Boid on Ignatius' Letter to the Romans

The text that I have reads “I am ground” and is clearly present tense.. The Greek text I am using is the short Greek recension, which is generally regarded as more original than the long Greek text. I think all printed editions of the Greek since the end of the 17th c. follow the short recension.

There are two extant Syriac versions, one being thought to be fragments of the short recension and the other being a complete text of an abridgment of the short recension published by Cureton.

As for the alternation of “bread of God” and “bread of Christ”. The Greek text before me has “bread of God”. There is a note that the short Greek text has “bread of Christ”, the Syriac fragments of the short text correesponding to the short Greek text, together with the Latin text of Irenaeus have “bread of God”, and the Greek text of Irenaeus has “bread”, as has a quotation by Jerome. (Remember that except in Book I we only have the Greek text secondhand, in quotations, so changes could have been made. The Latin is a direct translation of the original Greek of Irenaeus).

I need to know where you found the form “let me be ground”.

I forgot to put in that the long Greek text has “bread of God”, in agreement with Irenaeus. I also forgot to add that in the case of the Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans, the textual history within the mss. differs, though I have no details to hand. I think you can confidently say Ignatius agrees with the long Greek text in reading “bread of God”. I still need to know where you found the reading “let me be ground”.

LATER FOLLOW UP:

Please type out a draft of an article setting out the evidence for your
discovery. This should be a straightforward task. Divide the article into two
parts, with a very short introduction. In the first part, set out the evidence.
Distinguish between the evidence of the order of the content and the evidence of
the wording of verses. I think I will find when I look up the critical editions
of the Greek of the N.T. that the readings of the quotations individual verses
have been recorded in the critical apparatus, but that definitely doesn't mean
the implications have been noticed in studies of the transmission of the text of
the N.T. This is because people have not been looking. I will give you
references to the main systematic studies of the text of the N.T. In the second
part, show the implications.

I will give you whatever refences are needed, or show you where to find them. I
will also tell you if more detail is needed. Don't worry about the expression.
That can easily be touched up.

You can say with confidence that Irenaeus follows the Greek of the long
recension of Ignatius in reading "let me be ground" and "bread of God", and that
the Greek of the short recension reads "I am ground" and "bread of Christ".