Abstract:
This article investigates the textual history of the explicit quotations of Isaiah in the Acts of
the Apostles of Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis (Acts 7:49-50; 13:34; 13:47) by introducing the
concept of “Old Testament awareness.” This concept can be defined as the degree to which
a NT tradition, at any stage of its transmission history, is aware of a quotation stemming
from the OT. OT awareness can be identified in the layout of Codex Bezae (e.g., the indentation
of text in the manuscript to indicate OT quotations), the text of quotations (e.g.,
readings that can be shown to be a subsequent change towards an OT tradition) and the
context of the quoted text (e.g., the quotations’ introductory formulae). Through assessing
the OT awareness of Codex Bezae’s explicit quotations of Isaiah, different stages in the
transmission history of the text of these quotations in Codex Bezae’s Acts can be identified.