what exactly is Critical Apparatus?

I am now the proud owner of NA28 since upgrading to Logos 5 Platinum. The questions now is, should I get the addon Critical Apparatus while it is on pre-pub for $50?

https://www.logos.com/buy/29981

What is Critical Apparatus and what will it do for me? I suspect that the fact that I am asking this question means that I probably don't need it, but I am nevertheless curious.

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

David Thomas

It is a set of comments on the individual sources of the text. Since our current Greek text is a combination of MANY fragments. Textual Criticism studies what particular spellings are in the individual sources in an attempt to figure out what was originally intended.

In common terms some Greek manuscripts have a particular spelling of particular texts and other manuscripts contain different spelling and words of different texts, but there is a lot of overlap between text families. So the critical apparatus identifies what variants are in particular sources.

Personally, I don't have time to "establish the text" in a detailed way for each text I study so I rely upon the work of other scholars who have gone before me. I consult the notes for the NET Bible (the TC notes are particularly about Textual Criticism) to alert me of any big issues that I might want to consider further.

Paul Golder

From a technical point of view:

The critical apparatus (or Latin: apparatus criticus) is the critical and primary source material that accompanies an edition of a text. A critical apparatus is often a by-product of textual criticism.

The format of the apparatus has several parts:

The location of the variant in the text
The lemma, which is the portion of the text to which the note applies
The source from which the edition took its reading
A list of variants, in each case followed by the source in which the variant is found

The questions now is, should I get the addon Critical Apparatus

It depends on how "critically" (characterized by careful, exact evaluation and judgment) you wish to look at the text.

Matthew C Jones

The questions now is, should I get the addon Critical Apparatus while it is on pre-pub for $50?

If we look at the product description here:

https://www.logos.com/product/29980/nestle-aland-greek-new-testament-28th-edition-with-critical-apparatus

We read:

The existing NA28 in base packages will be updated to include apparatus markers. Already have the text and want the apparatus? The NA28 apparatus is available on Pre-Pub!

My question is What is the difference between "apparatus markers" & the apparatus itself? In other words, must one buy the Pre-Pub to have the apparatus or will it be updated for free into the base packages?

Matthew C Jones

My question is What is the difference between "apparatus markers" & the apparatus itself? In other words, must one buy the Pre-Pub to have the apparatus or will it be updated for free into the base packages?

I just got my answers on another thread. Thank you, fgh for making sense of it all.

DMB

I can't imagine buying the NA28 apparatus by itself, unless I was SERIOUSLY into NA-ish antics. The German Bible Society has the NA27 (not much different), along with the OT apparatus, LXX apparatus, etc. Much better choice to provide a more complete set. I have an order in for the combo NA28/apparatus, but mainly for new papyri mentions.

BY THE BUY:

For anyone interested in the 'good' one (German Bible Society student-ish version), there's a sale until Sept 13. I couldn't tell how much off but I didn't look very hard: http://www.logos.com/product/21066/german-bible-society-bundle-student-edition You don't have to be a student (though you are one).

Lee

From another source:

In the rest of the New Testament the [NA28] apparatus has been revised in various ways, which generally increase accuracy, readability, and transparency:

References have been checked and different witnesses appear in the apparatus. Thus in 2 Timothy 1:10 manuscript 81 was cited by NA27 in support of txt’s Χριστοῦ ’Ιησοῦ and is now cited in support of the opposite variant ’Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ; the disgraced manuscript 2427 has been removed from the apparatus of Mark; the latest papyri (numbers 117-127) are cited; some manuscripts previously subsumed under the Majority text symbol unless they disagreed with the Majority text, are now consistently cited separately.
The distinction – found confusing by some – between consistently cited witnesses of the first and second order has been dropped.
Conjectures have been dropped from the apparatus.
The references to versional readings have been considerably reduced, especially in light of criticisms that NA27 was overly certain of the readings behind versions.
References to correctors, especially of Codex Sinaiticus, are significantly more precise than previously.
The apparatus now contains much more information on variants of accentuation which affect the sense. Sometimes this newly gathered information stands rather strongly against the printed text, e.g., 1 Corinthians 3:14, where only mss 81 and 1505 and allegedly the Latin support NA28’s future μενεῖ and an impressive range of witnesses support the present μένει. In Hebrews 5:12 only mss Ψ and 81 (again!) support NA28’s τινά against the well attested reading τίνα.

In some ways, the changes in the apparatus of NA28 are more interesting than the textual updates.

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)

What is Critical Apparatus and what will it do for me?

NA27 Critical Apparatus is included in a bundle that is on sale (through 13 Sep 2013) => http://www.logos.com/product/21066/german-bible-society-bundle-student-edition

Keep Smiling [:)]

John Kaess

Thank you. This exmple is enough to show me that i don't think the critical apparatus is something i would use.