THE TEXTUAL TRADITIONS OF ACTS: WHAT HAS DISCOURSE ANALYSIS CONTRIBUTED?

This article assesses Jenny Read-Heimerdinger's application of discourse analysis to the problem of the two textual traditions of the book of Acts. Based on an analysis of the textual variants of the Apostolic Decree and a consideration of Jewish perspective of both traditions, this article concludes, contrary to Read-Heimerdinger, that the Alexandrian tradition is more likely to represent the original text and contains a more Jewish-oriented perspective, which calls her application of discourse analysis into question and reaffirms the primacy of the Alexandrian text.