BeDuhn's Greek Evangelion edition publicly archived

[vocesanticae]

This work has been accepted for consideration at JOHD and is now going through the peer-review process. While their metadata will filter into catalogs eventually via OA indices, I thought members of this forum might like to know how to access and catalog the pre-prints in advance. By way of making peer-review more public and transparent, we welcome feedback (preferably posted publicly) to correct errors/oversights.

Bilby, Mark; BeDuhn, Jason D., 2023, "BeDuhn’s Greek Reconstruction of Marcion’s Gospel", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/UQVGW6, Harvard Dataverse, V1

BeDuhn's Greek version, in my view, should now be considered the gold standard Greek edition of the Evangelion, far more reliable than Roth's minimalistic text or the overlong texts of Klinghardt and Nicolotti.

As you'll see, this includes both the UTF-8 txt datasets typical of other JOHD publications, but also a robust, carefully crafted and formatted Greek text with critical apparatus.

[maryhelena]

Hi Mark
We have had a number of threads on the forum recently over Klinghardt's use of the word 'offense'.

Now....everyone began to praise God, saying ''A great prophet has arisen among us, '' and, ''God has visited his people.'' And this idea about him spread.....''as far as John the Washer in prison, who when he had summoned....his pupils, said, Go and ask him, 'Are you the Coming One, or are we to expect a different one?'' Jason D. BeDuhn: The First New Testament.

.. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us, and God has visited his people.”

*7,17–23: John the Baptist Taking Offense and His Request

7,17 And this news about him spread throughout Judea, even to John the Baptist. 18 When he heard of his deeds, he took offense. And he summons two of his disciples, 19 {saying, “Go, say to him,} ‘Are you the one who comes, or shall we wait for another?’” 20 But when the men came to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who comes, or shall we to wait for another?’”

Klinghardt, Matthias. The Oldest Gospel: A Missing Link in New Testament Scholarship (p. 32). Quiet Waters Publications. Kindle Edition.

Any insight on why the use of 'offense' is absent from Jason D. BeDuhn's version of the text in possession of Marcion ?

[Ken Olson]

Hi Mark
We have had a number of threads on the forum recently over Klinghardt's use of the word 'offense'.

Now....everyone began to praise God, saying ''A great prophet has arisen among us, '' and, ''God has visited his people.'' And this idea about him spread.....''as far as John the Washer in prison, who when he had summoned....his pupils, said, Go and ask him, 'Are you the Coming One, or are we to expect a different one?'' Jason D. BeDuhn: The First New Testament.

.. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us, and God has visited his people.”

*7,17–23: John the Baptist Taking Offense and His Request

7,17 And this news about him spread throughout Judea, even to John the Baptist. 18 When he heard of his deeds, he took offense. And he summons two of his disciples, 19 {saying, “Go, say to him,} ‘Are you the one who comes, or shall we wait for another?’” 20 But when the men came to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who comes, or shall we to wait for another?’”

Klinghardt, Matthias. The Oldest Gospel: A Missing Link in New Testament Scholarship (p. 32). Quiet Waters Publications. Kindle Edition.

Any insight on why the use of 'offense' is absent from Jason D. BeDuhn's version of the text in possession of Marcion ?

BeDuhn's reconstruction of the passage has the word offended/scandalized in Evangelion/Luke 7.23 (where it appears in Luke). None of the witnesses to the text of the Evangelion place it in verse 18 (which is a conjecture of Klinghardt's):

17And this idea about him spread . . . 19. . . as far as John the Washer in prison, who when he had summoned . . . his pupils, said, “Go and ask him, ‘Are you the Coming One, or are we to expect a different one?’” 20 [When they came up to him, the men said, “John the Washer dispatched us to you saying, ‘Are you the Coming One, or are we to expect another?’”] 21 Now in the same hour he cured many . . . and he made blind people see. 22And responding, he said to them, “Go tell John . . . that the blind are seeing again, the lame are walking, and the deaf are hearing, the dead are being awoken, 23 and whoever is not scandalized by me is fortunate.” [Beduhn, First New Testament, 103-104).

BeDuhn's notes on the passage:

7.17–18 Tertullian, Marc. 4.18.4; Adam* 1.26. The Marcionite spokesperson in Adamantius says,
John did not recognize him. . . . Now when he had heard in prison the works of Christ, he sent his disciples to him saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

This reading is close to that found in Gk ms D and OL ms e of Luke, matching in its construction more closely the parallel account in Matt 11.2 (“Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of Jesus”), whereas most manuscripts of Luke read, “The disciples of John told him of all these things.” Tertullian agrees that the Evangelion included a reference to John being in prison, which otherwise is found only in Matthew. In Luke the mention of John’s imprisonment here is unnecessary, because his arrest on the orders of Herod Antipas had already been reported in 3.19–20—a passage that the Evangelion did not have.

7.19 Tertullian, Marc. 4.18.6; Adam* 1.26; Ephrem, Marc. I (Mitchell) 82. The Evangelion’s text appears to be reflected in Gk ms D and OL ms e.

7.20 is unattested; but some such content is necessary to set up v. 21. 7.21 Adam* 1.20, Adam 1.26 (≠Harnack, Tsutsui). Adamantius refers to
giving sight to the blind, and in 1.26 he says that after the arrival of
John’s pupils, Jesus “proceeded to perform his works.”

7.22 Tertullian, Marc. 4.18.6; Adam 1.26 (≠Harnack, Tsutsui). Tertullian
says, “the Lord returned answer to John that it was by those same works that he ought to be recognized.” Adamantius quotes more explicitly: “the blind are seeing again, the deaf are hearing, and the lame are walking, the dead are being raised up.” This lacks two clauses found in Luke and the parallel passage in Matt 11.5: “lepers are purified” and “beggars are proclaimed.” The latter phrase derives from Isa 61.1, quoted at length in Luke 4.18, which was not part of the Evangelion, and is also lacking in Clement, Paed. 1.10.90’s allusion to this passage.

7.23 Epiphanius, Scholion 8; Adam 1.26; Ephrem, Marc. I (Mitchell) 86. Adamantius quotes the verse verbatim, just as it is found in Luke. But Epiphanius, after quoting the verse in the same words as Adamantius, insists that the wording was somehow altered, “for he had it as though in reference to John.” Similarly, Tertullian says, “John is offended when he hears of Christ’s miracles” (Marc. 4.18.4; cf. 4.18.8). Perhaps Epiphanius and Tertullian are reporting Marcion’s interpretation of this episode, rather than a variation in the text. Burkitt conjectures (in Mitchell, Against Marcion, vol. 2, xxxix n. 1) that Marcion’s text lacked hos (“whoever”), and so read “Happy is he, if he [i.e., John] is not scandalized by me.” Such a form of the saying would have a good case for being more original, subsequently generalized to “whoever” in the tradition. [BeDuhn, First New testament, 142-143].

Best,

Ken

[maryhelena]

Hi Mark
We have had a number of threads on the forum recently over Klinghardt's use of the word 'offense'.

Now....everyone began to praise God, saying ''A great prophet has arisen among us, '' and, ''God has visited his people.'' And this idea about him spread.....''as far as John the Washer in prison, who when he had summoned....his pupils, said, Go and ask him, 'Are you the Coming One, or are we to expect a different one?'' Jason D. BeDuhn: The First New Testament.

.. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us, and God has visited his people.”

*7,17–23: John the Baptist Taking Offense and His Request

7,17 And this news about him spread throughout Judea, even to John the Baptist. 18 When he heard of his deeds, he took offense. And he summons two of his disciples, 19 {saying, “Go, say to him,} ‘Are you the one who comes, or shall we wait for another?’” 20 But when the men came to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who comes, or shall we to wait for another?’”

Klinghardt, Matthias. The Oldest Gospel: A Missing Link in New Testament Scholarship (p. 32). Quiet Waters Publications. Kindle Edition.

Any insight on why the use of 'offense' is absent from Jason D. BeDuhn's version of the text in possession of Marcion ?

BeDuhn's reconstruction of the passage has the word offended/scandalized in Evangelion/Luke 7.23 (where it appears in Luke). None of the witnesses to the text of the Evangelion place it in verse 18 (which is a conjecture of Klinghardt's):

17And this idea about him spread . . . 19. . . as far as John the Washer in prison, who when he had summoned . . . his pupils, said, “Go and ask him, ‘Are you the Coming One, or are we to expect a different one?’” 20 [When they came up to him, the men said, “John the Washer dispatched us to you saying, ‘Are you the Coming One, or are we to expect another?’”] 21 Now in the same hour he cured many . . . and he made blind people see. 22And responding, he said to them, “Go tell John . . . that the blind are seeing again, the lame are walking, and the deaf are hearing, the dead are being awoken, 23 and whoever is not scandalized by me is fortunate.” [Beduhn, First New Testament, 103-104).

BeDuhn's notes on the passage:

7.17–18 Tertullian, Marc. 4.18.4; Adam* 1.26. The Marcionite spokesperson in Adamantius says,
John did not recognize him. . . . Now when he had heard in prison the works of Christ, he sent his disciples to him saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

This reading is close to that found in Gk ms D and OL ms e of Luke, matching in its construction more closely the parallel account in Matt 11.2 (“Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of Jesus”), whereas most manuscripts of Luke read, “The disciples of John told him of all these things.” Tertullian agrees that the Evangelion included a reference to John being in prison, which otherwise is found only in Matthew. In Luke the mention of John’s imprisonment here is unnecessary, because his arrest on the orders of Herod Antipas had already been reported in 3.19–20—a passage that the Evangelion did not have.

7.19 Tertullian, Marc. 4.18.6; Adam* 1.26; Ephrem, Marc. I (Mitchell) 82. The Evangelion’s text appears to be reflected in Gk ms D and OL ms e.

7.20 is unattested; but some such content is necessary to set up v. 21. 7.21 Adam* 1.20, Adam 1.26 (≠Harnack, Tsutsui). Adamantius refers to
giving sight to the blind, and in 1.26 he says that after the arrival of
John’s pupils, Jesus “proceeded to perform his works.”

7.22 Tertullian, Marc. 4.18.6; Adam 1.26 (≠Harnack, Tsutsui). Tertullian
says, “the Lord returned answer to John that it was by those same works that he ought to be recognized.” Adamantius quotes more explicitly: “the blind are seeing again, the deaf are hearing, and the lame are walking, the dead are being raised up.” This lacks two clauses found in Luke and the parallel passage in Matt 11.5: “lepers are purified” and “beggars are proclaimed.” The latter phrase derives from Isa 61.1, quoted at length in Luke 4.18, which was not part of the Evangelion, and is also lacking in Clement, Paed. 1.10.90’s allusion to this passage.

7.23 Epiphanius, Scholion 8; Adam 1.26; Ephrem, Marc. I (Mitchell) 86. Adamantius quotes the verse verbatim, just as it is found in Luke. But Epiphanius, after quoting the verse in the same words as Adamantius, insists that the wording was somehow altered, “for he had it as though in reference to John.” Similarly, Tertullian says, “John is offended when he hears of Christ’s miracles” (Marc. 4.18.4; cf. 4.18.8). Perhaps Epiphanius and Tertullian are reporting Marcion’s interpretation of this episode, rather than a variation in the text. Burkitt conjectures (in Mitchell, Against Marcion, vol. 2, xxxix n. 1) that Marcion’s text lacked hos (“whoever”), and so read “Happy is he, if he [i.e., John] is not scandalized by me.” Such a form of the saying would have a good case for being more original, subsequently generalized to “whoever” in the tradition. [BeDuhn, First New testament, 142-143].

Best,

Ken

Thanks for your response.

However, it seems to me that it ends up being Klinghardt verse BeDuhn as to who takes 'offense' - whoever or John the Baptist.
Interesting the last paragraph of your quote from BeDuhn's notes - the bolded part.. It seems to me still an open question whether John the Baptist took 'offense'.....

[MrMacSon]

Hi Mark
We have had a number of threads on the forum recently over Klinghardt's use of the word 'offense'.

Now....everyone began to praise God, saying ''A great prophet has arisen among us, '' and, ''God has visited his people.'' And this idea about him spread.....''as far as John the Washer in prison, who when he had summoned....his pupils, said, Go and ask him, 'Are you the Coming One, or are we to expect a different one?'' Jason D. BeDuhn: The First New Testament.

.. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us, and God has visited his people.”

*7,17–23: John the Baptist Taking Offense and His Request

7,17 And this news about him spread throughout Judea, even to John the Baptist. 18 When he heard of his deeds, he took offense. And he summons two of his disciples, 19 {saying, “Go, say to him,} ‘Are you the one who comes, or shall we wait for another?’” 20 But when the men came to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who comes, or shall we to wait for another?’”

Klinghardt, Matthias. The Oldest Gospel: A Missing Link in New Testament Scholarship (p. 32). Quiet Waters Publications. Kindle Edition.

Any insight on why the use of 'offense' is absent from Jason D. BeDuhn's version of the text in possession of Marcion ?

Mark's and Jason's verse numbering may be a little different:
via https://dataverse.harvard.edu/file.xhtm ... ersion=1.0

07.17.05B καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ λόγος οὗτος ()

07.18.05B () μέχρι Ἰωάνου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ὅς ἀκούσας ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Χριστοῦ⁷⁹

07.19.05B ()⁸⁰ ἔπεμψε τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ⁸⁰ πρὸς αὐτὸν⁸² λέγων⁸³ · σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος⁸⁴ ἢ ἕτερον⁸⁵ προσδοκῶμεν;⁸⁶

07.20.05B [παραγενόμενοι πρὸς αὐτὸν οἱ ἄνδρες εἶπαν· Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστὴς ἀπέστειλεν ἡμᾶς πρὸς σὲ λέγων· σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἢ ἄλλον προσδοκῶμεν;]

7.18
μέχρι Ἰωάνου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ὅς ἀκούσας ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Χριστοῦ

---

until John the Baptist heard, in captivity/bondage, of Christ's work

7.19
ἔπεμψε τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν λέγων · σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἢ ἕτερον προσδοκῶμεν

---

He referred this disciple to these words · In the coming we expect

7.20
παραγενόμενοι πρὸς αὐτὸν οἱ ἄνδρες εἶπαν· Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστὴς ἀπέστειλεν ἡμᾶς πρὸς σὲ λέγων· σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἢ ἄλλον προσδοκῶμεν

---

produced before these men they said; John the Baptist sent us before you saying; We are looking forward to you

until John the Baptist, who heard, [in] bondage, of Christ's work, sent before his disciples these words; In the coming we expect to be produced before these men; John the Baptist sent us before you saying; In the coming of the future, we expect that this time has healed many ...

[MrMacSon]

07.17.05B καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ λόγος οὗτος ()

07.18.05B () μέχρι Ἰωάνου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ὅς ἀκούσας ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Χριστοῦ⁷⁹

07.19.05B ()⁸⁰ ἔπεμψε τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ⁸⁰ πρὸς αὐτὸν⁸² λέγων⁸³ · σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος⁸⁴ ἢ ἕτερον⁸⁵ προσδοκῶμεν;⁸⁶

07.20.05B [παραγενόμενοι πρὸς αὐτὸν οἱ ἄνδρες εἶπαν· Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστὴς ἀπέστειλεν ἡμᾶς πρὸς σὲ λέγων· σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἢ ἄλλον προσδοκῶμεν;]

07.21.05B [ἐν αὐτῇ δὲ τῇ ὥρᾳ] ἐθεράπευσεν πολλοὺς () καὶ τυφλοῖς ἐχαρίσατο βλέπειν
.
07.22.05B καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· πορευθέντες ἀπαγγείλατε Ἰωάννῃ () ὅτι τυφλοὶ ἀναβλέπουσιν καὶ κωφοὶ ἀκούουσι καὶ χωλοὶ περιπατοῦσι καὶ νεκροὶ ἐγείρονται

07.23.05B καὶ μακάριός ὃς ἐὰν μὴ σκανδαλισθῇ ἐν ἐμοί.

07.24.05B () ἤρξατο λέγειν πρὸς τοὺς ὄχλους περὶ Ἰωάννου· τί ἐξήλθατε εἰς τὴν ἔρημον θεάσασθαι; κάλαμον ὑπὸ ἀνέμου σαλευόμενον;

07.26.05B () προφήτην; ναὶ λέγω ὑμῖν καὶ περισσότερον προφήτου.

7.22-24, 26 gives [crudely]:

And He answered; He said to them, Having one, relate to John (..) that the blind see, and the deaf hear and the lame walk; and the dead are raised; and blessed are they not scandalized/offended [σκανδαλισθῇ] in/by Me. First of all, I said to the crowd around John; What have you gone out into the wilderness to see? A reed by the wind shaken? (..) A prophet? Yes, Let me say to you, and [one] more excellent than a prophet.

eta:
7.24a here is different to 7.24a in the interlinear for Luke here

7.23 here, in *Ev, is the same as in the interlinear for Luke 7.23 (translated as, "And blessed are they if they are not offended at/of Me")

[Giuseppe]

But Epiphanius, after quoting the verse in the same words as Adamantius, insists that the wording was somehow altered, “for he had it as though in reference to John.” Similarly, Tertullian says, “John is offended when he hears of Christ’s miracles” (Marc. 4.18.4; cf. 4.18.8). Perhaps Epiphanius and Tertullian are reporting Marcion’s interpretation of this episode, rather than a variation in the text.

Evidently BeDuhn has not realized well the Klinghardt's argument: Tertullian had realized perfectly that in *Ev the previous miracles of Jesus provoked the immediate reaction by John ('auditis vertutibus Christi ut alterius') hence in the same phrase ('sed scandalizetur Ioannes') Tertullian was probably quoting/resuming perfectly, if not the same words, at least the sense of the gospel that he was commenting. Otherwise it would be indeed strange, that in half phrase you realize the sense, and in the other half of the same phrase you report something of different from that sense.

[Giuseppe]

Tertullian agrees that the Evangelion included a reference to John being in prison, which otherwise is found only in Matthew.

I don't see no reference by Tertullian to John being in prison while commenting *Ev 7. Can you quote him in such sense?

[MrMacSon]

Tertullian agrees that the Evangelion included a reference to John being in prison, which otherwise is found only in Matthew.

I don't see [any] reference by Tertullian to John being in prison while commenting [on] *Ev 7. Can you quote him in such sense?

fwiw:

7.18
μέχρι Ἰωάνου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ὅς ἀκούσας ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Χριστοῦ

---

until John the Baptist heard, in captivity/bondage, of Christ's work

[Giuseppe]

Tertullian agrees that the Evangelion included a reference to John being in prison, which otherwise is found only in Matthew.

I don't see [any] reference by Tertullian to John being in prison while commenting [on] *Ev 7. Can you quote him in such sense?

fwiw:

7.18
μέχρι Ἰωάνου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ὅς ἀκούσας ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Χριστοῦ

---

until John the Baptist heard, in captivity/bondage, of Christ's work

I have specified, in the question: in Tertullian.