The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part 13

Part iv, pp. 264-5), and in other papyrus or vellum fragments of Acts from Egypt occasional agreements with Bezae are found (in P. Amh. 8 at ii. 13, and in von Soden’s a8 at iv. 32).

our twelve [tribes, in intense 7
devotion night [and day, worships in?
hope to [attain, concerning which now?
I am accused [by Jews. If? 8
5 God [raises the dead . . . . .

[disobedient to the heavenly vision but] to those in 20
[Damascus first, and in Jerusalem and] in [
[Judea and to the nations] I preached [
[to repent and to turn] to God [
10 [works worthy of repentance] practicing [

1-3. The ordinary Greek text is "in intense devotion night and day, worships, hoping to attain—concerning which hope I am accused," but Codex Gigas (13th cent.) which has instanter nocte ac die deseruient in spe peruenire, de qua spe accusor instantly night and day they serve in hope to arrive, concerning which hope I am accused, seems to be based on a Greek text closely allied to 1597. "Hope" original: "ἐλπίδι" in l. 3 makes a verb, not a participle, necessary in l. 2; but whether "in" original: "ἐν" should be inserted at the end of l. 2 is doubtful; for it produces 20 letters in the lacuna, whereas in l. 1 there are only 16 in the corresponding space. Line 1 is, however, very short compared with the lines on the recto, and possibly a dittography or unknown variant occurred in the lost part of it. If so, there was no appreciable difference in the length of the lines on the two sides of the leaf, and not only is there plenty of room for "worships in" original: "λατρεύει ἐν" in l. 2, but "hope" original: "ἐλπίδος", for the omission of which there is no parallel, can be restored instead of "now" original: "νῦν" in l. 3, and "king" original: "βασιλεῦ" inserted in l. 4 (cf. n.). But on the whole we prefer on account of l. 1 to suppose that the lines on the verso are somewhat shorter than those on the recto.

4. After "Jews," before which many cursives insert "the," most Greek MSS. except Alexandrinus insert "king"; but Codex Gigas omits rex king, and there may well have been a blank space before v. 8. There is no room for "king" here without creating a great difficulty in the restoration of l. 1; cf. the preceding n. How 1597's recension of v. 8 was arranged is not clear. The Greek MSS. all have "Why is it judged incredible among you, if God raises the dead," which is reproduced in the Latin, and the omission of a line containing "Why . . . among you" is an easy hypothesis. But in view of the other new readings in 1597 the passage may represent a genuinely different recension of a verse which comes into the context somewhat abruptly, and which Nestle wished to place after v. 23.

6. Verses 9-19, which are missing at the top of the recto, would occupy 33 or 34 lines corresponding to ll. 6-10, if the text was approximately as long as the ordinary one; but 1597 seems to be somewhat shorter than usual.

7. The restorations of ll. 9-10, which are practically certain, favour the insertion here