The Causes of the Corruption of the Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels. John William Burgon
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] v2. 149 (luc. text, 524).
CHAPTER IV.
ACCIDENTAL CAUSES OF CORRUPTION.
III. From Writing in Uncials.
§ 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 (λευκαι εισι προς θερισμον ηδη) has suffered in this way—owing to the unusual position of ηδη. Certain of the scribes who imagined that ηδη might belong to ver. 36, rejected the και as superfluous; though no Father is known to have been guilty of such a solecism. Others, aware that ηδη 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) προς θερισμον ηδη. Και 'ο θεριζων:—(b) προς θερισμον. Ηδη 'ο θ.:—(c) προς θερισμον ηδη. 'ο θεριζων:—(d) προς θερισμον. 'ο θεριζων, κ.τ.λ.
The only point of importance however is the position of ηδη: 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]BMΠ do not help us. But ηδη is claimed for ver. 36 by CDEL, 33, and by the Curetonian and Lewis (= και ηδη 'ο θεριζων): while Codex A is singular in beginning ver. 36, ηδη και—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 και (with [Symbol: Aleph]BCDL): while Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, Tregelles (marg.), are for putting the full stop after προς θερισμον and (with ACDL) making ηδη begin the next sentence—which (as Alford finds out) is clearly inadmissible.
§ 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—ΕΓΩΔΕΛΙΜΩΑΠΟΛΛΥΜΑΙ, some careless scribe after writing ΕΓΩΔΕ, reduplicated the three last letters (ΩΔΕ): he mistook them for an independent word. Accordingly in the Codex Bezae, in R and U and about ten cursives, we encounter εγω δε ωδε. The inventive faculty having thus done its work it remained to superadd 'transposition,' as was done by [Symbol: Aleph]BL. From εγω δε ωδε λιμω, the sentence has now developed into εγω δε λιμω ωδε: 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, εγω δε ωδε 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 ωδε 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 [εν τω οικω] του πατρος μου: but such copies must have existed in the second century. The Peshitto, the Cureton and Lewis recognize the three words in question;