστὸς οὔτ’ εἴ τῳ κακός·

S.Aj
ΑΙΑΣ

{ΑΘΑΝΑ}
Ἀεὶ μέν, ὦ παῖ Λαρτίου, δέδορκά σε
πεῖράν τιν' ἐχθρῶν ἁρπάσαι θηρώμενον·
καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ σκηναῖς σε ναυτικαῖς ὁρῶ
Αἴαντος, ἔνθα τάξιν ἐσχάτην ἔχει,
πάλαι κυνηγετοῦντα καὶ μετρούμενον
ἴχνη τὰ κείνου νεοχάραχθ', ὅπως ἴδῃς

S.Ph
ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ

{ΟΔΥΣΣΕΥΣ}
Ἀκτὴ μὲν ἥδε τῆς περιρρύτου χθονὸς
Λήμνου, βροτοῖς ἄστιπτος οὐδ' οἰκουμένη,
ἔνθ', ὦ κρατίστου πατρὸς Ἑλλήνων τραφεὶς
Ἀχιλλέως παῖ Νεοπτόλεμε, τὸν Μηλιᾶ
Ποίαντος υἱὸν ἐξέθηκ' ἐγώ ποτε,
ταχθεὶς τόδ' ἔρδειν τῶν ἀνασσόντων ὕπο,

Euripides ΙΠΠΟΛΥΤΟΣ

{ΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΗ}
Πολλὴ μὲν ἐν βροτοῖσι κοὐκ ἀνώνυμος
θεὰ κέκλημαι Κύπρις οὐρανοῦ τ' ἔσω·
ὅσοι τε Πόντου τερμόνων τ' Ἀτλαντικῶν
ναίουσιν εἴσω, φῶς ὁρῶντες ἡλίου,
τοὺς μὲν σέβοντας τἀμὰ πρεσβεύω κράτη,
σφάλλω δ' ὅσοι φρονοῦσιν εἰς ἡμᾶς μέγα.


Euripides ΕΛΕΝΗ

{ΕΛΕΝΗ}
Νείλου μὲν αἵδε καλλιπάρθενοι ῥοαί,
ὃς ἀντὶ δίας ψακάδος Αἰγύπτου πέδον
λευκῆς τακείσης χιόνος ὑγραίνει γύας.
Πρωτεὺς δ' ὅτ' ἔζη τῆσδε γῆς τύραννος ἦν,
[Φάρον μὲν οἰκῶν νῆσον, Αἰγύπτου δ' ἄναξ,]
ὃς τῶν κατ' οἶδμα παρθένων μίαν γαμεῖ,
Ya know, this did have a felling of deja vu about it, I have already addressed this citing Cooper (who else?).
see: inceptive μὲν" Aeschylus Agamemnon Line 1
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=41879

In that thread I didn't suggest that it was used to mark contextualizers however.
C. Stirling Bartholomew

C. S. Bartholomew
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 1259
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:03 pm

Re: Acts of the Apostles

Post by C. S. Bartholomew »

C. S. Bartholomew wrote:Culy-Parsons:2003 note that μεν without δε is frequent in Acts. S.Levinsohn:2000 p. 170-171 claims it is used both with and without δε to mark text which is background. I would suggest that in Acts 1:1 it also marks a contextualizer, i.e., a segment of text which situates the following narrative within a larger narrative framework. Attic Tragedy has several examples of μεν with or without δε in the first clause of the play and at the beginning of speeches.
Want to back off a little bit on this. I think claiming that μεν marks the beginning of a contextualizing constituent (clause, sentence, paragraph) is probably a going beyond the evidence. We do find what some grammarians call the incipient μεν at the beginning of text blocks which give background information about the following narrative. But that alone doesn't substantiate the notion that μεν marks that property of the text it introduces.
C. Stirling Bartholomew

C. S. Bartholomew
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 1259
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:03 pm

Re: Acts of the Apostles

Post by C. S. Bartholomew »

Acts 1:5 ὅτι Ἰωάννης μὲν ἐβάπτισεν ὕδατι, ὑμεῖς δὲ ἐν πνεύματι βαπτισθήσεσθε ἁγίῳ οὐ μετὰ πολλὰς ταύτας ἡμέρας.

The separation of πνεύματι ... ἁγίῳ by the verb βαπτισθήσεσθε is found in two old uncials Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. Mainstream NT textual-criticism has had a difficult time accepting any reading that contradicts the testimony of these two documents. For some editors when B & Aleph agree on a reading that settles the matter.

I looked for examples of πνεύμα ... ἅγιον separated by verb and found quite a few in the Church Fathers. Clement of Alexandria was over represented. This might be reflection of his reading habits.

Clemens Alexandrinus , Paedagogus (
Book 1, chapter 6, subchapter 30, section 2, line 3

κατήχησις εἰς πίστιν περιάγει, πίστις δὲ ἅμα βαπτίσματι
ἁγίῳ παιδεύεται πνεύματι· ἐπεί, ὅτι γε μία καθολικὴ τῆς
ἀνθρωπότητος σωτηρία ἡ πίστις, ἰσότης δὲ καὶ κοινωνία τοῦ


Clemens Alexandrinus , Paedagogus
Book 2, chapter 8, subchapter 65, section 3, line 1

δὲ τῷ σωφροσύνης ἀμβροσίῳ χρίσματι συναλειφέσθω, ἁγίῳ τερ-
πομένη μύρῳ τῷ πνεύματι. Τοῦτο σκευάζει Χριστὸς ἀνθρώποις
γνωρίμοις, εὐωδίας ἄλειμμα, ἐκ τῶν οὐρανίων συντιθεὶς ἀρωμάτων

Clemens Alexandrinus , Paedagogus
Book 3, chapter 12, subchapter 101, section 2, line 1

κλύδωνα διαπλεύσαντας, γαληνιῶντας ἁγίῳ συμφέρεσθαι
πνεύματι, σοφίᾳ τῇ ἀνεκφράστῳ· νύκτωρ, καθ' ἡμέραν,
εἰς τὴν τελείαν ἡμέραν, αἰνοῦντας εὐχάριστον αἶνον τῷ

Justinus Martyr Apol., Dialogus cum Tryphone
Chapter 7, section 1, line 10

μόνα ταῦτα εἰπόντες ἃ ἤκουσαν καὶ ἃ εἶδον ἁγίῳ πληρωθέντες
πνεύματι.

Eusebius Scr. Eccl.,. Book 7, chapter 1, section 8, line 3

δόξης τε καὶ βασιλείας ἵδρυσιν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, τῷ τε ἁγίῳ ἐπι-
θειάσας πνεύματι καὶ μέλλων ἑξῆς τὴν εἰς ἀνθρώπους αὐτοῦ πάροδον
καὶ τὴν ἐκ παρθένου γέννησιν ὑπογράφειν, προμαρτύρεται τὴν εἰς


Novum Testamentum, Evangelium secundum Matthaeum
Chapter 1, section 20, line 4

φοβηθῇς παραλαβεῖν Μαριὰμ τὴν γυναῖκά σου, τὸ γὰρ
ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθὲν ἐκ πνεύματός ἐστιν ἁγίου·
τέξεται

Protevangelium Jacobi

Section 30, line 3

Καὶ
ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος Κυρίου φαίνεται αὐ-
[αὐ]τῷ κατ' ὄνειρον λέγων· «Μὴ
φοβηθῇς τὴν παῖδα ταύτην·
τὸ γὰρ ἐν ἑαυτῇ ὂν ἐκ Πνεύματός ἐστιν
ἁγίου.

Clemens Alexandrinus Stromata
Book 6, chapter 15, section 127, subsection 3

ἐπὶ πᾶσί τε τὸ παραβολικὸν εἶδος τῆς γραφῆς, ἀρχαιότατον
ὄν, ὡς παρεστήσαμεν, εἰκότως παρὰ τοῖς προφήταις μάλιστα ἐπλεό-
νασεν, ἵνα δὴ καὶ τοὺς φιλοσόφους τοὺς παρ' Ἕλλησι καὶ τοὺς παρὰ
τοῖς ἄλλοις βαρβάροις σοφοὺς ἠγνοηκέναι τὸ ἅγιον ἐπιδείξῃ πνεῦμα
τὴν ἐσομένην τοῦ κυρίου παρουσίαν καὶ τὴν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ παραδοθησο-
μένην μυστικὴν διδασκαλίαν.


Clemens Alexandrinus Eclogae propheticae
Chapter 8, section 2, line 2

Ὕδωρ ἐπάνω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ»· ἐπεὶ τὸ βάπτισμα γίνεται δι' «ὕδατος
καὶ πνεύματος», ἀλεξητήριον ὂν πυρὸς τοῦ δισσοῦ, τοῦ τε τῶν ἀορά-
των ἁπτομένου καὶ τοῦ τῶν ὁρατῶν, ἀνάγκη καὶ τοῦ ὕδατος τὸ μέν
τι νοητόν, τὸ δὲ αἰσθητὸν ὑπάρχειν, ἀλεξητήριον τῆς διπλόης τοῦ
πυρός· καὶ τὸ μὲν ἐπίγειον ὕδωρ τὸ σῶμα ἀπορρύπτει, τὸ δὲ ἐπου-
ράνιον ὕδωρ διὰ τὸ εἶναι νοητὸν καὶ ἀόρατον πνεῦμα ἀλληγορεῖται
ἅγιον, τῶν ἀοράτων καθαρτικόν, οἷον τοῦ πνεύματος ὕδωρ ὥσπερ
ἐκεῖνο τοῦ σώματος.
C. Stirling Bartholomew

radagasty
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 26
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2013 12:00 am

Re: Acts of the Apostles

Post by radagasty »

C. S. Bartholomew wrote:No reason to rush through it. I might start out by doing some reading in chapters 20-28 but would be willing at anytime to entertain questions anywhere in the book. We could treat this as an Acts discussion forum where anything pertaining to the Greek text of Acts could be discussed at anytime and with occasional dipping into the Latin versions including Codex Bezae. My Latin is certainly rudimentary so you could be of help in that department.
It is by now abundantly clear to me that the level of my Greek is not up to participating in this discussion. My interest in reading Acts is two-fold: as a means of improving my proficiency in the language, and because I'm taking a course on the book next semester. However, I would merely be reading the text for basic comprehension, rather than to discuss the finer points of Greek syntax, which, whilst not uninteresting, is beyond me at this point. I am of course happy help with Latin should the need arise, but, at this stage, I don't think I can contribute much, if at all, to this discussion.

C. S. Bartholomew
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 1259
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:03 pm

Re: Acts of the Apostles

Post by C. S. Bartholomew »

radagasty wrote:
It is by now abundantly clear to me that the level of my Greek is not up to participating in this discussion. My interest in reading Acts is two-fold: as a means of improving my proficiency in the language, and because I'm taking a course on the book next semester. However, I would merely be reading the text for basic comprehension, rather than to discuss the finer points of Greek syntax, which, whilst not uninteresting, is beyond me at this point. I am of course happy help with Latin should the need arise, but, at this stage, I don't think I can contribute much, if at all, to this discussion.
I understand. Acts is a moderately difficult book. Luke's vocabulary is daunting, most students of the Greek NT now days use one of the bible research packages (Bibleworks, Logos, Accordance) which allow them to "READ" without hundreds of hours of page turning in Fredrick Danker's Third edition. My nephew who graduated a few years back from Fuller in Pasadena used Accordance for his Greek studies which was not only permitted but encouraged by his instructors.

The syntax of Acts is occasionally challenging. I read through it in the late 90s with close attention to the text in Codex Bezae. I found my notes on this. I may continue to post now and then. Perhaps someone will take some interest in Acts. I have neglected the book. It is for me the least read book of the NT.
C. Stirling Bartholomew

Post Reply