The text of Romans, second Corinthians, and Galatians in the writings of Origen of Alexandria

430 Pages·2016·2.74 MB·English

by  Matthew Steinfeld

THE TEXT OF ROMANS, SECOND CORINTHIANS, AND
GALATIANS IN THE WRITINGS OF ORIGEN OF
ALEXANDRIA

by

MATTHEW RICHARD STEINFELD

A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the
degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

School of Philosophy, Theology, and Religion
College of Arts and Law
University of Birmingham
September 2015
University of Birmingham Research Archive

e-theses repository

This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third
parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect
of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or
as modified by any successor legislation.

Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in
accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further
distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission
of the copyright holder.
ABSTRACT

This thesis gathers and analyzes Origen of Alexandria's citations of Romans, 2
Corinthians and Galatians in order to gain a better understanding of the nature of the
New Testament text in the second and third centuries. Throughout the transmission
process of Origen’s writings, it is possible that the wording of his citations has
undergone alteration that relates to changes in the New Testament transmission.
Origen’s citations are analyzed to determine whether his citations, as they are found
today, first transmit the text quoted by the author, and, second, are likely to be a
reflection of his biblical manuscripts. If Origen’s authorial citations can be
demonstrated to be from his biblical exemplars, it is only then that his citational text
can be compared with New Testament manuscripts for the purposes of establishing
textual affinity. If Origen’s citations cannot be used to establish his biblical text, then
his use as a witness to specific text-forms should be reconsidered. However, his
citations still reveal the transmission history of his writings, specifically how they
have undergone alteration in light of the historical and theological environments of
his editors. The thesis concludes that Origen, despite often corresponding to the
Initial text and Byzantine text agreements, cited freely with little extant manuscript
support. This suggests that his authorial citations have been accommodated to a text
form similar to that of the Initial text and then the Byzantine text through subsequent
transmission.
To Julie and Paul Coley, my dear friends
The research leading to these results has received funding in part from the European
Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no.
283302 (COMPAUL: The Earliest Commentaries on Paul as Sources for the Biblical
Text).
Table of Contents

Table of Contents 1
List of Tables 3
General Abbreviations 5
Abbreviations of Primary Sources for Origen’s Citations 6
Abbreviation of Secondary Sources for Origen’s Citations 8

CHAPTER ONE 11
1.1 Introduction 11
1.2 A Working Definition of “Patristic Citation” 17
1.3 Historical Definitions of Patristic Citations 18
1.4 The Goals of NT Textual Criticism and Original Text 22
1.5 Citational Text vs. Biblical Text 27
1.6 Searching for Origen’s Citational Text 31
1.7 Verifying Thesaurus Linguae Graecae with Biblia Patristica 34
1.8 Sources for Citational Text 38
1.9 Presentation of Origen’s Citational Text 43
1.10 Potential Shortcomigns of Procedures and Findings 46
1.11 Toward a Commentary on Origen’s New Testament Text 49

CHAPTER TWO 54
2.1 Secondary Sources for Origen’s Citations of Romans 54
2.2 Origen’s Primary Works as Sources for Citations of Romans 58
2.3 Verses of Romans Origen Does Not Cite 59
2.4 Markings and Introductory Material 60
2.5 Secondary Sources in Order of their Citational Frequency 61
2.6 Origen’s Primary Works in Order of their Citational Frequency 67
2.7 Textual Commentary on Origen’s Citations of Romans 74
2.8 Summary of Origen’s citations of Romans 137

CHAPTER THREE 139
3.1 Secondary Sources for Origen’s Citations of 2 Corinthians 139
3.2 Origen’s Primary Sources for Citations of 2 Corinthians 140
3.3 2 Corinthians Verses Origen Does Not Cite 142
3.4 Markings and Introductory Material 143
3.5 Secondary Sources in Order of their Citational Frequency 144
3.6 Primary Works in Order of their Citational Frequency 149
3.7 Textual Commentary on Origen’s Citations of Romans 159
3.8 Summary of Origen’s Citations of 2 Corinthians 203

CHAPTER FOUR 205
4.1 Secondary Sources for Origen’s Citations of Galatians 205
4.2 Origen’s Primary Works as Sources for Citations of Galatians 206
1
4.3 Verses of Galatians Origen Does Not Cite 208
4.4 Markings and Introductory Material 208
4.5 Secondary Sources in Order of their Citational Frequency 209
4.6 Origen’s Primary Works in the Order of their Citational Frequency 213
4.7 Textual Commentary on Origen’s Citations of Galatians 218
4.8 Summary of Origen’s Citations of Galatians 243

CHAPTER FIVE 245
5.1 Secondary and Primary Sources of Origen and the Citations They Contain 245
5.1.1. Secondary Sources That Cite All Three Epistles 246
5.1.2. Primary Sources That Cite All Three Epistles 251
5.1.3. Secondary Sources That Cite Romans and 2 Corinthians 257
5.1.4. Primary Sources That Cite Romans and 2 Corinthians 258
5.1.5. Secondary Sources That Cite Romans and Galatians 260
5.1.6. Secondary Sources That 2 Corinthians and Galatians 260
5.1.7. Primary Sources That Cite 2 Corinthians and Galatians 261
5.1.8. Summary of Sources and Their Citations 261
5.2. Overall Textual Affinity of Citations from Individual Epistles 263
5.2.1 The Overall Textual Affinity of Romans Citations 265
5.2.2 The Overall Textual Affinity of 2 Corinthians Citations 267
5.2.3. The Overall Textual Affinity of Galatians Citations 269
5.2.4 Summary of Overall Textual Affinity 271
5.3. A Presentation of Significant Readings 273
5.3.1. Origen’s Citations of Mixed Affinity 273
5.3.2 Origen’s Readings Against the Initial Text and Byzantine Text 277
5.3.3 Mixture in the Early Sources for the Greek New Testament 289
5.3.4 Different Readings Between Origen’s Works 293
5.4. Origen’s Citational and Biblical Text 295
5.5. Implications Relevant to the Research Questions in Chapter 1 302
5.5.1 Goals of New Testament Textual Criticism and the Church Fathers 302
5.5.2 Reconstructions and Memory in Relation to Patristic Citations 303
5.5.3 What is a citation? 306
5.6. The Future of Patristic Citations 309
5.7. Recommendations for Future Research 313

BIBLIOGRAPHY 315
APPENDIX 1 — ORIGEN’S CITATIONS OF ROMANS 334
APPENDIX 2 — ORIGEN’S CITATIONS OF 2 CORINTHIANS 395
APPENDIX 3 — ORIGEN’S CITATIONS OF GALATIANS 413
2
List of Tables

1. Variant Readings of Romans in Secondary Sources 55
2. Affinity of Romans Readings in Secondary Sources 56
3. Secondary Readings Excluding Rom.Frag A & D 57
4. Variant Readings of Romans in Primary Sources 58
5. Weighted Readings of Romans in Origen’s Works 58
6. Variant Readings of 2 Corinthians in Secondary Sources 139
7. Weighted Readings of 2 Corinthians in Secondary Sources 140
8. Variant Readings of 2 Corinthians in Primary Works 141
9. Weighted Readings of 2 Corinthians in Primary Works 141
10. Variant Readings of Galatians in Secondary Sources 205
11. Weighted Readings of Galatians in Secondary Sources 206
12. Variant Readings of Galatians in Primary Works 207
13. Weighted Readings of Galatians in Primary Works 207
14. 1Cor.Com Readings 246
15. Basil.Phil A Readings 247
16. Eph.Com Readings 247
17. Jer.Frag B Readings 248
18. John.Frag Readings 248
19. Ps.Exc Readings 248
20. Ps.Sel Readings 249
21. Rom.Frag A Readings 249
22. Cels Readings 251
23. Euches Readings 251
24. Jer.Hom A Readings 252
25. Jer.Hom B Readings 252
26. John.Com A Readings 252
27. John.Com B Readings 253
28. Mart Readings 253
29. Matt.Com A Readings 254
30. Matt.Com B Readings 254
31. Matt.Com C Readings 254
32. Pass Readings 255
33. Princ Readings 255
34. Ps.Frag Readings 256
35. Lam.Frag Readings 257
36. Prov.Exp Readings 257
37. Rom.Frag B Readings 257
38. Ex.Com Readings 258
39. Gen.Com Readings 258
40. Gen.Sel Readings 258
41. Hera.Dial Readings 259
42. Rom.Frag B Readings 259
3
43. Eze.Frag Readings 260
44. Luke.Frag Readings 260
45. Cant.Sch Readings 261
46. Rom.Frag C 261
47. Textual Affinity of Romans Readings 265
48. Textual Affinity of 2 Corinthians Readings 267
49. Textual Affinity of Galatians Readings 269
50. Overall Affinity of Secondary and Primary Sources 273

4
General Abbreviations
BP Biblia Patristica

CPG Clavis Patrum Graecorum

GCS Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte

LXX Rahlfs-Hanhart Septuagint, Editio altera

NA Nestle-Aland 28th edition

NTGF The New Testament in the Greek Fathers

PG Patrologia Graeca

RP Robinson-Pierpont, The New Testament in the Original Greek:
Byzantine Textform, second edition, 2005.

SC Sources Chrétiennes

TLG Thesaurus Linguae Graecae

VS Hermann Freiherr Von Soden, Die Schriften des Neuen Testaments
(1913)

5