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Ausgabe: | 1982 |
Spalte: | 511 |
Kategorie: | Neues Testament |
Titel/Untertitel: | Das Neue Testament 1982 |
Rezensent: | Delling, Gerhard |
Ansicht Scan: | |
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511
Theologische Literaturzeitung 107. Jahrgang 1982 Nr. 7
512
Neues Testament
Das Neue Testament, übersetzt und kommentiert von Ulrich
Wilckens, beraten von W. Jetter, E. Lange und R. Pesch. Berlin:
Evangelische Haupt-Bibelgesellschaft 1979. 928 S. Kl. 8*. Lw.
M. 8,60.
Es ist sehr zu begrüßen, daß die Übersetzung Wilckens' durch diese
Lizenzausgabe nunmehr im gesamten deutschen Sprachraum buchhändlerisch
zugänglich wurde. Ihre besonderen Merkmale (und die
der beigefügten Erläuterungen) versuchten wir in ThLZ 100, 1975
Sp. 353-356; 104, 1979, 98f herauszuheben (ohne i. a. kritisch auf
Einzelheiten einzugehen).
In den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten ist eine Reihe von Übertragungen
des Neuen Testaments erschienen und z. T. auch bis in den Gottesdienst
hinein in Gebrauch genommen worden, die weithin durch
recht unterschiedliche Verfahrensweisen geprägt sind1. Unter ihnen'
hebt sich die Wilckens' im evangelischen Raum i. a. durch das Streben
nach größerer Textnähe ab. Für den evangelischen Kirchenbereich
wäre es, soweit man mit dem revidierten Luthertext nicht auskommt,
m. E. an der Zeit, sich um eine gemeinsame Übersetzung neben
diesem zu bemühen (im katholischen Bereich hat man von vorneherein
kirchlicherseits auf die „Einheitsübersetzung" zugearbeitet).
Die Übersetzung Wilckens' (ohne Kommentar) könnte m. E. dafür
weithin als exemplarisch gelten.
Halle (Saale) Gerhard Delling
1 Sieben das ganze Neue Testament umfassende bespricht O. Knoch, „Die
alte Botschaft neu sagen". TheolQuart 154,1974,136-165.
Metzger, Bruce M.: New Testament Studies. Philological, Versional,
and Patristic. Leiden: Brill 1980. X, 234 S. gr. 8" = New Testament
Tools and Studies, X. Lw. hfl. 68.-.
In the series New Testament Tools and Studies, there appeared
12 years ago a selection of 14 essays published between 1945 and 1968
by Bruce Metzger, who is the editor of the series (Historical and Literary
Studies: Pagan, Jewish, and Christian, 1968). This new volume
contains another 14 articles, this time photomechanically reprinted,
all of them published between 1970 and 1980 in Festschriften and
Journals. In view of Professor Metzger's great fame as a specialist in
New Testament textual criticism, it is not surprising to find that eight
of the essays deal with topics in this field. But other subjects are treated
as well, as the following survey will show.
In "Literary Forgeries and Canonical Pseudepigrapha" (1-22),
Metzger proposes, in his discussion of terminology, to allow the term
'apocrypha' to refer to all the extra-canonical writings (including the
so-called pseudepigrapha) and to use 'pseudepigrapha' as a literary
category, whether the book is regarded as canonical or apocryphal.
Then he discusses the motives of the ancient pseudepigraphers (finan-
cial gain, pure malice, love and respect of an honoured teacher,
modesty, securing greater credence for certain doctrines, etc.), a theme
which can now be studied in greater detail in W. Speyer's Die literarische
Fälschung im heidnischen und christlichen Altertum (1971;
published almost simultaneously with Metzger's article). He conclu-
des that the use of the literary form of pseudepigraphy need not be
regarded as necessarily involving fraudulent intent, and that this has
implications for our understanding of canonical pseudepigrapha.
Since Metzger's article (and Speyer's book) there has been a sort of
revival of the study these problems. See e. g. now also N. Brox (ed.),
Pseudepigraphie in der heidnischen und jüdisch-christlichen Antike
(Wege der Forschung 484), 1977.
In the article "Nantes for the Nameless in the N.T." (23^15),
Metzger studies the growth of Christian traditions about names of
persons who are mentioned but not named in the N. T., e. g. the wise
men of Mt. 2, the shepherds at Bethlehem, the seventy(-two) disciples,
the rieh man of Lk. 16, the two robbers crueified with Jesus, the
Syrophoenician woman, etc. Metzger traces these traditions from
their earliest occurrence tili far into the Middle Ages, and notes that
the same process can already be discerned within the Gospel tradition
(cf. e.g. Mt. 26,51 and Lk. 22,50 with John 18,10). There are two
pages of useful addenda to the original article.
In "Ancient Astrological Geography and Acts 2,9-11" (46-56),
Metzger critically reviews Weinstock's Suggestion that the list of coun-
tries in Acts 2 may be dependent upon astrological lists such as those
found in Paulus Alexandrinus' Rudiments of Astrology (end of the
fourth cent. A. D.). He demonstrates that the similarities have been
much exaggerated.
In "The Punctuation of Rem. 9,5" (57-74), Metzger discusses the
well-known problem of whether or not Christ is called God in
Rom. 9,5. After a survey of the punctuation of this text in Greek
manuscripts, of the translations of it in the early versions, and of the
patristic interpretation of this text, he concludes that on the basis of
the grammar and strueture of Rom. 9,5 the word theos must refer here
to Christ (In my copy, unfortunately a whole page, p. 72, was blank in
the midst of the article).
The article "The Nazareth Inscription Once Again" (75-92) gives
Greek text, translation, and extensive discussion of the famous
dialagma kaisaros concerning tomb-violation first published by
Franz Cumont in 1930. The discussion touches upon topics like
tomb-robbery in antiquity, the language and style of the inscription,
its authenticity, its date, its significance for N. T. studies. A straight-
forward connection of the inscription with the report of the empty
tomb is rightly doubted by Metzger. "The most that can be said with
assurance is that the ordinance was promulgated after a particularly
serious violation of sepulture" (90). I missed a reference to A. D.
Nock's essay on tomb-violation of 1939, now in Essays on Religion
and the A ncient World 11 (19 70), 5 2 7-5 3 3.
"An Early Coptic Manuscript of the Gospel aecording to Matthew"
(93-104) describes a fifth Century ms. in the Scheide Libary of Prince-
ton containing the first Gospel in the so-called Middle Egyptian dia-
lect (hopefully, J. Vergote's proposal, Grammaire Copte Ia, 1973,
p. 4, to avoid this confusing terminology and to call this dialect
Oxyrhynchite will soon be adopted by many scholars; see Metzger's
note 6 on p. 97. Unfortunately, the new Nestle-Aland2" still uses this
term). Paleography, date, dialect, textual affinities of the ms. are dis-
cussed; the Greek(!) text of the Greater Doxology which concludes the
ms. (followed by a Coptic translation) is printed on p. 101 (note the
interesting nomen sacrum kmu for kosmou). Hans-Martin Schenke is
now preparingan edition of the ms.
In "The Text of Matthew 1,16" (105-113), Metzger discusses
Conybeare's Suggestion on the basis of a passage in the fifth cent.
Dialogue of Timothy and Aquila that Mt. 1,16 originally read "and
Joseph begot Jesus who is called Christ", and comes to the conclusion
that there is no evidence, not even in this Dial, that this reading ever
existed in any Greek ms. (see also Metzger's discussion in A Textual
Commenlary on the Greek N. T., 1971,2-7).
" A Comparison of the Palestinian Syriac Lectionary and the Greek
Gospel Lectionary" (114-126) leads to the conclusion that "the strueture
of the Palestinian Syriac Lectionary was derived throughout from
a typical Greek Gospel Lectionary" (125).
In "The Ending of the Gospel aecording to St. Mark in Ethiopic
Manuscripts" (127-147), it is demonstrated that previously published
Statements concerning the ending of Mark in Ethiopic mss. are con-
fused and contradictory. In the article Metzger lists 65 mss. (all of
them checked by himsclf) and in an important addendum 129 additio-
nal mss. containing Mark, and states that 2 mss. of the 194 end with
16,8; 59 have vv. 9-20 directly after v. 8; 133 have the shorter ending
between vv. 8 and 9.
"The ProblematicThracian Version of the Gospels"( 148-166), the
existence of which has sometimes been concluded on the basis of a