Historical Setting and Physical Description of Codex Bezae

Codex Bezae, traditionally designated as D or 05, is one of the most distinctive and controversial New Testament manuscripts. It is usually dated to about 400–450 C.E., placing it roughly in the same period as Codex Alexandrinus and about a century after Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus. Despite its comparatively late date, Codex Bezae exerts enormous influence on the study of the text of Acts because it preserves a unique and extensive form of what is called the Western text.

The codex receives its name from Theodore Beza, a sixteenth-century Reformed scholar who acquired the manuscript and later presented it to the University of Cambridge, where it is still housed today. Before Beza, the manuscript appears to have spent time in at least one monastic library in southern France. Its earlier history is not fully documented, but its textual affinities point to a long-standing Western line of transmission rooted in the Greek-speaking and Latin-speaking churches of the western Mediterranean.

Codex Bezae is a large parchment codex written in majuscule letters. Unlike Vaticanus and Alexandrinus, which use two or three columns per page, Bezae presents only one column on each page. The text of the New Testament is written in alternating languages: one page in Greek, facing a page in Latin. This bilingual format makes the codex a key witness not only to the Greek New Testament but also to an Old Latin form of the text. In its present state, Codex Bezae contains the four Gospels and Acts, with numerous lacunae, especially toward the end. The Pauline Epistles and the rest of the New Testament are absent; they were never part of the codex as we have it.

The parchment of Codex Bezae is thick and sometimes irregular, suggesting that the manuscript was produced in a context with limited access to the finest materials. The script is a large, somewhat informal majuscule, clearly legible but less elegant than the script of Vaticanus. Corrections appear throughout, showing that the codex was used, revised, and valued by those who possessed it. Yet its overall appearance conveys a more rugged and functional character than the stately form of the great Alexandrian codices.

The Bilingual Format and Arrangement of Codex Bezae

Codex Bezae’s most immediately striking feature is its bilingual layout. The Greek text occupies the left-hand pages, while the Latin text appears on the facing right-hand pages. This arrangement allowed readers fluent in both languages to compare the two texts directly, and it reveals much about the use of Scripture in a bilingual community.

The Latin text is not simply a word-for-word translation of the Greek column on the opposite page. Instead, it represents an Old Latin form of the Gospels and Acts that has its own textual character and history. In many places, the Latin column agrees with the distinctive readings of the Greek Western text; in other places, it preserves independent Old Latin variants. The interaction of the two columns shows that the scribe or the scriptorium behind Codex Bezae was working with established Greek and Latin textual traditions, not producing a fresh translation.

The order of books in Bezae follows the familiar sequence of the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John—followed by Acts. This arrangement confirms that by the fifth century, at least in this Western context, the Gospels and Acts formed a natural narrative collection. The absence of the Pauline Epistles, the General Epistles, and Revelation in the codex does not imply that these books were unknown or rejected in the community that used Bezae. More likely, separate volumes were used for the letters and for Revelation, or the codex was designed specifically as a Gospel–Acts book for reading and instruction in congregational life.

Codex Bezae and the Western Text Type

Codex Bezae is the chief Greek representative of the Western text-type, especially for the book of Acts. The term “Western” does not refer to the location of every manuscript in this tradition but to a broad textual pattern found particularly in Latin-speaking regions, early Latin translations, and certain Greek manuscripts associated with the western Mediterranean. This Western text is characterized by a high degree of variation from the Alexandrian tradition, often involving expansions, paraphrastic rephrasing, and reordering of material.

In the Gospels, Western readings appear in several Greek and Latin witnesses. In Acts, however, Codex Bezae is the dominant Greek representative of the Western text. When its readings in Acts are compared with those of Alexandrian witnesses such as Codex Vaticanus and several important minuscules, the differences are extensive. Bezae often contains longer speeches, additional narrative details, and alternative wordings that substantially increase the length of Acts compared with the Alexandrian text.

These Western features in Bezae are supported by a cluster of Old Latin manuscripts and by certain patristic citations. Together they reveal that a Western form of Acts, significantly expanded and rephrased, was in circulation for centuries in parts of the Christian West. Codex Bezae thus stands as a late but powerful witness to this alternative textual stream.

The Western Text of Acts: Length and Character

One of the most obvious features of the Western text of Acts in Codex Bezae is its length. When all the Western expansions are counted, the Western text of Acts is substantially longer than the Alexandrian form. This lengthening appears in almost every chapter, with some sections showing dramatic expansions.

The character of these expansions varies, but several patterns recur. Some expansions provide additional narrative detail, explaining motives, specifying locations, or clarifying the sequence of events. Others lengthen speeches, adding exhortations or theological reflections that reinforce themes already present in the shorter text. In a few cases, the Western text inserts entirely new sayings or episodes, though these usually build on material already present in Acts rather than introducing completely foreign content.

The style of these expansions often differs from Luke’s characteristic Greek. They tend to be more verbose, sometimes repetitive, and occasionally less polished than the surrounding narrative. At times they reflect later theological and ecclesiastical concerns more than the historical context of the first century. These features strongly suggest that the Western text of Acts, as represented by Bezae, reflects a secondary stage of development in which scribes or early revisers elaborated the original Lukan account.

Yet the Western text is not uniformly inferior. Some of its readings are shorter, more abrupt, or more difficult than the Alexandrian counterparts. In a few cases, Western readings may preserve an early form of a verse that was later smoothed or standardized in the Alexandrian tradition. For this reason, textual critics do not dismiss Codex Bezae outright but evaluate each variant individually in light of external evidence and scribal tendencies.

Examples of Western Expansions in Acts

Several well-known passages illustrate the distinctive character of the Western text of Acts in Codex Bezae. These differences often affect interpretation and have therefore attracted intense scholarly attention.

At multiple points in Acts, the Western text lengthens speeches by adding exhortations that align closely with early church preaching. For example, when Paul addresses congregations or Jewish audiences, Codex Bezae sometimes includes extra sentences that urge repentance, warn against unbelief, or emphasize the need for perseverance. These additions echo themes present elsewhere in Acts and in the Epistles, but their style often betrays a later hand rather than Luke’s concise narrative.

In certain travel narratives, the Western text supplies details about routes, staying places, or companions that are absent from the Alexandrian text. While such details might reflect historical tradition, their uneven style and their occasional inconsistency with other information in Acts raise suspicion that at least some of them stem from later embellishment rather than from Luke himself.

There are also famous Western readings like the often-quoted confession of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8, where a Western tradition inserts an explicit profession of faith before baptism. This addition aligns with later baptismal practice and catechetical concerns, yet it lacks strong early Greek support outside the Western line. The fact that the confession states doctrine clearly in a form convenient for later liturgical use strongly suggests a secondary origin.

In Acts 15 and 21, passages dealing with the Jerusalem council and Paul’s return to Jerusalem, the Western text at times emphasizes the harmony between Jewish and Gentile believers more explicitly or spells out practical arrangements in greater detail. Again, these expansions fit well with later church concerns about unity and practice, but they weigh against originality when measured against the simpler, more balanced Alexandrian text.

These examples reveal the general tendency of Codex Bezae’s text of Acts: it amplifies, explains, and extends rather than compressing or obscuring. The expansions are often instructive for understanding early interpretation and application of Acts, but they seldom carry the marks of primitive originality.

Scribal Habits Reflected in Codex Bezae

The Western text of Acts in Codex Bezae reflects specific scribal habits that explain its distinctive readings. Understanding these habits allows textual critics to weigh Bezae’s testimony responsibly.

First, the scribe and his tradition show a willingness to paraphrase. Rather than reproducing the text word for word, the Western tradition frequently restates material in different terms, sometimes rearranging clauses or substituting synonyms. This is particularly evident in speeches, where the Western text may rephrase a sentence while preserving its general sense. Such freedom contrasts with the stricter reproduction seen in Alexandrian manuscripts like Vaticanus.

Second, the Western text displays a tendency toward expansion. Material that in the Alexandrian text appears in concise form often appears longer in Bezae. This expansion may come through repetition, additional explanatory clauses, or supplementary narrative detail. It reflects a didactic impulse: scribes sought to make the meaning clear, to guard against misunderstanding, or to apply the text to contemporary concerns.

Third, harmonization plays a role. The Western text at times adjusts wording in Acts to echo phrases from the Gospels or the Epistles. The result is a closer alignment between different parts of the New Testament at the level of language, even where the original wording may have differed. This tendency toward harmonization is characteristic of later stages in the transmission of the text.

Fourth, Bezae exhibits normal unintentional errors: homoeoteleuton, misdivision of words, and occasional confusion of similar letters. The scribe sometimes corrects these mistakes, but others remain. These errors show that even a scribe working with relatively free tendencies can still slip in simple ways and that the Western text is not the result of a single deliberate revision but of a living, developing tradition.

Codex Bezae and Its Relationship to the Alexandrian Text of Acts

Codex Bezae’s value emerges most clearly when its text of Acts is set alongside the Alexandrian tradition represented by Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, and related witnesses. On a broad scale, the Western text in Bezae differs so consistently from the Alexandrian text that the two traditions cannot both represent the original in all their detail. The question is which line, in general, stands closer to what Luke originally wrote.

Several considerations favor the Alexandrian tradition as the primary representative of Luke’s original text in Acts. First, the Alexandrian text is supported by multiple early and diverse witnesses: papyri, uncials, early minuscules, and ancient translations. The Western text of Acts, meanwhile, is essentially confined to Codex Bezae and a group of Old Latin manuscripts. The Alexandrian tradition thus enjoys broader and earlier external support.

Second, the Alexandrian text of Acts is significantly shorter than the Western text. Given normal scribal tendencies, expansion is far more common than systematic omission, especially when the additional material contains edifying content. It is historically implausible to suppose that a large number of scribes independently shortened Acts in roughly similar ways across multiple regions, removing many instructional expansions, while a small Western group preserved a much longer, more elaborate form. The pattern of evidence fits much better with a concise original that was gradually expanded in the Western line.

Third, stylistic analysis shows that the style of the Alexandrian text matches Luke’s Greek in the Gospel of Luke and in the more secure parts of Acts, while the Western expansions often adopt a different style. This indicates that the shorter text is closer to the author’s hand, whereas the expansions reflect later hands.

For these reasons, the documentary method gives primary weight to the Alexandrian witnesses when reconstructing the original text of Acts. Codex Bezae is important as a witness to the history of interpretation and to occasional early variants, but it does not overturn the basic Alexandrian text of the book.

Codex Bezae, Old Latin Witnesses, and the Western Tradition

Codex Bezae’s Latin column stands at the intersection of the Greek Western text and the Old Latin tradition. The Old Latin versions of the New Testament, produced before the standardized Vulgate, preserve a variety of textual forms, often reflecting Western tendencies. In Acts, several Old Latin manuscripts align with Bezae’s expansions and paraphrases, showing that the Western text was not confined to Greek manuscripts but circulated widely in Latin translation.

The agreement between Bezae’s Greek column and its Latin counterpart, along with related Old Latin witnesses, demonstrates that the Western text of Acts enjoyed real authority in parts of the Western church. Preachers, commentators, and theologians sometimes worked from this longer text and interpreted Acts accordingly. Yet the coexistence of different Latin forms and the eventual dominance of the Vulgate, which stands much closer to the Alexandrian text, reveal that the Western expansion never gained universal acceptance.

For textual critics, the Old Latin tradition supports Codex Bezae’s role as a representative of a genuine historical text-form rather than a personal idiosyncrasy of a single scribe. At the same time, the Latin evidence does not overturn the superior external weight of the Alexandrian tradition, which is supported by Greek witnesses across multiple regions. The Old Latin versions confirm that the Western text exists and was influential; they do not prove that it is original.

Evaluating Western Readings: Occasional Authentic Elements

Although the Western text of Acts in Codex Bezae is generally secondary, a few of its readings deserve serious consideration as possibly preserving authentic details or early interpretive traditions that go back to the first century. The documentary method does not dismiss every Western reading automatically but assesses each case individually.

In some instances, the Western text preserves a shorter reading where the Alexandrian text is longer. In such cases, the Western reading may carry at least equal weight, especially if it is more difficult or if its wording can explain the rise of the Alexandrian variant. There are also places where the Western text contains a striking turn of phrase that fits Luke’s style and where the Alexandrian reading appears smoother or more generalized. In those situations, the Western variant receives careful attention.

Furthermore, even where a Western reading is clearly an expansion, it may still incorporate early tradition. A local church might have preserved oral detail about an event recounted in Acts, and later scribes folded that detail into the Western text. While such additions would not be part of the original text, they may reflect memories or interpretations from the early post-apostolic period. Textual critics, however, must distinguish between reconstructing Luke’s wording and reconstructing later historical traditions. Only the former belongs in the main text of Scripture.

Codex Bezae, Theology, and the Interpretation of Acts

Because Codex Bezae’s Western text of Acts contains so many expansions and paraphrases, it can influence interpretation when used uncritically. Certain Western readings emphasize themes such as the authority of the apostles, the unity of Jewish and Gentile believers, or the need for explicit confession prior to baptism. These emphases reflect genuine concerns of the early congregations, yet the question is whether Luke originally expressed them in the specific expanded forms found in Bezae.

In general, when doctrinally inflected expansions appear only in the Western tradition and lack support from early Alexandrian witnesses, they are best understood as early commentary rather than inspired text. The message they convey is not necessarily untrue, but the form in which they appear does not trace back to Luke’s pen. The Alexandrian text of Acts already provides a robust doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the authority of the apostles, and the inclusion of Gentiles without the need for Western additions.

Codex Bezae therefore serves as an important reminder that early Christian communities were eager to clarify and apply Scripture, sometimes by modifying or supplementing the text. Recognizing this tendency reinforces the need for careful textual criticism to separate original wording from later explanation.

The Role of Codex Bezae in Modern Textual Criticism of Acts

Modern critical editions of the Greek New Testament treat Codex Bezae with respect but also with caution. In the Gospels and in Acts, editors routinely list Bezae’s readings in the apparatus, especially when they differ significantly from the Alexandrian text. For Acts, the Western text in Bezae is so extensive that critical editions often highlight its major variants in detail, allowing scholars and translators to see the scope of the differences.

In determining the main text of Acts, however, editors generally follow the Alexandrian tradition anchored in Vaticanus and supported by other early witnesses. Western readings from Codex Bezae are adopted into the text only when strong internal and external evidence supports them. In many cases they are preserved in the apparatus as important historical data that illuminate early exegesis but do not belong to the original text.

Translators who work from these critical editions therefore encounter Codex Bezae indirectly. When a modern translation omits a Western expansion found in some older versions or in marginal notes, this usually reflects the judgment that the expansion is secondary, based on Bezae and the Western tradition, rather than original to Acts. The presence of the variant in the apparatus gives scholars and careful readers access to the information without blurring the line between Scripture and later additions.

Codex Bezae and the Balance of Preservation and Restoration

Codex Bezae offers a vivid example of how the New Testament text has been preserved but not miraculously shielded from all alteration. The Western text of Acts in Bezae shows that transmission sometimes involved substantial paraphrase and expansion. If this Western text were all that survived, the reconstruction of Luke’s original wording in Acts would face serious obstacles.

However, Codex Bezae does not stand alone. The Alexandrian tradition, preserved in manuscripts such as P75, Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, and others, provides a far more concise and stylistically consistent text that can be traced closer to the first century. When the Western text is set alongside this broader evidence, its secondary character becomes clear. The differences between Bezae and the Alexandrian codices do not indicate hopeless corruption but reveal the processes by which some communities elaborated the text while others copied it more strictly.

Preservation has occurred through the survival of multiple independent lines of transmission. Restoration occurs when textual critics apply the documentary method, giving priority to early, carefully copied witnesses and recognizing the tendencies of later traditions such as the Western text in Codex Bezae. In this light, Bezae does not undermine confidence in the book of Acts. Instead, it highlights the importance of weighing evidence rather than assuming that any one manuscript, especially a late and highly expanded one, carries decisive authority.

Codex Bezae and the Reliability of Acts

When assessed in the broader framework of New Testament textual criticism, Codex Bezae ultimately strengthens rather than weakens confidence in the reliability of Acts. Its existence shows that the early church did not treat every manuscript as untouchable; scribes sometimes felt free to elaborate and paraphrase. Yet precisely because such elaborations are visible, and because they are largely confined to a specific textual stream, they can be identified and set aside when reconstructing the original text.

The core narrative of Acts—the ascension of Jesus, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the preaching of Peter, the spread of the good news to Samaritans and Gentiles, the conversion and missionary journeys of Paul, and the growth of the congregation across the Roman world—appears in essentially the same form in both the Alexandrian tradition and the Western tradition. The Western text adds, explains, and expands, but it does not overturn the central story.

By comparing Codex Bezae’s Western text with earlier and more disciplined Alexandrian manuscripts, scholars can see where expansions occurred and how early Christians interpreted Acts. This comparison allows the text of Luke’s original work to be recovered with a high degree of certainty, while also preserving valuable evidence about the life and teaching of the early congregations.

In this way, Codex Bezae stands as a vivid witness both to the creativity of early scribes and to the robustness of the manuscript tradition that has carried the book of Acts down to the present. It confirms that Jehovah did not leave His Word at the mercy of a single textual line. Instead, He allowed a diversity of witnesses to survive so that, through careful study and comparison, the original text of Acts can be restored and read with confidence today.

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