15 Καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ταύταις ἀναστὰς Πέτρος ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἀδελφῶν εἶπεν· ἦν τε ὄχλος ὀνομάτων ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ὡς ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι
16 Ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί, ἔδει πληρωθῆναι τὴν γραφὴν ἣν προεῖπε τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον διὰ στόματος Δαυεὶδ περὶ Ἰούδα τοῦ γενομένου ὁδηγοῦ τοῖς συλλαβοῦσιν Ἰησοῦν,
17 ὅτι κατηριθμημένος ἦν ἐν ἡμεῖν καὶ ἔλαχεν τὸν κλῆρον τῆς διακονίας ταύτης.
18 οὗτος μὲν οὖν ἐκτήσατο χωρίον ἐκ μισθοῦ τῆς ἀδικίας, καὶ πρηνὴς γενόμενος ἐλάκησεν μέσος, καὶ ἐξεχύθη πάντα τὰ σπλάγχνα αὐτοῦ·
19 καὶ γνωστὸν ἐγένετο πᾶσι τοῖς κατοικοῦσι Ἱερουσαλήμ, ὥστε κληθῆναι τὸ χωρίον ἐκεῖνο τῇ διαλέκτῳ αὐτῶν Ἀκελδαμάχ, τοῦτ’ ἔστιν Χωρίον Αἵματος.
20 γέγραπται γὰρ ἐν βίβλῳ Ψαλμῶν Γενηθήτω ἡ ἔπαυλις αὐτοῦ ἔρημος καὶ μὴ ἔστω ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν αὐτῇ, καί Τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν αὐτοῦ λαβέτω ἕτερος.
21 δεῖ οὖν τῶν συνελθόντων ἡμῖν ἀνδρῶν ἐν παντὶ χρόνῳ ᾧ εἰσῆλθεν καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς,
22 ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος Ἰωάνου ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ἧς ἀνελήμφθη ἀφ’ ἡμῶν, μάρτυρα τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ σὺν ἡμῖν γενέσθαι ἕνα τούτων.
15 At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren, and said (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together),
16 “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
17 For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.”
18 (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.
19 And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation be made desolate, And let no one dwell in it’; and, ‘Let another man take his office.’
21 Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—
22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
16 Ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί, ἔδει πληρωθῆναι τὴν γραφὴν ἣν προεῖπε τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον διὰ στόματος Δαυεὶδ περὶ Ἰούδα τοῦ γενομένου ὁδηγοῦ τοῖς συλλαβοῦσιν Ἰησοῦν,
17 ὅτι κατηριθμημένος ἦν ἐν ἡμεῖν καὶ ἔλαχεν τὸν κλῆρον τῆς διακονίας ταύτης.
18 οὗτος μὲν οὖν ἐκτήσατο χωρίον ἐκ μισθοῦ τῆς ἀδικίας, καὶ πρηνὴς γενόμενος ἐλάκησεν μέσος, καὶ ἐξεχύθη πάντα τὰ σπλάγχνα αὐτοῦ·
19 καὶ γνωστὸν ἐγένετο πᾶσι τοῖς κατοικοῦσι Ἱερουσαλήμ, ὥστε κληθῆναι τὸ χωρίον ἐκεῖνο τῇ διαλέκτῳ αὐτῶν Ἀκελδαμάχ, τοῦτ’ ἔστιν Χωρίον Αἵματος.
20 γέγραπται γὰρ ἐν βίβλῳ Ψαλμῶν Γενηθήτω ἡ ἔπαυλις αὐτοῦ ἔρημος καὶ μὴ ἔστω ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν αὐτῇ, καί Τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν αὐτοῦ λαβέτω ἕτερος.
21 δεῖ οὖν τῶν συνελθόντων ἡμῖν ἀνδρῶν ἐν παντὶ χρόνῳ ᾧ εἰσῆλθεν καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς,
22 ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος Ἰωάνου ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ἧς ἀνελήμφθη ἀφ’ ἡμῶν, μάρτυρα τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ σὺν ἡμῖν γενέσθαι ἕνα τούτων.
15 At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren, and said (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together),
16 “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
17 For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.”
18 (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.
19 And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation be made desolate, And let no one dwell in it’; and, ‘Let another man take his office.’
21 Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—
22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
The boldfaced lines above are parenthetical remarks.
Most translations smooth out the location of the first parenthesis, placing it before the verb εἶπεν ("he said"), so that it comes out something like: "Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together), and said...." This seems to be a better spot for the parenthesis than where the Greek text locates it, after the verb εἶπεν, making the comment about the 120, at first blush, the first thing actually spoken by Peter in his speech!
Translations do not have much of a choice with the second parenthesis, which the above translation identifies as verses 18-19: it interrupts Peter's speech in a way that makes moving it around impossible without destroying the traditional versification that translations strive to maintain. In fact, it is not entirely clear that these two verses are indeed a parenthetical remark from the narrator; they might be intended to be understood as a parenthetical remark spoken by Peter himself. Just reading this section as it stands, one would probably, again (at least) at first blush, think that Peter is explaining what happened to Judas. And the bit from the Psalms in verse 20 about "his habitation be[ing] made desolate" appears to presuppose Judas' field becoming the site of his bloody demise and a notorious place to the Jerusalemites. If anything, then (if we think that the narrator is interrupting Peter here), perhaps the parenthesis ought to include verse 20:
15 At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren, and said (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together),
16 “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
17 For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.”
18 (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.
19 And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.
20 For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation be made desolate, And let no one dwell in it’; and, ‘Let another man take his office.’)
21 “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—
22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
16 “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
17 For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.”
18 (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.
19 And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.
20 For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation be made desolate, And let no one dwell in it’; and, ‘Let another man take his office.’)
21 “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—
22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
Now the narrator himself is introducing the passages from the Psalms; the first one explains the death of Judas narrated within the parenthesis, while the second explains the need for a replacement apostle introduced outside the parenthesis, which is fine. And verse 21 follows neatly upon verses 16-17: Judas was counted in this ministry, but he betrayed Jesus; therefore (οὖν) another person ought to be counted in this ministry.
But what is the status of these parenthetical remarks? Were they there all along, from the moment the plume first touched the parchment? Or are they redactional additions to a text that originally lacked them? The awkward placement of that first parenthesis (after "he said") certainly makes me think of clumsy redactor rather than of original author writing freely, but... authors can be clumsy sometimes, too. And the very fact that the status and extent of the second parenthesis is unclear may signal a bit of the same kind of clumsiness there, too.
It at least does not seem to lie outside the realm of possibility that the original state of this pericope lacked both parentheses, and a later editor/redactor with an interest in numbers and scriptural references came along and added them both. But I am not committed to this scenario. Are there any other factors that ought to be considered here?
Ben.
