The Causes of the Corruption of the Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels Part 3

In St Mark vii. 14, [Greek: palin] was similarly misread by some copyists for [Greek: panta], and has been preserved by [Symbol: Aleph]BDL[Symbol: Delta] ([Greek: PALIN] for [Greek: PANTA]) against thirteen uncials, all the cursives, the Pes.h.i.+tto and Armenian.

So again in St. John xiii. 37. A reads [Greek: dynasai moi] by an evident slip of the pen for [Greek: dynamai soi]. And in xix. 31 [Greek: megale e emera] has become [Greek: megale hemera] in [Symbol: Aleph]AE[Symbol: Gamma] and some cursive copies.

FOOTNOTES:

[18] See the pa.s.sages quoted in Scrivener's Introduction, II. 270-2, 4th ed.

[19] Tertull. (Prax. c. 22): Ambr. (ii. 576, 607, 689 _bis_): Hilary (930 _bis_, 1089): Jerome (v. 208): Augustin (iii^2. 615): Maximinus, an Arian bishop (_ap_. Aug. viii. 651).

[20] Pater (_or_ Pater meus) quod dedit mihi (_or_ mihi dedit), majus omnibus est (_or_ majus est omnibus: _or_ omnibus majus est).

[21] iii^2. 615. He begins, '_Quid dedit Filio Pater majus omnibus? Ut ipsi ille esset unigenitus Filius_.'

[22] i. 236.

[23] viii. 363 _bis_.

[24] i. 188: ii. 567: iii. 792: iv. 666 (ed. Pusey): v^1. 326, 577, 578: _ap._ Mai ii. 13: iii. 336.

[25] v. 1065 (=Dial^{Maced} _ap._ Athanas. ii. 555).

[26] Viz. + [Greek: mou] ABD:--[Greek: mou] [Symbol: Aleph] | [Greek: os] A: [Greek: o] B[Symbol: Aleph]D | [Greek: dedoken] B[Symbol: Aleph]A: [Greek: dedokos] | [Greek: meizon] [Symbol: Aleph]D: [Greek: meizon] AB | [Greek: meiz. panton estin] A: [Greek: panton meiz. estin]

B[Symbol: Aleph]D.

[27] The Revision Revised, p. 51-3.

[28] The Revision Revised, p. 53-4.

[29] Ibid. p. 51-6.

[30] Ibid. p. 177-8.

[31] Also in Ammonius the presbyter, A.D. 458--see Cramer's Cat. p.

334-5, _last line_. [Greek: Logou] is read besides in the cursives Act.

36, 96, 105.

[32] I look for an approving word from learned Dr. Field, who wrote in 1875--'The real obstacle to our acquiescing in the reading of the T.R.

is, that if the words [Greek: oude echo] had once formed a part of the original text, there is no possibility of accounting for the subsequent omission of them.' The same remark, but considerably toned down, is found in his delightful Otium Norvicense, P. iii, p. 84.

[33] B and C read--[Greek: all' oudenos logou poioumai ten psychen emauto]: which is exactly what Lucifer Calarit. represents,--'_sed pro nihilo aestimo animam meam caram esse mihi_' (Galland. vi. 241).

[34] [Symbol: Aleph] reads--[Greek: all' oudenos logon poioumai ten psychen timian emauto hos teleioso ton dromon mou].

[35] '_Sed nihil horum_ ([Greek: touton] is found in many Greek Codd.) _vereor, nee facio animam meam pretiosiorem quam me_.' So, the _Cod.

Amiat._ It is evident then that when Ambrose (ii. 1040) writes '_nec facio animam meam cariorem mihi_,' he is quoting the latter of these two clauses. Augustine (iii^{1}. 516), when he cites the place thus, '_Non enim facto animam meam preliosiorem quam me_'; and elsewhere (iv. 268) '_pretiosam mihi_'; also Origen (_interp._ iv. 628 c), '_sed ego non facto cariorem animam meam mihi_'; and even the Coptic, '_sed anima mea, dico, non est pretiosa mihi in aliquo verbo_':--these evidently summarize the place, by making a sentence out of what survives of the second clause. The Latin of D exhibits '_Sed nihil horum cura est mihi: neque habeo ipsam animam caram mihi_.'

[36] Dr. Field says that it may be thus Graecized--[Greek: all' oudena logon poioumai, oude lelogistai moi psyche ti timion].

[37] ii. 296 e,--exactly as the T.R.

[38] Exactly as the T.R., except that he writes [Greek: ten psychen]

without [Greek: mou] (ix. 332). So again, further on (334 b), [Greek: ouk echo timian ten emautou psychen]. This latter place is quoted in Cramer's Cat. 334.

[39] _Ap._ Mai ii. 336 [Greek: edei kai tes zoes kataphronein hyper tou teleiosai ton dromon, oude ten psychen ephe poieiosai timian heauto.]

[40] [Greek: logon echo, oude poioumai ten psychen timian emauto, oste k.t.l.] (_ap._ Galland. x. 222).

[41] [Greek: all' oudenos logon poioumai ton deinon, oude echo ten psychen timian emauto]. Epist. ad Tars. c. 1 (Dressel, p. 255).

[42] The whole of Dr. Field's learned annotation deserves to be carefully read and pondered. I speak of it especially in the shape in which it originally appeared, viz. in 1875.

[43] Ibid. p. 2 and 3.

[44] Surprising it is how largely the text of this place has suffered at the hands of Copyists and Translators. In A and D, the words [Greek: poioumai] and [Greek: echo] have been made to change places. The latter Codex introduces [Greek: moi] after [Greek: echo],--for [Greek: emauto]

writes [Greek: emautou],--and exhibits [Greek: tou teleiosai] without [Greek: hos]. C writes [Greek: hos to teleiosai]. [Symbol: Aleph]B alone of Codexes present us with [Greek: teleioso] for [Greek: teleiosai], and are followed by Westcott and Hort _alone of Editors_. The Pes.h.i.+tto ('_sed mihi nihili aestimatur anima mea_'), the Sahidic ('_sed non facto animam meam in ulla re_'), and the Aethiopic ('_sed non reputo animam meam nihil quidquam_'), get rid of [Greek: timian] as well as of [Greek: oude echo]. So much diversity of text, and in such primitive witnesses, while it points to a remote period as the date of the blunder to which attention is called in the text, testifies eloquently to the utter perplexity which that blunder occasioned from the first.

[45] Another example of the same phenomenon, (viz. the absorption of [Greek: EN] by the first syllable of [Greek: ANthropois]) is to be seen in Acts iv. 12,--where however the error has led to no mischievous results.

[46] For those which insert _in_ (14), and those which reject it (25), see Wordsworth's edition of the Vulgate on this pa.s.sage.

[47] Of Fathers:--Ambrose i. 1298--Hieronymus i. 448^{2}, 693, 876: ii.

213: iv. 34, 92: v. 147: vi. 638: vii. 241, 251, 283,--Augustine 34 times,--Optatus (Galland. v. 472, 457),--Gaudentius Brix. (_ap._ Sabat.),--Chromatius Ag. (Gall. viii. 337),--Orosius (_ib._ ix. 134), Marius M. (_ib._ viii. 672), Maximus Taur. (_ib._ ix. 355),--Sedulius (_ib._ 575),--Leo M. (_ap._ Sabat.),--Mamertus Claudia.n.u.s (Gall. x.

431),--Vigilius Taps. (_ap._ Sabat.),--Zacchaeus (Gall. ix.

241),--Caesarius Arel. (_ib._ xi. 11),--ps.-Ambros. ii. 394, 396,--Hormisdas P. (Conc. iv. 1494, 1496),--52 Bps. at 8th Council of Toledo (Conc. vi. 395), &c., &c.

[48] See Wetstein on this place.

[49] Antiqq. i. 99, xviii. 5. 4.

CHAPTER III.

ACCIDENTAL CAUSES OF CORRUPTION.

II. h.o.m.oeoteleuton.

No one who finds the syllable [Greek: OI] recurring six times over in about as many words,--e.g. [Greek: kai egeneto, hos apelthon ... OI angelOI, kai OI anthropOI OI pOImenes eipon],--is surprised to learn that MSS. of a certain type exhibit serious perturbation in that place.

Accordingly, BL[Symbol: Xi] leave out the words [Greek: kai hoi anthropoi]; and in that mutilated form the modern critical editors are contented to exhibit St. Luke ii. 15. One would have supposed that Tischendorf's eyes would have been opened when he noticed that in his own Codex ([Symbol: Aleph]) one word more ([Greek: hoi]) is dropped,--whereby nonsense is made of the pa.s.sage (viz. [Greek: hoi angeloi poimenes]). Self-evident it is that a line with a 'like ending'

has been omitted by the copyist of some very early codex of St. Luke's Gospel; which either read,--

[Greek: OI ANGELOI] } {[Greek: OI ANGELOI]

[[Greek: KAI OI A[=NO]I OI]] } or else {[[Greek: KAI OI A[=NO]I]]

[Greek: POIMENES] } {[Greek: OI POIMENES]

Another such place is found in St. John vi. 11. The Evangelist certainly described the act of our Saviour on a famous occasion in the well-known words,--[Greek: kai eucharistesas]