1 Peter 3:18

1 Peter 3:18 peri. a`martiw/n e;paqen {B}

The bewildering diversity of readings can be listed in connection with the variation involving the accompanying verb. Followed by e;paqen the variants are:

(a) peri. a`martiw/n B K P 049 056 0142 326* 330 451 1877 2127 Byz Lect Ps-Oecumenius.
(b) u`pe.r h`mw/n a`martiw/n 326^c.
(c) u`pe.r a`martiw/n 2 241 242 325 337 460 489 2492.

Followed by avpe,qanen the variants are:

(d) peri. a`martiw/n u`pe.r u`mw/n î<sup>72</sup> A 206 429 441 1241 arm.
(e) peri. a`martiw/n u`pe.r h`mw/n a^c (a* tw/n a`martiw/n) C<sup>2vid</sup> 33 88 322 323 436 614 630 945 1739 1881 2412 ù<sup>6</sup> cop<sup>bo</sup> eth Didymus.
(f) peri. u`mw/n u`pe.r a`martiw/n Y.
(g) peri. a`martiw/n h`mw/n C*^vid 5 629 2298 it⁶⁵ syr^p cop^sa Cyprian.
(h) u`pe.r a`martwlw/n Didymus.

While acknowledging the difficulty of ascertaining the original text, a majority of the Committee preferred the reading peri. a`martiw/n e;paqen because (a) this verb, which is a favorite of the author (it occurs elsewhere in 1 Peter eleven times), carries on the thought of ver. 1 Peter 3:17, whereas avpoqnh,|skein (which occurs nowhere else in the epistle) abruptly introduces a new idea; (b) in view of the presence of the expression peri. a`martiw/n scribes would be more likely to substitute avpe,qanen for e;paqen than vice versa; and (c) the readings with h`mw/n or u`mw/n (which in later Greek had the same pronunciation) are natural and, indeed, expected scribal expansions.