The Passive ἀποκατηλλάγητε in P46 and B03 Colossians 1:22a: An Original Grammatical Anomaly or Another Case of Scribal Assimilation?

Abstract

Colossians 1:22a has one of the most challenging textual variants in the Pauline corpus regarding the form of the verb ἀποκαταλλάσσειν. The two competing readings are the active ἀποκατήλλαξεν, which is the reading of the majority of manuscripts, and the passive ἀποκαταλ[..]γητε/ἀποκατηλλάγητε, found in P46 and B03, two of the most important manuscripts of the New Testament. Although the latter results in a ‘grammatical anomaly’, it is the lectio difficilior, and, therefore, many argue that it is the only reading that reasonably explains the emergence of the others. I argue that the reading of the majority of witnesses should be accepted as the earliest attainable text on both external and internal grounds; however, scholars who support this approach have been challenged to present an explanation for the origin of the passive reading in P46 and B03. This article provides such a hypothesis, proposing that the P46/B03 reading can be reasonably explained by an unconscious assimilation (or harmonisation) of the near-parallel passage in Romans 5:10.