Hermas and Bodmer. Another Look at the Text of Vision 1.3.4, 2.3.1, and 3.2.1 in P. Bodm. XXXVIII

Abstract

The essay looks into three instances in the Visions (V) in the Shepherd of Hermas (SH) where P.Bodm. XVIII (B) offers a reading that is not found elsewhere in the Greek textual tradition. These are: V 1.3.4, 2.3.1, and 3,2.1. In the last instance, B agrees with the two Latin versions (L1 and L2) in offering a longer text that is perhaps not really necessary, but that clarifies the context and is well in the style of SH, hence may well be original. The second instance is more complex. The text of B makes no sense as it is, but if one accepts the correction proposed by Carlini, one may again have rediscovered an original reading that was obscured in the rest of the tradition. More complicated still is the case of V 1.3.4, for which it is once more argued that if the original can be recovered at all, B has the better chances to get at it.status: publishe