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diff --git a/21112.txt b/21112.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dee5873 --- /dev/null +++ b/21112.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11798 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Causes of the Corruption of the +Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels, by John Burgon + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Causes of the Corruption of the Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels + Being the Sequel to The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels + +Author: John Burgon + +Editor: Edward Miller + +Release Date: April 16, 2007 [EBook #21112] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CORRUPTION OF THE GOSPELS *** + + + + +Produced by Colin Bell, Daniel J. Mount, Dave Morgan, David +King, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +THE +CAUSES OF THE CORRUPTION +OF THE +TRADITIONAL TEXT +OF THE +HOLY GOSPELS + + +BEING THE SEQUEL TO +_THE TRADITIONAL TEXT OF THE HOLY GOSPELS_ + + +BY THE LATE + +JOHN WILLIAM BURGON, B. D. + +DEAN OF CHICHESTER + + +ARRANGED, COMPLETED, AND EDITED +BY + +EDWARD MILLER, M. A. + +WYKEHAMICAL PREBENDARY OF CHICHESTER + + +LONDON +GEORGE BELL AND SONS + +CAMBRIDGE: DEIGHTON, BELL AND CO. + +1896. + + +'Tenet ecclesia nostra, tenuitque semper firmam illam et immotam +Tertulliani regulam "Id verius quod prius, id prius quod ab initio." Quo +propius ad veritatis fontem accedimus, eo purior decurrit Catholicae +doctrinae rivus.' + +Cave's _Proleg._ p. xliv. + +'Interrogate de semitis antiquis quae sit via bona, et ambulate in +ea.'--Jerem. vi. 16. + +'In summa, si constat id verius quod prius, id prius quod ab initio, id +ab initio quod ab Apostolis; pariter utique constabit, id esse ab +Apostolis traditum, quod apud Ecclesias Apostolorum fuerit +sacrosanctum.'--Tertull. _adv. Marc._ l. iv. c. 5. + + + + +PREFACE + + +The reception given by the learned world to the First Volume of this +work, as expressed hitherto in smaller reviews and notices, has on the +whole been decidedly far from discouraging. All have had some word of +encomium on our efforts. Many have accorded praise and signified their +agreement, sometimes with unquestionable ability. Some have pronounced +adverse opinions with considerable candour and courtesy. Others in +opposing have employed arguments so weak and even irrelevant to the real +question at issue, as to suggest that there is not after all so much as +I anticipated to advance against our case. Longer examinations of this +important matter are doubtless impending, with all the interest +attaching to them and the judgements involved: but I beg now to offer my +acknowledgements for all the words of encouragement that have been +uttered. + +Something however must be said in reply to an attack made in the +_Guardian_ newspaper on May 20, because it represents in the main the +position occupied by some members of an existing School. I do not linger +over an offhand stricture upon my 'adhesion to the extravagant claim of +a second-century origin for the Peshitto,' because I am content with the +companionship of some of the very first Syriac scholars, and with the +teaching given in an unanswered article in the _Church Quarterly Review_ +for April, 1895. Nor except in passing do I remark upon a fanciful +censure of my account of the use of papyrus in MSS. before the tenth +century--as to which the reviewer is evidently not versed in information +recently collected, and described for example in Sir E. Maunde +Thompson's Greek and Latin Palaeography, or in Mr. F. G. Kenyon's Our +Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, and in an article in the just +mentioned Review which appeared in October, 1894. These observations and +a large number of inaccuracies shew that he was at the least not posted +up to date. But what will be thought, when attention is drawn to the +fact that in a question whether a singular set of quotations from the +early Fathers refer to a passage in St. Matthew or the parallel one in +St. Luke, the peculiar characteristic of St. Matthew--'them that +persecute you'--is put out of sight, and both passages (taking the +lengthened reading of St. Matthew) are represented as having equally +only four clauses? And again, when quotations going on to the succeeding +verse in St. Matthew (v. 45) are stated dogmatically to have been +wrongly referred by me to that Evangelist? But as to the details of this +point in dispute, I beg to refer our readers to pp. 144-153 of the +present volume. The reviewer appears also to be entirely unacquainted +with the history of the phrase [Greek: monogenes Theos] in St. John i. +18, which, as may be read on pp. 215-218, was introduced by heretics and +harmonized with Arian tenets, and was rejected on the other side. That +some orthodox churchmen fell into the trap, and like those who in these +days are not aware of the pedigree and use of the phrase, employed it +even for good purposes, is only an instance of a strange phenomenon. We +must not be led only by first impressions as to what is to be taken for +the genuine words of the Gospels. Even if phrases or passages make for +orthodoxy, to accept them if condemned by evidence and history is to +alight upon the quicksands of conjecture. + +A curious instance of a fate like this has been supplied by a critic in +the _Athenaeum_, who, when contrasting Dean Burgon's style of writing +with mine to my discredit, quotes a passage of some length as the Dean's +which was really written by me. Surely the principle upheld by our +opponents, that much more importance than we allow should be attributed +to the 'Internal evidence of Readings and Documents,' might have saved +him from error upon a piece of composition which characteristically +proclaimed its own origin. At all events, after this undesigned support, +I am the less inclined to retire from our vantage ground. + +But it is gratifying on all accounts to say now, that such +interpolations as in the companion volume I was obliged frequently to +supply in order to fill up gaps in the several MSS. and in integral +portions of the treatise, which through their very frequency would have +there made square brackets unpleasant to our readers, are not required +so often in this part of the work. Accordingly, except in instances of +pure editing or in simple bringing up to date, my own additions or +insertions have been so marked off. It will doubtless afford great +satisfaction to others as well as the admirers of the Dean to know what +was really his own writing: and though some of the MSS., especially +towards the end of the volume, were not left as he would have prepared +them for the press if his life had been prolonged, yet much of the book +will afford, on what he regarded as the chief study of his life, +excellent examples of his style, so vigorously fresh and so happy in +idiomatic and lucid expression. + +But the Introduction, and Appendix II on 'Conflation' and the 'Neutral +Text,' have been necessarily contributed by me. I am anxious to invite +attention particularly to the latter essay, because it has been composed +upon request, and also because--unless it contains some extraordinary +mistake--it exhibits to a degree which has amazed me the baselessness of +Dr. Hort's theory. + +The manner in which the Dean prepared piecemeal for his book, and the +large number of fragments in which he left his materials, as has been +detailed in the Preface to the former volume, have necessarily produced +an amount of repetition which I deplore. To have avoided it entirely, +some of the MSS. must have been rewritten. But in one instance I +discovered when it was too late that after searching for, and finding +with difficulty and treating, an example which had not been supplied, I +had forestalled a subsequent examination of the same passage from his +abler hand. However I hope that in nearly all, if not all cases, each +treatment involves some new contribution to the question discussed; and +that our readers will kindly make allowance for the perplexity which +such an assemblage of separate papers could not but entail. + +My thanks are again due to the Rev. G. H. Gwilliam, B.D., Fellow of +Hertford College, for much advice and suggestion, which he is so capable +of giving, and for his valuable care in looking through all the first +proofs of this volume; to 'M. W.,' Dean Burgon's indefatigable +secretary, who in a pure labour of love copied out the text of the MSS. +before and after his death; also to the zealous printers at the +Clarendon Press, for help in unravelling intricacies still remaining in +them. + +This treatise is now commended to the fair and candid consideration of +readers and reviewers. The latter body of men should remember that there +was perhaps never a time when reviewers were themselves reviewed by many +intelligent readers more than they are at present. I cannot hope that +all that we have advanced will be finally adopted, though my opinion is +unfaltering as resting in my belief upon the Rock; still less do I +imagine that errors may not be discovered in our work. But I trust that +under Divine Blessing some not unimportant contribution has been made +towards the establishment upon sound principles of the reverent +criticism of the Text of the New Testament. And I am sure that, as to +the Dean's part in it, this trust will be ultimately justified. + +EDWARD MILLER. + +9 Bradmore Road, Oxford: + +_Sept._ 2, 1896. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +INTRODUCTION. + +The Traditional Text--established by evidence--especially before St. +Chrysostom--corruption--early rise of it--Galilee of the +Gentiles--Syrio-Low-Latin source--various causes and forms of +corruption. pp. 1-9 + +CHAPTER I. + +General Corruption. + +Sec. 1. Modern re-editing--difference between the New Testament and other +books--immense number of copies--ordinary causes of error--Doctrinal +causes. Sec. 2. Elimination of weakly attested readings--nature of inquiry. +Sec. 3. Smaller blemishes in MSS. unimportant except when constant. Sec. 4. +Most mistakes arose from inadvertency: many from unfortunate design. pp. +10-23 + +CHAPTER II. + +Accidental Causes of Corruption. I. Pure Accident. + +Sec. 1. St. John x. 29. Sec. 2. Smaller instances, and Acts xx. 24. Sec. 3. St. +Luke ii. 14. Sec. 4. St. Mark xv. 6; vii. 4; vi. 22. Sec. 5. St. Mark viii. 1; +vii. 14--St. John xiii. 37. pp. 24-35 + +CHAPTER III. + +Accidental Causes of Corruption. II. Homoeoteleuton. + +St. Luke ii. 15--St. John vi. 11; vi. 55--St. Matt. xxiii. 14; xix. +9--St. Luke xvi. 21. pp. 36-41 + +CHAPTER IV. + +Accidental Causes of Corruption. III. From Writing in Uncials. + +Sec. 1. St. John iv. 35-36. Sec. 2. St. Luke xv. 17--St. John v. 44. Sec. 3. Acts +xxvii. 14--St. John iv. 15--St. Luke xvii. 37--St. Matt. xxii. 23--and +other passages. Sec. 4. St. John v. 4--St. Luke xxiii. 11--St. Matt. iv. +23. Sec. 5. 2 St. Peter i. 31--Heb. vii. 1. Sec. 6. St. Matt. xxvii. 17. pp. +42-55 + +CHAPTER V. + +Accidental Causes of Corruption. IV. Itacism. + +Sec. 1. Various passages--St. John xii. 1, 2; 41. Sec. 2. Rev. i. 5--Other +passages--St. Mark vii. 19. Sec. 3. St. Mark iv. 8. Sec. 4. Titus ii. 5. pp. +56-66 + +CHAPTER VI. + +Accidental Causes of Corruption. V. Liturgical Influence. + +Sec. 1. Lectionaries of the Church--Liturgical influence--Antiquity of the +Lectionary System. Sec. 2. St. John xiv. 1--Acts iii. 1--Last Twelve Verses +of St. Mark. Sec. 3. St. Luke vii. 31; ix. 1--Other passages. Sec. 4. St. Mark +xv. 28. Sec. 5. Acts iii. 1--St. Matt. xiii. 44; xvii. 23. Sec. 6. St. Matt +vi. 13 (doxology in the Lord's Prayer). pp. 67-88 + +CHAPTER VII. + +Causes of Corruption Chiefly Intentional. I. Harmonistic Influence. + +Sec. 1. St. Mark xvi. 9. Sec. 2. St. Luke xxiv. 1--other examples. Sec. 3. +Chiefly intentional--Diatessarons--St. Matt. xvii. 25, 26--Harmonized +narratives--Other examples. pp. 89-99 + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Causes of Corruption Chiefly Intentional. II. Assimilation. + +Sec. 1. Transfer from one Gospel to another. Sec. 2. Not entirely +intentional--Various passages. Sec. 3. St. John xvi. 16. Sec. 4. St. John +xiii. 21-25. Sec. 5. St. Mark i. 1, 2--Other examples--St. Matt. xii. 10 +(St. Luke xiv. 3)--and others. Sec. 6. St. Mark vi. 11. Sec. 7. St. Mark xiv. +70. pp. 100-122 + +CHAPTER IX. + +Causes of Corruption Chiefly Intentional. III. Attraction. + +Sec. 1. St. John vi. 71 and xiii. 26. Sec. 2. Acts xx. 24--2 Cor. iii. 3. pp. +123-127 + +CHAPTER X. + +Causes of Corruption Chiefly Intentional. IV. Omission. + +Sec. 1. Omissions a class of their own--Exemplified from the Last Twelve +Verses of St. Mark--Omission the besetting fault of transcribers. Sec. 2. +The _onus probandi_ rests upon omitters. Sec. 3. St Luke vi. 1; and other +omissions. Sec. 4. St. Matt. xxi. 44. Sec. 5. St. Matt. xv. 8. Sec. 6. St. Matt. +v. 44--Reply to the Reviewer in the _Guardian_. Sec. 7. Shorter Omissions. +pp. 128-156 + +CHAPTER XI. + +Causes of Corruption Chiefly Intentional. V. Transposition. + +Sec. 1. St. Mark i. 5; ii. 3--Other instances. Sec. 2. St. Luke xiii. 9; xxiv. +7. Sec. 3. Other examples--St. John v. 27--Transpositions often petty, but +frequent. + +VI. Substitution. + +Sec. 4. If taken with Modifications, a large class--Various instances. pp. +164-165 + +VII. Addition. + +Sec. 5. The smallest of the four--St. Luke vi. 4--St. Matt. xx. 28. Sec. 6. +St. Matt. viii. 13; xxiv. 36--St. Mark iii. 16--Other examples. pp. +166-171 + +CHAPTER XII. + +Causes of Corruption Chiefly Intentional. VIII. Glosses. + +Sec. 1. Not so numerous as has been supposed--St. Matt. xiii. 36--St. Mark +vii. 3. Sec. 2. St. Luke ix. 23. Sec. 3. St. John vi. 15; xiii. 24; xx. +18--St. Matt. xxiv. 31. Sec. 4. St. John xviii. 14--St. Mark vi. 11. Sec. 5. +St. Mark xiv. 41--St. John ix. 22. Sec. 6. St. John xii. 7. Sec. 7. St. John +xvii. 4. Sec. 8. St. Luke i. 66. Sec. 9. St. Luke v. 7--Acts xx. 4. pp. +172-190 + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Causes of Corruption Chiefly Intentional. IX. Corruption by Heretics. + +Sec. 1. This class very evident--Began in the earliest times--Appeal to +what is earlier still--Condemned in all ages and countries. Sec. 2. The +earliest depravers of the Text--Tatian's Diatessaron. Sec. 3. Gnostics--St. +John i. 3-4. Sec. 4. St. John x. 14, 15. Sec. 5. Doctrinal--Matrimony--St. +Matt i. 19. pp. 191-210 + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Causes of Corruption Chiefly Intentional. X. Corruption by the Orthodox. + +Sec. 1. St. Luke xix. 41; ii. 40. Sec. 2. St. John viii. 40; and i. 18. Sec. 3. 1 +Cor. xv. 47. Sec. 4. St. John iii. 13. Sec. 5. St. Luke ix. 54-56. pp. 211-231 + +APPENDIX I. + +Pericope de Adultera. pp. 233-265 + +APPENDIX II. + +Dr. Hort's Theory of Conflation and the +Neutral Text. pp. 266-286 + +Index of Subjects. pp. 287-288 + +Index of Passages of the New Testament Discussed. pp. 289-290 + + + + +THE CAUSES OF THE +CORRUPTION OF THE TRADITIONAL TEXT +OF THE HOLY GOSPELS. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +In the companion volume to this, the Traditional Text, that is, the Text +of the Gospels which is the resultant of all the evidence faithfully and +exhaustively presented and estimated according to the best procedure of +the courts of law, has been traced back to the earliest ages in the +existence of those sacred writings. We have shewn, that on the one hand, +amidst the unprecedented advantages afforded by modern conditions of +life for collecting all the evidence bearing upon the subject, the +Traditional Text must be found, not in a mere transcript, but in a +laborious revision of the Received Text; and that on the other hand it +must, as far as we can judge, differ but slightly from the Text now +generally in vogue, which has been generally received during the last +two and a half centuries. + +The strength of the position of the Traditional Text lies in its being +logically deducible and to be deduced from all the varied evidence which +the case supplies, when it has been sifted, proved, passed, weighed, +compared, compounded, and contrasted with dissentient testimony. The +contrast is indeed great in almost all instances upon which controversy +has gathered. On one side the vast mass of authorities is assembled: on +the other stands a small group. Not inconsiderable is the advantage +possessed by that group, as regards numerous students who do not look +beneath the surface, in the general witness in their favour borne by the +two oldest MSS. of the Gospels in existence. That advantage however +shrinks into nothing under the light of rigid examination. The claim for +the Text in them made at the Semiarian period was rejected when +Semiarianism in all its phases fell into permanent disfavour. And the +argument advanced by Dr. Hort that the Traditional Text was a new Text +formed by successive recensions has been refuted upon examination of the +verdict of the Fathers in the first four centuries, and of the early +Syriac and Latin Versions. Besides all this, those two manuscripts have +been traced to a local source in the library of Caesarea. And on the +other hand a Catholic origin of the Traditional Text found on later +vellum manuscripts has been discovered in the manuscripts of papyrus +which existed all over the Roman Empire, unless it was in Asia, and were +to some degree in use even as late as the ninth century; before and +during the employment of vellum in the Caesarean school, and in +localities where it was used in imitation of the mode of writing books +which was brought well-nigh to perfection in that city. + +It is evident that the turning-point of the controversy between +ourselves and the Neologian school must lie in the centuries before St. +Chrysostom. If, as Dr. Hort maintains, the Traditional Text not only +gained supremacy at that era but did not exist in the early ages, then +our contention is vain. That Text can be Traditional only if it goes +back without break or intermission to the original autographs, because +if through break or intermission it ceased or failed to exist, it loses +the essential feature of genuine tradition. On the other hand, if it is +proved to reach back in unbroken line to the time of the Evangelists, or +to a period as near to them as surviving testimony can prove, then Dr. +Hort's theory of a 'Syrian' text formed by recension or otherwise just +as evidently falls to the ground. Following mainly upon the lines drawn +by Dean Burgon, though in a divergence of my own devising, I claim to +have proved Dr. Hort to have been conspicuously wrong, and our +maintenance of the Traditional Text in unbroken succession to be +eminently right. The school opposed to us must disprove our arguments, +not by discrediting the testimony of the Fathers to whom all Textual +Critics have appealed including Dr. Hort, but by demonstrating if they +can that the Traditional Text is not recognized by them, or they must +yield eventually to us[1]. + +In this volume, the other half of the subject will be discussed. Instead +of exploring the genuine Text, we shall treat of the corruptions of it, +and shall track error in its ten thousand forms to a few sources or +heads. The origination of the pure Text in the inspired writings of the +Evangelists will thus be vindicated anew by the evident paternity of +deflections from it discoverable in the natural defects or iniquities of +men. Corruption will the more shew itself in true colours:-- + + Quinquaginta atris immanis hiatibus hydra[2]: + +and it will not so readily be mistaken for genuineness, when the real +history is unfolded, and the mistakes are accounted for. It seems clear +that corruption arose in the very earliest age. As soon as the Gospel +was preached, the incapacity of human nature for preserving accuracy +until long years of intimate acquaintance have bred familiarity must +have asserted itself in constant distortion more or less of the sacred +stories, as they were told and retold amongst Christians one to another +whether in writing or in oral transmission. Mistakes would inevitably +arise from the universal tendency to mix error with truth which Virgil +has so powerfully depicted in his description of 'Fame':-- + + Tam ficti pravique tenax, quam nuntia veri[3]. + +And as soon as inaccuracy had done its baleful work, a spirit of +infidelity and of hostility either to the essentials or the details of +the new religion must have impelled such as were either imperfect +Christians, or no Christians at all, to corrupt the sacred stories. + +Thus it appears that errors crept in at the very first commencement of +the life of the Church. This is a matter so interesting and so important +in the history of corruption, that I must venture to place it again +before our readers. + +Why was Galilee chosen before Judea and Jerusalem as the chief scene of +our Lord's Life and Ministry, at least as regards the time spent there? +Partly, no doubt, because the Galileans were more likely than the other +inhabitants of Palestine to receive Him. But there was as I venture to +think also another very special reason. + +'Galilee of the nations' or 'the Gentiles,' not only had a mixed +population[4] and a provincial dialect[5], but lay contiguous to the +rest of Palestine on the one side, and on others to two districts in +which Greek was largely spoken, namely, Decapolis and the parts of Tyre +and Sidon, and also to the large country of Syria. Our Lord laid +foundations for a natural growth in these parts of the Christian +religion after His death almost independent as it seems of the centre of +the Church at Jerusalem. Hence His crossings of the lake, His miracles +on the other side, His retirement in that little understood episode in +His life when He shrank from persecution[6], and remained secretly in +the parts of Tyre and Sidon, about the coasts of Decapolis, on the +shores of the lake, and in the towns of Caesarea Philippi, where the +traces of His footsteps are even now indicated by tradition[7]. His +success amongst these outlying populations is proved by the unique +assemblage of the crowds of 5000 and 4000 men besides women and +children. What wonder then if the Church sprang up at Damascus, and +suddenly as if without notice displayed such strength as to draw +persecution upon it! In the same way the Words of life appear to have +passed throughout Syria over congenial soil, and Antioch became the +haven whence the first great missionaries went out for the conversion of +the world. Such were not only St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. Barnabas, but +also as is not unreasonable to infer many of that assemblage of +Christians at Rome whom St. Paul enumerates to our surprise in the last +chapter of his Epistle to the Romans. Many no doubt were friends whom +the Apostle of the Gentiles had met in Greece and elsewhere: but there +are reasons to shew that some at least of them, such as Andronicus and +Junias or Junia[8] and Herodion, may probably have passed along the +stream of commerce that flowed between Antioch and Rome[9], and that +this interconnexion between the queen city of the empire and the +emporium of the East may in great measure account for the number of +names well known to the apostle, and for the then flourishing condition +of the Church which they adorned. + +It has been shewn in our first volume that, as is well known to all +students of Textual Criticism, the chief amount of corruption is to be +found in what is termed the Western Text; and that the corruption of the +West is so closely akin to the corruption which is found in Syriac +remains, that practically they are included under one head of +classification. What is the reason of this phenomenon? It is evidently +derived from the close commercial alliance which subsisted between Syria +and Italy. That is to say, the corruption produced in Syria made its way +over into Italy, and there in many instances gathered fresh +contributions. For there is reason to suppose, that it first arose in +Syria. + +We have seen how the Church grew of itself there without regular +teaching from Jerusalem in the first beginnings, or any regular +supervision exercised by the Apostles. In fact, as far as the Syrian +believers in Christ at first consisted of Gentiles, they must perforce +have been regarded as being outside of the covenant of promise. Yet +there must have been many who revered the stories told about our Lord, +and felt extreme interest and delight in them. The story of King Abgar +illustrates the history: but amongst those who actually heard our Lord +preach there must have been very many, probably a majority, who were +uneducated. They would easily learn from the Jews, because the Aramaic +dialects spoken by Hebrews and Syrians did not greatly differ the one +from the other. What difference there was, would not so much hinder the +spread of the stories, as tend to introduce alien forms of speech and +synonymous words, and so to hinder absolute accuracy from being +maintained. Much time must necessarily have elapsed, before such +familiarity with the genuine accounts of our Lord's sayings and doings +grew up, as would prevent mistakes being made and disseminated in +telling or in writing. + +The Gospels were certainly not written till some thirty years after the +Ascension. More careful examination seems to place them later rather +than earlier. For myself, I should suggest that the three first were not +published long before the year 70 A.D. at the earliest; and that St. +Matthew's Gospel was written at Pella during the siege of Jerusalem +amidst Greek surroundings, and in face of the necessity caused by new +conditions of life that Greek should become the ecclesiastical language. +The Gospels would thus be the authorized versions in their entirety of +the stories constituting the Life of our Lord; and corruption must have +come into existence, before the antidote was found in complete documents +accepted and commissioned by the authorities in the Church. + +I must again remark with much emphasis that the foregoing suggestions +are offered to account for what may now be regarded as a fact, viz., the +connexion between the Western Text, as it is called, and Syriac remains +in regard to corruption in the text of the Gospels and of the Acts of +the Apostles. If that corruption arose at the very first spread of +Christianity, before the record of our Lord's Life had assumed permanent +shape in the Four Gospels, all is easy. Such corruption, inasmuch as it +beset the oral and written stories which were afterwards incorporated in +the Gospels, would creep into the authorized narrations, and would +vitiate them till it was ultimately cast out towards the end of the +fourth and in the succeeding centuries. Starting from the very +beginning, and gaining additions in the several ways described in this +volume by Dean Burgon, it would possess such vigour as to impress itself +on Low-Latin manuscripts and even on parts of the better Latin ones, +perhaps on Tatian's Diatessaron, on the Curetonian and Lewis manuscripts +of the fifth century, on the Codex Bezae of the sixth; also on the +Vatican and the Sinaitic of the fourth, on the Dublin Palimpsest of St. +Matthew of the sixth, on the Codex Regius or L of the eighth, on the St. +Gall MS. of the ninth in St. Mark, on the Codex Zacynthius of the eighth +in St. Luke, and a few others. We on our side admit that the corruption +is old even though the manuscripts enshrining it do not date very far +back, and cannot always prove their ancestry. And it is in this +admission that I venture to think there is an opening for a meeting of +opinions which have been hitherto opposed. + +In the following treatise, the causes of corruption are divided into (I) +such as proceeded from Accident, and (II) those which were Intentional. +Under the former class we find (1) those which were involved in pure +Accident, or (2) in what is termed Homoeoteleuton where lines or +sentences ended with the same word or the same syllable, or (3) such as +arose in writing from Uncial letters, or (4) in the confusion of vowels +and diphthongs which is called Itacism, or (5) in Liturgical Influence. +The remaining instances may be conveniently classed as Intentional, not +because in all cases there was a settled determination to alter the +text, for such if any was often of the faintest character, but because +some sort of design was to a greater or less degree embedded in most of +them. Such causes were (1) Harmonistic Influence, (2) Assimilation, (3) +Attraction; such instances too in their main character were (4) +Omissions, (5) Transpositions, (6) Substitutions, (7) Additions, (8) +Glosses, (9) Corruption by Heretics, (10) Corruption by Orthodox. + +This dissection of the mass of corruption, or as perhaps it may be +better termed, this classification made by Dean Burgon of the numerous +causes which are found to have been at work from time to time, appears +to me to be most interesting to the inquirer into the hidden history of +the Text of the Gospels, because by revealing the influences which have +been at work it sheds light upon the entire controversy, and often +enables the student to see clearly how and why certain passages around +which dispute has gathered are really corrupt. Indeed, the vast and +mysterious ogre called corruption assumes shape and form under the acute +penetration and the deft handling of the Dean, whose great knowledge of +the subject and orderly treatment of puzzling details is still more +commended by his interesting style of writing. As far as has been +possible, I have let him in the sequel, except for such clerical +corrections as were required from time to time and have been much fewer +than his facile pen would have made, speak entirely for himself. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] It must be always borne in mind, that it is not enough for the +purpose of the other side to shew that the Traditional Text was in a +minority as regards attestation. They must prove that it was nowhere in +the earliest ages, if they are to establish their position that it was +made in the third and fourth centuries. Traditional Text of the Holy +Gospels, p. 95. + +[2] + 'A hydra in her direful shape, + With fifty darkling throats agape.'-- + +Altered from Conington's version, Aen. vi. 576. + +[3] + 'How oft soe'er the truth she tell, + What's false and wrong she loves too well.'-- + +Altered from Conington, Aen. iv. 188. + +[4] Strabo, xvi, enumerates amongst its inhabitants Egyptians, Arabians, +and Phoenicians. + +[5] Studia Biblica, i. 50-55. Dr. Neubauer, On the Dialects spoken in +Palestine in the time of Christ. + +[6] Isaac Williams, On the Study of the Gospels, 341-352. + +[7] My devoted Syrian friend, Miss Helanie Baroody, told me during her +stay in England that a village is pointed out as having been traversed +by our Lord on His way from Caesarea Philippi to Mount Hermon. + +[8] It is hardly improbable that these two eminent Christians were some +of those whom St Paul found at Antioch when St. Barnabas brought him +there, and thus came to know intimately as fellow-workers ([Greek: +episemoi en tois apostolois, oi kai pro emou gegonasin en Christo]). +Most of the names in Rom. xvi are either Greek or Hebrew. + +[9] + 'Jam pridem Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes + Et _linguam_ et mores ... vexit.' + +--Juv. Sat. iii. 62-3. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +GENERAL CORRUPTION. + + +Sec. 1. + +We hear sometimes scholars complain, and with a certain show of reason, +that it is discreditable to us as a Church not to have long since put +forth by authority a revised Greek Text of the New Testament. The chief +writers of antiquity, say they, have been of late years re-edited by the +aid of the best Manuscripts. Why should not the Scriptures enjoy the +same advantage? Men who so speak evidently misunderstand the question. +They assume that the case of the Scriptures and that of other ancient +writings are similar. + +Such remonstrances are commonly followed up by statements like the +following:--That the received Text is that of Erasmus:--that it was +constructed in haste, and without skill:--that it is based on a very +few, and those bad Manuscripts:--that it belongs to an age when scarcely +any of our present critical helps were available, and when the Science +of Textual Criticism was unknown. To listen to these advocates for +Revision, you would almost suppose that it fared with the Gospel at this +instant as it had fared with the original Copy of the Law for many years +until the days of King Josiah[10]. + +Yielding to no one in my desire to see the Greek of the New Testament +judiciously revised, I freely avow that recent events have convinced me, +and I suppose they have convinced the public also, that we have not +among us the men to conduct such an undertaking. Better a thousand times +in my judgement to leave things as they are, than to risk having the +stamp of authority set upon such an unfortunate production as that which +appeared on the 17th May, 1881, and which claims at this instant to +represent the combined learning of the Church, the chief Sects, and the +Socinian[11] body. + +Now if the meaning of those who desire to see the commonly received text +of the New Testament made absolutely faultless, were something of this +kind:--That they are impatient for the collation of the copies which +have become known to us within the last two centuries, and which amount +already in all to upwards of three thousand: that they are bent on +procuring that the ancient Versions shall be re-edited;--and would hail +with delight the announcement that a band of scholars had combined to +index every place of Scripture quoted by any of the Fathers:--if this +were meant, we should all be entirely at one; especially if we could +further gather from the programme that a fixed intention was cherished +of abiding by the result of such an appeal to ancient evidence. But +unfortunately something entirely different is in contemplation. + +Now I am bent on calling attention to certain features of the problem +which have very generally escaped attention. It does not seem to be +understood that the Scriptures of the New Testament stand on an entirely +different footing from every other ancient writing which can be named. A +few plain remarks ought to bring this fact, for a fact it is, home to +every thoughtful person. And the result will be that men will approach +the subject with more caution,--with doubts and misgivings,--with a +fixed determination to be on their guard against any form of plausible +influence. Their prejudices they will scatter to the winds. At every +step they will insist on proof. + +In the first place, then, let it be observed that the New Testament +Scriptures are wholly without a parallel in respect of their having been +so frequently multiplied from the very first. They are by consequence +contained at this day in an extravagantly large number of copies +[probably, if reckoned under the six classes of Gospels, Acts and +Catholic Epistles, Pauline Epistles, Apocalypse, Evangelistaries, and +Apostolos, exceeding the number of four thousand]. There is nothing like +this, or at all approaching to it, in the case of any profane writing +that can be named[12]. + +And the very necessity for multiplying copies,--a necessity which has +made itself felt in every age and in every clime,--has perforce resulted +in an immense number of variants. Words have been inevitably +dropped,--vowels have been inadvertently confounded by copyists more or +less competent:--and the meaning of Scripture in countless places has +suffered to a surprising degree in consequence. This first. + +But then further, the Scriptures for the very reason because they were +known to be the Word of God became a mark for the shafts of Satan from +the beginning. They were by consequence as eagerly solicited by +heretical teachers on the one hand, as they were hotly defended by the +orthodox on the other. Alike from friends and from foes therefore, they +are known to have experienced injury, and that in the earliest age of +all. Nothing of the kind can be predicated of any other ancient +writings. This consideration alone should suggest a severe exercise of +judicial impartiality, in the handling of ancient evidence of whatever +sort. + +For I request it may be observed that I have not said--and I certainly +do not mean--that the Scriptures themselves have been permanently +corrupted either by friend or foe. Error was fitful and uncertain, and +was contradicted by other error: besides that it sank eventually before +a manifold witness to the truth. Nevertheless, certain manuscripts +belonging to a few small groups--particular copies of a +Version--individual Fathers or Doctors of the Church,--these do, to the +present hour, bear traces incontestably of ancient mischief. + +But what goes before is not nearly all. The fourfold structure of the +Gospel has lent itself to a certain kind of licentious handling--of +which in other ancient writings we have no experience. One critical +owner of a Codex considered himself at liberty to assimilate the +narratives: another to correct them in order to bring them into (what +seemed to himself) greater harmony. Brevity is found to have been a +paramount object with some, and Transposition to have amounted to a +passion with others. Conjectural Criticism was evidently practised +largely: and almost with as little felicity as when Bentley held the +pen. Lastly, there can be no question that there was a certain school of +Critics who considered themselves competent to improve the style of the +Holy Ghost throughout. [And before the members of the Church had gained +a familiar acquaintance with the words of the New Testament, blunders +continually crept into the text of more or less heinous importance.] All +this, which was chiefly done during the second and third centuries, +introduces an element of difficulty in the handling of ancient evidence +which can never be safely neglected: and will make a thoughtful man +suspicious of every various reading which comes in his way, especially +if it is attended with but slender attestation. [It has been already +shewn in the companion volume] that the names of the Codexes chiefly +vitiated in this sort prove to be B[Symbol: Aleph]CDL; of the +Versions,--the two Coptic, the Curetonian, and certain specimens of the +Old Latin; of the Fathers,--Origen, Clement of Alexandria, and to some +extent Eusebius. + +Add to all that goes before the peculiar subject-matter of the New +Testament Scriptures, and it will become abundantly plain why they +should have been liable to a series of assaults which make it reasonable +that they should now at last be approached by ourselves as no other +ancient writings are, or can be. The nature of God,--His Being and +Attributes:--the history of Man's Redemption:--the soul's eternal +destiny:--the mysteries of the unseen world:--concerning these and every +other similar high doctrinal subject, the sacred writings alone speak +with a voice of absolute authority. And surely by this time enough has +been said to explain why these Scriptures should have been made a +battle-field during some centuries, and especially in the fourth; and +having thus been made the subject of strenuous contention, that copies +of them should exhibit to this hour traces of those many adverse +influences. I say it for the last time,--of all such causes of +depravation the Greek Poets, Tragedians, Philosophers, Historians, +neither knew nor could know anything. And it thus plainly appears that +the Textual Criticism of the New Testament is to be handled by ourselves +in an entirely different spirit from that of any other book. + + +Sec. 2. + +I wish now to investigate the causes of the corruption of the Text of +the New Testament. I do not entitle the present a discussion of 'Various +Readings,' because I consider that expression to be incorrect and +misleading[13]. Freely allowing that the term 'variae lectiones,' for +lack of a better, may be allowed to stand on the Critic's page, I yet +think it necessary even a second time to call attention to the +impropriety which attends its use. Thus Codex B differs from the +commonly received Text of Scripture in the Gospels alone in 7578 places; +of which no less than 2877 are instances of omission. In fact omissions +constitute by far the larger number of what are commonly called 'Various +Readings.' How then can those be called 'various readings' which are +really not readings at all? How, for example, can that be said to be a +'various reading' of St. Mark xvi. 9-20, which consists in the +circumstance that the last 12 verses are left out by two MSS.? +Again,--How can it be called a 'various reading' of St. John xxi. 25, to +bring the Gospel abruptly to a close, as Tischendorf does, at v. 24? +These are really nothing else but indications either of a mutilated or +else an interpolated text. And the question to be resolved is,--On which +side does the corruption lie? and, How did it originate? + +Waiving this however, the term is objectionable on other grounds. It is +to beg the whole question to assume that every irregularity in the text +of Scripture is a 'various reading.' The very expression carries with it +an assertion of importance; at least it implies a claim to +consideration. Even might it be thought that, because it is termed a +'various reading,' therefore a critic is entitled to call in question +the commonly received text. Whereas, nine divergences out of ten are of +no manner of significance and are entitled to no manner of +consideration, as every one must see at a glance who will attend to the +matter ever so little. 'Various readings' in fact is a term which +belongs of right to the criticism of the text of profane authors: and, +like many other notions which have been imported from the same region +into this department of inquiry, it only tends to confuse and perplex +the judgement. + +No variety in the Text of Scripture can properly be called a 'various +reading,' of which it may be safely declared that it never has been, and +never will be, read. In the case of profane authors, where the MSS. are +for the most part exceedingly few, almost every plausible substitution +of one word for another, if really entitled to alteration, is looked +upon as a various reading of the text. But in the Gospels, of which the +copies are so numerous as has been said, the case is far otherwise. We +are there able to convince ourselves in a moment that the supposed +'various reading' is nothing else but an instance of licentiousness or +inattention on the part of a previous scribe or scribes, and we can +afford to neglect it accordingly[14]. It follows therefore,--and this is +the point to which I desire to bring the reader and to urge upon his +consideration,--that the number of 'various readings' in the New +Testament properly so called has been greatly exaggerated. They are, in +reality, exceedingly few in number; and it is to be expected that, as +sound (sacred) Criticism advances, and principles are established, and +conclusions recognized, instead of becoming multiplied they will become +fewer and fewer, and at last will entirely disappear. We cannot afford +to go on disputing for ever; and what is declared by common consent to +be untenable ought to be no longer reckoned. That only in short, as I +venture to think, deserves the name of a Various Reading which comes to +us so respectably recommended as to be entitled to our sincere +consideration and respect; or, better still, which is of such a kind as +to inspire some degree of reasonable suspicion that after all it may +prove to be the true way of exhibiting the text. + +The inquiry therefore on which we are about to engage, grows naturally +out of the considerations which have been already offered. We propose to +ascertain, as far as is practicable at the end of so many hundred years, +in what way these many strange corruptions of the text have arisen. Very +often we shall only have to inquire how it has come to pass that the +text exhibits signs of perturbation at a certain place. Such +disquisitions as those which follow, let it never be forgotten, have no +place in reviewing any other text than that of the New Testament, +because a few plain principles would suffice to solve every difficulty. +The less usual word mistaken for the word of more frequent +occurrence;--clerical carelessness;--a gloss finding its way from the +margin into the text;--- such explanations as these would probably in +other cases suffice to account for every ascertained corruption of the +text. But it is far otherwise here, as I propose to make fully apparent +by and by. Various disturbing influences have been at work for a great +many years, of which secular productions know absolutely nothing, nor +indeed can know. + +The importance of such an inquiry will become apparent as we proceed; +but it may be convenient that I should call attention to the matter +briefly at the outset. It frequently happens that the one remaining plea +of many critics for adopting readings of a certain kind, is the +inexplicable nature of the phenomena which these readings exhibit. 'How +will you possibly account for such a reading as the present,' (say +they,) 'if it be not authentic?' Or they say nothing, but leave it to be +inferred that the reading they adopt,--in spite of its intrinsic +improbability, in spite also of the slender amount of evidence on which +it rests,--must needs be accepted as true. They lose sight of the +correlative difficulty:--How comes it to pass that the rest of the +copies read the place otherwise? On all such occasions it is impossible +to overestimate the importance of detecting the particular cause which +has brought about, or which at least will fully account for, this +depravation. When this has been done, it is hardly too much to say that +a case presents itself like as when a pasteboard mask has been torn +away, and the ghost is discovered with a broad grin on his face behind +it. + +The discussion on which I now enter is then on the Causes of the various +Corruptions of the Text. [The reader shall be shewn with illustrations +to what particular source they are to be severally ascribed. When +representative passages have been thus labelled, and the causes are seen +in operation, he will be able to pierce the mystery, and all the better +to winnow the evil from among the good.] + + +Sec. 3. + +When I take into my hands an ancient copy of the Gospels, I expect that +it will exhibit sundry inaccuracies and imperfections: and I am never +disappointed in my expectation. The discovery however creates no +uneasiness, so long as the phenomena evolved are of a certain kind and +range within easily definable limits. Thus:-- + +1. Whatever belongs to peculiarities of spelling or fashions of writing, +I can afford to disregard. For example, it is clearly consistent with +perfect good faith, that a scribe should spell [Greek: krabatton][15] in +several different ways: that he should write [Greek: outo] for [Greek: +outos], or the contrary: that he should add or omit what grammarians +call the [Greek: n ephelkystikon]. The questions really touched by +irregularities such as these concern the date and country where the MS. +was produced; not by any means the honesty or animus of the copyist. The +man fell into the method which was natural to him, or which he found +prevailing around him; and that was all. 'Itacisms' therefore, as they +are called, of whatever kind,--by which is meant the interchange of such +vowels and diphthongs as [Greek: i-ei, ai-e, e-i, e-oi-u, o-o, +e-ei],--need excite no uneasiness. It is true that these variations may +occasionally result in very considerable inconvenience: for it will +sometimes happen that a different reading is the consequence. But the +copyist may have done his work in perfect good faith for all that. It is +not he who is responsible for the perplexity he occasions me, but the +language and the imperfect customs amidst which he wrote. + +2. In like +manner the reduplication of syllables, words, clauses, sentences, is +consistent with entire sincerity of purpose on the part of the copyist. +This inaccuracy is often to be deplored; inasmuch as a reduplicated +syllable often really affects the sense. But for the most part nothing +worse ensues than that the page is disfigured with errata. + +3. So, on the other hand,--the occasional omission of words, whether few +or many,--especially that passing from one line to the corresponding +place in a subsequent line, which generally results from the proximity +of a similar ending,--is a purely venial offence. It is an evidence of +carelessness, but it proves nothing worse. + +4. Then further,--slight inversions, especially of ordinary words; or +the adoption of some more obvious and familiar collocation of particles +in a sentence; or again, the occasional substitution of one common word +for another, as [Greek: eipe] for [Greek: elege], [Greek: phonesan] for +[Greek: kraxan], and the like;--need not provoke resentment. It is an +indication, we are willing to hope, of nothing worse than slovenliness +on the part of the writer or the group or succession of writers. + +5. I will add that besides the substitution of one word for another, +cases frequently occur, where even the introduction into the text of one +or more words which cannot be thought to have stood in the original +autograph of the Evangelist, need create no offence. It is often +possible to account for their presence in a strictly legitimate way. + +But it is high time to point out, that irregularities which fall under +these last heads are only tolerable within narrow limits, and always +require careful watching; for they may easily become excessive or even +betray an animus; and in either case they pass at once into quite a +different category. From cases of excusable oscitancy they degenerate, +either into instances of inexcusable licentiousness, or else into cases +of downright fraud. + +6. Thus, if it be observed in the case of a Codex (_a_) that entire +sentences or significant clauses are habitually omitted:--(_b_) that +again and again in the course of the same page the phraseology of the +Evangelist has upon clear evidence been seriously tampered with: and +(_c_) that interpolations here and there occur which will not admit of +loyal interpretation:--we cannot but learn to regard with habitual +distrust the Codex in which all these notes are found combined. It is as +when a witness, whom we suspected of nothing worse than a bad memory or +a random tongue or a lively imagination, has been at last convicted of +deliberate suppression of parts of his evidence, misrepresentation of +facts,--in fact, deliberate falsehood. + +7. But now suppose the case of a MS. in which words or clauses are +clearly omitted with design; where expressions are withheld which are +confessedly harsh or critically difficult,--whole sentences or parts of +them which have a known controversial bearing;--Suppose further that the +same MS. abounds in worthless paraphrase, and contains apocryphal +additions throughout:--What are we to think of our guide then? There can +be but one opinion on the subject. From habitually trusting, we shall +entertain inveterate distrust. We have ascertained his character. We +thought he was a faithful witness, but we now find from experience of +his transgressions that we have fallen into bad company. His witness may +be false no less than true: confidence is at an end. + + +Sec. 4. + +It may be regarded as certain that most of the aberrations discoverable +in Codexes of the Sacred Text have arisen in the first instance from the +merest inadvertency of the scribes. That such was the case in a vast +number of cases is in fact demonstrable. [Inaccuracy in the apprehension +of the Divine Word, which in the earliest ages was imperfectly +understood, and ignorance of Greek in primitive Latin translators, were +prolific sources of error. The influence of Lectionaries, in which Holy +Scripture was cut up into separate Lections either with or without an +introduction, remained with habitual hearers, and led them off in +copying to paths which had become familiar. Acquaintance with +'Harmonies' or Diatessarons caused copyists insensibly to assimilate one +Gospel to another. And doctrinal predilections, as in the case of those +who belonged to the Origenistic school, were the source of lapsing into +expressions which were not the _verba ipsissima_ of Holy Writ. In such +cases, when the inadvertency was genuine and was unmingled with any +overt design, it is much to be noted that the error seldom propagated +itself extensively.] + +But next, well-meant endeavours must have been made at a very early +period 'to rectify' ([Greek: diorthoun]) the text thus unintentionally +corrupted; and so, what began in inadvertence is sometimes found in the +end to exhibit traces of design, and often becomes in a high degree +perplexing. Thus, to cite a favourite example, it is clear to me that in +the earliest age of all (A.D. 100?) some copyist of St. Luke ii. 14 +(call him X) inadvertently omitted the second [Greek: en] in the Angelic +Hymn. Now if the persons (call them Y and Z) whose business it became in +turn to reproduce the early copy thus inadvertently depraved, had but +been content both of them to transcribe exactly what they saw before +them, the error of their immediate predecessor (X) must infallibly have +speedily been detected, remedied, and forgotten,--simply because, as +every one must have seen as well as Y and Z, it was impossible to +translate the sentence which results,--[Greek: epi ges eirene anthropois +eudokia]. Reference would have been made to any other copy of the third +Gospel, and together with the omitted preposition ([Greek: en]) sense +would have been restored to the passage. But unhappily one of the two +supposed Copyists being a learned grammarian who had no other copy at +hand to refer to, undertook, good man that he was, _proprio Marte_ to +force a meaning into the manifestly corrupted text of the copy before +him: and he did it by affixing to [Greek: eudokia] the sign of the +genitive case ([Greek: s]). Unhappy effort of misplaced skill! That copy +[or those copies] became the immediate progenitor [or progenitors] of a +large family,--from which all the Latin copies are descended; whereby it +comes to pass that Latin Christendom sings the Hymn 'Gloria in excelsis' +incorrectly to the present hour, and may possibly sing it incorrectly to +the end of time. The error committed by that same venerable Copyist +survives in the four oldest copies of the passage extant, B* and +[Symbol: Aleph]*, A and D,--though happily in no others,--in the Old +Latin, Vulgate, and Gothic, alone of Versions; in Irenaeus and Origen +(who contradict themselves), and in the Latin Fathers. All the Greek +authorities, with the few exceptions just recorded, of which A and D are +the only consistent witnesses, unite in condemning the evident +blunder[16]. + +I once hoped that it might be possible to refer all the Corruptions of +the Text of Scripture to ordinary causes: as, careless transcription,-- +divers accidents,--misplaced critical assiduity,--doctrinal +animus,--small acts of unpardonable licence. + +But increased attention and enlarged acquaintance with the subject, have +convinced me that by far the larger number of the omissions of such +Codexes as [Symbol: Aleph]BLD must needs be due to quite a different +cause. These MSS. omit so many words, phrases, sentences, verses of +Scripture,--that it is altogether incredible that the proximity of like +endings can have much to do with the matter. Inadvertency may be made to +bear the blame of some omissions: it cannot bear the blame of shrewd and +significant omissions of clauses, which invariably leave the sense +complete. A systematic and perpetual mutilation of the inspired Text +must needs be the result of design, not of accident[17]. + +[It will be seen therefore that the causes of the Corruptions of the +Text class themselves under two main heads, viz. (I.) Those which arose +from Inadvertency, and (II.) Those which took their origin in Design.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] 2 Kings xxii. 8 = 2 Chron. xxxiv. 15. + +[11] [This name is used for want of a better. Churchmen are Unitarians +as well as Trinitarians. The two names in combination express our Faith. +We dare not alienate either of them.] + +[12] See The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels (Burgon and Miller), +p. 21, note 1. + +[13] See Traditional Text, chapter ii, Sec. 6, p. 33. + +[14] [Perhaps this point may be cleared by dividing readings into two +classes, viz. (1) such as really have strong evidence for their support, +and require examination before we can be certain that they are corrupt; +and (2) those which afford no doubt as to their being destitute of +foundation, and are only interesting as specimens of the modes in which +error was sometimes introduced. Evidently, the latter class are not +'various' at all.] + +[15] [I.e. generally [Greek: krabatton], or else [Greek: krabaton], or +even [Greek: krabakton]; seldom found as [Greek: krabbatton], or spelt +in the corrupt form [Greek: krabbaton].] + +[16] I am inclined to believe that in the age immediately succeeding +that of the Apostles, some person or persons of great influence and +authority executed a Revision of the N.T. and gave the world the result +of such labours in a 'corrected Text.' The guiding principle seems to +have been to seek to _abridge_ the Text, to lop off whatever seemed +redundant, or which might in any way be spared, and to eliminate from +one Gospel whatever expressions occurred elsewhere in another Gospel. +Clauses which slightly obscured the speaker's meaning; or which seemed +to hang loose at the end of a sentence; or which introduced a +consideration of difficulty:--words which interfered with the easy flow +of a sentence:--every thing of this kind such a personage seems to have +held himself free to discard. But what is more serious, passages which +occasioned some difficulty, as the _pericope de adultera_; physical +perplexity, as the troubling of the water; spiritual revulsion, as the +agony in the garden:--all these the reviser or revisers seem to have +judged it safest simply to eliminate. It is difficult to understand how +any persons in their senses could have so acted by the sacred deposit; +but it does not seem improbable that at some very remote period there +were found some who did act in some such way. Let it be observed, +however, that unlike some critics I do not base my real argument upon +what appears to me to be a not unlikely supposition. + +[17] [Unless it be referred to the two converging streams of corruption, +as described in The Traditional Text.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ACCIDENTAL CAUSES OF CORRUPTION. + +I. Pure Accident. + +[It often happens that more causes than one are combined in the origin +of the corruption in any one passage. In the following history of a +blunder and of the fatal consequences that ensued upon it, only the +first step was accidental. But much instruction may be derived from the +initial blunder, and though the later stages in the history come under +another head, they nevertheless illustrate the effects of early +accident, besides throwing light upon parts of the discussion which are +yet to come.] + + +Sec. 1. + +We are sometimes able to trace the origin and progress of accidental +depravations of the text: and the study is as instructive as it is +interesting. Let me invite attention to what is found in St. John x. 29; +where,--instead of, 'My Father, who hath given them [viz. My sheep] to +Me, is greater than all,'--Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, are for +reading, 'That thing which My (_or_ the) Father hath given to Me is +greater (i.e. is a greater thing) than all.' A vastly different +proposition, truly; and, whatever it may mean, wholly inadmissible here, +as the context proves. It has been the result of sheer accident +moreover,--as I proceed to explain. + +St. John certainly wrote the familiar words,--[Greek: ho pater mou] +[Greek: os dedoke moi, meizon panton esti]. But, with the licentiousness +[or inaccuracy] which prevailed in the earliest age, some remote copyist +is found to have substituted for [Greek: hos dedoke], its grammatical +equivalent [Greek: ho dedokos]. And this proved fatal; for it was only +necessary that another scribe should substitute [Greek: meizon] for +[Greek: meizon] (after the example of such places as St. Matt. xii. 6, +41, 42, &c.), and thus the door had been opened to at least four +distinct deflections from the evangelical verity,--which straightway +found their way into manuscripts:--(1) [Greek: o dedokos ... meizon]--of +which reading at this day D is the sole representative: (2) [Greek: os +dedoke ... meizon]--which survives only in AX: (3) [Greek: o dedoke ... +meizon]--which is only found in [Symbol: Aleph]L: (4) [Greek: o dedoke +... meizon]--which is the peculiar property of B. The 1st and 2nd of +these sufficiently represent the Evangelist's meaning, though neither of +them is what he actually wrote; but the 3rd is untranslatable: while the +4th is nothing else but a desperate attempt to force a meaning into the +3rd, by writing [Greek: meizon] for [Greek: meizon]; treating [Greek: o] +not as the article but as the neuter of the relative [Greek: os]. + +This last exhibition of the text, which in fact scarcely yields an +intelligible meaning and rests upon the minimum of manuscript evidence, +would long since have been forgotten, but that, calamitously for the +Western Church, its Version of the New Testament Scriptures was executed +from MSS. of the same vicious type as Cod. B[18]. Accordingly, all the +Latin copies, and therefore all the Latin Fathers[19], translate,-- +'Pater [meus] quod dedit mihi, majus omnibus est[20].' The Westerns +resolutely extracted a meaning from whatever they presumed to be genuine +Scripture: and one can but admire the piety which insists on finding +sound Divinity in what proves after all to be nothing else but a sorry +blunder. What, asks Augustine, was 'the thing, greater than all,' which +the Father gave to the Son? To be the Word of the Father (he answers), +His only-begotten Son and the brightness of His glory[21]. The Greeks +knew better. Basil[22], Chrysostom[23], Cyril on nine occasions[24], +Theodoret[25]--as many as quote the place--invariably exhibit the +_textus receptus_ [Greek: os ... meizon], which is obviously the true +reading and may on no account suffer molestation. + +'But,'--I shall perhaps be asked,--'although Patristic and manuscript +evidence are wanting for the reading [Greek: o dedoke moi ... +meizon],--is it not a significant circumstance that three translations +of such high antiquity as the Latin, the Bohairic, and the Gothic, +should concur in supporting it? and does it not inspire extraordinary +confidence in B to find that B alone of MSS. agrees with them?' To which +I answer,--It makes me, on the contrary, more and more distrustful of +the Latin, the Bohairic and the Gothic versions to find them exclusively +siding with Cod. B on such an occasion as the present. It is obviously +not more 'significant' that the Latin, the Bohairic, and the Gothic, +should here conspire with--than that the Syriac, the Sahidic, and the +Ethiopic, should here combine against B. On the other hand, how utterly +insignificant is the testimony of B when opposed to all the uncials, all +the cursives, and all the Greek fathers who quote the place. So far from +inspiring me with confidence in B, the present indication of the fatal +sympathy of that Codex with the corrupt copies from which confessedly +many of the Old Latin were executed, confirms me in my habitual distrust +of it. About the true reading of St. John x. 29, there really exists no +manner of doubt. As for the 'old uncials' they are (as usual) hopelessly +at variance on the subject. In an easy sentence of only 9 words,--which +however Tischendorf exhibits in conformity with no known Codex, while +Tregelles and Alford blindly follow Cod. B,--they have contrived to +invent five 'various readings,' as may be seen at foot[26]. Shall we +wonder more at the badness of the Codexes to which we are just now +invited to pin our faith; or at the infatuation of our guides? + + +Sec. 2. + +I do not find that sufficient attention has been paid to grave +disturbances of the Text which have resulted from a slight clerical +error. While we are enumerating the various causes of Textual depravity, +we may not fail to specify this. Once trace a serious Textual +disturbance back to (what for convenience may be called) a 'clerical +error,' and you are supplied with an effectual answer to a form of +inquiry which else is sometimes very perplexing: viz. If the true +meaning of this passage be what you suppose, for what conceivable reason +should the scribe have misrepresented it in this strange way,--made +nonsense, in short, of the place?... I will further remark, that it is +always interesting, sometimes instructive, after detecting the remote +origin of an ancient blunder, to note what has been its subsequent +history and progress. + +Some specimens of the thing referred to I have already given in another +place. The reader is invited to acquaint himself with the strange +process by which the '276 souls' who suffered shipwreck with St. Paul +(Acts xxvii. 37), have since dwindled down to 'about 76[27].'--He is +further requested to note how 'a certain man' who in the time of St. +Paul bore the name of 'Justus' (Acts xviii. 7), has been since +transformed into '_Titus_,' '_Titus Justus_,' and even '_Titius +Justus_[28].'--But for a far sadder travestie of sacred words, the +reader is referred to what has happened in St. Matt. xi. 23 and St. Luke +x. 15,--where our Saviour is made to ask an unmeaning question--instead +of being permitted to announce a solemn fact--concerning +Capernaum[29].--The newly-discovered ancient name of the Island of +Malta, _Melitene_[30], (for which geographers are indebted to the +adventurous spirit of Westcott and Hort), may also be profitably +considered in connexion with what is to be the subject of the present +chapter. And now to break up fresh ground. + +Attention is therefore invited to a case of attraction in Acts xx. 24. +It is but the change of a single letter ([Greek: logoU] for [Greek: +logoN]), yet has that minute deflection from the truth led to a complete +mangling of the most affecting perhaps of St. Paul's utterances. I refer +to the famous words [Greek: all' oudenos logon poioumai, oude echo ten +psuchen mou timian emauto, hos teleiosai ton dromon mou meta charas]: +excellently, because idiomatically, rendered by our Translators of +1611,--'But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear +unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy.' + +For [Greek: oudenos loGON], (the accusative after [Greek: poioumai]), +some one having substituted [Greek: oudenos loGOU],--a reading which +survives to this hour in B and C[31],--it became necessary to find +something else for the verb to govern. [Greek: Ten psychen] was at hand, +but [Greek: oude echo] stood in the way. [Greek: Oude echo] must +therefore go[32]; and go it did,--as B, C, and [Symbol: Aleph] remain to +attest. [Greek: Timian] should have gone also, if the sentence was to be +made translatable; but [Greek: timian] was left behind[33]. The authors +of ancient embroilments of the text were sad bunglers. In the meantime, +Cod. [Symbol: Aleph] inadvertently retained St. Luke's word, [Greek: +LOGON]; and because [Symbol: Aleph] here follows B in every other +respect, it exhibits a text which is simply unintelligible[34]. + +Now the second clause of the sentence, viz. the words [Greek: oude echo +ten psychen mou timian emauto], may on no account be surrendered. It is +indeed beyond the reach of suspicion, being found in Codd. A, D, E, H, +L, P, 13, 31,--in fact in every known copy of the Acts, except the +discordant [Symbol: Aleph]BC. The clause in question is further +witnessed to by the Vulgate[35],--by the Harkleian[36],--by +Basil[37],--by Chrysostom[38],--by Cyril[39],--by Euthalius[40],--and by +the interpolator of Ignatius[41]. What are we to think of our guides +(Tischendorf, Tregelles, Westcott and Hort, and the Revisers) who have +nevertheless surrendered the Traditional Text and presented us instead +with what Dr. Field,--who is indeed a Master in Israel,--describes as +the impossible [Greek: all' oudenos logou poioumai ten psychen timian +emauto][42]? + +The words of the last-named eminent scholar on the reading just cited +are so valuable in themselves, and are observed to be so often in point, +that they shall find place here:--'Modern Critics,' he says, 'in +deference to the authority of the older MSS., and to certain critical +canons which prescribe that preference should be given to the shorter +and more difficult reading over the longer and easier one, have decided +that the T.R. in this passage is to be replaced by that which is +contained in those older MSS. + +'In regard to the difficulty of this reading, that term seems hardly +applicable to the present case. A difficult reading is one which +presents something apparently incongruous in the sense, or anomalous in +the construction, which an ignorant or half-learned copyist would +endeavour, by the use of such critical faculty as he possessed, to +remove; but which a true critic is able, by probable explanation, and a +comparison of similar cases, to defend against all such fancied +improvements. In the reading before us, [Greek: all' oudenos logou +poioumai ten psychen timian emauto], it is the construction, and not the +sense, which is in question; and this is not simply difficult, but +impossible. There is really no way of getting over it; it baffles +novices and experts alike[43].' When will men believe that a reading +vouched for by only B[Symbol: Aleph]C is safe to be a fabrication[44]? +But at least when Copies and Fathers combine, as here they do, against +those three copies, what can justify critics in upholding a text which +carries on its face its own condemnation? + + +Sec. 3. + +We now come to the inattention of those long-since-forgotten Ist or IInd +century scribes who, beguiled by the similarity of the letters [Greek: +EN] and [Greek: AN] (in the expression [Greek: ENANthropois eudokia], +St. Luke ii. 14), left out the preposition. An unintelligible clause was +the consequence, as has been explained above (p. 21): which some one +next sought to remedy by adding to [Greek: eudokia] the sign of the +genitive ([Greek: S]). Thus the Old Latin translations were made. + +That this is the true history of a blunder which the latest Editors of +the New Testament have mistaken for genuine Gospel, is I submit +certain[45]. Most Latin copies (except 14[46]) exhibit 'pax hominibus +bonae voluntatis,' as well as many Latin Fathers[47]. On the other hand, +the preposition [Greek: EN] is retained in every known Greek copy of St. +Luke without exception, while the reading [Greek: eudokias] is +absolutely limited to the four uncials AB[Symbol: Aleph]D. The witness +of antiquity on this head is thus overwhelming and decisive. + + +Sec. 4. + +In other cases the source, the very progress of a blunder,--is +discoverable. Thus whereas St. Mark (in xv. 6) certainly wrote [Greek: +hena desmion], [Greek: ONPER etounto], the scribe of [Symbol: Delta], +who evidently derived his text from an earlier copy in uncial letters is +found to have divided the Evangelist's syllables wrongly, and to exhibit +in this place [Greek: ON.PERETOUNTO]. The consequence might have been +predicted. [Symbol: Aleph]AB transform this into [Greek: ON PARETOUNTO]: +which accordingly is the reading adopted by Tischendorf and by Westcott +and Hort. + +Whenever in fact the final syllable of one word can possibly be mistaken +for the first syllable of the next, or _vice versa_, it is safe sooner +or later to have misled somebody. Thus, we are not at all surprised to +find St. Mark's [Greek: ha parelabon] (vii. 4) transformed into [Greek: +haper elabon], but only by B. + +[Another startling instance of the same phenomenon is supplied by the +substitution in St. Mark vi. 22 of [Greek: tes thygatros autou +Herodiados] for [Greek: tes thygatros autes tes Herodiados]. Here a +first copyist left out [Greek: tes] as being a repetition of the last +syllable of [Greek: autes], and afterwards a second attempted to improve +the Greek by putting the masculine pronoun for the feminine ([Greek: +AUTOU] for [Greek: AUTES]). The consequence was hardly to have been +foreseen.] + +Strange to say it results in the following monstrous figment:--that the +fruit of Herod's incestuous connexion with Herodias had been a daughter, +who was also named Herodias; and that she,--the King's own +daughter,--was the immodest one[48] who came in and danced before him, +'his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee,' as they sat at +the birthday banquet. Probability, natural feeling, the obvious +requirements of the narrative, History itself--, for Josephus expressly +informs us that 'Salome,' not 'Herodias,' was the name of Herodias' +daughter[49],--all reclaim loudly against such a perversion of the +truth. But what ought to be in itself conclusive, what in fact settles +the question, is the testimony of the MSS.,--of which only seven +([Symbol: Aleph]BDL[Symbol: Delta] with two cursive copies) can be found +to exhibit this strange mistake. Accordingly the reading [Greek: AUTOU] +is rejected by Griesbach, Lachmann, Tregelles, Tischendorf and Alford. +It has nevertheless found favour with Dr. Hort; and it has even been +thrust into the margin of the revised Text of our Authorized Version, as +a reading having some probability. + +This is indeed an instructive instance of the effect of accidental +errors--another proof that [Symbol: Aleph]BDL cannot be trusted. + +Sufficiently obvious are the steps whereby the present erroneous reading +was brought to perfection. The immediate proximity in MSS. of the +selfsame combination of letters is observed invariably to result in a +various reading. [Greek: AUTESTES] was safe to part with its second +[Greek: TES] on the first opportunity, and the definitive article +([Greek: tes]) once lost, the substitution of [Greek: AUTOU] for [Greek: +AUTES] is just such a mistake as a copyist with ill-directed +intelligence would be sure to fall into if he were bestowing sufficient +attention on the subject to be aware that the person spoken of in verses +20 and 21 is Herod the King. + +[This recurrence of identical or similar syllables near together was a +frequent source of error. Copying has always a tendency to become +mechanical: and when the mind of the copyist sank to sleep in his +monotonous toil, as well as if it became too active, the sacred Text +suffered more or less, and so even a trifling mistake might be the seed +of serious depravation.] + + +Sec. 5. + +Another interesting and instructive instance of error originating in +sheer accident, is supplied by the reading in certain MSS. of St. Mark +viii. 1. That the Evangelist wrote [Greek: pampollou ochlou] 'the +multitude being very great,' is certain. This is the reading of all the +uncials but eight, of all the cursives but fifteen. But instead of this, +it has been proposed that we should read, 'when there was again a great +multitude,' the plain fact being that some ancient scribe mistook, as he +easily might, the less usual compound word for what was to himself a far +more familiar expression: i.e. he mistook [Greek: PAMPOLLOU] for [Greek: +PALIN POLLOU]. + +This blunder must date from the second century, for 'iterum' is met with +in the Old Latin as well as in the Vulgate, the Gothic, the Bohairic, +and some other versions. On the other hand, it is against 'every true +principle of Textual Criticism' (as Dr. Tregelles would say), that the +more difficult expression should be abandoned for the easier, when +forty-nine out of every fifty MSS. are observed to uphold it; when the +oldest version of all, the Syriac, is on the same side; when the source +of the mistake is patent; and when the rarer word is observed to be in +St. Mark's peculiar manner. There could be in fact no hesitation on this +subject, if the opposition had not been headed by those notorious false +witnesses [Symbol: Aleph]BDL, which it is just now the fashion to uphold +at all hazards. They happen to be supported on this occasion by +GMN[Symbol: Delta] and fifteen cursives: while two other cursives look +both ways and exhibit [Greek: palin pampollou]. + +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 Peshitto 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 passages 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 Peshitto +('_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 passage. + +[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 Claudianus (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. Homoeoteleuton. + + +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 passage (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] + + [Greek: diedoke +tois [mathetais, +oi de mathetai +tois] anakeimenois.] + +The one sufficient proof that St. John did so write, being the testimony +of the MSS. Moreover, we are expressly assured by St. Matthew (xiv. 19), +St. Mark (vi. 41), and St. Luke (ix. 16), that our Saviour's act was +performed in this way. It is clear however that some scribe has suffered +his eye to wander from [Greek: tois] in l. 2 to [Greek: tois] in l. +4,--whereby St. John is made to say that our Saviour himself distributed +to the 5000. The blunder is a very ancient one; for it has crept into +the Syriac, Bohairic, and Gothic versions, besides many copies of the +Old Latin; and has established itself in the Vulgate. Moreover some good +Fathers (beginning with Origen) so quote the place. But such evidence is +unavailing to support [Symbol: Aleph]ABL[Symbol: Pi], the early reading +of [Symbol: Aleph] being also contradicted by the fourth hand in the +seventh century against the great cloud of witnesses,--beginning with D +and including twelve other uncials, beside the body of the cursives, the +Ethiopic and two copies of the Old Latin, as well as Cyril Alex. + +Indeed, there does not exist a source of error which has proved more +fatal to the transcribers of MSS. than the proximity of identical, or +nearly identical, combinations of letters. And because these are +generally met with in the final syllables of words, the error referred +to is familiarly known by a Greek name which denotes 'likeness of +ending' (Homoeoteleuton). The eye of a scribe on reverting from his copy +to the original before him is of necessity apt sometimes to alight on +the same word, or what looks like the same word, a little lower down. +The consequence is obvious. All that should have come in between gets +omitted, or sometimes duplicated. + +It is obvious, that however inconvenient it may prove to find oneself in +this way defrauded of five, ten, twenty, perhaps thirty words, no very +serious consequence for the most part ensues. Nevertheless, the result +is often sheer nonsense. When this is the case, it is loyally admitted +by all. A single example may stand for a hundred. [In St. John vi. 55, +that most careless of careless transcripts, the Sinaitic [Symbol: +Aleph], omits on a most sacred subject seven words, and the result +hardly admits of being characterized. Let the reader judge for himself. +The passage stands thus:--[Greek: he gar sarx mou alethos esti brosis, +kai to haima mou alethos esti posis]. The transcriber of [Symbol: Aleph] +by a very easy mistake let his eye pass from one [Greek: alethos] to +another, and characteristically enough the various correctors allowed +the error to remain till it was removed in the seventh century, though +the error issued in nothing less than 'My Flesh is drink indeed.' Could +that MS. have undergone the test of frequent use?] + +But it requires very little familiarity with the subject to be aware +that occasions must inevitably be even of frequent occurrence when the +result is calamitous, and even perplexing, in the extreme. The writings +of Apostles and Evangelists, the Discourses of our Divine Lord Himself, +abound in short formulae; and the intervening matter on such occasions +is constantly an integral sentence, which occasionally may be discovered +from its context without evident injury to the general meaning of the +place. Thus [ver. 14 in St. Matt, xxiii. was omitted in an early age, +owing to the recurrence of [Greek: ouai hymin] at the beginning, by some +copyists, and the error was repeated in the Old Latin versions. It +passed to Egypt, as some of the Bohairic copies, the Sahidic, and Origen +testify. The Vulgate is not quite consistent: and of course [Symbol: +Aleph]BDLZ, a concord of bad witnesses especially in St. Matthew, follow +suit, in company with the Armenian, the Lewis, and five or more +cursives, enough to make the more emphatic the condemnation by the main +body of them. Besides the verdict of the cursives, thirteen uncials (as +against five) including [Symbol: Phi] and [Symbol: Sigma], the Peshitto, +Harkleian, Ethiopic, Arabian, some MSS. of the Vulgate, with Origen +(iii. 838 (only in Lat.)); Chrysostom (vii. 707 (_bis_); ix. 755); Opus +Imperf. 185 (_bis_); 186 (_bis_); John Damascene (ii. 517); Theophylact +(i. 124); Hilary (89; 725); Jerome (iv. 276; v. 52; vi. 138: vii. 185)]. + +Worst of all, it will sometimes of necessity happen that such an +omission took place at an exceedingly remote period; (for there have +been careless scribes in every age:) and in consequence the error is +pretty sure to have propagated itself widely. It is observed to exist +(suppose) in several of the known copies; and if,--as very often is the +case,--it is discoverable in two or more of the 'old uncials,' all hope +of its easy extirpation is at an end. Instead of being loyally +recognized as a blunder,--which it clearly is,--it is forthwith charged +upon the Apostle or Evangelist as the case may be. In other words, it is +taken for granted that the clause in dispute can have had no place in +the sacred autograph. It is henceforth treated as an unauthorized +accretion to the text. Quite idle henceforth becomes the appeal to the +ninety-nine copies out of a hundred which contain the missing words. I +proceed to give an instance of my meaning. + +Our Saviour, having declared (St. Matt. xix. 9) that whosoever putteth +away his wife [Greek: ei me epi porneia, kai gamese allen, +moichatai],--adds [Greek: kai ho apolelymenen gamesas moichatai]. Those +five words are not found in Codd. [Symbol: Aleph]DLS, nor in several +copies of the Old Latin nor in some copies of the Bohairic, and the +Sahidic. Tischendorf and Tregelles accordingly reject them. + +And yet it is perfectly certain that the words are genuine. Those +thirty-one letters probably formed three lines in the oldest copies of +all. Hence they are observed to exist in the Syriac (Peshitto, Harkleian +and Jerusalem), the Vulgate, some copies of the Old Latin, the Armenian, +and the Ethiopic, besides at least seventeen uncials (including +B[Symbol: Phi][Symbol: Sigma]), and the vast majority of the cursives. +So that there can be no question of the genuineness of the clause. + +A somewhat graver instance of omission resulting from precisely the same +cause meets us a little further on in the same Gospel. The threefold +recurrence of [Greek: ton] in the expression [Greek: TON psichion TON +piptonTON] (St. Luke xvi. 21), has (naturally enough) resulted in the +dropping of the words [Greek: psichion ton] out of some copies. +Unhappily the sense is not destroyed by the omission. We are not +surprised therefore to discover that the words are wanting in--[Symbol: +Aleph]BL: or to find that [Symbol: Aleph]BL are supported here by copies +of the Old Latin, and (as usual) by the Egyptian versions, nor by +Clemens Alex.[50] and the author of the Dialogus[51]. Jerome, on the +other hand, condemns the Latin reading, and the Syriac Versions are +observed to approve of Jerome's verdict, as well as the Gothic. But what +settles the question is the fact that every known Greek MS., except +those three, witnesses against the omission: besides Ambrose[52], +Jerome[53], Eusebius[54] Alex., Gregory[55] Naz., Asterius[56], +Basil[57], Ephraim[58] Syr., Chrysostom[59], and Cyril[60] of +Alexandria. Perplexing it is notwithstanding to discover, and +distressing to have to record, that all the recent Editors of the +Gospels are more or less agreed in abolishing 'the crumbs which fell +from the rich man's table.' + +[The foregoing instances afford specimens of the influence of accidental +causes upon the transmission from age to age of the Text of the Gospels. +Before the sense of the exact expressions of the Written Word was +impressed upon the mind of the Church,--when the Canon was not +definitely acknowledged, and the halo of antiquity had not yet gathered +round writings which had been recently composed,--severe accuracy was +not to be expected. Errors would be sure to arise, especially from +accident, and early ancestors would be certain to have a numerous +progeny; besides that evil would increase, and slight deviations would +give rise in the course of natural development to serious and perplexing +corruptions. + +In the next chapter, other kinds of accidental causes will come under +consideration.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[50] P. 232. + +[51] _Ap._ Orig. i. 827. + +[52] Ambrose i. 659, 1473, 1491:--places which shew how insecure would +be an inference drawn from i. 543 and 665. + +[53] Hieron. v. 966; vi. 969. + +[54] _Ap._ Mai ii. 516, 520. + +[55] i. 370. + +[56] P. 12. + +[57] ii. 169. + +[58] ii. 142. + +[59] i. 715, 720; ii. 662 (_bis_) 764; vii. 779. + +[60] v^{2}. 149 (luc. text, 524). + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ACCIDENTAL CAUSES OF CORRUPTION. + +III. From Writing in Uncials. + + +Sec. 1. + +Corrupt readings have occasionally resulted from the ancient practice of +writing Scripture in the uncial character, without accents, punctuation, +or indeed any division of the text. Especially are they found in places +where there is something unusual in the structure of the sentence. + +St. John iv. 35-6 ([Greek: leukai eisi pros therismon ede]) has suffered +in this way,--owing to the unusual position of [Greek: ede]. Certain of +the scribes who imagined that [Greek: ede] might belong to ver. 36, +rejected the [Greek: kai] as superfluous; though no Father is known to +have been guilty of such a solecism. Others, aware that [Greek: ede] can +only belong to ver. 35, were not unwilling to part with the copula at +the beginning of ver. 36. A few, considering both words of doubtful +authority, retained neither[61]. In this way it has come to pass that +there are four ways of exhibiting this place:--(_a_) [Greek: pros +therismon ede. Kai ho therizon]:--(_b_) [Greek: pros therismon. Ede ho +th.]:--(_c_) [Greek: pros therismon ede. Ho therizon]:--(_d_) [Greek: +pros therismon. Ho therizon, k.t.l.] + +The only point of importance however is the position of [Greek: ede]: +which is claimed for ver. 35 by the great mass of the copies: as well as +by Origen[62], Eusebius[63], Chrysostom[64], Cyril[65], the Vulgate, +Jerome of course, and the Syriac. The Italic copies are hopelessly +divided here[66]: and Codd. [Symbol: Aleph]BM[Symbol: Pi] do not help +us. But [Greek: ede] is claimed for ver. 36 by CDEL, 33, and by the +Curetonian and Lewis (= [Greek: kai ede ho therizon]): while Codex A is +singular in beginning ver. 36, [Greek: ede kai],--which shews that some +early copyist, with the correct text before him, adopted a vicious +punctuation. For there can be no manner of doubt that the commonly +received text and the usual punctuation is the true one: as, on a +careful review of the evidence, every unprejudiced reader will allow. +But recent critics are for leaving out [Greek: kai] (with [Symbol: +Aleph]BCDL): while Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, Tregelles (_marg._), +are for putting the full stop after [Greek: pros therismon] and (with +ACDL) making [Greek: ede] begin the next sentence,--which (as Alford +finds out) is clearly inadmissible. + + +Sec. 2. + +Sometimes this affects the translation. Thus, the Revisers propose in +the parable of the prodigal son,--'And I perish _here_ with hunger!' But +why '_here_?' Because I answer, whereas in the earliest copies of St. +Luke the words stood thus,--[Greek: EGODELIMOAPOLLYMAI], some careless +scribe after writing [Greek: EGODE], reduplicated the three last letters +([Greek: ODE]): he mistook them for an independent word. Accordingly in +the Codex Bezae, in R and U and about ten cursives, we encounter [Greek: +ego de ode]. The inventive faculty having thus done its work it remained +to superadd 'transposition,' as was done by [Symbol: Aleph]BL. From +[Greek: ego de ode limo], the sentence has now developed into [Greek: +ego de limo ode]: which approves itself to Griesbach and Schultz, to +Lachmann and Tischendorf and Tregelles, to Alfoid and Westcott and Hort, +and to the Revisers. A very ancient blunder, certainly, [Greek: ego de +ode] is: for it is found in the Latin[67] and the Syriac translations. +It must therefore date from the second century. But it is a blunder +notwithstanding: a blunder against which 16 uncials and the whole body +of the cursives bear emphatic witness[68]. Having detected its origin, +we have next to trace its progress. + +The inventors of [Greek: ode] or other scribes quickly saw that this +word requires a correlative in the earlier part of the sentence. +Accordingly, the same primitive authorities which advocate 'here,' are +observed also to advocate, above, 'in my Father's house.' No extant +Greek copy is known to contain the bracketed words in the sentence +[Greek: [en to oiko] tou patros mou]: but such copies must have existed +in the second century. The Peshitto, the Cureton and Lewis recognize the +three words in question; as well as copies of the Latin with which +Jerome[69], Augustine[70] and Cassian[71] were acquainted. The phrase +'in domo patris mei' has accordingly established itself in the Vulgate. +But surely we of the Church of England who have been hitherto spared +this second blunder, may reasonably (at the end of 1700 years) refuse to +take the first downward step. Our Lord intended no contrast whatever +between two localities--but between two parties. The comfortable estate +of the hired servants He set against the abject misery of the Son: not +the house wherein the servants dwelt, and the spot where the poor +prodigal was standing when he came to a better mind.--These are many +words; but I know not how to be briefer. And,--what is worthy of +discussion, if not the utterances of 'the Word made flesh?' + +If hesitation to accept the foregoing verdict lingers in any quarter, it +ought to be dispelled by a glance at the context in [Symbol: Aleph]BL. +What else but the instinct of a trained understanding is it to survey +the neighbourhood of a place like the present? Accordingly, we discover +that in ver. 16, for [Greek: gemisai ten koilian autou apo], [Symbol: +Aleph]BDLR present us with [Greek: chortasthenai ek]: and in ver. 22, +the prodigal, on very nearly the same authority ([Symbol: Aleph]BDUX), +is made to say to his father,--[Greek: Poieson me hos hena ton misthion +sou]: + +Which certainly he did not say[72]. Moreover, [Symbol: Aleph]BLX and the +Old Latin are for thrusting in [Greek: tachy] (D [Greek: tacheos]) after +[Greek: exenenkate]. Are not these one and all confessedly fabricated +readings? the infelicitous attempts of some well-meaning critic to +improve upon the inspired original? + +From the fact that three words in St. John v. 44 were in the oldest MSS. +written thus,--[Greek: MONOUTHUOU] (i.e. [Greek: monou Theou ou]), the +middle word ([Greek: theou]) got omitted from some very early copies; +whereby the sentence is made to run thus in English,--'And seek not the +honour which cometh from the only One.' It is so that Origen[73], +Eusebius[74], Didymus[75], besides the two best copies of the Old Latin, +exhibit the place. As to Greek MSS., the error survives only in B at the +present day, the preserver of an Alexandrian error. + + +Sec. 3. + +St. Luke explains (Acts xxvii. 14) that it was the 'typhonic wind called +Euroclydon' which caused the ship in which St. Paul and he sailed past +Crete to incur the 'harm and loss' so graphically described in the last +chapter but one of the Acts. That wind is mentioned nowhere but in this +one place. Its name however is sufficiently intelligible; being +compounded of [Greek: Euros], the 'south-east wind,' and [Greek: +klydon], 'a tempest:' a compound which happily survives intact in the +Peshitto version. The Syriac translator, not knowing what the word +meant, copied what he saw,--'the blast' (he says) 'of the tempest[76], +which [blast] is called Tophonikos Eurokl[=i]don.' Not so the licentious +scribes of the West. They insisted on extracting out of the actual +'Euroclydon,' the imaginary name 'Euro-aquilo,' which accordingly stands +to this day in the Vulgate. (Not that Jerome himself so read the name of +the wind, or he would hardly have explained '_Eurielion_' or +'_Euriclion_' to mean 'commiscens, sive deorsum ducens[77].') Of this +feat of theirs, Codexes [Symbol: Aleph] and A (in which [Greek: +EUROKLUDON] has been perverted into [Greek: EURAKULON]) are at this day +_the sole surviving Greek witnesses_. Well may the evidence for +'Euro-aquilo' be scanty! The fabricated word collapses the instant it is +examined. Nautical men point out that it is 'inconsistent in its +construction with the principles on which the names of the intermediate +or compound winds are framed:'-- + +'_Euronotus_ is so called as intervening immediately between _Eurus_ and +_Notus_, and as partaking, as was thought, of the qualities of both. The +same holds true of _Libonotus_, as being interposed between _Libs_ and +_Notus_. Both these compound winds lie in the same quarter or quadrant +of the circle with the winds of which they are composed, and no other +wind intervenes. But _Eurus_ and _Aquilo_ are at 90 deg. distance from one +another; or according to some writers, at 105 deg.; the former lying in the +south-east quarter, and the latter in the north-east: and two winds, one +of which is the East cardinal point, intervene, as Caecias and +Subsolanus[78].' + +Further, why should the wind be designated by an impossible _Latin_ +name? The ship was 'a ship of Alexandria' (ver. 6). The sailors were +Greeks. What business has '_Aquilo_' here? Next, if the wind did bear +the name of 'Euro-aquilo,' why is it introduced in this marked way +([Greek: anemos typhonikos, ho kaloumenos]) as if it were a kind of +curiosity? Such a name would utterly miss the point, which is the +violence of the wind as expressed in the term Euroclydon. But above all, +if St. Luke wrote [Greek: EURAK]-, how has it come to pass that every +copyist but three has written [Greek: EUROK]-? The testimony of B is +memorable. The original scribe wrote [Greek: EURAKUDON][79]: the +_secunda mantis_ has corrected this into [Greek: EURYKLUDON],--which is +also the reading of Euthalius[80]. The essential circumstance is, that +_not_ [Greek: ULON] but [Greek: UDON] has all along been the last half +of the word in Codex B[81]. + +In St. John iv. 15, on the authority of [Symbol: Aleph]B, Tischendorf +adopts [Greek: dierchesthai] (in place of the uncompounded verb), +assigning as his reason, that 'If St. John had written [Greek: +erchesthai], no one would ever have substituted [Greek: dierchesthai] +for it.' But to construct the text of Scripture on such considerations, +is to build a lighthouse on a quicksand. I could have referred the +learned Critic to plenty of places where the thing he speaks of as +incredible has been done. The proof that St. John used the uncompounded +verb is the fact that it is found in all the copies except our two +untrustworthy friends. The explanation of [Greek: DIerchomai] is +sufficiently accounted for by the final syllable ([Greek: DE]) of +[Greek: mede] which immediately precedes. Similarly but without the same +excuse, + +St. Mark x. 16 [Greek: eulogei] has become [Greek: kateulogei] + ([Symbol: Aleph]BC). + " xii. 17 [Greek: thaumasan] " [Greek: ezethaumasan] + ([Symbol: Aleph]B). + " xiv. 40 [Greek: bebaremenoi] " [Greek: katabebaremenoi] + (A[Symbol: Aleph]B). + +It is impossible to doubt that [Greek: kai] (in modern critical editions +of St. Luke xvii. 37) is indebted for its existence to the same cause. +In the phrase [Greek: ekei synachthesontai hoi aetoi] it might have been +predicted that the last syllable of [Greek: ekei] would some day be +mistaken for the conjunction. And so it has actually come to pass. +[Greek: KAI oi aetoi] is met with in many ancient authorities. But +[Symbol: Aleph]LB also transposed the clauses, and substituted [Greek: +episynachthesontai] for [Greek: synachthesontai]. The self-same +casualty, viz. [Greek: kai] elicited out of the insertion of [Greek: +ekei] and the transposition of the clauses, is discoverable among the +Cursives at St. Matt. xxiv. 28,--the parallel place: where by the way +the old uncials distinguish themselves by yet graver eccentricities[82]. +How can we as judicious critics ever think of disturbing the text of +Scripture on evidence so precarious as this? + +It is proposed that we should henceforth read St. Matt. xxii. 23 as +follows:--'On that day there came to Him Sadducees _saying_ that there +is no Resurrection.' A new incident would be in this way introduced into +the Gospel narrative: resulting from a novel reading of the passage. +Instead of [Greek: hoi legontes], we are invited to read [Greek: +legontes], on the authority of [Symbol: Aleph]BDMSZP and several of the +Cursives, besides Origen, Methodius, Epiphanius. This is a respectable +array. There is nevertheless a vast preponderance of numbers in favour +of the usual reading, which is also found in the Old Latin copies and in +the Vulgate. But surely the discovery that in the parallel Gospels it +is-- + +[Greek: hoitines legousin anastasin me einai] (St. Mark xii. 18) and +[Greek: hoi antilegontes anastasin me einai] (St. Luke xx. 27) + +may be considered as decisive in a case like the present. Sure I am that +it will be so regarded by any one who has paid close attention to the +method of the Evangelists. Add that the origin of the mistake is seen, +the instant the words are inspected as they must have stood in an uncial +copy: + +[Greek: SADDOUKAIOIOILEGONTES] + +and really nothing more requires to be said. The second [Greek: OI] was +safe to be dropped in a collocation of letters like that. It might also +have been anticipated, that there would be found copyists to be confused +by the antecedent [Greek: KAI]. Accordingly the Peshitto, Lewis, and +Curetonian render the place 'et dicentes;' shewing that they mistook +[Greek: KAI OI LEGONTES] for a separate phrase. + + +Sec. 4. + +The termination [Greek: TO] (in certain tenses of the verb), when +followed by the neuter article, naturally leads to confusion; sometimes +to uncertainty. In St. John v. 4 for instance, where we read in our +copies [Greek: kai etarasse to hydor], but so many MSS. read [Greek: +etarasseto], that it becomes a perplexing question which reading to +follow. The sense in either case is excellent: the only difference being +whether the Evangelist actually says that the Angel 'troubled' the +water, or leaves it to be inferred from the circumstance that after the +Angel had descended, straightway the water 'was troubled.' + +The question becomes less difficult of decision when (as in St. Luke +vii. 21) we have to decide between two expressions [Greek: echarisato +blepein] (which is the reading of [Symbol: Aleph]*ABDEG and 11 other +uncials) and [Greek: echarisato to blepein] which is only supported by +[Symbol: Aleph]^{b}ELVA. The bulk of the Cursives faithfully maintain +the former reading, and merge the article in the verb. + +Akin to the foregoing are all those instances,--and they are literally +without number--, where the proximity of a like ending has been the +fruitful cause of error. Let me explain: for this is a matter which +cannot be too thoroughly apprehended. + +Such a collection of words as the following two instances exhibit will +shew my meaning. + +In the expression [Greek: estheta lampran anepempsen] (St. Luke xxiii. +11), we are not surprised to find the first syllable of the verb +([Greek: an]) absorbed by the last syllable of the immediately preceding +[Greek: lampran]. Accordingly, [Symbol: Aleph]LR supported by one copy +of the Old Latin and a single cursive MS. concur in displaying [Greek: +epempsen] in this place. + +The letters [Greek: NAIKONAIKAI] in the expression (St. Luke xxiii. 27) +[Greek: gynaikon hai kai] were safe to produce confusion. The first of +these three words could of course take care of itself. (Though D, with +some of the Versions, make it into [Greek: gynaikes].) Not so however +what follows. ABCDLX and the Old Latin (except c) drop the [Greek: kai]: +[Symbol: Aleph] and C drop the [Greek: ai]. The truth rests with the +fourteen remaining uncials and with the cursives. + +Thus also the reading [Greek: en ole te Galilaia] (B) in St. Matt. iv. +23, (adopted by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, Westcott and +Hort and the Revisers,) is due simply to the reduplication on the part +of some inattentive scribe of the last two letters of the immediately +preceding word,--[Greek: periegen]. The received reading of the place is +the correct one,--[Greek: kai periegen holen ten Galilaian ho Iesous], +because the first five words are so exhibited in all the Copies except +B[Symbol: Aleph]C; and those three MSS. are observed to differ as usual +from one another,--which ought to be deemed fatal to their evidence. +Thus, + +B reads [Greek: kai periegen en holei tei Galilaiai]. +[Symbol: Aleph] " [Greek: kai periegen ho _is_ en tei Galilaiai]. +C " [Greek: kai periegen ho _is_ en hole tei Galilaiai]. + +But--(I shall be asked)--what about the position of the Sacred Name? How +comes it to pass that [Greek: ho Iesous], which comes after [Greek: +Galilaian] in almost every other known copy, should come after [Greek: +periegen] in three of these venerable authorities (in D as well as in +[Symbol: Aleph] and C), and in the Latin, Peshitto, Lewis, and +Harkleian? Tischendorf, Alford, Westcott and Hort and the Revisers at +all events (who simply follow B in leaving out [Greek: ho Iesous] +altogether) will not ask me this question: but a thoughtful inquirer is +sure to ask it. + +The phrase (I reply) is derived by [Symbol: Aleph]CD from the twin place +in St. Matthew (ix. 35) which in all the MSS. begins [Greek: kai +periegen ho _is_]. So familiar had this order of the words become, that +the scribe of [Symbol: Aleph], (a circumstance by the way of which +Tischendorf takes no notice,) has even introduced the expression into +St. Mark vi. 6,--the parallel place in the second Gospel,--where [Greek: +ho _is_] clearly has no business. I enter into these minute details +because only in this way is the subject before us to be thoroughly +understood. This is another instance where 'the Old Uncials' shew their +text to be corrupt; so for assurance in respect of accuracy of detail we +must resort to the Cursive Copies. + + +Sec. 5. + +The introduction of [Greek: apo] in the place of [Greek: hagioi] made by +the 'Revisers' into the Greek Text of 2 Peter i. 21,--derives its origin +from the same prolific source. (1) some very ancient scribe mistook the +first four letters of [Greek: agioi] for [Greek: apo]. It was but the +mistaking of [Greek: AGIO] for [Greek: APO]. At the end of 1700 years, +the only Copies which witness to this deformity are BP with four +cursives,--in opposition to [Symbol: Aleph]AKL and the whole body of the +cursives, the Vulgate[83] and the Harkleian. Euthalius knew nothing of +it[84]. Obvious it was, next, for some one in perplexity,--(2) to +introduce both readings ([Greek: apo] and [Greek: hagioi]) into the +text. Accordingly [Greek: apo Theou hagioi] is found in C, two cursives, +and Didymus[85]. Then, (3), another variant crops up, (viz. [Greek: +hypo] for [Greek: apo]--but only because [Greek: hypo] went immediately +before); of which fresh blunder ([Greek: hypo Theou hagioi]) Theophylact +is the sole patron[86]. The consequence of all this might have been +foreseen: (4) it came to pass that from a few Codexes, both [Greek: apo] +and [Greek: agioi] were left out,--which accounts for the reading of +certain copies of the Old Latin[87]. Unaware how the blunder began, +Tischendorf and his followers claim '(2)', '(3)', and '(4)', as proofs +that '(1)' is the right reading: and, by consequence, instead of '_holy_ +men of God spake,' require us to read 'men spake _from_ God,' which is +wooden and vapid. Is it not clear that a reading attested by only BP and +four cursive copies must stand self-condemned? + +Another excellent specimen of this class of error is furnished by Heb. +vii. 1. Instead of [Greek: Ho synantesas Abraam]--said of +Melchizedek,--[Symbol: Aleph]ABD exhibit [Greek: OS]. The whole body of +the copies, headed by CLP, are against them[88],--besides +Chrysostom[89], Theodoret[90], Damascene[91]. It is needless to do more +than state how this reading arose. The initial letter of [Greek: +synantesas] has been reduplicated through careless transcription: +[Greek: OSSYN]--instead of [Greek: OSYN]--. That is all. But the +instructive feature of the case is that it is in the four oldest of the +uncials that this palpable blunder is found. + + +Sec. 6. + +I have reserved for the last a specimen which is second to none in +suggestiveness. 'Whom will ye that I release unto you?' asked Pilate on +a memorable occasion[92]: and we all remember how his enquiry proceeds. +But the discovery is made that, in an early age there existed copies of +the Gospel which proceeded thus,--'Jesus [who is called[93]] Barabbas, +or Jesus who is called Christ?' Origen so quotes the place, but 'In many +copies,' he proceeds, 'mention is not made that Barabbas was also called +Jesus: and those copies may perhaps be right,--else would the name of +Jesus belong to one of the wicked,--of which no instance occurs in any +part of the Bible: nor is it fitting that the name of Jesus should like +Judas have been borne by saint and sinner alike. I think,' Origen adds, +'something of this sort must have been an interpolation of the +heretics[94].' From this we are clearly intended to infer that 'Jesus +Barabbas' was the prevailing reading of St. Matt. xxvii. 17 in the time +of Origen, a circumstance which--besides that a multitude of copies +existed as well as those of Origen--for the best of reasons, we take +leave to pronounce incredible[95]. + +The sum of the matter is probably this:--Some inattentive second century +copyist [probably a Western Translator into Syriac who was an +indifferent Greek scholar] mistook the final syllable of '_unto you_' +([Greek: UMIN]) for the word '_Jesus_' ([Greek: IN]): in other words, +carelessly reduplicated the last two letters of [Greek: UMIN],--from +which, strange to say, results the form of inquiry noticed at the +outset. Origen caught sight of the extravagance, and condemned it though +he fancied it to be prevalent, and the thing slept for 1500 years. Then +about just fifty years ago Drs. Lachmann, Tischendorf and Tregelles +began to construct that 'fabric of Textual Criticism' which has been the +cause of the present treatise [though indeed Tischendorf does not adopt +the suggestion of those few aberrant cursives which is supported by no +surviving uncial, and in fact advocates the very origin of the mischief +which has been just described]. But, as every one must see, 'such things +as these are not 'readings' at all, nor even the work of 'the heretics;' +but simply transcriptional mistakes. How Dr. Hort, admitting the +blunder, yet pleads that 'this remarkable reading is attractive by the +new and interesting fact which it seems to attest, and by the antithetic +force which it seems to add to the question in ver. 17,' [is more than +we can understand. To us the expression seems most repulsive. No +'antithetic force' can outweigh our dislike to the idea that Barabbas +was our Saviour's namesake! We prefer Origen's account, though he +mistook the cause, to that of the modern critic.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[61] It is clearly unsafe to draw any inference from the mere omission +of [Greek: ede] in ver. 35, by those Fathers who do not shew how they +would have began ver. 36--as Eusebius (see below, note 2), Theodoret (i. +1398: ii. 233), and Hilary (78. 443. 941. 1041). + +[62] i. 219: iii. 158: iv. 248, 250 _bis_, 251 _bis_, 252, 253, 255 +_bis_, 256, 257. Also iv. 440 note, which = cat^{ox} iv. 21. + +[63] _dem._ 440. But not _in cs._ 426: _theoph._ 262, 275. + +[64] vii. 488, 662: ix. 32. + +[65] i. 397. 98. (Palladius) 611: iii. 57. So also in iv. 199, [Greek: +etoimos ede pros to pisteuein]. + +[66] Ambrose, ii. 279, has '_Et qui metit_.' Iren.^{int} substitutes +'_nam_' for '_et_,' and omits '_jam_.' Jerome 9 times introduces '_jam_' +before '_albae sunt_.' So Aug. (iii.^2 417): but elsewhere (iv. 639: v. +531) he omits the word altogether. + +[67] 'Hic' is not recognized in Ambrose. _Append._ ii. 367. + +[68] The Fathers render us very little help here. Ps.-Chrys. twice +(viii. 34: x. 838) has [Greek: ego de ode]: once (viii. 153) not. John +Damascene (ii. 579) is without the [Greek: ode]. + +[69] i. 76: vi. 16 (_not_ vi. 484). + +[70] iii.^{2} 259 (_not_ v. 511). + +[71] p. 405. + +[72] [The prodigal was prepared to say this; but his father's kindness +stopped him:--a feature in the account which the Codexes in question +ignore.] + +[73] iii. 687. But in i. 228 and 259 he recognizes [Greek: theou]. + +[74] _Ap._ Mai vii. 135. + +[75] Praep. xiii. 6,--[Greek: monou tou henos] (vol. ii. 294). + +[76] Same word occurs in St. Mark iv. 37. + +[77] iii. 101. + +[78] Falconer's Dissertation on St. Paul's Voyage, pp. 16 and 12. + +[79] Let the learned Vercellone be heard on behalf of Codex B: 'Antequam +manum de tabula amoveamus, e re fore videtur, si, ipso codice Vaticano +inspecto, duos injectos scrupulos eximamus. Cl. Tischendorfius in +nuperrima sua editione scribit (Proleg. p. cclxxv), Maium ad Act. xxvii. +14, codici Vaticano tribuisse a prima manu [Greek: euraklydon]; nos vero +[Greek: eurakydon]; atque subjungit, "_utrumque, ut videtur, male_." At, +quidquid "videri" possit, certum nobis exploratumque est Vaticanum +codicem primo habuisse [Greek: eurakydon], prout expressum fuit tum in +tabella qua Maius Birchianas lectiones notavit, tum in altera qua nos +errata corrigenda recensuimus.'--Praefatio to Mai's 2nd ed. of the Cod. +Vaticanus, 1859 (8vo), p. v. Sec. vi. [Any one may now see this in the +photographed copy.] + +[80] _Ap._ Galland. x. 225. + +[81] Remark that some vicious sections evidently owed their origin to +the copyist _knowing more of Latin than of Greek_. + +True, that the compounds euronotus euroauster exist in Latin. _That is +the reason why_ the Latin translator (not understanding the word) +rendered it _Euroaquilo_: instead of writing _Euraquilo_. + +I have no doubt that it was some Latin copyist who began the mischief. +Like the man who wrote [Greek: ep' auto to phoro] for [Greek: ep' +autophoro]. + + Readings of Euroclydon + + [Greek: EURAKYDON] B (sic) + [Greek: EURAKYLON] [Symbol: Aleph]A + [Greek: EURAKELON] + [Greek: EUTRAKELON] + [Greek: EURAKLEDON] Peshitto. + [Greek: EURAKYKLON] + + Euroaquilo Vulg. + + [Greek: EUROKLYDON] HLP + [Greek: EURAKLYDON] Syr. Harkl. + [Greek: EURYKLYDON] B^{2 man.} + +[82] [Greek: Opou] ([Greek: ou] [Symbol: Aleph]) [Greek: gar] (--[Greek: +gar] [Symbol: Aleph]BDL) [Greek: ean] ([Greek: an] D) [Greek: to ptoma] +([Greek: soma] [Symbol: Aleph]). + +[83] _Sancti Dei homines._ + +[84] _Ap._ Galland. x. 236 a. + +[85] Trin. 234. + +[86] iii. 389. + +[87] '_Locuti sunt homines D_.' + +[88] Their only supporters seem to be K [i.e. Paul 117 (Matthaei's Sec.)], +17, 59 [published in full by Cramer, vii. 202], 137 [Reiche, p. 60]. Why +does Tischendorf quote besides E of Paul, which is nothing else but a +copy of D of Paul? + +[89] Chrys. xii. 120 b, 121 a. + +[90] Theodoret, iii. 584. + +[91] J. Damascene, ii. 240 c. + +[92] St. Matt. xxvii. 17. + +[93] Cf. [Greek: ho legomenos Barabbas]. St. Mark xv. 7. + +[94] _Int._ iii. 918 c d. + +[95] On the two other occasions when Origen quotes St. Matt. xxvii. 17 +(i. 316 a and ii. 245 a) nothing is said about 'Jesus Barabbas.'-- +Alluding to the place, he elsewhere (iii. 853 d) merely says that +'_Secundum quosdam Barabbas dicebatur et Jesus._'--The author of a +well-known scholion, ascribed to Anastasius, Bp. of Antioch, but query, +for see Migne, vol. lxxxix. p. 1352 b c (= Galland. xii. 253 c), and +1604 a, declares that he had found the same statement 'in very early +copies.' The scholion in question is first cited by Birch (Varr. Lectt. +p. 110) from the following MSS.:--S, 108, 129, 137, 138, 143, 146, 181, +186, 195, 197, 199 or 200, 209, 210, 221, 222: to which Scholz adds 41, +237, 238, 253, 259, 299: Tischendorf adds 1, 118. In Gallandius (Bibl. +P. P. xiv. 81 d e, _Append._), the scholion may be seen more fully given +than by Birch,--from whom Tregelles and Tischendorf copy it. Theophylact +(p. 156 a) must have seen the place as quoted by Gallandius. The only +evidence, so far as I can find, for reading '_Jesus_ Barabbas' (in St. +Matt. xxvii. 16, 17) are five disreputable Evangelia 1, 118, 209, 241, +299,--the Armenian Version, the Jerusalem Syriac, [and the Sinai +Syriac]; (see Adler, pp. 172-3). + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ACCIDENTAL CAUSES OF CORRUPTION. + +IV. Itacism. + + +[It has been already shewn in the First Volume that the Art of +Transcription on vellum did not reach perfection till after the lapse of +many centuries in the life of the Church. Even in the minute elements of +writing much uncertainty prevailed during a great number of successive +ages. It by no means followed that, if a scribe possessed a correct +auricular knowledge of the Text, he would therefore exhibit it correctly +on parchment. Copies were largely disfigured with misspelt words. And +vowels especially were interchanged; accordingly, such change became in +many instances the cause of corruption, and is known in Textual +Criticism under the name 'Itacism.'] + + +Sec. 1. + +It may seem to a casual reader that in what follows undue attention is +being paid to minute particulars. But it constantly happens,--and this +is a sufficient answer to the supposed objection,--that, from +exceedingly minute and seemingly trivial mistakes, there result +sometimes considerable and indeed serious misrepresentations of the +Spirit's meaning. New incidents:--unheard-of statements:--facts as yet +unknown to readers of Scripture:--perversions of our Lord's Divine +sayings:--such phenomena are observed to follow upon the omission of the +article,--the insertion of an expletive,--the change of a single letter. +Thus [Greek: palin], thrust in where it has no business, makes it appear +that our Saviour promised to return the ass on which He rode in triumph +into Jerusalem[96]. By writing [Greek: o] for [Greek: o], many critics +have transferred some words from the lips of Christ to those of His +Evangelist, and made Him say what He never could have dreamed of +saying[97]. By subjoining [Greek: s] to a word in a place which it has +no right to fill, the harmony of the heavenly choir has been marred +effectually, and a sentence produced which defies translation[98]. By +omitting [Greek: to] and [Greek: Kyrie], the repenting malefactor is +made to say, 'Jesus! remember me, when Thou comest in Thy kingdom[99].' + +Speaking of our Saviour's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which took +place 'the day after' 'they made Him a supper' and Lazarus 'which had +been dead, whom He raised from the dead,' 'sat at the table with Him' +(St. John xii. 1, 2), St. John says that 'the multitude which had been +with Him _when_ He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised Him from +the dead bare testimony' (St. John xii. 17). The meaning of this is best +understood by a reference to St. Luke xix. 37, 38, where it is explained +that it was the sight of so many acts of Divine Power, the chiefest of +all being the raising of Lazarus, which moved the crowds to yield the +memorable testimony recorded by St. Luke in ver. 38,--by St. John in +ver. 13[100]. But Tischendorf and Lachmann, who on the authority of D +and four later uncials read [Greek: hoti] instead of [Greek: hote], +import into the Gospel quite another meaning. According to their way of +exhibiting the text, St. John is made to say that 'the multitude which +was with Jesus, testified _that_ He called Lazarus out of the tomb and +raised him from the dead': which is not only an entirely different +statement, but also the introduction of a highly improbable +circumstance. That many copies of the Old Latin (not of the Vulgate) +recognize [Greek: hoti], besides the Peshitto and the two Egyptian +versions, is not denied. This is in fact only one more proof of the +insufficiency of such collective testimony. [Symbol: Aleph]AB with the +rest of the uncials and, what is of more importance, _the whole body of +the cursives_, exhibit [Greek: hote],--which, as every one must see, is +certainly what St. John wrote in this place. Tischendorf's assertion +that the prolixity of the expression [Greek: ephonesen ek tou mnemeiou +kai egeiren auton ek nekron] is inconsistent with [Greek: +hote][101],--may surprise, but will never convince any one who is even +moderately acquainted with St. John's peculiar manner. + +The same mistake--of [Greek: hoti] for [Greek: hote]--is met with at +ver. 41 of the same chapter. 'These things said Isaiah _because_ he saw +His glory' (St. John xii. 41). And why not '_when_ he saw His glory'? +which is what the Evangelist wrote according to the strongest +attestation. True, that eleven manuscripts (beginning with [Symbol: +Aleph]ABL) and the Egyptian versions exhibit [Greek: hoti]: also Nonnus, +who lived in the Thebaid (A.D. 410): but all other MSS., the Latin, +Peshitto, Gothic, Ethiopic, Georgian, and one Egyptian version:-- +Origen[102],--Eusebius in four places[103],--Basil[104],--Gregory of +Nyssa twice[105],--Didymus three times[106],--Chrysostom twice[107],-- +Severianus of Gabala[108];--these twelve Versions and Fathers constitute +a body of ancient evidence which is overwhelming. Cyril three times +reads [Greek: hoti][109], three times [Greek: hote][110],--and once +[Greek: henika][111], which proves at least how he understood the place. + + +Sec. 2. + +[A suggestive example[112] of the corruption introduced by a petty +Itacism may be found in Rev. i. 5, where the beautiful expression which +has found its way into so many tender passages relating to Christian +devotion, 'Who hath _washed_[113] us from our sins in His own blood' +(A.V.), is replaced in many critical editions (R.V.) by, 'Who hath +_loosed_[114] us from our sins by His blood.' In early times a purist +scribe, who had a dislike of anything that savoured of provincial +retention of Aeolian or Dorian pronunciations, wrote from unconscious +bias [Greek: u] for [Greek: ou], transcribing [Greek: lusanti] for +[Greek: lousanti] (unless he were not Greek scholar enough to understand +the difference): and he was followed by others, especially such as, +whether from their own prejudices or owing to sympathy with the scruples +of other people, but at all events under the influence of a slavish +literalism, hesitated about a passage as to which they did not rise to +the spiritual height of the precious meaning really conveyed therein. +Accordingly the three uncials, which of those that give the Apocalypse +date nearest to the period of corruption, adopt [Greek: u], followed by +nine cursives, the Harkleian Syriac, and the Armenian versions. On the +other side, two uncials--viz. B^{2} of the eighth century and P of the +ninth--the Vulgate, Bohairic, and Ethiopic, write [Greek: lousanti] +and--what is most important--all the other cursives except the handful +just mentioned, so far as examination has yet gone, form a barrier which +forbids intrusion.] + +[An instance where an error from an Itacism has crept into the Textus +Receptus may be seen in St. Luke xvi. 25. Some scribes needlessly +changed [Greek: hode] into [Greek: hode], misinterpreting the letter +which served often for both the long and the short [Greek: o], and +thereby cast out some illustrative meaning, since Abraham meant to lay +stress upon the enjoyment 'in his bosom' of comfort by Lazarus. The +unanimity of the uncials, a majority of the cursives, the witness of the +versions, that of the Fathers quote the place being uncertain, are +sufficient to prove that [Greek: hode] is the genuine word.] + +[Again, in St. John xiii. 25, [Greek: houtos] has dropped out of many +copies and so out of the Received Text because by an Itacism it was +written [Greek: outos] in many manuscripts. Therefore [Greek: ekeinos +outos] was thought to be a clear mistake, and the weaker word was +accordingly omitted. No doubt Latins and others who did not understand +Greek well considered also that [Greek: houtos] was redundant, and this +was the cause of its being omitted in the Vulgate. But really [Greek: +houtos], being sufficiently authenticated[115], is exactly in consonance +with Greek usage and St. John's style[116], and adds considerably to the +graphic character of the sacred narrative. St. John was reclining +([Greek: anakeimenos]) on his left arm over the bosom of the robe +([Greek: en toi kolpoi]) of the Saviour. When St. Peter beckoned to him +he turned his head for the moment and sank ([Greek: epipeson], not +[Greek: anapeson] which has the testimony only of B and about +twenty-five uncials, [Symbol: Aleph] and C being divided against +themselves) on the breast of the Lord, being still in the general +posture in which he was ([Greek: houtos][117]), and asked Him in a +whisper 'Lord, who is it?'] + +[Another case of confusion between [Greek: o] and [Greek: o] may be seen +in St. Luke xv. 24, 32, where [Greek: apololos] has gained so strong a +hold that it is found in the Received Text for [Greek: apololos], which +last being the better attested appears to be the right reading[118]. But +the instance which requires the most attention is [Greek: katharizon] in +St. Mark vii. 19, and all the more because in _The Last Twelve Verses of +St. Mark_, the alteration into [Greek: katharizon] is advocated as being +'no part of the Divine discourse, but the Evangelist's inspired comment +on the Saviour's words[119].' Such a question must be decided strictly +by the testimony, not upon internal evidence--which in fact is in this +case absolutely decisive neither way, for people must not be led by the +attractive view opened by [Greek: katharizon], and [Greek: katharizon] +bears a very intelligible meaning. When we find that the uncial evidence +is divided, there being eight against the change ([Symbol: Phi][Symbol: +Sigma]KMUV[Symbol: Gamma][Symbol: Pi]), and eleven for it ([Symbol: +Aleph]ABEFGHLSX[Symbol: Delta]);--that not much is advanced by the +versions, though the Peshitto, the Lewis Codex, the Harkleian (?), the +Gothic, the Old Latin[120], the Vulgate, favour [Greek: +katharizon];--nor by the Fathers:--since Aphraates[121], Augustine +(?)[122], and Novatian[123] are contradicted by Origen[124], +Theophylact[125], and Gregory Thaumaturgus[126], we discover that we +have not so far made much way towards a satisfactory conclusion. The +only decided element of judgement, so far as present enquiries have +reached, since suspicion is always aroused by the conjunction of +[Symbol: Aleph]AB, is supplied by the cursives which with a large +majority witness to the received reading. It is not therefore safe to +alter it till a much larger examination of existing evidence is made +than is now possible. If difficulty is felt in the meaning given by +[Greek: katharizon],--and that there is such difficulty cannot candidly +be denied,--this is balanced by the grammatical difficulty introduced by +[Greek: katharizon], which would be made to agree in the same clause +with a verb separated from it by thirty-five parenthetic words, +including two interrogations and the closing sentence. Those people who +form their judgement from the Revised Version should bear in mind that +the Revisers, in order to make intelligible sense, were obliged to +introduce three fresh English words that have nothing to correspond to +them in the Greek; being a repetition of what the mind of the reader +would hardly bear in memory. Let any reader who doubts this leave out +the words in italics and try the effect for himself. The fact is that to +make this reading satisfactory, another alteration is required. [Greek: +Katharizon panta ta bromata] ought either to be transferred to the 20th +verse or to the beginning of the 18th. Then all would be clear enough, +though destitute of a balance of authority: as it is now proposed to +read, the passage would have absolutely no parallel in the simple and +transparent sentences of St. Mark. We must therefore be guided by the +balance of evidence, and that is turned by the cursive testimony.] + + +Sec. 3. + +Another minute but interesting indication of the accuracy and fidelity +with which the cursive copies were made, is supplied by the constancy +with which they witness to the preposition [Greek: en] (_not the +numeral_ [Greek: hen]) in St. Mark iv. 8. Our Lord says that the seed +which 'fell into the good ground' 'yielded by ([Greek: en]) thirty, and +by ([Greek: en]) sixty, and by ([Greek: en]) an hundred.' Tischendorf +notes that besides all the uncials which are furnished with accents and +breathings (viz. EFGHKMUV[Symbol: Pi]) 'nearly 100 cursives' exhibit +[Greek: en] here and in ver. 20. But this is to misrepresent the case. +All the cursives may be declared to exhibit [Greek: en], e.g. all +Matthaei's and all Scrivener's. I have myself with this object examined +a large number of Evangelia, and found [Greek: en] in all. The Basle MS. +from which Erasmus derived his text[127] exhibits [Greek: en],--though +he printed [Greek: hen] out of respect for the Vulgate. The +Complutensian having [Greek: hen], the reading of the Textus Receptus +follows in consequence: but the Traditional reading has been shewn to be +[Greek: en],--which is doubtless intended by [Greek: EN] in Cod. A. + +Codd. [Symbol: Aleph]C[Symbol: Delta] (two ever licentious and [Symbol: +Delta] similarly so throughout St. Mark) substitute for the preposition +[Greek: en] the preposition [Greek: eis],--(a sufficient proof to me +that they understand [Greek: EN] to represent [Greek: en], not [Greek: +hen]): and are followed by Tischendorf, Tregelles, and the Revisers. As +for the chartered libertine B (and its servile henchman L), for the +first [Greek: en] (but not for the second and third) it substitutes the +preposition [Greek: EIS]: while, in ver. 20, it retains the first +[Greek: en], but omits the other two. In all these vagaries Cod. B is +followed by Westcott and Hort[128]. + + +Sec. 4. + +St. Paul[129] in his Epistle to Titus [ii. 5] directs that young women +shall be 'keepers at home,' [Greek: oikourous]. So, (with five +exceptions,) every known Codex[130], including the corrected [Symbol: +Aleph] and D,--HKLP; besides 17, 37, 47. So also Clemens Alex.[131] +(A.D. 180),--Theodore of Mopsuestia[132],--Basil[133],--Chrysostom[134]-- +Theodoret[135],--Damascene[136]. So again the Old Latin (_domum +custodientes_[137]),--the Vulgate (_domus curam habentes_[138]),--and +Jerome (_habentes domus diligentiam_[139]): and so the Peshitto and the +Harkleian versions,--besides the Bohairic. There evidently can be no +doubt whatever about such a reading so supported. To be [Greek: +oikouros] was held to be a woman's chiefest praise[140]: [Greek: +kalliston ergon gyne oikouros], writes Clemens Alex.[141]; assigning to +the wife [Greek: oikouria] as her proper province[142]. On the contrary, +'gadding about from house to house' is what the Apostle, writing to +Timothy[143], expressly condemns. But of course the decisive +consideration is not the support derived from internal evidence; but the +plain fact that antiquity, variety, respectability, numbers, continuity +of attestation, are all in favour of the Traditional reading. + +Notwithstanding this, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Westcott and +Hort, because they find [Greek: oikourgous] in [Symbol: Aleph]*ACD*F-G, +are for thrusting that 'barbarous and scarcely intelligible' word, if it +be not even a non-existent[144], into Titus ii. 5. The Revised Version +in consequence exhibits 'workers at home'--which Dr. Field may well call +an 'unnecessary and most tasteless innovation.' But it is insufficiently +attested as well, besides being a plain perversion of the Apostle's +teaching. [And the error must have arisen from carelessness and +ignorance, probably in the West where Greek was not properly +understood.] + +So again, in the cry of the demoniacs, [Greek: ti hemin kai soi, Iesou, +huie tou Theou]; (St. Matt. viii. 29) the name [Greek: Iesou] is omitted +by B[Symbol: Aleph]. + +The reason is plain the instant an ancient MS. is inspected:--[Greek: +KAISOI_IU_UIETOU_THU_]:--the recurrence of the same letters caused too +great a strain to scribes, and the omission of two of them was the +result of ordinary human infirmity. + +Indeed, to this same source are to be attributed an extraordinary number +of so-called 'various readings'; but which in reality, as has already +been shewn, are nothing else but a collection of mistakes,--the +surviving tokens that anciently, as now, copying clerks left out words; +whether misled by the fatal proximity of a like ending, or by the speedy +recurrence of the like letters, or by some other phenomenon with which +most men's acquaintance with books have long since made them familiar. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[96] St. Mark xi. 4. See Revision Revised, pp. 57-58. + +[97] St. Mark vii. 19, [Greek: katharizon] for [Greek: katharizon]. See +below, pp. 61-3. + +[98] St. Luke ii. 14. + +[99] St. Luke xxiii. 42. + +[100] St. Matt. xx. 9. See also St. Mark xi. 9, 10. + +[101] 'Quae quidem orationis prolixitas non conveniens esset si [Greek: +hote] legendum esset.' + +[102] iv. 577: 'quando.' + +[103] Dem. Ev. 310, 312, 454 _bis._ + +[104] i. 301. + +[105] ii. 488, and _ap._ Gall. vi. 580. + +[106] Trin. 59, 99, 242. + +[107] viii. 406, 407. Also ps.-Chrysost. v. 613. Note, that +'Apolinarius' in Cramer's Cat. 332 is Chrys. viii. 407. + +[108] _Ap._ Chrys. vi. 453. + +[109] iv. 505, 709, and _ap_. Mai iii. 85. + +[110] ii. 102: iv. 709, and _ap_. Mai iii. 118. + +[111] v^{1}. 642. + +[112] Unfortunately, though the Dean left several lists of instances of +Itacism, he worked out none, except the substitution of [Greek: hen] for +[Greek: en] in St. Mark iv. 8, which as it is not strictly on all fours +with the rest I have reserved till last. He mentioned all that I have +introduced (besides a few others), on detached papers, some of them more +than once, and [Greek: lousanti] and [Greek: katharizon] even more than +the others. In the brief discussion of each instance which I have +supplied, I have endeavoured whenever it was practicable to include any +slight expressions of the Dean's that I could find, and to develop all +surviving hints. + +[113] [Greek: lousanti]. + +[114] [Greek: lusanti]. + +[115] + [Greek: houtos]. BCEFGHLMX[Symbol: Delta]. Most cursives. Goth. + [Greek: outos]. KSU[Symbol: Gamma][Symbol: Lambda]. Ten cursives. + _Omit_ [Symbol: Aleph]AD[Pi]. Many cursives. Vulg. Pesh. Ethiop. + Armen. Georg. Slavon. + Bohair. Pers. + +[116] E.g. Thuc. vii. 15, St. John iv. 6. + +[117] See St. John iv. 6: Acts xx. 11, xxvii. 17. The beloved Apostle +was therefore called [Greek: ho epistethios]. See Suicer. s. v. Westcott +on St. John xiii. 25. + +[118] + 24. [Greek: apololos.] [Symbol: Aleph]^{a}ABD &c. + [Greek: apololos]. [Symbol: Aleph]*GKMRSX[Symbol: Gamma][Symbol: + Pi]*. Most curs. + + 32. [Greek: apololos]. [Symbol: Aleph]*ABD &c. + [Greek: apololos]. [Symbol: Aleph]^{c}KMRSX[Symbol: Gamma][Symbol: + Pi]*. Most curs. + +[119] Pp. 179, 180. Since the Dean has not adopted [Greek: katharizon] +into his corrected text, and on account of other indications which +caused me to doubt whether he retained the opinion of his earlier years, +I applied to the Rev. W. F. Rose, who answered as follows:--'I am +thankful to say that I can resolve all doubt as to my uncle's later +views of St. Mark vii. 19. In his annotated copy of the _Twelve Verses_ +he deletes the words in his note p. 179, "This appears to be the true +reading," and writes in the margin, "The old reading is doubtless the +true one," and in the margin of the paragraph referring to [Greek: +katharizon] on p. 180 he writes, "Alter the wording of this." This +entirely agrees with my own recollection of many conversations with him +on the subject. I think he felt that the weight of the cursive testimony +to the old rending was conclusive,--at least that he was not justified +in changing the text in spite of it.' These last words of Mr. Rose +express exactly the inference that I had drawn. + +[120] 'The majority of the Old Latin MSS. have "in secessum uadit (or +exiit) purgans omnes escas"; _i_ (Vindobonensis) and _r_ (Usserianus) +have "et purgat" for "purgans": and _a_ has a conflation "in secessum +exit purgans omnes escas et exit in rivum"--so they all point the same +way.'--(Kindly communicated by Mr. H. J. White.) + +[121] Dem. xv. (Graffin)--'Vadit enim esca in ventrem, unde purgatione +in secessum emittitur.' (Lat.) + +[122] iii. 764. 'Et in secessum exit, purgans omnes escas.' + +[123] Galland. iii. 319. 'Cibis, quos Dominus dicit perire, et in +secessu naturali lege purgari.' + +[124] iii. 494. [Greek: elege tauta ho Soter, katharizon panta ta +bromata.] + +[125] i. 206. [Greek: ekkatharizon panta ta bromata.] + +[126] Galland. iii. 400. [Greek: alla kai ho Soter, panta katharizon ta +bromata.] + +[127] Evan. 2. See Hoskier, Collation of Cod. Evan. 604, App. F. p. 4. + +[128] [The following specimens taken from the first hand of B may +illustrate the kakigraphy, if I may use the expression, which is +characteristic of that MS. and also of [Symbol: Aleph]. The list might +be easily increased. + +I. _Proper Names._ + +[Greek: Ioanes], generally: [Greek: Ioannes], Luke i. 13*, 60, 63; Acts +iii. 4; iv. 6, 13, 19; xii. 25; xiii. 5, 25; xv. 37; Rev. i. 1, 4, 9; +xxii. 8. + +[Greek: Beezeboul], Matt. x. 25; xii. 24, 27; Mark iii. 22; Luke xi. 15, +18, 19. + +[Greek: Nazaret], Matt. ii. 23; Luke i. 26; John i. 46, 47. [Greek: +Nazara], Matt. iv. 13. [Greek: Nazareth], Matt. xxi. 11; Luke ii. 51; +iv. 16. + +[Greek: Maria] for [Greek: Mariam], Matt. i. 20; Luke ii. 19. [Greek: +Mariam] for [Greek: Maria], Matt. xxvii. 61; Mark xx. 40; Luke x. 42; +xi. 32; John xi. 2; xii. 3; xx. 16, 18. See Traditional Text, p. 86. + +[Greek: Koum], Mark v. 41. [Greek: Golgoth], Luke xix. 17. + +[Greek: Istraeleitai, Istraelitai, Israeleitai, Israelitai]. + +[Greek: Eleisabet, Elisabet]. + +[Greek: Moses, Mouses.] + +[Greek: Dalmanountha], Mark viii. 10. + +[Greek: Iose] (Joseph of Arimathea), Mark xv. 45. [Greek: Ioseph], Matt. +xxvii. 57, 59; Mark xv. 42; Luke xxiii. 50; John xix. 38. + + +II. _Mis-spelling of ordinary words._ + +[Greek: kath' idian], Matt. xvii. 1, 19; xxi v. 3; Mark iv. 34; vi. 31, +&c. [Greek: kat' idian], Matt. xiv. 13, 23; Mark vi. 32; vii. 33, &c. + +[Greek: genema], Matt. xxvi. 29; Mark xiv. 25; Luke xxii. 18. [Greek: +gennema], Matt. iii. 7; xii. 34; xxiii. 33; Luke iii. 7 (the well-known +[Greek: gennemata echidnon]). + +A similar confusion between [Greek: genesis] and [Greek: gennesis], +Matt. i, and between [Greek: egenethen] and [Greek: egennethen], and +[Greek: gegenemai] and [Greek: gegennemai]. See Kuenen and Cobet N. T. +ad fid. Cod. Vaticani lxxvii. + + +III. _Itacisms._ + +[Greek: kreino], John xii. 48 ([Greek: kreinei]). [Greek: krino], Matt. +vii. 1; xix. 28; Luke vi. 37; vii. 43; xii. 57, &c. + +[Greek: teimo, timo], Matt. xv. 4, 5, 8; xix. 19; xxvii. 9; Mark vii. 6, +10, &c. + +[Greek: enebreimethe] (Matt. ix. 30) for [Greek: enebrimesato]. [Greek: +anakleithenai] (Mark vi. 39) for [Greek: anaklinai. seitos] for [Greek: +sitos] (Mark iv. 28). + + +IV. _Bad Grammar._ + +[Greek: toi oikodespotei epekalesan] for [Greek: ton oikodespoten ekal.] +(Matt. x. 25). [Greek: katapatesousin] for [Greek:-sosin] (Matt. vii. +6). [Greek: ho an aitesetai] (Matt. xiv. 7). [Greek: hotan de akouete] +(Mark xiii. 7). + + +V. _Impossible words._ + +[Greek: emnesteumenen] (Luke i. 27). [Greek: ouranou] for [Greek: +ouraniou] (ii. 13). [Greek: anezetoun] (Luke ii. 44). [Greek: kopiousin] +(Matt. vi. 28). [Greek: erotoun] (Matt. xv. 23). [Greek: kataskenoin] +(Mark iv. 32). [Greek: hemeis] for [Greek: hymeis]. [Greek: hymeis] for +[Greek: hemeis].] + +[129] This paper on Titus ii. 5 was marked by the Dean as being 'ready +for press.' It was evidently one of his later essays, and was left in +one of his later portfolios. + +[130] _All_ Matthaei's 16,--_all_ Rinck's 7,--_all_ Reiche's 6,--_all_ +Scrivener's 13, &c., &c. + +[131] 622. + +[132] _Ed._ Swete, ii. 247 (_domos suas bene regentes_); 248 (_domus +proprias optime regant_). + +[133] ii. (_Eth._) 291 a, 309 b. + +[134] xi. 750 a, 751 b c d--[Greek: he oikouros kai oikonomike.] + +[135] iii. 704. + +[136] ii. 271. + +[137] Cod. Clarom. + +[138] Cod. Amiat., and August. iii^{1}. 804. + +[139] vii. 716 c, 718 b (_Bene domum regere_, 718 c). + +[140] [Greek: kat' oikon oikourousin hoste parthenoi] (Soph. Oed. Col. +343).--'[Greek: Oikouros] est quasi proprium vocabulum mulierum: [Greek: +oikourgos] est scribarum commentum,'--as Matthaei, whose note is worth +reading, truly states. Wetstein's collections here should by all means +be consulted. See also Field's delightful Otium Norv., pp. 135-6. + +[141] P. 293, _lin._ 4 (see _lin._ 2). + +[142] P. 288, _lin._ 20. + +[143] 1 Tim. v. 13. + +[144] [Greek: oikourgein]--which occurs in Clemens Rom. (ad Cor. c. +1)--is probably due to the scribe. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ACCIDENTAL CAUSES OF CORRUPTION. + +V. Liturgical Influence. + + +Sec. 1. + +There is one distinct class of evidence provided by Almighty God for the +conservation of the deposit in its integrity[145], which calls for +special notice in this place. The Lectionaries of the ancient Church +have not yet nearly enjoyed the attention they deserve, or the laborious +study which in order to render them practically available they +absolutely require. Scarcely any persons, in fact, except professed +critics, are at all acquainted with the contents of the very curious +documents alluded to: while collations of any of them which have been +hitherto effected are few indeed. I speak chiefly of the Books called +Evangelistaria (or Evangeliaria), in other words, the proper lessons +collected out of the Gospels, and transcribed into a separate volume. +Let me freely admit that I subjoin a few observations on this subject +with unfeigned diffidence; having had to teach myself throughout the +little I know;--and discovering in the end how very insufficient for my +purpose that little is. Properly handled, an adequate study of the +Lectionaries of the ancient Church would become the labour of a life. We +require exact collations of at least 100 of them. From such a practical +acquaintance with about a tenth of the extant copies some very +interesting results would infallibly be obtained[146]. + +As for the external appearance of these documents, it may be enough to +say that they range, like the mass of uncial and cursive copies, over a +space of about 700 years,--the oldest extant being of about the eighth +century, and the latest dating in the fifteenth. Rarely are any so old +as the former date,--or so recent as the last named. When they began to +be executed is not known; but much older copies than any which at +present exist must have perished through constant use: [for they are in +perfect order when we first become acquainted with them, and as a whole +they are remarkably consistent with one another]. They are almost +invariably written in double columns, and not unfrequently are +splendidly executed. The use of Uncial letters is observed to have been +retained in documents of this class to a later period than in the case +of the Evangelia, viz. down to the eleventh century. For the most part +they are furnished with a kind of musical notation executed in +vermilion; evidently intended to guide the reader in that peculiar +recitative which is still customary in the oriental Church. + +In these books the Gospels always stand in the following order: St. +John: St. Matthew: St. Luke: St. Mark. The lessons are brief,-- +resembling the Epistles and Gospels in our Book of Common Prayer. + +They seem to me to fall into two classes: (_a_) Those which contain a +lesson for every day in the year: (_b_) Those which only contain +[lessons for fixed Festivals and] the Saturday-Sunday lessons ([Greek: +sabbatokyriakai]). We are reminded by this peculiarity that it was not +till a very late period in her history that the Eastern Church was able +to shake herself clear of the shadow of the old Jewish Sabbath[147]. [To +these Lectionaries Tables of the Lessons were often added, of a similar +character to those which we have in our Prayer-books. The Table of daily +Lessons went under the title of Synaxarion (or Eclogadion); and the +Table of the Lessons of immovable Festivals and Saints' days was styled +Menologion[148].] + +Liturgical use has proved a fruitful source of textual perturbation. +Nothing less was to have been expected,--as every one must admit who has +examined ancient Evangelia with any degree of attention. For a period +before the custom arose of writing out the Ecclesiastical Lections in +the 'Evangelistaries,' and 'Apostolos,' it may be regarded as certain +that the practice generally prevailed of accommodating an ordinary copy, +whether of the Gospels or of the Epistles, to the requirements of the +Church. This continued to the last to be a favourite method with the +ancients[149]. Not only was it the invariable liturgical practice to +introduce an ecclesiastical lection with an ever-varying formula,--by +which means the holy Name is often found in MSS. where it has no proper +place,--but notes of time, &c., ['like the unique and indubitably +genuine word [Greek: deuteroprotoi][150],' are omitted as carrying no +moral lesson, as well as longer passages like the case of the two verses +recounting the ministering Angel with the Agony and the Bloody +Sweat[151]. + +That Lessons from the New Testament were probably read in the assemblies +of the faithful according to a definite scheme, and on an established +system, at least as early as the fourth century, has been shewn to +follow from plain historical fact in the tenth chapter of the Twelve +Last Verses of St. Mark's Gospel, to which the reader is referred for +more detailed information. Cyril, at Jerusalem,--and by implication, his +namesake at Alexandria,--Chrysostom, at Antioch and at Constantinople,-- +Augustine, in Africa,--all four expressly witness to the circumstance. +In other words, there is found to have been at least at that time fully +established throughout the Churches of Christendom a Lectionary, which +seems to have been essentially one and the same in the West and in the +East. That it must have been of even Apostolic antiquity may be inferred +from several considerations[152]. For example, Marcion, in A.D. 140, +would hardly have constructed an Evangelistarium and Apostolicon of his +own, as we learn from Epiphanius[153], if he had not been induced by the +Lectionary System prevailing around him to form a counterplan of +teaching upon the same model.] + + +Sec. 2. + +Indeed, the high antiquity of the Church's Lectionary System is inferred +with certainty from many a textual phenomenon with which students of +Textual Science are familiar. + +It may be helpful to a beginner if I introduce to his notice the class +of readings to be discussed in the present chapter, by inviting his +attention to the first words of the Gospel for St. Philip and St. James' +Day in our own English Book of Common Prayer,--'And Jesus said unto His +disciples.' Those words he sees at a glance are undeniably nothing else +but an Ecclesiastical accretion to the Gospel,--words which breed +offence in no quarter, and occasion error to none. They have +nevertheless stood prefixed to St. John xiv. 1 from an exceedingly +remote period; for, besides establishing themselves in every Lectionary +of the ancient Church[154], they are found in Cod. D[155],--in copies of +the Old Latin[156] as the Vercellensis, Corbeiensis, Aureus, Bezae,--and +in copies of the Vulgate. They may be of the second or third, they must +be as old as the fourth century. It is evident that it wants but a very +little for those words to have established their claim to a permanent +place in the Text. Readings just as slenderly supported have been +actually adopted before now[157]. + +I proceed to cite another instance; and here the success of an ordinary +case of Lectionary licence will be perceived to have been complete: for +besides recommending itself to Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, and +Westcott and Hort, the blunder in question has established itself in the +pages of the Revised Version. Reference is made to an alteration of the +Text occurring in certain copies of Acts iii. 1, which will be further +discussed below[158]. When it has been stated that these copies are +[Symbol: Aleph]ABCG,--the Vulgate,--the two Egyptian versions,--besides +the Armenian,--and the Ethiopic,--it will be admitted that the +Ecclesiastical practice which has resulted in so widespread a reading, +must be primitive indeed. To some persons such a formidable array of +evidence may seem conclusive in favour of any reading: but it can only +seem so to those who do not realize the weight of counter-testimony. + +But by far the most considerable injury which has resulted to the Gospel +from this cause is the suspicion which has alighted in certain quarters +on the last twelve verses of the Gospel according to St. Mark. [Those +verses made up by themselves a complete Lection. The preceding Lection, +which was used on the Second Sunday after Easter, was closed with the +Liturgical note 'The End,' or [Greek: TO TELOS], occurring after the +eighth verse. What more probable, nay, more certain result could there +be, than that some scribe should mistake the end of the Lection for the +end of St. Mark's Gospel, if the last leaf should chance to have been +torn off, and should then transcribe no more[159]? How natural that St. +Mark should express himself in a more condensed and abrupt style than +usual. This of course is only put forward as an explanation, which +leaves the notion of another writer and a later date unnecessary. If it +can be improved upon, so much the better. Candid critics ought to study +Dean Burgon's elaborate chapter already referred to before rejecting +it.] + + +Sec. 3. + +And there probably does not exist, in the whole compass of the Gospel, a +more interesting instance of this than is furnished by the words [Greek: +eipe de ho Kyrios], in St. Luke vii. 31. This is certainly derived from +the Lectionaries; being nothing else but the formula with which it was +customary to introduce the lection that begins at this place. +Accordingly, only one out of forty copies which have been consulted for +the purpose contains them. But the circumstance of interest remains to +be stated. When these four unauthorized words have been thus got rid of, +the important discovery is made that the two preceding verses (verses 28 +and 29) must needs form a part of our Lord's discourse,--which it is +perceived flows on unbroken from v. 24 to v. 35. This has been seen +already by some[160], though denied by others. But the fact does not +admit of rational doubt; though it is certainly not as yet generally +known. It is not generally known, I mean, that the Church has recovered +a piece of knowledge with which she was once familiar[161], but which +for many centuries she has forgotten, viz. that thirty-two words which +she supposed to be those of the Evangelist are in reality those of her +Lord. + +Indeed, when the expressions are considered, it is perceived that this +account of them must needs be the true one. Thus, we learn from the 24th +verse that our Saviour was at this time addressing 'the crowds' or +'multitudes.' But the four classes specified in verses 29, 30, cannot +reasonably be thought to be the Evangelist's analysis of those crowds. +In fact what is said of 'the Pharisees and Lawyers' in ver. 30 is +clearly not a remark made by the Evangelist on the reception which our +Saviour's words were receiving at the hands of his auditory; but our +Saviour's own statement of the reception which His Forerunner's +preaching had met with at the hands of the common people and the +publicans on the one hand,--the Pharisees and the Scribes on the other. +Hence the inferential particle [Greek: oun] in the 31st verse; and the +use in ver. 35 of the same verb ([Greek: edikaiothe]) which the Divine +Speaker had employed in ver. 29: whereby He takes up His previous +statement while He applies and enforces it. + +Another specimen of unauthorized accretion originating in the same way +is found a little farther on. In St. Luke ix. 1 ('And having called +together His twelve Disciples'), the words [Greek: mathetas autou] are +confessedly spurious: being condemned by nearly every known cursive and +uncial. Their presence in the meantime is fully accounted for by the +adjacent rubrical direction how the lesson is to be introduced: viz. 'At +that time Jesus having called together His twelve Disciples.' +Accordingly we are not surprised to find the words [Greek: ho Iesous] +also thrust into a few of the MSS.: though we are hardly prepared to +discover that the words of the Peshitto, besides the Latin and Cureton's +Syriac, are disfigured in the same way. The admirers of 'the old +uncials' will learn with interest that, instead of [Greek: mathetas +autou], [Symbol: Aleph]C with LX[Symbol: Lambda][Symbol: Xi] and a +choice assortment of cursives exhibit [Greek: apostolous],--being +supported in this manifestly spurious reading by the best copies of the +Old Latin, the Vulgate, Gothic, Harkleian, Bohairic, and a few other +translations. + +Indeed, it is surprising what a fertile source of corruption Liturgical +usage has proved. Every careful student of the Gospels remembers that +St. Matthew describes our Lord's first and second missionary journey in +very nearly the same words. The former place (iv. 23) ending [Greek: kai +pasan malakian en to lao] used to conclude the lesson for the second +Sunday after Pentecost,--the latter (ix. 35) ending [Greek: kai pasan +malakian] occupies the same position in the Gospel for the seventh +Sunday. It will not seem strange to any one who considers the matter, +that [Greek: en to lao] has in consequence not only found its way into +ix. 35, but has established itself there very firmly: and that from a +very early time. The spurious words are first met with in the Codex +Sinaiticus[162]. + +But sometimes corruptions of this class are really perplexing. Thus +[Symbol: Aleph] testifies to the existence of a short additional clause +([Greek: kai polloi ekolouthesan auto]) at the end, as some critics say, +of the same 35th verse. Are we not rather to regard the words as the +beginning of ver. 36, and as being nothing else but the liturgical +introduction to the lection for the Twelve Apostles, which follows (ix. +36-x. 8), and whose Festival falls on the 30th June? Whatever its +origin, this confessedly spurious accretion to the Text, which exists +besides only in L and six cursive copies, must needs be of extraordinary +antiquity, being found in the two oldest copies of the Old Latin:--a +sufficient indication, by the way, of the utter insufficiency of such an +amount of evidence for the genuineness of any reading. + +This is the reason why, in certain of the oldest documents accessible, +such a strange amount of discrepancy is discoverable in the text of the +first words of St. Luke x. 25 ([Greek: kai idou nomikos tis aneste, +ekpeirazon aiton, kai legon]). Many of the Latin copies preface this +with _et haec eo dicente_. Now, the established formula of the +lectionaries here is,--[Greek: nomikos tis prosethen to I.], which +explains why the Curetonian, the Lewis, with 33, 'the queen of the +cursives,' as their usual leader in aberrant readings is absurdly +styled, so read the place: while D, with one copy of the Old Latin, +stands alone in exhibiting,--[Greek: aneste de tis nomikos]. Four +Codexes ([Symbol: Aleph]BL[Symbol: Xi]) with the Curetonian omit the +second [Greek: kai] which is illegible in the Lewis. To read this place +in its purity you have to take up any ordinary cursive copy. + + +Sec. 4. + +Take another instance. St. Mark xv. 28 has been hitherto read in all +Churches as follows:--'And the Scripture was fulfilled, which saith, +"And He was numbered with the transgressors."' In these last days +however the discovery is announced that every word of this is an +unauthorized addition to the inspired text. Griesbach indeed only marks +the verse as probably spurious; while Tregelles is content to enclose it +in brackets. But Alford, Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, and the +Revisers eject the words [Greek: kai eplerothe he graphe he legousa, kai +meta anomon elogisthe] from the text altogether. What can be the reason +for so extraordinary a proceeding? + +Let us not be told by Schulz (Griesbach's latest editor) that 'the +quotation is not in Mark's manner; that the formula which introduces it +is John's: and that it seems to be a gloss taken from Luke xxii. 37.' +This is not criticism but dictation,--imagination, not argument. Men who +so write forget that they are assuming the very point which they are +called upon to prove. + +Now it happens that all the Uncials but six and an immense majority of +the Cursive copies contain the words before us:--that besides these, the +Old Latin, the Syriac, the Vulgate, the Gothic and the Bohairic +versions, all concur in exhibiting them:--that the same words are +expressly recognized by the Sectional System of Eusebius;--having a +section ([Greek: sis] / [Greek: e] i.e. 216/8) to themselves--which is +the weightiest sanction that Father had it in his power to give to words +of Scripture. So are they also recognized by the Syriac sectional system +(260/8), which is diverse from that of Eusebius and independent of it. +What then is to be set against such a weight of ancient evidence? The +fact that the following six Codexes are without this 28th verse, +[Symbol: Aleph]ABCDX, together with the Sahidic and Lewis. The notorious +Codex k (Bobiensis) is the only other ancient testimony producible; to +which Tischendorf adds 'about forty-five cursive copies.' Will it be +seriously pretended that this evidence for omitting ver. 28 from St. +Mark's Gospel can compete with the evidence for retaining it? + +Let it not be once more insinuated that we set numbers before antiquity. +Codex D is of the sixth century; Cod. X not older than the ninth: and +not one of the four Codexes which remain is so old, within perhaps two +centuries, as either the Old Latin or the Peshitto versions. We have +Eusebius and Jerome's Vulgate as witnesses on the same side, besides the +Gothic version, which represents a Codex probably as old as either. To +these witnesses must be added Victor of Antioch, who commented on St. +Mark's Gospel before either A or C were written[163]. + +It will be not unreasonably asked by those who have learned to regard +whatever is found in B or [Symbol: Aleph] as oracular,--'But is it +credible that on a point like this such authorities as [Symbol: +Aleph]ABCD should all be in error?' + +It is not only credible, I answer, but a circumstance of which we meet +with so many undeniable examples that it ceases to be even a matter of +surprise. On the other hand, what is to be thought of the credibility +that on a point like this all the ancient versions (except the Sahidic) +should have conspired to mislead mankind? And further, on what +intelligible principle is the consent of all the other uncials, and the +whole mass of cursives, to be explained, if this verse of Scripture be +indeed spurious? + +I know that the rejoinder will be as follows:--'Yes, but if the ten +words in dispute really are part of the inspired verity, how is their +absence from the earliest Codexes to be accounted for?' Now it happens +that for once I am able to assign the reason. But I do so under protest, +for I insist that to point out the source of the mistakes in our oldest +Codexes is no part of a critic's business. It would not only prove an +endless, but also a hopeless task. This time, however, I am able to +explain. + +If the reader will take the trouble to inquire at the Bibliotheque at +Paris for a Greek Codex numbered '71,' an Evangelium will be put into +his hands which differs from any that I ever met with in giving +singularly minute and full rubrical directions. At the end of St. Mark +xv. 27, he will read as follows:--'When thou readest the sixth Gospel of +the Passion,--also when thou readest the second Gospel of the Vigil of +Good Friday,--stop here: skip verse 28: then go on at verse 29.' The +inference from this is so obvious, that it would be to abuse the +reader's patience if I were to enlarge upon it, or even to draw it out +in detail. Very ancient indeed must the Lectionary practice in this +particular have been that it should leave so fatal a trace of its +operation in our four oldest Codexes: but _it has left it_[164]. The +explanation is evident, the verse is plainly genuine, and the Codexes +which leave it out are corrupt. + +One word about the evidence of the cursive copies on this occasion. +Tischendorf says that 'about forty-five' of them are without this +precious verse of Scripture. I venture to say that the learned critic +would be puzzled to produce forty-five copies of the Gospels in which +this verse has no place. But in fact his very next statement (viz. that +about half of these are Lectionaries),--satisfactorily explains the +matter. Just so. From every Lectionary in the world, for the reason +already assigned, these words are away; as well as in every MS. which, +like B and [Symbol: Aleph], has been depraved by the influence of the +Lectionary practice. + +And now I venture to ask,--What is to be thought of that Revision of our +Authorized Version which omits ver. 28 altogether; with a marginal +intimation that 'many ancient authorities insert it'? Would it not have +been the course of ordinary reverence,--I was going to say of truth and +fairness,--to leave the text unmolested: with a marginal memorandum that +just 'a very few ancient authorities leave it out'? + + +Sec. 5. + +A gross depravation of the Text resulting from this cause, which +nevertheless has imposed on several critics, as has been already said, +is furnished by the first words of Acts iii. The most ancient witness +accessible, namely the Peshitto, confirms the usual reading of the +place, which is also the text of the cursives: viz. [Greek: Epi to auto +de Petros kai Ioannes k.t.l.] So the Harkleian and Bede. So Codex E. + +The four oldest of the six available uncials conspire however in +representing the words which immediately precede in the following +unintelligible fashion:--[Greek: ho de Kyrios prosetithei tous +sozomenous kath' hemeran epi to auto. Petros de k.t.l.] How is it to be +thought that this strange and vapid presentment of the passage had its +beginning? It results, I answer, from the ecclesiastical practice of +beginning a fresh lection at the name of 'Peter,' prefaced by the usual +formula 'In those days.' It is accordingly usual to find the liturgical +word [Greek: arche]--indicative of the beginning of a lection,--thrust +in between [Greek: epi to auto de] and [Greek: Petros]. At a yet earlier +period I suppose some more effectual severance of the text was made in +that place, which unhappily misled some early scribe[165]. And so it +came to pass that in the first instance the place stood thus: [Greek: ho +de Kyrios prosetithei tous sozomenous kath' hemeran te ekklesia epi to +auto],--which was plainly intolerable. + +What I am saying will commend itself to any unprejudiced reader when it +has been stated that Cod. D in this place actually reads as +follows:--[Greek: kathemeran epi to auto en te ekklesia. En de tais +hemerais tautais Petros k.t.l.]: the scribe with simplicity both giving +us the liturgical formula with which it was usual to introduce the +Gospel for the Friday after Easter, and permitting us to witness the +perplexity with which the evident surplusage of [Greek: te ekklesia epi +to auto] occasioned him. He inverts those two expressions and thrusts in +a preposition. How obvious it now was to solve the difficulty by getting +rid of [Greek: te ekklesia]. + +It does not help the adverse case to shew that the Vulgate as well as +the copy of Cyril of Alexandria are disfigured with the same corrupt +reading as [Symbol: Aleph]ABC. It does but prove how early and how +widespread is this depravation of the Text. But the indirect proof thus +afforded that the actual Lectionary System must needs date from a period +long anterior to our oldest Codexes is a far more important as well as a +more interesting inference. In the meantime I suspect that it was in +Western Christendom that this corruption of the text had its beginning: +for proof is not wanting that the expression [Greek: epi to auto] seemed +hard to the Latins[166]. + +Hence too the omission of [Greek: palin] from [Symbol: Aleph]BD (St. +Matt, xiii. 43). A glance at the place in an actual Codex[167] will +explain the matter to a novice better than a whole page of writing:-- + + [Greek: akoueto. telos] + [Greek: palin. arche. eipen o Kurios ten parabolen tauten.] + [Greek: Omoia estin k.t.l.] + +The word [Greek: palin], because it stands between the end ([Greek: +telos]) of the lesson for the sixth Thursday and the beginning ([Greek: +arche]) of the first Friday after Pentecost, got left out [though every +one acquainted with Gospel MSS. knows that [Greek: arche] and [Greek: +telos] were often inserted in the text]. The second of these two lessons +begins with [Greek: homoia] [because [Greek: palin] at the beginning of +a lesson is not wanted]. Here then is a singular token of the antiquity +of the Lectionary System in the Churches of the East: as well as a proof +of the untrustworthy character of Codd. [Symbol: Aleph]BD. The discovery +that they are supported this time by copies of the Old Latin (a c e +ff^{1.2} g^{1.2} k l), Vulgate, Curetonian, Bohairic, Ethiopic, does but +further shew that such an amount of evidence in and by itself is wholly +insufficient to determine the text of Scripture. + +When therefore I see Tischendorf, in the immediately preceding verse +(xiii. 43) on the sole authority of [Symbol: Aleph]B and a few Latin +copies, omitting the word [Greek: akouein],--and again in the present +verse on very similar authority (viz. [Symbol: Aleph]D, Old Latin, +Vulgate, Peshitto, Curetonian, Lewis, Bohairic, together with five +cursives of aberrant character) transposing the order of the words +[Greek: panta hosa echei polei],--I can but reflect on the utterly +insecure basis on which the Revisers and the school which they follow +would remodel the inspired Text. + +It is precisely in this way and for the selfsame reason, that the clause +[Greek: kai elypethesan sphodra] (St. Matt. xvii. 23) comes to be +omitted in K and several other copies. The previous lesson ends at +[Greek: egerthesetai],--the next lesson begins at [Greek: proselthon]. + + +Sec. 6. + +Indeed, the Ancient Liturgy of the Church has frequently exercised a +corrupting influence on the text of Scripture. Having elsewhere +considered St. Luke's version of the Lord's Prayer[168], I will in this +place discuss the genuineness of the doxology with which the Lord's +Prayer concludes in St. Matt. vi. 13[169],--[Greek: hoti sou estin he +basileia kai he dynamis kai he doxa eis tous aionas. amen],--words which +for 360 years have been rejected by critical writers as spurious, +notwithstanding St. Paul's unmistakable recognition of them in 2 Tim. +iv. 18,--which alone, one would have thought, should have sufficed to +preserve them from molestation. + +The essential note of primitive antiquity at all events these fifteen +words enjoy in perfection, being met with in all copies of the +Peshitto:--and this is a far weightier consideration than the fact that +they are absent from most of the Latin copies. Even of these however +four (k f g^{1} q) recognize the doxology, which is also found in +Cureton's Syriac and the Sahidic version; the Gothic, the Ethiopic, +Armenian, Georgian, Slavonic, Harkleian, Palestinian, Erpenius' Arabic, +and the Persian of Tawos; as well as in the [Greek: Didache] (with +variations); Apostolical Constitutions (iii. 18-vii. 25 with +variations); in St. Ambrose (De Sacr. vi. 5. 24), Caesarius (Dial. i. +29). Chrysostom comments on the words without suspicion, and often +quotes them (In Orat. Dom., also see Hom. in Matt. xiv. 13): as does +Isidore of Pelusium (Ep. iv. 24). See also Opus Imperfectum (Hom. in +Matt. xiv), Theophylact on this place, and Euthymius Zigabenus (in Matt. +vi. 13 and C. Massal. Anath. 7). And yet their true claim to be accepted +as inspired is of course based on the consideration that they are found +in ninety-nine out of a hundred of the Greek copies, including [Symbol: +Phi] and [Symbol: Sigma] of the end of the fifth and beginning of the +sixth centuries. What then is the nature of the adverse evidence with +which they have to contend and which is supposed to be fatal to their +claims? + +Four uncial MSS. ([Symbol: Aleph]BDZ), supported by five cursives of bad +character (1, 17 which gives [Greek: amen], 118, 130, 209), and, as we +have seen, all the Latin copies but four, omit these words; which, it is +accordingly assumed, must have found their way surreptitiously into the +text of all the other copies in existence. But let me ask,--Is it at all +likely, or rather is it any way credible, that in a matter like this, +all the MSS. in the world but nine should have become corrupted? No +hypothesis is needed to account for one more instance of omission in +copies which exhibit a mutilated text in every page. But how will men +pretend to explain an interpolation universal as the present; which may +be traced as far back as the second century; which has established +itself without appreciable variety of reading in all the MSS.; which has +therefore found its way from the earliest time into every part of +Christendom; is met with in all the Lectionaries, and in all the Greek +Liturgies; and has so effectually won the Church's confidence that to +this hour it forms part of the public and private devotions of the +faithful all over the world? + +One and the same reply has been rendered to this inquiry ever since the +days of Erasmus. A note in the Complutensian Polyglott (1514) expresses +it with sufficient accuracy. 'In the Greek copies, after _And deliver us +from evil_, follows _For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the +glory, for ever_. But it is to be noted that in the Greek liturgy, after +the choir has said _And deliver us from evil_, it is the Priest who +responds as above: and those words, according to the Greeks, the priest +alone may pronounce. This makes it probable that the words in question +are no integral part of the Lord's Prayer: but that certain copyists +inserted them in error, supposing, from their use in the liturgy, that +they formed part of the text.' In other words, they represent that men's +ears had grown so fatally familiar with this formula from its habitual +use in the liturgy, that at last they assumed it to be part and parcel +of the Lord's Prayer. The same statement has been repeated ad nauseam by +ten generations of critics for 360 years. The words with which our +Saviour closed His pattern prayer are accordingly rejected as an +interpolation resulting from the liturgical practice of the primitive +Church. And this slipshod account of the matter is universally +acquiesced in by learned and unlearned readers alike at the present day. + +From an examination of above fifty ancient oriental liturgies, it is +found then that though the utmost variety prevails among them, yet that +_not one_ of them exhibits the evangelical formula as it stands in St. +Matt. vi. 13; while in some instances the divergences of expression are +even extraordinary. Subjoined is what may perhaps be regarded as the +typical eucharistic formula, derived from the liturgy which passes as +Chrysostom's. Precisely the same form recurs in the office which is +called after the name of Basil: and it is essentially reproduced by +Gregory of Nyssa, Cyril of Jerusalem, and pseudo-Caesarius; while +something very like it is found to have been in use in more of the +Churches of the East. + +'_For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory_, Father, Son +and Holy Ghost, now and always and _for ever_ and ever. _Amen_.' + +But as every one sees at a glance, such a formula as the +foregoing,--with its ever-varying terminology of praise,--its constant +reference to the blessed Trinity,--its habitual [Greek: nun kai +aei],--and its invariable [Greek: eis tous aionas ton aionon], (which +must needs be of very high antiquity, for it is mentioned by +Irenaeus[170], and may be as old as 2 Tim. iv. 18 itself;)--the +doxology, I say, which formed part of the Church's liturgy, though +transcribed 10,000 times, could never by possibility have resulted in +the unvarying doxology found in MSS. of St. Matt. vi. 13,--'_For thine +is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen._' + +On the other hand, the inference from a careful survey of so many +Oriental liturgies is inevitable. The universal prevalence of a doxology +of some sort at the end of the Lord's Prayer; the general prefix 'for +thine'; the prevailing mention therein of 'the kingdom and the power and +the glory'; the invariable reference to Eternity:--all this constitutes +a weighty corroboration of the genuineness of the form in St. Matthew. +Eked out with a confession of faith in the Trinity, and otherwise +amplified as piety or zeal for doctrinal purity suggested, every +liturgical formula of the kind is clearly derivable from the form of +words in St. Matt. vi. 13. In no conceivable way, on the other hand, +could that briefer formula have resulted from the practice of the +ancient Church. The thing, I repeat, is simply impossible. + +What need to point out in conclusion that the Church's peculiar method +of reciting the Lord's Prayer in the public liturgy does notwithstanding +supply the obvious and sufficient explanation of all the adverse +phenomena of the case? It was the invariable practice from the earliest +time for the Choir to break off at the words 'But deliver us from evil.' +They never pronounced the doxology. The doxology must for that reason +have been omitted by the critical owner of the archetypal copy of St. +Matthew from which nine extant Evangelia, Origen, and the Old Latin +version originally derived their text. This is the sum of the matter. +There can be no simpler solution of the alleged difficulty. That +Tertullian, Cyprian, Ambrose recognize no more of the Lord's Prayer than +they found in their Latin copies, cannot create surprise. The wonder +would have been if they did. + +Much stress has been laid on the silence of certain of the Greek Fathers +concerning the doxology although they wrote expressly on the Lord's +Prayer; as Origen, Gregory of Nyssa[171], Cyril of Jerusalem, Maximus. +Those who have attended most to such subjects will however bear me most +ready witness, that it is never safe to draw inferences of the kind +proposed from the silence of the ancients. What if they regarded a +doxology, wherever found, as hardly a fitting subject for exegetical +comment? But however their silence is to be explained, it is at least +quite certain that the reason of it is not because their copies of St. +Matthew were unfurnished with the doxology. Does any one seriously +imagine that in A.D. 650, when Maximus wrote, Evangelia were, in this +respect, in a different state from what they are at present? + +The sum of what has been offered may be thus briefly stated:--The +textual perturbation observable at St. Matt. vi. 13 is indeed due to a +liturgical cause, as the critics suppose. But then it is found that not +the great bulk of the Evangelia, but only Codd. [Symbol: Aleph]BDZ, 1, +17, 118, 130, 209, have been victims of the corrupting influence. As +usual, I say, it is the few, not the many copies, which have been led +astray. Let the doxology at the end of the Lord's Prayer be therefore +allowed to retain its place in the text without further molestation. Let +no profane hands be any more laid on these fifteen precious words of the +Lord Jesus Christ. + +There yet remains something to be said on the same subject for the +edification of studious readers; to whom the succeeding words are +specially commended. They are requested to keep their attention +sustained, until they have read what immediately follows. + +The history of the rejection of these words is in a high degree +instructive. It dates from 1514, when the Complutensian editors, whilst +admitting that the words were found in their Greek copies, banished them +from the text solely in deference to the Latin version. In a marginal +annotation they started the hypothesis that the doxology is a liturgical +interpolation. But how is that possible, seeing that the doxology is +commented on by Chrysostom? 'We presume,' they say, 'that this +corruption of the original text must date from an antecedent period.' +The same adverse sentence, supported by the same hypothesis, was +reaffirmed by Erasmus, and on the same grounds; but in his edition of +the N.T. he suffered the doxology to stand. As the years have rolled +out, and Codexes DBZ[Symbol: Aleph] have successively come to light, +critics have waxed bolder and bolder in giving their verdict. First, +Grotius, Hammond, Walton; then Mill and Grabe; next Bengel, Wetstein, +Griesbach; lastly Scholz, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, +Westcott and Hort, and the Revisers have denounced the precious words as +spurious. + +But how does it appear that tract of time has strengthened the case +against the doxology? Since 1514, scholars have become acquainted with +the Peshitto version; which by its emphatic verdict, effectually +disposes of the evidence borne by all but three of the Old Latin copies. +The [Greek: Didache] of the first or second century, the Sahidic version +of the third century, the Apostolic Constitutions (2), follow on the +same side. Next, in the fourth century come Chrysostom, Ambrose, +ps.-Caesarius, the Gothic version. After that Isidore, the Ethiopic, +Cureton's Syriac. The Harkleian, Armenian, Georgian, and other versions, +with Chrysostom (2), the Opus Imperfectum, Theophylact, and Euthymius +(2), bring up the rear[172]. Does any one really suppose that two +Codexes of the fourth century (B[Symbol: Aleph]), which are even +notorious for their many omissions and general accuracy, are any +adequate set-off against such an amount of ancient evidence? L and 33, +generally the firm allies of BD and the Vulgate, forsake them at St. +Matt. vi. 13: and dispose effectually of the adverse testimony of D and +Z, which are also balanced by [Symbol: Phi] and [Symbol: Sigma]. But at +this juncture the case for rejecting the doxology breaks down: and when +it is discovered that every other uncial and every other cursive in +existence may be appealed to in its support, and that the story of its +liturgical origin proves to be a myth,--what must be the verdict of an +impartial mind on a survey of the entire evidence? + +The whole matter may be conveniently restated thus:--Liturgical use has +indeed been the cause of a depravation of the text at St. Matt. vi. 13; +but it proves on inquiry to be the very few MSS.,--not the very +many,--which have been depraved. + +Nor is any one at liberty to appeal to a yet earlier period than is +attainable by existing liturgical evidence; and to suggest that then the +doxology used by the priest may have been the same with that which is +found in the ordinary text of St. Matthew's Gospel. This may have been +the case or it may not. Meanwhile, the hypothesis, which fell to the +ground when the statement on which it rested was disproved, is not now +to be built up again on a mere conjecture. But if the fact could be +ascertained,--and I am not at all concerned to deny that such a thing is +possible,--I should regard it only as confirmatory of the genuineness of +the doxology. For why should the liturgical employment of the last +fifteen words of the Lord's Prayer be thought to cast discredit on their +genuineness? In the meantime, the undoubted fact, that for an +indefinitely remote period the Lord's Prayer was not publicly recited by +the people further than 'But deliver us from evil,'--a doxology of some +sort being invariably added, but pronounced by the priest alone,--this +clearly ascertained fact is fully sufficient to account for a phenomenon +so ordinary [found indeed so commonly throughout St. Matthew, to say +nothing of occurrences in the other Gospels] as really not to require +particular explanation, viz. the omission of the last half of St. +Matthew vi. 13 from Codexes [Symbol: Aleph]BDZ. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[145] [I have retained this passage notwithstanding the objections made +in some quarters against similar passages in the companion volume, +because I think them neither valid, nor creditable to high intelligence, +or to due reverence.] + +[146] [The Textual student will remember that besides the Lectionaries +of the Gospels mentioned here, of which about 1000 are known, there are +some 300 more of the Acts and Epistles, called by the name Apostolos.] + +[147] ['It seems also a singular note of antiquity that the Sabbath and +the Sunday succeeding it do as it were cohere, and bear one appellation; +so that the week takes its name--_not_ from the Sunday with which it +commences, but--from the Saturday-and-Sunday with which it concludes.' +Twelve Verses, p. 194, where more particulars are given.] + +[148] [For the contents of these Tables, see Scrivener's Plain +Introduction, 4th edition, vol. i. pp. 80-89.] + +[149] See Scrivener's Plain Introduction, 4th edition, vol. i. pp. +56-65. + +[150] Twelve Verses, p. 220. The MS. stops in the middle of a sentence. + +[151] St. Luke xxii. 43, 44. + +[152] In the absence of materials supplied by the Dean upon what was his +own special subject, I have thought best to extract the above sentences +from the Twelve Last Verses, p. 207. The next illustration is his own, +though in my words. + +[153] i. 311. + +[154] [Greek: eipen ho Kyrios tois heautou mathetais; me tarassestho.] + +[155] [Greek: kai eipen tois mathetais autou]. The same Codex (D) also +prefixes to St. Luke xvi. 19 the Ecclesiastical formula--[Greek: eipen +de kai eteran parabolen]. + +[156] '_Et ait discipulis suis, non turbetur_.' + +[157] E.g. the words [Greek: kai legei autois; eirene hymin] have been +omitted by Tisch, and rejected by W.-Hort from St. Luke xxiv. 36 _on the +sole authority_ of D and five copies of the Old Latin. Again, on the +same sorry evidence, the words [Greek: proskynesantes auton] have been +omitted or rejected by the same critics from St. Luke xxiv. 52. In both +instances the expressions are also branded with doubt in the R. V. + +[158] Pp. 78-80. + +[159] See Traditional Text, Appendix VII. + +[160] Bp. C. Wordsworth. But Alford, Westcott and Hort, doubt it. + +[161] Thus Codex [Symbol: Xi] actually interpolates at this place the +words--[Greek: ouketi ekeinois elegeto, alla tois mathetais.] Tisch. _ad +loc_. + +[162] Cyril Alex, (four times) and the Verona Codex (b), besides L and a +few other copies, even append the same familiar words to [Greek: kai +pasan malakian] in St. Matt. x. 1. + +[163] Investigate Possinus, 345, 346, 348. + +[164] It is surprising to find so great an expert as Griesbach in the +last year of his life so entirely misunderstanding this subject. See his +Comment. Crit. Part ii. p. 190. 'Nec ulla ... debuerint.' + +[165] [Greek: tous sozomenous kathemeran en te ekklesia. epi to auto de +(TE S' TES DIAKINESIMOU) Petros kai Ioannes, k.t.l.] Addit. 16,184, fol. +152 _b_. + +[166] Bede, Retr. 111. D (add. [Greek: hoi en t. ekkl.]). Brit. Mus. +Addit. 16, 184. fol. 152 _b._ Vulgate. + +[167] So the place stands in Evan. 64. The liturgical notes are printed +in a smaller type, for distinction. + +[168] The Revision Revised, 34-6. + +[169] See The Traditional Text, p. 104. + +[170] [Greek: alla kai hemas epi tes Eucharistias legontas, 'eis tous +aionas ton aionon,' k.t.l.] Contra Haer. lib. i. c. 3. + +[171] But the words of Gregory of Nyssa are doubtful. See Scrivener, +Introduction, ii. p. 325, note 1. + +[172] See my Textual Guide, Appendix V. pp. 131-3 (G. Bell & Sons). I +have increased the Dean's list with a few additional authorities. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +CAUSES OF CORRUPTION CHIEFLY INTENTIONAL. + +I. Harmonistic Influence. + + +[It must not be imagined that all the causes of the depravation of the +text of Holy Scripture were instinctive, and that mistakes arose solely +because scribes were overcome by personal infirmity, or were +unconsciously the victims of surrounding circumstances. There was often +more design and method in their error. They, or those who directed them, +wished sometimes to correct and improve the copy or copies before them. +And indeed occasionally they desired to make the Holy Scriptures witness +to their own peculiar belief. Or they had their ideas of taste, and did +not scruple to alter passages to suit what they fancied was their +enlightened judgement. + +Thus we can trace a tendency to bring the Four Records into one +harmonious narrative, or at least to excise or vary statements in one +Gospel which appeared to conflict with parallel statements in another. +Or else, some Evangelical Diatessaron, or Harmony, or combined narrative +now forgotten, exercised an influence over them, and whether consciously +or not,--since it is difficult always to keep designed and unintentional +mistakes apart, and we must not be supposed to aim at scientific +exactness in the arrangement adopted in this analysis,--induced them to +adopt alterations of the pure Text. + +We now advance to some instances which will severally and conjointly +explain themselves.] + + +Sec. 1. + +Nothing can be more exquisitely precise than St. John's way of +describing an incident to which St. Mark (xvi. 9) only refers; viz. our +Lord's appearance to Mary Magdalene,--the first of His appearances after +His Resurrection. The reason is discoverable for every word the +Evangelist uses:--its form and collocation. Both St. Luke (xxiv. 3) and +previously St. Mark (xvi. 5) expressly stated that the women who visited +the Sepulchre on the first Easter morning, 'after they had entered in' +([Greek: eiselthousai]), saw the Angels. St John explains that at that +time Mary was not with them. She had separated herself from their +company;--had gone in quest of Simon Peter and 'the other disciple.' +When the women, their visit ended, had in turn departed from the +Sepulchre, she was left in the garden alone. 'Mary was standing [with +her face] _towards the sepulchre_ weeping,--_outside_[173].' + +All this, singular to relate, was completely misunderstood by the +critics of the two first centuries. Not only did they identify the +incident recorded in St. John xx. 11, 12 with St. Mark xv. 5 and St. +Luke xxiv. 3, 4, from which, as we have seen, the first-named Evangelist +is careful to distinguish it;--not only did they further identify both +places with St. Matt, xxviii. 2, 3[174], from which they are clearly +separate;--but they considered themselves at liberty to tamper with the +inspired text in order to bring it into harmony with their own +convictions. Some of them accordingly altered [Greek: pros to mnemeion] +into [Greek: pros to mnemeio] (which is just as ambiguous in Greek as +'_at_ the sepulchre' in English[175]), and [Greek: exo] they boldly +erased. It is thus that Codex A exhibits the text. But in fact this +depravation must have begun at a very remote period and prevailed to an +extraordinary extent: for it disfigures the best copies of the Old +Latin, (the Syriac being doubtful): a memorable circumstance truly, and +in a high degree suggestive. Codex B, to be sure, reads [Greek: +heistekei pros to mnemeio, exo klaiousa],--merely transposing (with many +other authorities) the last two words. But then Codex B substitutes +[Greek: elthousai] for [Greek: eiselthousai] in St. Mark xvi. 5, in +order that the second Evangelist may not seem to contradict St. Matt, +xxviii. 2, 3. So that, according to this view of the matter, the Angelic +appearance was outside the sepulchre[176]. Codex [Symbol: Aleph], on the +contrary, is thorough. Not content with omitting [Greek: exo],--(as in +the next verse it leaves out [Greek: duo], in order to prevent St. John +xx. 12 from seeming to contradict St. Matt. xxviii. 2, 3, and St. Mark +xvi. 5),--it stands alone in reading [Greek: EN to mnemeio]. (C and D +are lost here.) When will men learn that these 'old uncials' are _ignes +fatui_,--not beacon lights; and admit that the texts which they exhibit +are not only inconsistent but corrupt? + +There is no reason for distrusting the received reading of the present +place in any particular. True, that most of the uncials and many of the +cursives read [Greek: pros to mnemeio]: but so did neither +Chrysostom[177] nor Cyril[178] read the place. And if the Evangelist +himself had so written, is it credible that a majority of the copies +would have forsaken the easier and more obvious, in order to exhibit the +less usual and even slightly difficult expression? Many, by writing +[Greek: pros to mnemeio], betray themselves; for they retain a sure +token that the accusative ought to end the sentence. I am not concerned +however just now to discuss these matters of detail. I am only bent on +illustrating how fatal to the purity of the Text of the Gospels has been +the desire of critics, who did not understand those divine compositions, +to bring them into enforced agreement with one another. The sectional +system of Eusebius, I suspect, is not so much the cause as the +consequence of the ancient and inveterate misapprehensions which +prevailed in respect of the history of the Resurrection. It is time +however to proceed. + + +Sec. 2. + +Those writers who overlook the corruptions which the text has actually +experienced through a mistaken solicitude on the part of ancient critics +to reconcile what seemed to them the conflicting statements of different +Evangelists, are frequently observed to attribute to this kind of +officiousness expressions which are unquestionably portions of the +genuine text. Thus, there is a general consensus amongst critics of the +destructive school to omit the words [Greek: kai tines syn autais] from +St. Luke xxiv. 1. Their only plea is the testimony of [Symbol: Aleph]BCL +and certain of the Latin copies,--a conjunction of authorities which, +when they stand alone, we have already observed to bear invariably false +witness. Indeed, before we proceed to examine the evidence, we discover +that those four words of St. Luke are even required in this place. For +St. Matthew (xxvii. 61), and St. Mark after him (xv. 47), had distinctly +specified two women as witnesses of how and where our Lord's body was +laid. Now they were the same women apparently who prepared the spices +and ointment and hastened therewith at break of day to the sepulchre. +Had we therefore only St. Matthew's Gospel we should have assumed that +'the ointment-bearers,' for so the ancients called them, were but two +(St. Matt. xxviii. 1). That they were at least three, even St. Mark +shews by adding to their number Salome (xvi. 1). But in fact their +company consisted of more than four; as St. Luke explains when he states +that it was the same little band of holy women who had accompanied our +Saviour out of Galilee (xxiii. 55, cf. viii. 2). In anticipation +therefore of what he will have to relate in ver. 10, he says in ver. 1, +'and certain with them.' + +But how, I shall be asked, would you explain the omission of these words +which to yourself seem necessary? And after insisting that one is never +bound to explain how the text of any particular passage came to be +corrupted, I answer, that these words were originally ejected from the +text in order to bring St. Luke's statement into harmony with that of +the first Evangelist, who mentions none but Mary Magdalene and Mary the +mother of James and Joses. The proof is that four of the same Latin +copies which are for the omission of [Greek: kai tines syn autais] are +observed to begin St. Luke xxiii. 55 as follows,--[Greek: +katakolouthesasai de DUO gynaikes]. The same fabricated reading is found +in D. It exists also in the Codex which Eusebius employed when he wrote +his Demonstratio Evangelica. Instead therefore of wearying the reader +with the evidence, which is simply overwhelming, for letting the text +alone, I shall content myself with inviting him to notice that the +tables have been unexpectedly turned on our opponents. There is indeed +found to have been a corruption of the text hereabouts, and of the words +just now under discussion; but it belongs to an exceedingly remote age; +and happily the record of it survives at this day only in [Symbol: +Aleph]BCDL and certain of the Old Latin copies. Calamitous however it +is, that what the Church has long since deliberately refused to part +with should, at the end of so many centuries, by Lachmann and Tregelles +and Tischendorf, by Alford and Westcott and Hort, be resolutely thrust +out of place; and indeed excluded from the Sacred Text by a majority of +the Revisers. + +[A very interesting instance of such Harmonistic Influence may be found +in the substitution of 'wine' ([Greek: oinon]) for vinegar ([Greek: +oxos]), respecting which the details are given in the second Appendix to +the Traditional Text.] + +[Observe yet another instance of harmonizing propensities in the Ancient +Church.] + +In St. Luke's Gospel iv. 1-13, no less than six copies of the Old Latin +versions (b c f g^{1} l q) besides Ambrose (Com. St. Luke, 1340), are +observed to transpose the second and third temptations; introducing +verses 9-12 between verses 4 and 5; in order to make the history of the +Temptation as given by St. Luke correspond with the account given by St. +Matthew. + +The scribe of the Vercelli Codex (a) was about to do the same thing; but +he checked himself when he had got as far as 'the pinnacle of the +temple,'--which he seems to have thought as good a scene for the third +temptation as 'a high mountain,' and so left it. + + +Sec. 3. + +A favourite, and certainly a plausible, method of accounting for the +presence of unauthorized matter in MSS. is to suggest that, in the first +instance, it probably existed only in the shape of a marginal gloss, +which through the inadvertence of the scribes, in process of time, found +its way into the sacred text. That in this way some depravations of +Scripture may possibly have arisen, would hardly I presume be doubted. +But I suspect that the hypothesis is generally a wholly mistaken one; +having been imported into this subject-matter (like many other notions +which are quite out of place here), from the region of the +Classics,--where (as we know) the phenomenon is even common. Especially +is this hypothesis resorted to (I believe) in order to explain those +instances of assimilation which are so frequently to be met with in +Codd. B and [Symbol: Aleph]. + +Another favourite way of accounting for instances of assimilation, is by +taking for granted that the scribe was thinking of the parallel or the +cognate place. And certainly (as before) there is no denying that just +as the familiar language of a parallel place in another Gospel presents +itself unbidden to the memory of a reader, so may it have struck a +copyist also with sufficient vividness to persuade him to write, not the +words which he saw before him, but the words which he remembered. All +this is certainly possible. + +But I strongly incline to the suspicion that this is not by any means +the right way to explain the phenomena under discussion. I am of opinion +that such depravations of the text were in the first instance +intentional. I do not mean that they were introduced with any sinister +motive. My meaning is that [there was a desire to remove obscurities, or +to reconcile incongruous passages, or generally to improve the style of +the authors, and thus to add to the merits of the sacred writings, +instead of detracting from them. Such a mode of dealing with the holy +deposit evinced no doubt a failure in the part of those who adopted it +to understand the nature of the trust committed to the Church, just as +similar action at the present day does in the case of such as load the +New Testament with 'various readings,' and illustrate it as they imagine +with what are really insinuations of doubt, in the way that they prepare +an edition of the classics for the purpose of enlarging and sharpening +the minds of youthful students. There was intention, and the intention +was good: but it was none the less productive of corruption.] + +I suspect that if we ever obtain access to a specimen of those connected +Gospel narratives called Diatessarons, which are known to have existed +anciently in the Church, we shall be furnished with a clue to a problem +which at present is shrouded in obscurity,--and concerning the solution +of which, with such instruments of criticism as we at present possess, +we can do little else but conjecture. I allude to those many occasions +on which the oldest documents extant, in narrating some incident which +really presents no special difficulty, are observed to diverge into +hopeless variety of expression. An example of the thing referred to will +best explain my meaning. Take then the incident of our Lord's paying +tribute,--set down in St. Matt. xvii. 25, 26. + +The received text exhibits,--'And when he [Peter] had entered ([Greek: +hote eiselthen]) into the house, Jesus was beforehand with him, saying, +What thinkest thou, Simon? Of whom do earthly kings take toll or +tribute? of their sons or of strangers?' Here, for [Greek: hote +eiselthen], Codex B (but no other uncial) substitutes [Greek: elthonta]: +Codex [Symbol: Aleph] (but no other) [Greek: eiselthonta]: Codex D (but +no other) [Greek: eiselthonti]: Codex C (but no other) [Greek: hote +elthon]: while a fifth lost copy certainly contained [Greek: +eiselthonton]; and a sixth, [Greek: elthonton auton]. A very fair +specimen this, be it remarked in passing, of the _concordia discors_ +which prevails in the most ancient uncial copies[179]. How is all this +discrepancy to be accounted for? + +The Evangelist proceeds,--'Peter saith unto Him ([Greek: Legei auto ho +Petros]), Of strangers.' These four words C retains, but continues--'Now +when he had said, Of strangers' ([Greek: Eipontos de autou, apo ton +allotrion]);--which unauthorized clause, all but the word [Greek: +autou], is found also in [Symbol: Aleph], but in no other uncial. On the +other hand, for [Greek: Legei auto ho Petros], [Symbol: Aleph] (alone of +uncials) substitutes [Greek: Ho de ephe]: and B (also alone of uncials) +substitutes [Greek: Eipontos de],--and then proceeds exactly like the +received text: while D merely omits [Greek: ho Petros]. Again I +ask,--How is all this discrepancy to be explained[180]? + +As already hinted, I suspect that it was occasioned in the first +instance by the prevalence of harmonized Gospel narratives. In no more +loyal way can I account for the perplexing phenomenon already described, +which is of perpetual recurrence in such documents as Codexes B[Symbol: +Aleph]D, Cureton's Syriac, and copies of the Old Latin version. It is +well known that at a very remote period some eminent persons occupied +themselves in constructing such exhibitions of the Evangelical history: +and further, that these productions enjoyed great favour, and were in +general use. As for their contents,--the notion we form to ourselves of +a Diatessaron, is that it aspired to be a weaving of the fourfold Gospel +into one continuous narrative: and we suspect that in accomplishing this +object, the writer was by no means scrupulous about retaining the +precise words of the inspired original. He held himself at liberty, on +the contrary, (_a_) to omit what seemed to himself superfluous clauses: +(_b_) to introduce new incidents: (_c_) to supply picturesque details: +(_d_) to give a new turn to the expression: (_e_) to vary the +construction at pleasure: (_f_) even slightly to paraphrase. Compiled +after some such fashion as I have been describing, at a time too when +the preciousness of the inspired documents seems to have been but +imperfectly apprehended,--the works I speak of, recommended by their +graphic interest, and sanctioned by a mighty name, must have imposed +upon ordinary readers. Incautious owners of Codexes must have +transferred without scruple certain unauthorized readings to the margins +of their own copies. A calamitous partiality for the fabricated document +may have prevailed with some for whom copies were executed. Above all, +it is to be inferred that licentious and rash Editors of +Scripture,--among whom Origen may be regarded as a prime offender,--must +have deliberately introduced into their recensions many an unauthorized +gloss, and so given it an extended circulation. + +Not that we would imply that permanent mischief has resulted to the +Deposit from the vagaries of individuals in the earliest age. The Divine +Author of Scripture hath abundantly provided for the safety of His Word +written. In the multitude of copies,--in Lectionaries,--in Versions,--in +citations by the Fathers, a sufficient safeguard against error hath been +erected. But then, of these multitudinous sources of protection we must +not be slow to avail ourselves impartially. The prejudice which would +erect Codexes B and [Symbol: Aleph] into an authority for the text of +the New Testament from which there shall be no appeal:--the +superstitious reverence which has grown up for one little cluster of +authorities, to the disparagement of all other evidence wheresoever +found; this, which is for ever landing critics in results which are +simply irrational and untenable, must be unconditionally abandoned, if +any real progress is to be made in this department of inquiry. But when +this has been done, men will begin to open their eyes to the fact that +the little handful of documents recently so much in favour, are, on the +contrary, the only surviving witnesses to corruptions of the Text which +the Church in her corporate capacity has long since deliberately +rejected. But to proceed. + +[From the Diatessaron of Tatian and similar attempts to harmonize the +Gospels, corruption of a serious nature has ensued in some well-known +places, such as the transference of the piercing of the Lord's side from +St. John xix. 34 to St. Matt. xxvii. 49[181], and the omission of the +words 'and of an honeycomb' ([Greek: kai apo tou melissiou +keriou][182]).] + +Hence also, in Cureton's Syriac[183], the _patch-work_ supplement to St. +Matt. xxi. 9: viz.:--[Greek: polloi de] (St. Mark xi. 8) [Greek: +exelthon eis hypantesin autou. kai] (St. John xii. 13) [Greek: erxanto +... chairontes ainein ton Theon ... peri pason hon eidon] (St. Luke xix. +37). This self-evident fabrication, 'if it be not a part of the original +Aramaic of St. Matthew,' remarks Dr. Cureton, 'would appear to have been +supplied from the parallel passages of Luke and John conjointly.' How is +it that even a sense of humour did not preserve that eminent scholar +from hazarding the conjecture, that such a self-evident deflection of +his corrupt Syriac Codex from the course all but universally pursued is +a recovery of one more genuine utterance of the Holy Ghost? + +FOOTNOTES: + +[173] [Greek: Maria de heistekei pros to mnemeion klaiousa exo] (St. +John xx. 11). Comp. the expression [Greek: pros to phos] in St. Luke +xxii. 56. Note, that the above is not offered as a revised translation; +but only to shew unlearned readers what the words of the original +exactly mean. + +[174] Note, that in the sectional system of Eusebius _according to the +Greek_, the following places are brought together:-- + + (St. Matt. xxviii) (St. Mark xvi) (St. Luke xxiv) (St. John xx) + 1-4. 2-5. 1-4. 1, 11, 12. + _According to the Syriac_:-- + 3, 4. 5. 3, 4, 5(1/2). 11, 12. + +[175] Consider [Greek: ho de Petros heistekei pros te thyra exo] (St. +John xviii. 16). Has not this place, by the way, exerted an assimilating +influence over St. John xx. 11? + +[176] Hesychius, _qu._ 51 (apud Cotelerii Eccl. Gr. Mon. iii. 43), +explains St. Mark's phrase [Greek: en tois dexiois] as follows:--[Greek: +delonoti tou exoterou spelaiou]. + +[177] viii. 513. + +[178] iv. 1079. + +[179] Traditional Text, pp. 81-8. + +[180] I am tempted to inquire,--By virtue of what verifying faculty do +Lachmann and Tregelles on the former occasion adopt the reading of +[Symbol: Aleph]; Tischendorf, Alford, W. and Hort, the reading of B? On +the second occasion, I venture to ask,--What enabled the Revisers, with +Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Westcott and Hort, to recognize in a +reading, which is the peculiar property of B, the genuine language of +the Holy Ghost? Is not a superstitious reverence for B and [Symbol: +Aleph] betraying for ever people into error? + +[181] Revision Revised, p. 33. + +[182] Traditional Text, Appendix I, pp. 244-252. + +[183] The Lewis MS. is defective here. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CAUSES OF CORRUPTION CHIEFLY INTENTIONAL. + +II. Assimilation. + + +Sec. 1. + +There results inevitably from the fourfold structure of the +Gospel,--from the very fact that the story of Redemption is set forth in +four narratives, three of which often ran parallel,--this practical +inconvenience: namely, that sometimes the expressions of one Evangelist +get improperly transferred to another. This is a large and important +subject which calls for great attention, and requires to be separately +handled. The phenomena alluded to, which are similar to some of those +which have been treated in the last chapter, may be comprised under the +special head of Assimilation. + +It will I think promote clearness in the ensuing discussion if we +determine to consider separately those instances of Assimilation which +may rather be regarded as deliberate attempts to reconcile one Gospel +with another: indications of a fixed determination to establish harmony +between place and place. I am saying that between ordinary cases of +Assimilation such as occur in every page, and extraordinary instances +where _per fas et nefas_ an enforced Harmony has been established,-- +which abound indeed, but are by no means common,--I am disposed to draw +a line. + +This whole province is beset with difficulties: and the matter is in +itself wondrously obscure. I do not suppose, in the absence of any +evidence direct or indirect on the subject,--at all events I am not +aware--that at any time has there been one definite authoritative +attempt made by the Universal Church in her corporate capacity to +remodel or revise the Text of the Gospels. An attentive study of the +phenomena leads me, on the contrary, to believe that the several +corruptions of the text were effected at different times, and took their +beginning in widely different ways. I suspect that Accident was the +parent of many; and well meant critical assiduity of more. Zeal for the +Truth is accountable for not a few depravations: and the Church's +Liturgical and Lectionary practice must insensibly have produced others. +Systematic villainy I am persuaded has had no part or lot in the matter. +The decrees of such an one as Origen, if there ever was another like +him, will account for a strange number of aberrations from the Truth: +and if the Diatessaron of Tatian could be recovered[184], I suspect that +we should behold there the germs at least of as many more. But, I repeat +my conviction that, however they may have originated, the causes [are +not to be found in bad principle, but either in infirmities or +influences which actuated scribes unconsciously, or in a want of +understanding as to what is the Church's duty in the transmission from +generation to generation of the sacred deposit committed to her +enlightened care.] + + +Sec. 2. + +1. When we speak of Assimilation, we do not mean that a writer while +engaged in transcribing one Gospel was so completely beguiled and +overmastered by his recollections of the parallel place in another +Gospel,--that, forsaking the expressions proper to the passage before +him, he unconsciously adopted the language which properly belongs to a +different Evangelist. That to a very limited extent this may have +occasionally taken place, I am not concerned to deny: but it would argue +incredible inattention to what he was professing to copy, on the one +hand,--astonishing familiarity with what he was not professing to copy, +on the other,--that a scribe should have been capable of offending +largely in this way. But in fact a moderate acquaintance with the +subject is enough to convince any thoughtful person that the corruptions +in MSS. which have resulted from accidental Assimilation must needs be +inconsiderable in bulk, as well as few in number. At all events, the +phenomenon referred to, when we speak of 'Assimilation,' is not to be so +accounted for: it must needs be explained in some entirely different +way. Let me make my meaning plain: + +(_a_) We shall probably be agreed that when the scribe of Cod. [Symbol: +Aleph], in place of [Greek: basanisai hemas] (in St. Matt. viii. 29), +writes [Greek: hemas apolesai],--it may have been his memory which +misled him. He may have been merely thinking of St. Mark i. 24, or of +St. Luke iv. 34. + +(_b_) Again, when in Codd. [Symbol: Aleph]B we find [Greek: tassomenos] +thrust without warrant into St. Matt. viii. 9, we see that the word has +lost its way from St. Luke vii. 8; and we are prone to suspect that only +by accident has it crept into the parallel narrative of the earlier +Evangelist. + +(_c_) In the same way I make no doubt that [Greek: potamo] (St. Matt. +iii. 6) is indebted for its place in [Symbol: Aleph]BC, &c., to the +influence of the parallel place in St. Mark's Gospel (i. 5); and I am +only astonished that critics should have been beguiled into adopting so +clear a corruption of the text as part of the genuine Gospel. + +(_d_) To be brief:--the insertion by [Symbol: Aleph] of [Greek: adelphe] +(in St. Matt. vii. 4) is confessedly the result of the parallel passage +in St. Luke vi. 42. The same scribe may be thought to have written +[Greek: to anemo] instead of [Greek: tois anemois] in St. Matt. viii. +26, only because he was so familiar with [Greek: to anemo] in St. Luke +viii. 24 and in St. Mark iv. 39.--The author of the prototype of +[Symbol: Aleph]BD (with whom by the way are some of the Latin versions) +may have written [Greek: echete] in St. Matt, xvi. 8, only because he +was thinking of the parallel place in St. Mark viii. 17.--[Greek: +Erxanto aganaktein] (St. Matt. xx. 24) can only have been introduced +into [Symbol: Aleph] from the parallel place in St. Mark x. 41, and +_may_ have been supplied _memoriter_.--St. Luke xix. 21 is clearly not +parallel to St. Matt. xxv. 24; yet it evidently furnished the scribe of +[Symbol: Aleph] with the epithet [Greek: austeros] in place of [Greek: +skleros].--The substitution by [Symbol: Aleph] of [Greek: hon +paretounto] in St. Matt. xxvii. 15 for [Greek: hon ethelon] may seem to +be the result of inconvenient familiarity with the parallel place in St. +Mark xv. 6; where, as has been shewn[185], instead of [Greek: honper +eitounto], Symbol: [Aleph]AB viciously exhibit [Greek: hon paretounto], +which Tischendorf besides Westcott and Hort mistake for the genuine +Gospel. Who will hesitate to admit that, when [Symbol: Aleph]L exhibit +in St. Matt. xix. 16,--instead of the words [Greek: poieso hina echo +zoen aionion],--the formula which is found in the parallel place of St. +Luke xviii. 18, viz. [Greek: poiesas zoen aionion kleronomeso],--those +unauthorized words must have been derived from this latter place? Every +ordinary reader will be further prone to assume that the scribe who +first inserted them into St. Matthew's Gospel did so because, for +whatever reason, he was more familiar with the latter formula than with +the former. + +(_e_) But I should have been willing to go further. I might have been +disposed to admit that when [Symbol: Aleph]DL introduce into St. Matt. +x. 12 the clause [Greek: legontes, eirene to oiko touto] (which last +four words confessedly belong exclusively to St. Luke x. 5), the author +of the depraved original from which [Symbol: Aleph]DL were derived may +have been only yielding to the suggestions of an inconveniently good +memory:--may have succeeded in convincing himself from what follows in +verse 13 that St. Matthew must have written, 'Peace be to this house;' +though he found no such words in St. Matthew's text. And so, with the +best intentions, he may most probably have inserted them. + +(_f_) Again. When [Symbol: Aleph] and Evan. 61 thrust into St. Matt. ix. +34 (from the parallel place in St. Luke viii. 53) the clause [Greek: +eidotes hoti apethanen], it is of course conceivable that the authors of +those copies were merely the victims of excessive familiarity with the +third Gospel. But then,--although we are ready to make every allowance +that we possibly can for memories so singularly constituted, and to +imagine a set of inattentive scribes open to inducements to recollect or +imagine instead of copying, and possessed of an inconvenient familiarity +with one particular Gospel,--it is clear that our complaisance must stop +somewhere. Instances of this kind of licence at last breed suspicion. +Systematic 'assimilation' cannot be the effect of accident. Considerable +interpolations must of course be intentional. The discovery that Cod. D, +for example, introduces at the end of St. Luke v. 14 thirty-two words +from St. Mark's Gospel (i. 45--ii. 1, [Greek: ho de exelthon] down to +[Greek: Kapharnaoum]), opens our eyes. This wholesale importation +suggests the inquiry,--How did it come about? We look further, and we +find that Cod. D abounds in instances of 'Assimilation' so unmistakably +intentional, that this speedily becomes the only question, How may all +these depravations of the sacred text be most satisfactorily accounted +for? [And the answer is evidently found in the existence of extreme +licentiousness in the scribe or scribes responsible for Codex D, being +the product of ignorance and carelessness combined with such looseness +of principle, as permitted the exercise of direct attempts to improve +the sacred Text by the introduction of passages from the three remaining +Gospels and by other alterations.] + + +Sec. 3. + +Sometimes indeed the true Text bears witness to itself, as may be seen +in the next example. + +The little handful of well-known authorities ([Symbol: Aleph]BDL, with a +few copies of the Old Latin, and one of the Egyptian Versions[186]), +conspire in omitting from St. John xvi. 16 the clause [Greek: hoti ego +hypago pros ton Patera]: for which reason Tischendorf, Tregelles, +Alford, Westcott and Hort omit those six words, and Lachmann puts them +into brackets. And yet, let the context be considered. Our Saviour had +said (ver. 16),--'A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a +little while, and ye shall see Me, because I go to the Father.' It +follows (ver. 17),--'Then said some of His disciples among themselves, +What is this that He saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see +Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me: and, _Because I go +to the_ Father?'--Now, the context here,--the general sequence of words +and ideas--in and by itself, creates a high degree of probability that +the clause is genuine. It must at all events be permitted to retain its +place in the Gospel, unless there is found to exist an overwhelming +amount of authority for its exclusion. What then are the facts? All the +other uncials, headed by A and I^{b} (_both_ of the fourth +century),--every known Cursive--all the Versions, (Latin, Syriac, +Gothic, Coptic, &c.)--are for retaining the clause. Add, that +Nonnus[187] (A.D. 400) recognizes it: that the texts of Chrysostom[188] +and of Cyril[189] do the same; and that both those Fathers (to say +nothing of Euthymius and Theophylact) in their Commentaries expressly +bear witness to its genuineness:--and, With what shew of reason can it +any longer be pretended that some Critics, including the Revisers, are +warranted in leaving out the words?... It were to trifle with the reader +to pursue this subject further. But how did the words ever come to be +omitted? Some early critic, I answer, who was unable to see the +exquisite proprieties of the entire passage, thought it desirable to +bring ver. 16 into conformity with ver. 19, where our Lord seems at +first sight to resyllable the matter. That is all! + +Let it be observed--and then I will dismiss the matter--that the +selfsame thing has happened in the next verse but one (ver. 18), as +Tischendorf candidly acknowledges. The [Greek: touto ti hestin] of the +Evangelist has been tastelessly assimilated by BDLY to the [Greek: ti +estin touto] which went immediately before. + + +Sec. 4. + +Were I invited to point to a beautifully described incident in the +Gospel, I should find it difficult to lay my finger on anything more apt +for my purpose than the transaction described in St. John xiii. 21-25. +It belongs to the closing scene of our Saviour's Ministry. 'Verily, +verily, I say unto you,' (the words were spoken at the Last Supper), +'one of you will betray Me. The disciples therefore looked one at +another, wondering of whom He spake. Now there was reclining in the +bosom of Jesus ([Greek: en de anakeimenos en to kolpo tou 'I.]) one of +His disciples whom Jesus loved. To him therefore Simon Peter motioneth +to inquire who it may be concerning whom He speaketh. He then, just +sinking on the breast of Jesus ([Greek: epipeson de ekeinos houtos epi +to stethos tou 'I.]) [i.e. otherwise keeping his position, see above, p. +60], saith unto Him, Lord, who is it?' + +The Greek is exquisite. At first, St. John has been simply 'reclining +([Greek: anakeimenos]) in the bosom' of his Divine Master: that is, his +place at the Supper is the next adjoining His,--for the phrase really +means little more. But the proximity is of course excessive, as the +sequel shews. Understanding from St. Peter's gesture what is required of +him, St. John merely sinks back, and having thus let his head fall +([Greek: epipeson]) on (or close to) His Master's chest ([Greek: epi to +stethos]), he says softly,--'Lord, who is it?' ... The moment is perhaps +the most memorable in the Evangelist's life: the position, one of +unutterable privilege. Time, place, posture, action,--all settle so deep +into his soul, that when, in his old age, he would identify himself, he +describes himself as 'the disciple whom Jesus loved; who also at the +Supper' (that memorable Supper!) 'lay ([Greek: anepesen][190]) on Jesus' +breast,' (literally, 'upon His chest,'--[Greek: epi to stethos autou]), +and said, 'Lord, who is it that is to betray Thee?' (ch. xxi. 20).... +Yes, and the Church was not slow to take the beautiful hint. His +language so kindled her imagination that the early Fathers learned to +speak of St. John the Divine, as [Greek: ho epistethios],--'the +(recliner) on the chest[191].' + +Now, every delicate discriminating touch in this sublime picture is +faithfully retained throughout by the cursive copies in the proportion +of about eighty to one. The great bulk of the MSS., as usual, uncial and +cursive alike, establish the undoubted text of the Evangelist, which is +here the Received Text. Thus, a vast majority of the MSS., with [Symbol: +Aleph]AD at their head, read [Greek: epipeson] in St. John xiii. 25. +Chrysostom[192] and probably Cyril[193] confirm the same reading. So +also Nonnus[194]. Not so B and C with four other uncials and about +twenty cursives (the vicious Evan. 33 being at their head), besides +Origen[195] in two places and apparently Theodorus of Mopsuestia[196]. +These by mischievously assimilating the place in ch. xiii to the later +place in ch. xxi in which such affecting reference is made to it, +hopelessly obscure the Evangelist's meaning. For they substitute [Greek: +anapeson oun ekeinos k.t.l.] It is exactly as when children, by way of +improving the sketch of a great Master, go over his matchless outlines +with a clumsy pencil of their own. + +That this is the true history of the substitution of [Greek: anapeson] +in St. John xiii. 25 for the less obvious [Greek: epipeson] is certain. +Origen, who was probably the author of all the mischief, twice sets the +two places side by side and elaborately compares them; in the course of +which operation, by the way, he betrays the viciousness of the text +which he himself employed. But what further helps to explain how easily +[Greek: anapeson] might usurp the place of [Greek: epipeson][197], is +the discovery just noticed, that the ancients from the earliest period +were in the habit of identifying St. John, as St. John had identified +himself, by calling him '_the one that lay_ ([Greek: ho anapeson]) _upon +the Lord's chest_.' The expression, derived from St. John xxi. 20, is +employed by Irenaeus[198] (A.D. 178) and by Polycrates[199] (Bp. of +Ephesus A.D. 196); by Origen[200] and by Ephraim Syrus[201]: by +Epiphanius[202] and by Palladius[203]: by Gregory of Nazianzus[204] and +by his namesake of Nyssa[205]: by pseudo-Eusebius[206], by +pseudo-Caesarius[207], and by pseudo-Chrysostom[208]. The only wonder +is, that in spite of such influences all the MSS. in the world except +about twenty-six have retained the true reading. + +Instructive in the meantime it is to note the fate which this word has +experienced at the hands of some Critics. Lachmann, Tischendorf, +Tregelles, Alford, Westcott and Hort, have all in turn bowed to the +authority of Cod. B and Origen. Bishop Lightfoot mistranslates[209] and +contends on the same side. Alford informs us that [Greek: epipeson] has +surreptitiously crept in 'from St. Luke xv. 20': (why should it? how +could it?) '[Greek: anapeson] not seeming appropriate.' Whereas, on the +contrary, [Greek: anapeson] is the invariable and obvious +expression,--[Greek: epipeson] the unusual, and, till it has been +explained, the unintelligible word. Tischendorf,--who had read [Greek: +epipeson] in 1848 and [Greek: anapeson] in 1859,--in 1869 reverts to his +first opinion; advocating with parental partiality what he had since met +with in Cod. [Symbol: Aleph]. Is then the truth of Scripture aptly +represented by that fitful beacon-light somewhere on the French +coast,--now visible, now eclipsed, now visible again,--which benighted +travellers amuse themselves by watching from the deck of the Calais +packet? + +It would be time to pass on. But because in this department of study men +are observed never to abandon a position until they are fairly shelled +out and left without a pretext for remaining, I proceed to shew that +[Greek: anapeson] (for [Greek: epipeson]) is only one corrupt reading +out of many others hereabouts. The proof of this statement follows. +Might it not have been expected that the old uncials' ([Symbol: +Aleph]ABCD) would exhibit the entire context of such a passage as the +present with tolerable accuracy? The reader is invited to attend to the +results of collation:-- + + xiii. 21.-[Greek: o] [Symbol: Aleph]B: [Greek: umin lego] _tr._ + B. + + xiii. 22.-[Greek: oun] BC: + [Greek: oi Ioudaioi] [Symbol: + Aleph]: [Greek: aporountei] D. + + xiii. 23.-[Greek: de] B: + [Greek: ek] [Symbol: + Aleph]ABCD:-[Greek: o] B: + [Greek: kai] D. + + xiii. 24. (_for_ [Greek: pythesthai tis an eie] + [Greek: outos] + D) [Greek: kai legei auto, eipe tis estin] BC: (_for_ [Greek: + legei]) [Greek: elegen] [Symbol: Aleph]: + [Greek: kai legei + auto eipe tis estin peri ou legei] [Symbol: Aleph]. + + xiii. 25. (_for_ [Greek: epipeson]) [Greek: anapeson] BC:-[Greek: de] + BC: (_for_ [Greek: de]) [Greek: oun] [Symbol: Aleph]D; -[Greek: + outos] [Symbol: Aleph]AD. + + xiii. 26. + [Greek: oun] BC: + [Greek: auto] D:--[Greek: o] B: + + [Greek: kai legei] [Symbol: Aleph]BD: + [Greek: an] D: (_for_ + [Greek: bapsas]) [Greek: embapsas] AD: [Greek: bapso ... kai + doso auto] BC: + [Greek: psomou] (_after_ [Greek: psomion]) C: + (_for_ [Greek: embapsas]) [Greek: bapsas] D: (_for_ [Greek: kai + embapsas]) [Greek: bapsas oun] [Symbol: Aleph]BC: -[Greek: to] + B: + [Greek: lambanei kai] BC: [Greek: Iskariotou] [Symbol: + Aleph]BC: [Greek: apo Karyotou] D. + + xiii. 27.-[Greek: tote] [Symbol: Aleph]:-[Greek: meta to psomion + tote] D: (_for_ [Greek: legei oun]) [Greek: kai legei] + D:-[Greek: o] B. + +In these seven verses therefore, (which present no special difficulty to +a transcriber,) the Codexes in question are found to exhibit at least +thirty-five varieties,--for twenty-eight of which (jointly or singly) B +is responsible: [Symbol: Aleph] for twenty-two: C for twenty-one: D for +nineteen: A for three. It is found that twenty-three words have been +added to the text: fifteen substituted: fourteen taken away; and the +construction has been four times changed. One case there has been of +senseless transposition. Simon, the father of Judas, (not Judas the +traitor), is declared by [Symbol: Aleph]BCD to have been called +'Iscariot.' Even this is not all. What St. John relates concerning +himself is hopelessly obscured; and a speech is put into St. Peter's +mouth which he certainly never uttered. It is not too much to say that +every delicate lineament has vanished from the picture. What are we to +think of guides like [Symbol: Aleph]BCD, which are proved to be utterly +untrustworthy? + + +Sec. 5. + +The first two verses of St. Mark's Gospel have fared badly. Easy of +transcription and presenting no special difficulty, they ought to have +come down to us undisfigured by any serious variety of reading. On the +contrary. Owing to entirely different causes, either verse has +experienced calamitous treatment. I have elsewhere[210] proved that the +clause [Greek: huiou tou Theou] in verse 1 is beyond suspicion. Its +removal from certain copies of the Gospel was originally due to +heretical influence. But because Origen gave currency to the text so +mutilated, it re-appears mechanically in several Fathers who are intent +only on reproducing a certain argument of Origen's against the Manichees +in which the mutilated text occurs. The same Origen is responsible to +some extent, and in the same way, for the frequent introduction of +'Isaiah's' name into verse 21--whereas 'in the prophets' is what St. +Mark certainly wrote; but the appearance of 'Isaiah' there in the first +instance was due to quite a different cause. In the meantime, it is +witnessed to by the Latin, Syriac[211], Gothic, and Egyptian versions, +as well as by [Symbol: Aleph]BDL[Symbol: Delta], and (according to +Tischendorf) by nearly twenty-five cursives; besides the following +ancient writers: Irenaeus, Origen, Porphyry, Titus, Basil, Serapion, +Epiphanius, Severianus, Victor, Eusebius, Victorinus, Jerome, Augustine. +I proceed to shew that this imposing array of authorities for reading +[Greek: en to Esaia to prophete] instead of [Greek: en tois prophetais] +in St. Mark i. 2, which has certainly imposed upon every recent editor +and critic[212],--has been either overestimated or else misunderstood. + +1. The testimony of the oldest versions, when attention is paid to their +contents, is discovered to be of inferior moment in minuter matters of +this nature. Thus, copies of the Old Latin version thrust Isaiah's name +into St. Matt. i. 22, and Zechariah's name into xxi. 4: as well as +thrust out Jeremiah's name from xxvii. 9:--the first, with Curetonian, +Lewis, Harkleian, Palestinian, and D,--the second, with Chrysostom and +Hilary,--the third, with the Peshitto. The Latin and the Syriac further +substitute [Greek: tou prophetou] for [Greek: ton propheton] in St. +Matt. ii. 23,--through misapprehension of the Evangelist's meaning. What +is to be thought of Cod. [Symbol: Aleph] for introducing the name of +'Isaiah' into St. Matt. xiii. 35,--where it clearly cannot stand, the +quotation being confessedly from Ps. lxxviii. 2; but where nevertheless +Porphyry[213], Eusebius[214], and pseudo-Jerome[215] certainly found it +in many ancient copies? + +2. Next, for the testimony of the Uncial Codexes [Symbol: +Aleph]BDL[Symbol: Delta]:--If any one will be at the pains to tabulate +the 900[216] new 'readings' adopted by Tischendorf in editing St. Mark's +Gospel, he will discover that for 450, or just half of them,--all the +450, as I believe, being corruptions of the text,--[Symbol: Aleph]BL are +responsible: and further, that their responsibility is shared on about +200 occasions by D: on about 265 by C: on about 350 by [Delta][217]. At +some very remote period therefore there must have grown up a vicious +general reading of this Gospel which remains in the few bad copies: but +of which the largest traces (and very discreditable traces they are) at +present survive in [Symbol: Aleph]BCDL[Symbol: Delta]. After this +discovery the avowal will not be thought extraordinary that I regard +with unmingled suspicion readings which are exclusively vouched for by +five of the same Codexes: e.g. by [Symbol: Aleph]BDL[Symbol: Delta]. + +3. The cursive copies which exhibit 'Isaiah' in place of 'the prophet.' +reckoned by Tischendorf at 'nearly twenty-five,' are probably less than +fifteen[218], and those, almost all of suspicious character. High time +it is that the inevitable consequence of an appeal to such evidence were +better understood. + +4. From Tischendorf's list of thirteen Fathers, serious deductions have +to be made. Irenaeus and Victor of Antioch are clearly with the Textus +Receptus. Serapion, Titus, Basil do but borrow from Origen; and, with +his argument, reproduce his corrupt text of St. Mark i. 2. The +last-named Father however saves his reputation by leaving out the +quotation from Malachi; so, passing directly from the mention of Isaiah +to the actual words of that prophet. Epiphanius (and Jerome too on one +occasion[219]) does the same thing. Victorinus and Augustine, being +Latin writers, merely quote the Latin version ('sicut scriptum est in +Isaia propheta'), which is without variety of reading. There remain +Origen (the faulty character of whose Codexes has been remarked upon +already), Porphyry[220] the heretic (who wrote a book to convict the +Evangelists of mis-statements[221], and who is therefore scarcely a +trustworthy witness), Eusebius, Jerome and Severianus. Of these, +Eusebius[222] and Jerome[223] deliver it as their opinion that the name +of 'Isaiah' had obtained admission into the text through the +inadvertency of copyists. Is it reasonable, on the slender residuum of +evidence, to insist that St. Mark has ascribed to Isaiah words +confessedly written by Malachi? 'The fact,' writes a recent editor in +the true spirit of modern criticism, 'will not fail to be observed by +the careful and honest student of the Gospels.' But what if 'the fact' +should prove to be 'a fiction' only? And (I venture to ask) would not +'carefulness' be better employed in scrutinizing the adverse testimony? +'honesty' in admitting that on grounds precarious as the present no +indictment against an Evangelist can be seriously maintained? This +proposal to revive a blunder which the Church in her corporate capacity +has from the first refused to sanction (for the Evangelistaria know +nothing of it) carries in fact on its front its own sufficient +condemnation. Why, in the face of all the copies in the world (except a +little handful of suspicious character), will men insist on imputing to +an inspired writer a foolish mis-statement, instead of frankly admitting +that the text must needs have been corrupted in that little handful of +copies through the officiousness of incompetent criticism? + +And do any inquire,--How then did this perversion of the truth arise? In +the easiest way possible, I answer. Refer to the Eusebian tables, and +note that the foremost of his sectional parallels is as follows:-- + + St. Matt. [Greek: e] (i.e. iii. 3). + St. Mark. [Greek: b] (i.e. i. 3). + St. Luke. [Greek: z] (i.e. iii. 3-6). + St. John. [Greek: i] (i.e. i. 23)[224]. + +Now, since the name of Isaiah occurs in the first, the third and the +fourth of these places in connexion with the quotation from Is. xl. 3, +_what_ more obvious than that some critic with harmonistic proclivities +should have insisted on supplying _the second also_, i.e. the parallel +place in St. Mark's Gospel, with the name of the evangelical prophet, +elsewhere so familiarly connected with the passage quoted? This is +nothing else in short but an ordinary instance of Assimilation, so +unskilfully effected however as to betray itself. It might have been +passed by with fewer words, for the fraud is indeed transparent, but +that it has so largely imposed upon learned men, and established itself +so firmly in books. Let me hope that we shall not hear it advocated any +more. + +Regarded as an instrument of criticism, Assimilation requires to be very +delicately as well as very skilfully handled. If it is to be applied to +determining the text of Scripture, it must be employed, I take leave to +say, in a very different spirit from what is met with in Dr. +Tischendorf's notes, or it will only mislead. Is a word--a clause--a +sentence--omitted by his favourite authorities [Symbol: Aleph]BDL? It is +enough if that learned critic finds nearly the same word,--a very +similar clause,--a sentence of the same general import,--in an account +of the same occurrence by another Evangelist, for him straightway to +insist that the sentence, the clause, the word, has been imported into +the commonly received Text from such parallel place; and to reject it +accordingly. + +But, as the thoughtful reader must see, this is not allowable, except +under peculiar circumstances. For first, whatever _a priori_ +improbability might be supposed to attach to the existence of identical +expressions in two Evangelical records of the same transaction, is +effectually disposed of by the discovery that very often identity of +expression actually does occur. And (2), the only condition which could +warrant the belief that there has been assimilation, is observed to be +invariably away from Dr. Tischendorf's instances.--viz. a sufficient +number of respectable attesting witnesses: it being a fundamental +principle in the law of Evidence, that the very few are rather to be +suspected than the many. But further (3), if there be some marked +diversity of expression discoverable in the two parallel places; and if +that diversity has been carefully maintained all down the ages in either +place;--then it may be regarded as certain, on the contrary, that there +has not been assimilation; but that this is only one more instance of +two Evangelists saying similar things or the same thing in slightly +different language. Take for example the following case:--Whereas St. +Matt. (xxiv. 15) speaks of 'the abomination of desolation [Greek: to +rhethen DIA Daniel tou prophetou], standing ([Greek: hestos]) in the +holy place'; St. Mark (xiii. 14) speaks of it as '[Greek: to rhethen UPO +Daniel tou prophetou] standing ([Greek: hestos]) where it ought not.' +Now, because [Symbol: Aleph]BDL with copies of the Italic, the Vulgate, +and the Egyptian versions omit from St. Mark's Gospel the six words +written above in Greek, Tischendorf and his school are for expunging +those six words from St. Mark's text, on the plea that they are probably +an importation from St. Matthew. But the little note of variety which +the Holy Spirit has set on the place in the second Gospel (indicated +above in capital letters) suggests that these learned men are mistaken. +Accordingly, the other fourteen uncials and all the cursives,--besides +the Peshitto, Harkleian, and copies of the Old Latin--a much more +weighty body of evidence--are certainly right in retaining the words in +St. Mark xiii. 14. + +Take two more instances of misuse in criticism of Assimilation. + +St. Matthew (xii. 10), and St. Luke in the parallel place of his Gospel +(xiv. 3), describe our Lord as asking,--'Is it lawful to heal on the +sabbath day?' Tischendorf finding that his favourite authorities in this +latter place continue the sentence with the words 'or _not_?' assumes +that those two words must have fallen out of the great bulk of the +copies of St. Luke, which, according to him, have here assimilated their +phraseology to that of St. Matthew. But the hypothesis is clearly +inadmissible,--though it is admitted by most modern critics. Do not +these learned persons see that the supposition is just as lawful, and +the probability infinitely greater, that it is on the contrary the few +copies which have here undergone the process of assimilation; and that +the type to which they have been conformed, is to be found in St. Matt. +xxii. 17; St. Mark xii. 14; St. Luke xx. 22? + +It is in fact surprising how often a familiar place of Scripture has +exerted this kind of assimilating influence over a little handful of +copies. Thus, some critics are happily agreed in rejecting the proposal +of [Symbol: Aleph]BDLR, (backed scantily by their usual retinue of +evidence) to substitute for [Greek: gemisai ten koilian autou apo], in +St. Luke xv. 16, the words [Greek: chortasthenai ek]. But editors have +omitted to point out that the words [Greek: epethymei chortasthenai], +introduced in defiance of the best authorities into the parable of +Lazarus (xvi. 20), have simply been transplanted thither out of the +parable of the prodigal son. + +The reader has now been presented with several examples of Assimilation. +Tischendorf, who habitually overlooks the phenomenon where it seems to +be sufficiently conspicuous, is observed constantly to discover cases of +Assimilation where none exist. This is in fact his habitual way of +accounting for not a few of the omissions in Cod. [Symbol: Aleph]. And +because he has deservedly enjoyed a great reputation, it becomes the +more necessary to set the reader on his guard against receiving such +statements without a thorough examination of the evidence on which they +rest. + + +Sec. 6. + +The value--may I not say, the use?--of these delicate differences of +detail becomes apparent whenever the genuineness of the text is called +in question. Take an example. The following fifteen words are +deliberately excluded from St. Mark's Gospel (vi. 11) by some critics on +the authority of [Symbol: Aleph]BCDL[Symbol: Delta],--a most suspicious +company, and three cursives; besides a few copies of the Old Latin, +including the Vulgate:--[Greek: amen lego hymin, anektoteron estai +Sodomois e Gomorrois en hemerai kriseos, he te polei ekeine]. It is +pretended that this is nothing else but an importation from the parallel +place of St. Matthew's Gospel (x. 15). But that is impossible: for, as +the reader sees at a glance, a delicate but decisive note of +discrimination has been set on the two places. St. Mark writes, [Greek: +SodomOIS E GomorrOIS]: St. Matthew, [Greek: GE SodomON KAI GomorrON]. +And this threefold, or rather fourfold, diversity of expression has +existed from the beginning; for it has been faithfully retained all down +the ages: it exists to this hour in every known copy of the Gospel,-- +except of course those nine which omit the sentence altogether. There +can be therefore no doubt about its genuineness. The critics of the +modern school (Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, Westcott and +Hort) seek in vain to put upon us a mutilated text by omitting those +fifteen words. The two places are clearly independent of each other. + +It does but remain to point out that the exclusion of these fifteen +words from the text of St. Mark, has merely resulted from the influence +of the parallel place in St. Luke's Gospel (ix. 5),--where nothing +whatever is found[225] corresponding with St. Matt. x. 5--St. Mark vi. +11. The process of Assimilation therefore has been actively at work +here, although not in the way which some critics suppose. It has +resulted, not in the insertion of the words in dispute in the case of +the very many copies; but on the contrary in their omission from the +very few. And thus, one more brand is set on [Symbol: Aleph]BCDL[Symbol: +Delta] and their Latin allies,--which will be found _never_ to conspire +together exclusively except to mislead. + + +Sec. 7. + +Because a certain clause (e.g. [Greek: kai he lalia sou homoiazei] in +St. Mark xiv. 70) is absent from Codd. [Symbol: Aleph]BCDL, Lachmann, +Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, Westcott and Hort entirely eject these +five precious words from St. Mark's Gospel, Griesbach having already +voted them 'probably spurious.' When it has been added that many copies +of the Old Latin also, together with the Vulgate and the Egyptian +versions, besides Eusebius, ignore their existence, the present writer +scarcely expects to be listened to if he insists that the words are +perfectly genuine notwithstanding. The thing is certain however, and the +Revisers are to blame for having surrendered five precious words of +genuine Scripture, as I am going to shew. + +1. Now, even if the whole of the case were already before the reader, +although to some there might seem to exist a _prima facie_ probability +that the clause is spurious, yet even so,--it would not be difficult to +convince a thoughtful man that the reverse must be nearer the truth. For +let the parallel places in the first two Gospels be set down side by +side:-- + +St. Matt. xxvi. 73. St. Mark xiv. 70. + +(1) [Greek: Alethos kai su] (1) [Greek: Alethos] +(2) [Greek: ex auton ei.] (2) [Greek: ex auton ei.] +(3) [Greek: kai gar] (3) [Greek: kai gar Galilaios ei,] +(4) [Greek: he lalia sou delon se poiei] + (4) [Greek: kai he lalia sou homoiazei.] + +What more clear than that the later Evangelist is explaining what his +predecessor meant by 'thy speech bewrayeth thee' [or else is giving an +independent account of the same transaction derived from the common +source]? To St. Matthew,--a Jew addressing Jews,--it seemed superfluous +to state that it was the peculiar accent of Galilee which betrayed Simon +Peter. To St. Mark,--or rather to the readers whom St. Mark specially +addressed,--the point was by no means so obvious. Accordingly, he +paraphrases,--'for thou art a Galilean and thy speech correspondeth.' +Let me be shewn that all down the ages, in ninety-nine copies out of +every hundred, this peculiar diversity of expression has been faithfully +retained, and instead of assenting to the proposal to suppress St. +Mark's (fourth) explanatory clause with its unique verb [Greek: +homoiazei], I straightway betake myself to the far more pertinent +inquiry,--What is the state of the text hereabouts? What, in fact, the +context? This at least is not a matter of opinion, but a matter of fact. + +1. And first, I discover that Cod. D, in concert with several copies of +the Old Latin (a b c ff^{2} h q, &c.), only removes clause (4) from its +proper place in St. Mark's Gospel, in order to thrust it into the +parallel place in St. Matthew,--where it supplants the [Greek: he lalia +sou delon se poiei] of the earlier Evangelist; and where it clearly has +no business to be. + +Indeed the object of D is found to have been to assimilate St. Matthew's +Gospel to St. Mark,--for D also omits [Greek: kai su] in clause (1). + +2. The Ethiopic version, on the contrary, is for assimilating St. Mark +to St. Matthew, for it transfers the same clause (4) as it stands in St. +Matthew's Gospel ([Greek: kai he lalia sou delon se poiei]) to St. Mark. + +3. Evan. 33 (which, because it exhibits an ancient text of a type like +B, has been styled [with grim irony] 'the Queen of the Cursives') is +more brilliant here than usual; exhibiting St. Mark's clause (4) +thus,--[Greek: kai gar he lalia sou delon se homoiazei]. + +4. In C (and the Harkleian) the process of Assimilation is as +conspicuous as in D, for St. Mark's third clause (3) is imported bodily +into St. Matthew's Gospel. C further omits from St. Mark clause (4). + +5. In the Vercelli Codex (a) however, the converse process is +conspicuous. St. Mark's Gospel has been assimilated to St. Matthew's by +the unauthorized insertion into clause (1) of [Greek: kai su] (which by +the way is also found in M), and (in concert with the Gothic and Evann. +73, 131, 142*) by the entire suppression of clause (3). + +6. Cod. L goes beyond all. [True to the craze of omission], it further +obliterates as well from St. Matthew's Gospel as from St. Mark's all +trace of clause (4). + +7. [Symbol: Aleph] and B alone of Codexes, though in agreement with the +Vulgate and the Egyptian version, do but eliminate the final clause (4) +of St. Mark's Gospel. But note, lastly, that-- + +8. Cod. A, together with the Syriac versions, the Gothic, and the whole +body of the cursives, recognizes none of these irregularities: but +exhibits the commonly received text with entire fidelity. + +On a survey of the premisses, will any candid person seriously contend +that [Greek: kai he lalia sou homiazei] is no part of the genuine text +of St. Mark xiv. 70? The words are found in what are virtually the most +ancient authorities extant: the Syriac versions (besides the Gothic and +Cod. A), the Old Latin (besides Cod. D)--retain them;--those in their +usual place,--these, in their unusual. Idle it clearly is in the face of +such evidence to pretend that St. Mark cannot have written the words in +question[226]. It is too late to insist that a man cannot have lost his +watch when his watch is proved to have been in his own pocket at eight +in the morning, and is found in another man's pocket at nine. As for C +and L, their handling of the Text hereabouts clearly disqualifies them +from being cited in evidence. They are condemned under the note of +Context. Adverse testimony is borne by B and [Symbol: Aleph]: and by +them only. They omit the words in dispute,--the ordinary habit of +theirs, and most easily accounted for. But how is the punctual insertion +of the words in every other known copy to be explained? In the meantime, +it remains to be stated,--and with this I shall take leave of the +discussion,--that hereabouts 'we have a set of passages which bear clear +marks of wilful and critical correction, thoroughly carried out in Cod. +[Symbol: Aleph], and only partially in Cod. B and some of its compeers; +the object being so far to assimilate the narrative of Peter's denials +with those of the other Evangelists, as to suppress the fact, vouched +for by St. Mark only, that the cock crowed twice[227].' _That_ incident +shall be treated of separately. Can those principles stand, which in the +face of the foregoing statement, and the evidence which preceded it, +justify the disturbance of the text in St. Mark xiv. 70? + +[We now pass on to a kindred cause of adulteration of +the text of the New Testament.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[184] This paper bears the date 1877: but I have thought best to keep +the words with this caution to the reader. + +[185] Above, p. 32. + +[186] The alleged evidence of Origen (iv. 453) is _nil_; the sum of it +being that he takes no notice whatever of the forty words between +[Greek: opsesthe me] (in ver. 16), and [Greek: touto ti estin] (in ver. +18). + +[187] Nonnus,--[Greek: hixomai eis gennetera]. + +[188] viii. 465 a and c. + +[189] iv. 932 and 933 c. + +[190] = [Greek: ana-keimenos + epi-peson]. [Used not to suggest +over-familiarity (?).] + +[191] Beginning with Anatolius Laodicenus, A.D. 270 (_ap._ Galland. iii. +548). Cf. Routh, Rell. i. 42. + +[192] [Greek: Ouk anakeitai monon, alla kai to stethei epipiptei] (Opp. +viii. 423 a).--[Greek: Ti de kai epipiptei to stethei] (ibid. d). Note +that the passage ascribed to 'Apolinarius' in Cord. Cat. p. 342 (which +includes the second of these two references) is in reality part of +Chrysostom's Commentary on St. John (ubi supra, c d). + +[193] Cord. Cat. p. 341. But it is only in the [Greek: keimenon] (or +text) that the verb is found,--Opp. iv. 735. + +[194] [Greek: ho de thrasys oxei palmo | stethesin achrantoisi peson +perilemenos aner]. + +[195] iv. 437 c: 440 d. + +[196] Ibid. p. 342. + +[197] Even Chrysostom, who certainly read the place as we do, is +observed twice to glide into the more ordinary expression, viz. xiii. +423, line 13 from the bottom, and p. 424, line 18 from the top. + +[198] [Greek: ho epi to stethos autou anapeson] (iii. 1, Sec. 1). + +[199] [Greek: ho epi to stethos tou Kyriou anapeson] (_ap._ Euseb. iii. +31). + +[200] [Greek: Ti dei peri tou anapesontos epi to stethos legein tou +'Iesou] (ibid. vi. 25. Opp. iv. 95). + +[201] [Greek: ho epi to stethei tou phlogos anapeson] (Opp. ii. 49 a. +Cf. 133 c). + +[202] (As quoted by Polycrates): Opp. i. 1062: ii. 8. + +[203] [Greek: tou eis to tes sophias stethos pistos epanapesontos] +(_ap._ Chrys, xiii. 55). + +[204] [Greek: ho epi to stethos tou Iesou anapauetai] (Opp. i. 591). + +[205] (As quoted by Polycrates): Opp. i. 488. + +[206] Wright's Apocryphal Acts (fourth century), translated from the +Syriac, p. 3. + +[207] (Fourth or fifth century) _ap._ Galland. vi. 132. + +[208] _Ap._ Chrys. viii. 296. + +[209] On a fresh Revision, &c., p. 73.--'[Greek: Anapiptein], (which +occurs eleven times in the N.T.), when said of guests ([Greek: +anakeimenoi]) at a repast, denotes nothing whatever but the preliminary +act of each in taking his place at the table; being the Greek equivalent +for our "_sitting down_" to dinner. So far only does it signify "change +of posture." The notion of "falling _backward_" quite disappears in the +notion of "reclining" or "lying down."'--In St. John xxi. 20, the +language of the Evangelist is the very mirror of his thought; which +evidently passed directly from the moment when he assumed his place at +the table ([Greek: anepesen]), to that later moment when ([Greek: epi to +stethos autou]) he interrogated his Divine Master concerning Judas. It +is a _general_ description of an incident,--for the details of which we +have to refer to the circumstantial and authoritative narrative which +went before. + +[210] Traditional Text, Appendix IV. + +[211] Pesh. and Harkl.: Cur. and Lew. are defective. + +[212] Thus Griesbach, Scholz, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, +Wordsworth, Green, Scrivener, M^{c}Clellan, Westcott and Hort, and the +Revisers. + +[213] In pseudo-Jerome's Brev. in Psalm., Opp. vii. (ad calc.) 198. + +[214] Mont. i. 462. + +[215] Ubi supra. + +[216] Omitting trifling variants. + +[217] [Symbol: Aleph]BL are _exclusively_ responsible on 45 occasions: ++C (i.e. [Symbol: Aleph]BCL), on 27: +D, on 35: +[Symbol: Delta], on 73: ++CD, on 19: +C[Symbol: Delta], on 118: +D[Symbol: Delta] (i.e. [Symbol: +Aleph]BDL[Symbol: Delta]), on 42: +CD[Symbol: Delta], on 66. + +[218] In the text of Evan. 72 the reading in dispute is _not_ found: +205, 206 are duplicates of 209: and 222, 255 are only fragments. There +remain 1, 22, 33, 61, 63, 115, 131, 151, 152, 161, 184, 209, 253, 372, +391:--of which the six at Rome require to be re-examined. + +[219] v. 10. + +[220] _Ap._ Hieron. vii. 17. + +[221] 'Evangelistas arguere falsitatis, hoc impiorum est, Celsi, +Porphyrii, Juliani.' Hieron. i. 311. + +[222] [Greek: grapheos toinun esti sphalma]. Quoted (from the lost work +of Eusebius ad Marinum) in Victor of Ant.'s Catena, ed. Cramer, p. 267. +(See Simon, iii. 89; Mai, iv. 299; Matthaei's N.T. ii. 20, &c.) + +[223] 'Nos autem nomen Isaiae putamus _additum Scriptorum vitio_, quod +et in aliis locis probare possumus.' vii. 17 (I suspect he got it from +Eusebius). + +[224] See Studia Biblica, ii. p. 249. Syrian Form of Ammonian sections +and Eusebian Canons by Rev. G. H. Gwilliam, B.D. Mr. Gwilliam gives St. +Luke iii. 4-6, according to the Syrian form. + +[225] Compare St. Mark vi. 7-13 with St. Luke ix. 1-6. + +[226] Schulz,--'et [Greek: lalia] et [Greek: omoiazei] aliena a Marco.' +Tischendorf--'omnino e Matthaeo fluxit: ipsum [Greek: omoiazei] +glossatoris est.' This is foolishness,--not criticism. + +[227] Scrivener's Full Collation of the Cod. Sin., &c., 2nd ed., p. +xlvii. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CAUSES OF CORRUPTION CHIEFLY INTENTIONAL. + +III. Attraction. + + +Sec. 1. + +There exist not a few corrupt Readings,--and they have imposed largely +on many critics,--which, strange to relate, have arisen from nothing +else but the proneness of words standing side by side in a sentence to +be attracted into a likeness of ending,--whether in respect of +grammatical form or of sound; whereby sometimes the sense is made to +suffer grievously,--sometimes entirely to disappear. Let this be called +the error of Attraction. The phenomena of 'Assimilation' are entirely +distinct. A somewhat gross instance, which however has imposed on +learned critics, is furnished by the Revised Text and Version of St. +John vi. 71 and xiii. 26. + +'Judas Iscariot' is a combination of appellatives with which every +Christian ear is even awfully familiar. The expression [Greek: Ioudas +Iskariotes] is found in St. Matt. x. 4 and xxvi. 14: in St. Mark iii. 19 +and xiv. 10: in St. Luke vi. 16, and in xxii. 31 with the express +statement added that Judas was so 'surnamed.' So far happily we are all +agreed. St. John's invariable practice is to designate the traitor, whom +he names four times, as 'Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon;'--jealous +doubtless for the honour of his brother Apostle, 'Jude ([Greek: Ioudas]) +the brother of James[228]': and resolved that there shall be no mistake +about the traitor's identity. Who does not at once recall the +Evangelist's striking parenthesis in St. John xiv. 22,--'Judas (not +Iscariot)'? Accordingly, in St. John xiii. 2 the Revisers present us +with 'Judas Iscariot, Simon's son': and even in St. John xii. 4 they are +content to read 'Judas Iscariot.' But in the two places of St. John's +Gospel which remain to be noticed, viz. vi. 71 and xiii. 26, instead of +'Judas Iscariot the son of Simon' the Revisers require us henceforth to +read, 'Judas the son of Simon Iscariot.' And _why_? Only, I answer, +because--in place of [Greek: Ioudan Simonos IskarioTEN] (in vi. 71) and +[Greek: Iouda Simonos IskarioTE] (in xiii. 26)--a little handful of +copies substitute on both occasions [Greek: IskarioTOU]. Need I go on? +Nothing else has evidently happened but that, through the oscitancy of +some very early scribe, the [Greek: IskarioTEN], [Greek: IskarioTE], +have been attracted into concord with the immediately preceding genitive +[Greek: SImoNOS] ... So transparent a blunder would have scarcely +deserved a passing remark at our hands had it been suffered to +remain,--where such _betises_ are the rule and not the exception,--viz. +in the columns of Codexes B and [Symbol: Aleph]. But strange to say, not +only have the Revisers adopted this corrupt reading in the two passages +already mentioned, but they have not let so much as a hint fall that any +alteration whatsoever has been made by them in the inspired Text. + + +Sec. 2. + +Another and a far graver case of 'Attraction' is found in Acts xx. 24. +St. Paul, in his address to the elders of Ephesus, refers to the +discouragements he has had to encounter. 'But none of these things move +me,' he grandly exclaims, 'neither count I my life dear unto myself, so +that I might finish my course with joy.' The Greek for this begins +[Greek: all' oudenos logon poioumai]: where some second or third century +copyist (misled by the preceding genitive) in place of [Greek: logoN] +writes [Greek: logoU]; with what calamitous consequence, has been found +largely explained elsewhere[229]. Happily, the error survives only in +Codd. B and C: and their character is already known by the readers of +this book and the Companion Volume. So much has been elsewhere offered +on this subject that I shall say no more about it here: but proceed to +present my reader with another and more famous instance of attraction. + +St. Paul in a certain place (2 Cor. iii. 3) tells the Corinthians, in +allusion to the language of Exodus xxxi. 12, xxxiv. 1, that they are an +epistle not written on '_stony tables_ ([Greek: en plaxi lithinais]),' +but on '_fleshy tables_ of the heart ([Greek: en plaxi kardias +sarkinais]).' The one proper proof that this is what St. Paul actually +wrote, is not only (1) That the Copies largely preponderate in favour of +so exhibiting the place: but (2) That the Versions, with the single +exception of 'that abject slave of manuscripts the Philoxenian [or +Harkleian] Syriac,' are all on the same side: and lastly (3) That the +Fathers are as nearly as possible unanimous. Let the evidence for +[Greek: kardias] (unknown to Tischendorf and the rest) be produced in +detail:-- + +In the second century, Irenaeus[230],--the Old Latin,--the Peshitto. + +In the third century, Origen seven times[231],--the Coptic version. + +In the fourth century, the +Dialogus[232],--Didymus[233],--Basil[234],--Gregory Nyss.[235],--Marcus +the Monk[236],--Chrysostom in two places[237],--Nilus[238],--the +Vulgate,--and the Gothic versions. + +In the fifth century, Cyril[239],--Isidorus[240],--Theodoret[241],--the +Armenian--and the Ethiopic versions. + +In the seventh century, Victor, Bp. of Carthage addressing Theodorus +P.[242] + +In the eighth century, J. Damascene[243] ... Besides, of the Latins, +Hilary[244],--Ambrose[245],--Optatus[246],--Jerome[247],-- +Tichonius[248],--Augustine thirteen times[249],--Fulgentius[250], and +others[251] ... If this be not overwhelming evidence, may I be told what +_is_[252]? + +But then it so happens that--attracted by the two datives between which +[Greek: kardias] stands, and tempted by the consequent jingle, a +surprising number of copies are found to exhibit the 'perfectly absurd' +and 'wholly unnatural reading[253],' [Greek: plaxi kardiAIS sarkinAIS]. +And because (as might have been expected from their character) +A[254]B[Symbol: Aleph]CD[255] are all five of the number,--Lachmann, +Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, Westcott and Hort, one and all adopt and +advocate the awkward blunder[256]. [Greek: Kardiais] is also adopted by +the Revisers of 1881 without so much as a hint let fall in the margin +that the evidence is overwhelmingly against themselves and in favour of +the traditional Text of the Authorized Version[257]. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[228] St. Luke vi. 16; Acts i. 13; St. Jude 1. + +[229] Above, pp. 28-31. + +[230] 753 _int_. + +[231] ii. 843 c. Also _int_ ii. 96, 303; iv. 419, 489, 529, 558. + +[232] _Ap_. Orig. i. 866 a,--interesting and emphatic testimony. + +[233] Cord. Cat. in Ps. i. 272. + +[234] i. 161 e. Cord. Cat. in Ps. i. 844. + +[235] i. 682 ([Greek: ouk en plaxi lithinais ... all' en to tes kardias +pyxio]). + +[236] Galland. viii. 40 b. + +[237] vii. 2: x. 475. + +[238] i. 29. + +[239] i. 8: ii. 504: v^{2}. 65. (Aubert prints [Greek: kardias +sarkines]. The published Concilia (iii. 140) exhibits [Greek: kardias +sarkinais]. Pusey, finding in one of his MSS. [Greek: all' en plaxi +kardias lithinais] (sic), prints [Greek: kardias sarkinais].) _Ap_. Mai, +iii. 89, 90. + +[240] 299. + +[241] iii. 302. + +[242] Concil. vi. 154. + +[243] ii. 129. + +[244] 344. + +[245] i. 762: ii. 668, 1380. + +[246] Galland. v. 505. + +[247] vi. 609. + +[248] Galland. viii. 742 dis. + +[249] i. 672: ii. 49: iii^{1}. 472, 560: iv. 1302: v. 743-4: viii. 311: +x. 98, 101, 104, 107, 110. + +[250] Galland. xi. 248. + +[251] Ps.-Ambrose, ii. 176. + +[252] Yet strange to say, Tischendorf claims the support of Didymus and +Theodoret for [Greek: kardiais], on the ground that in the course of +their expository remarks they contrast [Greek: kardiai sarkinai] (or +[Greek: logikai]) with [Greek: plakes lithinai]: as if it were not the +word [Greek: plaxi] which alone occasions difficulty. Again, Tischendorf +enumerates Cod. E (Paul) among his authorities. Had he then forgotten +that E is '_nothing better than a transcript of Cod. D_ (Claromontanus), +made by some ignorant person'? that 'the Greek _is manifestly +worthless_, and that it should long since have been removed from the +list of authorities'? [Scrivener's Introd., 4th edit., i. 177. See also +Traditional Text, p. 65, and note. Tischendorf is frequently inaccurate +in his references to the fathers.] + +[253] Scrivener's Introd. ii. 254. + +[254] A in the Epistles differs from A in the Gospels. + +[255] Besides GLP and the following cursives,--29, 30, 44, 45, 46, 47, +48, 55, 74, 104, 106, 109, 112, 113, 115, 137, 219, 221, 238, 252, 255, +257, 262, 277. + +[256] That I may not be accused of suppressing what is to be said on the +other side, let it be here added that the sum of the adverse evidence +(besides the testimony of many MSS.) is the Harkleian version:--the +doubtful testimony of Eusebius (for, though Valerius reads [Greek: +kardias], the MSS. largely preponderate which read [Greek: kardiais] in +H. E. Mart. Pal. cxiii. Sec. 6. See Burton's ed. p. 637):--Cyril in one +place, as explained above:--and lastly, a quotation from Chrysostom on +the Maccabees, given in Cramer's Catena, vii. 595 ([Greek: en plaxi +kardiais sarkinais]), which reappears at the end of eight lines without +the word [Greek: plaxi]. + +[257] [The papers on Assimilation and Attraction were left by the Dean +in the same portfolio. No doubt he would have separated them, if he had +lived to complete his work, and amplified his treatment of the latter, +for the materials under that head were scanty.--For 2 Cor. iii. 3, see +also a note of my own to p. 65 of The Traditional Text.] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +CAUSES OF CORRUPTION CHIEFLY INTENTIONAL. + +IV. Omission. + + +[We have now to consider the largest of all classes of corrupt +variations from the genuine Text[258]--the omission of words and clauses +and sentences,--a truly fertile province of inquiry. Omissions are much +in favour with a particular school of critics; though a habit of +admitting them whether in ancient or modern times cannot but be +symptomatic of a tendency to scepticism.] + + +Sec. 1. + +Omissions are often treated as 'Various Readings.' Yet only by an +Hibernian licence can words omitted be so reckoned: for in truth the +very essence of the matter is that on such occasions nothing is read. It +is to the case of words omitted however that this chapter is to be +exclusively devoted. And it will be borne in mind that I speak now of +those words alone where the words are observed to exist in ninety-nine +MSS. out of a hundred, so to speak;--being away only from that hundredth +copy. + +Now it becomes evident, as soon as attention has been called to the +circumstance, that such a phenomenon requires separate treatment. Words +so omitted labour _prima facie_ under a disadvantage which is all their +own. My meaning will be best illustrated if I may be allowed to adduce +and briefly discuss a few examples. And I will begin with a crucial +case;--the most conspicuous doubtless within the whole compass of the +New Testament. I mean the last twelve verses of St. Mark's Gospel; which +verses are either bracketed off, or else entirely severed from the rest +of the Gospel, by Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford and others. + +The warrant of those critics for dealing thus unceremoniously with a +portion of the sacred deposit is the fact that whereas Eusebius, for the +statement rests solely with him, declares that anciently many copies +were without the verses in question, our two oldest extant MSS. conspire +in omitting them. But, I reply, the latter circumstance does not conduct +to the inference that those verses are spurious. It only proves that the +statement of Eusebius was correct. The Father cited did not, as is +evident from his words[259], himself doubt the genuineness of the verses +in question; but admitted them to be genuine. [He quotes two +opinions;--the opinion of an advocate who questions their genuineness, +and an opposing opinion which he evidently considers the better of the +two, since he rests upon the latter and casts a slur upon the former as +being an off-hand expedient; besides that he quotes several words out of +the twelve verses, and argues at great length upon the second +hypothesis. + +On the other hand, one and that the least faulty of the two MSS. +witnessing for the omission confesses mutely its error by leaving a +vacant space where the omitted verses should have come in; whilst the +other was apparently copied from an exemplar containing the verses[260]. +And all the other copies insert them, except L and a few cursives which +propose a manifestly spurious substitute for the verses,--together with +all the versions, except one Old Latin (k), the Lewis Codex, two +Armenian MSS. and an Arabic Lectionary,--besides more than ninety +testimonies in their favour from more than 'forty-four' ancient +witnesses[261];--such is the evidence which weighs down the conflicting +testimony over and over and over again. Beyond all this, the cause of +the error is patent. Some scribe mistook the [Greek: Telos] occurring at +the end of an Ecclesiastical Lection at the close of chapter xvi. 8 for +the 'End' of St. Mark's Gospel[262]. + +That is the simple truth: and the question will now be asked by an +intelligent reader, 'If such is the balance of evidence, how is it that +learned critics still doubt the genuineness of those verses?' + +To this question there can be but one answer, viz. 'Because those +critics are blinded by invincible prejudice in favour of two unsafe +guides, and on behalf of Omission.' + +We have already seen enough of the character of those guides, and are +now anxious to learn what there can be in omissions which render them so +acceptable to minds of the present day. And we can imagine nothing +except the halo which has gathered round the detection of spurious +passages in modern times, and has extended to a supposed detection of +passages which in fact are not spurious. Some people appear to feel +delight if they can prove any charge against people who claim to be +orthodox; others without any such feeling delight in superior criticism; +and the flavour of scepticism especially commends itself to the taste of +many. To the votaries of such criticism, omissions of passages which +they style 'interpolations,' offer temptingly spacious hunting-fields. + +Yet the experience of copyists would pronounce that Omission is the +besetting fault of transcribers. It is so easy under the influence of +the desire of accomplishing a task, or at least of anxiety for making +progress, to pass over a word, a line, or even more lines than one. As +has been explained before, the eye readily moves from one ending to a +similar ending with a surprising tendency to pursue the course which +would lighten labour instead of increasing it. The cumulative result of +such abridgement by omission on the part of successive scribes may be +easily imagined, and in fact is just what is presented in Codex B[263]. +Besides these considerations, the passages which are omitted, and which +we claim to be genuine, bear in themselves the character belonging to +the rest of the Gospels, indeed--in Dr. Hort's expressive phrase--'have +the true ring of genuineness.' They are not like some which some critics +of the same school would fain force upon us[264]. But beyond all,--and +this is the real source and ground of attestation,--they enjoy superior +evidence from copies, generally beyond comparison with the opposing +testimony, from Versions, and from Fathers.] + + +Sec. 2. + +The fact seems to be all but overlooked that a very much larger amount +of proof than usual is required at the hands of those who would persuade +us to cancel words which have been hitherto by all persons,--in all +ages,--in all countries,--regarded as inspired Scripture. They have (1) +to account for the fact of those words' existence: and next (2), to +demonstrate that they have no right to their place in the sacred page. +The discovery that from a few copies they are away, clearly has very +little to do with the question. We may be able to account for the +omission from those few copies: and the instant we have done this, the +negative evidence--the argument _e silentio_--has been effectually +disposed of. A very different task--a far graver responsibility--is +imposed upon the adverse party, as may be easily shewn. [They must +establish many modes of accounting for many classes and groups of +evidence. Broad and sweeping measures are now out of date. The burden of +proof lies with them.] + + +Sec. 3. + +The force of what I am saying will be best understood if a few actual +specimens of omission may be adduced, and individually considered. And +first, let us take the case of an omitted word. In St. Luke vi. 1 +[Greek: deuteroproto] is omitted from some MSS. Westcott and Hort and +the Revisers accordingly exhibit the text of that place as +follows:--[Greek: Egeneto de en sabbato diaporeuesthai auton dia +sporimon]. + +Now I desire to be informed how it is credible that so very difficult +and peculiar a word as this,--for indeed the expression has never yet +been satisfactorily explained,--should have found its way into every +known Evangelium except [Symbol: Aleph]BL and a few cursives, if it be +spurious? How it came to be here and there omitted, is intelligible +enough. (_a_) One has but to glance at the Cod. [Symbol: Aleph], + + [Greek: TO EN SABBATO] + [Greek: DEUTEROPROTO] + +in order to see that the like ending ([Greek: TO]) in the superior line, +fully accounts for the omission of the second line. (_b_) A proper +lesson begins at this place; which by itself would explain the +phenomenon. (_c_) Words which the copyists were at a loss to understand, +are often observed to be dropped: and there is no harder word in the +Gospels than [Greek: deuteroprotos]. But I repeat,--will you tell us how +it is conceivable that [a word nowhere else found, and known to be a +_crux_ to commentators and others, should have crept into all the copies +except a small handful?] + +In reply to all this, I shall of course be told that really I must yield +to what is after all the weight of external evidence: that Codd. +[Symbol: Aleph]BL are not ordinary MSS. but first-class authorities, of +sufficient importance to outweigh any number of the later cursive MSS. + +My rejoinder is plain:--Not only am I of course willing to yield to +external evidence, but it is precisely 'external evidence' which makes +me insist on retaining [Greek: deuteroproto--apo melissiou keriou--haras +ton stauron--kai anephereto eis ton ouranon--hotan eklipete]--the 14th +verse of St. Matthew's xxiiird chapter--and the last twelve verses of +St. Mark's Gospel. For my own part, I entirely deny the cogency of the +proposed proof, and I have clearly already established the grounds of my +refusal. Who then is to be the daysman between us? We are driven back on +first principles, in order to ascertain if it may not be possible to +meet on some common ground, and by the application of ordinary logical +principles of reasoning to clear our view. [As to these we must refer +the reader to the first volume of this work. Various cases of omission +have been just quoted, and many have been discussed elsewhere. +Accordingly, it will not be necessary to exhibit this large class of +corruptions at the length which it would otherwise demand. But a few +more instances are required, in order that the reader may see in this +connexion that many passages at least which the opposing school +designate as Interpolations are really genuine, and that students may be +placed upon their guard against the source of error that we are +discussing.] + + +Sec. 4. + +And first as to the rejection of an entire verse. + +The 44th verse of St. Matt. xxi, consisting of the fifteen words printed +at foot[265], is marked as doubtful by Tregelles, Westcott and Hort, and +the Revisers:--by Tischendorf it is rejected as spurious. We insist +that, on the contrary, it is indubitably genuine; reasoning from the +antiquity, the variety, the respectability, the largeness, or rather, +the general unanimity of its attestation. + +For the verse is found in the Old Latin, and in the Vulgate,--in the +Peshitto, Curetonian, and Harkleian Syriac,--besides in the Coptic, +Armenian, and Ethiopic versions. It is found also in Origen[266],-- +ps.-Tatian[267]--Aphraates[268],--Chrysostom[269],--Cyril Alex.[270],-- +the Opus Imperfectum[271],--Jerome[272],--Augustine[273]:--in Codexes +B[Symbol: Aleph]C[Symbol: Theta][Symbol: Sigma]XZ[Symbol: Delta][Symbol: +Pi]EFG HKLMSUV,--in short, it is attested by every known Codex except +two of bad character, viz.--D, 33; together with five copies of the Old +Latin, viz.--a b e ff^{1} ff^{2}. There have therefore been adduced for +the verse in dispute at least five witnesses of the second or third +century:--at least eight of the fourth:--at least seven if not eight of +the fifth: after which date the testimony in favour of this verse is +overwhelming. How could we be justified in opposing to such a mass of +first-rate testimony the solitary evidence of Cod. D (concerning which +see above, Vol. I. c. viii.) supported only by a single errant Cursive +and a little handful of copies of the Old Latin versions, [even although +the Lewis Codex has joined this petty band?] + +But, says Tischendorf,--the verse is omitted by Origen and by +Eusebius,--by Irenaeus and by Lucifer of Cagliari,--as well as by Cyril +of Alexandria. I answer, this most insecure of arguments for mutilating +the traditional text is plainly inadmissible on the present occasion. +The critic refers to the fact that Irenaeus[274], Origen[275], +Eusebius[276] and Cyril[277] having quoted 'the parable of the wicked +husbandmen' _in extenso_ (viz. from verse 33 to verse 43), _leave off at +verse_ 43. Why may they not leave off where the parable leaves off? Why +should they quote any further? Verse 44 is nothing to their purpose. And +since the Gospel for Monday morning in Holy Week [verses 18-43], in +every known copy of the Lectionary actually ends at verse 43,--why +should not their quotation of it end at the same verse? But, +unfortunately for the critic, Origen and Cyril (as we have seen,--the +latter expressly,) elsewhere actually quote the verse in dispute. And +how can Tischendorf maintain that Lucifer yields adverse testimony[278]? +That Father quotes _nothing but_ verse 43, which is all he requires for +his purpose[279]. Why should he have also quoted verse 44, which he does +not require? As well might it be maintained that Macarius Egyptius[280] +and Philo of Carpasus[281] omit verse 44, because (like Lucifer) they +only quote verse 43. + +I have elsewhere explained what I suspect occasioned the omission of St. +Matt. xxi. 44 from a few Western copies of the Gospels[282]. +Tischendorf's opinion that this verse is a fabricated imitation of the +parallel verse in St. Luke's Gospel[283] (xx. 18) is clearly untenable. +Either place has its distinctive type, which either has maintained all +down the ages. The single fact that St. Matt. xxi. 44 in the Peshitto +version has a sectional number to itself[284] is far too weighty to be +set aside on nothing better than suspicion. If a verse so elaborately +attested as the present be not genuine, we must abandon all hope of ever +attaining to any certainty concerning the Text of Scripture. + +In the meantime there emerges from the treatment which St. Matt. xxi. 44 +has experienced at the hands of Tischendorf, the discovery that, in the +estimation of Tischendorf, Cod. D [is a document of so much importance +as occasionally to outweigh almost by itself the other copies of all +ages and countries in Christendom.] + + +Sec. 5. + +I am guided to my next example, viz. the text of St. Matt. xv. 8, by the +choice deliberately made of that place by Dr. Tregelles in order to +establish the peculiar theory of Textual Revision which he advocates so +strenuously; and which, ever since the days of Griesbach, has it must be +confessed enjoyed the absolute confidence of most of the illustrious +editors of the New Testament. This is, in fact, the second example on +Tregelles' list. In approaching it, I take leave to point out that that +learned critic unintentionally hoodwinks his readers by not setting +before them in full the problem which he proposes to discuss. Thoroughly +to understand this matter, the student should be reminded that there is +found in St. Matt. xv. 8,--and parallel to it in St. Mark vii. 6,-- + +St. Matt. + +'Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you saying, "This people +draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth and honoureth me with their lips +([Greek: engizei moi ho laos houtos to stomati auton, kai tois cheilesi +me tima]), but their heart is far from Me."' + +St. Mark. + +'Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, hypocrites, as it is written, "This +people honoureth Me with their lips ([Greek: houtos ho laos tois +cheilesi me tima]), but their heart is far from Me."' + +The place of Isaiah referred to, viz. ch. xxix. 13, reads as follows in +the ordinary editions of the LXX:--[Greek: kai eipe Kyrios, engizei moi +ho laos houtos en to stomati autou, kai en tois cheilesin auton timosi +me]. + +Now, about the text of St. Mark in this place no question is raised. +Neither is there any various reading worth speaking of in ninety-nine +MSS. out of a hundred in respect of the text in St. Matthew. But when +reference is made to the two oldest copies in existence, B and [Symbol: +Aleph], we are presented with what, but for the parallel place in St. +Mark, would have appeared to us a strangely abbreviated reading. Both +MSS. conspire in exhibiting St. Matt. xv. 8, as follows:--[Greek: ho +laos houtos tois cheilesi me tima]. So that six words ([Greek: engizei +moi] and [Greek: to stomati auton, kai]) are not recognized by them: in +which peculiarity they are countenanced by DLT^{c}, two cursive copies, +and the following versions:--Old Latin except f, Vulgate, Curetonian, +Lewis, Peshitto, and Bohairic, (Cod. A, the Sahidic and Gothic versions, +being imperfect here.) To this evidence, Tischendorf adds a phalanx of +Fathers:--Clemens Romanus (A.D. 70), Ptolemaeus the Gnostic (A.D. 150), +Clemens Alexandrinus (A.D. 190), Origen in three places (A.D. 210), +Eusebius (A.D. 325), Basil, Cyril of Alexandria, Chrysostom: and Alford +supplies also Justin Martyr (A.D. 150). The testimony of Didymus (A.D. +350), which has been hitherto overlooked, is express. Tertullian, +Cyprian, Hilary, are naturally found to follow the Latin copies. Such a +weight of evidence may not unreasonably inspire Dr. Tregelles with an +exceeding amount of confidence. Accordingly he declares 'that this one +passage might be relied upon as an important proof that it is the few +MSS. and not the many which accord with ancient testimony.' Availing +himself of Dr. Scrivener's admission of 'the possibility that the +disputed words in the great bulk of the MSS. were inserted from the +Septuagint of Isaiah xxix. 13[285],' Dr. Tregelles insists 'that on +every true principle of textual criticism, the words must be regarded as +an amplification borrowed from the Prophet. This naturally explains +their introduction,' (he adds); 'and when once they had gained a footing +in the text, it is certain that they would be multiplied by copyists, +who almost always preferred to make passages as full and complete as +possible' (p. 139). Dr. Tregelles therefore relies upon this one +passage,--not so much as a 'proof that it is the few MSS. and not the +many which accord with ancient testimony';--for one instance cannot +possibly prove that; and that is after all beside the real +question;--but, as a proof that we are to regard the text of Codd. +B[Symbol: Aleph] in this place as genuine, and the text of all the other +Codexes in the world as corrupt. + +The reader has now the hypothesis fully before him by which from the +days of Griesbach it has been proposed to account for the discrepancy +between 'the few copies' on the one hand, and the whole torrent of +manuscript evidence on the other. + +Now, as I am writing a book on the principles of Textual Criticism, I +must be allowed to set my reader on his guard against all such +unsupported dicta as the preceding, though enforced with emphasis and +recommended by a deservedly respected name. I venture to think that the +exact reverse will be found to be a vast deal nearer the truth: viz. +that undoubtedly spurious readings, although they may at one time or +other have succeeded in obtaining a footing in MSS., and to some extent +may be observed even to have propagated themselves, are yet discovered +to die out speedily; seldom indeed to leave any considerable number of +descendants. There has always in fact been a process of elimination +going on, as well as of self-propagation: a corrective force at work, as +well as one of deterioration. How else are we to account for the utter +disappearance of the many _monstra potius quam variae lectiones_ which +the ancients nevertheless insist were prevalent in their times? It is +enough to appeal to a single place in Jerome, in illustration of what I +have been saying[286]. To return however from this digression. + +We are invited then to believe,--for it is well to know at the outset +exactly what is required of us,--that from the fifth century downwards +every _extant copy of the Gospels except five_ (DLT^{c}, 33, 124) +exhibits a text arbitrarily interpolated in order to bring it into +conformity with the Greek version of Isa. xxix. 13. On this wild +hypothesis I have the following observations to make:-- + +1. It is altogether unaccountable, if this be indeed a true account of +the matter, how it has come to pass that in no single MS. in the world, +so far as I am aware, has this conformity been successfully achieved: +for whereas the Septuagintal reading is [Greek: engizei moi ho laos +outos EN to stomati AUTOU, kai EN tois cheilesin AUTON TIMOSI me],--the +Evangelical Text is observed to differ therefrom in no less than six +particulars. + +2. Further,--If there really did exist this strange determination on the +part of the ancients in general to assimilate the text of St. Matthew to +the text of Isaiah, how does it happen that not one of them ever +conceived the like design in respect of the parallel place in St. Mark? + +3. It naturally follows to inquire,--Why are we to suspect the mass of +MSS. of having experienced such wholesale depravation in respect of the +text of St. Matthew in this place, while yet we recognize in them such a +marked constancy to their own peculiar type; which however, as already +explained, is _not_ the text of Isaiah? + +4. Further,--I discover in this place a minute illustration of the +general fidelity of the ancient copyists: for whereas in St. Matthew it +is invariably [Greek: ho laos outos], I observe that in the copies of +St. Mark,--except to be sure in (_a_) Codd. B and D, (_b_) copies of the +Old Latin, (_c_) the Vulgate, and (_d_) the Peshitto (all of which are +confessedly corrupt in this particular,)--it is invariably [Greek: outos +ho laos]. But now,--Is it reasonable that the very copies which have +been in this way convicted of licentiousness in respect of St. Mark vii. +6 should be permitted to dictate to us against the great heap of copies +in respect of their exhibition of St. Matt. xv. 8? + +And yet, if the discrepancy between Codd. B and [Symbol: Aleph] and the +great bulk of the copies in this place did not originate in the way +insisted on by the critics, how is it to be accounted for? Now, on +ordinary occasions, we do not feel ourselves called upon to institute +any such inquiry,--as indeed very seldom would it be practicable to do. +Unbounded licence of transcription, flagrant carelessness, arbitrary +interpolations, omissions without number, disfigure those two ancient +MSS. in every page. We seldom trouble ourselves to inquire into the +history of their obliquities. But the case is of course materially +changed when so many of the oldest of the Fathers and all the oldest +Versions seem to be at one with Codexes B and [Symbol: Aleph]. Let then +the student favour me with his undivided attention for a few moments, +and I will explain to him how the misapprehension of Griesbach, +Tischendorf, Tregelles and the rest, has arisen. About the MSS. and the +Versions these critics are sufficiently accurate: but they have fatally +misapprehended the import of the Patristic evidence; as I proceed to +explain. + +The established Septuagintal rendering of Isa. xxix. 13 in the Apostolic +age proves to have been this,--[Greek: Engizei moi ho laos outos tois +cheilesin auton timosi me]: the words [Greek: en to stomati auton, kai +en] being omitted. This is certain. Justin Martyr[287] and Cyril of +Alexandria in two places[288] so quote the passage. Procopius Gazaeus in +his Commentary on Origen's Hexapla of Isaiah says expressly that the six +words in question were introduced into the text of the Septuagint by +Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion. Accordingly they are often observed +to be absent from MSS.[289] They are not found, for example, in the +Codex Alexandrinus. + +But the asyndeton resulting from the suppression of these words was felt +to be intolerable. In fact, without a colon point between [Greek: outos] +and [Greek: tois], the result is without meaning. When once the +complementary words have been withdrawn, [Greek: engizei moi] at the +beginning of the sentence is worse than superfluous. It fatally +encumbers the sense. To drop those two words, after the example of the +parallel place in St. Mark's Gospel, became thus an obvious proceeding. +Accordingly the author of the (so-called) second Epistle of Clemens +Romanus (Sec. 3), professing to quote the place in the prophet Isaiah, +exhibits it thus,--[Greek: Ho laos outos tois cheilesi me tima]. Clemens +Alexandrinus certainly does the same thing on at least two +occasions[290]. So does Chrysostom[291]. So does Theodoret[292]. + +Two facts have thus emerged, which entirely change the aspect of the +problem: the first, (_a_) That the words [Greek: en to stomati auton, +kai en] were anciently absent from the Septuagintal rendering of Isaiah +xxix. 13: the second, (_b_) that the place of Isaiah was freely quoted +by the ancients without the initial words [Greek: engizei moi]. + +And after this discovery will any one be so perverse as to deny that on +the contrary it must needs be Codexes B and [Symbol: Aleph], and not the +great bulk of the MSS., which exhibit a text corrupted by the influence +of the Septuagint rendering of Isaiah xxix. 13? The precise extent to +which the assimilating influence of the parallel place in St. Mark's +Gospel has been felt by the copyists, I presume not to determine. The +essential point is that the omission from St. Matthew xv. 8 of the words +[Greek: To stomati auton, kai], is certainly due in the first instance +to the ascertained Septuagint omission of those very words in Isaiah +xxix. 13. + +But that the text of St. Mark vii. 6 has exercised an assimilating +influence on the quotation from Isaiah is demonstrable. For there can be +no doubt that Isaiah's phrase (retained by St. Matthew) is [Greek: ho +laos outos],--St. Mark's [Greek: outos ho laos]. And yet, when Clemens +Romanus quotes Isaiah, he begins--[Greek: outos ho laos][293]; and so +twice does Theodoret[294]. + +The reader is now in a position to judge how much attention is due to +Dr. Tregelles' dictum 'that this one passage may be relied upon' in +support of the peculiar views he advocates: as well as to his confident +claim that the fuller text which is found in ninety-nine MSS. out of a +hundred 'must be regarded as an amplification borrowed from the +prophet.' It has been shewn in answer to the learned critic that in the +ancient Greek text of the prophet the 'amplification' he speaks of did +not exist: it was the abbreviated text which was found there. So that +the very converse of the phenomenon he supposes has taken place. Freely +accepting his hypothesis that we have here a process of assimilation, +occasioned by the Septuagintal text of Isaiah, we differ from him only +as to the direction in which that process has manifested itself. He +assumes that the bulk of the MSS. have been conformed to the generally +received reading of Isaiah xxix. 13. But it has been shewn that, on the +contrary, it is the two oldest MSS. which have experienced assimilation. +Their prototypes were depraved in this way at an exceedingly remote +period. + +To state this matter somewhat differently.--In all the extant uncials +but five, and in almost every known cursive copy of the Gospels, the +words [Greek: to stomati auton, kai] are found to belong to St. Matt. +xv. 8. How is the presence of those words to be accounted for? The reply +is obvious:--By the fact that they must have existed in the original +autograph of the Evangelist. Such however is not the reply of Griesbach +and his followers. They insist that beyond all doubt those words must +have been imported into the Gospel from Isaiah xxix. But I have shewn +that this is impossible; because, at the time spoken of, the words in +question had no place in the Greek text of the prophet. And this +discovery exactly reverses the problem, and brings out the directly +opposite result. For now we discover that we have rather to inquire how +is the absence of the words in question from those few MSS. out of the +mass to be accounted for? The two oldest Codexes are convicted of +exhibiting a text which has been corrupted by the influence of the +oldest Septuagint reading of Isaiah xxix. 13. + +I freely admit that it is in a high degree remarkable that five ancient +Versions, and all the following early writers,--Ptolemaeus[295], Clemens +Alexandrinus[296], Origen[297], Didymus[298], Cyril[299], Chrysostom[300], +and possibly three others of like antiquity[301],--should all quote St. +Matthew in this place from a faulty text. But this does but prove at how +extremely remote a period the corruption must have begun. It probably +dates from the first century. Especially does it seem to shew how +distrustful we should be of our oldest authorities when, as here, they +are plainly at variance with the whole torrent of manuscript authority. +This is indeed no ordinary case. There are elements of distrust here, +such as are not commonly encountered. + + +Sec. 6. + +What I have been saying is aptly illustrated by a place in our Lord's +Sermon on the Mount: viz. St. Matt. v. 44; which in almost every MS. in +existence stands as follows: + + (1) [Greek: agapate tous echthrous humon], + (2) [Greek: eulogeite tous kataromenous humas], + (3) [Greek: kalos poieite tois misousin[302] humas], + (4) [Greek: kai proseuchesthe huper ton epereazonton humas], + (5) [Greek: kai diokonton hymas][303]. + +On the other hand, it is not to be denied that there exists an +appreciable body of evidence for exhibiting the passage in a shorter +form. The fact that Origen six times[304] reads the place thus: + + [Greek: agapate tous echthrous humon, + kai proseuchesthe huper ton diokonton humas]. + +(which amounts to a rejection of the second, third, and fourth +clauses;)--and that he is supported therein by B[Symbol: Aleph], +(besides a few cursives) the Curetonian, the Lewis, several Old Latin +MSS., and the Bohairic[305], seems to critics of a certain school a +circumstance fatal to the credit of those clauses. They are aware that +Cyprian[306], and they are welcome to the information that +Tertullian[307] once and Theodoret once[308] [besides Irenaeus[309], +Eusebius[310], and Gregory of Nyssa[311]] exhibit the place in the same +way. So does the author of the Dialogus contra Marcionitas[312],--whom +however I take to be Origen. Griesbach, on far slenderer evidence, was +for obelizing all the three clauses. But Lachmann, Tregelles, +Tischendorf and the Revisers reject them entirely. I am persuaded that +they are grievously mistaken in so doing, and that the received text +represents what St. Matthew actually wrote. It is the text of all the +uncials but two, of all the cursives but six or seven; and this alone +ought to be decisive. But it is besides the reading of the Peshitto, the +Harkleian, and the Gothic; as well as of three copies of the Old Latin. + +Let us however inquire more curiously for the evidence of Versions and +Fathers on this subject; remembering that the point in dispute is +nothing else but the genuineness of clauses 2, 3, 4. And here, at +starting, we make the notable discovery that Origen, whose practice was +relied on for retaining none but the first and the fifth +clauses,--himself twice[313] quotes the first clause in connexion with +the fourth: while Theodoret, on two occasions[314], connects with clause +1 what he evidently means for clause 2; and Tertullian once if not twice +connects closely clauses 1, 2; and once, clauses 1, 2, 5[315]. From +which it is plain that neither Origen nor Theodoret, least of all +Tertullian, can be held to disallow the clauses in question. They +recognize them on the contrary, which is simply a fatal circumstance, +and effectively disposes of their supposed hostile evidence. + +But in fact the Western Church yields unfaltering testimony. Besides the +three copies of the Old Latin which exhibit all the five clauses, the +Vulgate retains the first, third, fifth and fourth. Augustine[316] +quotes consecutively clauses 1, 3, 5: Ambrose[317] clauses 1, 3, 4, +5--1, 4, 5: Hilary[318], clauses 1, 4, 5, and (apparently) 2, 4, 5: +Lucifer[319], clauses 1, 2, 3 (apparently), 5: pseudo-Epiphanius[320] +connects clauses 1, 3,--1, 3, 5: and Pacian[321], clauses 5, 2. Next we +have to ascertain what is the testimony of the Greek Fathers. + +And first we turn to Chrysostom[322] who (besides quoting the fourth +clause from St. Matthew's Gospel by itself five times) quotes +consecutively clauses 1, 3--iii. 167; 1, 4--iv. 619; 2, 4--v. 436; 4, +3--ii. 340, v. 56, xii. 654; 4, 5--ii. 258, iii. 341; 1, 2, 4--iv. 267; +1, 3, 4, 5--xii. 425; thus recognizing them _all._ + +Gregory Nyss.[323] quotes connectedly clauses 3, 4, 5. + +Eusebius[324], clauses 4, 5--2, 4, 5--1, 3, 4, 5. + +The Apostolic Constitutions[325] (third century), clauses 1, 3, 4, 5 +(having immediately before quoted clause 2,)--also clauses 2, 4, 1. + +Clemens Alex.[326] (A.D. 192), clauses 1, 2, 4. + +Athenagoras[327] (A.D. 177), clauses 1, 2, 5. + +Theophilus[328] (A.D. 168), clauses 1, 4. + +While Justin M.[329] (A.D. 140) having paraphrased clause 1, connects +therewith clauses 2 and 4. + +And Polycarp[330] (A.D. 108) apparently connects clauses 4 and 5. + +Didache[331] (A.D. 100?) quotes 2, 4, 5 and combines 1 and 3 (pp. 5, 6). + +In the face of all this evidence, no one it is presumed will any more be +found to dispute the genuineness of the generally received reading in +St. Matt. v. 44. All must see that if the text familiarly known in the +age immediately after that of the Apostles had been indeed the bald, +curt thing which the critics imagine, viz. + + [Greek: agapate tous echthrous humon, + kai proseuchesthe huper ton diokonton humas,--] + +by no possibility could the men of that age in referring to St. Matt. v. +44 have freely mentioned 'blessing those who curse,--doing good to those +who hate,--and praying for those who despitefully use.' Since there are +but two alternative readings of the passage,--one longer, one +briefer,--every clear acknowledgement of a single disputed clause in the +larger reading necessarily carries with it all the rest. + +This result of 'comparative criticism' is therefore respectfully +recommended to the notice of the learned. If it be not decisive of the +point at issue to find such a torrent of primitive testimony at one with +the bulk of the Uncials and Cursives extant, it is clear that there can +be no Science of Textual Criticism. The Law of Evidence must be held to +be inoperative in this subject-matter. Nothing deserving of the name of +'proof' will ever be attainable in this department of investigation. + +But if men admit that the ordinarily received text of St. Matt. v. 44 +has been clearly established, then let the legitimate results of the +foregoing discussion be loyally recognized. The unique value of +Manuscripts in declaring the exact text of Scripture--the conspicuous +inadequacy of Patristic evidence by themselves,--have been made +apparent: and yet it has been shewn that Patristic quotations are +abundantly sufficient for their proper purpose,--which is, to enable us +to decide between conflicting readings. One more indication has been +obtained of the corruptness of the text which Origen employed,-- +concerning which he is so strangely communicative,--and of which +B[Symbol: Aleph] are the chief surviving examples; and the probability +has been strengthened that when these are the sole, or even the +principal witnesses, for any particular reading, that reading will prove +to be corrupt. + +Mill was of opinion, (and of course his opinion finds favour with +Griesbach, Tischendorf, and the rest,) that these three clauses have +been imported hither from St. Luke vi. 27, 28. But, besides that this is +mere unsupported conjecture, how comes it then to pass that the order of +the second and third clauses in St. Matthew's Gospel is the reverse of +the order in St. Luke's? No. I believe that there has been excision +here: for I hold with Griesbach that it cannot have been the result of +accident[332]. + +[I take this opportunity to reply to a reviewer in the _Guardian_ +newspaper, who thought that he had reduced the authorities quoted from +before A.D. 400 on page 103 of The Traditional Text to two on our side +against seven, or rather six[333], on the other. Let me first say that +on this perilous field I am not surprised at being obliged to re-judge +or withdraw some authorities. I admit that in the middle of a long +catena of passages, I did not lay sufficient stress, as I now find, upon +the parallel passage in St. Luke vi. 27, 28. After fresh examination, I +withdraw entirely Clemens Alex., Paed. i. 8,--Philo of Carpasus, I. +7,--Ambrose, De Abrahamo ii. 30, Ps. cxviii. 12. 51, and the two +referred to Athanasius. Also I do not quote Origen, Cels. viii. +41,--Eusebius in Ps. iii.,--Apost. Const. vii. 4,--Greg. Nyss., In S. +Stephanum, because they may be regarded as doubtful, although for +reasons which I proceed to give they appear to witness in favour of our +contention. It is necessary to add some remarks before dealing with the +rest of the passages.] + +[1. It must be borne in mind, that this is a question both negative and +positive:--negative on the side of our opponents, with all the +difficulties involved in establishing a negative conclusion as to the +non-existence in St. Matthew's Gospel of clauses 2, 3, and 5,--and +positive for us, in the establishment of those clauses as part of the +genuine text in the passage which we are considering. If we can so +establish the clauses, or indeed any one of them, the case against us +fails: but unless we can establish all, we have not proved everything +that we seek to demonstrate. Our first object is to make the adverse +position untenable: when we have done that, we fortify our own. +Therefore both the Dean and myself have drawn attention to the fact that +our authorities are summoned as witnesses to the early existence in each +case of 'some of the clauses,' if they do not depose to all of them. We +are quite aware of the reply: but we have with us the advantage of +positive as against negative evidence. This advantage especially rules +in such an instance as the present, because alien circumstances govern +the quotation, and regulate particularly the length of it. Such +quotation is always liable to shortening, whether by leaving out +intermediate clauses, or by sudden curtailment in the midst of the +passage. Therefore, actual citation of separate clauses, being +undesigned and fortuitous, is much more valuable than omission arising +from what cause soever.] + +[2. The reviewer says that 'all four clauses are read by both texts,' +i.e. in St. Matthew and St. Luke, and appears to have been unaware as +regards the present purpose of the existence of the fifth clause, or +half-clause, in St. Matthew. Yet the words--[Greek: huper ... ton +diokonton humas] are a very label, telling incontestibly the origin of +many of the quotations. Sentences so distinguished with St. Matthew's +label cannot have come from St. Luke's Gospel. The reviewer has often +gone wrong here. The [Greek: huper]--instead of the [Greek: peri] after +[Symbol: Aleph]BL[Symbol: Xi] in St. Luke--should be to our opponents a +sign betraying the origin, though when it stands by itself--as in +Eusebius, In Ps. iii.--I do not press the passage.] + +[3. Nor again does the reviewer seem to have noticed the effects of the +context in shewing to which source a quotation is to be referred. It is +a common custom for Fathers to quote v. 45 in St. Matthew, which is +hardly conceivable if they had St. Luke vi. 27, 28 before them, or even +if they were quoting from memory. Other points in the context of greater +or less importance are often found in the sentence or sentences +preceding or following the words quoted, and are decisive of the +reference.] + +[The references as corrected are given in the note[334]. It will be seen +by any one who compares the verifications with the reviewer's list, how +his failure to observe the points just explained has led him astray. The +effect upon the list given in The Traditional Text will be that before +the era of St. Chrysostom twenty-five testimonies are given in favour of +the Traditional Text of St. Matt. v. 44, and adding Tertullian from the +Dean nine against it. And the totals on page 102, lines 2 and 3 will be +522 and 171 respectively.] + + +Sec. 7. + +Especially have we need to be on our guard against conniving at the +ejection of short clauses consisting of from twelve to fourteen +letters,--which proves to have been the exact length of a line in the +earliest copies. When such omissions leave the sense manifestly +imperfect, no evil consequence can result. Critics then either take no +notice of the circumstance, or simply remark in passing that the +omission has been the result of accident. In this way, [[Greek: hoi +pateres auton], though it is omitted by Cod. B in St. Luke vi. 26, is +retained by all the Editors: and the strange reading of Cod. [Symbol: +Aleph] in St. John vi. 55, omitting two lines, was corrected on the +manuscript in the seventh century, and has met with no assent in modern +times]. + + [Greek: EGAR] + [Greek: SARXMOUALETHOS] + [[Greek: ESTIBROSISKAI] + [Greek: TOAIMAMOUALETHOS]] + [Greek: ESTIPOSIS] + +But when, notwithstanding the omission of two or three words, the sense +of the context remains unimpaired,--the clause being of independent +signification,--then great danger arises lest an attempt should be made +through the officiousness of modern Criticism to defraud the Church of a +part of her inheritance. Thus [[Greek: kai hoi syn auto] (St. Luke viii. +45) is omitted by Westcott and Hort, and is placed in the margin by the +Revisers and included in brackets by Tregelles as if the words were of +doubtful authority, solely because some scribe omitted a line and was +followed by B, a few cursives, the Sahidic, Curetonian, Lewis, and +Jerusalem Versions]. + +When indeed the omission dates from an exceedingly remote period; took +place, I mean, in the third, or more likely still in the second century; +then the fate of such omitted words may be predicted with certainty. +Their doom is sealed. Every copy made from that defective original of +necessity reproduced the defects of its prototype: and if (as often +happens) some of those copies have descended to our times, they become +quoted henceforward as if they were independent witnesses[335]. Nor is +this all. Let the taint have been communicated to certain copies of the +Old Latin, and we find ourselves confronted with formidable because very +venerable foes. And according to the recently approved method of editing +the New Testament, the clause is allowed no quarter. It is declared +without hesitation to be a spurious accretion to the Text. Take, as an +instance of this, the following passage in St. Luke xii. 39. 'If' (says +our Lord) 'the master of the house had known in what hour + + [Greek: OKLEPTES] + [Greek: ERCHETAI] [[Greek: EGREGOR] + [Greek: ESENKAI]] [Greek: OUKANA] + [Greek: PHEKEN] + +his house to be broken through.' Here, the clause within brackets, which +has fallen out for an obvious reason, does not appear in Codd. [Symbol: +Aleph] and D. But the omission did not begin with [Symbol: Aleph]. Two +copies of the Old Latin are also without the words [Greek: egregoresen +kai],--which are wanting besides in Cureton's Syriac. Tischendorf +accordingly omits them. And yet, who sees not that such an amount of +evidence as this is wholly insufficient to warrant the ejection of the +clause as spurious? What is the 'Science' worth which cannot preserve to +the body a healthy limb like this? + +[The instances of omission which have now been examined at some length +must by no means be regarded as the only specimens of this class of +corrupt passages[336]. Many more will occur to the minds of the readers +of the present volume and of the earlier volume of this work. In fact, +omissions are much more common than Additions, or Transpositions, or +Substitutions: and this fact, that omissions, or what seem to be +omissions, are apparently so common,--to say nothing of the very strong +evidence wherewith they are attested--when taken in conjunction with the +natural tendency of copyists to omit words and passages, cannot but +confirm the general soundness of the position. How indeed can it +possibly be more true to the infirmities of copyists, to the verdict of +evidence on the several passages, and to the origin of the New Testament +in the infancy of the Church and amidst associations which were not +literary, to suppose that a terse production was first produced and +afterwards was amplified in a later age with a view to 'lucidity and +completeness[337],' rather than that words and clauses and sentences +were omitted upon definitely understood principles in a small class of +documents by careless or ignorant or prejudiced scribes? The reply to +this question must now be left for candid and thoughtful students to +determine.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[258] It will be observed that these are empirical, not logical, +classes. Omissions are found in many of the rest. + +[259] Last Twelve Verses of St. Mark's Gospel, chapter v. and Appendix +B. + +[260] See Dr. Gwynn's remarks in Appendix VII of The Traditional Text, +pp. 298-301. + +[261] The Revision Revised, pp. 42-45, 422-424: Traditional Text, p. +109, where thirty-eight testimonies are quoted before 400 A.D. + +[262] The expression of Jerome, that almost all the Greek MSS. omit this +passage, is only a translation of Eusebius. It cannot express his own +opinion, for he admitted the twelve verses into the Vulgate, and quoted +parts of them twice, i.e. ver. 9, ii. 744-5, ver. 14, i. 327 c. + +[263] Dr. Dobbin has calculated 330 omissions in St. Matthew, 365 in St. +Mark, 439 in St Luke, 357 in St. John, 384 in the Acts, and 681 in the +Epistles--3,556 in all as far as Heb. ix. 14, where it terminates. +Dublin University Magazine, 1859, p. 620. + +[264] Such as in Cod. D after St. Luke vi. 4. 'On the same day He beheld +a certain man working on the sabbath, and said unto him, "Man, blessed +art thou if thou knowest what thou doest; but if thou knowest not, thou +art cursed and a transgressor of the law"' (Scrivener's translation, +Introduction, p. 8). So also a longer interpolation from the Curetonian +after St. Matt. xx. 28. These are condemned by internal evidence as well +as external. + +[265] [Greek: kai ho peson epi ton lithon touton synthlasthesetai; eph' +on d' an pese, likmesei auton]. + +[266] iv. 25 d, 343 d.--What proves these two quotations to be from St. +Matt. xxi. 44, and not from St. Luke xx. 18, is, that they alike exhibit +expressions which are peculiar to the earlier Gospel. The first is +introduced by the formula [Greek: oudepote anegnote] (ver. 42: comp. +Orig. ii. 794 c), and both exhibit the expression [Greek: epi ton lithon +touton] (ver. 44), not [Greek: ep' ekeinon ton lithon]. Vainly is it +urged on the opposite side, that [Greek: pas ho peson] belongs to St. +Luke,--whereas [Greek: kai ho peson] is the phrase found in St. +Matthew's Gospel. Chrysostom (vii. 672) writes [Greek: pas ho pipton] +while professing to quote from St. Matthew; and the author of Cureton's +Syriac, who had this reading in his original, does the same. + +[267] P. 193. + +[268] P. 11. + +[269] vii. 672 a [freely quoted as Greg. Naz. in the Catena of Nicetas, +p. 669] xii. 27 d. + +[270] _Ap_. Mai, ii. 401 dis. + +[271] _Ap_. Chrys. vi. 171 c. + +[272] vii. 171 d. + +[273] iii^{2}. 86, 245: v. 500 e, 598 d. + +[274] 682-3 (Massuet 277). + +[275] iii. 786. + +[276] Theoph. 235-6 (= Mai, iv. 122). + +[277] ii. 660 a, b, c. + +[278] 'Praeterit et Lucifer.' + +[279] _Ap._ Galland. vi. 191 d. + +[280] Ibid. vii. 20 c. + +[281] Ibid. ix. 768 a. + +[282] [I am unable to find any place in the Dean's writings where he has +made this explanation. The following note, however, is appended here]:-- + +With verse 43, the long lesson for the Monday in Holy-week (ver. 18-43) +comes to an end. + +Verse 44 has a number all to itself (in other words, is sect. 265) in +the fifth of the Syrian Canons,--which contains whatever is found +exclusively in St. Matthew and St. Luke. + +[283] 'Omnino ex Lc. assumpta videntur.' + +[284] The section in St. Matthew is numbered 265,--in St. Luke, 274: +both being referred to Canon V, in which St. Matthew and St. Luke are +exclusively compared. + +[285] Vol. i. 13. + +[286] Letter to Pope Damasus. See my book on St. Mark, p. 28. + +[287] Dial. Sec. 78, _ad fin._ (p. 272). + +[288] Opp. ii. 215 a: v. part ii. 118 c. + +[289] See Holmes and Parsons' ed. of the LXX,--vol. iv. _in loc._ + +[290] Opp. pp. 143 and 206. P. 577 is allusive only. + +[291] Opp. vii. 158 c: ix. 638 b. + +[292] Opp. ii. 1345: iii. 763-4. + +[293] Sec. xv:--on which his learned editor (Bp. Jacobson) pertinently +remarks,--'Hunc locum Prophetae Clemens exhibuisset sicut a Christo +laudatam, S. Marc. vii. 6, si pro [Greek: apestin] dedisset [Greek: +apechei].' + +[294] Opp. i. 1502: iii. 1114. + +[295] _Ap._ Epiphanium, Opp. i. 218 d. + +[296] Opp. p. 461. + +[297] Opp. iii. 492 (a remarkable place): ii. 723: iv. 121. + +[298] De Trinitate, p. 242. + +[299] Opp. ii. 413 b. [Observe how this evidence leads us to +Alexandria.] + +[300] Opp. vii. 522 d. The other place, ix. 638 b, is uncertain. + +[301] It is uncertain whether Eusebius and Basil quote St. Matthew or +Isaiah: but a contemporary of Chrysostom certainly quotes the +Gospel,--Chrys. Opp. vi. 425 d (cf. p. 417, line 10). + +[302] But Eus.^{Es 589} [Greek: tous m.] + +[303] I have numbered the clauses for convenience.--It will perhaps +facilitate the study of this place, if (on my own responsibility) I +subjoin a representation of the same words in Latin:-- + + (1) Diligite inimicos vestros, + (2) benedicite maledicentes vos, + (3) benefacite odientibus vos, + (4) et orate pro calumniantibus vos, + (5) et persequentibus vos. + +[304] Opp. iv. 324 _bis_, 329 _bis_, 351. Gall. xiv. App. 106. + +[305] 'A large majority, all but five, omit it. Some add it in the +margin.' Traditional Text, p. 149. + +[306] Opp. p. 79, cf. 146. + +[307] Scap. c. 1. + +[308] Opp. iv. 946. + +[309] Haer. III. xviii. 5. + +[310] Dem. Evan. xiii. 7. + +[311] In Bapt. Christ. + +[312] Orig. Opp. i. 812. + +[313] Opp. i. 768: iv. 353. + +[314] Opp. i. 827: ii. 399. + +[315] Spect. c. 16: (Anim. c. 35): Pat. c. 6. + +[316] [In Ep. Joh. IV. Tract, ix. 3 (1, 3 (ver. 45 &c.)); In Ps. +cxxxviii. 37 (1, 3); Serm. XV. 8 (1, 3, 5); Serm. LXII. _in loc._ (1, 3, +4, 5).] + +[317] In Ps. xxxviii. 2. + +[318] Opp. pp. 303, 297. + +[319] Pro S. Athanas. ii. + +[320] Ps. cxviii. 10. 16; 9. 9. + +[321] Ep. ii. + +[322] Opp. iii. 167: iv. 619: v. 436:--ii. 340: v. 56: xii. 654:--ii. +258: iii. 41:--iv. 267: xii. 425. + +[323] Opp. iii. 379. + +[324] Praep. 654: Ps. 137, 699: Es. 589. + +[325] Pp. 3. 198. + +[326] Opp. p. 605 and 307. + +[327] Leg. pro Christian. 11. + +[328] Ad Autolycum, iii. 14. + +[329] Opp. i. 40. + +[330] Ad Philipp. c. 12. + +[331] Sec. 1. + +[332] Theodoret once (iv. 946) gives the verse as Tischendorf gives it: +but on two other occasions (i. 827: ii. 399) the same Theodoret exhibits +the second member of the sentence thus,--[Greek: eulogeite tous +diokontas humas] (so pseud.-Athan. ii. 95), which shews how little +stress is to be laid on such evidence as the first-named place +furnishes. + +Origen also (iv. 324 bis, 329 bis, 351) repeatedly gives the place as +Tischendorf gives it--but on one occasion, which it will be observed is +_fatal_ to his evidence (i. 768), he gives the second member thus,--iv. +353: + +[Greek: kai proseuchesthe huper ton epereazonton humas].... 1. 4. + +Next observe how Clemens Al. (605) handles the same place:-- + +[Greek: agapate tous echthrous humon, eulogeite tous kataromenous humas, +kai proseuchesthe huper ton epereazynton humin, kai ta homoia.]... 1, 2, +4.--3, 5. + +Justin M. (i. 40) quoting the same place from memory (and with exceeding +licence), yet is observed to recognize in part _both_ the clauses which +labour under suspicion:... 1, 2, 4.--3, 5. + +[Greek: euchesthe huper ton echthron humon kai agapate tous misountas +humas], which roughly represents [Greek: kai eulogeite tous kataromenous +humin kai euchesthe huper ton epereazonton humas]. + +The clause which hitherto lacks support is that which regards [Greek: +tous misountas humas]. But the required help is supplied by Irenaeus (i. +521), who (loosely enough) quotes the place thus,-- + +_Diligite inimicos vestros, et orate pro eis, qui vos oderunt._ ... 1 +(made up of 3, 4).--2, 5. + +And yet more by the most venerable witness of all, Polycarp, who +writes:--ad Philipp. c. 12:-- + +_Orate pro persequentibus et odientibus vos._... 4, 5.--1, 2, 3. + +I have examined [Didache] _Justin_, _Irenaeus_, _Eusebius_, +_Hippolytus_, _Cyril Al._, _Greg. Naz._, _Basil_, _Athan._, _Didymus_, +_Cyril Hier._, _Chrys._, _Greg. Nyss._, _Epiph._, _Theod._, _Clemens._ + +And the following are the results:-- + +Didache. [Greek: Eulogeite tous kataromenous humin, kai proseuchesthe +huper ton echthron humon, nesteuete huper ton diokonton humas ... humeis +de agapate tous misountas humas].... 2, 3, 4, 5. + +Aphraates, Dem. ii. The Latin Translation runs:--Diligite inimicos +vestros, benedicite ei qui vobis maledicit, orate pro eis qui vos vexunt +et persequuntur. + +Eusebius Prae 654.... 2, 4, 5, omitting 1, 3. + +Eusebius Ps 699.... 4, 5, omitting 1, 2, 3. + +Eusebius Es 589.... 1, 3, 4, 5, omitting 2. + +Clemens Al. 605.... 1, 2, 4, omitting 3, 5. + +Greg. Nyss. iii. 379.... 3, 4, 5, omitting 1, 2. + +Vulg. Diligite inimicos vestros, benefacite his qui oderunt vos, et +orate pro persequentibus et calumniantibus vos.... 1, 3, 5, 4, omitting +2. + +Hilary, 297. Benedicite qui vos persequuntur, et orate pro +calumniantibus vos ac persequentibus vos.... 2, 4, 5, omitting the +_first and third_. + +Hilary, 303. Diligite inimicos vestros, et orate pro calumniantibus vos +ac persequentibus vos.... 1, 4, 5, omitting the _second and third_. Cf. +128. + +Cyprian, 79 (cf. 146). Diligite inimicos vestros, et orate pro his qui +vos persequuntur.... 1, 5, omitting 2, 3, 4. + +Tertullian. Diligite (enim) inimicos vestros, (inquit,) et orate pro +maledicentibus vos--which apparently is meant for a quotation of 1, 2. +... 1, 2, omitting 3, 4, 5. + +Tertullian. Diligite (enim) inimicos vestros, (inquit,) et +maledicentibus benedicite, et orate pro persecutoribus vestris--which is +a quotation of 1, 2, 5. ... 1, 2, 5, omitting 3, 4. + +Tertullian. Diligere inimicos, et orare pro eis qui vos persequuntur. +... 1, 5, omitting 2, 3, 4. + +Tertullian. Inimicos diligi, maledicentes benedici.... 1, 2, omitting 3, +4, 5. + +Ambrose. Diligite inimicos vestros benefacite iis qui oderunt vos: orate +pro calumniantibus et persequentibus vos.... 1, 3, 4, 5, omitting 2. + +Ambrose. Diligite inimicos vestros, orate pro calumniantibus et +persequentibus vos.... 1, 4, 5, omitting 2, 3. + +Augustine. Diligite inimicos vestros benefacite his qui vos oderunt: et +orate pro eis qui vos persequuntur.... 1, 3, 5, omitting 2, 4. + +'Benedicite qui vos persequuntur, et orate pro calumniantibus vos ac +persequentibus vos.' Hilary, 297. + +Cyril Al. twice (i. 270: ii. 807) quotes the place thus,-- + +[Greek: eu poieite tous echthrous humon, kai proseuchesthe huper ton +epereazonton humas.] + +Chrys. (iii. 355) says + +[Greek: autos gar eipen, euchesthe huper ton echthron] [[Greek: humon]] + +and repeats the quotation at iii. 340 and xii. 453. + +So Tertull. (Apol. c. 31), pro inimicis deum orare, et _persecutoribus_ +nostris bone precari.... 1, 5. + +If the lost Greek of Irenaeus (i. 521) were recovered, we should +probably find + +[Greek: agapate tous echthrous humon, kai proseuchesthe huper ton +misounton humas]: + +and of Polycarp (ad Philipp. c. 12), + +[Greek: proseuchesthe huper ton diokonton kai misounton humas]. + +[333] _Dialogus Adamantii_ is not adducible within my limits, because +'it is in all probability the production of a later age.' My number was +eight. + +[334] Observe that 5 = [Greek: huper ... ton diokonton]. + +For-- + +Didache (Sec. 1), 2 (3), 3 (2), 4, 5. + +Polycarp (xii), 3 (2), 5. + +Justin Martyr, Apol. i. 15, 3 (2), 2 (3), 4 (4), 5? [Greek: huper ton +echthron] (=[Greek: diokonton]?), but the passage more like St. Luke, +the context more like St. Matt., ver. 45. + +Athenagoras (Leg. pro Christian. 11), 1, 2 (3). 5. ver. 45. + +Tertullian (De Patient, vi), 1, 2 (3), 5, pt. ver. 45. Add Apol. c. 31. +1, 5. + +Theophilus Ant. (Ad Autolycum iii. 14), 1, 4 (4), [Greek: hyper] and +ver. 46. + +Clemens Alex. (Strom, iv. 14), 1, 2 (3), 4 (4), pt. ver. 45; (Strom, +vii. 14), favours St. Matt. + +Origen (De Orat. i), 1, 4 (4), [Greek: huper] and in the middle of two +quotations from St. Matthew; (Cels. viii. 45), 1, 4 (4) [Greek: huper] +and all ver. 45. + +Eusebius (Praep. Evan. xiii. 7), 2 (3), 4 (4), 5, all ver. 45; (Comment, +in Is. 66), 1, 3 (2), 4 (4), 5, also ver. 45; (In Ps. cviii), 4, 5. + +Apost. Const, (i. 2), 1, 3 (2), 4 (4), 5, [Greek: huper] and ver. 45. + +Greg. Naz. (Orat. iv. 124), 2 (3), 4 (4), 5, [Greek: hupereuchesthai]. + +Greg. Nyss. (In Bapt. Christi), 3 (2), 4 (4), 5, [Greek: huper], ver. +45. + +Lucifer (Pro S. Athan. ii) omits 4 (4), but quotes ver. 44 ... end of +chapter. + +Pacianus (Epist. ii), 2 (3), 5. + +Hilary (Tract, in Ps. cxviii. 9. 9), 2 (3), 4 (4), 5; (ibid. 10. 16), 1, +4 (4), 5. (The reviewer omits 'ac persequentibus vos' in both cases.) + +Ambrose (In Ps. xxxviii. 2), 1, 3, 4, 5; (In Ps. xxxviii. 10), 1, 4 (4), +5. + +Aphraates (Dem. ii), 1, 2 (3), 4 (4), 5, [Greek: ethnikoi]. + +Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (p. 89), 2 (3), 3 (2), 4 (4), ver. 45. + +Number = 25. + +[335] See Traditional Text, p. 55. + +[336] For one of the two most important omissions in the New Testament, +viz. the _Pericope de Adultera_, see Appendix I. See also Appendix II. + +[337] Westcott and Hort, Introduction, p. 134. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +CAUSES OF CORRUPTION CHIEFLY INTENTIONAL. + +V. Transposition, VI. Substitution, and VII. Addition. + + +Sec. 1. + +One of the most prolific sources of Corrupt Readings, is Transposition, +or the arbitrary inversion of the order of the sacred words,--generally +in the subordinate clauses of a sentence. The extent to which this +prevails in Codexes of the type of B[Symbol: Aleph]CD passes belief. It +is not merely the occasional writing of [Greek: tauta panta] for [Greek: +panta tauta],--or [Greek: ho laos outos] for [Greek: outos ho laos], to +which allusion is now made: for if that were all, the phenomenon would +admit of loyal explanation and excuse. But what I speak of is a +systematic putting to wrong of the inspired words throughout the entire +Codex; an operation which was evidently regarded in certain quarters as +a lawful exercise of critical ingenuity,--perhaps was looked upon as an +elegant expedient to be adopted for improving the style of the original +without materially interfering with the sense. + +Let me before going further lay before the reader a few specimens of +Transposition. + +Take for example St. Mark i. 5,--[Greek: kai ebaptizonto pantes],--is +unreasonably turned into [Greek: pantes kai ebaptizonto]; whereby the +meaning of the Evangelical record becomes changed, for [Greek: pantes] +is now made to agree with [Greek: Hierosolumitai], and the Evangelist is +represented as making the very strong assertion that _all_ the people of +Jerusalem came to St. John and were baptized. This is the private +property of BDL[Symbol: Delta]. + +And sometimes I find short clauses added which I prefer to ascribe to +the misplaced critical assiduity of ancient Critics. Confessedly +spurious, these accretions to the genuine text often bear traces of +pious intelligence, and occasionally of considerable ability. I do not +suppose that they 'crept in' from the margin: but that they were +inserted by men who entirely failed to realize the wrongness of what +they did,--the mischievous consequences which might possibly ensue from +their well-meant endeavours to improve the work of the Holy Ghost. + +[Take again St. Mark ii. 3, in which the order in [Greek: pros auton +paralytikon pherontes],--is changed by [Symbol: Aleph]BL into [Greek: +pherontes pros auton paralytikon]. A few words are needed to explain to +those who have not carefully examined the passage the effect of this +apparently slight alteration. Our Lord was in a house at Capernaum with +a thick crowd of people around Him: there was no room even at the door. +Whilst He was there teaching, a company of people come to Him ([Greek: +erchontai pros auton]), four of the party carrying a paralytic on a bed. +When they arrive at the house, a few of the company, enough to represent +the whole, force their way in and reach Him: but on looking back they +see that the rest are unable to bring the paralytic near to Him ([Greek: +prosengisai auto][338]). Upon which they all go out and uncover the +roof, take up the sick man on his bed, and the rest of the familiar +story unfolds itself. Some officious scribe wished to remove all +antiquity arising from the separation of [Greek: paralytikon] from +[Greek: airomenon] which agrees with it, and transposed [Greek: +pherontes] to the verb it is attached to, thus clumsily excluding the +exquisite hint, clear enough to those who can read between the lines, +that in the ineffectual attempt to bring in the paralytic only some of +the company reached our Lord's Presence. Of course the scribe in +question found followers in [Symbol: Aleph]BL.] + +It will be seen therefore that some cases of transposition are of a kind +which is without excuse and inadmissible. Such transposition consists in +drawing back a word which occurs further on, but is thus introduced into +a new context, and gives a new sense. It seems to be assumed that since +the words are all there, so long as they be preserved, their exact +collocation is of no moment. Transpositions of that kind, to speak +plainly, are important only as affording conclusive proof that such +copies as B[Symbol: Aleph]D preserve a text which has undergone a sort +of critical treatment which is so obviously indefensible that the +Codexes themselves, however interesting as monuments of a primitive +age,--however valuable commercially and to be prized by learned and +unlearned alike for their unique importance,--are yet to be prized +chiefly as beacon-lights preserved by a watchful Providence to warn +every voyaging bark against making shipwreck on a shore already strewn +with wrecks[339]. + +Transposition may sometimes be as conveniently illustrated in English as +in Greek. St. Luke relates (Acts ii. 45, 46) that the first believers +sold their goods 'and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And +they, continuing daily,' &c. For this, Cod. D reads, 'and parted them +daily to all men as every man had need. And they continued in the +temple.' + + +Sec. 2. + +It is difficult to divine for what possible reason most of these +transpositions were made. On countless occasions they do not in the +least affect the sense. Often, they are incapable of being idiomatically +represented, in English. Generally speaking, they are of no manner of +importance, except as tokens of the licence which was claimed by +disciples, as I suspect, of the Alexandrian school [or exercised +unintentionally by careless or ignorant Western copyists]. But there +arise occasions when we cannot afford to be so trifled with. An +important change in the meaning of a sentence is sometimes effected by +transposing its clauses; and on one occasion, as I venture to think, the +prophetic intention of the Speaker is obscured in consequence. I allude +to St. Luke xiii. 9, where under the figure of a barren fig-tree, our +Lord hints at what is to befall the Jewish people, because in the fourth +year of His Ministry it remained unfruitful. 'Lo, these three years,' +(saith He to the dresser of His Vineyard), 'come I seeking fruit on this +fig-tree, and find none; cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?' +'Spare it for this year also' (is the rejoinder), 'and if it bear +fruit,--well: but if not, next year thou shalt cut it down.' But on the +strength of [Symbol: Aleph]BLT^{w}, some recent Critics would have us +read,--'And if it bear fruit next year,--well: but if not, thou shalt +cut it down':--which clearly would add a year to the season of the +probation of the Jewish race. The limit assigned in the genuine text is +the fourth year: in the corrupt text of [Symbol: Aleph]BLT^{w}, two bad +Cursives, and the two chief Egyptian versions, this period becomes +extended to the fifth. + +To reason about such transpositions of words, a wearisome proceeding at +best, soon degenerates into the veriest trifling. Sometimes, the order +of the words is really immaterial to the sense. Even when a different +shade of meaning is the result of a different collocation, that will +seem the better order to one man which seems not to be so to another. +The best order of course is that which most accurately exhibits the +Author's precise shade of meaning: but of this the Author is probably +the only competent judge. On our side, an appeal to actual evidence is +obviously the only resource: since in no other way can we reasonably +expect to ascertain what was the order of the words in the original +document. And surely such an appeal can be attended with only one +result: viz. the unconditional rejection of the peculiar and often +varying order advocated by the very few Codexes,--a cordial acceptance +of the order exhibited by every document in the world besides. + +I will content myself with inviting attention to one or two samples of +my meaning. It has been made a question whether St. Luke (xxiv. 7) +wrote,--[Greek: legon, Hoti dei ton huion tou anthropou paradothenai], +as all the MSS. in the world but four, all the Versions, and all the +available Fathers'[340] evidence from A.D. 150 downwards attest: or +whether he wrote,--[Greek: legon ton huion tou anthropou hoti dei +paradothenai], as [Symbol: Aleph]BCL,--and those four documents +only--would have us believe? [The point which first strikes a scholar is +that there is in this reading a familiar classicism which is alien to +the style of the Gospels, and which may be a symptom of an attempt on +the part of some early critic who was seeking to bring them into +agreement with ancient Greek models.] But surely also it is even obvious +that the correspondence of those four Codexes in such a particular as +this must needs be the result of their having derived the reading from +one and the same original. On the contrary, the agreement of all the +rest in a trifling matter of detail like the present can be accounted +for in only one way, viz., by presuming that they also have all been +derived through various lines of descent from a single document: but +_that_ document the autograph of the Evangelist. [For the great number +and variety of them necessitates their having been derived through +various lines of descent. Indeed, they must have the notes of number, +variety, as well as continuity, and weight also.] + + +Sec. 3. + +On countless occasions doubtless, it is very difficult--perhaps +impossible--to determine, apart from external evidence, which +collocation of two or more words is the true one, whether e.g. [Greek: +echei zoen] for instance or [Greek: zoen echei][341],--[Greek: egerthe +eutheos] or [Greek: eutheos egerthe][342],--[Greek: cholous, +typhlous]--or [Greek: typhlous, cholous][343],--shall be preferred. The +burden of proof rests evidently with innovators on Traditional use. + +Obvious at the same time is it to foresee that if a man sits down before +the Gospel with the deliberate intention of improving the style of the +Evangelists by transposing their words on an average of seven (B), eight +([Symbol: Aleph]), or twelve (D) times in every page, he is safe to +convict himself of folly in repeated instances, long before he has +reached the end of his task. Thus, when the scribe of [Symbol: Aleph], +in place of [Greek: exousian edoken auto kai krisin poiein][344], +presents us with [Greek: kai krisin edoken auto exousian poiein], we +hesitate not to say that he has written nonsense[345]. And when BD +instead of [Greek: eisi tines ton ode hestekoton] exhibit [Greek: eise +ton ode ton hestekoton], we cannot but conclude that the credit of those +two MSS. must be so far lowered in the eyes of every one who with true +appreciation of the niceties of Greek scholarship observes what has been +done. + +[This characteristic of the old uncials is now commended to the +attention of students, who will find in the folios of those documents +plenty of instances for examination. Most of the cases of Transposition +are petty enough, whilst some, as the specimens already presented to the +reader indicate, constitute blots not favourable to the general +reputation of the copies on which they are found. Indeed, they are so +frequent that they have grown to be a very habit, and must have +propagated themselves. For it is in this secondary character rather than +in any first intention, so to speak, that Transpositions, together with +Omissions and Substitutions and Additions, have become to some extent +independent causes of corruption. Originally produced by other forces, +they have acquired a power of extension in themselves. + +It is hoped that the passages already quoted may be found sufficient to +exhibit the character of the large class of instances in which the pure +Text of the original Autographs has been corrupted by Transposition. +That it has been so corrupted, is proved by the evidence which is +generally overpowering in each case. There has clearly been much +intentional perversion: carelessness also and ignorance of Greek +combined with inveterate inaccuracy, characteristics especially of +Western corruption as may be seen in Codex D and the Old Latin versions, +must have had their due share in the evil work. The result has been +found in constant slurs upon the sacred pages, lessening the beauty and +often perverting the sense,--a source of sorrow to the keen scholar and +reverent Christian, and reiterated indignity done in wantonness or +heedlessness to the pure and easy flow of the Holy Books.] + + +Sec. 4. + +[All the Corruption in the Sacred Text may be classed under four heads, +viz. Omission, Transposition, Substitution, and Addition. We are +entirely aware that, in the arrangement adopted in this Volume for +purposes of convenience, Scientific Method has been neglected. The +inevitable result must be that passages are capable of being classed +under more heads than one. But Logical exactness is of less practical +value than a complete and suitable treatment of the corrupted passages +that actually occur in the four Gospels. + +It seems therefore needless to supply with a scrupulousness that might +bore our readers a disquisition upon Substitution which has not forced +itself into a place amongst Dean Burgon's papers, although it is found +in a fragmentary plan of this part of the treatise. Substituted forms or +words or phrases, such as [Greek: OS] ([Greek: hos]) for [Greek: THS] +([Greek: Theos])[346] [Greek: eporei] for [Greek: epoiei] (St. Mark vi. +20), or [Greek: ouk oidate dokimazein] for [Greek: dokimazete] (St. Luke +xii. 56), have their own special causes of substitution, and are +naturally and best considered under the cause which in each case gave +them birth. + +Yet the class of Substitutions is a large one, if Modifications, as they +well may be, are added to it[347]. It will be readily concluded that +some substitutions are serious, some of less importance, and many +trivial. Of the more important class, the reading of [Greek: +hamartematos] for [Greek: kriseos] (St. Mark iii. 29) which the Revisers +have adopted in compliance with [Symbol: Aleph]BL[Symbol: Delta] and +three Cursives, is a specimen. It is true that D reads [Greek: +hamartias] supported by the first corrector of C, and three of the +Ferrar group (13, 69, 346): and that the change adopted is supported by +the Old Latin versions except f, the Vulgate, Bohairic, Armenian, +Gothic, Lewis, and Saxon. But the opposition which favours [Greek: +kriseos] is made up of A, C under the first reading and the second +correction, [Symbol: Phi][Symbol: Sigma] and eleven other Uncials, the +great bulk of the Cursives, f, Peshitto, and Harkleian, and is superior +in strength. The internal evidence is also in favour of the Traditional +reading, both as regards the usage of [Greek: enochos], and the natural +meaning given by [Greek: kriseos]. [Greek: Hamartematos] has clearly +crept in from ver. 28. Other instances of Substitution may be found in +the well-known St. Luke xxiii. 45 ([Greek: tou heliou eklipontos]), St. +Matt. xi. 27 ([Greek: bouletai apokalypsai]), St. Matt. xxvii. 34 +([Greek: oinon] for [Greek: oxos]), St. Mark i. 2 ([Greek: Hesaia] for +[Greek: tois prophetais]), St. John i. 18 ([Greek: ho Monogenes Theos] +being a substitution made by heretics for [Greek: ho Monogenes Huios]), +St. Mark vii. 31 ([Greek: dia Sidonos] for [Greek: kai Sidonos]). These +instances may perhaps suffice: many more may suggest themselves to +intelligent readers. Though most are trivial, their cumulative force is +extremely formidable. Many of these changes arose from various causes +which are described in many other places in this book.] + + +Sec. 5. + +[The smallest of the four Classes, which upon a pure survey of the +outward form divide among themselves the surface of the entire field of +Corruption, is that of Additions[348]. And the reason of their smallness +of number is discoverable at once. Whilst it is but too easy for scribes +or those who have a love of criticism to omit words and passages under +all circumstances, or even to vary the order, or to use another word or +form instead of the right one, to insert anything into the sacred Text +which does not proclaim too glaringly its own unfitness--in a word, to +invent happily--is plainly a matter of much greater difficulty. +Therefore to increase the Class of Insertions or Additions or +Interpolations, so that it should exceed the Class of Omissions, is to +go counter to the natural action of human forces. There is no difficulty +in leaving out large numbers of the Sacred Words: but there is much +difficulty in placing in the midst of them human words, possessed of +such a character and clothed in such an uniform, as not to betray to +keen observation their earthly origin. + +A few examples will set this truth in clearer light. It is remarkable +that efforts at interpolation occur most copiously amongst the books of +those who are least fitted to make them. We naturally look amongst the +representatives of the Western school where Greek was less understood +than in the East where Greek acumen was imperfectly represented by Latin +activity, and where translation into Latin and retranslation into Greek +was a prolific cause of corruption. Take then the following passage from +the Codex D (St. Luke vi. 4):-- + +'On the same day He beheld a certain man working on the sabbath, and +said to him, "Man, blessed art thou if thou knowest what thou doest; but +if thou knowest not, thou art cursed and a transgressor of the law."' + +And another from the Curetonian Syriac (St. Matt. xx. 28), which occurs +under a worse form in D. + +'But seek ye from little to become greater, and not from greater to +become less. When ye are invited to supper in a house, sit not down in +the best place, lest some one come who is more honourable than thou, and +the lord of the supper say to thee, "Go down below," and thou be ashamed +in the presence of them that have sat down. But if thou sit down in the +lower place, and one who is inferior to thee come in, the lord also of +the supper will say to thee, "Come near, and come up, and sit down," and +thou shalt have greater honour in the presence of them that have sat +down.' + +Who does not see that there is in these two passages no real 'ring of +genuineness'? + +Take next some instances of lesser insertions.] + + +Sec. 6. + +Conspicuous beyond all things in the Centurion of Capernaum (St. Matt. +viii. 13) was his faith. It occasioned wonder even in the Son of Man. Do +we not, in the significant statement, that when they who had been sent +returned to the house, 'they found the servant whole that had been +sick[349],' recognize by implication the assurance that the Centurion, +because he needed no such confirmation of his belief, went _not_ with +them; but enjoyed the twofold blessedness of remaining with Christ, and +of believing without seeing? I think so. Be this however as it may, +[Symbol: Aleph]CEMUX besides about fifty cursives, append to St. Matt. +viii. 13 the clearly apocryphal statement, 'And the Centurion returning +to his house in that same hour found the servant whole.' It does not +improve the matter to find that Eusebius[350], besides the Harkleian and +the Ethiopic versions, recognize the same appendix. We are thankful, +that no one yet has been found to advocate the adoption of this patent +accretion to the inspired text. Its origin is not far to seek. I presume +it was inserted in order to give a kind of finish to the story[351]. + +[Another and that a most remarkable Addition may be found in St. Matt. +xxiv. 36, into which the words [Greek: oude ho Huios], 'neither the Son' +have been transferred from St. Mark xiii. 32 in compliance with a wholly +insufficient body of authorities. Lachmann was the leader in this +proceeding, and he has been followed by Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, +and the Revisers. The latter body add in their margin, 'Many +authorities, some ancient, omit _neither the Son_.' How inadequate to +the facts of the case this description is, will be seen when the +authorities are enumerated. But first of those who have been regarded by +the majority of the Revisers as the disposers of their decision, +according to the information supplied by Tischendorf. + +They are (_a_) of Uncials [Symbol: Aleph] (in the first reading and as +re-corrected in the seventh century) BD; (_b_) five Cursives (for a +present of 346 may be freely made to Tischendorf); (_c_) ten Old Latin +copies also the Aureus (Words.), some of the Vulgate (four according to +Wordsworth), the Palestinian, Ethiopic, Armenian; (_d_) Origen (Lat. +iii. 874), Hilary (733^{a}), Cyril Alex. (Mai Nova Pp. Bibliotheca, +481), Ambrose (i. 1478^{f}). But Irenaeus (Lat. i. 386), Cyril (Zach. +800), Chrysostom (ad locum) seem to quote from St. Mark. So too, as +Tischendorf admits, Amphilochius. + +On the other hand we have, (_a_) the chief corrector of [Symbol: +Aleph](c^{a})[Symbol: Phi][Symbol: Sigma] with thirteen other Uncials +and the Greek MSS. of Adamantius and Pierius mentioned by Jerome[352]; +(_b_) all the Cursives, as far as is known (except the aforenamed); +(_c_) the Vulgate, with the Peshitto, Harkletan, Lewis, Bohairic, and +the Sahidic; (_d_) Jerome (in the place just now quoted), St. Basil who +contrasts the text of St. Matthew with that of St. Mark, Didymus, who is +also express in declaring that the three words in dispute are not found +in St. Matthew (Trin. 195), St. John Damascene (ii. 346), Apollonius +Philosophus (Galland. ix. 247), Euthymius Zigabenus (in loc), Paulinus +(iii. 12), St. Ambrose (ii. 656^{a}), and Anastasius Sinaita (Migne, +lxxxix. 941). + +Theophylact (i. 133), Hesychius Presb. (Migne, lxiii. 142) Eusebius +(Galland. ix. 580), Facundus Herm. (Galland. xi. 782), Athanasius (ii. +660), quote the words as from the Gospel without reference, and may +therefore refer to St. Mark. Phoebadius (Galland. v. 251), though quoted +against the Addition by Tischendorf, is doubtful. + +On which side the balance of evidence inclines, our readers will judge. +But at least they cannot surely justify the assertion made by the +majority of the Revisers, that the Addition is opposed only by 'many +authorities, some ancient,' or at any rate that this is a fair and +adequate description of the evidence opposed to their decision. + +An instance occurs in St. Mark iii. 16 which illustrates the +carelessness and tastelessness of the handful of authorities to which it +pleases many critics to attribute ruling authority. In the fourteenth +verse, it had been already stated that our Lord 'ordained twelve,' +[Greek: kai epoiese dodeka]; but because [Symbol: Aleph]B[Symbol: Delta] +and C (which was corrected in the ninth century with a MS. of the +Ethiopic) reiterate these words two verses further on, Tischendorf with +Westcott and Hort assume that it is necessary to repeat what has been so +recently told. Meanwhile eighteen other uncials (including A[Symbol: +Phi][Symbol: Sigma] and the third hand of C); nearly all the Cursives; +the Old Latin, Vulgate, Peshitto, Lewis, Harkleian, Gothic, Armenian, +and the other MSS. of the Ethiopic omit them. It is plainly unnecessary +to strengthen such an opposition by researches in the pages of the +Fathers. + +Explanation has been already given, how the introductions to Lections, +and other Liturgical formulae, have been added by insertion to the Text +in various places. Thus [Greek: ho Iesous] has often been inserted, and +in some places remains wrongly (in the opinion of Dean Burgon) in the +pages of the Received Text. The three most important additions to the +Received Text occur, as Dean Burgon thought, in St. Matt. vi. 18, where +[Greek: en to phanero] has crept in from v. 6 against the testimony of a +large majority both of Uncial and of Cursive MSS.: in St. Matt. xxv. 13, +where the clause [Greek: en he ho huios tou anthropou erchetai] seemed +to him to be condemned by a superior weight of authority: and in St. +Matt. xxvii. 35, where the quotation ([Greek: hina plerothe ... ebalon +kleron]) must be taken for similar reasons to have been originally a +gloss.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[338] [Greek: prosengisai] is transitive here, like [Greek: engizo] in +Gen. xlviii. 10, 13: 2 Kings iv. 6: Isaiah xlvi. 13. + +[339] The following are the numbers of Transpositions supplied by B, +[Symbol: Aleph], and D in the Gospels:--B, 2,098: [Symbol: Aleph], +2,299: D, 3,471. See Revision Revised, pp. 12, 13. + +[340] Marcion (Epiph. i. 317): Eusebius (Mai, iv. 266): Epiphanius (i. +348): Cyril (Mai, ii. 438): John Thess. (Gall. xiii. 188). + +[341] St. John v. 26, in [Symbol: Aleph] + +[342] St. Mark ii. 12, in D. + +[343] St. Luke xiv. 13, in [Symbol: Aleph]B. + +[344] St. John v. 27. + +[345] 'Nec aliter' (says Tischendorf) 'Tertull.' (Prax. 21),--'_et +judicium dedit illi facere in potestate_.' But this (begging the learned +critic's pardon) is quite a different thing. + +[346] See the very learned, ingenious, and satisfactory disquisition in +The Revision Revised, pp. 424-501. + +[347] The numbers are:-- + + B, substitutions, 935; modifications, 1,132; total, 2,067. + [Symbol: Aleph], " 1,114; " 1,265; " 2,379. + D, " 2,121; " 1,772; " 3,893. + +Revision Revised, pp. 12, 13. + +[348] B has 536 words added in the Gospels: [Symbol: Aleph], 839: D, +2,213. Revision Revised, pp. 12, 13. The interpolations of D are +notorious. + +[349] St. Luke vii. 10. + +[350] Theoph. p. 212. + +[351] An opposite fate, strange to say, has attended a short clause in +the same narrative, which however is even worse authenticated. Instead +of [Greek: oude en to Israel tosauten pistin euron] (St. Matt. viii. +10), we are invited henceforth to read [Greek: par' oudeni tosauten +pistin en to Israel euron];--a tame and tasteless gloss, witnessed to by +only B, and five cursives,--but having no other effect, if it should +chance to be inserted, than to mar and obscure the Divine utterance. + +For when our Saviour declares 'Not even in Israel have I found so great +faith,' He is clearly contrasting this proficiency of an earnest Gentile +against whatever of a like nature He had experienced in His dealing with +the Jewish people; and declaring the result. He is contrasting Jacob's +descendants, the heirs of so many lofty privileges, with this Gentile +soldier: their spiritual attainments with his; and assigning the palm to +him. Substitute 'With no one in Israel have I found so great faith,' and +the contrast disappears. Nothing else is predicated but a greater +measure of faith in one man than in any other. The author of this feeble +attempt to improve upon St. Matthew's Gospel is found to have also tried +his hand on the parallel place in St. Luke, but with even inferior +success: for there his misdirected efforts survive only in certain +copies of the Old Latin. Ambrose notices his officiousness, remarking +that it yields an intelligible sense; but that, 'juxta Graecos,' the +place is to be read differently (i. 1376.) + +It is notorious that a few copies of the Old Latin (Augustine _once_ +(iv. 322), though he quotes the place nearly twenty times in the usual +way) and the Egyptian versions exhibit the same depravation. Cyril +habitually employed an Evangelium which was disfigured in the same way +(iii. 833, also Opp. v. 544, ed. Pusey.). But are we out of such +materials as these to set about reconstructing the text of Scripture? + +[352] 'In quibusdam Latinis codicibus additum est, _neque Filius_: quum +in Graecis, et maxime Adamantii et Pierii exemplaribus hoc non habeatur +adscriptum. Sed quia in nonnullis legitur, disserendum videtur.' Hier. +vii. 199 a. 'Gaudet Arius et Eunomius, quasi ignorantia magistri gloria +discipulorum sit, et dicunt:--"Non potest aequalis esse qui novit et qui +ignorat."' Ibid. 6. + +In vi. 919, we may quote from St. Mark. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CAUSES OF CORRUPTION CHIEFLY INTENTIONAL. + +VIII. Glosses. + + +Sec. 1. + +'Glosses,' properly so called, though they enjoy a conspicuous place in +every enumeration like the present, are probably by no means so numerous +as is commonly supposed. For certainly _every_ unauthorized accretion to +the text of Scripture is not a 'gloss': but only those explanatory words +or clauses which have surreptitiously insinuated themselves into the +text, and of which no more reasonable account can be rendered than that +they were probably in the first instance proposed by some ancient Critic +in the way of useful comment, or necessary explanation, or lawful +expansion, or reasonable limitation of the actual utterance of the +Spirit. Thus I do not call the clause [Greek: nekrous egeirete] in St. +Matt. x. 8 'a gloss.' It is a gratuitous and unwarrantable +interpolation,--nothing else but a clumsy encumbrance of the text[353]. + +[Glosses, or _scholia_, or comments, or interpretations, are of various +kinds, but are generally confined to Additions or Substitutions, since +of course we do not omit in order to explain, and transposition of words +already placed in lucid order, such as the sacred Text may be reasonably +supposed to have observed, would confuse rather than illustrate the +meaning. A clause, added in Hebrew fashion[354], which may perhaps +appear to modern taste to be hardly wanted, must not therefore be taken +to be a gloss.] + +Sometimes a 'various reading' is nothing else but a gratuitous +gloss;--the unauthorized substitution of a common for an uncommon word. +This phenomenon is of frequent occurrence, but only in Codexes of a +remarkable type like B[Symbol: Aleph]CD. A few instances follow:-- + +1. The disciples on a certain occasion (St. Matt. xiii. 36), requested +our Lord to 'explain' to them ([Greek: PHRASON hemin], 'they said') the +parable of the tares. So every known copy, except two: so, all the +Fathers who quote the place,--viz. Origen, five times[355],-- +Basil[356],--J. Damascene[357]. And so _all_ the Versions[358]. But +because B-[Symbol: Aleph], instead of [Greek: phrason], exhibit [Greek: +DIASAPHESON] ('make clear to us'),--which is also _once_ the reading of +Origen[359], who was but too well acquainted with Codexes of the same +depraved character as the archetype of B and [Symbol: Aleph],--Lachmann, +Tregelles (not Tischendorf), Westcott and Hort, and the Revisers of +1881, assume that [Greek: diasapheson] (a palpable gloss) stood in the +inspired autograph of the Evangelist. They therefore thrust out [Greek: +phrason] and thrust in [Greek: diasapheson]. I am wholly unable to +discern any connexion between the premisses of these critics and their +conclusions[360]. + +2. Take another instance. [Greek: Pygme],--the obscure expression +([Symbol: Delta] leaves it out) which St. Mark employs in vii. 3 to +denote the strenuous frequency of the Pharisees' ceremonial +washings,--is exchanged by Cod. [Symbol: Aleph], but by no other known +copy of the Gospels, for [Greek: pykna], which last word is of course +nothing else but a sorry gloss. Yet Tischendorf degrades [Greek: pygme] +and promotes [Greek: pykna] to honour,--happily standing alone in his +infatuation. Strange, that the most industrious of modern accumulators +of evidence should not have been aware that by such extravagances he +marred his pretension to critical discernment! Origen and +Epiphanius--the only Fathers who quote the place--both read [Greek: +pygme]. It ought to be universally admitted that it is a mere waste of +time that we should argue out a point like this[361]. + + +Sec. 2. + +A gloss little suspected, which--not without a pang of regret--I proceed +to submit to hostile scrutiny, is the expression 'daily' ([Greek: kath' +hemeran]) in St. Luke ix. 23. Found in the Peshitto and in Cureton's +Syriac,--but only in some Copies of the Harkleian version[362]: found in +most Copies of the Vulgate,--but largely disallowed by copies of the Old +Latin[363]: found also in Ephraem Syrus[364],--but clearly not +recognized by Origen[365]: found again in [Symbol: Aleph]AB and six +other uncials,--but not found in CDE and ten others: the expression +referred to cannot, at all events, plead for its own retention in the +text higher antiquity than can be pleaded for its exclusion. Cyril, (if +in such a matter the Syriac translation of his Commentary on St. Luke +may be trusted,) is clearly an authority for reading [Greek: kath' +hemeran] in St. Luke ix. 23[366]; but then he elsewhere twice quotes St. +Luke ix. 23 in Greek without it[367]. Timotheus of Antioch, of the fifth +century, omits the phrase[368]. Jerome again, although he suffered +'_quotidie_' to stand in the Vulgate, yet, when for his own purposes he +quotes the place in St. Luke[369],--ignores the word. All this is +calculated to inspire grave distrust. On the other hand, [Greek: kath' +hemeran] enjoys the support of the two Egyptian Versions,--of the +Gothic,--of the Armenian,--of the Ethiopic. And this, in the present +state of our knowledge, must be allowed to be a weighty piece of +evidence in its favour. + +But the case assumes an entirely different aspect the instant it is +discovered that out of the cursive copies only eight are found to +contain [Greek: kath hemeran] in St. Luke ix. 23[370]. How is it to be +explained that nine manuscripts out of every ten in existence should +have forgotten how to transmit such a remarkable message, had it ever +been really so committed to writing by the Evangelist? The omission +(says Tischendorf) is explained by the parallel places[371]. Utterly +incredible, I reply; as no one ought to have known better than +Tischendorf himself. We now scrutinize the problem more closely; and +discover that the very _locus_ of the phrase is a matter of uncertainty. +Cyril once makes it part of St. Matt. x. 38[372]. Chrysostom twice +connects it with St. Matt. xvi. 24[373]. Jerome, evidently regarding the +phrase as a curiosity, informs us that 'juxta antiqua exemplaria' it was +met with in St. Luke xiv. 27[374]. All this is in a high degree +unsatisfactory. We suspect that we ourselves enjoy some slight +familiarity with the 'antiqua exemplaria' referred to by the Critic; and +we freely avow that we have learned to reckon them among the least +reputable of our acquaintance. Are they not represented by those +Evangelia, of which several copies are extant, that profess to have been +'transcribed from, and collated with, ancient copies at Jerusalem'? +These uniformly exhibit [Greek: kath hemeran] in St. Luke ix. 23[375]. +But then, if the phrase be a gloss,--it is obvious to inquire,--how is +its existence in so many quarters to be accounted for? + +Its origin is not far to seek. Chrysostom, in a certain place, after +quoting our Lord's saying about taking up the cross and following Him, +remarks that the words 'do not mean that we are actually to bear the +wood upon our shoulders, but to keep the prospect of death steadily +before us, and like St. Paul to "die daily"[376].' The same Father, in +the two other places already quoted from his writings, is observed +similarly to connect the Saviour's mention of 'bearing the Cross' with +the Apostle's announcement--'I die daily.' Add, that Ephraem Syrus[377], +and Jerome quoted already,--persistently connect the same two places +together; the last named Father even citing them in immediate +succession;--and the inference is unavoidable. The phrase in St. Luke +ix. 23 must needs be a very ancient as well as very interesting +expository gloss, imported into the Gospel from 1 Cor. xv. 31,--as +Mill[378] and Matthaei[379] long since suggested. + +Sincerely regretting the necessity of parting with an expression with +which one has been so long familiar, we cannot suffer the sentimental +plea to weigh with us when the Truth of the Gospel is at stake. Certain +it is that but for Erasmus, we should never have known the regret: for +it was he that introduced [Greek: kath hemeran] into the Received Text. +The MS. from which he printed is without the expression: which is also +not found in the Complutensian. It is certainly a spurious accretion to +the inspired Text. + +[The attention of the reader is particularly invited to this last +paragraph. The learned Dean has been sneered at for a supposed +sentimental and effeminate attachment to the Textus Receptus. He was +always ready to reject words and phrases, which have not adequate +support; but he denied the validity of the evidence brought against many +texts by the school of Westcott and Hort, and therefore he refused to +follow them in their surrender of the passages.] + + +Sec. 3. + +Indeed, a great many 'various readings,' so called, are nothing else but +very ancient interpretations,--fabricated readings therefore,--of which +the value may be estimated by the fact that almost every trace of them +has long since disappeared. Such is the substitution of [Greek: pheugei] +for [Greek: anechoresen] in St. John vi. 15;--which, by the way, +Tischendorf thrusts into his text on the sole authority of [Symbol: +Aleph], some Latin copies including the Vulgate, and Cureton's +Syriac[380]: though Tregelles ignores its very existence. That our +Lord's 'withdrawal' to the mountain on that occasion was of the nature +of 'flight,' or 'retreat' is obvious. Hence Chrysostom and Cyril remark +that He '_fled_ to the mountain.' And yet both Fathers (like Origen and +Epiphanius before them) are found to have read [Greek: anechoresen]. + +Almost as reasonably in the beginning of the same verse might +Tischendorf (with [Symbol: Aleph]) have substituted [Greek: +anadeiknynai] for [Greek: hina poiesosin auton], on the plea that +Cyril[381] says, [Greek: zetein auton anadeixai kai basilea]. We may on +no account suffer ourselves to be imposed upon by such shallow pretences +for tampering with the text of Scripture: or the deposit will never be +safe. A patent gloss,--rather an interpretation,--acquires no claim to +be regarded as the genuine utterance of the Holy Spirit by being merely +found in two or three ancient documents. It is the little handful of +documents which loses in reputation,--not the reading which gains in +authority on such occasions. + +In this way we are sometimes presented with what in effect are new +incidents. These are not unfrequently discovered to be introduced in +defiance of the reason of the case; as where (St. John xiii. 34) Simon +Peter is represented (in the Vulgate) as _actually saying_ to St. John, +'Who is it concerning whom He speaks?' Other copies of the Latin +exhibit, 'Ask Him who it is,' &c.: while [Symbol: Aleph]BC (for on such +occasions we are treated to any amount of apocryphal matter) would +persuade us that St. Peter only required that the information should be +furnished him by St. John:--'Say who it is of whom He speaks.' Sometimes +a very little licence is sufficient to convert the _oratio obliqua_ into +the recta. Thus, by the change of a single letter (in [Symbol: Aleph]BX) +Mary Magdalene is made to say to the disciples 'I have seen the Lord' +(St. John xx. 18). But then, as might have been anticipated, the new +does not altogether agree with the old. Accordingly D and others +paraphrase the remainder of the sentence thus,--'and she signified to +them what He had said unto her.' How obvious is it to foresee that on +such occasions the spirit of officiousness will never know when to stop! +In the Vulgate and Sahidic versions the sentence proceeds, 'and He told +these things unto me.' + +Take another example. The Hebraism [Greek: meta salpingos phones +megales] (St. Matt. xxiv. 31) presents an uncongenial ambiguity to +Western readers, as our own incorrect A. V. sufficiently shews. Two +methods of escape from the difficulty suggested themselves to the +ancients:--(_a_) Since 'a trumpet of great sound' means nothing else but +'a loud trumpet,' and since this can be as well expressed by [Greek: +salpingos megales], the scribes at a very remote period are found to +have omitted the word [Greek: phones]. The Peshitto and Lewis +(interpreting rather than translating) so deal with the text. +Accordingly, [Greek: phones] is not found in [Symbol: Aleph]L[Symbol: +Delta] and five cursives. Eusebius[382], Cyril Jerus.[383], +Chrysostom[384], Theodoret[385], and even Cyprian[386] are also without +the word. (_b_) A less violent expedient was to interpolate [Greek: kai] +before [Greek: phones]. This is accordingly the reading of the best +Italic copies, of the Vulgate, and of D. So Hilary[387] and Jerome[388], +Severianus[389], Asterius[390], ps.-Caesarius[391], Damascene[392] and +at least eleven cursive copies, so read the place.--There can be no +doubt at all that the commonly received text is right. It is found in +thirteen uncials with B at their head: in Cosmas[393], Hesychius[394], +Theophylact[395]. But the decisive consideration is that the great body +of the cursives have faithfully retained the uncongenial Hebraism, and +accordingly imply the transmission of it all down the ages: a phenomenon +which will not escape the unprejudiced reader. Neither will he overlook +the fact that the three 'old uncials' (for A and C are not available +here) advocate as many different readings: the two wrong readings being +respectively countenanced by our two most ancient authorities, viz. the +Peshitto version and the Italic. It only remains to point out that +Tischendorf blinded by his partiality for [Symbol: Aleph] contends here +for the mutilated text, and Westcott and Hort are disposed to do the +same. + + +Sec. 4. + +Recent Editors are agreed that we are henceforth to read in St. John +xviii. 14 [Greek: apothanein] instead of [Greek: apolesthai]:--'Now +Caiaphas was he who counselled the Jews that it was expedient that one +man should _die_' (instead of '_perish_') 'for the people.' There is +certainly a considerable amount of ancient testimony in favour of this +reading: for besides [Symbol: Aleph]BC, it is found in the Old Latin +copies, the Egyptian, and Peshitto versions, besides the Lewis MS., the +Chronicon, Cyril, Nonnus, Chrysostom. Yet may it be regarded as certain +that St. John wrote [Greek: apolesthai] in this place. The proper proof +of the statement is the consentient voice of all the copies,--except +about nineteen of loose character:--we know their vagaries but too well, +and decline to let them impose upon us. In real fact, nothing else is +[Greek: apothanein] but a critical assimilation of St. John xviii. 14 to +xi. 50,--somewhat as 'die' in our A. V. has been retained by King James' +translators, though they certainly had [Greek: apolesthai] before them. + +Many of these glosses are rank, patent, palpable. Such is the +substitution (St. Mark vi. 11) of [Greek: hos an topos me dexetai hymas] +by [Symbol: Aleph]BL[Symbol: Delta] for [Greek: hosoi an me dexontai +hymas],--which latter is the reading of the Old Latin and Peshitto, as +well as of the whole body of uncials and cursives alike. Some Critic +evidently considered that the words which follow, 'when you go out +_thence_,' imply that _place_, not _persons_, should have gone before. +Accordingly, he substituted 'whatsoever place' for '_whosoever_[396]': +another has bequeathed to us in four uncial MSS. a lasting record of his +rashness and incompetency. Since however he left behind the words +[Greek: mede akousosin hymon], which immediately follow, who sees not +that the fabricator has betrayed himself? I am astonished that so patent +a fraud should have imposed upon Tischendorf, and Tregelles, and +Lachmann, and Alford, and Westcott and Hort. But in fact it does not +stand alone. From the same copies [Symbol: Aleph]BL[Symbol: Delta] (with +two others, CD) we find the woe denounced in the same verse on the +unbelieving city erased ([Greek: amen lego hymin, anektoteron estai +Sodomois e Gomorrois en hemerai kriseos, e te polei ekeine]). Quite idle +is it to pretend (with Tischendorf) that these words are an importation +from the parallel place in St. Matthew. A memorable note of diversity +has been set on the two places, which in _all_ the copies is religiously +maintained, viz. [Greek: Sodomois e Gomorrois], in St. Mark: [Greek: ge +Sodomon kai Gomorron], in St. Matt. It is simply incredible that this +could have been done if the received text in this place had been of +spurious origin. + + +Sec. 5. + +The word [Greek: apechei] in St. Mark xiv. 41 has proved a +stumbling-block. The most obvious explanation is probably the truest. +After a brief pause[397], during which the Saviour has been content to +survey in silence His sleeping disciples;--or perhaps, after telling +them that they will have time and opportunity enough for sleep and rest +when He shall have been taken from them;--He announces the arrival of +'the hour,' by exclaiming, [Greek: Apechei],--'It is enough;' or, 'It is +sufficient;' i.e. _The season for repose is over._ + +But the 'Revisers' of the second century did not perceive that [Greek: +apechei] is here used impersonally[398]. They understood the word to +mean 'is fully come'; and supplied the supposed nominative, viz. [Greek: +to telos][399]. Other critics who rightly understood [Greek: apechei] to +signify 'sufficit,' still subjoined 'finis.' The Old Latin and the +Syriac versions must have been executed from Greek copies which +exhibited,--[Greek: apechei to telos]. This is abundantly proved by the +renderings _adest finis_ (f),--_consummatus est finis_ (a); from which +the change to [Greek: apechei to telos KAI he hora] (the reading of D) +was obvious: _sufficit finis et hora_ (d q); _adest enim consummatio; +et_ (ff^{2} _venit_) _hora_ (c); or, (as the Peshitto more fully gives +it), _appropinquavit finis, et venit hora_[400]. Jerome put this matter +straight by simply writing _sufficit_. But it is a suggestive +circumstance, and an interesting proof how largely the reading [Greek: +apechei to telos] must once have prevailed, that it is frequently met +with in cursive copies of the Gospels to this hour[401]. Happily it is +an 'old reading' which finds no favour at the present day. It need not +therefore occupy us any longer. + +As another instance of ancient Glosses introduced to help out the sense, +the reading of St. John ix. 22 is confessedly [Greek: hina ean tis auton +homologesei Christon]. So all the MSS. but one, and so the Old Latin. So +indeed all the ancient versions except the Egyptian. Cod. D alone adds +[Greek: einai]: but [Greek: einai] must once have been a familiar gloss: +for Jerome retains it in the Vulgate: and indeed Cyril, whenever he +quotes the place[402], exhibits [Greek: ton Christon einai]. Not so +however Chrysostom[403] and Gregory of Nyssa[404]. + + +Sec. 6. + +There is scarcely to be found, amid the incidents immediately preceding +our Saviour's Passion, one more affecting or more exquisite than the +anointing of His feet at Bethany by Mary the sister of Lazarus, which +received its unexpected interpretation from the lips of Christ Himself. +'Let her alone. Against the day of My embalming hath she kept it.' (St. +John xii. 7.) He assigns to her act a mysterious meaning of which the +holy woman little dreamt. She had treasured up that precious unguent +against the day,--(with the presentiment of true Love, she knew that it +could not be very far distant),--when His dead limbs would require +embalming. But lo, she beholds Him reclining at supper in her sister's +house: and yielding to a Divine impulse she brings forth her reserved +costly offering and bestows it on Him at once. Ah, she little knew,--she +could not in fact have known,--that it was the only anointing those +sacred feet were destined ever to enjoy!... In the meantime through a +desire, as I suspect, to bring this incident into an impossible harmony +with what is recorded in St. Mark xvi. 1, with which obviously it has no +manner of connexion, a scribe is found at some exceedingly remote period +to have improved our Lord's expression into this:--'Let her alone in +order that against the day of My embalming she may keep it.' Such an +exhibition of the Sacred Text is its own sufficient condemnation. What +that critic exactly meant, I fail to discover: but I am sure he has +spoilt what he did not understand: and though it is quite true that +[Symbol: Aleph]BD with five other Uncial MSS. and Nonnus, besides the +Latin and Bohairic, Jerusalem, Armenian, and Ethiopic versions, besides +four errant cursives so exhibit the place, this instead of commending +the reading to our favour, only proves damaging to the witnesses by +which it is upheld. We learn that no reliance is to be placed even in +such a combination of authorities. This is one of the places which the +Fathers pass by almost in silence. Chrysostom[405] however, and +evidently Cyril Alex.[406], as well as Ammonius[407] convey though +roughly a better sense by quoting the verse with [Greek: epoiese] for +[Greek: tetereken]. Antiochus[408] is express. [A and eleven other +uncials, and the cursives (with the petty exception already noted), +together with the Peshitto, Harkleian (which only notes the other +reading in the margin), Lewis, Sahidic, and Gothic versions, form a body +of authority against the palpable emasculation of the passage, which for +number, variety, weight, and internal evidence is greatly superior to +the opposing body. Also, with reference to continuity and antiquity it +preponderates plainly, if not so decisively; and the context of D is +full of blunders, besides that it omits the next verse, and B and +[Symbol: Aleph] are also inaccurate hereabouts[409]. So that the +Traditional text enjoys in this passage the support of all the Notes of +Truth.] + +In accordance with what has been said above, for [Greek: Aphes auten; +eis ten hemeran tou entaphiasmou mou tetereken auto] (St. John xii. 7), +the copies which it has recently become the fashion to adore, read +[Greek: aphes auten hina ... terese auto]. This startling +innovation,--which destroys the sense of our Saviour's words, and +furnishes a sorry substitute which no one is able to explain[410],--is +accepted by recent Editors and some Critics: yet is it clearly nothing +else but a stupid correction of the text,--introduced by some one who +did not understand the intention of the Divine Speaker. Our Saviour is +here discovering to us an exquisite circumstance,--revealing what until +now had been a profound and tender secret: viz. that Mary, convinced by +many a sad token that the Day of His departure could not be very far +distant, had some time before provided herself with this costly +ointment, and 'kept it' by her,--intending to reserve it against the +dark day when it would be needed for the 'embalming' of the lifeless +body of her Lord. And now it wants only a week to Easter. She beholds +Him (with Lazarus at His side) reclining in her sister's house at +supper, amid circumstances of mystery which fill her soul with awful +anticipation. She divines, with love's true instinct, that this may +prove her only opportunity. Accordingly, she '_anticipates_ to anoint' +([Greek: proelabe myrisai], St. Mark xiv. 8) His Body: and, yielding to +an overwhelming impulse, bestows upon Him all her costly offering at +once!... How does it happen that some professed critics have overlooked +all this? Any one who has really studied the subject ought to know, from +a mere survey of the evidence, on which side the truth in respect of the +text of this passage must needs lie. + + +Sec. 7. + +Our Lord, in His great Eucharistic address to the eternal Father, thus +speaks:--'I have glorified Thee on the earth. I have perfected the work +which Thou gavest Me to do' (St. John xvii. 4). Two things are stated: +first, that the result of His Ministry had been the exhibition upon +earth of the Father's 'glory[411]': next, that the work which the Father +had given the Son to do[412] was at last finished[413]. And that this is +what St. John actually wrote is certain: not only because it is found in +all the copies, except twelve of suspicious character (headed by +[Symbol: Aleph]ABCL); but because it is vouched for by the Peshitto[414] +and the Latin, the Gothic and the Armenian versions[415]: besides a +whole chorus of Fathers; viz. Hippolytus[416], Didymus[417], +Eusebius[418], Athanasius[419], Basil[420], Chrysostom[421], Cyril[422], +ps.-Polycarp[423], the interpolator of Ignatius[424], and the authors of +the Apostolic Constitutions[425]: together with the following among the +Latins:--Cyprian[426], Ambrose[427], Hilary[428], Zeno[429], +Cassian[430], Novatian[431], certain Arians[432], Augustine[433]. + +But the asyndeton (so characteristic of the fourth Gospel) proving +uncongenial to certain of old time, D inserted [Greek: kai]. A more +popular device was to substitute the participle ([Greek: teleiosas]) for +[Greek: eteleiosa]: whereby our Lord is made to say that He had +glorified His Father's Name 'by perfecting' or 'completing'--'in that He +had finished'--the work which the Father had given Him to do; which +damages the sense by limiting it, and indeed introduces a new idea. A +more patent gloss it would be hard to find. Yet has it been adopted as +the genuine text by all the Editors and all the Critics. So general is +the delusion in favour of any reading supported by the combined evidence +of [Symbol: Aleph]ABCL, that the Revisers here translate--'I glorified +Thee on the earth, _having accomplished_ ([Greek: teleiosas]) the work +which Thou hast given Me to do:' without so much as vouchsafing a hint +to the English reader that they have altered the text. + +When some came with the message 'Thy daughter is dead: why troublest +thou the Master further?' the Evangelist relates that Jesus '_as soon as +He heard_ ([Greek: eutheos akousas]) what was being spoken, said to the +ruler of the synagogue, Fear not: only believe.' (St. Mark v. 36.) For +this, [Symbol: Aleph]BL[Symbol: Delta] substitute 'disregarding ([Greek: +parakousas]) what was being spoken': which is nothing else but a sorry +gloss, disowned by every other copy, including ACD, and all the +versions. Yet does [Greek: parakousas] find favour with Teschendorf, +Tregelles, and others. + + +Sec. 8. + +In this way it happened that in the earliest age the construction of St. +Luke i. 66 became misapprehended. Some Western scribe evidently imagined +that the popular saying concerning John Baptist,--[Greek: ti apa to +paidion touto estai], extended further, and comprised the Evangelist's +record,--[Greek: kai cheir Kyriou en met' autou]. To support this +strange view, [Greek: kai] was altered into [Greek: kai gar], and +[Greek: esti] was substituted for [Greek: en]. It is thus that the place +stands in the Verona copy of the Old Latin (b). In other quarters the +verb was omitted altogether: and that is how D, Evan. 59 with the +Vercelli (a) and two other copies of the Old Latin exhibit the place. +Augustine[434] is found to have read indifferently--'manus enim Domini +cum illo,' and 'cum illo est': but he insists that the combined clauses +represent the popular utterance concerning the Baptist[435]. Unhappily, +there survives a notable trace of the same misapprehension in [Symbol: +Aleph]-BCL which, alone of MSS., read [Greek: kai gar ... en][436]. The +consequence might have been anticipated. All recent Editors adopt this +reading, which however is clearly inadmissible. The received text, +witnessed to by the Peshitto, Harkleian, and Armenian versions, is +obviously correct. Accordingly, A and all the uncials not already named, +together with the whole body of the cursives, so read the place. With +fatal infelicity the Revisers exhibit 'For indeed the hand of the Lord +was with him.' They clearly are to blame: for indeed the MS. evidence +admits of no uncertainty. It is much to be regretted that not a single +very ancient Greek Father (so far as I can discover) quotes the place. + + +Sec. 9. + +It seems to have been anciently felt, in connexion with the first +miraculous draught of fishes, that St. Luke's statement (v. 7) that the +ships were so full that 'they were sinking' ([Greek: hoste bythizesthai +auta]) requires some qualification. Accordingly C inserts [Greek: ede] +(were 'just' sinking); and D, [Greek: para ti] ('within a little'): +while the Peshitto the Lewis and the Vulgate, as well as many copies of +the Old Latin, exhibit 'ita ut _pene_.' These attempts to improve upon +Scripture, and these paraphrases, indicate laudable zeal for the +truthfulness of the Evangelist; but they betray an utterly mistaken view +of the critic's office. The truth is, [Greek: bythizesthai], as the +Bohairic translators perceived and as most of us are aware, means 'were +beginning to sink.' There is no need of further qualifying the +expression by the insertion with Eusebius[437] of any additional word. + +I strongly suspect that the introduction of the name of 'Pyrrhus' into +Acts xx. 4 as the patronymic of 'Sopater of Beraea,' is to be accounted +for in this way. A very early gloss it certainly is, for it appears in +the Old Latin: yet, the Peshitto knows nothing of it, and the Harkleian +rejects it from the text, though not from the margin. Origen and the +Bohairic recognize it, but not Chrysostom nor the Ethiopic. I suspect +that some foolish critic of the primitive age invented [Greek: Pyrou] +(or [Greek: Pyrrou]) out of [Greek: Beroiaios] (or [Greek: Berroiaios]) +which follows. The Latin form of this was 'Pyrus[438],' 'Pyrrhus,' or +'Pirrus[439].' In the Sahidic version he is called the 'son of Berus' +([Greek: huios Berou]),--which confirms me in my conjecture. But indeed, +if it was with some _Beraean_ that the gloss originated,--and what more +likely?--it becomes an interesting circumstance that the inhabitants of +that part of Macedonia are known to have confused the _p_ and _b_ +sounds[440].... This entire matter is unimportant in itself, but the +letter of Scripture cannot be too carefully guarded: and let me invite +the reader to consider,--If St. Luke actually wrote [Greek: Sopatros +Pyrrou Beroiaios], why at the present day should five copies out of six +record nothing of that second word? + +FOOTNOTES: + +[353] See The Traditional Text, pp. 51-52. + +[354] St. Mark vi. 33. See The Traditional Text, p. 80. + +[355] iii. 3 e: 4 b and c: 442 a: 481 b. Note, that the [Greek: rhesis] +in which the first three of these quotations occur seems to have been +obtained by De la Rue from a Catena on St. Luke in the Mazarine Library +(see his Monitum, iii. 1). A large portion of it (viz. from p. 3, line +25, to p. 4, line 29) is ascribed to 'I. Geometra in Proverbia' in the +Catena in Luc. of Corderius, p. 217. + +[356] ii. 345. + +[357] ii. 242. + +[358] The Latin is _edissere_ or _dissere_, _enarra_ or _narra_, both +here and in xv. 15. + +[359] iv. 254 a. + +[360] In St. Matthew xiii. 36 the Peshitto Syriac has [Syriac letters] +'declare to us' and in St. Matthew xv. 15 the very same words, there +being _no_ various reading in either of these two passages. + +The inference is, that the translators had the same Greek word in each +place, especially considering that in the only other place where, +besides St. Matt. xiii. 36, v. 1., [Greek: diasaphein] occurs, viz. St. +Matt. xviii. 31, they render [Greek: diesaphesan] by [Syriac +letters]--they made known. + +Since [Greek: phrazein] only occurs in St. Matt. xiii. 36 and xv. 15, we +cannot generalize about the Peshitto rendering of this verb. Conversely, +[Syriac letters] is used as the rendering of other Greek words besides +[Greek: phrazein], e.g. + + of [Greek: epiluein], St. Mark iv. 34; + of [Greek: diermeneuein], St. Luke xxiv. 27; + of [Greek: dianoigein], St. Luke xxiv. 32 and Acts xvii. 3. + +On the whole I have _no doubt_ (though it is not susceptible of _proof_) +that the Peshitto had, in both the places quoted above, [Greek: +phrason]. + +[361] In St. Mark vii. 3, the translators of the Peshitto render +whatever Greek they had before them by [Syriac letters], which means +'eagerly,' 'sedulously'; cf. use of the word for [Greek: spoudaios], St. +Luke vii. 4; [Greek: epimelos], St Luke xv. 8. + +The Root means 'to cease'; thence 'to have leisure for a thing': it has +nothing to do with 'Fist.' [Rev. G.H. Gwilliam.] + +[362] Harkl. Marg. _in loc._, and Adler, p. 115. + +[363] Viz. a b c e ff^{2} l q. + +[364] [Greek: 'Opheilei psyche, en to logo tou Kyriou katakolouthousa, +ton stauron autou kath' hemeran airein, hos gegraptai; tout' estin, +hetoimos echousa hypomenein dia Christon pasan thlipsin kai peirasmon, +k.t.l.] (ii. 326 e). In the same spirit, further on, he exhorts to +constancy and patience,--[Greek: ton epi tou Kyriou thanaton en +epithymiai pantote pro ophthalmon echontes, kai (kathos eiretai hypo tou +Kyriou) kath' hemeran ton stauron airontes, ho esti thanatos] (ii. 332 +e). It is fair to assume that Ephraem's reference is to St. Luke ix. 23, +seeing that he wrote not in Greek but in Syriac, and that in the +Peshitto the clause is found only in that place. + +[365] [Greek: Akoue Louka legontos],--i. 281 f. Also, int. iii. 543. + +[366] Pp. 221 (text), 222, 227. + +[367] ii. 751 e, 774 e (in Es.)--the proof that these quotations are +from St. Luke; that Cyril exhibits [Greek: arnesastho] instead of +[Greek: aparn]. (see Tischendorf's note on St. Luke ix. 23). The +quotation in i. 40 (Glaph.) _may_ be from St. Matt. xvi. 24. + +[368] Migne, vol. lxxxvi. pp. 256 and 257. + +[369] After quoting St. Mark viii. 34,--'aut juxta Lucam, _dicebat ad +cunctos: Si quis vult post me venire, abneget semetipsum; et tollat +crucem suam, et sequetur me_.'--i. 852 c. + +This is found in his solution of _XI Quaestiones_, 'ad Algasiam,'--free +translations probably from the Greek of some earlier Father. Six lines +lower down (after quoting words found nowhere in the Gospels), Jerome +proceeds:--'_Quotidie_ credens in Christum _tollit crucem suam_, et +negat seipsum.' + +[370] This spurious clause adorned the lost archetype of Evann. 13, 69, +124, 346 (Ferrar's four); and survives in certain other Evangelia which +enjoy a similar repute,--as 1, 33, 72 (with a marginal note of +distrust), 131. + +[371] They are St. Matt. xvi. 24; St. Mark viii. 34. + +[372] i. 597 c (Adorat.)--elsewhere (viz. i. 21 d; 528 c; 580 b; iv. +1058 a; v^(2). 83 c) Cyril quotes the place correctly. Note, that the +quotation found in Mai, iii. 126, which Pusey edits (v. 418), in Ep. ad +Hebr., is nothing else but an excerpt from the treatise de Adorat. i. +528 c. + +[373] In his Commentary on St. Matt. xvi. 24:--[Greek: Dia pantos tou +biou touto dei poiein. Dienekos gar, phesi, periphere ton thanaton +touton, kai kath hemeran hetoimos eso pros sphagen] (vii. 557 b). Again, +commenting on ch. xix. 21,--[Greek: Dei proegoumenos akolouthein to +Christo toutesti, panta ta par autou keleuomena poiein, pros sphgas +einai hetoimon, kai thanaton kathemerinin] (p. 629 e):--words which +Chrysostom immediately follows up by quoting ch. xvi. 24 (630 a). + +[374] i. 949 b,--'_Quotidie_ (inquit Apostolus) _morior propter vestram +salutem_. Et Dominus, juxta antiqua exemplaria, _Nisi quis tulerit +crucem suam quotidie, et sequntus fuerit me, non potest meus esse +discipulus_'--Commenting on St. Matt. x. 38 (vol. vii. p. 65 b), Jerome +remarks,--'in alio Evangelio scribitur,--_Qui non accipit crucem suam +quotidie_': but the corresponding place to St. Matt. x. 38, in the +sectional system of Eusebius (Greek and Syriac), is St. Luke xiv. 27. + +[375] Viz. Evan. 473 (2^{pe}). + +[376] ii. 66 c, d. + +[377] See above, p. 175, note 2. + +[378] Proleg. p. cxlvi. + +[379] N.T. (1803), i. 368. + +[380] Lewis here agrees with Peshitto. + +[381] iv. 745. + +[382] In Ps. 501. + +[383] 229 and 236. + +[384] vii. 736: xi. 478. + +[385] ii. 1209. + +[386] 269. + +[387] 577. + +[388] i. 881. + +[389] _Ap._ Chrys. vi. 460. + +[390] _Ap_. Greg. Nyss. ii. 258. + +[391] Galland. vi. 53. + +[392] ii. 346. + +[393] ii. 261, 324. + +[394] _Ap._ Greg. Nyss. iii. 429. + +[395] i. 132. + +[396] The attentive student of the Gospels will recognize with interest +how gracefully the third Evangelist St. Luke (ix. 5) has overcome this +difficulty. + +[397] Augustine, with his accustomed acuteness, points out that St. +Mark's narrative shews that after the words of 'Sleep on now and take +your rest,' our Lord must have been silent for a brief space in order to +allow His disciples a slight prolongation of the refreshment which his +words had already permitted them to enjoy. Presently, He is heard to +say,--'It is enough'--(that is, 'Ye have now slept and rested enough'); +and adds, 'The hour is come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the +hands of sinners.' 'Sed quia commemorata non est ipsa interpositio +silentii Domini, propterea coartat intellectum, ut in illis verbis alia +pronuntiatio requiratur.'--iii^{2}. 106 a, b. The passage in question +runs thus:--[Greek: Katheidete to loipon kai anapauesthe. apechei; +elthen he hora; idou, k.t.l.] + +[398] Those who saw this, explain the word amiss. Note the Scholion +(Anon. Vat.) in Possinus, p. 321:--[Greek: apechei, toutesti, +peplerotai, telos echei to kat' eme]. Last Twelve Verses, p. 226, note. + +[399] I retract unreservedly what I offered on this subject in a former +work (Last Twelve Verses, &c., pp. 225, 226). I was misled by one who +seldom indeed misleads,--the learned editor of the Codex Bezae (_in +loco_). + +[400] So Peshitto. Lewis, _venit hora, appropinquat finis_. Harkleian, +_adest consummatio, venit hora._ + +[401] [Greek: apechei]. Vg. _sufficit_. + [Greek: to telos], 13, 69, +124, 2^{pe}, c^{scr}, 47, 54, 56, 61, 184, 346, 348, 439. d, q, +_sufficit finis et hora_. f, _adest finis, venit hora_. c, ff^{2}, +_adest enim consummatio, et_ (ff^{2} venit) _hora_. a, _consummatus est +finis, advenit hora_. It is certain that one formidable source of danger +to the sacred text has been its occasional obscurity. This has +resulted,--(1) sometimes in the omission of words: [Greek: +Deuteroproton]. (2) Sometimes in substitution, as [Greek: pygmei]. (3) +Sometimes in the insertion of unauthorized matter: thus, [Greek: to +telos], as above. + +[402] iii. 105: iv. 913. So also iv. 614. + +[403] vi. 283. + +[404] i. 307. + +[405] viii. 392. + +[406] iv. 696. + +[407] Cramer's Cat. _in loc._ + +[408] 1063. + +[409] E.g. ver. 1. All the three officiously insert [Greek: ho Iesous], +in order to prevent people from imagining that Lazarus raised Lazarus +from the dead; ver. 4, D gives the gloss, [Greek: apo Karyotou] for +[Greek: Iskariotes]; ver. 13, spells thus,--[Greek: hossana]; besides +constant inaccuracies, in which it is followed by none. [Symbol: Aleph] +omits nineteen words in the first thirty-two verses of the chapter, +besides adding eight and making other alterations. B is far from being +accurate. + +[410] 'Let her alone, that she may keep it against the day of My +burying' (Alford). But how _could_ she keep it after she had poured it +all out?--'Suffer her to have kept it against the day of My preparation +unto burial' (M^{c}Clellan). But [Greek: hina terese] could hardly mean +that: and the day of His [Greek: entaphiasmos] had not yet arrived. + +[411] Consider ii. 11 and xi. 40: St. Luke xiii. 17: Heb. i. 3. + +[412] Consider v. 36 and iv. 34. + +[413] Consider St. John xix. 30. Cf. St. Luke xxii. 37. + +[414] Lewis, 'and the work I have perfected': Harkleian, 'because the +work,' &c., 'because' being obelized. + +[415] The Bohairic and Ethiopic are hostile. + +[416] i. 245 (= Constt. App. viii. 1; _ap._ Galland. iii. 199). + +[417] P. 419. + +[418] Mcell p. 157. + +[419] i. 534. + +[420] ii. 196, 238: iii. 39. + +[421] v. 256: viii. 475 _bis_. + +[422] iii. 542: iv. 954: v^{1}. 599, 601, 614: v^{2}. 152.--In the +following places Cyril shews himself acquainted with the other +reading,--iv. 879: v^{1}. 167, 366: vi. 124. + +[423] Polyc. frg. v (ed. Jacobson). + +[424] Ps.-Ignat. 328. + +[425] _Ap._ Gall. iii. 215. + +[426] P. 285. + +[427] ii. 545. + +[428] Pp. 510, 816, 1008. But _opere constummato_, pp. 812, 815.--Jerome +also once (iv. 563) has _opere completo._ + +[429] _Ap._ Gall. v. 135. + +[430] P. 367. + +[431] _Ap._ Gall. iii. 308. + +[432] _Ap._ Aug. viii. 622. + +[433] iii^{2}. 761: viii. 640. + +[434] v. 1166. + +[435] Ibid. 1165 g, 1166 a. + +[436] Though the Bohairic, Gothic, Vulgate, and Ethiopic versions are +disfigured in the same way, and the Lewis reads 'is.' + +[437] Theoph. 216 note: [Greek: hos kindyneuein auta bythisthenai]. + +[438] Cod. Amiat. + +[439] g,--at Stockholm. + +[440] Stephanus De Urbibus in voc. [Greek: Beroia]. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +CAUSES OF CORRUPTION CHIEFLY INTENTIONAL. + +IX. Corruption by Heretics. + + +Sec. 1. + +The Corruptions of the Sacred Text which we have been hitherto +considering, however diverse the causes from which they may have +resulted, have yet all agreed in this: viz. that they have all been of a +lawful nature. My meaning is, that apparently, at no stage of the +business has there been _mala fides_ in any quarter. We are prepared to +make the utmost allowance for careless, even for licentious +transcription; and we can invent excuses for the mistaken zeal, the +officiousness if men prefer to call it so, which has occasionally not +scrupled to adopt conjectural emendations of the Text. To be brief, so +long as an honest reason is discoverable for a corrupt reading, we +gladly adopt the plea. It has been shewn with sufficient clearness, I +trust, in the course of the foregoing chapters, that the number of +distinct causes to which various readings may reasonably be attributed +is even extraordinary. + +But there remains after all an alarmingly large assortment of textual +perturbations which absolutely refuse to fall under any of the heads of +classification already enumerated. They are not to be accounted for on +any ordinary principle. And this residuum of cases it is, which +occasions our present embarrassment. They are in truth so exceedingly +numerous; they are often so very considerable; they are, as a rule, so +very licentious; they transgress to such an extent all regulations; they +usurp so persistently the office of truth and faithfulness, that we +really know not what to think about them. Sometimes we are presented +with gross interpolations,--apocryphal stories: more often with +systematic lacerations of the text, or transformations as from an angel +of light. + +We are constrained to inquire, How all this can possibly have come +about? Have there even been persons who made it their business of set +purpose to corrupt the [sacred deposit of Holy Scripture entrusted to +the Church for the perpetual illumination of all ages till the Lord +should come?] + +At this stage of the inquiry, we are reminded that it is even notorious +that in the earliest age of all, the New Testament Scriptures were +subjected to such influences. In the age which immediately succeeded the +Apostolic there were heretical teachers not a few, who finding their +tenets refuted by the plain Word of God bent themselves against the +written Word with all their power. From seeking to evacuate its +teaching, it was but a single step to seeking to falsify its testimony. +Profane literature has never been exposed to such hostility. I make the +remark in order also to remind the reader of one more point of +[dissimilarity between the two classes of writings. The inestimable +value of the New Testament entailed greater dangers, as well as secured +superior safeguards. Strange, that a later age should try to discard the +latter]. + +It is found therefore that Satan could not even wait for the grave to +close over St. John. 'Many' there were already who taught that Christ +had not come in the flesh. Gnosticism was in the world already. St. Paul +denounces it by name[441], and significantly condemns the wild fancies +of its professors, their dangerous speculations as well as their absurd +figments. Thus he predicts and condemns[442] their pestilential teaching +in respect of meats and drinks and concerning matrimony. In his Epistle +to Timothy[443] he relates that Hymeneus and Philetus taught that the +Resurrection was past already. What wonder if a flood of impious +teaching broke loose on the Church when the last of the Apostles had +been gathered in, and another generation of men had arisen, and the age +of Miracles was found to be departing if it had not already departed, +and the loftiest boast which any could make was that they had known +those who had [seen and heard the Apostles of the Lord]. + +The 'grievous wolves' whose assaults St. Paul predicted as imminent, and +against which he warned the heads of the Ephesian Church[444], did not +long 'spare the flock.' Already, while St. John was yet alive, had the +Nicolaitans developed their teaching at Ephesus[445] and in the +neighbouring Church of Pergamos[446]. Our risen Lord in glory announced +to His servant John that in the latter city Satan had established his +dwelling-place[447]. Nay, while those awful words were being spoken to +the Seer of Patmos, the men were already born who first dared to lay +their impious hands on the Gospel of Christ. + +No sooner do we find ourselves out of Apostolic times and among +monuments of the primitive age than we are made aware that the sacred +text must have been exposed at that very early period to disturbing +influences which, on no ordinary principles, can be explained. Justin +Martyr, Irenaeus, Origen, Clement of Alexandria,--among the Fathers: +some Old Latin MSS.[448] the Bohairic and Sahidic, and coming later on, +the Curetonian and Lewis,--among the Versions: of the copies Codd. B and +[Symbol: Aleph]: and above all, coming later down still, Cod. D:--these +venerable monuments of a primitive age occasionally present us with +deformities which it is worse than useless to extenuate,--quite +impossible to overlook. Unauthorized appendixes,--tasteless and stupid +amplifications,--plain perversions of the meaning of the +Evangelists,--wholly gratuitous assimilations of one Gospel to +another,--the unprovoked omission of passages of profound interest and +not unfrequently of high doctrinal import:--How are such phenomena as +these to be accounted for? Again, in one quarter, we light upon a +systematic mutilation of the text so extraordinary that it is as if some +one had amused himself by running his pen through every clause which was +not absolutely necessary to the intelligibleness of what remained. In +another quarter we encounter the thrusting in of fabulous stories and +apocryphal sayings which disfigure as well as encumber the text.--How +will any one explain all this? + +Let me however at the risk of repeating what has been already said +dispose at once of an uneasy suspicion which is pretty sure to suggest +itself to a person of intelligence after reading what goes before. If +the most primitive witnesses to our hand are indeed discovered to bear +false witness to the text of Scripture,--whither are we to betake +ourselves for the Truth? And what security can we hope ever to enjoy +that any given exhibition of the text of Scripture is the true one? Are +we then to be told that in this subject-matter the maxim '_id verius +quod prius_' does not hold? that the stream instead of getting purer as +we approach the fountain head, on the contrary grows more and more +corrupt? + +Nothing of the sort, I answer. The direct reverse is the case. Our +appeal is always made to antiquity; and it is nothing else but a truism +to assert that the oldest reading is also the best. A very few words +will make this matter clear; because a very few words will suffice to +explain a circumstance already adverted to which it is necessary to keep +always before the eyes of the reader. + +The characteristic note, the one distinguishing feature, of all the +monstrous and palpable perversions of the text of Scripture just now +under consideration is this:--that they are never vouched for by the +oldest documents generally, but only by a few of them,--two, three, or +more of the oldest documents being observed as a rule to yield +conflicting testimony, (which in this subject-matter is in fact +contradictory). In this way the oldest witnesses nearly always refute +one another, and indeed dispose of one another's evidence almost as +often as that evidence is untrustworthy. And now I may resume and +proceed. + +I say then that it is an adequate, as well as a singularly satisfactory +explanation of the greater part of those gross depravations of Scripture +which admit of no legitimate excuse, to attribute them, however +remotely, to those licentious free-handlers of the text who are declared +by their contemporaries to have falsified, mutilated, interpolated, and +in whatever other way to have corrupted the Gospel; whose blasphemous +productions of necessity must once have obtained a very wide +circulation: and indeed will never want some to recommend and uphold +them. What with those who like Basilides and his followers invented a +Gospel of their own:--what with those who with the Ebionites and the +Valentinians interpolated and otherwise perverted one of the four +Gospels until it suited their own purposes:--what with those who like +Marcion shamefully maimed and mutilated the inspired text:--there must +have been a large mass of corruption festering in the Church throughout +the immediate post-Apostolic age. But even this is not all. There were +those who like Tatian constructed Diatessarons, or attempts to weave the +fourfold narrative into one,--'Lives of Christ,' so to speak;--and +productions of this class were multiplied to an extraordinary extent, +and as we certainly know, not only found their way into the remotest +corners of the Church, but established themselves there. And will any +one affect surprise if occasionally a curious scholar of those days was +imposed upon by the confident assurance that by no means were those many +sources of light to be indiscriminately rejected, but that there must be +some truth in what they advanced? In a singularly uncritical age, the +seductive simplicity of one reading,--the interesting fullness of +another,--the plausibility of a thirds--was quite sure to recommend its +acceptance amongst those many eclectic recensions which were constructed +by long since forgotten Critics, from which the most depraved and +worthless of our existing texts and versions have been derived. +Emphatically condemned by Ecclesiastical authority, and hopelessly +outvoted by the universal voice of Christendom, buried under fifteen +centuries, the corruptions I speak of survive at the present day chiefly +in that little handful of copies which, calamitous to relate, the school +of Lachmann and Tischendorf and Tregelles look upon as oracular: and in +conformity with which many scholars are for refashioning the Evangelical +text under the mistaken title of 'Old Readings.' And now to proceed with +my argument. + + +Sec. 2. + +Numerous as were the heresies of the first two or three centuries of the +Christian era, they almost all agreed in this;--that they involved a +denial of the eternal Godhead of the Son of Man: denied that He is +essentially very and eternal God. This fundamental heresy found itself +hopelessly confuted by the whole tenor of the Gospel, which nevertheless +it assailed with restless ingenuity: and many are the traces alike of +its impotence and of its malice which have survived to our own times. It +is a memorable circumstance that it is precisely those very texts which +relate either to the eternal generation of the Son,--to His +Incarnation,--or to the circumstances of His Nativity,--which have +suffered most severely, and retain to this hour traces of having been in +various ways tampered with. I do not say that Heretics were the only +offenders here. I am inclined to suspect that the orthodox were as much +to blame as the impugners of the Truth. But it was at least with a pious +motive that the latter tampered with the Deposit. They did but imitate +the example set them by the assailing party. It is indeed the calamitous +consequence of extravagances in one direction that they are observed +ever to beget excesses in the opposite quarter. Accordingly the piety of +the primitive age did not think it wrong to fortify the Truth by the +insertion, suppression, or substitution of a few words in any place from +which danger was apprehended. In this way, I am persuaded, many an +unwarrantable 'reading' is to be explained. I do not mean that 'marginal +glosses have frequently found their way into the text':--that points to +a wholly improbable account of the matter. I mean, that expressions +which seemed to countenance heretical notions, or at least which had +been made a bad use of by evil men, were deliberately falsified. But I +must not further anticipate the substance of the next chapter. + +The men who first systematically depraved the text of Scripture, were as +we now must know the heresiarchs Basilides (fl. 134), Valentinus (fl. +140), and Marcion (fl. 150): three names which Origen is observed almost +invariably to enumerate together. Basilides[449] and Valentinus[450] are +even said to have written Gospels of their own. Such a statement is not +to be severely pressed: but the general fact is established by the +notices, and those are exceedingly abundant, which the writers against +Heresies have cited and left on record. All that is intended by such +statements is that these old heretics retained, altered, transposed, +just so much as they pleased of the fourfold Gospel: and further, that +they imported whatever additional matter they saw fit:--not that they +rejected the inspired text entirely, and substituted something of their +own invention in its place[451]. And though, in the case of Valentinus, +it has been contended, apparently with reason, that he probably did not +individually go to the same length as Basilides,--who, as well in +respect of St. Paul's Epistles as of the four Gospels, was evidently a +grievous offender[452],--yet, since it is clear that his principal +followers, who were also his contemporaries, put forth a composition +which they were pleased to style the 'Gospel of Truth[453],' it is idle +to dispute as to the limit of the rashness and impiety of the individual +author of the heresy. Let it be further stated, as no slight +confirmation of the view already hazarded as to the probable contents of +the (so-called) Gospels of Basilides and of Valentinus, that one +particular Gospel is related to have been preferred before the rest and +specially adopted by certain schools of ancient Heretics. Thus, a +strangely mutilated and depraved text of St. Matthew's Gospel is related +to have found especial favour with the Ebionites[454], with whom the +Corinthians are associated by Epiphanius: though Irenaeus seems to say +that it was St. Mark's Gospel which was adopted by the heretical +followers of Cerinthus. Marcion's deliberate choice of St. Luke's Gospel +is sufficiently well known. The Valentinians appropriated to themselves +St. John[455]. Heracleon, the most distinguished disciple of this +school, is deliberately censured by Origen for having corrupted the text +of the fourth Evangelist in many places[456]. A considerable portion of +his Commentary on St. John has been preserved to us: and a very strange +production it is found to have been. + +Concerning Marcion, who is a far more conspicuous personage, it will be +necessary to speak more particularly. He has left a mark on the text of +Scripture of which traces are distinctly recognizable at the present +day[457]. A great deal more is known about him than about any other +individual of his school. Justin Martyr and Irenaeus wrote against him: +besides Origen and Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian in the West[458], +and Epiphanius in the East, elaborately refuted his teaching, and give +us large information as to his method of handling Scripture. + +Another writer of this remote time who, as I am prone to think, must +have exercised sensible influence on the text of Scripture was Ammonius +of Alexandria. + +But Tatian beyond every other early writer of antiquity [appears to me +to have caused alterations in the Sacred Text.] + +It is obviously no answer to anything that has gone before to insist +that the Evangelium of Marcion (for instance), so far as it is +recognizable by the notices of it given by Epiphanius, can very rarely +indeed be shewn to have resembled any extant MS. of the Gospels. Let it +be even freely granted that many of the charges brought against it by +Epiphanius with so much warmth, collapse when closely examined and +severely sifted. It is to be remembered that Marcion's Gospel was known +to be an heretical production: one of the many creations of the Gnostic +age,--it must have been universally execrated and abhorred by faithful +men. Besides this lacerated text of St. Luke's Gospel, there was an +Ebionite recension of St. Matthew: a Cerinthian exhibition of St. Mark: +a Valentinian perversion of St. John. And we are but insisting that the +effect of so many corruptions of the Truth, industriously propagated +within far less than 100 years of the date of the inspired verities +themselves, must needs have made itself sensibly felt. Add the notorious +fact, that in the second and third centuries after the Christian era the +text of the Gospels is found to have been grossly corrupted even in +orthodox quarters,--and that traces of these gross corruptions are +discoverable in certain circles to the present hour,--and it seems +impossible not to connect the two phenomena together. The wonder rather +is that, at the end of so many centuries, we are able distinctly to +recognize any evidence whatever. + +The proneness of these early Heretics severally to adopt one of the four +Gospels for their own, explains why there is no consistency observable +in the corruptions they introduced into the text. It also explains the +bringing into one Gospel of things which of right clearly belong to +another--as in St. Mark iii. 14 [Greek: ous kai apostolous onomasen]. + +I do not propose (as will presently appear) in this way to explain any +considerable number of the actual corruptions of the text: but in no +other way is it possible to account for such systematic mutilations as +are found in Cod. B,--such monstrous additions as are found in Cod. +D,--such gross perturbations as are continually met with in one or more, +but never in all, of the earliest Codexes extant, as well as in the +oldest Versions and Fathers. + +The plan of Tatian's Diatessaron will account for a great deal. He +indulges in frigid glosses, as when about the wine at the feast of Cana +in Galilee he reads that the servants knew 'because they had drawn the +water'; or in tasteless and stupid amplifications, as in the going back +of the Centurion to his house. I suspect that the [Greek: ti me erotas +peri tou agathou], 'Why do you ask me about that which is good?' is to +be referred to some of these tamperers with the Divine Word. + + +Sec. 3. + +These professors of 'Gnosticism' held no consistent theory. The two +leading problems on which they exercised their perverse ingenuity are +found to have been (1) the origin of Matter, and (2) the origin of Evil. + +(1) They taught that the world's artificer ('the Word') was Himself a +creature of 'the Father[459].' Encountered on the threshold of the +Gospel by the plain declaration that, 'In the beginning was the Word: +and the Word was with God: and the Word was God': and presently, 'All +things were made by Him';--they were much exercised. The expedients to +which they had recourse were certainly extraordinary. That 'Beginning' +(said Valentinus) was the first thing which 'the Father' created: which +He called 'Only begotten Son,' and also 'God': and in whom he implanted +the germ of all things. Seminally, that is, whatsoever subsequently came +into being was in Him. 'The Word' (he said) was a product of this +first-created thing. And 'All things were made by Him,' because in 'the +Word' was the entire essence of all the subsequent worlds (Aeons), to +which he assigned forms[460]. From which it is plain that, according to +Valentinus, 'the Word' was distinct from 'the Son'; who was not the +world's Creator. Both alike, however, he acknowledged to be 'God[461]': +but only, as we have seen already, using the term in an inferior sense. + +Heracleon, commenting on St. John i. 3, insists that 'all things' can +but signify this perishable world and the things that are therein: not +essences of a loftier nature. Accordingly, after the words 'and without +Him was not anything made,' he ventures to interpolate this clause,--'of +the things that are in the world and in the creation[462].' True, that +the Evangelist had declared with unmistakable emphasis, 'and without Him +was not anything' (literally, 'was not even one thing') 'made that was +made.' But instead of 'not even one thing,' the Valentinian Gnostics +appear to have written 'nothing[463]'; and the concluding clause 'that +was made,' because he found it simply unmanageable, Valentinus boldly +severed from its context, making it the beginning of a fresh sentence. +With the Gnostics, ver. 4 is found to have begun thus,--'What was made +in Him was life.' + +Of the change of [Greek: oude hen] into [Greek: ouden][464] traces +survive in many of the Fathers[465]: but [Symbol: Aleph] and D are the +only Uncial MSS. which are known to retain that corrupt reading.--The +uncouth sentence which follows ([Greek: ho gegonen en auto zoe en]), +singular to relate, was generally tolerated, became established in many +quarters, and meets us still at every step. It was evidently put forward +so perseveringly by the Gnostics, with whom it was a kind of article of +the faith, that the orthodox at last became too familiar with it. +Epiphanius, though he condemns it, once employs it[466]. Occurring first +in a fragment of Valentinus[467]: next, in the Commentary of +Heracleon[468]: after that, in the pages of Theodotus the Gnostic (A.D. +192)[469]: then, in an exposure by Hippolytus of the tenets of the +Naaeseni[470], (a subsection of the same school);--the baseness of its +origin at least is undeniable. But inasmuch as the words may be made to +bear a loyal interpretation, the heretical construction of St. John i. 3 +was endured by the Church for full 200 years. Clemens Alex, is observed +thrice to adopt it[471]: Origen[472] and Eusebius[473] fall into it +repeatedly. It is found in Codd. [Symbol: Aleph]CD: apparently in Cod. +A, where it fills one line exactly. Cyril comments largely on it[474]. +But as fresh heresies arose which the depraved text seemed to favour, +the Church bestirred herself and remonstrated. It suited the Arians and +the Macedonians[475], who insisted that the Holy Ghost is a creature. +The former were refuted by Epiphanius, who points out that the sense is +not complete until you have read the words [Greek: ho gegonen]. A fresh +sentence (he says) begins at [Greek: En auto zoe en][476]. Chrysostom +deals with the latter. 'Let us beware of putting the full stop' (he +says) 'at the words [Greek: oude hen],--as do the heretics. In order to +make out that the Spirit is a creature, they read [Greek: ho gegonen en +auto zoe en]: by which means the Evangelist's meaning becomes +unintelligible[477].' + +But in the meantime, Valentinus, whose example was followed by Theodotus +and by at least two of the Gnostic sects against whom Hippolytus wrote, +had gone further. The better to conceal St. John's purpose, the +heresiarch falsified the inspired text. In the place of, 'What was made +in Him, was life,' he substituted 'What was made in Him, _is_ life.' +Origen had seen copies so depraved, and judged the reading not +altogether improbable. Clement, on a single occasion, even adopted it. +It was the approved reading of the Old Latin versions,--a memorable +indication, by the way, of a quarter from which the Old Latin derived +their texts,--which explains why it is found in Cyprian, Hilary, and +Augustine; and why Ambrose has so elaborately vindicated its +sufficiency. It also appears in the Sahidic and in Cureton's Syriac; but +not in the Peshitto, nor in the Vulgate. [Nor in the Bohairic] In the +meantime, the only Greek Codexes which retain this singular trace of the +Gnostic period at the present day, are Codexes [Symbol: Aleph] and D. + + +Sec. 4. + +[We may now take some more instances to shew the effects of the +operations of Heretics.] + +The good Shepherd in a certain place (St. John x. 14, 15) says +concerning Himself--'I know My sheep and am known of Mine, even as the +Father knoweth Me and I know the Father': by which words He hints at a +mysterious knowledge as subsisting between Himself and those that are +His. And yet it is worth observing that whereas He describes the +knowledge which subsists between the Father and the Son in language +which implies that it is strictly identical on either side, He is +careful to distinguish between the knowledge which subsists between the +creature and the Creator by slightly varying the expression,--thus +leaving it to be inferred that it is not, neither indeed can be, on +either side the same. God knoweth us with a perfect knowledge. Our +so-called 'knowledge' of God is a thing different not only in degree, +but in kind[478]. Hence the peculiar form which the sentence +assumes[479]:--[Greek: ginosko ta ema, kai ginoskomai hypo ton emon]. +And this delicate diversity of phrase has been faithfully retained all +down the ages, being witnessed to at this hour by every MS. in existence +except four now well known to us: viz. [Symbol: Aleph]BDL. The Syriac +also retains it,--as does Macarius[480], Gregory Naz.[481], +Chrysostom[482], Cyril[483], Theodoret[484], Maximus[485]. It is a point +which really admits of no rational doubt: for does any one suppose that +if St. John had written 'Mine own know Me,' 996 MSS. out of 1000 at the +end of 1,800 years would exhibit, 'I am known of Mine'? + +But in fact it is discovered that these words of our Lord experienced +depravation at the hands of the Manichaean heretics. Besides inverting +the clauses, (and so making it appear that such knowledge begins on the +side of Man.) Manes (A.D. 261) obliterated the peculiarity above +indicated. Quoting from his own fabricated Gospel, he acquaints us with +the form in which these words were exhibited in that mischievous +production: viz. [Greek: ginoskei me ta ema, kai ginosko ta ema]. This +we learn from Epiphanius and from Basil[486]. Cyril, in a paper where he +makes clear reference to the same heretical Gospel, insists that the +order of knowledge must needs be the reverse of what the heretics +pretended[487].--But then, it is found that certain of the orthodox +contented themselves with merely reversing the clauses, and so restoring +the true order of the spiritual process discussed--regardless of the +exquisite refinement of expression to which attention was called at the +outset. Copies must once have abounded which represented our Lord as +saying, 'I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knoweth Me +and I know the Father'; for it is the order of the Old Latin, Bohairic, +Sahidic, Ethiopic, Lewis, Georgian, Slavonic, and Gothic, though not of +the Peshitto, Harkleian, and Armenian; and Eusebius[488], Nonnus, and +even Basil[489] so read the place. But no token of this clearly corrupt +reading survives in any known copy of the Gospels,--except [Symbol: +Aleph]BDL. Will it be believed that nevertheless all the recent Editors +of Scripture since Lachmann insist on obliterating this refinement of +language, and going back to the reading which the Church has long since +deliberately rejected,--to the manifest injury of the deposit? 'Many +words about a trifle,'--some will be found to say. Yes, to deny God's +truth is a very facile proceeding. Its rehabilitation always requires +many words. I request only that the affinity between [Symbol: Aleph]BDL +and the Latin copies which universally exhibit this disfigurement[490], +may be carefully noted. [Strange to say, the true reading receives no +notice from Westcott and Hort, or the Revisers[491]]. + + +Sec. 5. + +Doctrinal. + +The question of Matrimony was one of those on which the early heretics +freely dogmatized. Saturninus[492] (A.D. 120) and his followers taught +that marriage was a production of Hell. + +We are not surprised after this to find that those places in the Gospel +which bear on the relation between man and wife exhibit traces of +perturbation. I am not asserting that the heretics themselves depraved +the text. I do but state two plain facts: viz. (1) That whereas in the +second century certain heretical tenets on the subject of Marriage +prevailed largely, and those who advocated as well as those who opposed +such teaching relied chiefly on the Gospel for their proofs: (2) It is +accordingly found that not only does the phenomenon of 'various +readings' prevail in those places of the Gospel which bear most nearly +on the disputed points, but the 'readings' are exactly of that +suspicious kind which would naturally result from a tampering with the +text by men who had to maintain, or else to combat, opinions of a +certain class. I proceed to establish what I have been saying by some +actual examples[493]. + + St. Matt. xix. 29. + [Greek: e gynaika,] + --BD abc Orig. + + St. Mark x. 29. + [Greek: e gynaika,] + --[Symbol: Aleph]BD[Symbol: Delta], abc, &c. + + St. Luke xviii. 29. + [Greek: e gynaika], + all allow it. + +[Greek: hotan de lege; hoti "pas hostis apheke gynaika," ou touto +phesin, hoste aplos diaspasthai tous gamous, k.t.l.] Chrys. vii. 636 E. + +[Greek: Paradeigmatisai] (in St. Matt. i. 19) is another of the +expressions which have been disturbed by the same controversy. I suspect +that Origen is the author (see the heading of the Scholion in Cramer's +Catenae) of a certain uncritical note which Eusebius reproduces in his +'quaestiones ad Stephanum[494]' on the difference between [Greek: +deigmatisai] and [Greek: paradeigmatisai]; and that with him originated +the substitution of the uncompounded for the compounded verb in this +place. Be that as it may, Eusebius certainly read [Greek: +paradeigmatisai] (Dem. 320), with all the uncials but two (BZ): all the +cursives but one (I). Will it be believed that Lachmann, Tregelles, +Tischendorf, Alford, Westcott and Hort, on such slender evidence as that +are prepared to reconstruct the text of St. Matthew's Gospel? + +It sounds so like trifling with a reader's patience to invite his +attention to an elaborate discussion of most of the changes introduced +into the text by Tischendorf and his colleagues, that I knowingly pass +over many hundreds of instances where I am nevertheless perfectly well +aware of my own strength,--my opponent's weakness. Such discussions in +fact become unbearable when the points in dispute are confessedly +trivial. No one however will deny that when three consecutive words of +our Lord are challenged they are worth contending for. We are invited +then to believe (St. Luke xxii. 67-8) that He did not utter the +bracketed words in the following sentence,--'If I tell you, ye will not +believe; and if I ask you, ye will not answer (Me, nor let Me go).' Now, +I invite the reader to inquire for the grounds of this assertion. +Fifteen of the uncials (including AD), and every known cursive, besides +all the Latin and all the Syriac copies recognize the bracketed words. +They are only missing in [Symbol: Aleph]BLT and their ally the Bohairic. +Are we nevertheless to be assured that the words are to be regarded as +spurious? Let the reader then be informed that Marcion left out seven +words more (viz. all from, 'And if I ask you' to the end), and will he +doubt either that the words are genuine or that their disappearance from +four copies of bad character, as proved by their constant evidence, and +from one version is sufficiently explained? + +FOOTNOTES: + +[441] [Greek: pseudonymou gnoseos] 1 Tim. vi. 20. + +[442] 1 Tim. iv. 1-3. + +[443] ii. 17. + +[444] Acts xx. 29. + +[445] Rev. ii. 6. + +[446] Rev. ii. 15. + +[447] Rev. ii. 13. + +[448] Chiefly the Low Latin amongst them. Tradit. Text. chap. vii. p. +137. + +[449] 'Ausus fuit et Basilides scribere Evangelium, et suo illud nomine +titulare.'--Orig. Opp. iii. 933 c: Iren. i. 23: Clem. Al. 409, 426, 506, +509, 540, 545: Tertull. c. 46: Epiph. 24: Theodor. i. 4. + +[450] 'Evangelium habet etiam suum, praeter haec nostra' (De +Praescript., ad calcem). + +[451] Origen (commenting on St. Luke x. 25-28) says,--[Greek: tauta de +eiretai pros tois apo Oualentinou, kai Basilidou, kai tous apo +Markionos. echousi gar kai autoi tas lexeis en toi kath' heautous +euangelioi]. Opp. iii. 981 A. + +[452] 'Licet non sint digni fide, qui fidem primam irritam fecerunt, +Marcionem loquor et Basilidem et omnes Haereticos qui vetus laniant +Testamentum: tamen eos aliqua ex parte ferremus, si saltem in novo +continerent manus suas; et non auderent Christi (ut ipsi iactitant) boni +Dei Filii, vel Evangelistas violare, vel Apostolos. Nunc vero, quum et +Evangelia eius dissipaverint; et Apostolorum epistolas, non Apostolorum +Christi fecerunt esse, sed proprias; miror quomodo sibi Christianorum +nomen audeant vindicare. Ut enim de caeteris Epistolis taceam, (de +quibus quidquid contrarium suo dogmati viderant, evaserunt, nonnullas +integras repudiandas crediderunt); ad Timotheum videlicet utramque, ad +Hebraeos, et ad Titum, quam nunc conamur exponere.' Hieron. Praef. ad +Titum. + +[453] 'Hi vero, qui sunt a Valentino, exsistentes extra omnem timorem, +suas conscriptiones praeferentes, plura habere gloriantur, quam sint +ipsa Evangelia. Siquidem in tantum processerunt audaciae, uti quod ab +his non olim conscriptum est, Veritatis Evangelium titulent.' Iren. iii. +xi. 9. + +[454] See, by all means, Epiphanius, Haer. xxx. c. xiii; also c. iii. + +[455] 'Tanta est circa Evangelia haec firmitas, ut et ipsi haeretici +testimonium reddant eis, et ex ipsis egrediens unusquisque eorum conetur +suam confirmare doctrinam. Ebionaei etenim eo Evangelio quod est +secundum Matthaeum, solo utentes, ex illo ipso convincuntur, non recte +praesumentes de Domino. Marcion autem id quod est secundum Lucam +circumcidens, ex his quae adhuc servantur penes eum, blasphemus in solum +existentem Deum ostenditur. Qui autem Iesum separant a Christo, et +impassibilem perseverasse Christum, passum vero Iesum dicunt, id quod +secundum Marcum est praeferentes Evangelium; cum amore veritatis +legentes illud, corrigi possunt. Hi autem qui a Valentino sunt, eo quod +est secundum Joannem plenissime utentes,' &c. Iren. iii. xi. 7. + +[456] [Greek: Herakleon, ho tes Oualentinou scholes dokimotatos]. Clem. +Al. p. 595. Of Heracleon it is expressly related by Origen that he +depraved the text of the Gospel. Origen says (iv. 66) that Heracleon +(regardless of the warning in Prov. xxx. 6) added to the text of St. +John i. 3 (vii. after the words [Greek: egeneto oude en]) the words +[Greek: ton en to kosmoi, kai te ktisei]. Heracleon clearly read [Greek: +ho gegonen en auto zoe en]. See Orig. iv. 64. In St. John ii. 19, for +[Greek: en trisi], he wrote [Greek: en trite]. He also read (St. John +iv. 18) (for [Greek: pente]), [Greek: ex andras esches]. + +[457] Celsus having objected that believers had again and again +falsified the text of the Gospel, refashioning it, in order to meet the +objections of assailants, Origen replies: [Greek: Metacharaxantas de to +euangelion allous ouk oida, he tous apo Markionos, kai tous apo +Oualentinou, oimai de kai tous apo Loukanou. touto de legomenon ou tou +logou estin egklema, alla ton tolmesanton rhadiourgesai ta euangelia]. +Opp. i. 411 B. + +[458] De Praesc. Haer. c. 51. + +[459] [Greek: Outos de demiourgos kai poietes toude tou pantos kosmou +kai ton en auto ... estai men katadeesteros tou teleiou Theou ... ate de +kai gennetos on, kai ouk agennetos]. Ptolemaeus, ap. Epiph. p. 217. +Heracleon saw in the nobleman of Capernaum an image of the Demiurge who, +[Greek: basilikos onomasthe hoionei mikros tis basileus, hypo katholikou +basileos tetagmenos epi mikras basileias], p. 373. + +[460] [Greek: O Ioannes ... boulomenos eipein ten ton holon genesin, +kath' en ta panta proebalen ho Pater, archen tina hypotithetai, to +proton gennethen hypo tou theou, hon de kai huion Monogene kai Theon +kekleken, en ho ta panta ho Pater proebale spermatikos. Hypo de toutou +phesi ton Logon probeblesthai, kai en auto ten holen ton Aionon ousian, +en autos hysteron emorphosen ho Logos.... Panta di' autou egeneto, kai +choris autou egeneto oude hen; pasi gar tois met' auton Aiosi morphes +kai geneseos aitios ho Logos egeneto]. + +[461] [Greek: En to Patri kai ek tou Patros he arche, kai ek tes arches +ho Logos. Kalos oun eipen; en arche en ho Logos; en gar en to Huio. Kai +ho Logos en pros ton Theon; kai gar he 'Arche; kai Theos en ho Logos, +akolouthos. To gar ek Theou gennethen Theos estin].--Ibid. p. 102. +Compare the Excerpt. Theod. _ap_. Clem. Al. c. vi. p. 968. + +[462] _Ap_. Orig. 938. 9. + +[463] So Theodotus (p. 980), and so Ptolemaeus (_ap._ Epiph. i. 217), +and so Heracleon (_ap._ Orig. p. 954). Also Meletius the Semi-Arian +(_ap._ Epiph. i. 882). + +[464] See The Traditional Text, p. 113. + +[465] Clem. Al. always has [Greek: oude hen] (viz. pp. 134, 156, 273, +769, 787, 803, 812, 815, 820): but when he quotes the Gnostics (p. 838) +he has [Greek: ouden]. Cyril, while writing his treatise De Trinitate, +read [Greek: ouden] in his copy. Eusebius, for example, has [Greek: oude +hen], fifteen times; [Greek: ouden] only twice, viz. Praep. 322: Esai. +529. + +[466] Opp. ii. 74. + +[467] _Ap._ Iren. 102. + +[468] Ibid. 940. + +[469] _Ap._ Clem. Al. 968, 973. + +[470] Philosoph. 107. But not when he is refuting the tenets of the +Peratae: [Greek: oude hen, ho gegonen. en auto zoe estin. en auto de, +phesin, he Eua gegonen, he Eua zoe]. Ibid. p. 134. + +[471] Opp. 114, 218, 1009. + +[472] Cels. vi. 5: Princip. II. ix. 4: IV. i. 30: In Joh. i. 22, 34: ii. +6, 10, 12, 13 _bis_: In Rom. iii. 10, 15: Haer. v. 151. + +[473] Psalm. 146, 235, 245: Marcell. 237. Not so in Ecl. 100: Praep. +322, 540. + +[474] [Greek: Anagkaios phesin, "ho gegonen, eni auto zoe en." ou monon +phesi, "di autou ta panta egeneto," alla kai ei ti gegonen en en auto he +zoe. tout' estin, ho monogenes tou Theo logos, he panton arche, kai +systasis horaton te kai aoraton ... autos gar hyparchon he kata physin +zoe, to einai kai zen kai kineisthai polytropos tois ousi charisetai]. +Opp. iv. 49 e. + +He understood the Evangelist to declare concerning the [Greek: Logos], +that, [Greek: panta di' autou egeneto, kai en en tois genomenois hos +zoe]. Ibid. 60 c. + +[475] [Greek: Outoi de boulontai auto einai ktisma ktismatos. phasi gar, +hoti panto di' autou gegone, kai choris autou egeneto oude hen. ara, +phasi, kai to Pneuma ek ton poiematon hyparchei, epeide panta di' autou +gegone]. Opp. i. 741. Which is the teaching of Eusebius, Marcell. 333-4. +The Macedonians were an offshoot of the Arians. + +[476] i. 778 D, 779 B. See also ii. 80. + +[477] Opp. viii. 40. + +[478] Consider 1 John ii. 3, 4: and read Basil ii. 188 b, c. See p. 207, +note 4. Consider also Gal. iv. 9. So Cyril Al. [iv. 655 a], [Greek: kai +proegno mallon he egnosthe par' hemon]. + +[479] Chrysostom alone seems to have noticed this:--[Greek: hina me tes +gnoseos ison ton metron nomiseis, akouson pos diorthoutai auto tei +epagogei; ginosko ta ema, phesi, kai ginoskomai hypo ton emon. all' ouk +ise he gnosis, k.t.l.] viii. 353 d. + +[480] P. 38. (Gall. vii. 26.) + +[481] i. 298, 613. + +[482] viii. 351, 353 d and e. + +[483] iv. 652 c, 653 a, 654 d. + +[484] i. 748: iv. 374, 550. + +[485] In Dionys. Ar. ii. 192. + +[486] [Greek: Phesi de ho autos Manes ... ta ema probata ginoskei me, +kai ginosko ta ema probata]. (Epiphan. i. 697.)--Again,--[Greek: +herpasen ho hairetikos pros ten idian kataskeuen tes blasphemias. idou, +phesin, eiretai; hoti ginoasousi] (lower down, [Greek: ginoskei]) +[Greek: me ta ema, kai ginosko ta ema]. (Basil ii. 188 a, b.) + +[487] [Greek: En taxei te oikeia kai prepodestate ton pragmaton ekasta +titheis. ou gar ephe, ginoskei me ta ema, kai ginosko ta ema, all' +heauton egnokata proteron eispherei ta idia probata, eith' outos +gnosthesesthai phesi par auton ... ouch hemeis auton epegnokamen protoi, +epegno de hemas proton autos ... ouch hemeis erxametha tou pragmatos, +all' ho ek Theou Theos monogenes].--iv. 654 d, 655 a. (Note, that this +passage appears in a mutilated form, viz. 121 words are omitted, in the +Catena of Corderius, p. 267,--where it is wrongly assigned to +Chrysostom: an instructive instance.) + +[488] In Ps. 489: in Es. 509: Theoph. 185, 258, 260. + +[489] ii. 188 a:--which is the more remarkable, because Basil proceeds +exquisitely to shew (1886) that man's 'knowledge' of God consists in his +keeping of God's Commandments. (1 John ii. 3, 4.) See p. 206, note 1. + +[490] So Jerome, iv. 484: vii. 455. Strange, that neither Ambrose nor +Augustine should quote the place. + +[491] See Revision Revised, p. 220. + +[492] Or Saturnilus--[Greek: to de gamein kai gennan apo tou Satana +phesin einai]. p. 245, l. 38. So Marcion, 253. + +[493] [The MS. breaks off here, with references to St. Mark x. 7, Eph. +v. 31-2 (on which the Dean had accumulated a large array of references), +St. Mark x. 29-30, with a few references, but no more. I have not had +yet time or strength to work out the subject.] + +[494] Mai, iv. 221. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +CAUSES OF CORRUPTION CHIEFLY INTENTIONAL. + +X. Corruption by the Orthodox. + + +Sec. 1. + +Another cause why, in very early times, the Text of the Gospels +underwent serious depravation, was mistaken solicitude on the part of +the ancient orthodox for the purity of the Catholic faith. These +persons, like certain of the moderns, Beza for example, evidently did +not think it at all wrong to tamper with the inspired Text. If any +expression seemed to them to have a dangerous tendency, they altered it, +or transplanted it, or removed it bodily from the sacred page. About the +uncritical nature of what they did, they entertained no suspicion: about +the immorality of the proceeding, they evidently did not trouble +themselves at all. On the contrary, the piety of the motive seems to +have been held to constitute a sufficient excuse for any amount of +licence. The copies which had undergone this process of castigation were +even styled 'corrected,'--and doubtless were popularly looked upon as +'the correct copies' [like our 'critical texts']. An illustration of +this is afforded by a circumstance mentioned by Epiphanius. + +He states (ii. 36) that the orthodox, out of jealousy for the Lord's +Divinity, eliminated from St. Luke xix. 41 the record that our Saviour +'wept.' We will not pause to inquire what this statement may be worth. +But when the same Father adds,--'In the uncorrected copies ([Greek: en +tois adiorthotois antigraphois]) is found "He wept,"' Epiphanius is +instructive. Perfectly well aware that the expression is genuine, he +goes on to state that 'Irenaeus quoted it in his work against Heresies, +when he had to confute the error of the Docetae[495].' 'Nevertheless,' +Epiphanius adds, 'the orthodox through fear erased the record.' + +So then, the process of 'correction' was a critical process conducted on +utterly erroneous principles by men who knew nothing whatever about +Textual Criticism. Such recensions of the Text proved simply fatal to +the Deposit. To 'correct' was in this and such like cases simply to +'corrupt.' + +Codexes B[Symbol: Aleph]D may be regarded as specimens of Codexes which +have once and again passed through the hands of such a corrector or +[Greek: diorthotes]. + +St. Luke (ii. 40) records concerning the infant Saviour that 'the child +grew, and waxed strong in spirit.' By repeating the selfsame expression +which already,--viz. in chap. i. 80,--had been applied to the Childhood +of the Forerunner[496], it was clearly the design of the Author of +Scripture to teach that the Word 'made flesh' submitted to the same laws +of growth and increase as every other Son of Adam. The body 'grew,'--the +spiritual part 'waxed strong.' This statement was nevertheless laid hold +of by the enemies of Christianity. How can it be pretended (they asked) +that He was 'perfect God' ([Greek: teleios Theos]), of whom it is +related in respect of His spirit that he 'waxed strong[497]'? The +consequence might have been foreseen. Certain of the orthodox were +ill-advised enough to erase the word [Greek: pneumati] from the copies +of St. Luke ii. 40; and lo, at the end of 1,500 years, four 'corrected' +copies, two Versions, one Greek Father, survive to bear witness to the +ancient fraud. No need to inquire which, what, and who these be. + +But because it is [Symbol: Aleph]BDL, Origen[498], and the Latin, the +Egyptian and Lewis which are without the word [Greek: pneumati], +Lachmann, Tregelles, Tischendorf, and the Revisers jump to the +conclusion that [Greek: pneumati] is a spurious accretion to the Text. +They ought to reverse their proceeding; and recognize in the evidence +one more indication of the untrustworthiness of the witnesses. For,--how +then is it supposed that the word ([Greek: pneumati]) ever obtained its +footing in the Gospel? For all reply we are assured that it has been +imported hither from St. Luke i. 80. But, we rejoin, How does the +existence of the phrase [Greek: ekrataiouto pneumati] in i. 80 explain +its existence in ii. 40, in every known copy of the Gospels except four, +if in these 996 places, suppose, it be an interpolation? This is what +has to be explained. Is it credible that all the remaining uncials, and +every known cursive copy, besides all the lectionaries, should have been +corrupted in this way: and that the truth should survive exclusively at +this time only in the remaining four; viz. in B[Symbol: Aleph],--the +sixth century Cod. D,--and the eighth century Cod. L? + +When then, and where did the work of depravation take place? It must +have been before the sixth century, because Leontius of Cyprus[499] +quotes it three times and discusses the expression at length:--before +the fifth, because, besides Cod. A, Cyril[500] Theodoret[501] and +ps.-Caesarius[502] recognize the word:--before the fourth, because +Epiphanius[503], Theodore of Mopsuestia[504], and the Gothic version +have it:--before the third, before nearly all of the second century, +because it is found in the Peshitto. What more plain than that we have +before us one other instance of the injudicious zeal of the orthodox? +one more sample of the infelicity of modern criticism? + + +Sec. 2. + +Theodotus and his followers fastened on the first part of St. John viii. +40, when they pretended to shew from Scripture that Christ is mere +Man[505]. I am persuaded that the reading 'of My Father[506],'--with +which Origen[507], Epiphanius[508], Athanasius[509], Chrysostom[510], +Cyril Alex.[511], and Theodoret[512] prove to have been acquainted,--was +substituted by some of the orthodox in this place, with the pious +intention of providing a remedy for the heretical teaching of their +opponents. At the present day only six cursive copies are known to +retain this trace of a corruption of Scripture which must date from the +second century. + +We now reach a most remarkable instance. It will be remembered that St. +John in his grand preface does not rise to the full height of his +sublime argument until he reaches the eighteenth verse. He had said +(ver. 14) that 'the Word was made flesh,' &c.; a statement which +Valentinus was willing to admit. But, as we have seen, the heresiarch +and his followers denied that 'the Word' is also 'the Son' of God. As if +in order to bar the door against this pretence, St. John announces (ver. +18) that 'the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he +hath declared him': thus establishing the identity of the Word and the +Only begotten Son. What else could the Valentinians do with so plain a +statement, but seek to deprave it? Accordingly, the very first time St. +John i. 18 is quoted by any of the ancients, it is accompanied by the +statement that the Valentinians in order to prove that the 'only +begotten' is 'the Beginning,' and is 'God,' appeal to the words,--'the +only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father[513],' &c. Inasmuch, +said they, as the Father willed to become known to the worlds, the +Spirit of Gnosis produced the 'only begotten' 'Gnosis,' and therefore +gave birth to 'Gnosis,' that is to 'the Son': in order that by 'the Son' +'the Father' might be made known. While then that 'only begotten Son' +abode 'in the bosom of the Father,' He caused that here upon earth +should be seen, alluding to ver. 14, one 'as the only begotten Son.' In +which, by the way, the reader is requested to note that the author of +the Excerpta Theodoti (a production of the second century) reads St. +John i. 18 as we do. + +I have gone into all these strange details,--derived, let it be +remembered, from documents which carry us back to the former half of the +second century,--because in no other way is the singular phenomenon +which attends the text of St. John i. 18 to be explained and accounted +for. Sufficiently plain and easy of transmission as it is, this verse of +Scripture is observed to exhibit perturbations which are even +extraordinary. Irenaeus once writes [Greek: ho] [?] [Greek: monogenes +uios]: once, [Greek: ho] [?] [Greek: monogenes uios Theos]: once, +[Greek: ho monogenes uios Theou][514]: Clemens Alex., [Greek: ho +monogenes uios Theos monos][515]; which must be very nearly the reading +of the Codex from which the text of the Vercelli Copy of the Old Latin +was derived[516]. Eusebius four times writes [Greek: ho monogenes +uios][517]: twice, [Greek: monogenes Theos][518]: and on one occasion +gives his reader the choice of either expression, explaining why both +may stand[519]. Gregory Nyss.[520] and Basil[521], though they recognize +the usual reading of the place, are evidently vastly more familiar with +the reading [Greek: ho monogenes Theos][522]: for Basil adopts the +expression thrice[523], and Gregory nearly thirty-three times as +often[524]. This was also the reading of Cyril Alex.[525], whose usual +phrase however is [Greek: ho monogenes tou Theou logos][526]. Didymus +has only [? cp. context] [Greek: ho monogenes Theos],--for which he once +writes [Greek: ho monogenes Theos logos][527]. Cyril of Jer. seems to +have read [Greek: ho monogenes monos][528]. + +[I have retained this valuable and suggestive passage in the form in +which the Dean left it. It evidently has not the perfection that attends +some of his papers, and would have been amplified and improved if his +life had been spared. More passages than he noticed, though limited to +the ante-Chrysostom period, are referred to in the companion +volume[529]. The portentous number of mentions by Gregory of Nyssa +escaped me, though I knew that there were several. Such repetitions of a +phrase could only be admitted into my calculation in a restricted and +representative number. Indeed, I often quoted at least on our side less +than the real number of such reiterations occurring in one passage, +because in course of repetition they came to assume for such a purpose a +parrot-like value. + +But the most important part of the Dean's paper is found in his account +of the origin of the expression. This inference is strongly confirmed by +the employment of it in the Arian controversy. Arius reads [Greek: +Theos] (_ap._ Epiph. 73--Tischendorf), whilst his opponents read [Greek: +Huios]. So Faustinus seven times (I noted him only thrice), and +Victorinus Afer six (10) times in reply to the Arian Candidus[530]. Also +Athanasius and Hilary of Poictiers four times each, and Ambrose eight +(add Epp. I. xxii. 5). It is curious that with this history admirers of +B and [Symbol: Aleph] should extol their reading over the Traditional +reading on the score of orthodoxy. Heresy had and still retains +associations which cannot be ignored: in this instance some of the +orthodox weakly played into the hands of heretics[531]. None may read +Holy Scripture just as the idea strikes them.] + + +Sec. 3. + +All are familiar with the received text of 1 Cor. xv. 47:--[Greek: ho +protos anthropos ek ges choikos; ho deuteros anthropos ho Kyrios ex +ouranou]. That this place was so read in the first age is certain: for +so it stands in the Syriac. These early heretics however of whom St. +John speaks, who denied that 'Jesus Christ had come in the flesh[532]' +and who are known to have freely 'taken away from the words' of +Scripture[533], are found to have made themselves busy here. If (they +argued) 'the second man' was indeed 'the Lord-from-Heaven,' how can it +be pretended that Christ took upon Himself human flesh[534]? And to +bring out this contention of theirs more plainly, they did not hesitate +to remove as superfluous the word 'man' in the second clause of the +sentence. There resulted,--'The first man [was] of the earth, earthy: +[Greek: ho deuteros Kyrios ex ouranou][535].' It is thus that +Marcion[536] (A.D. 130) and his followers[537] read the place. But in +this subject-matter extravagance in one direction is ever observed to +beget extravagance in another. I suspect that it was in order to +counteract the ejection by the heretics of [Greek: anthropos] in ver. +47, that, early in the second century, the orthodox retaining [Greek: +anthropos], judged it expedient to leave out the expression [Greek: ho +Kyrios], which had been so unfairly pressed against them; and were +contented to read,--'the second man [was] from heaven.' A calamitous +exchange, truly. For first, (I), The text thus maimed afforded +countenance to another form of misbelief. And next, (II), It +necessitated a further change in 1 Cor. xv. 47. + +(I) It furnished a pretext to those heretics who maintained that Christ +was 'Man' _before_ He came into the World. This heresy came to a head in +the persons of Apolinarius[538] and Photinus; in contending with whom, +Greg. Naz.[539] and Epiphanius[540] are observed to argue with +disadvantage from the mutilated text. Tertullian[541], and Cyprian[542] +after him, knew no other reading but 'secundus homo de Caelo,'--which is +in fact the way this place stands in the Old Latin. And thus, from the +second century downwards, two readings (for the Marcionite text was +speedily forgotten) became current in the Church:--(1) The inspired +language of the Apostle, cited at the outset,--which is retained by all +the known copies, _except nine_; and is vouched for by Basil[543], +Chrysostom[544], Theodotus[545], Eutherius[546], Theodorus Mops.[547], +Damascene[548], Petrus Siculus[549], and Theophylact[550]: and (2) The +corrected (i.e. the maimed) text of the orthodox;--[Greek: ho deuteros; +anthropos ex ouranou]: with which, besides the two Gregories[551], +Photinus[552] and Apolinarius the heretics were acquainted; but which at +this day is only known to survive in [Symbol: Aleph]*BCD*EFG and two +cursive copies. Origen[553], and (long after him) Cyril, employed _both_ +readings[554]. + +(II) But then, (as all must see) such a maimed exhibition of the text +was intolerable. The balance of the sentence had been destroyed. Against +[Greek: ho protos anthropos], St. Paul had set [Greek: ho deuteros +anthropos]: against [Greek: ek ges]--[Greek: ex ouranou]: against [Greek: +choikos]--[Greek: ho Kyrios]. Remove [Greek: ho Kyrios], and some +substitute for it must be invented as a counterpoise to [Greek: +choikos]. Taking a hint from what is found in ver. 48, some one +(plausibly enough,) suggested [Greek: epouranios]: and this gloss so +effectually recommended itself to Western Christendom, that having been +adopted by Ambrose[555], by Jerome[556] (and later by Augustine[557],) +it established itself in the Vulgate[558], and is found in all the later +Latin writers[559]. Thus then, _a third_ rival reading enters the +field,--which because it has well-nigh disappeared from Greek MSS., no +longer finds an advocate. Our choice lies therefore between the two +former:--viz. (a) the received, which is the only well-attested reading +of the place: and (b) the maimed text of the Old Latin, which Jerome +deliberately rejected (A.D. 380), and for which he substituted another +even worse attested reading. (Note, that these two Western fabrications +effectually dispose of one another.) It should be added that +Athanasius[560] lends his countenance to all the three readings. + +But now, let me ask,--Will any one be disposed, after a careful survey +of the premisses, to accept the verdict of Tischendorf, Tregelles and +the rest, who are for bringing the Church back to the maimed text of +which I began by giving the history and explaining the origin? Let it be +noted that the one question is,--shall [Greek: ho Kyrios] be retained in +the second clause, or not? But there it stood within thirty years of the +death of St. John: and there it stands, at the end of eighteen centuries +in every extant copy (including AKLP) except nine. It has been +excellently witnessed to all down the ages,--viz. By Origen, Hippolytus, +Athanasius, Basil, Chrysostom, Cyril, Theodotus, Eutherius, Theodore +Mops., Damascene and others. On what principle would you now reject +it?... With critics who assume that a reading found in [Symbol: +Aleph]BCDEFG must needs be genuine,--it is vain to argue. And yet the +most robust faith ought to be effectually shaken by the discovery that +four, if not five ([Symbol: Aleph]ACFG) of these same MSS., by reading +'we shall all sleep; but we shall not all be changed,' contradict St. +Paul's solemn announcement in ver. 51: while a sixth (D) stands alone in +substituting 'we shall all rise; but we shall not all be changed.'--In +this very verse, C is for introducing [Greek: Adam] into the first +clause of the sentence: FG, for subjoining [Greek: ho ouranios]. When +will men believe that guides like these are to be entertained with +habitual distrust? to be listened to with the greatest caution? to be +followed, for their own sakes,--never? + +I have been the fuller on this place, because it affords an instructive +example of what has occasionally befallen the words of Scripture. Very +seldom indeed are we able to handle a text in this way. Only when the +heretics assailed, did the orthodox defend: whereby it came to pass that +a record was preserved of how the text was read by the ancient Father. +The attentive reader will note (_a_) That all the changes which we have +been considering belong to the earliest age of all:--(_b_) That the +corrupt reading is retained by [Symbol: Aleph]BC and their following: +the genuine text, in the great bulk of the copies:--(_c_) That the first +mention of the text is found in the writings of an early heretic:--(_d_) +That [the orthodox introduced a change in the interests, as they +fancied, of truth, but from utter misapprehension of the nature and +authority of the Word of God:--and (_e_) that under the Divine +Providence that change was so effectually thrown out, that decisive +witness is found on the other side]. + + +Sec. 4. + +Closely allied to the foregoing, and constantly referred to in connexion +with it by those Fathers who undertook to refute the heresy of +Apolinarius, is our Lord's declaration to Nicodemus,--'No man hath +ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son +of Man which is in heaven' (St. John iii. 13). Christ 'came down from +heaven' when He became incarnate: and having become incarnate, is said +to have 'ascended up to Heaven,' and 'to be in Heaven,' because 'the Son +of Man,' who was not in heaven before, by virtue of the hypostatical +union was thenceforward evermore 'in heaven.' But the Evangelist's +language was very differently taken by those heretics who systematically +'maimed and misinterpreted that which belongeth to the human nature of +Christ.' Apolinarius, who relied on the present place, is found to have +read it without the final clause ([Greek: ho on en to ourano]); and +certain of the orthodox (as Greg. Naz., Greg. Nyssa, Epiphanius, while +contending with him,) shew themselves not unwilling to argue from the +text so mutilated. Origen and the author of the Dialogus once, Eusebius +twice, Cyril not fewer than nineteen times, also leave off at the words +'even the Son of Man': from which it is insecurely gathered that those +Fathers disallowed the clause which follows. On the other hand, +thirty-eight Fathers and ten Versions maintain the genuineness of the +words [Greek: ho on en to ourano][561]. But the decisive circumstance is +that,--besides the Syriac and the Latin copies which all witness to the +existence of the clause,--the whole body of the uncials, four only +excepted ([Symbol: Aleph]BLT^{b}), and every known cursive but one +(33)--are for retaining it. + +No thoughtful reader will rise from a discussion like the foregoing +without inferring from the facts which have emerged in the course of it +the exceeding antiquity of depravations of the inspired verity. For let +me not be supposed to have asserted that the present depravation was the +work of Apolinarius. Like the rest, it is probably older by at least 150 +years. Apolinarius, in whose person the heresy which bears his name came +to a head, did but inherit the tenets of his predecessors in error; and +these had already in various ways resulted in the corruption of the +deposit. + + +Sec. 5[562]. + +The matter in hand will be conveniently illustrated by inviting the +reader's attention to another famous place. There is a singular consent +among the Critics for eliminating from St. Luke ix. 54-6, twenty-four +words which embody two memorable sayings of the Son of Man. The entire +context is as follows:--'Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come +down from heaven and consume them, (as Elias did)? But he turned, and +rebuked them, (and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.) +(For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save +them.) And they went to another village.' The three bracketed clauses +contain the twenty-four words in dispute. + +The first of these clauses ([Greek: hos kai Helias epoiese]), which +claims to be part of the inquiry of St. John and St. James, Mill +rejected as an obvious interpolation. 'Res ipsa clamat. Quis enim sanus +tam insignia deleverit[563]?' Griesbach retained it as probably +genuine.--The second clause ([Greek: kai eipen, Ouk oidate hoiou +pneumatos este hymeis]) he obelized as probably not genuine:--the third +([Greek: ho gar huios tou anthropou ouk elthe psychas anthropon +apolesai, alla sosai]) he rejected entirely. Lachmann also retains the +first clause, but rejects the other two. Alford, not without misgiving, +does the same. Westcott and Hort, without any misgiving about the third +clause, are 'morally certain' that the first and second clauses are a +Western interpolation. Tischendorf and Tregelles are thorough. They +agree, and the Revisers of 1881, in rejecting unceremoniously all the +three clauses and exhibiting the place curtly, thus.--[Greek: Kyrie, +theleis eipomen pyr katabenai apo tou ouranou, kai analosai autous; +strapheis de epetimesen autois. kai eporeuthesan desan eis heteran +komen]. + +Now it may as well be declared at once that Codd. [Symbol: +Aleph]BL[Symbol: Xi] l g^{1} Cyr^{luc}[564], two MSS. of the Bohairic (d +3, d 2), the Lewis, and two cursives (71, 157) are literally the only +authority, ancient or modern, for so exhibiting the text [in all its +bare crudeness]. Against them are arrayed the whole body of MSS. uncial +and cursive, including ACD; every known lectionary; all the Latin, the +Syriac (Cur. om. Clause 1), and indeed every other known version: +besides seven good Greek Fathers beginning with Clemens Alex. (A.D. +190), and five Latin Fathers beginning with Tertullian (A.D. 190): +Cyprian's testimony being in fact the voice of the Fourth Council of +Carthage, A.D. 253. If on a survey of this body of evidence any one will +gravely tell me that the preponderance of authority still seems to him +to be in favour of the shorter reason, I can but suggest that the sooner +he communicates to the world the grounds for his opinion, the better. + +(1) In the meantime it becomes necessary to consider the disputed +clauses separately, because ancient authorities, rivalling modern +critics, are unable to agree as to which they will reject, which they +will retain. I begin with the second. What persuades so many critics to +omit the precious words [Greek: kai eipen, Ouk oidate hoiou pneumatos +este hymeis], is the discovery that these words are absent from many +uncial MSS.,--[Symbol: Aleph]ABC and nine others; besides, as might have +been confidently anticipated from that fact, also from a fair proportion +of the cursive copies. It is impossible to deny that _prima facie_ such +an amount of evidence against any words of Scripture is exceedingly +weighty. Pseudo-Basil (ii. 271) is found to have read the passage in the +same curt way. Cyril, on the other hand, seems to have read it +differently. + +And yet, the entire aspect of the case becomes changed the instant it is +perceived that this disputed clause is recognized by Clemens[565] (A.D. +190); as well as by the Old Latin, by the Peshitto, and by the +Curetonian Syriac: for the fact is thus established that as well in +Eastern as in Western Christendom the words under discussion were +actually recognized as genuine full a hundred and fifty years before the +oldest of the extant uncials came into existence. When it is further +found that (besides Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine,) the Vulgate, the Old +Egyptian, the Harkleian Syriac and the Gothic versions also contain the +words in question; and especially that Chrysostom in four places, +Didymus, Epiphanius, Cyril and Theodoret, besides Antiochus, familiarly +quote them, it is evident that the testimony of antiquity in their +favour is even overwhelming. Add that in eight uncial MSS. (beginning +with D) the words in dispute form part of the text of St. Luke, and that +they are recognized by the great mass of the cursive copies,--(only six +out of the twenty which Scrivener has collated being without them,)--and +it is plain that at least five tests of genuineness have been fully +satisfied. + +(2) The third clause ([Greek: ho gar huios tou anthropou ouk elthe +psychas anthropon apolesai, alla sosai]) rests on precisely the same +solid evidence as the second; except that the testimony of Clemens is no +longer available,--but only because his quotation does not extend so +far. Cod. D also omits this third clause; which on the other hand is +upheld by Tertullian, Cyprian and Ambrose. Tischendorf suggests that it +has surreptitiously found its way into the text from St. Luke xix. 10, +or St. Matt, xviii. 11. But this is impossible; simply because what is +found in those two places is essentially different: namely,--[Greek: +elthe gar ho huios tou anthropou zetesai kai][566] [Greek: sosai to +apololos]. + +(3) We are at liberty in the meantime to note how apt an illustration is +here afforded of the amount of consensus which subsists between +documents of the oldest class. This divergence becomes most conspicuous +when we direct our attention to the grounds for omitting the foremost +clause of the three, [Greek: hos kai Elias epoiesen]: for here we make +the notable discovery that the evidence is not only less weighty, but +also different. Codexes B and [Symbol: Aleph] are now forsaken by all +their former allies except L[Symbol: Xi] and a single cursive copy. +True, they are supported by the Curetonian Syriac, the Vulgate and two +copies of the Old Latin. But this time they find themselves confronted +by Codexes ACD with thirteen other uncials and the whole body of the +cursives; the Peshitto, Coptic, Gothic, and Harkleian versions; by +Clemens, Jerome, Chrysostom, Cyril and pseudo-Basil. In respect of +antiquity, variety, respectability, numbers, they are therefore +hopelessly outvoted. + +Do any inquire, How then has all this contradiction and depravation of +Codexes [Symbol: Aleph]ABC(D) come about? I answer as follows:-- + +It was a favourite tenet with the Gnostic heretics that the Law and the +Gospel are at variance. In order to establish this, Marcion (in a work +called Antitheses) set passages of the New Testament against passages of +the Old; from the seeming disagreement between which his followers were +taught to infer that the Law and the Gospel cannot have proceeded from +one and the same author[567]. Now here was a place exactly suited to his +purpose. The God of the Old Testament had twice sent down fire from +heaven to consume fifty men. But 'the Son of Man,' said our Saviour, +when invited to do the like, 'came not to destroy men's lives but to +save them.' Accordingly, Tertullian in his fourth book against Marcion, +refuting this teaching, acquaints us that one of Marcion's 'Contrasts' +was Elijah's severity in calling down fire from Heaven,--and the +gentleness of Christ. 'I acknowledge the seventy of the judge,' +Tertullian replies; 'but I recognize the same severity on the part of +Christ towards His Disciples when they proposed to bring down a similar +calamity on a Samaritan village[568].' From all of which it is plain +that within seventy years of the time when the Gospel was published, the +text of St. Luke ix. 54-6 stood very much as at present. + +But then it is further discovered that at the same remote period (about +A.D. 130) this place of Scripture was much fastened on by the enemies of +the Gospel. The Manichaean heretics pressed believers with it[569]. The +disciples' appeal to the example of Elijah, and the reproof they +incurred, became inconvenient facts. The consequence might be foreseen. +With commendable solicitude for God's honour, but through mistaken +piety, certain of the orthodox (without suspicion of the evil they were +committing) were so ill-advised as to erase from their copies the +twenty-four words which had been turned to mischievous account as well +as to cause copies to be made of the books so mutilated: and behold, at +the end of 1,700 years, the calamitous result! + +Of these three clauses then, which are closely interdependent, and as +Tischendorf admits[570] must all three stand or all three fall together, +the first is found with ACD, the Old Latin, Peshitto, Clement, +Chrysostom, Cyril, Jerome,--not with [Symbol: Aleph]B the Vulgate or +Curetonian. The second and third clauses are found with Old Latin, +Vulgate, Peshitto, Harkleian, six Greek and five Latin Fathers,--not +with [Symbol: Aleph]ABCD. + +While [Symbol: Aleph] and B are alone in refusing to recognize either +first, second or third clause. And this is a fair sample of that +'singular agreement' which is sometimes said to subsist between 'the +lesser group of witnesses.' Is it not plain on the contrary that at a +very remote period there existed a fierce conflict, and consequent +hopeless divergence of testimony about the present passage; of which +1,700 years[571] have failed to obliterate the traces? Had [Symbol: +Aleph]B been our only ancient guides, it might of course have been +contended that there has been no act of spoliation committed: but seeing +that one half of the missing treasure is found with their allies, ACD, +Clement Alex., Chrysostom, Cyril, Jerome,--the other half with their +allies, Old Latin, Harkleian, Clement, Tertullian, Cyprian, Ambrose, +Didymus, Epiphanius, Chrysostom, Cyril, Theodoret, Jerome, +Augustine[572],--it is clear that no such pretence can any longer be set +up. + +The endeavour to establish agreement among the witnesses by a skilful +distribution or rather dislocation of their evidence, a favourite device +with the Critics, involves a fallacy which in any other subject would be +denied a place. I trust that henceforth St. Luke ix. 54-6 will be left +in undisputed possession of its place in the sacred Text,--to which it +has an undoubted right. + +A thoughtful person may still inquire, Can it however be explained +further how it has come to pass that the evidence for omitting the first +clause and the two last is so unequally divided? I answer, the disparity +is due to the influence of the Lectionaries. + +Let it be observed then that an ancient Ecclesiastical Lection which +used to begin either at St. Luke ix. 44, or else at verse 49 and to +extend down to the end of verse 56[573], ended thus,--[Greek: hos kai +Elias epoiese; strapheis de epetimesen autois. kai eporeuthesan eis +hetepan komen][574]. It was the Lection for Thursday in the fifth week +of the new year; and as the reader sees, it omitted the two last clauses +exactly as Codd. [Symbol: Aleph]ABC do. Another Ecclesiastical Lection +began at verse 51 and extended down to verse 57, and is found to have +contained the two last clauses[575]. I wish therefore to inquire:--May +it not fairly be presumed that it is the Lectionary practice of the +primitive age which has led to the irregularity in this perturbation of +the sacred Text? + +FOOTNOTES: + +[495] [Greek: Pros tois dokesei ton Christon pephenenai legontas]. + +[496] [Greek: To de paidion euxane, kai ekrataiouto pneumati]. + +[497] It is the twenty-fourth and the thirtieth question in the first +Dialogus of pseudo-Caesarius (Gall. vi. 17, 20). + +[498] Opp. iii. 953, 954,--with suspicious emphasis. + +[499] Ed. Migne, vol. 93, p. 1581 a, b (Novum Auct. i. 700). + +[500] When Cyril writes (Scholia, ed. Pusey, vol. vi. 568),--"[Greek: To +de paidion euxane kai ekrataiouto PNEUMATI, pleroumenon SOPHIA kai +CHARITI." kaitoi kata physin panteleios estin hos Theos kai ex idion +pleromatos dianemei tois agiois ta PNEUMATIKA, kai autos estin e SOPHIA, +kai tes CHARITOS ho doter],--it is clear that [Greek: pneumati] must +have stood in Cyril's text. The same is the reading of Cyril's Treatise, +De Incarnatione (Mai, ii. 57): and of his Commentary on St. Luke (ibid. +p. 136). One is surprised at Tischendorf's perverse inference concerning +the last-named place. Cyril had begun by quoting the whole of ver. 40 in +exact conformity with the traditional text (Mai, ii. 136). At the close +of some remarks (found both in Mai and in Cramer's Catena), Cyril +proceeds as follows, according to the latter:--[Greek: ho Euangelistes +epse "euxane kai ekrataiouto" KAI TA EXES]. Surely this constitutes no +ground for supposing that he did not recognize the word [Greek: +pneumati], but rather that he did. On the other hand, it is undeniable +that in V. P. ii. 138 and 139 (= Concilia iii. 241 d, 244 a), from +Pusey's account of what he found in the MSS. (vii. P. i. 277-8), the +word [Greek: pneumati] must be suspected of being an unauthorized +addition to the text of Cyril's treatise, De Recta fide ad Pulcheriam et +Eudociam. + +[501] ii. 152: iv. 112: v. 120, 121 (four times). + +[502] [Greek: Ei teleios esti Theos ho Christos, pos ho euangelistes +legei, to de paidion Iesous euxane kai ekrataiouto pneumati];--S. +Caesarii, Dialogus I, Quaest. 24 (_ap._ Galland. vi. 17 c). And see +Quaest. 30. + +[503] ii. 36 d. + +[504] Fragmenta Syriaca, ed. Sachau, p. 53.--The only other Greek +Fathers who quote the place are Euthymius and Theophylact. + +[505] [Greek: Hen ekousa para tou Theou]. Epiph. i. 463. + +[506] Instead of [Greek: para tou Theou]. + +[507] i. 410: iv. 294, 534. Elsewhere he defends and employs it. + +[508] i. 260, 463: ii. 49. + +[509] i. 705. + +[510] viii. 365. + +[511] (Glaph.) i. 18. + +[512] iv. 83, 430. But both Origen (i. 705: iv. 320, 402) and Cyril (iv. +554: v. 758) quote the traditional reading; and Cyril (iv. 549) +distinctly says that the latter is right, and [Greek: para tou patros] +wrong. + +[513] Excerpt. Theod. 968.--Heracleon's name is also connected by Origen +with this text. Valentinus (ap. Iren. 100) says, [Greek: on de kai uion +Monogene kai Theon kekleken]. + +[514] Pp. 627, 630, 466. + +[515] P. 956. + +[516] 'Deum nemo vidit umquam: nisi unicus filius solus, sinum patris +ipse enarravit.'--(Comp. Tertullian:--'Solus filius patrem novit et +sinum patris ipse exposuit' (Prax. c. 8. Cp. c. 21): but he elsewhere +(ibid. c. 15) exhibits the passage in the usual way.) Clemens +writes,--[Greek: tote epopteuseis ton kolpon tou Patrus, hon ho +monoogenes huios Theos monos exegesato] (956), and in the Excerpt. +Theod. we find [Greek: outos ton kolpon ton Patros exegesato ho Soter] +(969). But this is unintelligible until it is remembered that our Lord +is often spoken of by the Fathers as [Greek: he dexia tou hypsistou ... +kolpos de tes dexias ho Pater]. (Greg. Nyss. i. 192.) + +[517] Ps. 440 (--[Greek: ho]): Marcell. 165, 179, 273. + +[518] Marcell. 334: Theoph. 14. + +[519] Marcell. 132. Read on to p. 134. + +[520] Opp. ii. 466. + +[521] Opp. iii. 23, 358. + +[522] Greg. Nyss. Opp. i. 192, 663 ([Greek: Theos pantos ho monogenes, +ho en tois kolpois on tou Patros, outos eipontos tou Ioannou]). Also ii. +432, 447, 450, 470, 506: always [Greek: en tois kolpois]. Basil, Opp. +iii. 12. + +[523] Basil, Opp. iii. 14, 16, 117: and so Eunomius (ibid. i. 623). + +[524] Contra Eunom. _I have noted_ ninety-eight places. + +[525] Cyril (iv. 104) paraphrases St. John i. 18 thus:--[Greek: autos +gar Theos on ho monogenes, en kolpois on tou theou kai patros, tauten +pros hemas epoiesato ten exegesin]. Presently (p. 105), he says that St. +John [Greek: kai "monogene theon" apokalei ton huion, kai "en kolpois" +einai phesi tou patros]. But on p. 107 he speaks quite plainly: [Greek: +"ho monogenes," phesi, "Theos, ho on eis ton kolpon tou patros, ekeinos +exegesato." epeide gar ephe "monogene" kai "Theon," tithesin euthys, "ho +on en tois kolpois tou patros."]--So v. 137, 768. And yet he reads +[Greek: huios] in v. 365, 437: vi. 90. + +[526] He uses it seventeen times in his Comm. on Isaiah (ii. 4, 35, 122, +&c.), and actually so reads St. John i. 18 in one place (Opp. vi. 187). +Theodoret once adopts the phrase (Opp. v. 4). + +[527] De Trin. 76, 140, 37a:--27. + +[528] P. 117. + +[529] Traditional Text, p. 113, where the references are given. + +[530] Who quoted Arius' words:--'Subsistit ante tempora et aeones +_plenus Deus, unigenitus,_ et immutabilis.' But I cannot yet find +Tischendorf's reference. + +[531] The reading [Greek: Huios] is established by unanswerable +evidence. + +[532] The Gnostics Basilides and Valentinus were the direct precursors +of Apolonius, Photinus, Nestorius, &c., in assailing the Catholic +doctrine of the Incarnation. Their heresy must have been actively at +work when St. John wrote his first (iv. 1, 2, 3) and second (ver. 7) +Epistles. + +[533] Rev. xxii. 19. + +[534] [Greek: Epipedosin hemin hoi hairetikoi legontes; idou ouk anelabe +sarka ho Christos; ho deut. gar phesin anthr. ho k. ex ouranou.] Chrys. +iii. 114 b. + +[535] [Greek: Ten gar kata sarka gennesin tou Christou anelein +boulomenoi, enellaxan to, ho deuteros anthropos; kai epoiesan, ho +deuteros Kyrios.] Dial. [_ap._ Orig.] i. 868.--Marcion had in fact +already substituted [Greek: Kyrios] for [Greek: anthropos] in ver. 45: +('_the last Lord_ became a quickening spirit':) [Tertull. ii. 304]--a +fabricated reading which is also found to have been upheld by Marcion's +followers:--[Greek: ho eschatos Kyrios eis pn. zo.] Dial. _ubi supra_. +[Greek: edei gar autous, ei ge ta euangelia etimon, me peritemnein ta +euangelia, me mere ton euangelion exyphelein, me hetera prosthenai, mete +logo, mete idia gnome ta euangelia prosgraphein.... prosgegraphekasi +goun hosa beboulentai, kai exypheilanto hosa kekrikasi.] Titus of Bostra +c. Manichaeos (Galland. v. 328). + +[536] Tertull. ii. 304, (_Primus homo de humo terrenus, secundus Dominus +de Caelo_). + +[537] Dial [Orig. i.] 868, ([Greek: ho deuteros Kyrios ex ouranou]). + +[538] [Greek: To de panton chalepotaton en tais ekklesiastikais +symphorais, he ton 'Apolinariston esti parresia.] Greg. Naz. ii. 167. + +[539] ii. 168,--a very interesting place. See also p. 87. + +[540] i. 831. + +[541] ii. 443, 531. + +[542] Pp. 180, 209, 260, 289, 307 (_primus homo de terrae limo_, &c.). + +[543] iii. 40. + +[544] iii. 114 four times: x. 394, 395. Once (xi. 374) he has [Greek: ho +deut. anthr. ouranios ex ouranou]. + +[545] iv. 1051. + +[546] _Ap._ Thdt. v. 1135. + +[547] _Ap._ Galland. viii. 626, 627. + +[548] i. 222 (where for [Greek: anthr.] he reads [Greek: Adam]), 563. +Also ii. 120, 346. + +[549] 'Adversus Manichaeos,'--_ap._ Mai, iv. 68, 69. + +[550] ii. 228:--[Greek: ouch hoti ho anthropos, etoi to anthropinon +proslemma, ex ouranou en, hos ho aphron Apolinarios elerei]. + +[551] Naz. ii. 87 (=Thdt. iv. 62), 168.--Nyss. ii. 11. + +[552] _Ap._ Epiphan. i. 830. + +[553] 559 (with the Text. Recept.): iv. 302 not. + +[554] Hippolytus may not be cited in evidence, being read both ways. +(Cp. ed. Fabr. ii. 30:--ed. Lagarde, 138. 15:--ed. Galland. ii. +483.)--Neither may the expression [Greek: tou deuterou ex ouranou +anthropou] in Pet. Alex. (ed. Routh, Rell. Sacr. iv. 48) be safely +pressed. + +[555] _Primus homo de terra, terrenus: secundus homo de caelo +caelestis_.--i. 1168, 1363: ii. 265, 975. And so ps.-Ambr. ii. 166, 437. + +[556] ii. 298: iv. 930: vii. 296. + +[557] The places are given by Sabatier _in loc_. + +[558] Only because it is the Vulgate reading, I am persuaded, does this +reading appear in Orig. _interp_. ii. 84, 85: iii. 951: iv. 546. + +[559] As Philastrius (_ap._ Galland. vii. 492, 516).--Pacianus (ib. +275).--Marius Mercator (ib. viii. 664).--Capreolus (ib. ix. 493). But +see the end of the next ensuing note. + +[560] Vol. i. p. 1275,--[Greek: ho deuteros anthr. ho Kyrios ex ouranou +ouranios]:--on which he remarks, (if indeed it be he), [Greek: idou gar +amphoterothen ouranios anthropos onomazetai]. And lower down,--[Greek: +Kyrios, dia ten mian hypostasin; deut. men anthr., kata ten henomenen +anthropoteta. ex ouranou de, kata ten theoteta].--P. 448,--[Greek: ho +deuteros anthr. ex ouranou epouranios].--_Ap._ Montf. ii. 13 (= Galland. +v. 167),--[Greek: ho deut. anthr. ex ouranou].--Note that Maximinus, an +Arian bishop, A.D. 427-8 (_ap._ Augustin. viii. 663) is found to have +possessed a text identical with the first of the preceding:--'Ait ipse +Paulus, _Primus homo Adam de terra terrenus, secundus homo Dominus de +Caelo caelestis_ advenit.' + +[561] See Revision Revised, pp. 132-5: and The Traditional Text, p. 114. + +[562] This paper is marked as having been written at Chichester in 1877, +and is therefore earlier than the Dean's later series. + +[563] Proleg. 418. + +[564] The text of St. Luke ix. 51-6 prefixed to Cyril's fifty-sixth +Sermon (p. 353) is the text of B and [Symbol: Aleph],--an important +testimony to what I suppose may be regarded as the Alexandrine _Textus +Receptus_ of this place in the fifth century. But then no one supposes +that Cyril is individually responsible for the headings of his Sermons. +We therefore refer to the body of his discourse; and discover that the +Syriac translator has rendered it (as usual) with exceeding licence. He +has omitted to render some such words as the following which certainly +stood in the original text:--[Greek: eidenai gar chre, hoti hos mepo tes +neas kekratekotes charitos, all' eti tes proteras echomenoi synetheias, +touto eipon, pros Elian aphorontes ton pyri kataphlexanta dis tous +pentekonta kai tous egoumenous auton], (Cramer's Cat. ii. p. 81. Cf. +Corderii, Cat. p. 263. Also Matthaei. N. T. _in loc._, pp. 333-4.) Now +the man who wrote _that_, must surely have read St. Luke ix. 54, 55 as +we do. + +[565] See the fragment (and Potter's note), Opp. p. 1019: also Galland. +ii. 157. First in Hippolyt., Opp. ed. Fabric, ii. 71. + +[566] In St. Matt. xviii. 11, the words [Greek: zetesai kai] do not +occur. + +[567] Bp. Kaye's Tertullian, p. 468. 'Agnosco iudicis severitatem. E +contrario Christi in eandem animadversionem destinantes discipulos super +ilium viculum Samaritarum.' Marc. iv. 23 (see ii. p. 221). He +adds,--'Let Marcion also confess that by the same terribly severe judge +Christ's leniency was foretold;' and he cites in proof Is. xlii. 2 and 1 +Kings xix. 12 ('sed in _spiritu_ miti'). + +[568] Augustine (viii. 111-150, 151-182) writes a book against him. And +he discusses St. Luke ix. 54-5 on p. 139. + +Addas Adimantus (a disciple of Manes) was the author of a work of the +same kind. Augustine (viii. 606 c) says of it,--'ubi de utroque +Testamento velut inter se contraria testimonia proferuntur versipelli +dolositate, velut inde ostendatur utrumque ab uno Deo esse non posse, +sed alterum ab altero.' Cerdon was the first to promulgate this +pestilential tenet (605 a). Then Marcion his pupil, then Apelles, and +then Patricius. + +[569] Titus Bostr. adv. Manichaeos (_ap._ Galland. v. 329 b), leaving +others to note the correspondences between the New and the Old +Testament, proposes to handle the 'Contrasts': [Greek: pros autas tas +antitheseis ton logion choresomen]. At pp. 339 e, 340 a, b, he confirms +what Tertullian says about the calling down of fire from heaven. + +[570] Verba [Greek: hos kai E. epoiese] cur quis addiderit, planum. +Eidem interpolatori debentur quae verba [Greek: str. de epeti. autois] +excipiunt. Gravissimum est quod testium additamentum [Greek: ho gar +huios], &c. ab eadem manu derivandum est, nec per se solum pro spurio +haberi potest; cohaeret enim cum argumento tum auctoritate arctissime +cum prioribus. (N. T. ed. 1869, p. 544.) + +[571] Secundo iam saeculo quin in codicibus omnis haec interpolatio +circumferri consueverit, dubitari nequit. (Ibid.) + +[572] The following are the references left by the Dean. I have not had +time or strength to search out those which are left unspecified in this +MS. and the last. + +Jerome.--Apostoli in Lege versati ... ulcisci nituntur iniuriam, _et +imitari Eliam_, &c. Dominus, qui non ad iudicandum _venerat_, sed _ad +salvandum_, &c. ... increpat eos _quod non meminerint doctrinae suae et +bonitatis Evangelicae_, &c. (i. 857 b, c, d.) + +Cyprian, Synodical Epistle.--'Filius hominis non venit animas hominum +perdere, sed salvare.' p. 98. A.D. 253. + +Tatian.--Veni, inquit, animam salvam facere. (Carn. c. 12 et 10: and +Anim. c. 13.) + +Augustine gives a long extract from the same letter and thus quotes the +words twice,--x. 76, 482. Cp. ii. 593 a. + +[Greek: Kai ho Kyrios pros tous apostolous eipontas en pyri kolasai tous +me dexamenous autous kata ton Elian; Ouk oidate phesi poiou pneumatos +este]. (p. 1019.) + +Theodoret, iii. 1119. ([Greek: poiou].) + +Epiph. ii. 31. ([Greek: hoiou].) + +Basil, ii. 271 (Eth.) quotes the whole place. + +Augustine.--Respondit eis Dominus, dicens eos nescire cuius spiritus +filii essent, et quod ipse liberare venisset, non perdere. viii. 139 b. +Cp. iii. (2), 194 b. + +Cyril Al.--[Greek: Mepo tes neas kekratekotes charitos ... touto eipon, +ton Elian aphorontes ton pyri k.t.l.] Cord. Cat. 263 = Cram. Cat. 81. +Also iv. 1017.--By a strange slip of memory, Cyril sets down a reproof +found in St. Matthew: but this is enough to shew that he admits that +_some_ reproof finds record in the Gospel. + +Chrys. vii. 567 e: x. 305 d: vii. 346 a: ix. 677 c. + +Opus Imp. ap. Chrys. vi. 211, 219. + +Didymus.--[Greek: Ouk oidate oiou pneumatos estin ho huios tou +anthropou]. De Trin. p. 188. + +[573] Evst. 48 (Matthaei's c): Evst. 150 (Harl. 5598). + +[574] See Matthaei, N.T. 1786, vol. ii. p. 17. + +[575] [I have been unable to discover this Lection.] + + + + +APPENDIX I. + +PERICOPE DE ADULTERA. + + +I have purposely reserved for the last the most difficult problem of +all: viz. those twelve famous verses of St. John's Gospel (chap. vii. 53 +to viii. 11) which contain the history of 'the woman taken in +adultery,'--the _pericope de adultera_, as it is called. Altogether +indispensable is it that the reader should approach this portion of the +Gospel with the greatest amount of experience and the largest +preparation. Convenient would it be, no doubt, if he could further +divest himself of prejudice; but that is perhaps impossible. Let him at +least endeavour to weigh the evidence which shall now be laid before him +in impartial scales. He must do so perforce, if he would judge rightly: +for the matter to be discussed is confessedly very peculiar: in some +respects, even unique. Let me convince him at once of the truth of what +has been so far spoken. + +It is a singular circumstance that at the end of eighteen centuries two +instances, and but two, should exist of a considerable portion of +Scripture left to the mercy, so to speak, of 'Textual Criticism.' Twelve +consecutive Verses in the second Gospel--as many consecutive Verses in +the fourth--are in this predicament. It is singular, I say, that the +Providence which has watched so marvellously over the fortunes of the +Deposit,--the Divine Wisdom which has made such ample provision for its +security all down the ages, should have so ordered the matter, that +these two co-extensive problems have survived to our times to be tests +of human sagacity,--trials of human faithfulness and skill. They present +some striking features of correspondence, but far more of contrast,--as +will presently appear. And yet the most important circumstance of all +cannot be too soon mentioned: viz. that both alike have experienced the +same calamitous treatment at the hands of some critics. By common +consent the most recent editors deny that either set of Verses can have +formed part of the Gospel as it proceeded from the hands of its inspired +author. How mistaken is this opinion of theirs in respect of the 'Last +twelve verses of the Gospel according to St. Mark,' has been already +demonstrated in a separate treatise. I must be content in this place to +deal in a far less ceremonious manner with the hostile verdict of many +critics concerning St. John vii. 53-viii. 11. That I shall be able to +satisfy those persons who profess themselves unconvinced by what was +offered concerning St. Mark's last twelve verses, I am not so simple as +to expect. But I trust that I shall have with me all candid readers who +are capable of weighing evidence impartially, and understanding the +nature of logical proof, when it is fully drawn out before them,--which +indeed is the very qualification that I require of them. + +And first, the case of the _pericope de adultera_ requires to be placed +before the reader in its true bearings. For those who have hitherto +discussed it are observed to have ignored certain preliminary +considerations which, once clearly apprehended, are all but decisive of +the point at issue. There is a fundamental obstacle, I mean, in the way +of any attempt to dislodge this portion of the sacred narrative from the +context in which it stands, which they seem to have overlooked. I +proceed to explain. + +Sufficient prominence has never yet been given to the fact that in the +present discussion the burden of proof rests entirely with those who +challenge the genuineness of the Pericope under review. In other words, +the question before us is not by any means,--Shall these Twelve Verses +be admitted--or, Must they be refused admission--into the Sacred Text? +That point has been settled long, long ago. St. John's Twelve verses are +in possession. Let those eject them who can. They are known to have +occupied their present position for full seventeen hundred years. There +never was a time--as far as is known--- when they were not _where_,--and +to all intents and purposes _what_--they now are. Is it not evident, +that no merely ordinary method of proof,--no merely common +argument,--will avail to dislodge Twelve such Verses as these? + +'Twelve such Verses,' I say. For it is the extent of the subject-matter +which makes the case so formidable. We have here to do with no dubious +clause, concerning which ancient testimony is divided; no seeming gloss, +which is suspected to have overstepped its proper limits, and to have +crept in as from the margin; no importation from another Gospel; no +verse of Scripture which has lost its way; no weak amplification of the +Evangelical meaning; no tasteless appendix, which encumbers the +narrative and almost condemns itself. Nothing of the sort. If it were +some inconsiderable portion of Scripture which it was proposed to get +rid of by shewing that it is disallowed by a vast amount of ancient +evidence, the proceeding would be intelligible. But I take leave to +point out that a highly complex and very important incident--as related +in twelve consecutive verses of the Gospel--cannot be so dealt with. +Squatters on the waste are liable at any moment to be served with a +notice of ejectment: but the owner of a mansion surrounded by broad +acres which his ancestors are known to have owned before the Heptarchy, +may on no account be dispossessed by any such summary process. This--to +speak without a figure--is a connected and very striking portion of the +sacred narrative:--the description of a considerable incident, complete +in itself, full of serious teaching, and of a kind which no one would +have ever dared to invent. Those who would assail it successfully must +come forward with weapons of a very different kind from those usually +employed in textual warfare. + +It shall be presently shewn that these Twelve Verses hold their actual +place by a more extraordinary right of tenure than any other twelve +verses which can be named in the Gospel: but it would be premature to +enter upon the proof of that circumstance now. I prefer to invite the +reader's attention, next to the actual texture of the _pericope de +adultera_, by which name (as already explained) the last verse of St. +John vii. together with verses 1-11 of ch. viii. are familiarly +designated. Although external testimony supplies the sole proof of +genuineness, it is nevertheless reasonable to inquire what the verses in +question may have to say for themselves. Do they carry on their front +the tokens of that baseness of origin which their impugners so +confidently seek to fasten upon them? Or do they, on the contrary, +unmistakably bear the impress of Truth? + +The first thing which strikes me in them is that the actual narrative +concerning 'the woman taken in adultery' is entirely contained in the +last nine of these verses: being preceded by two short paragraphs of an +entirely different character and complexion. Let these be first produced +and studied: + + 'and every man went to his own house: but Jesus went to the + Mount of Olives.' 'And again, very early in the morning, He + presented Himself in the Temple; and all the people came unto + Him: and He sat down and taught them.' + +Now as every one must see, the former of these two paragraphs is +unmistakably not the beginning but the end of a narrative. It purports +to be the conclusion of something which went before, not to introduce +something which comes after. Without any sort of doubt, it is St. John's +account of what occurred at the close of the debate between certain +members of the Sanhedrin which terminates his history of the last day of +the Feast of Tabernacles. The verse in question marks the conclusion of +the Feast,--implies in short that all is already finished. Remove it, +and the antecedent narrative ends abruptly. Retain it, and all proceeds +methodically; while an affecting contrast is established, which is +recognized to be strictly in the manner of Scripture[576]. Each one had +gone to his home: but the homeless One had repaired to the Mount of +Olives. In other words, the paragraph under discussion is found to be an +integral part of the immediately antecedent narrative: proves to be a +fragment of what is universally admitted to be genuine Scripture. By +consequence, itself must needs be genuine also[577]. + +It is vain for any one to remind us that these two verses are in the +same predicament as those which follow: are as ill supported by MS. +evidence as the other ten: and must therefore share the same fate as the +rest. The statement is incorrect, to begin with; as shall presently be +shewn. But, what is even better deserving of attention, since +confessedly these twelve verses are either to stand or else to fall +together, it must be candidly admitted that whatever begets a suspicion +that certain of them, at all events, must needs be genuine, throws real +doubt on the justice of the sentence of condemnation which has been +passed in a lump upon all the rest. + +I proceed to call attention to another inconvenient circumstance which +some Critics in their eagerness have overlooked. + +The reader will bear in mind that--contending, as I do, that the entire +Pericope under discussion is genuine Scripture which has been forcibly +wrenched away from its lawful context,--I began by examining the upper +extremity, with a view to ascertaining whether it bore any traces of +being a fractured edge. The result is just what might have been +anticipated. The first two of the verses which it is the fashion to +brand with ignominy were found to carry on their front clear evidence +that they are genuine Scripture. How then about the other extremity? + +Note, that in the oracular Codexes B and [Symbol: Aleph] immediate +transition is made from the words 'out of Galilee ariseth no prophet,' +in ch. vii. 5a, to the words 'Again therefore Jesus spake unto them, +saying,' in ch. viii. 12. And we are invited by all the adverse Critics +alike to believe that so the place stood in the inspired autograph of +the Evangelist. + +But the thing is incredible. Look back at what is contained between ch. +vii. 37 and 5a, and note--(_a_) That two hostile parties crowded the +Temple courts (ver. 40-42): (_b_) That some were for laying violent +hands on our Lord (ver. 44): (_c_) That the Sanhedrin, being assembled +in debate, were reproaching their servants for not having brought Him +prisoner, and disputing one against another[578] (ver. 45-52). How can +the Evangelist have proceeded,--'Again therefore Jesus spake unto them, +saying, I am the light of the world'? What is it supposed then that St. +John meant when he wrote such words? + +But on the contrary, survey the context in any ordinary copy of the New +Testament, and his meaning is perfectly clear. The last great day of the +Feast of Tabernacles is ended. It is the morrow and 'very early in the +morning.' The Holy One has 'again presented Himself in the Temple' where +on the previous night He so narrowly escaped violence at the hands of +His enemies, and He teaches the people. While thus engaged,--the time, +the place, His own occupation suggesting thoughts of peace and holiness +and love,--a rabble rout, headed by the Scribes and Pharisees, enter on +the foulest of errands; and we all remember with how little success. +Such an interruption need not have occupied much time. The Woman's +accusers having departed, our Saviour resumes His discourse which had +been broken off. 'Again therefore' it is said in ver. 12, with clear and +frequent reference to what had preceded in ver. 2--'Jesus spake unto +them, saying, I am the light of the world.' And had not that saying of +His reference as well to the thick cloud of moral darkness which His +words, a few moments before, had succeeded in dispelling, as to the orb +of glory which already flooded the Temple Court with the effulgence of +its rising,--His own visible emblem and image in the Heavens?... I +protest that with the incident of 'the woman taken in adultery,'--so +introduced, so dismissed,--all is lucid and coherent: without those +connecting links, the story is scarcely intelligible. These twelve +disputed verses, so far from 'fatally interrupting the course of St. +John's Gospel, if retained in the text[579],' prove to be even necessary +for the logical coherency of the entire context in which they stand. + +But even that is not all. On close and careful inspection, the +mysterious texture of the narrative, no less than its 'edifying and +eminently Christian' character, vindicates for the _Pericope de +adultera_ a right to its place in the Gospel. Let me endeavour to +explain what seems to be its spiritual significancy: in other words, to +interpret the transaction. + +The Scribes and Pharisees bring a woman to our Saviour on a charge of +adultery. The sin prevailed to such an extent among the Jews that the +Divine enactments concerning one so accused had long since fallen into +practical oblivion. On the present occasion our Lord is observed to +revive His own ancient ordinance after a hitherto unheard of fashion. +The trial by the bitter water, or water of conviction[580], was a +species of ordeal, intended for the vindication of innocence, the +conviction of guilt. But according to the traditional belief the test +proved inefficacious, unless the husband was himself innocent of the +crime whereof he accused his wife. + +Let the provisions of the law, contained in Num. v. 16 to 24, be now +considered. The accused Woman having been brought near, and set before +the Lord, the priest took 'holy water in an earthen vessel,' and put 'of +the dust of the floor of the tabernacle into the water.' Then, with the +bitter water that causeth the curse in his hand, he charged the woman by +an oath. Next, he wrote the curses in a book and blotted them out with +the bitter water; causing the woman to drink the bitter water that +causeth the curse. Whereupon if she were guilty, she fell under a +terrible penalty,--her body testifying visibly to her sin. If she was +innocent, nothing followed. + +And now, who sees not that the Holy One dealt with His hypocritical +assailants, as if they had been the accused parties? Into the presence +of incarnate Jehovah verily they had been brought: and perhaps when He +stooped down and wrote upon the ground, it was a bitter sentence against +the adulterer and adulteress which He wrote. We have but to assume some +connexion between the curse which He thus traced 'in the dust of the +floor of the tabernacle' and the words which He uttered with His lips, +and He may with truth be declared to have 'taken of the dust and put in +on the water,' and 'caused them to drink of the bitter water which +causeth the curse.' For when, by His Holy Spirit, our great High Priest +in His human flesh addressed these adulterers,--what did He but present +them with living water[581] 'in an earthen vessel[582]'? Did He not +further charge them with an oath of cursing, saying, 'If ye have not +gone aside to uncleanness, be ye free from this bitter water: but if ye +be defiled'--On being presented with which alternative, did they not, +self-convicted, go out one by one? And what else was this but their own +acquittal of the sinful woman, for whose condemnation they shewed +themselves so impatient? Surely it was 'the water of conviction' +([Greek: to hydor tou elegmou]) as it is six times called, which _they_ +had been compelled to drink; whereupon, 'convicted ([Greek: +elegchomenoi]) by their own conscience,' as St. John relates, they had +pronounced the other's acquittal. Finally, note that by Himself +declining to 'condemn' the accused woman, our Lord also did in effect +blot out those curses which He had already written against her in the +dust,--when He made the floor of the sanctuary His 'book.' + +Whatever may be thought of the foregoing exposition--and I am not +concerned to defend it in every detail,--on turning to the opposite +contention, we are struck with the slender amount of actual proof with +which the assailants of this passage seem to be furnished. Their +evidence is mostly negative--a proceeding which is constantly observed +to attend a bad cause: and they are prone to make up for the feebleness +of their facts by the strength of their assertions. But my experience, +as one who has given a considerable amount of attention to such +subjects, tells me that the narrative before us carries on its front the +impress of Divine origin. I venture to think that it vindicates for +itself a high, unearthly meaning. It seems to me that it cannot be the +work of a fabricator. The more I study it, the more I am impressed with +its Divinity. And in what goes before I have been trying to make the +reader a partaker of my own conviction. + +To come now to particulars, we may readily see from its very texture +that it must needs have been woven in a heavenly loom. Only too obvious +is the remark that the very subject-matter of the chief transaction +recorded in these twelve verses, would be sufficient in and by itself to +preclude the suspicion that these twelve verses are a spurious addition +to the genuine Gospel. And then we note how entirely in St. John's +manner is the little explanatory clause in ver. 6,--'This they said, +tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him[583].' We are struck +besides by the prominence given in verses 6 and 8 to the act of +writing,--allusions to which, are met with in every work of the last +Evangelist[584]. It does not of course escape us how utterly beyond the +reach of a Western interpolator would have been the insertion of the +article so faithfully retained to this hour before [Greek: lithon] in +ver. 7. On completing our survey, as to the assertions that the +_pericope de adultera_ 'has no right to a place in the text of the four +Gospels,'--is 'clearly a Western interpolation, though not Western of +the earliest type[585],' (whatever _that_ may mean), and so forth,--we +can but suspect that the authors very imperfectly realize the difficulty +of the problem with which they have to deal. Dr. Hort finally assures us +that 'no accompanying marks would prevent' this portion of Scripture +'from fatally interrupting the course of St. John's Gospel if retained +in the text': and when they relegate it accordingly to a blank page at +the end of the Gospels within 'double brackets,' in order 'to shew its +inferior authority';--we can but read and wonder at the want of +perception, not to speak of the coolness, which they display. _Quousque +tandem?_ + +But it is time to turn from such considerations as the foregoing, and to +inquire for the direct testimony, which is assumed by recent Editors and +Critics to be fatal to these twelve verses. Tischendorf pronounces it +'absolutely certain that this narrative was not written by St. +John[586].' One, vastly his superior in judgement (Dr. Scrivener) +declares that 'on all intelligent principles of mere Criticism, the +passage must needs be abandoned[587].' Tregelles is 'fully satisfied +that this narrative is not a genuine part of St. John's Gospel[588].' +Alford shuts it up in brackets, and like Tregelles puts it into his +footnotes. Westcott and Hort, harsher than any of their predecessors, +will not, as we have seen, allow it to appear even at the foot of the +page. To reproduce all that has been written in disparagement of this +precious portion of God's written Word would be a joyless and an +unprofitable task. According to Green, 'the genuineness of the passage +cannot be maintained[589].' Hammond is of opinion that 'it would be more +satisfactory to separate it from its present context, and place it by +itself as an appendix to the Gospel[590].' A yet more recent critic +'sums up,' that 'the external evidence must be held fatal to the +genuineness of the passage[591].' The opinions of Bishops Wordsworth, +Ellicott, and Lightfoot, shall be respectfully commented upon by-and-by. +In the meantime, I venture to join issue with every one of these learned +persons. I contend that on all intelligent principles of sound Criticism +the passage before us must be maintained to be genuine Scripture; and +that without a particle of doubt I cannot even admit that 'it has been +transmitted to us under circumstances widely different from those +connected with any other passage of Scripture whatever[592].' I contend +that it has been transmitted in precisely the same way as all the rest +of Scripture, and therefore exhibits the same notes of genuineness as +any other twelve verses of the same Gospel which can be named: but--like +countless other places--it is found for whatever reason to have given +offence in certain quarters: and in consequence has experienced very ill +usage at the hands of the ancients and of the moderns also:--but +especially of the latter. In other words, these twelve verses exhibit +the required notes of genuineness _less conspicuously_ than any other +twelve consecutive verses in the same Gospel. But that is all. The one +only question to be decided is the following:--On a review of the whole +of the evidence,--is it more reasonable to stigmatize these twelve +verses as a spurious accretion to the Gospel? Or to admit that they must +needs be accounted to be genuine?... I shall shew that they are at this +hour supported by a weight of testimony which is absolutely +overwhelming. I read with satisfaction that my own convictions were +shared by Mill, Matthaei, Adler, Scholz, Vercellone. I have also the +learned Ceriani on my side. I should have been just as confident had I +stood alone:--such is the imperative strength of the evidence. + +To begin then. Tischendorf--(who may be taken as a fair sample of the +assailants of this passage)--commences by stating roundly that the +Pericope is omitted by [Symbol: Aleph]ABCLTX[Symbol: Delta], and about +seventy cursives. I will say at once, that no sincere inquirer after +truth could so state the evidence. It is in fact not a true statement. A +and C are hereabout defective. No longer possible therefore is it to +know with certainty what they either did, or did not, contain. But this +is not merely all. I proceed to offer a few words concerning Cod. A. + +Woide, the learned and accurate[593] editor of the Codex Alexandrinus, +remarked (in 1785)--'Historia adulterae _videtur_ in hoc codice +defuisse.' But this modest inference of his, subsequent Critics have +represented as an ascertained fact, Tischendorf announces it as +'certissimum.' Let me be allowed to investigate the problem for myself. +Woide's calculation,--(which has passed unchallenged for nearly a +hundred years, and on the strength of which it is now-a-days assumed +that Cod. A must have exactly resembled Codd. [Symbol: Aleph]B in +_omitting_ the _pericope de adultera_,)--was far too roughly made to be +of any critical use[594]. + +Two leaves of Cod. A have been here lost: viz. from the word [Greek: +katabainon] in vi. 50 to the word [Greek: legeis] in viii. 52: a +_lacuna_ (as I find by counting the letters in a copy of the ordinary +text) of as nearly as possible 8,805 letters,--allowing for +contractions, and of course not reckoning St. John vii. 53 to viii. 11. +Now, in order to estimate fairly how many letters the two lost leaves +actually contained, I have inquired for the sums of the letters on the +leaf immediately preceding, and also on the leaf immediately succeeding +the hiatus; and I find them to be respectively 4,337 and 4,303: +together, 8,640 letters. But this, it will be seen, is insufficient by +165 letters, or eight lines, for the assumed contents of these two +missing leaves. Are we then to suppose that one leaf exhibited somewhere +a blank space equivalent to eight lines? Impossible, I answer. There +existed, on the contrary, a considerable redundancy of matter in at +least the second of those two lost leaves. This is proved by the +circumstance that the first column on the next ensuing leaf exhibits the +unique phenomenon of being encumbered, at its summit, by two very long +lines (containing together fifty-eight letters), for which evidently no +room could be found on the page which immediately preceded. But why +should there have been any redundancy of matter at all? Something +extraordinary must have produced it. What if the _Pericope de adultera_, +without being actually inserted in full, was recognized by Cod. A? What +if the scribe had proceeded as far as the fourth word of St. John viii. +3, and then had suddenly checked himself? We cannot tell what appearance +St. John vii. 53-viii. 11 presented in Codex A, simply because the +entire leaf which should have contained it is lost. Enough however has +been said already to prove that it is incorrect and unfair to throw +[Symbol: Aleph]AB into one and the same category,--with a +'certissimum,'--as Tischendorf does. + +As for L and [Symbol: Delta], they exhibit a vacant space after St. John +vii. 52,--which testifies to the consciousness of the copyists that they +were leaving out something. These are therefore witnesses _for_,--not +witnesses _against_,--the passage under discussion.--X being a +Commentary on the Gospel as it was read in Church, of course leaves the +passage out.--The only uncial MSS. therefore which _simply_ leave out +the pericope, are the three following--[Symbol: Aleph]BT: and the degree +of attention to which such an amount of evidence is entitled, has been +already proved to be wondrous small. We cannot forget moreover that the +two former of these copies enjoy the unenviable distinction of standing +alone on a memorable occasion:--they _alone_ exhibit St. Mark's Gospel +mutilated in respect of its twelve concluding verses. + +But I shall be reminded that about seventy MSS. of later date are +without the _pericope de adultera_: that the first Greek Father who +quotes the pericope is Euthymius in the twelfth century: that +Tertullian, Origen, Chrysostom, Cyril, Nonnus, Cosmas, Theophylact, knew +nothing of it: and that it is not contained in the Syriac, the Gothic, +or the Egyptian versions. Concerning every one of which statements I +remark over again that no sincere lover of Truth, supposing him to +understand the matter about which he is disputing, could so exhibit the +evidence for this particular problem. First, because so to state it is +to misrepresent the entire case. Next, because some of the articles of +indictment are only half true:--in fact are _untrue_. But chiefly, +because in the foregoing enumeration certain considerations are actually +suppressed which, had they been fairly stated, would have been found to +reverse the issue. Let me now be permitted to conduct this inquiry in my +own way. + +The first thing to be done is to enable the reader clearly to understand +what the problem before him actually is. Twelve verses then, which, as a +matter of fact, are found dovetailed into a certain context of St. +John's Gospel, the Critics insist must now be dislodged. But do the +Critics in question prove that they must? For unless they do, there is +no help for it but the _pericope de adultera_ must be left where it is. +I proceed to shew first, that it is impossible, on any rational +principle to dislodge these twelve verses from their actual +context.--Next, I shall point out that the facts adduced in evidence and +relied on by the assailants of the passage, do not by any means prove +the point they are intended to prove; but admit of a sufficient and +satisfactory explanation.--Thirdly, it shall be shewn that the said +explanation carries with it, and implies, a weight of testimony in +support of the twelve verses in dispute, which is absolutely +overwhelming.--Lastly, the positive evidence in favour of these twelve +verses shall be proved to outweigh largely the negative evidence, which +is relied upon by those who contend for their removal. To some people I +may seem to express myself with too much confidence. Let it then be said +once for all, that my confidence is inspired by the strength of the +arguments which are now to be unfolded. When the Author of Holy +Scripture supplies such proofs of His intentions, I cannot do otherwise +than rest implicit confidence in them. + +Now I begin by establishing as my first proposition that, + +(1) _These twelve verses occupied precisely the same position which they +now occupy from the earliest period to which evidence concerning the +Gospels reaches._ + +And this, because it is a mere matter of fact, is sufficiently +established by reference to the ancient Latin version of St. John's +Gospel. We are thus carried back to the second century of our era: +beyond which, testimony does not reach. The pericope is observed to +stand _in situ_ in Codd. b c e ff^{2} g h j. Jerome (A.D. 385), after a +careful survey of older Greek copies, did not hesitate to retain it in +the Vulgate. It is freely referred to and commented on by himself[595] +in Palestine: while Ambrose at Milan (374) quotes it at least nine +times[596]; as well as Augustine in North Africa (396) about twice as +often[597]. It is quoted besides by Pacian[598], in the north of Spain +(370),--by Faustus[599] the African (400),--by Rufinus[600] at Aquileia +(400),--by Chrysologus[601] at Ravenna (433),--by Sedulius[602] a Scot +(434). The unknown authors of two famous treatises[603] written at the +same period, largely quote this portion of the narrative. It is referred +to by Victorius or Victorinus (457),--by Vigilius of Tapsus[604] (484) +in North Africa,--by Gelasius[605], bp. of Rome (492),--by +Cassiodorus[606] in Southern Italy,--by Gregory the Great[607], and by +other Fathers of the Western Church. + +To this it is idle to object that the authors cited all wrote in Latin. +For the purpose in hand their evidence is every bit as conclusive as if +they had written in Greek,--from which language no one doubts that they +derived their knowledge, through a translation. But in fact we are not +left to Latin authorities. [Out of thirty-eight copies of the Bohairic +version the _pericope de adultera_ is read in fifteen, but in three +forms which will be printed in the Oxford edition. In the remaining +twenty-three, it is left out.] How is it intelligible that this passage +is thus found in nearly half the copies--except on the hypothesis that +they formed an integral part of the Memphitic version? They might have +been easily omitted: but how could they have been inserted? + +Once more. The Ethiopic version (fifth century),--the Palestinian Syriac +(which is referred to the fifth century),--the Georgian (probably fifth +or sixth century),--to say nothing of the Slavonic, Arabic and Persian +versions, which are of later date,--all contain the portion of narrative +in dispute. The Armenian version also (fourth-fifth century) originally +contained it; though it survives at present in only a few copies. Add +that it is found in Cod. D, and it will be seen that in all parts of +ancient Christendom this portion of Scripture was familiarly known in +early times. + +But even this is not all. Jerome, who was familiar with Greek MSS. (and +who handled none of later date than B and [Symbol: Aleph]), expressly +relates (380) that the _pericope de adultera_ 'is found in many copies +both Greek and Latin[608].' He calls attention to the fact that what is +rendered 'sine peccato' is [Greek: anamartetos] in the Greek: and lets +fall an exegetical remark which shews that he was familiar with copies +which exhibited (in ver. 8) [Greek: egraphan enos ekastou auton tas +amartias],--a reading which survives to this day in one uncial (U) and +at least eighteen cursive copies of the fourth Gospel[609]. Whence is +it--let me ask in passing--that so many Critics fail to see that +_positive_ testimony like the foregoing far outweighs the adverse +_negative_ testimony of [Symbol: Aleph]BT,--aye, and of AC to boot if +they were producible on this point? How comes it to pass that the two +Codexes, [Symbol: Aleph] and B, have obtained such a mastery--rather +exercise such a tyranny--over the imagination of many Critics as quite +to overpower their practical judgement? We have at all events +established our first proposition: viz. that from the earliest period to +which testimony reaches, the incident of 'the woman taken in adultery' +occupied its present place in St. John's Gospel. The Critics eagerly +remind us that in four cursive copies (13, 69, 124, 346), the verses in +question are found tacked on to the end of St. Luke xxi. But have they +then forgotten that 'these four Codexes are derived from a common +archetype,' and therefore represent one and the same ancient and, I may +add, corrupt copy? The same Critics are reminded that in the same four +Codexes [commonly called the Ferrar Group] 'the agony and bloody sweat' +(St. Luke xxii. 43, 44) is found thrust into St. Matthew's Gospel +between ch. xxvi. 39 and 40. Such licentiousness on the part of a +solitary exemplar of the Gospels no more affects the proper place of +these or of those verses than the superfluous digits of a certain man of +Gath avail to disturb the induction that to either hand of a human being +appertain but five fingers, and to either foot but five toes. + +It must be admitted then that as far back as testimony reaches the +passage under discussion stood where it now stands in St. John's Gospel. +And this is my first position. But indeed, to be candid, hardly any one +has seriously called that fact in question. No, nor do any (except Dr. +Hort[610]) doubt that the passage is also of the remotest antiquity. +Adverse Critics do but insist that however ancient, it must needs be of +spurious origin: or else that it is an afterthought of the +Evangelist:--concerning both which imaginations we shall have a few +words to offer by-and-by. + +It clearly follows,--indeed it may be said with truth that it only +remains,--to inquire what may have led to its so frequent exclusion from +the sacred Text? For really the difficulty has already resolved itself +into that. + +And on this head, it is idle to affect perplexity. In the earliest age +of all,--the age which was familiar with the universal decay of heathen +virtue, but which had not yet witnessed the power of the Gospel to +fashion society afresh, and to build up domestic life on a new and more +enduring basis;--at a time when the greatest laxity of morals prevailed, +and the enemies of the Gospel were known to be on the look out for +grounds of cavil against Christianity and its Author;--what wonder if +some were found to remove the _pericope de adultera_ from their copies, +lest it should be pleaded in extenuation of breaches of the seventh +commandment? The very subject-matter, I say, of St. John viii. 3-11 +would sufficiently account for the occasional omission of those nine +verses. Moral considerations abundantly explain what is found to have +here and there happened. But in fact this is not a mere conjecture of my +own. It is the reason assigned by Augustine for the erasure of these +twelve verses from many copies of the Gospel[611]. Ambrose, a quarter of +a century earlier, had clearly intimated that danger was popularly +apprehended from this quarter[612]: while Nicon, five centuries later, +states plainly that the mischievous tendency of the narrative was the +cause why it had been expunged from the Armenian version[613]. +Accordingly, just a few Greek copies are still to be found mutilated in +respect of those nine verses only. But in fact the indications are not a +few that all the twelve verses under discussion did not by any means +labour under the same degree of disrepute. The first three (as I shewed +at the outset) clearly belong to a different category from the last +nine,--a circumstance which has been too much overlooked. + +The Church in the meantime for an obvious reason had made choice of St. +John vii. 37-viii. 12--the greater part of which is clearly descriptive +of what happened at the Feast of Tabernacles--for her Pentecostal +lesson: and judged it expedient, besides omitting as inappropriate to +the occasion the incident of the woman taken in adultery, to ignore also +the three preceding verses;--making the severance begin, in fact, as far +back as the end of ch. vii. 52. The reason for this is plain. In this +way the allusion to a certain departure at night, and return early next +morning (St. John vii. 53: viii. 1), was avoided, which entirely marred +the effect of the lection as the history of a day of great and special +solemnity,--'the great day of the Feast.' And thus it happens that the +gospel for the day of Pentecost was made to proceed directly from +'Search and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet,' in ch. vii. +52,--to 'Then spake Jesus unto them, saying, I am the light of the +world,' in ch. viii. 12; with which it ends. In other words, an omission +which owed its beginning to a moral scruple was eventually extended for +a liturgical consideration; and resulted in severing twelve verses of +St. John's Gospel--ch. vii. 53 to viii. 11--from their lawful context. + +We may now proceed to the consideration of my second proposition, which +is + +(2) _That by the very construction of her Lectionary, the Church in her +corporate capacity and official character has solemnly recognised the +narrative in question as an integral part of St. John's Gospel, and as +standing in its traditional place, from an exceedingly remote time_. + +Take into your hands at random the first MS. copy of St. John's Gospel +which presents itself, and turn to the place in question. Nay, I will +instance _all_ the four Evangelia which I call mine,--all the seventeen +which belong to Lord Zouch,--all the thirty-nine which Baroness +Burdett-Coutts imported from Epirus in 1870-2. Now all these +copies--(and nearly each of them represents a different line of +ancestry)--are found to contain the verses in question. How did the +verses ever get there? + +But the most extraordinary circumstance of the case is behind. Some out +of the Evangelia referred to are observed to have been prepared for +ecclesiastical use: in other words, are so rubricated throughout as to +shew where, every separate lection had its 'beginning' ([Greek: arche]), +and where its 'end' ([Greek: telos]). And some of these lections are +made up of disjointed portions of the Gospel. Thus, the lection for +Whitsunday is found to have extended from St. John vii. 37 to St. John +viii. 12; beginning at the words [Greek: te eschate hemera te megale], +and ending--[Greek: to phos tes zoes]: but _over-leaping_ the twelve +verses now under discussion: viz. vii. 53 to viii. 11. Accordingly, the +word 'over-leap' ([Greek: hyperba]) is written in _all_ the copies after +vii. 52,--whereby the reader, having read on to the end of that verse, +was directed to skip all that followed down to the words [Greek: kai +meketi hamartane] in ch. viii. 11: after which he found himself +instructed to 'recommence' ([Greek: arxai]). Again I ask (and this time +does not the riddle admit of only one solution?),--When and how does the +reader suppose that the narrative of 'the woman taken in adultery' first +found its way into the _middle of the lesson for Pentecost_? I pause for +an answer: I shall perforce be told that it never 'found its way' into +the lection at all: but having once crept into St. John's Gospel, +however that may have been effected, and established itself there, it +left those ancient men who devised the Church's Lectionary without +choice. They could but direct its omission, and employ for that purpose +the established liturgical formula in all similar cases. + +But first,--How is it that those who would reject the narrative are not +struck by the essential foolishness of supposing that twelve fabricated +verses, purporting to be an integral part of the fourth Gospel, can have +so firmly established themselves in every part of Christendom from the +second century downwards, that they have long since become simply +ineradicable? Did the Church then, _pro hac vice_, abdicate her function +of being 'a witness and a keeper of Holy Writ'? Was she all of a sudden +forsaken by the inspiring Spirit, who, as she was promised, should +'guide her into all Truth'? And has she been all down the ages guided +into the grievous error of imputing to the disciple whom Jesus loved a +narrative of which he knew nothing? For, as I remarked at the outset, +this is not merely an assimilated expression, or an unauthorized +nominative, or a weakly-supported clause, or any such trifling thing. +Although be it remarked in passing, I am not aware of a single such +trifling excrescence which we are not able at once to detect and to +remove. In other words, this is not at all a question, like the rest, +about the genuine text of a passage. Our inquiry is of an essentially +different kind, viz. Are these twelve consecutive verses Scripture at +all, or not? Divine or human? Which? They claim by their very structure +and contents to be an integral part of the Gospel. And such a serious +accession to the Deposit, I insist, can neither have 'crept into' the +Text, nor have 'crept out' of it. The thing is unexampled,--is +unapproached,--is impossible. + +Above all,--(the reader is entreated to give the subject his sustained +attention),--Is it not perceived that the admission involved in the +hypothesis before us is fatal to any rational pretence that the passage +is of spurious origin? We have got back in thought at least to the third +or fourth century of our era. We are among the Fathers and Doctors of +the Eastern Church in conference assembled: and they are determining +what shall be the Gospel for the great Festival of Pentecost. 'It shall +begin' (say they) 'at the thirty-seventh verse of St. John vii, and +conclude with the twelfth verse of St. John viii. But so much of it as +relates to the breaking up of the Sanhedrin,--to the withdrawal of our +Lord to the Mount of Olives,--and to His return next morning to the +Temple,--had better not be read. It disturbs the unity of the narrative. +So also had the incident of the woman taken in adultery better not be +read. It is inappropriate to the Pentecostal Festival.' The Authors of +the great Oriental Liturgy therefore admit that they find the disputed +verses in their copies: and thus they vouch for their genuineness. For +none will doubt that, had they regarded them as a spurious accretion to +the inspired page, they would have said so plainly. Nor can it be denied +that if in their corporate capacity they had disallowed these twelve +verses, such an authoritative condemnation would most certainly have +resulted in the perpetual exclusion from the Sacred Text of the part of +these verses which was actually adopted as a Lection. What stronger +testimony on the contrary can be imagined to the genuineness of any +given portion of the everlasting Gospel than that it should have been +canonized or recognized as part of Inspired Scripture by the collective +wisdom of the Church in the third or fourth century? + +And no one may regard it as a suspicious circumstance that the present +Pentecostal lection has been thus maimed and mutilated in respect of +twelve of its verses. There is nothing at all extraordinary in the +treatment which St. John vii. 37-viii. 12 has here experienced. The +phenomenon is even of perpetual recurrence in the Lectionary of the +East,--as will be found explained below[614]. + +Permit me to suppose that, between the Treasury and Whitehall, the +remote descendant of some Saxon thane occupied a small tenement and +garden which stood in the very middle of the ample highway. Suppose +further, the property thereabouts being Government property, that the +road on either side of this estate had been measured a hundred times, +and jealously watched, ever since Westminster became Westminster. Well, +an act of Parliament might no doubt compel the supposed proprietor of +this singular estate to surrender his patrimony; but I submit that no +government lawyer would ever think of setting up the plea that the owner +of that peculiar strip of land was an impostor. The man might have no +title-deeds to produce, to be sure; but counsel for the defendant would +plead that neither did he require any. 'This man's title' (counsel would +say) 'is--occupation for a thousand years. His evidences are--the +allowance of the State throughout that long interval. Every procession +to St. Stephen's--every procession to the Abbey--has swept by +defendant's property--on this side of it and on that,--since the days of +Edward the Confessor. And if my client refuses to quit the soil, I defy +you--except by violence--to get rid of him.' + +In this way then it is that the testimony borne to these verses by the +Lectionary of the East proves to be of the most opportune and convincing +character. The careful provision made for passing by the twelve verses +in dispute:--the minute directions which fence those twelve verses off +on this side and on that, directions issued we may be sure by the +highest Ecclesiastical authority, because recognized in every part of +the ancient Church,--not only establish them effectually in their +rightful place, but (what is at least of equal importance) fully explain +the adverse phenomena which are ostentatiously paraded by adverse +critics; and which, until the clue has been supplied, are calculated to +mislead the judgement. + +For now, for the first time, it becomes abundantly plain why Chrysostom +and Cyril, in publicly commenting on St. John's Gospel, pass straight +from ch. vii. 52 to ch. viii. 12. Of course they do. Why should +they,--how could they,--comment on what was not publicly read before the +congregation? The same thing is related (in a well-known 'scholium') to +have been done by Apolinarius and Theodore of Mopsuestia. Origen also, +for aught I care,--though the adverse critics have no right to claim +him, seeing that his commentary on all that part of St. John's Gospel is +lost;--but Origen's name, as I was saying, for aught I care, may be +added to those who did the same thing. A triumphant refutation of the +proposed inference from the silence of these many Fathers is furnished +by the single fact that Theophylact must also be added to their number. +Theophylact, I say, ignores the _pericope de adultera_--passes it by, I +mean,--exactly as do Chrysostom and Cyril. But will any one pretend that +Theophylact,--writing in A.D. 1077,--did not know of St. John vii. +53-viii. 11? Why, in nineteen out of every twenty copies within his +reach, the whole of those twelve verses must have been to be found. + +The proposed inference from the silence of certain of the Fathers is +therefore invalid. The argument _e silentio_--always an insecure +argument,--proves inapplicable in this particular case. When the +antecedent facts have been once explained, all the subsequent phenomena +become intelligible. But a more effectual and satisfactory reply to the +difficulty occasioned by the general silence of the Fathers, remains to +be offered. + +There underlies the appeal to Patristic authority an opinion,--not +expressed indeed, yet consciously entertained by us all,--which in fact +gives the appeal all its weight and cogency, and which must now by all +means be brought to the front. The fact that the Fathers of the Church +were not only her Doctors and Teachers, but also the living voices by +which alone her mind could be proclaimed to the world, and by which her +decrees used to be authoritatively promulgated;--this fact, I say, it is +which makes their words, whenever they deliver themselves, so very +important: their approval, if they approve, so weighty; their +condemnation, if they condemn, so fatal. But then, in the present +instance, they do not condemn. They neither approve nor condemn. They +simply say nothing. They are silent: and in what precedes, I have +explained the reason why. We wish it had been otherwise. We would give a +great deal to persuade those ancient oracles to speak on the subject of +these twelve verses: but they are all but inexorably silent. Nay, I am +overstating the case against myself. Two of the greatest Fathers +(Augustine and Ambrose) actually do utter a few words; and they are to +the effect that the verses are undoubtedly genuine:--'Be it known to all +men' (they say) 'that this passage _is_ genuine: but the nature of its +subject-matter has at once procured its ejection from MSS., and resulted +in the silence of Commentators.' The most learned of the Fathers in +addition practically endorses the passage; for Jerome not only leaves it +standing in the Vulgate where he found it in the Old Latin version, but +relates that it was supported by Greek as well as Latin authorities. + +To proceed however with what I was about to say. + +It is the authoritative sentence of the Church then on this difficult +subject that we desiderate. We resorted to the Fathers for that: +intending to regard any quotations of theirs, however brief, as their +practical endorsement of all the twelve verses: to infer from their +general recognition of the passage, that the Church in her collective +capacity accepted it likewise. As I have shewn, the Fathers decline, +almost to a man, to return any answer. But,--Are we then without the +Church's authoritative guidance on this subject? For this, I repeat, is +the only thing of which we are in search. It was only in order to get at +this that we adopted the laborious expedient of watching for the casual +utterances of any of the giants of old time. Are we, I say, left without +the Church's opinion? + +Not so, I answer. The reverse is the truth. The great Eastern Church +speaks out on this subject in a voice of thunder. In all her +Patriarchates, as far back as the written records of her practice +reach,--and they reach back to the time of those very Fathers whose +silence we felt to be embarrassing,--the Eastern Church has selected +nine out of these twelve verses to be the special lesson for October 8. +A more significant circumstance it would be impossible to adduce in +evidence. Any pretence to fasten a charge of spuriousness on a portion +of Scripture so singled out by the Church for honour, were nothing else +but monstrous. It would be in fact to raise quite a distinct issue: viz. +to inquire what amount of respect is due to the Church's authority in +determining the authenticity of Scripture? I appeal not to an opinion, +but to _a fact_: and that fact is, that though the Fathers of the Church +for a very sufficient reason are very nearly silent on the subject of +these twelve verses, the Church herself has spoken with a voice of +authority so loud that none can affect not to hear it: so plain, that it +cannot possibly be misunderstood. And let me not be told that I am +hereby setting up the Lectionary as the true standard of appeal for the +Text of the New Testament: still less let me be suspected of charging on +the collective body of the faithful whatever irregularities are +discoverable in the Codexes which were employed for the public reading +of Scripture. Such a suspicion could only be entertained by one who has +hitherto failed to apprehend the precise point just now under +consideration. We are not examining the text of St. John vii. 53-viii. +11. We are only discussing whether those twelve verses _en bloc_ are to +be regarded as an integral part of the fourth Gospel, or as a spurious +accretion to it. And that is a point on which the Church in her +corporate character must needs be competent to pronounce; and in respect +of which her verdict must needs be decisive. She delivered her verdict +in favour of these twelve verses, remember, at a time when her copies of +the Gospels were of papyrus as well as 'old uncials' on vellum.--Nay, +before 'old uncials' on vellum were at least in any general use. True, +that the transcribers of Lectionaries have proved themselves just as +liable to error as the men who transcribed Evangelia. But then, it is +incredible that those men forged the Gospel for St. Pelagia's day: +impossible, if it were a forgery, that the Church should have adopted +it. And it is the significancy of the Church having adopted the +_pericope de adultera_ as the lection for October 8, which has never yet +been sufficiently attended to: and which I defy the Critics to account +for on any hypothesis but one: viz. that the pericope was recognized by +the ancient Eastern Church as an integral part of the Gospel. + +Now when to this has been added what is implied in the rubrical +direction that a ceremonious respect should be shewn to the Festival of +Pentecost by dropping the twelve verses, I submit that I have fully +established my second position, viz. That by the very construction of +her Lectionary the Church in her corporate capacity and official +character has solemnly recognized the narrative in question, as an +integral part of St. John's Gospel, and as standing in its traditional +place, from an exceedingly remote time. + +For,--(I entreat the candid reader's sustained attention),--the +circumstances of the present problem altogether refuse to accommodate +themselves to any hypothesis of a spurious original for these verses; as +I proceed to shew. + +Repair in thought to any collection of MSS. you please; suppose to the +British Museum. Request to be shewn their seventy-three copies of St. +John's Gospel, and turn to the close of his seventh chapter. At that +particular place you will find, in sixty-one of these copies, these +twelve verses: and in thirty-five of them you will discover, after the +words [Greek: Prophetes ek tes Galilaias ouk eg.] a rubrical note to the +effect that 'on Whitsunday, these twelve verses are to be dropped; and +the reader is to go on at ch. viii. 12.' What can be the meaning of this +respectful treatment of the Pericope in question? How can it ever have +come to pass that it has been thus ceremoniously handled all down the +ages? Surely on no possible view of the matter but one can the +phenomenon just now described be accounted for. Else, will any one +gravely pretend to tell me that at some indefinitely remote period, (1) +These verses were fabricated: (2) Were thrust into the place they at +present occupy in the sacred text: (3) Were unsuspectingly believed to +be genuine by the Church; and in consequence of which they were at once +passed over by her direction on Whitsunday as incongruous, and appointed +by the Church to be read on October 8, as appropriate to the occasion? + +(3) But further. How is it proposed to explain why _one_ of St. John's +after-thoughts should have fared so badly at the Church's +hands;--another, so well? I find it suggested that perhaps the +subject-matter may sufficiently account for all that has happened to the +_pericope_ de adultera: And so it may, no doubt. But then, once admit +_this_, and the hypothesis under consideration becomes simply nugatory: +fails even to _touch_ the difficulty which it professes to remove. For +if men were capable of thinking scorn of these twelve verses when they +found them in the 'second and improved edition of St. John's Gospel,' +why may they not have been just as irreverent in respect of the same +verses, when they appeared in the _first_ edition? How is it one whit +more probable that every Greek Father for a thousand years should have +systematically overlooked the twelve verses in dispute when they +appeared in the second edition of St. John's Gospel, than that the same +Fathers should have done the same thing when they appeared in the +first[615]? + +(4) But the hypothesis is gratuitous and nugatory: for it has been +invented in order to account for the phenomenon that whereas twelve +verses of St. John's Gospel are found in the large majority of the later +Copies,--the same verses are observed to be absent from all but one of +the five oldest Codexes. But how, (I wish to be informed,) is that +hypothesis supposed to square with these phenomena? It cannot be meant +that the 'second edition' of St. John did not come abroad until after +Codd. [Symbol: Aleph]ABCT were written? For we know that the old Italic +version (a document of the second century) contains all the three +portions of narrative which are claimed for the second edition. But if +this is not meant, it is plain that some further hypothesis must be +invented in order to explain why certain Greek MSS. of the fourth and +fifth centuries are without the verses in dispute. And this fresh +hypothesis will render that under consideration (as I said) nugatory and +shew that it was gratuitous. + +What chiefly offends me however in this extraordinary suggestion is its +_irreverence_. It assumes that the Gospel according to St. John was +composed like any ordinary modern book: capable therefore of being +improved in the second edition, by recension, addition, omission, +retractation, or what not. For we may not presume to limit the changes +effected in a second edition. And yet the true Author of the Gospel is +confessedly God the Holy Ghost: and I know of no reason for supposing +that His works are imperfect when they proceed forth from His Hands. + +The cogency of what precedes has in fact weighed so powerfully with +thoughtful and learned Divines that they have felt themselves +constrained, as their last resource, to cast about for some hypothesis +which shall at once account for the absence of these verses from so many +copies of St. John's Gospel, and yet retain them for their rightful +owner and author,--St. John. Singular to relate, the assumption which +has best approved itself to their judgement has been, that there must +have existed two editions of St. John's Gospel,--the earlier edition +without, the later edition with, the incident under discussion. It is I +presume, in order to conciliate favour to this singular hypothesis, that +it has been further proposed to regard St. John v. 3, 4 and the whole of +St. John xxi, (besides St. John vii. 53-viii. 11), as after-thoughts of +the Evangelist. + +1. But this is unreasonable: for nothing else but _the absence_ of St. +John vii. 53-viii. 11, from so many copies of the Gospel has constrained +the Critics to regard those verses with suspicion. Whereas, on the +contrary, there is not known to exist a copy in the world which omits so +much as a single verse of chap. xxi. Why then are we to assume that the +whole of that chapter was away from the original draft of the Gospel? +Where is the evidence for so extravagant an assumption? + +2. So, concerning St. John v. 3, 4: to which there really attaches no +manner of doubt, as I have elsewhere shewn[616]. Thirty-two precious +words in that place are indeed omitted by [Symbol: Aleph]BC: +twenty-seven by D. But by this time the reader knows what degree of +importance is to be attached to such an amount of evidence. On the other +hand, they are found in _all other copies_: are vouched for by the +Syriac[617] and the Latin versions: in the Apostolic Constitutions, by +Chrysostom, Cyril, Didymus, and Ammonius, among the Greeks,--by +Tertullian, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine among the Latins. Why a passage +so attested is to be assumed to be an after-thought of the Evangelist +has never yet been explained: no, nor ever will be. + +(5) Assuming, however, just for a moment the hypothesis correct for +argument's sake, viz. that in the second edition of St. John's Gospel +the history of the woman taken in adultery appeared for the first time. +Invite the authors of that hypothesis to consider what follows. The +discovery that five out of six of the oldest uncials extant (to reckon +here the fragment T) are without the verses in question; which yet are +contained in ninety-nine out of every hundred of the despised +cursives:--what other inference can be drawn from such premisses, but +that the cursives fortified by other evidence are by far the more +trustworthy witnesses of what St. John in his old age actually entrusted +to the Church's keeping? + +[The MS. here leaves off, except that a few pencilled words are added in +an incomplete form. I have been afraid to finish so clever and +characteristic an essay.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[576] Compare 1 Sam. xxiv. 22:--'And Saul went home: _but David and his +men gat them up into the hold_.' 1 Kings xviii. 42:--'So Ahab went up to +eat and to drink: _and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, and he cast +himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees_.' +Esther iii. 15:--'And the king and Haman sat down to drink; _but the +city of Shushan was perplexed_.' Such are the idioms of the Bible. + +[577] Ammonius (Cord. Cat. p. 216), with evident reference to it, +remarks that our Lord's words in verses 37 and 38 were intended as a +_viaticum_ which all might take home with them, at the close of this, +'the last, the great day of the feast.' + +[578] So Eusebius:--- [Greek: Ote kata to auto synachthentes hoi ton +Ioudaion ethnous archontes epi tes Hierousalem, synedrion epoiesanto kai +skepsin opos auton apolesosin en ho hoi men thanaton autou +katepsephisanto; heteroi de antelegon, os ho Nikodemos, k.t.l.] (in +Psalmos, p. 230 a). + +[579] Westcott and Hort's prefatory matter (1870) to their revised Text +of the New Testament, p. xxvii. + +[580] So in the LXX. See Num. v. 11-31. + +[581] Ver. 17. So the LXX. + +[582] 2 Cor. iv. 7: v. 1. + +[583] Compare ch. vi. 6, 71: vii. 39: xi. 13, 51: xii. 6, 33: xiii. 11, +28: xxi. 19. + +[584] Consider ch. xix. 19, 20, 21, 22: xx. 30, 31: xxi. 24, 25.--1 John +i. 4: ii. 1, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 21, 26: v. 13.--2 John 5, 12.--3 John 9, +13.--Rev. _passim_, especially i. 11, 19: ii. 1, &c.: x. 4: xiv. 13: +xvii. 8: xix. 9: xx. 12, 15: xxi. 5, 27: xxii. 18, 19. + +[585] Westcott and Hort, ibid. pp. xxvii, xxvi. + +[586] Novum Testamentum, 1869, p. 829. + +[587] Plain Introduction, 1894, ii. 364. + +[588] Printed Texts, 1854, p. 341. + +[589] Developed Criticism, p. 82. + +[590] Outlines, &c., p. 103. + +[591] Nicholson's Gospel according to the Hebrews, p. 141. + +[592] Scrivener, ut supra, ii. 368. + +[593] I insert this epithet on sufficient authority. Mr. Edw. A. Guy, an +intelligent young American,--himself a very accurate observer and a +competent judge,--collated a considerable part of Cod. A in 1875, and +assured me that he scarcely ever found any discrepancy between the Codex +and Woide's reprint. One instance of _italicism_ was in fact all that +had been overlooked in the course of many pages. + +[594] It is inaccurate also. His five lines contain eight mistakes. +Praefat. p. xxx, Sec. 86. + +[595] ii. 630, addressing Rufinus, A.D. 403. Also ii. 748-9. + +[596] i. 291, 692, 707, 1367: ii. 668, 894, 1082: iii. 892-3, 896-7. + +[597] i. 30: ii. 527, 529-30: iii^{1}. 774: iii^{2}. 158, 183, 531-2 +(where he quotes the place largely and comments upon it): iv. 149, 466 +(largely quoted), 1120: v. 80, 1230 (largely quoted in both places): vi. +407, 413: viii. 377, 574. + +[598] Pacian (A.D. 372) refers the Novations to the narrative as +something which all men knew. 'Nolite in Evangelio legere quod +pepercerit Dominus etiam adulterae confitenti, quam nemo damnarat?' +Pacianus, Op. Epist. iii. Contr. Novat. (A.D. 372). _Ap._ Galland. vii. +267. + +[599] _Ap._ Augustin. viii. 463. + +[600] In his translation of Eusebius. Nicholson, p. 53. + +[601] Chrysologus, A.D. 433, Abp. of Ravenna. Venet. 1742. He mystically +explains the entire incident. Serm. cxv. Sec. 5. + +[602] Sedulius (A.D. 435) makes it the subject of a poem, and devotes a +whole chapter to it. _Ap._ Galland. ix. 553 and 590. + +[603] 'Promiss.' De Promissionibus dimid. temp. (saec. iv). Quotes viii. +4, 5, 9. P. 2, c. 22, col. 147 b. Ignot. Auct., De Vocatione omnium +Gentium (circa, A.D. 440), _ap._ Opp. Prosper. Aquit. (1782), i. p. +460-1:--'Adulteram ex legis constitutione lapidandam ... liberavit ... +cum executores praecepti de conscientiis territi, trementem ream sub +illius iudicio reliquissent.... Et inclinatus, id est ad humana dimissus +... "digito scribebat in terram," ut legem mandatorum per gratiae +decreta vacuaret,' &c. + +[604] Wrongly ascribed to Idacius. + +[605] Gelasius P. A.D. 492. Conc. iv. 1235. Quotes viii. 3, 7, 10, 11. + +[606] Cassiodorus, A.D. 514. Venet. 1729. Quotes viii. 11. See ii. p. +96, 3, 5-180. + +[607] Dialogues, xiv. 15. + +[608] ii. 748:--In evangelio secundum Ioannem in multis et Graecis et +Latinis codicibus invenitur de adultera muliere, quae accusata est apud +Dominum. + +[609] [Greek: henos hekastou auton tas hamartias]. Ev. 95, 40, 48, 64, +73, 100, 122, 127, 142, 234, 264, 267, 274, 433, 115, 121, 604, 736. + +[610] Appendix, p. 88. + +[611] vi. 407:--Sed hoc videlicet infidelium sensus exhorret, ita ut +nonnulli modicae fidei vel potius inimici verae fidei, (credo metuentes +peccandi impunitatem dari mulieribus suis), illud quod de adulterae +indulgentia Dominus fecit, auferrent de codicibus suis: quasi +permissionem peccandi tribuerit qui dixit, 'Iam deinceps noli peccare;' +aut ideo non debuerit mulier a medico Deo illius peccati remissione +sanari, ne offenderentur insani. De coniug. adult. ii. cap. 7. i. +707:--Fortasse non mediocrem scrupulum movere potuit imperitis Evangelii +lectio, quae decursa est, in quo advertistis adulteram Christo oblatam, +eamque sine damnatione dimissam. Nam profecto si quis en auribus +accipiat otiosis, incentivum erroris incurrit, cum leget quod Deus +censuerit adulterium non esse damnandum. + +[612] Epist. 58. Quid scribebat? nisi illud Propheticum (Jer. xxii. +29-30), _Terra, terra, scribe hos vivos abdicatos_. + +[613] Constt. App. (Gen. in. 49). Nicon (Gen. iii. 250). I am not +certain about these two references. + +[614] Two precious verses (viz. the forty-third and forty-fourth) used +to be omitted from the lection for Tuesday before Quinquagesima,--viz. +St. Luke xxii. 39-xxiii. 1. + +The lection for the preceding Sabbath (viz. St. Luke xxi. 8-36) +consisted of only the following verses,--ver. 8, 9, 25-27, 33-36. All +the rest (viz. verses 10-24 and 28-32) was omitted. + +On the ensuing Thursday, St. Luke xxiii was handled in a similar style: +viz. ver. 1-31, 33, 44-56 alone were read,--all the other verses being +left out. + +On the first Sabbath after Pentecost (All Saints'), the lesson consisted +of St. Matt. x. 32, 33, 37-38: xix. 27-30. + +On the fifteenth Sabbath after Pentecost, the lesson was St. Matt. xxiv. +1-9, 13 (leaving out verses 10, 11, 12). + +On the sixteenth Sabbath after Pentecost, the lesson was St. Matt. xxiv. +34-37, 42-44 (leaving out verses 38-41). + +On the sixth Sabbath of St. Luke,--the lesson was ch. viii. 26-35 +followed by verses 38 and 39. + +[615] 'This celebrated paragraph ... was probably not contained in the +first edition of St. John's Gospel but added at the time when his last +chapter was annexed to what had once been the close of his +narrative,--xx. 30, 31.' Scrivener's Introduction to Cod. D, p. 50. + +[616] In an unpublished paper. + +[617] It is omitted in some MSS. of the Peshitto. + + + + +APPENDIX II. + +CONFLATION AND THE SO-CALLED NEUTRAL TEXT. + + +Some of the most courteous of our critics, in reviewing the companion +volume to this, have expressed regret that we have not grappled more +closely than we have done with Dr. Hort's theory. I have already +expressed our reasons. Our object has been to describe and establish +what we conceive to be the true principles of Sacred Textual Science. We +are concerned only in a secondary degree with opposing principles. Where +they have come in our way, we have endeavoured to remove them. But it +has not entered within our design to pursue them into their fastnesses +and domiciles. Nevertheless, in compliance with a request which is both +proper and candid, I will do what I can to examine with all the equity +that I can command an essential part of Dr. Hort's system, which appears +to exercise great influence with his followers. + + +Sec. 1. + +CONFLATION. + +Dr. Hort's theory of 'Conflation' may be discovered on pp. 93-107. The +want of an index to his Introduction, notwithstanding his ample +'Contents,' makes it difficult to collect illustrations of his meaning +from the rest of his treatise. Nevertheless, the effect of Conflation +appears to be well described in his words on p. 133:--'Now however the +three great lines were brought together, and made to contribute to a +text different from all.' In other words, by means of a combination of +the Western, Alexandrian, and 'Neutral' Texts--'the great lines of +transmission ... to all appearance exclusively divergent,'--the 'Syrian' +text was constructed in a form different from any one and all of the +other three. Not that all these three were made to contribute on every +occasion. We find (p. 93) Conflation, or Conflate Readings, introduced +as proving the 'posteriority of Syrian to Western ... and other ... +readings.' And in the analysis of eight passages, which is added, only +in one case (St. Mark viii. 26) are more than two elements represented, +and in that the third class consists of 'different conflations' of the +first and second[618]. + +Perhaps I may present Dr. Hort's theory under the form of a diagram:-- + +Western Readings. Other Readings. + | | + --------------------- + | + Syrian Text. + +Our theory is the converse in main features to this. We utterly +repudiate the term 'Syrian' as being a most inadequate and untrue title +for the Text adopted and maintained by the Catholic Church with all her +intelligence and learning, during nearly fifteen centuries according to +Dr. Hort's admission: and we claim from the evidence that the +Traditional Text of the Gospels, under the true name, is that which came +fresh from the pens of the Evangelists; and that all variations from it, +however they have been entitled, are nothing else than corrupt forms of +the original readings. Our diagram in rough presentation will therefore +assume this character:-- + + Traditional Text.--|- + |-Western Readings. + |-w + |-x + |-y + |-z + |-etc. + |-Alexandrian Readings. + +It should be added, that w, x, y, z, &c., denote forms of corruption. We +do not recognize the 'Neutral' at all, believing it to be a Caesarean +combination or recension, made from previous texts or readings of a +corrupt character. + +The question is, which is the true theory, Dr. Hort's or ours? + +The general points that strike us with reference to Dr. Hort's theory +are:-- + +(1) That it is very vague and indeterminate in nature. Given three +things, of which X includes what is in Y and Z, upon the face of the +theory either X may have arisen by synthesis from Y and Z, or X and Z +may owe their origin by analysis to X. + +(2) Upon examination it is found that Dr. Hort's arguments for the +posteriority of D are mainly of an internal character, and are loose and +imaginative, depending largely upon personal or literary predilections. + +(3) That it is exceedingly improbable that the Church of the fourth and +fifth centuries, which in a most able period had been occupied with +discussions on verbal accuracy, should have made the gross mistake of +adopting (what was then) a modern concoction from the original text of +the Gospels, which had been written less than three or four centuries +before; and that their error should have been acknowledged as truth, and +perpetuated by the ages that succeeded them down to the present time. + +But we must draw nearer to Dr. Hort's argument. + +He founds it upon a detailed examination of eight passages, viz. St. +Mark vi. 33; viii. 26; ix. 38; ix. 49; St. Luke ix. 10; xi. 54; xii. 18; +xxiv. 53. + +1. Remark that eight is a round and divisible number. Did the author +decide upon it with a view of presenting two specimens from each Gospel? +To be sure, he gives four from the first two, and four from the two +last, only that he confines the batches severally to St. Mark and St. +Luke. Did the strong style of St. Matthew, with distinct meaning in +every word, yield no suitable example for treatment? Could no passage be +found in St. John's Gospel, where not without parallel, but to a +remarkable degree, extreme simplicity of language, even expressed in +alternative clauses, clothes soaring thought and philosophical +acuteness? True, that he quotes St. John v. 37 as an instance of +Conflation by the Codex Bezae which is anything but an embodiment of the +Traditional or 'Syrian' Text, and xiii. 24 which is similarly +irrelevant. Neither of these instances therefore fill up the gap, and +are accordingly not included in the selected eight. What can we infer +from this presentment, but that 'Conflation' is probably not of frequent +occurrence as has been imagined, but may indeed be--to admit for a +moment its existence--nothing more than an occasional incident? For +surely, if specimens in St. Matthew and St. John had abounded to his +hand, and accordingly 'Conflation' had been largely employed throughout +the Gospels, Dr. Hort would not have exercised so restricted, and yet so +round a choice. + +2. But we must advance a step further. Dean Burgon as we have seen has +calculated the differences between B and the Received Text at 7,578, and +those which divide [Symbol: Aleph] and the Received Text as reaching +8,972. He divided these totals respectively under 2,877 and 3,455 +omissions, 556 and 839 additions, 2,098 and 2,299 transpositions, and +2,067 and 2,379 substitutions and modifications combined. Of these +classes, it is evident that Conflation has nothing to do with Additions +or Transpositions. Nor indeed with Substitutions, although one of Dr. +Hort's instances appears to prove that it has. Conflation is the +combination of two (or more) different expressions into one. If +therefore both expressions occur in one of the elements, the Conflation +has been made beforehand, and a substitution then occurs instead of a +conflation. So in St. Luke xii. 18, B, &c, read [Greek: ton siton kai ta +agatha mou] which Dr. Hort[619] considers to be made by Conflation into +[Greek: ta genemata mou kai ta agatha mou], because [Greek: ta genemata +mou] is found in Western documents. The logic is strange, but as Dr. +Hort has claimed it, we must perhaps allow him to have intended to +include with this strange incongruity some though not many Substitutions +in his class of instances, only that we should like to know definitely +what substitutions were to be comprised in this class. For I shrewdly +suspect that there were actually none. Omissions are now left to us, of +which the greater specimens can hardly have been produced by Conflation. +How, for instance, could you get the last Twelve Verses of St. Mark's +Gospel, or the Pericope de Adultera, or St. Luke xxii. 43-44, or any of +the rest of the forty-five whole verses in the Gospels upon which a slur +is cast by the Neologian school? Consequently, the area of Conflation is +greatly reduced. And I venture to think, that supposing for a moment the +theory to be sound, it could not account for any large number of +variations, but would at the best only be a sign or symptom found every +now and then of the derivation attributed to the Received Text. + +3. But we must go on towards the heart of the question. And first to +examine Dr. Hort's eight instances. Unfortunately, the early patristic +evidence on these verses is scanty. We have little evidence of a direct +character to light up the dark sea of conjecture. + +(1) St. Mark (vi. 22) relates that on a certain occasion the multitude, +when they beheld our Saviour and his disciples on their way in a ship +crossing to the other side of the lake, ran together ([Greek: +synedramon]) from all their cities to the point which He was making for +([Greek: ekei]), and arrived there before the Lord and His followers +([Greek: proelthon autous]), and on His approach came in a body to Him +([Greek: synelthon pros auton]). And on disembarking ([Greek: kai +exelthon]), i.e. ([Greek: ek tou ploiou], ver. 32), &c. It should be +observed, that it was only the Apostles who knew that His ultimate +object was 'a desert place' (ver. 31, 30): the indiscriminate multitude +could only discern the bay or cape towards which the boat was going: and +up to what I have described as the disembarkation (ver. 34), nothing has +been said of His movements, except that He was in the boat upon the +lake. The account is pictorial. We see the little craft toiling on the +lake, the people on the shores running all in one direction, and on +their reaching the heights above the place of landing watching His +approach, and then descending together to Him to the point where He is +going to land. There is nothing weak or superfluous in the description. +Though condensed (what would a modern history have made of it?), it is +all natural and in due place. + +Now for Dr. Hort. He observes that one clause ([Greek: kai proelthon +autous]) is attested by B[Symbol: Aleph] and their followers; another +([Greek: kai synelthon autou] or [Greek: elthon autou], which is very +different from the 'Syrian' [Greek: synelthon pros auton]) by some +Western documents; and he argues that the entire form in the Received +Text, [Greek: kai proelthon autous, kai synelthon pros auton], was +formed by Conflation from the other two. I cannot help observing that it +is a suspicious mark, that even in the case of the most favoured of his +chosen examples he is obliged to take such a liberty with one of his +elements of Conflation as virtually to doctor it in order to bring it +strictly to the prescribed pattern. When we come to his arguments he +candidly admits, that 'it is evident that either [Symbol: delta] (the +Received Text) is conflate from [Symbol: alpha] (B[Symbol: Aleph]) and +[Symbol: beta] (Western), or [Symbol: alpha] and [Symbol: beta] are +independent simplifications of [Symbol: delta]'; and that 'there is +nothing in the sense of [Symbol: delta] that would tempt to alteration,' +and that 'accidental' omission of one or other clause would 'be easy.' +But he argues with an ingenuity that denotes a bad cause that the +difference between [Greek: autou] and [Greek: pros auton] is really in +his favour, chiefly because [Greek: autou] would very likely _if_ it had +previously existed been changed into [Greek: pros auton]--which no one +can doubt; and that '[Greek: synelthon pros auton] is certainly otiose +after [Greek: synedramon ekei],' which shews that he did not understand +the whole meaning of the passage. His argument upon what he terms +'Intrinsic Probability' leads to a similar inference. For simply [Greek: +exelthon] cannot mean that 'He "came out" of His retirement in some +sequestered nook to meet them,' such a nook being not mentioned by St. +Mark, whereas [Greek: ploion] is; nor can [Greek: ekei] denote 'the +desert region.' Indeed the position of that region or nook was known +before it was reached solely to our Lord and His Apostles: the multitude +was guided only by what they saw, or at least by vague surmise. + +Accordingly, Dr. Hort's conclusion must be reversed. 'The balance of +Internal Evidence of Readings, alike from Transcriptional and from +Intrinsic Probability, is decidedly' _not_ 'in favour of [Symbol: delta] +from [Symbol: alpha] and [Symbol: beta],' _but_ 'of [Symbol: alpha] and +[Symbol: beta] from [Symbol: delta].' The reading of the Traditional +Text is the superior both as regards the meaning, and as to the +probability of its pre-existence. The derivation of the two others from +that is explained by that besetting fault of transcribers which is +termed Omission. Above all, the Traditional reading is proved by a +largely over-balancing weight of evidence. + +(2) 'To examine other passages equally in detail would occupy too much +space.' So says Dr. Hort: but we must examine points that require +attention. + +St. Mark viii. 26. After curing the blind man outside Bethsaida, our +Lord in that remarkable period of His career directed him, according to +the Traditional reading, ([Symbol: alpha]) neither to enter into that +place, [Greek: mede eis ten komen eiselthes], nor ([Symbol: beta]) to +tell what had happened to any inhabitant of Bethsaida ([Greek: mede +eipes tini en te kome]). Either some one who did not understand the +Greek, or some matter-of-fact and officious scholar, or both, thought or +maintained that [Greek: tini en te kome] must mean some one who was at +the moment actually in the place. So the second clause got to be omitted +from the text of B[Symbol: Aleph], who are followed only by one cursive +and a half (the first reading of 1 being afterwards corrected), and the +Bohairic version, and the Lewis MS. The Traditional reading is attested +by ACN[Symbol: Sigma] and thirteen other Uncials, all Cursives except +eight, of which six with [Symbol: Phi] read a consolidation of both +clauses, by several versions, and by Theophylact (i. 210) who is the +only Father that quotes the place. This evidence ought amply to ensure +the genuineness of this reading. + +But what says Dr. Hort? 'Here [Symbol: alpha] is simple and vigorous, +and it is unique in the New Testament: the peculiar [Greek: Mede] has +the terse force of many sayings as given by St. Mark, but the softening +into [Greek: Me] by [Symbol: Aleph]* shews that it might trouble +scribes.' It is surely not necessary to controvert this. It may be said +however that [Symbol: alpha] is bald as well as simple, and that the +very difficulty in [Symbol: beta] makes it probable that that clause was +not invented. To take [Greek: tini en te kome] Hebraistically for +[Greek: tini ton en te kome], like the [Greek: tis en hymin] of St. +James v. 19[620], need not trouble scholars, I think. Otherwise they can +follow Meyer, according to Winer's Grammar (II. 511), and translate the +second [Greek: mede] _nor even_. At all events, this is a poor pillar to +support a great theory. + +(3) St. Mark ix. 38. 'Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name, +([Symbol: beta]) who doth not follow us, and we forbad him ([Symbol: +alpha]) because he followeth not us.' + +Here the authority for [Symbol: alpha] is [Symbol: Aleph]BCL[Symbol: +Delta], four Cursives, f, Bohairic, Peshitto, Ethiopic, and the Lewis +MS. For [Symbol: beta] there are D, two Cursives, all the Old Latin but +f and the Vulgate. For the Traditional Text, i.e. the whole passage, +A[Symbol: Phi][Symbol: Sigma]N + eleven Uncials, all the Cursives but +six, the Harkleian (yet obelizes [Symbol: alpha]) and Gothic versions, +Basil (ii. 252), Victor of Antioch (Cramer, Cat. i. 365), Theophylact +(i. 219): and Augustine quotes separately both omissions ([Symbol: +alpha] ix. 533, and [Symbol: beta] III. ii. 153). No other Fathers, so +far as I can find, quote the passage. + +Dr. Hort appears to advance no special arguments on his side, relying +apparently upon the obvious repetition. In the first part of the verse, +St. John describes the case of the man: in the second he reports for our +Lord's judgement the grounds of the prohibition which the Apostles gave +him. Is it so certain that the original text of the passage contained +only the description, and omitted the reason of the prohibition as it +was given to the non-follower of our Lord? To me it seems that the +simplicity of St. Mark's style is best preserved by the inclusion of +both. The Apostles did not curtly forbid the man: they treated him with +reasonableness, and in the same spirit St. John reported to his Master +all that occurred. Besides this, the evidence on the Traditional side is +too strong to admit of it not being the genuine reading. + +(4) St. Mark ix. 49. 'For ([Symbol: alpha]) every one shall be salted +with fire, ([Symbol: beta]) and every sacrifice shall be salted with +salt.' The authorities are-- + + [Symbol: alpha]. [Symbol: Aleph]BL[Symbol: Delta], fifteen + Cursives, some MSS. of the Bohairic, some of the Armenian, and + the Lewis. + + [Symbol: beta]. D, six copies of the Old Latin, three MSS. of + the Vulgate. Chromatius of Aquileia (Galland. viii. 338). + + Trad. Text. AC[Symbol: Phi][Symbol: Sigma]N and twelve more + Uncials, all Cursives except fifteen, two Old Latin, Vulgate, + Peshitto, Harkleian, some MSS. of Ethiopic and Armenian, Gothic, + Victor of Antioch (Cramer's Cat. i. 368), Theophylact (i. 221). + +This evidence must surely be conclusive of the genuineness of the +Traditional reading. But now for Dr. Hort. + +'A reminiscence of Lev. vii. 13 ... has created [Symbol: beta] out of +[Symbol: alpha].' But why should not the reminiscence have been our +Lord's? The passage appears like a quotation, or an adaptation, of some +authoritative saying. He positively advances no other argument than the +one just quoted, beyond stating two points in which the alteration might +be easily effected. + +(5) St. Luke ix. 10. 'He took (His Apostles) and withdrew privately + + [Symbol: alpha]. Into a city called Bethsaida [Greek: (eis polin + kaloumenen] B.). + + [Symbol: beta]. Into a desert place ([Greek: eis topon eremon]), + or Into a desert place called Bethsaida, or of Bethsaida. + + Trad. Text. Into a desert place belonging to a city called + Bethsaida.' + +The evidence for these readings respectively is-- + + [Symbol: alpha]. BLX[Symbol: Xi], with one correction of + [Symbol: Aleph] (C^{a}), one Cursive, the Bohairic and Sahidic. + D reads [Greek: komen]. + + [Symbol: beta]. The first and later readings (C^{b}) of [Symbol: + Aleph], four Cursives?, Curetonian, some variant Old Latin + ([Symbol: beta]^{2}), Peshitto also variant ([Symbol: + beta]^{3}). + + Trad. Text. A (with [Greek: eremon topon]) C + twelve Uncials, + all Cursives except three or five, Harkleian, Lewis (omits + [Greek: eremon]), Ethiopic, Armenian, Gothic, with Theophylact + (i. 33). + +Remark the curious character of [Symbol: alpha] and [Symbol: beta]. In +Dr. Hort's Neutral Text, which he maintains to have been the original +text of the Gospels, our Lord is represented here as having withdrawn in +private ([Greek: kat' idian], which the Revisers shirking the difficulty +translate inaccurately 'apart') _into the city called Bethsaida_. How +could there have been privacy of life _in_ a city in those days? In +fact, [Greek: kat' idian] necessitates the adoption of [Greek: topon +eremon], as to which the Peshitto ([Symbol: beta]^{3}) is in substantial +agreement with the Traditional Text. Bethsaida is represented as the +capital of a district, which included, at sufficient distance from the +city, a desert or retired spot. The group arranged under [Symbol: beta] +is so weakly supported, and is evidently such a group of fragments, that +it can come into no sort of competition with the Traditional reading. +Dr. Hort confines himself to shewing _how_ the process he advocates +might have arisen, not _that_ it did actually arise. Indeed, this +position can only be held by assuming the conclusion to be established +that it _did_ so arise. + +(6) St. Luke xi. 54. 'The Scribes and Pharisees began to urge Him +vehemently and to provoke Him to speak of many things ([Greek: +enedreuontes thereusai]), + + [Symbol: alpha]. Laying wait for Him to catch something out of + His mouth. + + [Symbol: beta]. Seeking to get some opportunity ([Greek: + aphormen tina]) for finding out how to accuse Him ([Greek: hina + eurosin kategoresai]); or, for accusing Him ([Greek: hina + kategoresosin autou]). + + Trad. Text. Laying wait for Him, _and_ seeking to catch + something ([Greek: zetountes thereusai ti]) out of His mouth, + that they might accuse Him.' + +The evidence is-- + + [Symbol: alpha]. [Symbol: Aleph]BL, Bohairic, Ethiopic, Cyril + Alex. (Mai, Nov. Pp. Bibliotheca, ii. 87, iii. 249, not + accurately). + + [Symbol: beta]. D, Old Latin except f, Curetonian. + + Trad. Text. AC + twelve Uncials, all Cursives (except five which + omit [Greek: zetountes]), Peshitto, Lewis (with omission), + Vulgate, Harkleian, Theophylact (i. 363). + +As to genuineness, the evidence is decisive. The reading [Symbol: Alpha] +is Alexandrian, adopted by B[Symbol: Aleph], and is bad Greek into the +bargain, [Greek: enedreuontes thereusai] being very rough, and being +probably due to incompetent acquaintance with the Greek language. If +[Symbol: alpha] was the original, it is hard to see how [Symbol: beta] +could have come from it. That the figurative language of [Symbol: alpha] +was replaced in [Symbol: beta] by a simply descriptive paraphrase, as +Dr. Hort suggests, seems scarcely probable. On the other hand, the +derivation of either [Symbol: alpha] or [Symbol: beta] from the +Traditional Text is much easier. A scribe would without difficulty pass +over one of the participles lying contiguously with no connecting +conjunction, and having a kind of Homoeoteleuton. And as to [Symbol: +beta], the distinguishing [Greek: aphormen tina] would be a very natural +gloss, requiring for completeness of the phrase the accompanying [Greek: +labein]. This is surely a more probable solution of the question of the +mutual relationship of the readings than the laboured account of Dr. +Hort, which is too long to be produced here. + +(7) St. Luke xii. 18. 'I will pull down my barns, and build greater, and +there will I bestow all + + [Symbol: alpha]. My corn and my goods. + + [Symbol: beta]. My crops ([Greek: ta genemata mou]). My fruits + ([Greek: tous karpous mou]). + + Trad. Text. My crops ([Greek: ta genemata mou]) and my goods.' + +This is a faulty instance, because it is simply a substitution, as Dr. +Hort admitted, in [Symbol: alpha] of the more comprehensive word [Greek: +genemata] for [Greek: siton], and a simple omission of [Greek: kai ta +agatha mou] in [Symbol: beta]. And the admission of it into the selected +eight shews the difficulty that Dr. Hort must have experienced in +choosing his examples. The evidence is-- + + [Symbol: alpha]. BTLX and a correction of [Symbol: + Aleph](a^{c}), eight Cursives, Peshitto, Bohairic, Sahidic, + Armenian, Ethiopic. + + [Symbol: beta]. [Symbol: Aleph]*D, three Cursives, b ff i q, + Curetonian and Lewis, St. Ambrose (i. 573). + + Trad. Text. AQ + thirteen Uncials. All Cursives except twelve, + _f_, Vulgate, Harkleian, Cyril Alex. (Mai, ii. 294-5) _bis_, + Theophylact (i. 370), Peter Chrysologus (Migne 52, 490-1) _bis_. + +No more need be said: substitutions and omissions are too common to +require justification. + +(8) St. Luke xxiv. 53. 'They were continually in the temple + + [Symbol: alpha]. Blessing God ([Greek: eulogountes]). + + [Symbol: beta]. Praising God ([Greek: ainountes]). + + Trad. Text. Praising and blessing God.' + +The evidence is-- + + [Symbol: alpha]. [Symbol: Aleph]BC*L, Bohairic, Palestinian, + Lewis. + + [Symbol: beta]. D, seven Old Latin. + + Trad. Text. AC^{2} + twelve Uncials, all Cursives, c f q, + Vulgate, Peshitto, Harkleian, Armenian, Ethiopic, Theophylact + (i. 497). + +Dr. Hort adds no remarks. He seems to have thought, that because he had +got an instance which outwardly met all the requirements laid down, +therefore it would prove the conclusion it was intended to prove. Now it +is evidently an instance of the omission of either of two words from the +complete account by different witnesses. The Evangelist employed both +words in order to emphasize the gratitude of the Apostles. The words are +not tautological. [Greek: Ainos] is the set praise of God, drawn out in +more or less length, properly as offered in addresses to Him[621]. +[Greek: Eulogia] includes all speaking well of Him, especially when +uttered before other men. Thus the two expressions describe in +combination the life of gratitude exhibited unceasingly by the expectant +and the infant Church. Continually in the temple they praised Him in +devotion, and told the people of His glorious works. + +4. Such are the eight weak pillars upon which Dr. Hort built his theory +which was to account for the existence of his Neutral Text, and the +relation of it towards other Texts or classes of readings. If his eight +picked examples can be thus demolished, then surely the theory of +Conflation must be utterly unsound. Or if in the opinion of some of my +readers my contention goes too far, then at any rate they must admit +that it is far from being firm, if it does not actually reel and totter. +The opposite theory of omission appears to be much more easy and +natural. + +But the curious phenomenon that Dr. Hort has rested his case upon so +small an induction as is supplied by only eight examples--if they are +not in fact only seven--has not yet received due explanation. Why, he +ought to have referred to twenty-five or thirty at least. If Conflation +is so common, he might have produced a large number of references +without working out more than was enough for illustration as patterns. +This question must be investigated further. And I do not know how to +carry out such an investigation better, than to examine some instances +which come naturally to hand from the earlier parts of each Gospel. + +It must be borne in mind, that for Conflation two differently-attested +phrases or words must be produced which are found in combination in some +passage of the Traditional Text. If there is only one which is omitted, +it is clear that there can be no Conflation because there must be at +least two elements to conflate: accordingly our instances must be cases, +not of single omission, but of double or alternative omission. If again +there is no Western reading, it is not a Conflation in Dr. Hort's sense. +And finally, if the remaining reading is not a 'Neutral' one, it is not +to Dr. Hort's liking. I do not say that my instances will conform with +these conditions. Indeed, after making a list of all the omissions in +the Gospels, except those which are of too petty a character such as +leaving out a pronoun, and having searched the list with all the care +that I can command, I do not think that such instances can be found. +Nevertheless, I shall take eight, starting from the beginning of St. +Matthew, and choosing the most salient examples, being such also that, +if Dr. Hort's theory be sound, they ought to conform to his +requirements. Similarly, there will come then four from either of St. +Mark and St. Luke, and eight from St. John. This course of proceeding +will extend operations from the eight which form Dr. Hort's total to +thirty-two. + +A. In St. Matthew we have (1) i. 25, [Greek: autes ton prototokon] and +[Greek: ton Huion]; (2) v. 22, [Greek: eike] and [Greek: to adelpho +autou]; (3) ix. 13, [Greek: eis metanoian]; (4) x. 3, [Greek: Lebbaios] +and [Greek: Thaddaios]; (5) xii. 22, [Greek: typhlon kai] and [Greek: +kophon]; (6) xv. 5, [Greek: ton patera autou] and [Greek: (he) ten +metera autou], (7) xviii. 35, [Greek: apo ton kardion hymon] and [Greek: +ta paraptomata auton]; and (8) xxvi. 3, [Greek: hoi presbyteroi (kai) +hoi Grammateis]. I have had some difficulty in making up the number. Of +those selected as well as I could, seven are cases of single omission or +of one pure omission apiece, though their structure presents a +possibility of two members for Conflation; whilst the Western element +comes in sparsely or appears in favour of both the omission and the +retention; and, thirdly, in some cases, as in (2) and (3), the support +is not only Western, but universal. Consequently, all but (4) are +excluded. Of (4) Dr. Hort remarks, (Notes on Select Readings, p. 11) +that it is 'a case of Conflation of the true and the chief Western +Texts,' and accordingly it does not come within the charmed circle. + +B. From St. Mark we get, (1) i. 1, [Greek: Huiou tou Theou] and [Greek: +Iesou Christou]; (2) i. 2, [Greek: emprosthen sou] and [Greek: pro +prosopou sou] (cp. ix. 38); (3) iii. 15, [Greek: therapeuein tas nosous +(kai)] and [Greek: ekballein ta daimonia]; (4) xiii. 33, [Greek: +agrypneite] and [Greek: (kai) proseuchesthe]. All these instances turn +out to be cases of the omission of only one of the parallel expressions. +The omission in the first is due mainly to Origen (_see_ Traditional +Text, Appendix IV): in the three last there is Western evidence on both +sides. + +C. St. Luke yields us, (1) ii. 5, [Greek: gynaiki] and [Greek: +memnesteumene]; (2) iv. 4, [Greek: epi panti rhemati Theou], or [Greek: +ep' arto mono]; (3) viii. 54, [Greek: ekbalon exo pantas (kai)], or +[Greek: kratesas tes cheiros autes]; xi. 4, [Greek: (alla) rhysai hemas +apo tou ponerou], or [Greek: me eisenenkes hemas eis peirasmon]. In all +these cases, examination discloses that they are examples of pure +omission of only one of the alternatives. The only evidence against this +is the solitary rejection of [Greek: memnesteumene] by the Lewis Codex. + +D. We now come to St. John. See (1) iii. 15, [Greek: me apoletai], or +[Greek: eche zoen aionion]; (2) iv. 14, [Greek: ou me dipsese eis ton +aiona], or [Greek: to hydor ho doso auto genesetai en auto pege hydatos, +k.t.l.]; (3) iv. 42, [Greek: ho Christos], or [Greek: ho soter tou +kosmou]; (4) iv. 51, [Greek: kai apengeilan] and [Greek: legontes]; (5) +v. 16, [Greek: kai ezetoun auton apokteinai] and [Greek: ediokon auton]; +(6) vi. 51, [Greek: hen ego doso], or [Greek: hou ego doso]; (7) ix. 1, +25, [Greek: kai eipen] or [Greek: apekrithe]; (8) xiii. 31, 32, [Greek: +ei ho Theos edoxasthe en auto], and [Greek: kai ho Theos edoxasthe en +auto]. All these instances turn out to be single omissions:--a fact +which is the more remarkable, because St. John's style so readily lends +itself to parallel or antithetical expressions involving the same result +in meaning, that we should expect conflations to shew themselves +constantly if the Traditional Text had so coalesced. + +How surprising a result:--almost too surprising. Does it not immensely +strengthen my contention that Dr. Hort took wrongly Conflation for the +reverse process? That in the earliest ages, when the Church did not +include in her ranks so much learning as it has possessed ever since, +the wear and tear of time, aided by unfaith and carelessness, made +itself felt in many an instance of destructiveness which involved a +temporary chipping of the Sacred Text all through the Holy Gospels? And, +in fact, that Conflation at least as an extensive process, if not +altogether, did not really exist. + + +Sec. 2. + +THE NEUTRAL TEXT. + +Here we are brought face to face with the question respecting the +Neutral Text. What in fact is it, and does it deserve the name which Dr. +Hort and his followers have attempted to confer permanently upon it? +What is the relation that it bears to other so-called Texts? + +So much has been already advanced upon this subject in the companion +volume and in the present, that great conciseness is here both possible +and expedient. But it may be useful to bring the sum or substance of +those discussions into one focus. + +1. The so-called Neutral Text, as any reader of Dr. Hort's Introduction +will see, is the text of B and [Symbol: Aleph] and their small +following. That following is made up of Z in St. Matthew, [Symbol: +Delta] in St. Mark, the fragmentary [Symbol: Xi] in St. Luke, with +frequent agreement with them of D, and of the eighth century L; with +occasional support from some of the group of Cursives, consisting of 1, +33, 118, 131, 157, 205, 209, and from the Ferrar group, or now and then +from some others, as well as from the Latin k, and the Egyptian or other +versions. This perhaps appears to be a larger number than our readers +may have supposed, but rarely are more than ten MSS. found together, and +generally speaking less, and often much less than that. To all general +intents and purposes, the Neutral Text is the text of B-[Symbol: Aleph]. + +2. Following facts and avoiding speculation, the Neutral Text appears +hardly in history except at the Semiarian period. It was almost disowned +ever after: and there is no certainty--nothing more than inference which +we hold, and claim to have proved, to be imaginary and delusive,--that, +except as represented in the corruption which it gathered out of the +chaos of the earliest times, it made any appearance. + +3. Thus, as a matter of history acknowledged by Dr. Hort, it was mainly +superseded before the end of the century of its emergence by the +Traditional Text, which, except in the tenets of a school of critics in +the nineteenth century, has reigned supreme ever since. + +4. That it was not the original text of the Gospels, as maintained by +Dr. Hort, I claim to have established from an examination of the +quotations from the Gospels made by the Fathers. It has been proved that +not only in number, but still more conclusively in quality, the +Traditional Text enjoyed a great superiority of attestation over all the +kinds of corruption advocated by some critics which I have just now +mentioned[622]. This conclusion is strengthened by the verdict of the +early versions. + +5. The inferiority of the 'Neutral Text' is demonstrated by the +overwhelming weight of evidence which is marshalled against it on +passages under dispute. This glaring contrast is increased by the +disagreement among themselves of the supporters of that Text, or class +of readings. As to antiquity, number, variety, weight, and continuity, +that Text falls hopelessly behind: and by internal evidence also the +texts of B and [Symbol: Aleph], and still more the eccentric text of the +Western D, are proved to be manifestly inferior. + +6. It has been shewn also by evidence, direct as well as inferential, +that B and [Symbol: Aleph] issued nearly together from the library or +school of Caesarea. The fact of their being the oldest MSS. of the New +Testament in existence, which has naturally misled people and caused +them to be credited with extraordinary value, has been referred, as +being mainly due, to their having been written on vellum according to +the fashion introduced in that school, instead of the ordinary papyrus. +The fact of such preservation is really to their discredit, instead of +resounding to their honour, because if they had enjoyed general +approval, they would probably have perished creditably many centuries +ago in the constant use for which they were intended. + +Such are the main points in the indictment and in the history of the +Neutral Text, or rather--to speak with more appropriate accuracy, +avoiding the danger of drawing with too definite a form and too deep a +shade--of the class of readings represented by B and [Symbol: Aleph]. It +is interesting to trace further, though very summarily, the connexion +between this class of readings and the corruptions of the Original Text +which existed previously to the early middle of the fourth century. Such +brief tracing will lead us to a view of some causes of the development +of Dr. Hort's theory. + +The analysis of Corruption supplied as to the various kinds of it by +Dean Burgon has taught us how they severally arose. This is fresh in the +mind of readers, and I will not spoil it by repetition. But the studies +of textual critics have led them to combine all kinds of corruption +chiefly under the two heads of the Western or Syrio-Low-Latin class, and +in a less prominent province of the Alexandrian. Dr. Hort's Neutral is +really a combination of those two, with all the accuracy that these +phenomena admit. But of course, if the Neutral were indeed the original +Text, it would not do for it to be too closely connected with one of +such bad reputation as the Western, which must be kept in the distance +at all hazards. Therefore he represented it--all unconsciously no doubt +and with the best intention--as one of the sources of the Traditional, +or as he called it the 'Syrian' Text. Hence this imputed connexion +between the Western and the Traditional Text became the essential part +of his framework of Conflation, which could not exist without it. For +any permanent purpose, all this handiwork was in vain. To say no more, +D, which is the chief representative of the Western Text, is too +constant a supporter of the peculiar readings of B and [Symbol: Aleph] +not to prove its near relationship to them. The 'Neutral' Text derives +the chief part of its support from Western sources. It is useless for +Dr. Hort to disown his leading constituents. And on the other hand, the +Syrio-Low-Latin Text is too alien to the Traditional to be the chief +element in any process, Conflate or other, out of which it could have +been constructed. The occasional support of some of the Old Latin MSS. +is nothing to the point in such a proof. They are so fitful and +uncertain, that some of them may witness to almost anything. If Dr. +Hort's theory of Conflation had been sounder, there would have been no +lack of examples. + + 'Naturam expellas furca: tamen usque recurret.' + +He was tempted to the impossible task of driving water uphill. Therefore +I claim, not only to have refuted Dr. Hort, whose theory is proved to be +even more baseless than I ever imagined, but by excavating more deeply +than he did, to have discovered the cause of his error. + +No: the true theory is, that the Traditional Text--not in superhuman +perfection, though under some superhuman Guidance--is the embodiment of +the original Text of the New Testament. In the earliest times, just as +false doctrines were widely spread, so corrupt readings prevailed in +many places. Later on, when Christianity was better understood, and the +Church reckoned amongst the learned and holy of her members the finest +natures and intellects of the world, and many clever men of inferior +character endeavoured to vitiate Doctrine and lower Christian life, evil +rose to the surface, and was in due time after a severe struggle removed +by the sound and faithful of the day. So heresy was rampant for a while, +and was then replaced by true and well-grounded belief. With great +ability and with wise discretion, the Deposit whether of Faith or Word +was verified and established. General Councils decided in those days +upon the Faith, and the Creed when accepted and approved by the +universal voice was enacted for good and bequeathed to future ages. So +it was both as to the Canon and the Words of Holy Scripture, only that +all was done quietly. As to the latter, hardly a footfall was heard. But +none the less, corruption after short-lived prominence sank into deep +and still deeper obscurity, whilst the teaching of fifteen centuries +placed the true Text upon a firm and lasting basis. + +And so I venture to hold, now that the question has been raised, both +the learned and the well-informed will come gradually to see, that no +other course respecting the Words of the New Testament is so strongly +justified by the evidence, none so sound and large-minded, none so +reasonable in every way, none so consonant with intelligent faith, none +so productive of guidance and comfort and hope, as to maintain against +all the assaults of corruption + +THE TRADITIONAL TEXT. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[618] Dr. Hort has represented Neutral readings by [Symbol: alpha], +Western by [Symbol: beta], as far as I can understand, 'other' by +[Symbol: gamma], and 'Syrian' (=Traditional) by [Symbol: delta]. But he +nowhere gives an example of [Symbol: gamma]. + +[619] Introduction, p. 103. + +[620] Cp. St. Luke xviii. 2, 3. [Greek: Tis] is used with [Greek: ex], +St. Luke xi. 15, xxiv. 24; St. John vi. 64, vii. 25, ix. 16, xi. 37, 46; +Acts xi. 20, xiii. 1, &c. + +[621] Thus [Greek: epainos] is used for a public encomium, or panegyric. + +[622] An attempt in the _Guardian_ has been made in a review full of +errors to weaken the effect of my list by an examination of an unique +set of details. A correction both of the reviewer's figures in one +instance and of my own may be found above, pp. 144-153. There is no +virtue in an exact proportion of 3: 2, or of 6: 1. A great majority will +ultimately be found on our side. + + + + +GENERAL INDEX. + + +A. + +[Symbol: Aleph] or Sinaitic MS., 2, 196. + +Accident, 8; pure A., 34-35. + +Addition, 166-7, 270. + +Ages, earliest, 2. + +Alexandrian error, 45; + readings, App. II. 268, 284. + +Alford, _passim_. + +Ammonius, 200. + +Antiquity, our appeal always made to, 194-5. + +Apolinarius, or-is (or Apoll.), 224, 257. + +Arians, 204, 218. + +Assimilation, 100-127; + what it was, 101-2; + must be delicately handled, 115 + +Attraction, 123-7. + + +B. + +B or Vatican MS., 2, 8, 196; + kakigraphy of, 64 note: + virtually with [Symbol: Aleph] the 'Neutral' text, 282. + +Basilides, 195, 197-9, 218 note 2. + +Blunder, history of a, 24-7. + +Bohairic Version, 249, and _passim_. + + +C. + +Caesarea, library of, 284. + +Cerinthus, 201. + +Clement of Alexandria, 193. + +Conflation, 266-82. + +Correctors of MSS., 21. + +Corruption, first origin of, 3-8; + classes of 8-9, 23; + general, 10-23; + prevailed from the first, 12; + the most corrupt authorities, 8, 14; + in early Fathers, 193-4. + +Curetonian Version, _passim. See_ Traditional Text. + +Cursive MSS., a group of eccentric, 283; + Ferrar group, 282. + + +D. + +D or Codex Bezae, 8. + +[Symbol: Delta], or Sangallensis, 8. + +Damascus, 5. + +Diatessarons, 89, 96-8, 101. _See_ Tatian. + +Doxology, in the Lord's Prayer, 81-8. + + +E. + +Eclogadion, 69. + +Epiphanius, 305, 211-2. + +Erasmus, 10. + +Error, slight clerical, 37-31. + +Euroclydon, 46. + +Evangelistaria (the right name), 67. + + +F. + +Falconer's St. Paul's voyage, 46-7. + +Fathers, _passim_; earliest, 193. + +Faustinus, 218. + +Ferrar group of Cursives, 282. + +Field, Dr., 28 note 5, 30 and note 2. + + +G. + +Galilee of the Gentiles, 4-5. + +Genealogy, 22. _See_ Traditional Text. + +Glosses, 94-5, 98, 172-90; + described, 172. + +Gospels, the four, probable date of, 7. + +Guardian, review in, Pref., 150-2, 283 note. + +Gwilliam, Rev. G. H., 115 note. + + +H. + +Harmonistic influence, 89-99. + +Heracleon, 190, 202, 204, 215 note 2. + +Heretics, corruptions by, 199-210; + not always dishonest, 191; + very numerous, 199 &c. + +Homoeoteleuton, 36-41; explained, 8 + +I. + +Inadvertency, 21, 23. + +Internal evidence, Pref. + +Interpolations, 166-7. + +Irenaeus, St., 193. + +Itacism, 8, 56-86. + + +J. + +Justin Martyr, St., 193. + + +L. + +L or Codex Regius, 8. + +Lachmann, _passim_. + +Last Twelve Verses, 72, 129-30. + +Latin MSS., Old, _passim_; Low-Latin, 8. _See_ Traditional Text. + +Lectionaries, 67-81; + ecclesiastical prefaces to, 71. + +Lewis MS., _passim_, 194. + +Liturgical influence, 67-88. + + +M. + +Macedonians, 204. + +Manes, 207. + +Manichaeans, 206. + +Manuscripts, six classes of, 12; + existing number of, 12; + frequent inaccuracies in, 12; + more serious faults, 20-1; and _passim_. + +Marcion, 70, 195, 197, 199, 200, 219. + +Matrimony, 208. + +Menologion, 69. + + +N. + +Naaseni, 204. + +'Neutral Text,' 267, 282-6. + + +O. + +Omissions, 128-156; + the largest of all classes, 128; + not 'various readings,' 128; + prejudice in favour of, 130-1; + proof of, 131-2; + natural cause of corruption, 270. + +Origen, 53-5, 98, 101, 111-3, 190, 193, 209. + +Orthodox, corruption by, 211-31, + misguided, 211. + + +P. + +Papyrus MSS., 2. _See_ Traditional Text. + +Parallel passages, 95. + +Pella, 7. + +Pericope de Adultera, 232-65. + +Peshitto Version, _passim. See_ Traditional Text. + +Porphyry, 114. + + +R. + +Revision, 10-13. + +Rose, Rev. W. F., 61 note 3. + + +S. + +[Greek: Sabbatokuriakai], 68. + +Sahidic Version, 194. + +Saturninue, or Saturnilus, 208 and note 3. + +Scrivener's Introduction (4th Ed.), Miller's, _passim_. + +Semiarianism, 2. + +Substitution, 164-5, 270, 277. + +Synaxarion, 69. + + +T. + +Tatian's Diatessaron, 8, 98, 101, 196, 200. + +Textualism of the Gospels, different from T. of profane writings, 14. + +Theodotus, 205, 214. + +Tischendorf, 112-3, 176, 182, and _passim_; + misuse of Assimilation, 118. + +Traditional Text, 1-4; + not = Received Text, 1. _See_ Volume on it. + +Transcriptional Mistakes, 55. + +Transposition, 157-63; + character of, 163, 270. + +Tregelles, 34, 136, 138. + + +U. + +Uncials, 42-55. + + +V. + +Valentinus, 197-9, 201, 202-5, 215, 218 note 2. + +Various readings, 14-16. + +Vellum, 2. + +Vercellone, 47 note. + +Versions, _passim_. + +Victorinus Afer, 218. + + +W. + +Western Readings or Text, 6, 266-85. + + +Z. + +Z or Dublin palimpsest, 8. + + + + +INDEX II. + +PASSAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT DISCUSSED. + + +St. Matthew: + i. 19 209 + iii. 6 102 + 16 170-1 + iv. 23 51-2 + v. 44 144-53 + vi. 13 81-8 + 18 171 + vii. 4 102 + viii. 9 102 + 13 167-8 + 26 103 + 29 102 + ix. 24 104 + 35 74 + x. 12 103 + xi. 23 27 + xii. 10 117 + xiii. 36 173 + 44 80-1 + xv. 8 136-44 + xvi. 8 103 + xix. 9 39 + 16 103 + xx. 24 103 + 28 175 + xxi. 9 99 + 44 134-6 + xxii. 23 49-50 +xxiii. 14 38 + xxiv. 15 116 + 31 179-80 + 36 169-70 + xxv. 13 171 +xxvii. 15 103 + 17 53-5 + 25-6 91 + 35 171 + +St. Mark: + i. 2 111-5 + 5 157-8 + ii. 3 158-9 + iv. 6 63-4 + v. 36 188 + vi. 11 118-9, 181-2 + 32 32-3 + 33 271-3 + vii. 14 35 + 19 61-3 + 31 73-3 + viii. 1 34 + 26 273-4 + ix. 38 271 + 49 275 + x. 16 48 + xii. 17 48 + xiv. 40 48 + 41 182-3 + 70 119-22 + xv. 6 32 + 28 75-8 + xvi. 9-20 72, 129-30 + +St. Luke: + i. 66 188-9 + ii. 14 21-2, 31-2 + 15 36 + iii. 14 201 + 29 165 + iv. 1-13 94 + v. 7 108 + 14 104 + vi. 1 132-3 + 4 167 + 26 153 + vii. 3 174 + 21 50 + ix. 1 74 + 10 275-6 + 54-6 224-31 + x. 15 28 + 25 75 + xi. 54 276-7 + xii. 18 277-8 + 39 155 + xiii. 9 160-1 + xiv. 3 117 + xv. 16 117 + 17 43-5 + 24 61 + 32 61 + xvi. 21 40 + 25 60 + xvii. 37 48-9 + xix. 21 103 + 41 212 + xxii. 67-8 210 +xxiii. 11 50-1 + 27 51 + 42 57 + xxiv. 1 92-4 + 7 161 + 53 278 + +St. John: + i. 3-4 203 + 18 215-8, 165 + ii. 40 212-4 + iii. 13 223-4 + iv. 15 48 + v. 4 50 + 27 162 + v. 44 45 + vi. 11 37-8 + 15 38, 178 + 55 153-4 + 71 124 + viii. 40 214-5 + ix. 22 183 + x. 14-15 206-8 + 29 24-7 + xii. 1, 2 57-9 + 7 184-6 + 13 99 + xiii. 21-5 106-11 + 24 179 + 25 60 + 26 124 + 37 35 + xvi. 16 105 + xvii. 4 186-8 +xviii. 14 180-1 + xx. 11 90-2 + +Acts: + ii. 45-6 159 + iii. 1 78-80 +xviii. 6 27 + xx. 4 190 + 24 28, 124-5 +xxvii. 14 46-7 + 37 27 +xxviii. 1 28 + + +1 Cor.: + xv. 47 219-23 + +2 Cor.: + iii. 3 125-7 + +Titus: + ii. 5 65-6 + +Heb.: + vii. 1 53 + +2 Pet.: + i. 21 52-3 + +Rev. + i. 5 59-60 + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Causes of the Corruption of the +Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels, by John Burgon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CORRUPTION OF THE GOSPELS *** + +***** This file should be named 21112.txt or 21112.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/1/1/21112/ + +Produced by Colin Bell, Daniel J. 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