s in Rome:
Many authors have in fact noticed that the case for the Roman origin of the codex is strong, even decisive. Our first good evidence of its use for books (as opposed to private notes and memoranda, written on wooden tablets strung together) comes from first-century Rome.
 Returning to the analogy of a firework, the initial text rocketing up and about to explode is, then, a copy of Hebrews carried in a collection of Paul's letters, perhaps launched from Rome around the end of the first century in codex form. If the picture we now see represents primordial copies dispersed to early Christian population centres at that time, how should we seek to recover the initial text? It may be that the best approach is to remain agnostic concerning where the initial text came from and to distill the text represented by each cluster then use these “hyparchetypes” to approach the initial text. Alternatively, we could choose one place as the most likely initial distribution centre for the collection of Paul's letters then seek the initial text from those witnesses which preserve its local text. If that place was Rome then the MDS maps taken together with a geographical interpretation hint that the texts of P46 and B are the closest surviving relatives of the initial text of Hebrews.
 Barbara Aland, Kurt Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M. Metzger, eds, The Greek New Testament, (4th rev. ed.; Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1993).
 Barbara Aland, Kurt Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M. Metzger, eds, Novum Testamentum Graece (27th rev. ed.; Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1993).
 These represent a summary of the readings. One manuscript (P46) has αὐτοῦ instead of ἑαυτοῦ for the second reading while some witnesses have αὑτοῦ or αὐτοῦ instead of ἑαυτοῦ for the third.
 A comparison on the basis of order might be meaningful for a data matrix constructed from the UBS4 apparatus because the editors always place their preferred reading first.
 Provided that certain mathematical conditions are met, a dissimilarity can be called a distance. Other dissimilarity measures exist but not all are suitable for nominal data.
 The original text of Codex Vaticanus (B) is missing from Heb 9:14 to the end, explaining in large part why there are only 23 out of 44 variation units where the readings of both P46 and B are defined. (The reading of P46 is undefined at two of the 44 variation units.) Distances are quoted to three significant figures regardless of whether this level of precision is warranted. Being a ratio of two counts, the simple matching distance is a dimensionless quantity; it is a pure number with no unit.
 These were generated using the R statistical computing
environment. (See The R Project for Statistical Computing at
following statement was executed twice to obtain the random numerals:
 This equation employs factorial notation, where n! = n x (n - 1) x ... x 2 x 1. P(k) is the probability of k out of n disagreements and p is the probability of disagreement, which is the complement of the probability of agreement. That is, P(disagreement) = p and P(agreement) = 1 - p, where “P(x)” stands for “probability of x.”
 Using R, critical limits for a binomial distribution can be
calculated with the expression
qbinom(c(0.025, 0.975), n, p), where n is
the number of trials and p the probability of success. In this case, the
alpha level of 0.05 is split between the two tails,
resulting in cumulative probabilities of 0.025 and 0.975. There are ten trials, each
with a probability of success equal to one half (0.5).
 The usefulness of such an estimate is questionable. The extant evidence may not be representative of all phases of textual development. Furthermore, a multiplicity of similar witnesses, such as those with the Byzantine standard text, can skew the result. Fortunately, the UBS4 apparatus subsumes most Byzantine witnesses under a single group symbol, thereby alleviating this problem.
 These critical limits were calculated using an R script written for the purpose. All of