The Epistle of Jude: Its Text and Transmission

This study treats the textual tradition of the Epistle of Jude. Thenucleus of the study is an exhaustive critical apparatus presenting theevidence of 560 Greek MSS, including dozens of lectionaries. The majorpart of these textual witnesses have not received the attention theydeserve. Now, for the first time, all these MSS have been collated in acomplete book of the NT. The complete collation has brought many newreadings to light, some of which were only known through ancientversions, and previously known and important readings have gainedadditional support. An accompanying textual commentary explains therationale behind the various text-critical decisions in over 100passages. An innovation is the employment of a new rating system of amore descriptive nature than counterparts. In a treatment of theliterary and text-critical relationship between 2 Peter and Jude, it isargued that the Epistle of Jude has literary priority. Further, thetextual traditions of the two writings show that scribal harmonizationbetween the parallel accounts occurs relatively infrequently. Twosignificant witnesses, P72 and Codex Vaticanus (B 03), lack suchharmonization altogether. The history of the text is also the history of readers and their world, as disclosed through the palaeographic andtextual evidence. Every manuscript has a unique story to tell, about the ancient copyists, owners and users. In particular, the two earliestpapyrus witnesses to Jude, P72 and P78 (ca. 300 C.E.), are studied indetail. For the first time, plates of these early papyri and therecently registered uncial 0316 are published with completetranscriptions. In addition, plates of two significant minuscules arepublished with short descriptions. The Greek New Testament manuscriptsare crucial for the history of Christianity throughout the centuries and deserve our close attention.