APPENDIX G

A DIFFERENT STEMMA FOR JOHN 7:53-8:11

Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM PhD

The criticisms of The Greek New Testament according to the Majority Text that I have seen have almost invariably fastened upon the genealogical[1] reconstruction of John 7:53-8:11 (among other things).  They note that sixteen times, out of 27 (where the MSS are significantly divided, as reported in the apparatus), the preferred reading is a minority one. Eleven of those times the minority is less than 30%! They discover that the discussion of the variant readings is redolent of Hort—minority readings are preferred against majority readings on the basis of internal evidence. Such a procedure sets aside the argument from statistical probability (which is usually associated with Majority Text Theory). They point out the discrepancy between theory and practice and wonder what went wrong. Can it be that when confronted with reasonably complete collations of the extant MSS the theory just won't work? In any event, why say the text is "according to the Majority" when it isn't?

In the Apocalypse we are presented with a situation where a clear majority is frequently unavailable. Where a majority reading does not exist we are obliged to use a minority reading, and defend our choice as best we may.[2] John 7:53-8:11 is quite different—out of 33 significant variant sets only one lacks a clear majority reading. If the stemma offered on page xxv of the "Introduction" (H-F Majority Text) were incontrovertible then I suppose we should all loyally accept the consequences, but I find both the stemma and the discussion of the 21 variant sets to be less than convincing. Since the author of the "Introduction" recognizes that the stemmatic reconstruction (of Jn. 7:53-8:11) needs to be "searchingly evaluated", and this "calls for the cooperation of many minds" (p. xxxii), I venture to offer the following alternate reconstruction as my bit of "cooperation".

This article is based on a careful check of von Soden done by W.G. Pierpont (personal communication). My reconstruction of the text will be based exclusively on Soden's seven MS groups. Their relative size is as follows:

      7 = a. 260 MSS, which = 29% of the total

      6 = 246 MSS (216 "relatively pure" + 30 others), which = 27%

      5 = a. 280 MSS, which = 31%

      4 = 29

                  } = 45

      3 = 16             }

                               } = 118 MSS, which = 13%

      2 = 50             }

                  } = 73

      1 = 23

With this background I now present the 33 variant sets upon which this study is based. The total is sometimes 99% or 101% because I used whole numbers. Groups M4,3,2,1 are frequently internally divided, and their constituent MSS often go astray with a variety of added variants which are not recorded on the following chart, which is why the groups do not always add up to 100%. I use [ ] for 1-20%, ( ) for 21-95% and the whole # for 95+%.

 

 

# | vs. |     variants              | M7|  M6 | M5|  M4  |  M3  |  M2  |  M1  |  %

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01| 7:53| aphlqen                    | 7 |  6  | - | (48%)|  [6%]|  [4%]|  [9%]| 57

  |     | aphlqon                    | - |  -  | - | (48%)| [12%]|  [4%]| (22%)|  2

  |     |    VS                                                  

  |     | eporeuqh                   | - |  -  | 5 |   -  | (76%)| (24%)|  [4%]| 34

  |     | eporeuqhsan                | - |  -  | - |  [3%]|  [6%]| (66%)| (65%)|  5

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02| 8:1 | hsouV de                    | 7 |  -  | 5 |   -  | (76%)| (68%)| (65%)| 67

  |     |     VS                                                     

  |     | kai o IhsouV                | - |  6  | - |  [3%]|  [6%]| (26%)| (22%)| 29

  |     | kai    IhsouV                 | - |  -  | - |   4  | [18%]|   -  |   -  |  3

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03| 8:2 |  - - -                       | 7 |  -  | 5 | (86%)|   3  | (90%)|   1  | 73

  |     |   VS                                                        

  |     | baqewV                     | - |  6  | - | [14%]|   -  | [10%]|   -  | 28

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04| 8:2 | paregeneto                  | 7 |  -  | 5 | [7%] |   3  | (90%)| (70%)| 67

  |     | paraginetai                 | - |  -  | - |   -  |   -  |   -  | (22%)|  1

  |     |     VS                                                     

  |     | hlqen o IhsouV               | - |  6  | - |   -  |   -  | [10%]|   -  | 28

  |     | hlqen                      | - |  -  | - | (93%)|   -  |   -  |   -  |  3

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05| 8:2 | proV auton                 | 7 |  6  | - | (45%)|   3  |   2  | (83%)| 66

  |     |     VS                                                     

  |     |       - - -                          | - |  -  | 5 |   -  |   -  |   -  | [17%]| 32

  |     | (omit 8:2bc)               | - |  -  | - | (55%)|   -  |   -  |   -  |  2

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06| 8:3 | proV auton                  | 7 |(53%)| 5 | [14%]| (69%)| [16%]| (61%)| 78

  |     |     VS                                                    

  |     |       - - -                          | - |(47%)| - | (86%)| (31%)| (84%)| (39%)| 22

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07| 8:3 | epi                        | 7 |  6  | - |   4  |   3  |   2  | (74%)| 68

  |     | VS                                                      

  |     | en                         | - |  -  | 5 |   -  |   -  |   -  | (26%)| 32

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08| 8:3 | kateilhmmenhn               | 7 |  6  | - |   4  |   3  |   2  | (61%)| 68

  |     |      VS                                                 

  |     | katalhfqeisan              | - |  -  | 5 |   -  |   -  |   -  | (30%)| 32

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09| 8:3 | en                         | 7 |  -  | 5 | [7%] |   -  | (78%)|   1  | 67

  |     |  VS                                                        

  |     | en tw                       | - |  6  | - | (93%)|   3  | (22%)|   -  | 33

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10| 8:4 | legousin                   | 7 |  -  | 5 |   -  |   -  | (78%)| (91%)| 67

  |     |   VS                                                     

  |     | eipon                      | - |  6  | - |   4  |   3  | (22%)| [9%] | 33

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11| 8:4 |    - - -                  | 7 |  6  | - | (93%)|   3  |   2  | (35%)| 67

  |     |     VS                                                     

  |     | peirazonteV                 | - |  -  | 5 | [7%] |   -  |   -  | (57%)| 33

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12| 8:4 | authn                      | 7 |  6  | - |   -  |   -  |   -  |   -  | 56

  |     |    VS                                                      

  |     | auth h gunh                 | - |  -  | 5 |   4  |   3  |   2  |   1  | 44

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13| 8:4 | euromen                    | 7 |  6  | - |   -  |   -  |   -  | [13%]| 56

  |     |    VS                                                     

  |     | katelhfqh                  | - |  -  | 5 | [17%]|   -  | [8%] |   -  | 31

  |     |      eilhptai                | - |  -  | - | (76%)|   3  | (80%)| [13%]|  9

  |     | kateilhptai                 | - |  -  | - | [7%] |   -  | [12%]| (74%)|  3

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14| 8:4 | moiceuomenhn                | 7 |  6  | - |   -  |   -  |   -  |   -  | 56

  |     |      VS

  |     | moiceuomenh                | - |  -  | 5 |   4  |   3  |   2  |   1  | 44

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15| 8:5 | hmwn MwshV                | 7 |  6  | - |   -  | (50%)|   2  |   -  | 62

  |     | hmin  MwshV                 | - |  -  | - |   4  | (50%)|   -  | (20%)|  5

  |     |     MwshV                 | - |  -  | - |   -  |   -  |   -  | (23%)|

  |     |     VS

  |     | MwshV hmin                 | - |  -  | 5 |   -  |   -  |   -  | (57%)| 32

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16| 8:5 | liqoboleisqai                | 7 |  -  | 5 |   -  |   -  |   -  | (48%)| 61

  |     |     VS

  |     | liqazein                    | - |  6  | - |   4  |   3  | (88%)| (52%)| 38

  |     | liqazesqai                  | - |  -  | - |   -  |   -  | [12%]|   -  |  1

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17| 8:5 |    - - -                     | 7 |(39%)| 5 |   -  |   -  | (24%)| (48%)| 73

  |     |     VS

  |     | peri authV                  | - |(61%)| - |   4  |   3  | (76%)| (52%)| 27

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18| 8:6 | ecwsi                      | 7 |  6  | 5 |   -  | (31%)| (26%)| [13%]| 90

  |     |   VS

  |     | scwsi                      | - |  -  | - |   -  | (69%)| (74%)| [13%]|  5

  |     | ecousi                     | - |  -  | - |   4  |   -  |   -  |   -  |  3

  |     | eurwsi                     | - |  -  | - |   -  |   -  |   -  | (73%)|  2

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19| 8:6 | kathgorian kat              | 7 |  6  | - |   4  |   3  |   2  | (35%)| 67

  |     |      VS

  |     | kathgorein                  | - |  -  | 5 |   -  |   -  |   -  | (65%)| 33

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20| 8:6 | mh prospoioumenoV           | 7 |(45%)| 5 |   -  |   -  |   -  | (48%)| 73

  |     |        VS

  |     |             - - -                             | - |(55%)| - |   4  |   3  |   2  | (52%)| 27

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21| 8:7 |   erwtwnteV                 | 7 |  -  | 5 |   4  |   3  | (62%)|   1  | 71

  |     |      VS

  |     | eperwtwnteV                 | - |  6  | - |   -  |   -  | (38%)|   -  | 29

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22| 8:7 | anakuyaV                  | 7 |  -  | 5 | [10%]| [12%]| (30%)| (61%)| 65

  |     | anekuye kai                 | - |  -  | - | (90%)| (70%)| (66%)| [17%]|  8

  |     |     VS

  |     | anableyaV                 | - |  6  | - |   -  | [18%]| [4%] | (22%)| 27

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23| 8:7 | proV autouV                 | 7 |[4%] | 5 |   -  |   -  |   -  | (39%)| 61

  |     |     VS

  |     |     autoiV                 | - |  6  | - |   4  |   3  |   2  | (61%)| 38

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24| 8:7 |   DO  |   IO  |   V   |

  |     |  t. l.   | e. -h  |   b.   | | 7 |  -  | - |   -  |   -  |   -  |   -  | 29

  |     |           VS

  |     |   DO  |   V   |   IO  |

  |     |    l . |   b.    | e. -hn    | | - |  6  | - |   -  | [19%]|   -  | [9%] | 27

  |     |           VS

  |     |   IO  |   DO  |   V   |

  |     | e. -hn    |  t. l.  |  b.     | | - |  -  | 5 |   -  |   -  |   -  |   -  | 31

  |     | e. -h  |  t. l.  |  b.    | | - |  -  | - |   -  | (25%)|   -  | (48%)|  2

  |     | e. -hn   |   l.   |  b.     | | - |[4%] | - | [3%] |   -  | [14%]|   -  |  2

  |     |           VS

  |     |   IO  |   V   |   DO  |

  |     | e. -hn   |   b.    |   l.   | | - |  -  | - |   4  |   -  | (42%)| (43%)|  7

  |     | e. -hn   |   b.   |  t. l.  | | - |  -  | - |   -  |   -  | [16%]|   -  |  1

  |     | e. -h   |   b.   |  t. l.  | | - |  -  | - |   -  | (56%)| (28%)|   -  |  2

  |     | - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  |     | there is a clear majority for t. l. = 65%

  |     | there is a clear majority for e. -hn = 68%

  |     | there is a clear majority for DO in first place =56%

  |     | there is a clear majority for V in last place = 64%

  |     | —so IO must be in the middle. So presumably the majority reading is

  |     | t. l. e. -hn b. (a patchwork quilt!)

25| 8:9 | kai upo thV s. e.      | 7 |(46%)| 5 | (21%)|   -  | (24%)|   -  | 74

  |     | kai                        | - |  -  | - | (79%)|   -  |   -  |   -  |  2

  |     |        VS

  |     |        - - -                 | - |(54%)| - |   -  |   3  | (76%)|   1  | 24

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26| 8:9 | ewV twn escatwn      | 7 |  6  | - |   4  |   3  | (88%)|   -  | 62

  |     |       VS             

  |     |       - - -                  | - |  -  | 5 |   -  |   -  | [12%]|   1  | 38

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27| 8:9 | monoV o IhsouV               | 7 |(38%)| 5 |   -  |   -  | (48%)| (78%)| 74

  |     |