Analysis Of Revelation: Josef Schmid Revisited By Peter Malik

For this week’s reading, I chose the article “The Corrections of Codex Sinaiticus and the Textual Transmission of Revelation: Josef Schmid Revisited” by Peter Malik . In this article, Malik examined a previous study about the revisions made during notable transcriptions of the Book of Revelation by Josef Schmid. Malik argued that Schmid incorrectly dated the Codex Sinaiticus (a fully Greek translation of most of the Old Testament, all of the New Testament, and some extracanonical books) as being from the fourth century.
To begin, Malik referenced several other works surrounding the textual conveyance of the Book of Revelation. Bousset’s work on the matter of text corrections was a valued source for Schmid’s conclusion. However, his study of …show more content…
One way in which scribes altered this text was by changing the original grammar. For instance, a word would be changed from its masculine form to a feminine one and vice versa. Other words were altered from singular to plural forms or conversely. It is argued that many of these types of changes were to correct the improper Greek grammar found in the source to which the scribe had access. Many of the corrections were subtle and did little to affect the verse’s meaning, while other corrections were of larger …show more content…
Malik pointed out that the addition of kai by this particular scribe shifted the emphasis which, when translated into English, changed the phrasing from “to blaspheme his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven” into “to blaspheme his name, his dwelling, and those who dwell in heaven.” While changing the subject from two items into three items may seem of small import, it may potentially have different exegetic implications to some people. Regardless of what level of impact this alteration may have, it is difficult to say whether this was done purposefully or accidentally by the scribe with any