This article examines how GIS can be used as a heuristic tool to reconstruct spatial–temporal events from narratives in order to examine whether a scenario is conceivable within the narrative world. The narrative about Paul's escape from Berea (Acts 17:14–15) is used as a case study. Several interpretive issues related to spatial and temporal questions surround these texts. In the case study, three methods are applied: (a) least‐cost path analysis on elevation data to construct journeys and travel times for Roman roads; (b) network analysis to find seafaring routes valid for ancient times; and (c) the integration of spatial and temporal data in a space‐time cube. Our main finding is that the method yields insights into the spatial–temporal dynamics of the narrative. This helps a modern reader to better understand the narrative conceivability of a story in the mind of a first‐century reader.

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Before the interpretation of any text can start, the original wording of the text itself must be critically established. Conventionally, this is done following qualitative criteria. This article, however, explores the application of spatial analyses to New Testament textual criticism by demonstrating how the Levenshtein edit distance could be adapted to calculate confusion distances for variant readings in New Testament manuscripts, i.e. the possibility that a (combination of) letter(s) is confused by another (combination of) letter(s). Subsequently the outcomes are translated to Euclidian space using classical Multi-Dimensional Scaling, which enables visualisation and spatial analyses (in this case not related to geographical space). The article focuses on the data preparation and algorithm to make the data suitable for spatial analyses, thus providing the New Testament textual critic with new analytical tools.

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The eventful career of the ‘Velesian readings’ constitute an instructive chapter in the history of New Testament exegesis. Around 1570, Pedro Fajardo, Marquis of los Vélez, jotted down some 2,000 variant readings in a printed New Testament, giving later researchers the impression that these annotations resulted from a persistent perusal of Greek manuscripts. The original annotated book was never found, but the Velesian readings found their way into many editions, for example Walton’s 1657 Polyglot. Eventually, the readings were shown to be retranslations from Latin into Greek, intended to vindicate the Latin Vulgate against the received Greek text. This chapter traces the role scholars played in their unmasking. It shows that variant readings were of paramount importance in theological controversy.