Tense-Form Reduction and the Use of ἐποιήσατε in Codex Bezae Matthew 21,13//Mark 11,17 WALLY V. CIRAFESI This short study employs the concept of tense-form reduction from the perspective of Hellenistic Greek aspectology to explain the reading ἐποιήσατε in Codex Bezae Matthew 21,13//Mark 11,17. The article suggests that the Bezen scribe has chosen (consciously or unconsciously) to reduce the aspectual semantics of the verb ποιέω from the imperfective Present (Matt) and the stative Perfect (Mark) to the perfective Aorist. The textual effect of this choice is that Jesus’ pronouncement of judgment on those buy- ing and selling in the temple is emphasized less in the text of Bezae, since it stands in the background of Jesus’ speech frame. This finding has significant implications for proposals regarding the anti-Judaic bias of Codex Bezae, particularly as demonstrated by its version of the Markan temple cleansing episode. Keywords: Codex Bezae, Synoptic parallels, verbal aspect, scribal habits, Markan temple cleansing. 1. Introduction The linguistic significance of divergent tense-form usage in the Synoptic parallel material has, until recently, been largely unexplored in Gospel scholarship1. A related area also receiving little attention is the meaning of tense-form changes in various manuscript traditions and what these changes might tell us about scribal emphases. This short study seeks to explore three possible explanations for Codex Bezae’s reading of ἐποιήσατε at Matt 21,13//Mark 11,17, and considers the concept of tense-form reduction within the realm of Hellenistic Greek aspectology as a tool for scribal emphasis in Codex Bezae’s witness to the Synoptic temple cleansing narratives2. 1 However, see Wally V. Cirafesi, Verbal Aspect in Synoptic Parallels: On the Method and Meaning of Divergent Tense-Form Usage in the Synoptic Passion Narratives (Linguistic Biblical Studies 7; Leiden 2013). 2 The scribal habits of Codex Bezae is a topic long and often explored. One of the earliest explorations was Bernhard Weiss’s Der Codex D in der Apostelgeschichte: Textkritische Untersuchung (TU 17; Leipzig 1897). See more recently Hans-Werner Bartsch, “Über den Umgang der frühen Christenheit mit dem Text der Evangelien: Das Beispiel des Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis”, NTS 29.2 (1983) 167-182; M.-É Boismard and A. Lamouille, La Filología Neotestamentaria - Vol. XXVI - 2013, pp. 61-68 Facultad de Filosofía y Letras - Universidad de Córdoba (España)