Download or read book The Bezan Text of Acts written by Jenny Read-Heimerdinger and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2003-03-01 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Bezan ('Western') text of Acts is traditionally dismissed as the work of an enthusiastic and fanciful scribe who embellished the original text represented by the Alexandran manuscripts. This study compares the language of Codex Bezae with that of Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, using the approach of discourse analysis to re-assess how variant readings have arisen. It emerges that the language patterns of the Alexandrian text are variable and the focus of its message historical. In contrast, the Bezan text displays an exceptional degree of lingusitic consistency and a coherence of purpose which is essentially theological, with a marked interest in a Jewish point of view. The conclusion is that Bezan is the earlier of the two texts.