Christian Texts and History • Definitions of "interpolation" and "TF"

Here I suggest that some posters (I so far avoid making a list, to keep this impersonal) may possibly use one or another of these two terms differently than some other posters (again, no list). I am not being prescriptive here--as in, use this definition only!--but am trying to be descriptive, to aid discussion and to avoid speaking past one another.

Interpolation. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (I'll copy it if requested), interpolation refers to an insertion or an introduction. If something already exists--hypothetically, a mention of Jesus--then there is a difference between something newly-inserted or newly-introduced and a revision or rewriting--in this hypothetical case, a modified mention of a pre-existing mention of Jesus. Not necessarily a mere subtraction nor a mere addition.

TF. Some here apparently define TF as the text in a few extant, late, Greek manuscripts. Others apparently use a broader definition of TF to include a variety of Joseph-related (or claimed as Josephus-related) testimonies to Jesus, in texts in four languages, extant or hypothesized. Some may include the James mention and others may not.

If so, then we don't always all use "the TF interpolation" in entirely equivalent ways.

Statistics: Posted by StephenGoranson — Wed Nov 27, 2024 5:34 am

---