Thursday, November 20, 2014

71. the gospel of Marcion had Matthew 10:34 - 35

Hunc quidem versum Marcion admixta Matthaei forma exhibet (Mt. 10, 34) [Friedrich Blass Euangelium secundum Lucam, sive Lucae ad Theophilum p. lii]
"Marcion," he says, " must needs alter, as if a sword could do anything but divide." But Marcion was right, and Tertullian, quoting from memory, had in mind the parallel passage in Matt. 10:34 [Marvin Vincent, a History of Textual Criticism p. 48]
The whole of verse 50 and the second half of verse 49 are lacking in Marcion. In their absence, a connection would no doubt be instituted ; the fire would be the inward war, and Luke would be reduced to Matthew (x. 34, 35) "Even more significantly, as Tertullian works his way through Marcion’s text there are indications that he does so without referring to his own text of Luke. Perhaps the clearest example of this fact is when Tertullian accuses Marcion of having changed μάχαιραν to διαμερισμόν in Luke 12:51. The problem is that the former is the reading of Matt 10:34 and never, apart from the corrector of the 13th century minuscule 1242, appears in Luke 12:51. If Tertullian were consistently checking his own text of Luke, it is difficult to imagine how such an error could have occurred. Tertullian apparently did not consult his own copy of Luke even when accusing Marcion of making an alteration. [Is Harnack a Jester, Christian Life Vol 22 - 23 p. 83]


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