2 Corinthians 1:10

2 Corinthians 1:10 thlikou,tou qana,tou {B}

The text is doubtful. On the one hand, the weight of the external evidence seems to favor the singular thlikou,tou qana,tou (a A B C D^gr G^gr K P Y 33 614 1739* Byz Lect cop^{sa, bo} arm Clement al). On the other hand, the oldest known witness (î⁴⁶) reads the plural thlikou,twn qana,twn, an expression which, according to Zuntz (The Text of the Epistles, p. 104), “bears the stamp of genuine Pauline diction; cf. ib. 2 Corinthians 11:23 and 2 Corinthians 6:4 ff…The singular clearly arose from the pedantic idea that no one could risk more than one death.” A majority of the Committee was impressed by the preponderance of external evidence in support of the singular number, and considered that the plural may have originated from a desire to heighten the intensity of the account, particularly since Paul himself refers to more than one deliverance (“has delivered…and will deliver”).

[For the reasons indicated by Zuntz the plural seems preferable. It is the harder reading, that of the oldest Greek witnesses and of most Old Latin manuscripts. A.W.]