Acts 11:21 - What's the Difference?

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timothy_p_mcmahon
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Joined: June 3rd, 2011, 10:47 pm

Acts 11:21 - What's the Difference?

Post by timothy_p_mcmahon »

There are (at least) two textual readings of this verse. Leaving aside such issues as which text-type is original and theological ramifications, is there a difference in meaning between the two readings:
Reading A, adjectival participle: καὶ ἦν χεὶρ κυρίου μετʼ αὐτῶν, πολύς τε ἀριθμὸς πιστεύσας ἐπέστρεψεν ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον.
Reading B, adverbial participle:καὶ ἦν χεὶρ κυρίου μετʼ αὐτῶν, πολύς τε ἀριθμὸς πιστεύσας ἐπέστρεψεν ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον.
In reading B, it's clear that all who believed turned to the Lord. That's also how I understand reading A. But some versions that translate reading A render something like "a large number who believed turned to the Lord" — raising the possibility that those who turned are only a subset of those who believed.

This seems unlikely to me. I would expect a partitive genitive — something like πολύς τε ἀριθμὸς των πιστευοντων ἐπέστρεψεν — but I'd like to get some perspective from those with a deeper knowledge of Greek.

Thanks!
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