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The position with respect to the transmission of the text of both Corinthian epistles is inherently the same as in the rest of the Pauline Epistles. The Alexandrian text type is represented by the Chester Beatty papyrus p 46 (with some Western readings), by the uncials a, B, and C, and by some minuscules. The Western text is represented by D, F, G, Old Latin, and Western church fathers; the Byzantine text by the overwhelming majority of (later) witnesses.
Although, as usual, there are many textual decisions to be made, the text of both epistles is in relatively good form. Some of the difficulties in 2 Corinthians stem from the fact that Paul, especially in 2 Cor. 10-13, is writing under enormous stress, which is reflected in his sometimes tortured Greek, certainly the most difficult Greek in the Pauline corpus.
In 1 Corinthians, the view that 1 Cor. 14:34-35 is a gloss was very much a minority position, until Fee defended it in his recent commentary. 67 Fee’s stature as a textual critic has served to make this view more acceptable. The fact remains that although some witnesses place verses 34-35 after verse 40, not one omits it; and despite Fee, convincing reasons can be given not only as to why a minority of witnesses transposed this passage to the end of verse 40, but also as to how it should be understood within its context. 68
