John H. Parker, in the book Bibliotheca Patrum Ecclesiae Catholicae, notes Chrysostom's commentary contains the masculine προστάτης3 in the manuscript Monacensis 457 (formerly Augustanus), which he dated to the eleventh century.4
The twelfth-century monk Euthymius Zigabenus wrote a commentary on Romans that was preserved in GA2008. The commentary was copied one century (13th) after the original was written and contains the masculine προστάτης. Two of the three (67%) extant manuscripts contain the masculine προστάτης (GA 2008 and 2690). The only manuscript containing the feminine (GA1840) is from the sixteenth century.
The church father Theodoret (393–466 A.D.) was the bishop of Cyrus. His commentary is one of the clearest examples of an early masculine reading from the fifth century.
All of his early manuscripts contain προστάτης. It wasn't until the fourteenth century that we find the first Theodoret commentary with the feminine προστάτις. Additionally, the eleventh-century manuscript GA606 was corrected from masculine to feminine, which also demonstrates the scribe's proclivity to correct the manuscripts from masculine to feminine.
The commentary from Theophylact of Ohrid (1055–1107 A.D.) contains scripture quotations alongside commentary. Of the extant digitized manuscripts, twelve contain at least one masculine reading of
προστάτης (GA103, GA254, GA891, GA1780, GA1935, GA1977, GA1978, GA1987, GA1994, GA1995, GA2104, GA2482). This includes very early manuscripts, including GA254 (11th), GA1780 (1200), GA2104 (12th), and GA103 (12th).
Of these manuscripts, five (42%) contain at least one correction from the masculine
προστάτης to the feminine
προστάτις (GA254, GA1977, GA1978, GA1994, GA2104). Of the seven pre-thirteenth-century manuscripts, five (71%) contain at least one masculine reading of
προστάτης. These staggering statistics demonstrate an extremely high probability that Theophylact's commentary originally contained the masculine reading.
9TH CENTURYπροστάτις
προστάτης GA 0151, 020, 049
|
Readings 9th Century |
9th Century % |
Total Readings Thus Far |
Reading% |
προστάτης | 3 | 100% | 3 | 100% |
προστάτις | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
10TH CENTURYπροστάτις GA 1998, 1851, 1997, 920, 1915, 82, 602, 454, 457, 605, 1880, 1905
προστάτης GA 1927, 627, 450, 1720, 2125
|
Readings 10th Century |
10th Century % |
Total Readings Thus Far |
Reading% |
προστάτης | 5 | 29.41% | 8 | 40% |
προστάτις | 12 | 70.59% | 12 | 60% |
11TH CENTURYπροστάτις GA 1906, 1923, 1924, 1982, 1730, 1847, 1849, 1862, 639, 910, 1521, 2746, 1981, 919, 901, 699, 142, 250, 325, 465, 1244, 1828, 1888, 1919, 1921, 1932, 2007, 35, 547, 2587
προστάτης GA 1980, 638, 1870, 458, 491, 133, 1916, 302, 466, 1734, 1933, 1934, 1738, 1672, 2475, 624
|
Readings 11th Century |
11th Century % |
Total Readings Thus Far |
Reading% |
προστάτης | 16 | 34.78% | 24 | 36.36% |
προστάτις | 30 | 65.22% | 42 | 63.64% |
12TH CENTURYπροστάτις GA 1951, 1986, 1988, 1743, 2189, 2001, 1872, 2712, 203, 97, 122, 226, 622, 319, 1240, 76, 3, 105, 824, 1737, 1740, 1752, 1754, 2289
προστάτης GA 1917, 637, 656, 1673, 922, 911, 110, 620, 1315, 618
|
Readings 12th Century |
12th Century % |
Total Readings Thus Far |
Reading% |
προστάτης | 10 | 29.41% | 34 | 34% |
προστάτις | 24 | 70.59% | 66 | 66% |
13TH CENTURYπροστάτις GA 1956, 1972, 1717, 1728, 1731, 1736, 1742, 625, 632, 914, 2423, 498, 1103, 469, 1860, 601, 1242, 1597, 6, 1297, 1069, 141, 328, 479, 757, 1072, 1400, 1855, 1858, 2483
προστάτης GA 1941, 1759, 1070, 1094, 1107, 384, 2696, 592, 496, 999, 2502, 2627
|
Readings 13th Century |
13th Century % |
Total Readings Thus Far |
Reading% |
προστάτης | 12 | 28.57% | 46 | 32.39% |
προστάτις | 30 | 71.43% | 96 | 67.61% |
14TH CENTURYπροστάτις GA 1902, 1952, 2356, 1747, 1099, 2484, 2310, 2774, 680, 425, 921, 603, 452, 367, 1741, 2626, 18, 201, 204, 386, 394, 604, 634, 801, 959, 1075, 1100, 1248, 1249, 1354, 1503, 1548, 1618, 1637, 1723, 1725, 1726, 1732, 1733, 1746, 1761, 1856, 2261, 2431, 2466, 2554, 1929
προστάτης GA 628, 1918, 794, 808, 1762, 928, 1482, 1622
|
Readings 14th Century |
14th Century % |
Total Readings Thus Far |
Reading% |
προστάτης | 8 | 14.55% | 54 | 27.41% |
προστάτις | 47 | 85.45% | 143 | 72.59% |
15TH CENTURYπροστάτις GA 1882, 1948, 1750, 616, 1003, 2003, 2691, 385, 1105, 1617, 2352, 149, 432, 1247, 1250, 1508, 1636, 1649, 1745, 1763, 1767, 1876, 2221, 2653, 2704, 1964
προστάτης GA 1978, 664, 1367
|
Readings 15th Century |
15th Century % |
Total Readings Thus Far |
Reading% |
προστάτης | 3 | 10.34% | 57 | 25.22% |
προστάτις | 26 | 89.66% | 169 | 74.78% |
16TH CENTURYπροστάτις GA 1930, 1931, 2009, 1749, 1768, 2218
προστάτης GA 1911, 2690, 90, 2501
|
Readings 16th Century |
16th Century % |
Total Readings Thus Far |
Reading% |
προστάτης | 4 | 40% | 61 | 25.85% |
προστάτις | 6 | 60% | 175 | 74.15% |
17TH CENTURYπροστάτις GA 1869, 1101, 1748, 1979
προστάτης
|
Readings 17th Century |
17th Century % |
Total Readings Thus Far |
Reading% |
προστάτης | 0 | 0% | 61 | 25.42% |
προστάτις | 4 | 100% | 179 | 74.58% |
18TH CENTURYπροστάτις GA 1104
προστάτης
|
Readings 18th Century |
18th Century % |
Total Readings Thus Far |
Reading% |
προστάτης | 0 | 0% | 61 | 25.31% |
προστάτις | 1 | 100% | 180 | 74.69% |
GA 57, 393, 404, 1277, 1628, 1889, 1992.
These seven feminine ligatures have not been included
in the count. It is impossible to tell if these manuscripts have been corrected, and there is evidence that some have been. A correction would consist merely of placing a
diaeresis (two dots) above the ligature.
GA1927 (10th), GA1933 (1045), GA1980 (11th), GA1870 (11th), GA1934 (11th), GA1672 (11th), GA620 (12th), GA2627 (13th), GA1762 (14th), GA1978 (15th).
GA327
FOOTNOTES
1. Barbara Aland and Kurt Aland,
The Text of the New Testament. Translated by Erroll F. Rhodes. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989), 138-40.
2. Wilbur N. Pickering and Marcelo Freitas,
Family 35. Original Text of the New Testament Exposition of Evidence. (Pickering and Freitas, 2021), 164-5.
3. J. H. Parker,
Joannis Chrysostomi in Divi Pauli Epistolam ad Romanos. Bibliotheca Patrum Ecclesiae Catholicae. (London: Rivington, 1847), 465.
4. John H. Parker,
Joannis Chrysostomi in Divi Pauli Epistolam ad Romanos. Bibliotheca Patrum Ecclesiae Catholicae. (London: Rivington, 1847), xiii.