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Title: Introduction to the textual criticism of the Greek New Testament

Author: Eberhard Nestle

Editor: Allan Menzies

Translator: William Edie

Release date: June 4, 2025 [eBook #76224]

Language: English

Original publication: London: Williams and Norgate, 1901

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
INTRODUCTION TO THE TEXTUAL CRITICISM OF THE GREEK

NEW TESTAMENT ***

Introduction to the textual criticism of the Greek New
Testament

THEOLOGICAL TRANSLATION
LIBRARY
VOL. XIII.

NESTLE’S INTRODUCTION TO THE
TEXTUAL
CRITICISM OF THE GREEK NEW
TESTAMENT

INTRODUCTION TO THE TEXTUAL
CRITICISM OF THE GREEK NEW
TESTAMENT
BY

EBERHARD NESTLE, Ph. and Th.D.
MAULBRONN

TRANSLATED FROM THE SECOND EDITION

(With Corrections and Additions by the Author)

BY

WILLIAM EDIE, B.D.
KING EDWARD

AND EDITED WITH A PREFACE BY

ALLAN MENZIES, D.D.

PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY AND BIBLICAL CRITICISM IN
THE
UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS

WILLIAMS AND NORGATE

14 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON
20 SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH
AND 7 BROAD STREET, OXFORD
New York: G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
1901

PRINTED BY
NEILL AND COMPANY LIMITED
BELLEVUE, EDINBURGH

EDITOR’S PREFACE.

Professor Eberhard Nestle of Maulbronn is one of the distinguished
company of philologists who have in recent years directed their attention to
the study of the New Testament. He is by no means a stranger in this
country. Readers of the Expositor and the Expository Times are familiar
with his name, and are accustomed to receive from him original and
independent discussions of New Testament textual problems. He is
consulted by scholars both in this country and on the Continent on
questions of Aramaic and Syriac scholarship, and has contributed, in the
way of criticism and careful proof reading, to many important publications
of English scholars, such as Professor Swete’s edition of the Septuagint,[1]
the publications of Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Gibson (The Sinaitic Palimpsest,
etc.), and the Gospel of the Twelve Apostles recently published by Professor
Rendel Harris.
The readers of this volume may be glad to know a little more of its author.
A native of Württemberg, he was educated at the Gymnasium of Stuttgart
and then at the Theological Seminary of Blaubeuren, the latter being one of
the four old cloister schools of Württemberg, in which, far from the
distractions of large towns, a thorough philological training is provided for
the future clergy of that kingdom. It was as “Praeceptor” of one of these
schools that Albrecht Bengel, that great textual critic and unaffectedly pious
man, spent the best part of his life, and in his Marginalien und Materialien
Dr. Nestle gives an interesting account of Bengel as a scholar, and describes
the studies of the school over which he presided. Our author studied
divinity and oriental languages at the Universities of Tübingen and Leipzig,
and considers it one of the happy dispensations of his life that he was
permitted to live in England for two years, working in the British Museum
and preaching to German congregations in London. He was then Repetent
or Tutor at the Theological Seminary of Tübingen, and, after a short period
of work as a preacher, was called to the Gymnasium of Ulm to teach Greek,

German, Hebrew, and Religion. For two years he filled the vacant
professorship of Semitic languages at the University of Tübingen, but, not
being appointed to the chair, he returned to Ulm. From there he moved to
the Seminary at Maulbronn, which offered better opportunities for
combined philological and theological studies.
Dr. Nestle’s principal works are:—Die israelitischen Eigennamen nach
ihrer religionsgeschichtlichen Bedeutung (Proper Names in Israel: their
significance for the history of religion), the Prize Essay of the Leiden Tyler
Society, 1876. An earlier Prize Essay at Tübingen on the Septuagint and
Massorah of Ezekiel was also successful, but was not published.
Psalterium Tetraglottum (Graece, Syriace, Chaldaice, Latine), 1879. Sixth
and Seventh Editions of Tischendorf’s Septuagint (with new collation of
Codices Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, and Alexandrinus) 1880, 1887.
Septuagintastudien, i.-iii., 1886, 1896, 1898.
Syriac Grammar (Latin, 1881; German, 1888; English, 1889).
Novi Testamenti Graeci Supplementum, 1896 (Collation of Codex Bezae:
Apocryphal Gospels).
Philologica Sacra, 1896.
Minor publications collected in Marginalien und Materialien, 1893.
Edition of the Greek New Testament for the Stuttgart Bible Society, 1898, of
which a third edition is now in preparation.
Numerous contributions to theological and literary Journals (Jahrbücher für
deutsche Theologie, Studien und Kritiken, Theologische Literaturzeitung,
Literarisches Centralblatt) and to Herzog-Hauck, Encyklopädie für
Protestantische Theologie.
The Introduction now brought before the English public in Mr. Edie’s
translation is thus the work of one who is, and has long been, actively
engaged in the studies belonging to several parts of the great subject of the
text of the New Testament, and who possesses an exact and practised
knowledge of the words of the sacred books of Christianity. The present
manual accordingly shows the instruments of criticism in actual operation
in the hands of a master. It was meant originally for the Göschen-
Sammlung, a collection of small manuals for the general public, and arose

out of the wish of the author to tell his pupils with whom he read the Greek
Testament, as well as others, more about the history of the New Testament
text than was at the time generally accessible. The handbook was brought
out by the theological publishers Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, literary
references being then added to fit it for use by students of theology. It met
with a warm welcome from such readers, and the second edition was
largely recast so as to meet still further the purposes of students. The long
experience of Professor Nestle as a teacher of younger pupils has no doubt
enabled him to present the subject so clearly that his book may find favour
in the eyes of the general reader, and commend itself to all who care for the
New Testament.
The absence of theological bias will not be thought by any wise judge a
disadvantage in a work of this character. It will be observed that Professor
Nestle does not regard the texts recently formed by great scholars as
constituting, either singly or jointly, a Textus Receptus in view of which
textual enquiry may now desist from its labours, but that he believes that
much is still to be learned about the text both of the Gospels and of the
other books of the New Testament.
This translation, as the title-page indicates, has been made from the second,
enlarged, edition, and the author has kindly furnished various corrections
and additions, bringing the book in its English form up to date. Some
additional references to English books and periodicals have been inserted
by the translator.
A. M.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
History of the Printed Text since 1514, ...... 1-27
Complutensian Polyglot—Aldus—Erasmus—Collections of editions—
Literature—First critical edition: Colinaeus—Stephen—Verse division—
Beza—Polyglots: Antwerp: Paris: London—Elzevir—Textus Receptus—
Critical attempts: Caryophilus: Courcelles: Saubert: Simon—Mill—Toinard
—Bentley—Gerhard von Maestricht—Bengel—Wettstein—Griesbach—
Matthaei—Birch—Moldenhauer—Adler—Scholz—Lachmann—
Tischendorf—Tregelles—Westcott and Hort: their types of text—
Weymouth—B. Weiss—von Gebhardt—Stuttgart New Testament—Schjøtt
—Baljon—Catholic editions: Gratz—van Ess—Gehringer—Patricius—
Jaumann—Reithmayer—Hetzenauer—Brandscheid—Apocrypha and
Pseudepigrapha.

CHAPTER II.
Materials of the Textual Criticism of the New Testament, ...... 28-155
Autographs—Manuscripts—Versions—Quotations—Number of
Manuscripts—Uncial and Cursive Script—Age—Material—Scriptio
continua— Accentuation—Stichometry—Palimpsests—Punctuation—Size
— Contents—Lectionaries—Parchment—Ink—Papyrus—Paper—Pen—
Manuscripts de luxe—Illustration—Uncials: of the whole New Testament:
of the Gospels: of the Acts and Catholic Epistles: of the Pauline Epistles: of
the Apocalypse—Minuscules—Ferrar Group—Lectionaries—Versions:
Syriac: Peshitto: Curetonian: Lewis: Tatian: Philoxenian: Harklean: Gwynn:
Jerusalem: Literature of Syriac Versions—Latin Versions: Old Latin
manuscripts: Fathers: The Vulgate: Jerome: Alcuin: Theodulf: Harding:
Correctoria Bibliorum: Mazarin Bible: Sixtine and Clementine Vulgate—

Egyptian Versions: Bohairic: Sahidic: Middle Egyptian—Gothic—Ethiopic
—Armenian—Georgian—Arabic—Patristic Quotations.

CHAPTER III.
Theory and Praxis of the Textual Criticism of the New Testament, ......
156-246
Task and method—Internal criticism—Conjecture—Eclectic method—
Genealogical method—External testimony—Lucian: his relation to the
Peshitto—Hesychius: Codex B—Eusebius: Pamphilus: Origen: Euthalius:
Evagrius: Athos manuscript—Later revisers—Pre-Origenic texts—Heretics:
Artemonites, Marcosians, Basilides, Noetus, Valentinians, Gnostics,
Marcionites, Arians—Marcion: his relation to the Western text—Tatian:
question as to a Greek Harmony: his relation to the Western text—The
Western text: theory of Blass: the Lucan writings in Codex Bezae:
conclusion of Luke’s Gospel: the Apostolic Decree—Rules of Textual
criticism: sources of error: illegibility: homoioteleuton: transposition of
letters and words: itacism: substitution of synonymous terms: additions:
conscious alterations: stylistic, liturgic, and dogmatic changes: critical
canons: proper names: textus brevior—Conclusion.
Critical Notes on Various Passages of the New Testament, ...... 247-335
Appendix I. List of Greek and Latin Writers, ...... 336
Appendix II. List of Passages referring to ἀντιγραφα, ...... 340
Index of Subjects, ...... 343
Index of New Testament Passages referred to, ...... 350

ABBREVIATIONS.

The symbols used to indicate the various manuscripts and versions will be
found in the chapter on Materials. The student will compare the Notes in
Tischendorf’s Edito octava minor and the Index in the Octava maior, vol.
iii. The following contractions are employed in the course of this work:—

GGA. = Göttinger gelehrte Anzeigen.
GK. = Zahn’s Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons. See p.
196 n. 2.
LCbl. = Literarisches Centralblatt.
PRE. = Protestantische Real-Encyklopädie. See p. 7.
ThLbl. = Theologisches Literaturblatt.
ThLz. = Theologische Literaturzeitung.
ThStKr. = Theologische Studien und Kritiken.
TiGr. = Tischendorf’s N.T. Graece, editio octava maior, vol. iii. See
p. 6.
TU. = Texte und Untersuchungen.
Urt. = Urtext und Uebersetzungen der Bibel. See p. 6.
W-H. = Westcott and Hort. See p. 21.
W-W. = Wordsworth and White. See pp. 123, 131.
ZdmG. = Zeitschrift der morgenländischen Gesellschaft.
ZfdPhil. = Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie.
ZfwTh. = Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Theologie.

ADDENDA.

Page 6. To the Literature add: Rüegg, Die neutestamentliche Textkritik seit
Lachmann, Zurich, 1892.
Page 74. Two fragments of N.T. text have been published by Grenfell and
Hunt in The Amherst Papyri, Part I.: The Ascension of Isaiah and other
theological fragments (London, 1900). The first consists of Hebrews i. 1,
written, along with Genesis i. 1, in a small uncial hand of the late third, or
more probably early fourth, century at the top of a papyrus leaf containing a
letter from Rome. The verse from the N.T. exhibits the reading τοῖς
πατράσιν ἡμῶν, which is not found in any of the manuscripts. The other
fragment consists of Acts ii. 11-22 with lacunae, written on vellum and
dating apparently from about the fifth or sixth century. It contains a few
singular readings such as: (verse 12) πρὸς τὸν ἄλλον; (13) ἐχλεύαζον
λέγοντες, which is practically the reading of D, the only difference being
that D has the compound verb διεχλεύαζον; (14) γνωστὸν ὑμῖν, apparently;
(17) μετὰ ταῦτα with B instead of ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις, and also,
apparently, ἐνύπνια with the textus receptus; (20) πρὶν ἢ with the textus
receptus; (21) ὃς ἂν with the textus receptus.
Page 91. Add: J. R. Harris, Further Researches into the History of the
Ferrar Group, 1900.
Page 106 (5). Add: Hilgenfeld, Thomas von Heraklea und die
Apostelgeschichte, in the ZfwTh., 1900, 3.
Page 137. Add: Forbes Robinson, Coptic Apocryphal Gospels, in Texts and
Studies, iv. 2, 1896.
Page 139. To Kauffmann’s Beiträge must now be added: v. Der codex
Brixianus (ZfdPhil. xxxii. pp. 305-335). In this important contribution
Kauffmann corroborates the view expressed by Burkitt in the Journal of
Theological Studies, i. pp. 129-134, that Wordsworth and White were
mistaken in regarding the text of codex Brixianus (f) as a recension of the
Old Latin closely allied to Jerome’s revision. Burkitt holds that the text of
Brixianus was corrected from the Vulgate, and afterwards altered in

conformity with the Gothic. The only difference between Burkitt and
Kauffmann is that the latter believes that the text of Brixianus was derived
from an earlier Latin manuscript which had been altered in conformity with
the Gothic, and that it was afterwards assimilated to the Vulgate. This view
must also be noted in connection with the Old Latin codex gue (see p. 118).
For an example of the connection between Brixianus and the Gothic see the
note to p. 289, below.
Page 162. Add: (9) John, Luke, Matthew, Mark, in cod. min. 90. Page 289.
John vii. 15. For Ἰουδαῖοι f here reads turbae, which is interesting as
agreeing with the Gothic, which has manageius. Compare the view of
Burkitt and Kauffmann in the note to p. 139 above. The variant is not
mentioned in Tischendorf.

CHAPTER I.
HISTORY OF THE PRINTED TEXT SINCE 1514.

[Transcriber's Note: Throughout this book, superscripts and
subscripts are used for various purposes. Superscripts after the
titles of books indicate edition numbers. Superscripts after the
symbols for manuscript groups are used to name members of
the group. Subscripts are also used for distinguishing
documents.
The asterisk, *, is often used as part of the name of a
manuscript.
There are also some instances of characters printed, one on top
of the other. In this e-book they are rendered A/B, with A on
top and B on the bottom.]

It is not quite creditable to Christian scholarship at the close of the Middle
Ages that not a single printed edition of the Greek New Testament appeared
during the course of the fifteenth century. The Jews printed their Hebrew
Psalter as early as 1477, and the entire Hebrew Bible in 1488.
Editio princeps. 1. The honour of producing the first edition
Complutensian
Polyglot.
belongs to the Spanish Cardinal Francis Ximenes
de Cisneros (1437-1517). It was included in the so-
called Complutensian Polyglot, which takes its name from Complutum
(now Alcalà de Henares), where it was printed. The plan of the work was
conceived as early as 1502, in celebration of the birth of the future Emperor
Charles V. The scholar who had the principal part in it was James Lopez de
Stunica. The printing of the New Testament was completed on the 10th
January 1514, and of the remaining five volumes, comprising the Old

Testament with Grammar and Lexicon, on the 10th July 1517. On the 8th
November of the same year the Cardinal died. It was not, however, till the
22nd March 1520 that Pope Leo X. sanctioned the publication of the work,
the two Vatican manuscripts of the Greek Old Testament, which had been
borrowed in the first year of Leo’s papacy, having been returned on the 9th
July 1519.[2] On the 5th December 1521, the presentation copy designed for
the Pope, printed on parchment and bound in red velvet, was placed in the
Vatican Library. No copies seem to have reached Germany through the
trade till the year 1522. Only 600 copies were printed, which were sold at 6-
½ ducats per copy—about £3 of our present English money. The Cardinal,
who enjoyed the income of a king but was content to live like a monk,
expended over 50,000 ducats on the undertaking. At the present time,
copies of the Complutensian Polyglot, especially those printed on
parchment, are counted among the rarest treasures of libraries. The Old
Testament is printed in three columns, the Latin text of the Bible used in the
Church of the Middle Ages standing between the original Hebrew text of
the Synagogue and the Alexandrian Greek version, “like Jesus between the
two thieves.” The New Testament has only two columns, that on the left
containing the Greek text, that on the right the Latin version. For the sake of
those learning Greek the corresponding words in each are indicated. The
type is modelled on the characters found in good manuscripts. Of accents,
the acute alone is used to mark the tone syllable.

Literature.—Scrivener, Introduction, ii. c. 7; Hoskier (see below, p. 5);
Frz. Delitzsch, Studien zur Entstehungsgeschichte der Polyglottenbibel
des Cardinals Ximenes, Leipzig, 1871; Fortgesetzte Studien, 1886;
Urtext und Uebersetzungen der Bibel, p. 64. A facsimile of the title-
page and colophon will be found in Schaff’s Companion to the Greek
Testament and the English Version. The decree of Pope Leo X. is
printed in the Greek and Latin Testament of Van Ess, Tübingen, 1827.

Previous to Ximenes, however, the famous Venetian printer Aldus Manutius
had conceived the idea of such a Polyglot. In the Preface to his undated
Greek Psalter (circa 1497), a triglot Bible was promised. Of this he was
reminded from London by Grocyn on the 6th October 1499. On the 9th July
1501 he wrote about it to the German humanist Conrad Celtes, to whom he

sent the first specimen page on the 3rd September of the same year.
(Facsimile in Renouard, L’Imprimerie des Aldes2, 3.)
Still earlier, the Magnificat and the Benedictus[3] had been printed among
the hymns at the end of the Greek Psalter (Milan, 1481; Venice, 1486).
These were the first portions of the Greek New Testament to be printed,
while the first printed in Germany appeared at Erfurt in 1501-2. The first
edition of the Greek New Testament for sale was Erasmus’s edition of 1516.

Literature.—On Aldus, see Nestle, Septuagintastudien, i. 2; ii. 11. On
Aldus’s well-known device, the anchor and dolphin, see Léon Dorez,
Études Aldines, Revue des bibliothèques, vi. (1896), part 5-6, p. 143 ff.;
part 7-9; also J. R. Harris, The Homeric Centones, London, 1898, p. 24.
The device is emblematic of the favourite motto of Augustus and Titus,
ἀεὶ σπεῦδε βραδέως, Semper festina lente.

Erasmus, 1516. 2. Froben, the printer of Basel, was anxious to
forestall the costly edition of the Spanish Cardinal, and with this object
appealed on the 15th March 1515 to the famous humanist Desiderius
Erasmus (1467-1536), then in England. His edition appeared as early as the
1st March 1516, and was dedicated on the 1st February to Pope Leo. The
printing was begun in the previous September, and was partly
superintended by Zwingli’s friend, John Oecolampadius of Weinsberg.
Erasmus himself confessed afterwards that his New Testament was
“præcipitatum verius quam editum,” though he boasted that he had
employed in its preparation not any sort of manuscripts, but the oldest and
most correct copies.[4] As early as 1734, J. A. Bengel recognised that in the
Apocalypse Erasmus must have used only one manuscript, and that partly
mutilated, so that he was unable to read it correctly and was obliged to
supply its lacunæ by means of a retranslation from the Latin into Greek.
And this conclusion was confirmed in 1861 by the rediscovery of that very
manuscript by Franz Delitzsch in the Oettingen-Wallerstein Library at
Mayhingen.[5]
In a parallel column Erasmus gave a translation of the Greek into elegant
Latin. The Emperor protected the edition for four years by copyright, but as
early as February 1518 it was reprinted by Aldus Manutius in his Greek
Bible. It was sanctioned by the Pope on the 10th September 1518. Four

successive editions were afterwards prepared by Erasmus: the second in
1519, the third in 1522, the fourth (improved) in 1527, and the fifth in 1535.
In his third edition, Erasmus for the first time incorporated the well-known
“comma Johanneum,” the passage about the Three Witnesses (1 John v. 7).
He did so on the evidence of a manuscript now in Dublin (Montfortianus,
61), in which the passage had probably been inserted from the Vulgate by
the English Franciscan monk Roy. From the Vulgate it had already been
received, in a slightly different form, into the Complutensian Polyglot.
Luther himself purposely omitted it from his version. The first edition of his
translation to contain it was that printed at Frankfurt by Feyerabend in
1576. It was not inserted in the Wittenberg editions till 1596. After 1534 no
Greek edition appeared without it for the space of 200 years.

Literature.—Scrivener, vol. ii. p. 182 ff.; Frz. Delitzsch,
Handschriftliche Funde, i., Leipzig, 1861; H. C. Hoskier, A full
Account and Collation of the Greek Cursive Codex Evangelium 604 ...
together with ten Appendices containing ... (B) ... the various readings
by the five editions of Erasmus, 1516, 1519, 1522, 1527, 1535.... (F)
Report of a Visit to the Public Library at Bâle, with facsimile of
Erasmus’s second MS. Evan. 2, ... London, 1890. On Erasmus’s
supplementary matter, the New Version, Annotationes, Paraclesis ad
lectorem, Methodus and Apologia, as also on the entire practical and
reforming aim of his N.T., see R. Stähelin in the Protestantische Real-
Encyklopädie, third edition, v. 438. Froude, Life and Letters of
Erasmus, p. 126 ff.

Collections of 3. The number of editions of the Greek New
editions.
Testament which have been brought out since the
time of Ximenes is about 1000. No library in the world contains them all. In
the last century the Danish Pastor Lorck possessed perhaps the largest
private collection of Bibles. This was purchased by Duke Charles of
Württemberg, and has found a place in the Royal Public Library at
Stuttgart. Unfortunately, it is not possible to supplement or enlarge it in the
way that it deserves. The largest collection of the present century is that of
the late Prof. Ed. Reuss of Strassburg. In his descriptive catalogue he
established the genealogy of the separate editions by a collation of the
readings in 1000 selected passages. Several editions he was unable to

obtain: some he was obliged to regard as of doubtful existence: others,
again, mistakenly quoted by previous collectors, he was able to discard
once for all. His labours form the basis of those further researches
prosecuted with much ardour chiefly in England and America: in the latter
by the German-Swiss scholar Philip Schaff (d. 20th Oct. 1893), and his
American friend I. H. Hall (d. 1896), in England by F. H. A. Scrivener (d.
26th Oct. 1891), and in Germany by the American C. R. Gregory. Mention
can be made of only a few of these printed editions.

Literature.—Ed. Reuss, Bibliotheca Novi Testamenti Graeci, cuius
editiones ab initio typographiae ad nostram aetatem impressas
quotquot reperiri potuerunt collegit digessit illustravit E. R.
Argentoratensis, Brunsvigae, 1872. Tischendorf, Novum Testamentum
Graece ad antiquissimos testes denuo recensuit apparatum criticum
apposuit Constantinus de Tischendorf, Lipsiae (Hinrichs), vol. i. 1869;
vol. ii. 1872; vol. iii., Prolegomena scripsit Caspar Renatus Gregory
additis curis Ezrae Abbot, 1894, 8vo. (vol. iii. cited in the following
part of this work under the symbol TiGr.). F. H. A. Scrivener, A Plain
Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament. Fourth edition,
edited by Ed. Miller, 2 vols., London, 1894. P. Schaff, Companion to
the Greek Testament and the English Version. Fourth edition revised,
New York, Harper, 1892. Schaff’s Companion gives, in an Appendix,
Reuss’s list of printed editions of the Greek N.T., with additions
bringing it down to 1887, by I. H. Hall. It also contains an interesting
set of facsimile illustrations of twenty-one standard editions of the
Greek N.T., showing in each case the title-page and a page of the print.
I. H. Hall, A Critical Bibliography of the Greek New Testament, as
published in America, Philadelphia, 1883. Also, by the same author,
Some Remarkable Greek New Testaments, in the Journal of the Society
of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, Dec. 1886, 40-63. S. P. Tregelles,
Account of the Printed Text of the Greek New Testament with remarks
on its revision and a collation of the critical texts with that in common
use, 1854. Copinger, The Bible and its Transmission, being an
historical and bibliographical view of the Hebrew and Greek Texts, and
the Greek, Latin, and other Versions of the Bible (both manuscript and
printed) prior to the Reformation. With 28 facsimiles. London,
Sotheran, 1897, large 8vo. H. J. Holtzmann, Einleitung in das Neue

Testament (Allgemeiner Teil, Geschichte des Textes), Freiburg, 1886.
Urtext und Uebersetzungen der Bibel in übersichtlicher Darstellung, a
reprint of the article “Bibeltext und Bibelübersetzungen,” in the third
edition of the Real-Encyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und
Kirche, Leipzig, Hinrichs, 1897, pp. 15-61 (Tischendorf), O. v.
Gebhardt, “Bibeltext des Neuen Testamentes,” PRE, ii. 728-773 (cited
hereafter as Urt.). C. R. Gregory, Textkritik des Neuen Testamentes, vol.
i. Leipzig, 1900. Vol. ii. in the press.

First critical edition. 4. The first to prepare a really critical edition of the
Greek New Testament, i.e. one based on a collation of manuscripts, was
Simon de Colines (Colinaeus), the father-in-law of the Parisian printer
Robert Stephen (Estienne). In his edition1, which appeared in 1534, he
adopted for the first time a number of readings that are now generally
accepted, though naturally he did not succeed in gaining credit for them. Up
till the time of Mill and Bengel the publishers and their more or less
uncritical coadjutors simply reprinted the text of Ximenes and Erasmus,
mostly the latter, with trifling variations.
Among the innovations introduced by these editors was the choice of a
more convenient form. The first editions were all in folio. But in 1521,
Anselm, then in Hagenau but previously in Tübingen, reduced the size to
quarto; in 1524 Cephaleus in Strassburg still further to octavo; while Valder
printed the first miniature edition in Basel in 1536. The smallest edition
printed previous to this century is that of Jannon, 1628 (Sedan); the smallest
of this century is that of Pickering, 1828 (London).
But a much more important feature was the collation of fresh manuscripts.
The credit of being pioneer in this respect rests with the Parisian
Stephen. Typographer-Royal, Robert Stephen (1503-1559).
He was assisted by his son Henry Stephen (1528-1598), particularly in the
preparation of his third edition of 1550, the Editio Regia, which takes its
name from the inscription on its title-page in honour of Henry II., Βασιλεῖ
τ’ ἀγαθῷ, κρατερῷ τ’ αἰχμητῇ.[6] The first edition, called O mirificam, from
the opening words of its preface, appeared in 1546. The Editio Regia was
the first to contain a critical apparatus in which fifteen manuscripts
indicated by the Greek letters β—ιϛ were collated with the text of the
Complutensian which was designated α. All the manuscripts employed

were of late date, with two exceptions, viz., the Codex Bezae, of which we
shall have a good deal to say in the sequel, and a Parisian MS. of the eighth
century, now known as L.
Verse division. An important innovation of another sort is due to
the same Robert Stephen, who printed at Geneva in the following year
(1551) a fourth edition containing the Greek text with the Latin version of
Erasmus on the outer side and the Vulgate on the inner.[7] With a view to
carrying out this arrangement conveniently, he divided the text into separate
verses or very small sections, which he numbered on the margin. In this
way he introduced into the New Testament not only a convenient verse-
enumeration—there are 7959 verses in all—but also the unfortunate
practice of printing the text in separate verses. Mill in 1707, and notably
Bengel in 1734, were the first to revert to the practice of printing the text in
paragraphs divided according to the sense while retaining the enumeration
Chapters. of the verses in the margin. The customary division
of the New Testament books into chapters is much earlier, having been first
invented in Paris for the Latin Bible by Stephen Langton (died Archbishop
of Canterbury in 1228), and at once adopted in the earliest printed editions
of the Vulgate. It was employed in the Complutensian Polyglot with a
subdivision of the various chapters into A B C etc.

Literature.—Nov. Test. textus Stephanici A.D. 1550, ed. Scrivener,
Camb., 1859, 1871 etc. Hoskier (as above) ... (B) A Reprint with
corrections of Scrivener’s list of differences between the editions of
Stephen 1550 and Elzevir 1624, Beza 1565 and the Complutensian,
together with fresh evidence ... by the other editions of Stephen of 1546,
1549, 1551.... Ezra Abbot, De Versibus, in TiGr. 167-182. I. H. Hall,
Modern Chapters and Verses, in Schaff’s Religious Encyclopædia, i.
433. Journal of the Soc. of Bib. Lit. and Exeg., 1883, 60; 1891, 65.

It is frequently stated that copies exist of Stephen’s edition of 1551 (the first
to contain the verse enumeration) bearing on the title-page the date
MDXLI. In the two I examined belonging to the collections of Lorck and
Reuss, the two halves of the number MD and LI are far apart. In the case of
the Lorck copy it is possible to suppose that a letter has been erased from
the middle, but not in the Reuss copy. In his Preface, Stephen says: “Quod
autem per quosdam ut vocant versiculos opus distinximus, id, vetustissima

Graeca Latinaque ipsius Novi Testamenti exemplaria secuti, fecimus: eo
autem libentius ea sumus imitati, quod hac ratione utraque translatio posset
omnino eregione Graeco contextui respondere.” As Ezra Abbot pointed out,
Stephen gave a double number 19/20 to the verse Τινὲς δὲ ... πρὸς μέ in
Acts xxiv. A similar double enumeration occurs in the previous chapter,
where the verse Γράψας ... χαίρειν is numbered 25/26. Accordingly, Abbot’s
supposition becomes pretty certain, that the verse division was originally
made for a Latin copy which, at the passage in Acts xxiv., contained the
additional sentence: Et apprehenderunt me clamantes et dicentes, Tolle
inimicum nostrum. And in chapter xxiii. several Latin editions show an
extra sentence at the place marked with the double number: et ipse postea
calumniam sustineret tanquam accepturus pecuniam. But what edition it
was from which Stephen took the enumeration into his Greek copy is not
yet known. Unfortunately, as Abbot shows (l.c. 173-182), later editions
frequently deviated from Stephen’s enumeration. Even Oscar v. Gebhardt,
in his editions of Tischendorf’s text, followed in eight instances a different
verse division from that recommended by Gregory in his Emendanda (p.
1251 ff.).
Several mistakes in numbering crept into the Stuttgart edition of the N.T.,
but the division and enumeration have been carefully compared with that of
the Reuss copy for the second edition. There are differences in verse-
division even in the reprint of Westcott and Hort’s Greek Testament
(Macmillan fount, 1895), Heb. xii. 22, 23: in Swete’s Gospel of St. Mark
(Mk. ii. 18, 19), and in Cronin’s edition of Codex Purpureus Petropolitanus
(Lk. iii. 23, 24, ix. 7, 8.)
The Textus Receptus is usually indicated by the Greek letter ϛ, the initial of
Stephen’s name.
Beza. Following Stephen, the French theologian
Theodore de Bèze (Beza 1519-1605), the friend and successor of Calvin in
Geneva, prepared, between 1565 and 1611, four folio and six octavo
editions,[8] which are noteworthy as forming, with the last two editions of
Stephen, the basis of the English Authorised Version. Beza was the owner
of two valuable Greek-Latin manuscripts of the Gospels with the Acts and
Pauline Epistles, one of which, the now so famous Codex Bezae, he
presented to the University of Cambridge in 1581. He himself, however,
made little use of these in his editions, as they deviated too far from the

printed texts of the time. Beza seems also, in the preparation of his Geneva
edition, to have been the first to collate the oriental versions. For this
purpose he employed the Syriac edition of Emmanuel Tremellius (1569),
and for Acts and 1 and 2 Corinthians the Arabic version put at his disposal
by Franciscus Junius.

Literature.—Scrivener, ii. 188 ff.; Hoskier (as above): the various
readings ... by the remaining three Bezan editions in folio of 1582,
1588-9, 1598, and the 8vo. editions of 1565, 1567, 1580, 1590, 1604.

Polyglots. 5. The credit of presenting these oriental versions
1. Antwerp.
in a convenient combination for the interpretation
of the Bible belongs to the so-called Antwerp Polyglot, the Biblia Regia,
printed in eight folio volumes between 1569 and 1572 by Christopher
Plantin, a French printer residing in Antwerp. In this work the Greek New
Testament is printed twice, first in vol. v., alongside the Vulgate and the
Syriac text with its Latin translation, and again in vol. vi. with the
interlinear version of Arias Montanus. Plantin was aided in this enterprise
by a grant of 12,000 ducats from King Philip II. It was carried out under the
supervision of the Spanish theologian Benedict Arias, called Montanus
from his birth-place Frexenal de la Sierra.

“Labore et Constantia” was the motto of this celebrated family of
printers, who continued to carry on their trade on the same premises till
August 1867. Nine years later the house was sold to the city and
converted into the “Musée Plantin.”

Of the Antwerp Polyglot 960 ordinary copies were printed, 200 of a better
quality, 30 fine, 10 superfine, and 13 on parchment, for which last 16,263
skins were used. One of these Montaigne saw and admired in the Vatican
Library; another, the copy dedicated to the Archduke Alba, is in the
possession of the British Museum. The undertaking was the glory of
Plantin’s life, but it was also the beginning of his financial difficulties.
Copies were sold to book-sellers at 60 gulden each, and to the public at 70
gulden (about £6 and £7). Ordinary copies now fetch from £6 to £7 or £8.
At the sale of the Ashburnham Collection in 1897 a parchment copy
realised £79. The supplements, including lexical and other matter, are still

valuable to a certain extent. But here the collector must note that certain
parts have been reprinted.
On the Polyglots, see: Discours historique sur les principales éditions des
Bibles Polyglottes. Par l’Auteur de la Bibliothèque Sacrée, Paris, 1713;
especially pp. 301-554, “Pièces justificatives du discours précédent.” Also,
Ed. Reuss, Polyglottenbibeln, PRE2, xii. 95-103 (1883). Max Rooses,
Christophe Plantin, Imprimeur Anversois, Antwerp, 1884. Fol. 100 plates.
Also Correspondance de Plantin, edited by Rooses. 2 vols. 1886. L.
Degeorge, La Maison Plantin à Anvers. 3rd ed. Paris, 1886. R. Lorck, Das
Plantin-Haus in Antwerpen. Vom Fels zum Meer, 1888-9, ix. 328-346. On
the double imprint see Rooses, p. 123; A. Rahlfs in Lagarde’s Bibliotheca
Syriaca, p. 19. On Plantin’s connection with the Familists see PRE3, v. 751-
755.
2. Parisian. A still more extensive undertaking than the
Antwerp Polyglot is that brought out in Paris by the advocate Guy Michel
le Jay. This Parisian Polyglot extends to ten folio volumes of the largest
size, furnished externally in the most sumptuous manner. Le Jay expended
his whole fortune on the edition, and was obliged at last to sell it as waste
paper, being too proud to accept the offer of Cardinal Richelieu, who
wished to purchase the patronage of the enterprise for a large sum and
thereby acquire the credit of it. The scholars who gave most assistance in
the preparation of the oriental texts were Jean Morin and the Maronite
Gabriel Sionita, the latter of whom superintended the Syriac portion. The
two volumes of the New Testament, viz. vol. v. 1, comprising the Gospels,
and vol. v. 2, the Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypse, appeared in 1630 and
1633. In addition to the texts printed in the Antwerp Polyglot, the Parisian
contained a Syriac version of the so-called Antilegomena, i.e. those parts of
the New Testament at one time disputed (2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and
Apocalypse), and it had also an Arabic version, each one being
accompanied with a Latin translation.[9]
3. London. Less sumptuous, but more copious, convenient,
and critically valuable, is the last, and at the present day still most used of
the four great Polyglots—the London Polyglot of Brian Walton (1600-
1661). It contains in all nine languages. In the New Testament (vol. v.) there
is the Greek text of Stephen with slight alterations, the version of Arias, the
Vulgate, Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic, and (for the Gospels only) Persic

versions, each with a literal translation into Latin. The sixth volume also
contains Walton’s Apparatus, which was re-issued at Leipzig in 1777, and
again at Cambridge by F. Wrangham in two volumes in 1828. It is really a
kind of Introduction to Biblical Criticism. Finally, in two supplementary
parts, there is Edmund Castle’s Lexicon Heptaglotton, a thesaurus linguae
semiticae such as no one since has ventured to undertake.

The London Polyglot first appeared in 1657, under the patronage of
Cromwell, but after the Restoration it received a new Preface from the
editor, who was raised to the See of Chester by Charles II. In this
Preface Cromwell is styled “Magnus Draco ille.” Accordingly,
bibliophiles draw a sharp line of distinction between republican and
loyalist copies. One of the former costs considerably more than the
latter, the most recent prices running from £22 to £31. This is said to
have been the first work brought out in England by subscription. See
Schaff’s “Companion” for facsimiles of title-page and page of text.
Todd: Life of Brian Walton with the Bishop’s Vindication of the London
Polyglot Bible. London, 1821. 2 vols.

For this Polyglot, in addition to the critical works of previous scholars, the
Codex Alexandrinus of the Greek Bible, sent by Cyril Lucar to Charles I. in
1628, was also employed for the first time. Its readings are set at the foot of
the Greek text and indicated by the letter A. This was the origin of the
modern custom of indicating manuscripts with Roman letters in the
apparatus of critical editions not only of the New Testament but of other
books as well, a custom which has generally prevailed since the time of
Wettstein. That gift of Cyril Lucar seems really to have awakened for the
first time a general desire for critical editions. At the same time it was
Walton’s edition that made Stephen’s text of 1550 the “textus receptus” in
England.
Elzevir. 6. On the Continent a similar result was attained by
the enterprising Dutch printers Bonaventura and Abraham Elzevir of
Leyden. What scholars had a hand in their edition, if we may speak of
scholars at all in this connection, is not known. In 1624 the Elzevirs
published, in a handy form and beautifully printed, an edition the text of
which was taken mainly from Beza’s octavo edition of 1565. In their
Preface to a new issue in 1633 they said “textum ergo habes nunc ab

omnibus receptum, in quo nihil immutatum aut corruptum damus,” while
they professed that even the smallest errors—“vel minutissimae mendae”—
had been eliminated with judgment and care. By means of this catchword
they actually succeeded in making their text the most widely disseminated
of all during 200 years. The English Bible Society alone have issued not
fewer than 351,495 copies of it in the 90 years of their existence, and at the
present time are still printing this text alone. They issued 12,200 copies of it
in the year 1894. For several centuries, therefore, thousands of Christian
scholars have contented themselves with a text based ultimately on two or
three late manuscripts lying at the command of the first editors—Stephen,
Erasmus, and Ximenes—a text, moreover, in which the erroneous readings
of Erasmus, already referred to, are retained to this day.

Literature.—Scrivener, ii. 193. Hoskier ... (C) a full and exact
comparison of the Elzevir editions of 1624 and 1633, doubling the
number of the real variants hitherto known, and exhibiting the support
given in the one case and in the other by the subsequent editions of
1641, 1656, 1662, 1670, and 1678. On the Elzevirs see G. Berghman,
Nouvelles Études sur la Bibliographie Elzevirienne. Supplément à
l’ouvrage sur les Elzevier de M. Alphonse Willems, Stockholm, 1897.
Also, A. de Reume, Recherches historiques, généalogiques et
bibliographiques sur les Elzevier, Brussels. Facsimile of the edition of
1633 in Schaff’s Companion.

Critical attempts. 7. Even those who were impelled by a greater spirit
of research did not yet get back to the oldest attainable sources. In Rome,
Caryophilus set about preparing a new edition. With this view, about the
year 1625 he collated twenty-two manuscripts with the Antwerp Polyglot—
ten for the Gospels, eight for the Acts and Epistles, and four for the
Apocalypse. Among these were the most celebrated manuscript of the
Vatican Library, the “Codex Vaticanus” par excellence, and another of the
same collection, dating from the year 949 (Tischendorf’s S), one of the
oldest manuscripts of the Greek New Testament whose date is known with
certainty. The results of this collator’s labours were printed at Rome in
1673. But such collations were not then made with that exactitude which is
the primary condition of works of this nature at the present day, though
even now it is not always observed. In 1658 Stefan de Courcelles

(Curcellaeus, 1586-1659), a native of Geneva, brought out an edition which
was printed by the Elzevirs, and which is valuable for its scholarly
Introduction, its careful collection of parallel passages, and its fresh
collation of manuscripts. In this edition the “Comma Johanneum” was
included in brackets. The editor also expressed the opinion that even
conjectural readings deserve consideration. Courcelles had further projects
in view, but these were interrupted by his death.
In 1672, in Germany, John Saubert published a collection of various
readings in St. Matthew’s Gospel which he had compiled from printed
editions, manuscripts, ancient versions, and quotations in the Greek and
Latin Fathers.
In 1675 John Fell, afterwards Bishop of Oxford, published anonymously at
the Sheldonian Theatre, i.e. the Oxford University Press, an edition in the
preparation of which more than 100 Greek manuscripts were employed.
Among the ancient versions the Gothic of Ulfilas and the Coptic were also
made use of.
About the same time (1689) there appeared anonymously at Rotterdam a
Histoire Critique du Texte du Nouveau Testament, by Richard Simon, a
member of the French Congregation of the Oratory. Simon is the father of
the historical method of critical introduction to the New Testament. With his
work, what might be called the infancy of New Testament criticism comes
to a close. With Mill’s New Testament begins the period of its maturity,
especially if Simon’s works are taken as belonging to it. Such, at least, was
the judgment expressed in 1777 by the Göttingen scholar J. D. Michaelis.
But we would say rather the period of its youth, for otherwise we should
now have reached the time of its old age, and much work still remains to be
done.
Mill, 1707. 8. Encouraged by Bishop Fell, John Mill (1645-
1707), about 1677, set to work upon an edition which appeared in the year
of his death.[10] The value of Mill’s New Testament lies in its extended
critical apparatus, and particularly in its Prolegomena. An enlarged edition
was brought out in 1710 by Ludolf Küster of Westphalia (1670-1716),
which, however, had such a small sale that it had to be reissued with a new
title-page at Leipzig in 1723, and again at Amsterdam in 1746. In Mill’s
time the number of various readings in the New Testament was estimated at

30,000: a competent estimate will now make them more than four or five
times as many. That is to say, there are almost more variants than words.
Mention must also be made of Nicolaus Toinard’s Latin-Greek Harmony of
the Gospels, which appeared at Orleans in the same year as Mill’s New
Testament, and which was the fruit of nearly as many years’ labour. Toinard
was the first Catholic after Erasmus, and the last previous to Scholz, to
undertake a critical edition of the New Testament. He was also the first
editor after Beza to estimate properly the critical value of the Vulgate.
Bentley. It was Edward Wells who set the example of
greater freedom in the adoption into the text of new readings from the
manuscripts. His famous countryman, the great philologist Richard Bentley
(1662-1742), projected a great critical edition of the New Testament, but
unfortunately got no further than the preparation of materials and the
publication of his “Proposals” in 1720. He undertook to remove two
thousand errors from the Pope’s Vulgate, and as many from that of the
Protestant Pope (Stephen), without using any manuscript under 900 years
old. But as his edition never appeared, his nephew had to refund the 2000
guineas prepaid by the subscribers.
In 1729 Mace published an edition anonymously, in which, perhaps, most
courage was shown in departing from the ordinary text. Thereafter, English
work in this department was suspended for nearly a century. It was
transferred to Germany and the Netherlands by the Swabian scholar Bengel
and by Wettstein of Basel.

Literature.—A. A. Ellis, Bentleii Critica Sacra, Camb., 1862. R. C.
Jebb, Bentley, London, 1882. TiGr., 229-240. Wordsworth-White, I. pp.
xv-xxviii (see below, p. 123).

Bengel. 9. As early as 1711, G.D.T.M.D., i.e. Gerhard de
Trajectu Mosae (Maestricht) Doctor, a Syndic of Bremen, published at
Amsterdam an edition prefaced by 43 canons or rules of criticism.
Thereafter, in 1725, J. A. Bengel (1687-1752) issued his Prodromus Novi
Testamenti Graeci recte cauteque adornandi, in which he unfolded a most
carefully thought-out scheme for a new edition, undertaking to reduce all
Gerhard von Maestricht’s 43 canons to one comprehensive rule of four
words. That was the principle now commonly expressed in the shorter but

less satisfactory form—lectio difficilior placet. Bengel himself chose a
more careful mode of expression—proclivi scriptioni praestat ardua. Six
years later he was able to issue his Notitia Novi Testamenti Graeci recte
cauteque adornati. It was published in 1734 at Tübingen by Cotta in a
handsome quarto.[11] In the same year a small octavo edition appeared at
Stuttgart in which he urged the duty expressed in the motto,

Te totum applica ad textum,
Rem totam applica ad te.

Of the latter, four editions were afterwards brought out. Of the large edition,
the Apparatus, pronounced by Haussleiter to be a “memorable work of most
solid and productive learning,” was reprinted separately after his death.
Bengel was too timid. He was unwilling to admit into the text any reading
which had not already appeared in some printed edition. But he inserted
new readings in the margin and classified them. Out of 149 readings
pronounced by Bengel to be genuine, only 20 are not now generally
approved. Out of 118 whose genuineness appeared to him probable but not
quite certain, 83 are now accepted.
But Bengel’s most important contribution to the textual criticism of the
Greek New Testament consists in the sound critical principles which he laid
down. He recognised that the witnesses must not be counted but weighed,
i.e. classified, and he was accordingly the first to distinguish two great
groups or families of manuscripts. His principles were reaffirmed by the
celebrated philologist Lachmann, the first great textual critic of our time,
and the advance which the latest English critics have made on Tischendorf
is really due to the fact that they have gone back to Bengel.

Literature.—Eb. Nestle, Bengel als Gelehrter, ein Bild für unsere
Tage. (In Marginalien und Materialien; also printed separately,
Tübingen, 1893.) Scrivener, ii. 204.

Wettstein. For the time, however, Bengel’s rival, John
Wettstein (1693-1754), outdid him. His treatise on the Various Readings of
the New Testament was published as early as 1713, to be followed by his
Prolegomena, which appeared anonymously in 1730, and later by his New
Testament,[12] which was issued in two folio volumes in 1751 and 1752. His

Apparatus is fuller than that of any previous editor, while he also gives a
detailed account of the various manuscripts, versions, and Patristic writers.
It was he who introduced the practice, already referred to, of indicating the
ancient MSS. by Roman letters and the later MSS. by Arabic numerals. He
too, however, still printed the Elzevir text, following Maestricht’s edition of
1735. At the foot of the text he placed those readings which he himself held
to be correct.

Literature.—Scrivener, Introduction, ii. 213; Carl Bertheau, PRE2,
xvii. 18-24, 1886.

Griesbach. 10. J. J. Griesbach (1745-1812) was the first in
Germany who ventured to print the text of the New Testament in the form
to which his criticism led him. He was the pupil of Salomo Semler, who had
combined the principles of Bengel and Wettstein. These principles were
adopted and carried out by Griesbach. He enlarged the Apparatus by a more
exact use of citations from the Fathers, particularly from Origen, and of
various versions, such as the Gothic, the Armenian, and the Philoxenian. In
his classification of the witnesses, Griesbach distinguished a Western, an
Alexandrian, and a Byzantine Recension. The edition, in four folio
volumes, printed by Göschen at Leipzig (1803-1807), is rightly described
by Reuss as “editio omnium quae extant speciosissima.”[13] His text was
more or less faithfully followed by many later editors like Schott, Knapp,
Tittmann, and also by Theile.
Matthaei. Griesbach’s opponent, Christian Friedrich
Matthaei, a Thüringian (1744-1811), was misled into attributing a too great
value to a large number of manuscripts in Moscow of the third, the
Byzantine, class.
A considerable amount of critical material was collected at the expense of
the King of Denmark by Andreas Birch (afterwards Bishop of Lolland,
Falster, and Aarhuus), by D. G. Moldenhauer, and by Adler.
A similar service was rendered, though not with sufficient care, by J. M.
Augustin Scholz, Professor of Catholic Theology in Bonn.

Literature.—On Matthaei see O. v. Gebhardt, Christian Friedrich
Matthæi und seine Sammlung griechischer Handschriften, Leipzig,

1898.

Lachmann. It was Carl Lachmann (1793-1851) who first broke
with the Textus Receptus altogether. He was a master in the domain of
textual criticism. He distinguished himself first in the department of
classical and Teutonic philology, but came afterwards to render equal
service to the textual criticism of the New Testament. His object was to
restore the text to the form in which it had been read in the ancient Church
about the year 380, going on the ground of the oldest known Greek and
Latin manuscripts, i.e. the oldest Eastern and Western authorities.[14] He did
not claim to go further back than that date with any certainty. But it was still
open to question whether that were not possible, and whether the grounds
on which Lachmann’s work was based might not be still further extended
and confirmed.
Tischendorf. 11. The task which Lachmann set before him was
prosecuted with the most brilliant success in and from Germany by Gottlob
(Aenotheus) Friedrich Constantin von Tischendorf (b. 18th January 1815,
d. 7th December 1874). In the course of several tours, first in Europe and
afterwards in the East, from the year 1841 onwards, he discovered and
collated a number of the most important and ancient manuscripts of the
Bible. Among these the most notable was the Codex Sinaiticus, found by
him on Mount Sinai in 1859, and now in St. Petersburg, the oldest known
manuscript of the present day which contains the entire Greek New
Testament. On the basis of the material collected by himself and others,
Tischendorf prepared eight different editions between 1841 and 1872.[15] His
seventh edition, consisting of 3500 copies, appeared in 1859, previous to
the discovery of the Sinaiticus. The text of this edition differed from that of
1849 in 1296 instances, of which no fewer than 595 were reversions to the
Textus Receptus. The text of the last edition, the octava critica maior, which
was issued complete in eleven parts between 1864 and 1872, differed from
that of the seventh in 3572 places. The third volume of the editio octava
maior, containing the Prolegomena, was completed in three parts, extending
to 1428 pages, by Caspar René Gregory between 1884 and 1894, a work
which affords the most complete survey of what has been done on the
Greek New Testament up to the present time.

Literature.—Scrivener, ii. 235; TiGr., 1-22; Urt., 49-52. Apart from the
Editio Octava Maior, the most useful editions will be found to be those
of O. v. Gebhardt (see below, p. 23), or the Editio Academica ad
editionem oct. maior. conformata, Leipzig, Mendelssohn, 16mo, 1855,
twentieth edition, 1899.

Tregelles. While the editions of Tischendorf were appearing
on the Continent, an edition began to be issued in England, which was
completed in the course of twenty years. It was the work of a Quaker,
Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (b. 1813, d. 1875), who, while reaping no profit
from his undertaking, has left in it a monument to his fidelity. In this edition
(1857-1879)[16] those passages in which the editor was unable to pronounce
a final judgment from the accessible material are indicated by the form of
the type.
Westcott and Hort. A still more important advance was made by
Brooke Foss Westcott (b. 1825), now Bishop of Durham, and Fenton John
Anthony Hort (b. 23rd April 1828, d. 30th November 1892). In 1881, these
Cambridge scholars, after nearly thirty years of joint labour, published two
volumes, the first containing the Text with a brief survey of its history and
resulting criticism, the second giving a detailed exposition of their critical
principles by Hort himself. They were led by their investigation to
distinguish four main types of text:—
(1) A late type, originating in Syria about the year 300, which, issuing from
Constantinople, became the prevailing text in later manuscripts, and
corresponds essentially with the textus receptus of early printed editions:
(2) A type originating in Alexandria, characterized by linguistic
emendations:
(3) A type originating in Syria but reaching the West previous to the year
200, represented essentially by the Old Latin versions on the one hand and
by the Syriac on the other, and displaying all sorts of remarkable additions:
(4) The Neutral text, which displays no sort of corruptions.
Westcott and Hort’s work is the latest and most thorough attempt yet made
at a complete edition of the New Testament.

Literature.—The New Testament in the original Greek. The text
revised by Brooke Foss Westcott, D.D., and Fenton John Anthony Hort,
D.D., Cambridge and London. Vol. i. Text (Fourth Edition, 1898). Vol.
ii., Introduction and Appendix (Third Edition, 1896). A smaller edition
of the text, 1885. Text, from new type, in larger form, 1895. For “Some
trifling Corrections to W.-H.’s New Testament,” see Nestle in the
Expository Times, viii. 479; ix. 95, 333, 424. See Life and Letters of F.
J. A. Hort, by his son, A. F. Hort, 2 vols., London, 1896; also article on
Hort, by Gregory in the PRE3, viii. 368. Facsimile of the American
Edition with Introduction by Schaff, in Schaff’s Companion.

Weymouth. The “Resultant Greek Testament” of R. F.
Weymouth affords a convenient comparison of the text of the most
important editions.

Literature.—The Resultant Greek Testament, exhibiting the text in
which the majority of modern editors are agreed, and containing the
readings of Stephen (1550), Lachmann, Tregelles, Tischendorf,
Lightfoot, Ellicott, Alford, Weiss, the Bâle edition (1880), Westcott and
Hort, and the Revision Committee. By Richard Francis Weymouth.
With an Introduction by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Worcester.
London, 1886.... Cheap Edition, 1892, pp. xix. 644. Besides the
editions mentioned in the title, the Complutensian, Elzevir (1633),
Scrivener and others are compared in several places.

Weiss. Quite recently, Bernhard Weiss, of Berlin, began a
new and independent revision of the text, which has been published in three
large volumes with introduction and explanatory notes.

Literature.—Das Neue Testament. Textkritische Untersuchungen und
Textherstellung von D. Bernhard Weiss. Erster Theil,
Apostelgeschichte: Katholische Briefe: Apocalypse. Leipzig, 1894.
Zweiter Theil, Die paulinischen Briefe einschliesslich des
Hebräerbriefs, 1896. Dritter Theil, Die vier Evangelien 1900. Vol. i. is
compiled from Texte und Untersuchungen, ix. 3, 4; viii. 3; vii. 1. The
section in vol. ii. entitled Textkritik der paulinischen Briefe, is taken
from TU. xiv. 3, and the corresponding section in vol. iii. from TU. xix.

2 (New Series, iv. 2). See “B. Weiss and the New Testament,” by C. R.
Gregory in the American Journal of Theology, 1897, i. 16-37.

Von Gebhardt. In Germany, O. von Gebhardt has done good
service by issuing the text of Tischendorf’s last edition, with the necessary
corrections, and giving in the margin the readings adopted by Tregelles and
Westcott-Hort, when these differ from the text. In the “editio stereotypa
minor,” the differences of Westcott-Hort alone are shown. In his Greek-
German New Testament, he also exhibits at the foot of Luther’s German
text those readings wherein the text of Erasmus’s second edition of 1519,
used by Luther, differs from that of the last edition of Tischendorf. In this
diglot of v. Gebhardt, therefore, one can see at a glance not only how far the
Greek text of the present day differs from that printed at the beginning of
the sixteenth century, but also the amount of agreement between present-
day editors working on such different principles as Tischendorf and
Westcott and Hort. In the Adnotatio Critica found in the Appendix to the
larger edition, there is a brief digest of the critical Apparatus, but it extends
only to those passages where Tischendorf and Westcott-Hort disagree. The
editio minor contains 600 pages. One of these, p. 501, shows not a single
disagreement between these great editors, while 18 pages exhibit only one
variation each, and these, for the most part, mere grammatical trifles.

Literature.—Novum Testamentum Graece recensionis
Tischendorfianae ultimae textum cum Tregellesiano et Westcottio-
Hortiano contulit et brevi adnotatione critica additisque locis parallelis
illustravit Oscar de Gebhardt. Editio stereotypa. Lipsiae (Tauchnitz),
1881. Seventh edition, 1896.
N. T. Graece et Germanice. Leipzig, 1881. Fourth edition, 1896. In this
edition the Greek is that of Tischendorf’s last edition, and the German
is the Revised text of Luther (1870). The various readings are shown
for both texts, and a selection of parallel passages is also given.
N. T. Graece ex ultima Tischendorfii recensione edidit Oscar de
Gebhardt. Editio stereotypa minor. Lipsiae, 16mo., 1887. Fourth
edition, 1898.

Stuttgart New The text of the Greek and Greek-German New
Testament.
Testaments prepared by me, and issued by the

Württemberg Bible Institute, is based on a comparison of the three editions
of Tischendorf, Westcott-Hort, and Weymouth. The variations of these
editions are shown at the foot of the page, where are given also the readings
inserted by Westcott and Hort in their Appendix and omitted by O. v.
Gebhardt. From Acts onwards, the readings adopted by Weiss are indicated
as well. In a lower margin, a number of important manuscript readings are
given. In the Gospels and Acts, these are taken mainly, though not
exclusively, from Codex Bezae. In the Greek-German edition, the text
(German) is that of the Revised Version of 1892. Below it are given the
readings of Luther’s last edition (1546), with several of his marginal glosses
and earlier renderings.

Literature.—Novum Testamentum Graece cum apparatu critico ex
editionibus et libris manu scriptis collecto. Stuttgart, 1898. Second
corrected edition, 1899. Also issued in two and in ten parts, and
interleaved. Third edition in preparation.

Schjøtt. Fr. Schjøtt published an edition at Copenhagen in
1897 the text of which was determined by the agreement between the
Codex Vaticanus (Claromontanus, from Heb. ix. 14 onwards) and the
Sinaiticus. Where they disagreed he called in the next oldest manuscript as
umpire. For this purpose he employed for the Gospels the manuscripts A C
D E F H Ib K L P Q T U V X Z Γ Δ, for the Acts and Catholic Epistles A C
D E H K L P, for the Pauline Epistles A C D E F G H L P, and for the
Apocalypse A C P 1, 18, 38, 49, 92, 95. At the foot of the text his edition
gives, in two divisions, a comparison with the Elzevir text and with that of
Tischendorf-Gebhardt (1894). From what source Schjøtt derived his
knowledge of the Vaticanus and the Sinaiticus is not mentioned. The
photograph of the former seems not to have been employed.

Literature.—Novum Testamentum Graece ad fidem testium
vetustissimorum recognovit necnon variantes lectiones ex editionibus
Elzeviriana et Tischendorfiana subjunxit Fr. Schjøtt. Hauniae, 1897, pp.
xi. 562.

Baljon. The edition of J. M. S. Baljon is in the main an
abridgment of Tischendorf’s octava maior. He avails himself, however, of
later discoveries, such as the Sinai-Syriac Palimpsest for the Gospels, and

the Syriac version published by Gwynn for the Apocalypse. In Acts, Blass’s
restoration of the so-called Forma Romana is regularly indicated. No other
edition, for one thing, shows more conveniently where recent scholars
recognise glosses or other interpolations, or propose transpositions or
conjectural emendations and such like. So far, therefore, it may be
commended to those who do not possess an edition with a more copious
critical apparatus. But even Baljon’s New Testament fails to realise the ideal
of a practical edition.

Literature.—Novum Testamentum Graece praesertim in usum
studiosorum recognovit J. M. S. Baljon, Groningae, 1898, pp. xxiii.
731. The first 320 pages are also issued separately as Volumen primum
continens Evangelia Matthaei, Marci, Lucae et Ioannis. Vide Bousset in
the Theologische Rundschau for July 1898.

Catholic editions. From the Catholic side little has been done in
Germany in this department of scholarship for a long time. In 1821 Aloys
Gratz reprinted the Complutensian at Tübingen; while Leander van Ess
issued an edition which combined the Complutensian and Erasmus’s fifth
edition.[17] This also appeared at Tübingen in 1827. Both of these contained
the Vulgate, and showed where recent editions gave a different text.
Reuss mentions two Synopses, one by Joseph Gehringer (Tübingen, 1842,
4o), the other by Fr. X. Patricius (Freiburg, 1853, 4o), and two small
editions, one of which, by A. Jaumann (Munich, 1832), was the first to be
printed in Bavaria. The other is by Fr. X. Reithmayer (Munich, 1847), and
closely follows the text of Lachmann.
There has also appeared recently at Innsbruck a Greek-Latin edition in two
volumes by Michael Hetzenauer, a Capuchin. The first volume contains the
Evangelium and the second the Apostolicum. But as the strict Catholic is
bound by the decision of the Holy Office, Hetzenauer’s edition hardly falls
to be considered here. A resolution of the Holy Office of 13th January 1897
pronounced even the Comma Johanneum (1 John v. 7) to be an integral part
of the New Testament. This was confirmed by the Pope on the 15th January,
and published in the Monitore Ecclesiastico of the 28th February of the
same year. An edition in Greek and Latin was issued by Brandscheid at
Freiburg in 1893.

It is impossible to enumerate here editions of separate books of the New
Testament. Many of these are in the form of Commentaries. In addition to
the works of Blass, to which reference will be made later, mention may be
made here of a recent and most thorough piece of work—viz., The Gospel
according to St. Mark: The Greek Text, with Introduction and Notes, by
Henry Barclay Swete, D.D., pp. cx. 412 (London, Macmillan, 1898); also
of The Gospel according to St. Luke after the Westcott-Hort text, edited with
parallels, illustrations, various readings, and notes, by the Rev. Arthur
Wright: London, Macmillan, 1900; and of Hilgenfeld’s edition of the Acts
in Greek and Latin. Berlin, 1899.
Apocrypha and Nor can we enter particularly the field of early
Pseudepigrapha.
Christian Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. Those
who cannot obtain Hilgenfeld’s Novum Testamentum extra Canonem
Receptum, or Resch’s Agrapha, or the editions of Tischendorf, Lipsius, and
Bonnet, will find a handy and inexpensive selection in my Supplement to
Gebhardt’s editions of Tischendorf.

Literature.—Novi Testamenti Graeci Supplementum editionibus de
Gebhardt-Tischendorfianis adcommodavit Eb. Nestle. Insunt Codicis
Cantabrigiensis Collatio, Evangeliorum deperditorum Fragmenta,
Dicta Salvatoris Agrapha, Alia. Lipsiae (Tauchnitz), 1896, pp. 96.

There can be no question that in these last mentioned editions which have
been brought out at the end of the nineteenth century, we have a text
corresponding far more closely to the original than that contained in the
first editions of the Greek New Testament issued at the beginning of the
sixteenth century, on which are based the translations into modern
languages used in the Christian churches of Europe at the present time. It
would be a vast mistake, however, to conclude from the textual agreement
displayed in these latest editions, that research in this department of New
Testament study has reached its goal. Just as explorers, in excavating the
ruined temples of Olympia or Delphi, are able from the fragments they
discover to reconstruct the temple, to their mind’s eye at least, in its ancient
glory—albeit it is actually in ruins—so too, much work remains to be done
ere even all the materials are re-collected, and the plan determined which
shall permit us to restore the Temple of the New Testament Scriptures to its
original form.

CHAPTER II.
MATERIALS OF THE TEXTUAL CRITICISM OF THE NEW
TESTAMENT.

Even in the age of printing, and with all the security afforded by that
invention, it is not always easy or even possible to exhibit or restore the
literary productions of a great mind in their original form. One has but to
think of the obscurity in which the works of Shakespeare and their early
editions are enveloped, or the questions raised over the Weimar edition of
Luther’s works. And even when the author’s original manuscript is still
preserved, but the proof-sheets, as is usual, destroyed, we cannot always be
certain whether occasional discrepancies between the print and the
manuscript are intentional or not. Nay, even when the two agree, there is
still the possibility that what the author wrote and allowed to be printed was
not what he thought or intended to be read. Did Lessing, e.g., mean us to
read in Nathan ii. 5, 493, “the great man requires always plenty of room,”
or “the great tree” does so? Various writers, in speaking of this or that
artist’s talents or dexterity, have used the words “haud impigre.” To take
them at their word, the object of their praise had no such endowment
beyond the common. We may be certain that what they meant to convey
was the very opposite of what they actually wrote, viz. “haud pigre” or
“impigre.” As a rule, however, the purchaser of a modern classic may rely
upon reading it in the form in which the author intended it to be circulated.
It is quite different in the case of those works which were composed at a
time when their multiplication was only possible by means of copying, and
specially so in the case of those that are older by a thousand years than the
invention of printing. For then every fresh copy was a fresh source of
errors, even when the copyist was as painfully exact as it was possible for
him to be. It is simply astonishing, in view of all the perils to which literary
works have been exposed, to find how much has been preserved, and, on
the whole, how faithfully.

Autographs. The matter is, of course, quite a simple one, when
by good fortune the author’s own manuscript, his autograph, is extant. The
abstract possibility of this being so in the case of the New Testament
writings cannot be denied. Thanks to the dryness of the climate of Egypt
and the excellence of ancient writing material, we have documents more
than twice the age that the New Testament autographs would be to-day did
we possess them. Now and again we find a report circulated in the
newspapers that such an original document has been found,—of Peter, e.g.,
or some other Apostle. About the year 489 it was asserted that the original
copy of Matthew had been discovered in the grave of Barnabas in Cyprus.
And to the eyes of the devout there are still exhibited not only the
Inscription from the Cross, but works from the artist hand of Luke. In
reality, however, we have no longer the autograph of a single New
Testament book. Their disappearance is readily understood when we
consider that the greater portion of the New Testament, viz. the Epistles, are
occasional writings never intended for publication, while others were meant
to have only a limited circulation. Even in the early ages of the Christian
Church, when there must have been frequent occasion to appeal to them,
the autographs were no longer in existence.

Tertullian (De Praescriptione Haereticorum, 36) mentions
Thessalonica among the cities in which he believed the letters of the
Apostles that were addressed there were still read from autograph
copies.[18] “Percurre ecclesias apostolicas, apud quas ipsae adhuc
cathedrae apostolorum suis locis praesident, apud quas ipsae
authenticae literae eorum recitantur, sonantes vocem et repraesentantes
faciem uniuscuiusque.” But when the same author, in his De
Monogamia, speaks of “Graecum authenticum,” he refers not to the
autograph, but to the original text as distinguished from a version.
On the copy of Matthew’s Gospel found in the grave of Barnabas in
Cyprus, vide Theodorus Lector (Migne, 86, 189); Severus of Antioch in
Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis, ii. 81; Vitae omnium 13
Apostolorum: Βαρνάβας ὁ καὶ Ἰωσῆς ... οὗτος τὸ κατὰ Ματθαῖον
εὐαγγέλιον οἰκειοχείρως γράψας ἐν τῇ τῆς Κύπρου νήσῳ τελειοῦται.[19]
In the Imperial Court Chapel the lessons were read from this copy on
Holy Thursday of every year. Vide Fabricius, Evv. Apocr., 341.

On the supposed autograph of Mark in Venice see Jos. Dobrowsky,
Fragmentum Pragense Ev. S. Marci, vulgo autographi, Prague, 1778. It
is really a fragment of a Latin manuscript of the Vulgate, dating from
the seventh century, of which other fragments exist in Prague.
In the Chronicon Paschale there is a note on the reading τρίτη for ἕκτη
in John xix. 14, to the following effect:—καθὼς τὰ ἀκριβῆ βιβλία
περιέχει αὐτό τε τὸ ἰδιόχειρον τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ, ὅπερ μέχρι τοῦ νῦν
πεφύλακται χάριτι θεοῦ ἐν τῇ Ἐφεσίων ἁγιωτάτῃ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν
πιστῶν ἐκεῖσε προσκυνεῖται. Bengel himself said on 1 John v. 7:—“Et
tamen etiam atque etiam sperare licet, si non autographum Johanneum,
at alios vetustissimos codices graecos, qui hanc periocham habeant, in
occultis providentiae divinae forulis adhuc latentes, suo tempore
productum iri.” (N.T. 420, 602, 770.)
In disproof of an alleged autograph of Peter, see Lagarde, Aus dem
deutschen Gelehrtenleben, Göttingen, 1880, p. 117 f. On legends of this
sort among the Polish Jews, on the autograph copy of the Proverbs that
Solomon sent to the Queen of Sheba, and now in the possession of the
Queen of England, etc., vide S. Schechter, Die Hebraica in der
Bibliothek des Britischen Museums, in the Jüdisches Literatur-Blatt for
1888, No. 46.
At the Sixth Ecumenical Council of 680-1, which Harnack (DG. ii.
408) says might be called the “Council of Antiquaries and
Palaeographers”, investigations were instituted in this department with
some success.
J. G. Berger, De Autographis Veterum, Vitenb., 1723. 4o.
J. R. Harris, New Testament Autographs (Supplement to the American
Journal of Philology, No. 12), Baltimore, 1882. With three plates.
In this connection reference might be made to the falsifications of
Constantine Simonides: Facsimiles of certain portions of the Gospel of
St. Matthew, and of the Epistles of St. James and St. Jude, written on
papyrus of the first century. London, 1862. Fol.

Manuscripts. Seeing, then, that the autographs of the New
Testament books have all perished, we have to do as in the case of the
Greek and Latin classics, viz. apply to later copies of them, the so-called

manuscripts of which frequent mention has already been made. But while
in the case of most literary products of antiquity these manuscript copies are
the only sources whence we may derive our knowledge of them, we are
happily more fortunate in regard to the New Testament.
Versions. The new faith very early and very rapidly spread to
distant peoples speaking other languages than that in which the Gospel was
first preached. Indeed, even in its native land of Palestine, several languages
were in use at the same time. Accordingly, at a very early date, as early as
the second, and perhaps, in the case of fragments, even in the first century,
there arose in the East, and in the South, and in the West, versions of the
Christian books very soon after their composition. At first only separate
portions would be translated, but as time went on versions of the entire New
Testament made their appearance. Manifestly, the value for our purpose of
these versions depends on their age and accuracy. It is impossible, without
further knowledge, to be certain whether a Greek copyist of later centuries
followed his original quite faithfully or not. But a Latin version of the New
Testament which dates from the second century, e.g., will represent with
tolerable certainty the second century Greek manuscript from which it is
derived, even supposing that our present copy of that version is not earlier
than the sixth century or even later. But these versions confer yet another
advantage. In the case of most, and certainly of the oldest Greek
manuscripts, we do not know in what country they originated. But it is quite
certain that a Latin version could not have originated in Egypt, or a Coptic
version in Gaul. In this way we may learn from the versions how the text of
the Bible read at a particular time and in a particular region. Lastly, if it
should happen that several versions originating in quite isolated regions, in
the Latin West, and in the Syrian East, and in the Egyptian South, agree,
then we may be certain that what is common to them all must go back to the
earliest times and to their common original.
Quotations. In addition to the Greek manuscripts and the
versions, we have still a third and by no means unimportant class of
material that we can employ in reconstructing our text of the New
Testament. We possess an uncommonly rich Christian literature, which
gathers volume from the second half, or, at all events, from the last quarter
of the first century onwards. Now, what an early Church teacher, or, for that
matter, what any early writer quotes from the New Testament will have for

us its own very peculiar importance, under certain conditions. Because, as a
rule, we know precisely where and when he lived. So that by means of
these patristic quotations we are enabled to locate our ancient manuscripts
of the Bible even more exactly, and trace their history further than we are
able to do with the help of the versions. Here, of course, we must make sure
that our author has quoted accurately and not loosely from memory, and
also that the quotations in his book have been accurately preserved and not
accommodated to the current text of their time by later copyists or even by
editors of printed editions, as has actually been done even in the nineteenth
century. We shall now proceed to describe these three classes of auxiliaries.

Literature.—W. Wattenbach, Anleitung zur griechischen
Palaeographie, 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1877; V. Gardthausen, Griechische
Palaeographie, Leipzig, 1879; Fr. Blass, Palaeographie, Bücherwesen,
und Handschriftenkunde, in I. v. Müller’s Handbuch der klassischen
Alterthumswissenschaft, 2nd ed., vol. i., Munich, 1892; E. M.
Thompson, Handbook of Greek and Latin Palaeography, London,
1891; T. Birt, Das antike Buchwesen, Berlin, 1882; W. A. Copinger,
The Bible and its Transmission; F. G. Kenyon, Our Bible and the
ancient Manuscripts, London, third edition, 1897; F. H. A. Scrivener,
Six Lectures on the Text of the N.T. and the ancient Manuscripts which
contain it, Cambridge and London, 1875; A Collation of about 20
Manuscripts of the Holy Gospels, London, 1853; Adversaria critica
sacra, Cambridge, 1893; Hoskier; Urt., pp. 16, 54; O. Weise, Schrift-
und Buchwesen in alter und neuer Zeit, Leipzig (Teubner), 1899 (with
Facsimiles: a popular work); F. G. Kenyon, The Palaeography of Greek
Papyri, Oxford, 1899 (with 20 Facsimiles and a Table of Alphabets, pp.
viii., 160); Ulr. Wilcken, Tafeln zur älteren griechischen
Palaeographie, Nach Originalen des Berliner K. Museums, Berlin and
Leipzig, 1891 (with 20 photographs); G. Vitelli e C. Paoli, Collezione
Fiorentina di facsimili paleografici greci e latini, Firenze, 1884-1897
(with 50 Greek Plates and 50 Latin, Folio); Charles F. Sitterly, Praxis in
Manuscripts of the Greek Testament; the mechanical and literary
processes involved in their writing and preservation (with table of
Manuscripts and 13 Facsimile Plates), New York and Cincinnati, 1898,
second enlarged edition, 1900; F. Carta, C. Cipolla e C. Frati,
Monumenta Palaeographica sacra: Atlante paleografico-artistico

composto sui manuscritti, Turin, 1899; Karl Dziatzko, Untersuchungen
über ausgewählte Kapitel des antiken Buchwesens. Mit Text,
Uebersetzung und Erklärung von Plinii Histor. Nat., lib. xiii. § 68, 69,
Leipzig, Teubner, 1900.

1. Manuscripts.

Number of For no literary production of antiquity is there such
manuscripts.
a wealth of manuscripts as for the New Testament.
Our classical scholars would rejoice were they as fortunate with Homer or
Sophocles, Plato or Aristotle, Cicero or Tacitus, as Bible students are with
their New Testament. The oldest complete manuscript of Homer that we
have dates from the thirteenth century, and only separate papyrus fragments
go back to the Alexandrian age. All that is extant of Sophocles we owe to a
single manuscript dating from the eighth or ninth century in the Laurentian
Library at Florence. But of the New Testament, 3829 manuscripts have
been catalogued up till the present. A systematic search in the libraries of
Europe might add still more to the list; a search in those of Asia and Egypt
would certainly do so. Gregory believes that there are probably some two or
three thousand manuscripts which have not yet been collated, and every
year additional manuscripts are brought to light. Most of these are, of
course, late, and contain only separate portions, some of them mere
fragments, of the New Testament.[20] Not a few, however, go much further
back than our manuscripts of the Hebrew Old Testament and most of the
Greek and Latin Classics. Only in the case of the Mohammedan sacred
books is the condition of things more favourable. These came into existence
in the seventh century, and the variations between separate manuscripts are
a vanishing quantity, because the text of the Koran was officially fixed at a
very early date and regarded as inviolably sacred. Fortunately, one might
almost say, it is quite different with the New Testament, which was put
together in a totally different way. In its case the very greatest freedom
prevailed for at least a century and a half.
The manuscripts of the New Testament being so numerous, it becomes
necessary to arrange them. One of the most important considerations
hitherto has been that of age, and therefore manuscripts have been divided
into Uncials (or Majuscules) and Cursives (or Minuscules), according to
the style of writing in use at earlier or later times.
Uncial, and Cursive
script.

In early times, as at the present day, inscriptions on monuments and public
buildings were engraved in capital letters. This form of writing was also
employed for books, especially those containing valuable or sacred writing.
The letters were not joined together, but set down side by side.[21] They were
called litterae majusculae, capitales, unciales, i.e. “inch-high,” as Jerome
says with ridicule—uncialibus ut vulgo aiunt litteris onera magis exarata
quam codices. Alongside of this there arose, even previous to the Christian
era, a smaller Cursive form (Minusculae), for use in common life, in which
the letters were joined.[22] This running hand found its way into manuscripts
of the Bible in the course of the ninth century. In some cases, in Codex Λ
e.g., both styles are found alongside or following each other.[23]
The oldest Cursive manuscript of the New Testament, the exact date of
which is known, is 481evv.; it bears the date 835. The great majority of New
Testament manuscripts belong to this later date, seeing that out of the 3829
manuscripts there are only 127 Uncials to 3702 Minuscules. Greek copyists
not being accustomed to date their manuscripts exactly, it becomes the task
of palæography to settle the criteria by which the date and place of a
manuscript’s origin may be determined. These are the style of writing—
whether angular or round, upright or sloping, the punctuation—whether
simple or elaborate, and the different material and form of the book. These
distinctions, however, are often very misleading. The following table will
show the distribution of the manuscripts according to the centuries in which
they were written, as given by Vollert, Scrivener, and von Gebhardt[24]:—
Vollert. Scrivener. v. Gebhardt.
IVth Century, 5 ... 2
Vth “ 4 10 15
VIth ” 18 22 24
VIIth “ 6 9 17
VIIIth ” 8 8 19
IXth “ 23 ... 31
Xth ” 4 ... 6
Papyrus and
parchment. Manuscripts are distinguished according to the
material on which they are written, which may be
either parchment or paper.

Parchment derives its name from Pergamum, where it was introduced in
the reign of King Eumenes (197-159 B.C.). But prior to the use of
parchment, and to a certain extent alongside of it, papyrus was used,
especially in Egypt, down to the time of the Mohammedan Conquest.
Papyrus books were originally in the form of rolls (volumina). Only a few
fragments of the New Testament on papyrus remain. The use of parchment
gave rise to the book or Codex form. In the case of parchment codices, a
further distinction is drawn between those made of vellum manufactured
from the skins of very young calves, and those made of common parchment
from the skins of sheep, goats, and antelopes.
Paper. As early as the eighth century (not the ninth), the
so-called cotton paper (charta bombycina) was introduced from the East.
This, however, never consisted of pure cotton, but rather of flax and hemp.
It had been in use for a long time in China and the centre of Eastern Asia,
but seems to have been unknown in Syria and Egypt till after the fall of
Samarcand in 704. From the thirteenth century onwards, paper made of
linen was employed.
In the New Testament, both papyrus and parchment are referred to. In 2
Tim. iv. 13, Paul asks that the φελόνης he had left at Troas might be brought
to him, and τὰ βιβλία, but specially τὰς μεμβράνας. Here, φελόνης means
cloak rather than satchel; τὰ βιβλία are the papyrus books, possibly his Old
Testament, while τὰς μεμβράνας are clean sheets of parchment. In 2 John
12 the word χάρτης is used of papyrus. There, and in 3 John 13, τὸ μέλαν is
the ink, and the κάλαμος (lat. canna) is the reed pen, still used for writing in
the East. The quill pen, strange to say, is not mentioned prior to the time of
Theodoric the Ostrogoth in the sixth century. The size of a sheet of writing
paper may be inferred from the passages in 2nd and 3rd John alluded to
above.
Scriptio continua. In order to economize space, the writing was
continuous, with no break between the words (scriptio continua),
breathings and accents being also omitted. This is a frequent source of
ambiguity and misunderstanding. In Matt. ix. 18, e.g., ΕΙΣΕΛΘΩΝ may be
either εἷς ἐλθὼν or εἰσελθὼν. In Mark x. 40, ΑΛΛΟΙΣΗΤΟΙΜΑΣΤΑΙ was
rendered “aliis praeparatum,” ἄλλοις being read instead of ἀλλ’ οἷς. In Matt.
xvi. 23, ΑΛΛΑ may be taken either as ἀλλὰ or ἀλλ’ ἃ. In 1 Cor. xii. 28,
again, the Ethiopic translator read οὖς instead of οὓς. The Palestinian-

Syriac Lectionary translates 1 Tim. iii. 16 as though it were ὁμολογοῦμεν
ὡς μέγα ἐστίν. There is something to be said for this, but Naber’s proposed
reading of Gal. ii. 11, ὅτι κατέγνωμεν ὃς ἦν, cannot be accepted.
Columns, Lines. Most manuscripts show two columns to the page.
The Sinaitic, however, has four, while the Vatican has three. Columns vary
considerably in width. They may be the width of a few letters only, or of an
average hexameter line of sixteen to eighteen syllables or about thirty-six
letters. Such a line is called a στίχος, and as the scribe was paid according
to the number of στίχοι, we find at the end of several books a note giving
the total number of στίχοι contained in them. In carefully written
manuscripts, every hundredth, sometimes every fiftieth στίχος is indicated
in the margin. These stichometric additions were afterwards adopted for the
entire Bible. Their value in many respects will be obvious.
As the church increased in wealth and prestige, New Testament manuscripts
acquired a more sumptuous form, either from the luxury of the rich or the
pious devotion of kings and churches.
Palimpsests. Parchment, however, grew more and more
expensive, and so the practice arose of using an old manuscript a second
time. The original writing was erased by means of a sponge or pumice stone
or a knife, and the sheets were then employed to receive other matter, or it
might even be the same matter over again. And so we have Codices
Rescripti or Palimpsesti as they were called, a term known to Cicero, who
says, though of a wax tablet, “quod in palimpsesto, laudo parsimoniam” (ad
Diversos vii. 18). Some manuscripts were used as often as three times for
distinct works in three different languages e.g. Greek, Syriac, and Iberian.
Codex Ib is one of these thrice used manuscripts, being written first in
Greek and then twice in Syriac.
Punctuation. Marks of punctuation are hardly to be found in
the earliest times. It was frequently, therefore, a question with church
teachers whether a sentence was to be taken interrogatively or indicatively,
or how the sentences were to be divided, as in the case of John i. 3 and 4. In
the general absence of punctuation, the appearance of quotation marks in
some of the oldest manuscripts, like Codex Vaticanus e.g., to indicate
citations from the Old Testament, is remarkable.
Size.

The size of a manuscript varies from a large folio, which in the case of a
parchment codex must have been very expensive, to a small octavo. In
regions inhabited by a mixed population we find bilingual manuscripts,
Greek-Latin, Greek-Coptic, Greek-Armenian, and such like. If the
manuscript was designed for use in church, the two languages were written
in parallel columns, the Greek frequently occupying the left column or
reverse side of the sheet, being the place of honour. In manuscripts intended
for use in schools, the translation was written between the lines. Codex Δ is
an example of a manuscript with an interlinear version of this sort.
Contents. Of more importance is the distinction of
manuscripts according to their contents. Of all our recorded Uncials, only
one contains the whole of the New Testament complete. That is the Codex
Sinaiticus discovered by Tischendorf in 1859. A few others, like Codices
Vaticanus, Alexandrinus, Ephraemi, were once complete, but are no longer
so. Of the later Minuscules, some twenty-five alone contain the entire New
Testament. Of the English Minuscules, five are complete. The fragmentary
nature of our manuscripts is intelligible on two grounds. One is that a New
Testament codex written in uncial characters is a very bulky and ponderous
volume running to about 150 sheets. Comparatively few would be in a
position to procure such a costly work all at once. The other reason is that
the New Testament itself is not a single book, but a series of different
collections, which at first, and even afterwards, were circulated separately.
To the same reason is due the great variety in the order of the several parts
of the New Testament found in the manuscripts, and still, to a certain extent,
in our printed editions. It is not exactly known who it was that first
collected and inscribed in one volume the books and the parts that now
make up the New Testament. Such a single volume of the entire New
Testament was afterwards known as a πανδέκτης, and in Latin, bibliotheca.
The parts into which the New Testament is divided are—

1. The four Gospels.
2. (a) The Acts of the Apostles. (b) The so-called Catholic Epistles, i.e.
those not addressed to any particular church or individual, viz., James,
1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, Jude.
3. The thirteen Pauline Epistles, or, including Hebrews, fourteen.

4. The Apocalypse.

Lectionaries. Among these incomplete manuscripts of the New
Testament may be classed the so-called lectionaries—i.e. manuscripts
containing only those portions read at church services. Following the
custom of the Synagogue, in which portions of the Law and the Prophets
were read at divine service each Sabbath day, the practice was early adopted
in the Christian Church of reading passages from the New Testament books
at services. A definite selection of such extracts was formed at an early date
from the Gospels and Epistles, and the custom arose of arranging these
according to the order of Sundays and Holy days, for greater convenience in
use. A collection of selected passages from the Gospels was called a
Εὐαγγέλιον, and in Latin Evangeliarium,[25] in distinction to the books
containing the continuous text, which were called Τετραευαγγέλιον, while
the selections from the Epistles were known as Ἀπόστολος or
Πραξαπόστολος. These lectionaries, though mostly of later origin, are
nevertheless important as indicating the official text of the various
provinces of the Church. They show, moreover, how sundry slight
alterations found their way into the text of the New Testament.
We can easily understand why it is that manuscripts of the Gospels are by
far the most numerous, while those of the last book of the New Testament
are the fewest. Among the Uncials, 73 contain the Gospels, and only 7 have
the Apocalypse. Of these 73 Uncials, again, only 6, viz. ‫ א‬B K M S U, or, if
we include Ω, only 7 are quite complete; 9 are almost so; 11 exhibit the
greater part of the Gospels, while the remainder contain only fragments. Of
the 20 Uncials of the Pauline Epistles, only 1 is entirely complete—viz., ;‫א‬
2 are nearly complete, D G; 8 have the greater part. It is plain that our
resources are not so great, after all, as the number of manuscripts given
above would lead us to expect. Here also there are πολλοὶ κλητοί, ὀλίγοι
ἐκλεκτοί.

Parchment.

The manufacture of parchment is perhaps older than that of papyrus. It is
said to owe both its name and wide circulation as writing material to the

encouragement given to its manufacture by Eumenes II. of Pergamum (197-
159 B.C.). Pliny’s story,[26] which he gives on the authority of Varro, is that
Eumenes wished to found a library which should, as far as possible, excel
that of Alexandria. To frustrate this intention Ptolemy Epiphanes prohibited
the exportation of papyrus to Asia Minor. (In the list of principal exports of
Alexandria, Lumbroso[27] mentions βίβλος and χάρτη in the second place
after ὑέλια, and βιβλία in the seventh.) Eumenes was accordingly obliged to
prepare parchment at Pergamum, and hence its name, περγαμηνή. The name
first occurs in Diocletian’s Price-list,[28] and in Jerome. The word used in
earlier times was διφθέραι,[29] or δέρρεις,[30] or μεμβράναι as in 2 Tim. iv.
13, which last was taken from the Latin. At first parchment was less
valuable than papyrus, and was used more for domestic and school
purposes than for the making of books, as the writing was easier erased
from the skin. But it gradually supplanted papyrus, and with its employment
came also the change from the roll to the “codex” form of book. If papyrus
was the vehicle of Pagan Greek literature, parchment was the means
whereby the literature of the new faith became known to mankind, and the
remnant of the ancient culture at the same time preserved. Origen’s library,
which still consisted for the most part of papyrus rolls, was re-written in
parchment volumes (σωμάτιον, corpus) by two priests shortly before the
time of Jerome. Our principal manuscripts of Philo are derived from one of
these codices.[31] When Constantine ordered Eusebius to provide a certain
number of Bibles for presentation to the churches of his Empire, he sent
him, not rolls, but codices, πεντήκοντα σωμάτια ἐν διφθέραις.
Parchment was prepared from the skins of goats, sheep, calves, asses,
swine, and antelopes. Our oldest manuscripts of the Bible exhibit the finest
and whitest parchment. The Codex Sinaiticus, e.g., displays the very finest
prepared antelope skin, and is of such a size that only two sheets could be
obtained from one skin. As a rule, four sheets were folded into a quire
(quaternio), the separate sheets having been previously ruled on the grain
side. They were laid with the flesh side to the flesh side, and the grain side
to the grain side, beginning with the flesh side outermost, so that in each
quaternio, pages 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16 were white and smooth with the
lines showing in relief, while the others, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15 were
darker and rough, with indented lines.[32]
Ink.

For writing on papyrus, ink made of soot was employed. Three parts of
lamp-black were mixed with one part of gum and diluted with water. This
ink, however, was easily washed off, and did not stick well to parchment,
and therefore recourse was had to ink made of gall nuts. Sulphate of iron
was afterwards added to it, with the result that the writing material is
frequently corroded with the ink. From its having been boiled the mixture
was also called ἔγκαυστον, hence our word “ink” (encre). Many old recipes
for making ink are still preserved.[33] Even in early Egyptian writing,
coloured inks, especially red, were used. One of the most beautiful
manuscripts extant is a Syriac Codex in the British Museum, of date 411, in
which the red, blue, green, and yellow inks are still quite fresh. Eusebius
used cinnabar for numbering the paragraphs, and Jerome makes mention of
minium or vermilion. In times of great wealth parchments were dyed purple
and inscribed with gold and silver letters.

Papyrus.

Among ancient writers, Pliny gives the fullest description of the preparation
of papyrus, in his Historia Naturalis, xiii. 11.[34] The sheets were prepared,
not from the bark, but from the pith of the plant. This was cut into strips
(σχίδας) as thin and broad, and, according to some, as long as possible.
These were laid side by side as firmly as might be, to form the first layer
(σχέδα). On this a second layer was laid crosswise and fastened to the lower
with moisture or gum. The two layers were then compressed to form the
writing sheet (σελίς), which was carefully dried and polished with ivory or
a smooth shell. The roll (τόμος, κύλινδρος) consisted of a number of
σελίδες joined together to make one long strip—sometimes as much as 20
or 40 feet long, or even longer. The upper side, the side used for writing on,
was the one in which the fibres ran in a horizontal direction parallel to the
edge of the roll.[35] The under or outer side was only used in cases of
necessity.[36] The first sheet (πρωτόκολλον) was made stronger than the rest,
and its inner edge was glued to a wooden roller (ὄμφαλος), with a knob at
the end (κέρας). The margin of the roll, what corresponds to the edge of our
books, was frequently glazed and coloured, while the back was protected
against worms and moths by being rubbed with cedar oil. The title was
inscribed on a separate label of parchment (σίττυβος or σίλλυβος). The

separate rolls were enclosed in a leather case (διφθέρα or φαινόλης, see 2
Tim. iv. 13), and a number of them kept in a chest (κιβωτός or κίστη).
On the literature cf. also Paul Krüger, Ueber die Verwendung von Papyrus
und Pergament für die juristische Litteratur der Römer, Zeitschrift der
Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte. Roman section, viii. pp. 76-85
(1887). Wilcken, Archiv für Papyrus-Forschung und verwandte Gebiete,
Leipzig, Teubner. F. G. Kenyon, Palaeography of Greek Papyri. C.
Haeberlin, Griechische Papyri, Leipzig, 1897: “Nearly 150 years have fled
since 432 complete Rolls and 1806 Papyrus Fragments were discovered in
the year 1752 at Herculaneum, in the Villa of L. Calpurnius Piso
Caesoninus, the pupil and friend of the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus.
Then twenty-five years later the soil of Egypt, that home and nursery of
literature, opened for the first time to vouchsafe to us a Greek Papyrus Roll,
destined to be the forerunner of a series of discoveries often interrupted but
never ceasing altogether. It was, perchance, not the only one of its kind; but
out of the fifty rolls accidentally discovered in the year 1778 by Arabian
peasants in the neighbourhood of Memphis, it alone had the fortune to come
into the possession of Cardinal Stefano Borgia. The rest were burned by
their unsuspecting discoverers, who found a peculiar pleasure in the
resinous odour that arose from their smoking pyre.”

Paper.

The collection of manuscripts brought from the East by the Archduke
Rainer gave a stimulus to the study of the early history of paper-making,
and at the same time supplied the materials for a more exact investigation of
the subject than had previously been possible. Earlier works, therefore, like
that of G. Meerman, De Chartae vulgaris seu lineae Origine, ed. J. v.
Vaassen, Hagae Comitum, 1767, have been superseded. The manufacture of
paper seems to have been introduced into Europe by the Moors in Spain,
where it went by the name of pergameno de panno to distinguish it from the
pergameno de cuero. In the Byzantine Empire it was called ξυλοχάρτιον or
ξυλότευκτον, as being a vegetable product. It came afterwards to be known
as χάρτης Δαμασκηνός, from its chief place of manufacture. The Arabs
introduced it into Sicily, whence it passed into Italy. After 1235, we find

paper mentioned as one of the exports of Genoa. European paper is
distinguished from that of Eastern manufacture chiefly by the use of water
marks, such as ox-heads, e.g., which were unknown in the East. Older sorts
of paper bear a great resemblance to parchment. The Benedictine monks,
who owned the fragments of Mark’s Gospel preserved in Venice, asserted
that they were written on bark. Montfaucon declared the material to be
papyrus. Massei said it was cotton paper. But the microscope shows it to be
parchment. In many manuscripts a mixture of parchment and paper is
found. This is so in the Leicester Codex, in which the leaves are regularly
arranged in such a way that the outer and inner sheets of a quire are of
parchment, while the three intermediate sheets are of paper. See J. R.
Harris, The origin of the Leicester Codex of the New Testament, 1887, p. 14
ff.
Lead. Lead was also employed in early times for writing
on. Budde sees a reference to this practice in the well-known passage, Job
xix. 24. He holds that the lead there mentioned is not to be supposed as run
into letters cut out in the rock, which would be a very unlikely thing to do,
and a practice for which there is no evidence. He would therefore correct
the text so as to read “with an iron pen on lead.” Hesiod’s Ἔργα, e.g., was
preserved on lead in the temple of the Muses on Helicon.[37] A leaden tablet
from Hadrumet contains an incantation showing strong traces of O.T.
influence.[38] At Rhodes there was recently discovered a roll of lead
inscribed with the 80th Psalm, which was used as a charm to protect a
vineyard.[39]
Clay. Clay and brick were also used as writing material,
a fact which Strack has omitted to mention in his article on Writing in the
Realencyklopädie (see Ezek. iv. 1). So far, however, no traces of N.T.
writing have been discovered in the Ostraca literature of which we have
now a considerable quantity. We have tiles of this sort dating from a period
of over a thousand years from the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus onwards,
inscribed with ink and a reed pen. Several of these contain portions of
literary works such as those of Euripides.[40]
Linen. Linen was also written on.[41] It was used, e.g., for
the Sibylline Oracles (lintea texta, carbasus: Orac. Sib. ed. Alexandre, ii.,
159, 178, 189). But up to the present no N.T. writing has been found on
linen.

Paul’s “books.”

On Paul’s “books and parchments,” see Zahn, Kanon ii., 938 ff. I am not
aware if J. Joseph takes up this point or not in his La Bibliothèque de
l’Apôtre Paul (Chrétien Évang., 1897, v. 224-227). In the Theol. Tijdschrift,
1898, p. 217, the view that the μεμβράναι Paul sent for were blank sheets of
parchment is called in question. The most natural explanation, certainly, is
that they were.

Pen.

The N.T. makes no mention of the metal, wood, or bone stilus. By “the wild
beast of the reeds” (Ps. lxviii. 31) the Rabbis understood the reed pen,
which in Syriac also is commonly denoted by ‫קנה‬, and they took it as
referring to Rome and the Emperor, who decided the fate of nations with a
single stroke of his pen.[42] Luther, moreover, was not without precedent in
speaking of “governors with the pen” in Jud. v. 14, as the Syriac version
renders it in the same way. In Ps. xlv. 2, the Hebrew ‫ ֵע ט‬is rendered
κάλαμος (LXX), σχοῖνος (Aquila), and γραφεῖον (Symmachus). It is also
rendered σχοῖνος by the translator of Jeremiah viii. 8, where Aquila has
γραφεῖον. Σχοῖνος must therefore be added to the Bible names for pen.
Γραφίς for γραφεῖον, mentioned alongside of ὄνυξ ἀδαμάντινος in Jer. xvii.
1, seems to belong to the Spanish-Greek of the Complutensian, but is really
classic, as also its diminutive γραφίδιον. According to the Rabbis, pens
were among the things God made in the evening of the last day of the
creation. They were also venerated by the Egyptians and the Greeks as an
invention of the Deity.[43] According to Antisthenes[44] or Democritus,[45] a
young man, in order to enter the school of wisdom, requires to have a
βιβλιαρίου καινου (= καὶ νοῦ) καὶ γραφείου καινου καὶ πινακιδίου καινου.
In Cyprus, the stilus is called ἀλειπτήριον, and the γραμματοδιδάσκαλος in
like manner διφθεράλοιφος.[46] In the recently discovered fragments of
Diocletian’s List of Wares, the section περὶ πλούμου (goose, swan, and
peacock feathers) is followed by that περὶ καλάμων καὶ μελανίου, and then
by that περὶ ἐσθῆτος. Ink costs 12 drachmae the quart; Paphian and
Alexandrian κάλαμοι[47] cost 4 drachmae; and κάλαμοι δευτ[έρας] φώρ[μης]

the same. Baruch, the ἀναγνωστής, purchased ink and a pen in the market
of the Gentiles, in order to write his letter to Jeremiah (ἀποστείλας εἰς τὴν
ἀγορὰν [v. l. διασπορᾶς] τῶν ἐθνῶν ἤνεγκε χάρτην καὶ μέλανα [v. l.
μελαν]).[48] Demosthenes was not the only possessor of a silver stilus.
Boniface, e.g., had one of that sort sent him from England.
Reading and The following is a list of expressions relating to
writing.
reading and writing taken from the Greek Versions
of the O.T. It makes no claim to be complete. The passages will be found in
Hatch and Redpath’s Concordance to the Septuagint.
ἀκριβόω, ἀναγιγνώσκω, ἀνάγνωσις, ἀναγνωστής, ἀντίγραφον,
ἀποκαλύπτειν; βιβλιαφόρος (βιβλιο-), βίβλινος, βιβλιογράφος (Est. iii. 13,
Complut.), βιβλιοθήκη, βιβλίον (βυ-), βιβλιοφυλάκιον, βίβλος (βυ-); γαζά,
γράμμα, γραμματεία, γραμματεύειν, γραμματεύς, γραμματικός,
γραμματοεισαγωγεύς, γραπτόν, γράφειν (ἀνα-, ἀπο-, ἐπι-, κατα-, συν-),
γραφεῖον (σιδηροῦν), γραφεὺς (ταχινός), γραφή (ἀνα-, ἀπο-, συν-),
γραφικός, γραφίς; διφθέρωμα, διώκειν; εἴλημα, εἰς- or ἐγχαράττειν,
ἐπιστολή, ἑρμηνεύω, ἐπιστάμενος γράμματα; θησαυροφύλαξ; κάλαμος
(καλαμάριον, vide Field’s Hexapla on Ezek. ix. 2) κάστυ, κεφαλίς; μαχθάμ,
μέλαν, μελανοδοχεῖον, μίλτος, μνημόσυνον, μολίβος, μολίβδινος; ξυρός;
ὄνυξ ἀδαμάντινος, ὀξυγράφος; πινακίς, πινακίδιον, πτύξ, πτυχή, πυξίον;
σελίς, σμίλη, στηλογραφία, σφραγίζειν, σφραγίς, σχοῖνος; τόμος (χαρτοῦ
καινοῦ μεγάλου, Isa. viii. 1; also 1 Esdras vi. 23 for τόπος), τεῦχος, τύπος;
χάρτης, χαρτίον, χαρτηρία.

Diastole and hyphen.

Ancient Homeric grammarians used to debate whether contiguous letters
were to be read as one word or not. To obviate misunderstanding, they
employed the ὑποδιαστολή as the mark of division (ὅ, τι, e.g.), and the ὑφ’
ἕν as the mark of combination (Διό[σκ]ουροι, not Διὸς κοῦροι). Such marks
are also found in manuscripts of the Bible, in the Septuagint, e.g., in the
case of proper names. It goes without saying that the scriptio continua made
the reading as well as the copying of manuscripts a matter of some
difficulty. Hermas (Visio ii. 1) says of the book given him to copy
μετεγραψάμην πάντα πρὸς γράμμα· οὐχ ηὕρισκον γὰρ τὰς συλλαβάς.[49] For

two instructive mistakes in the Latin interlinear version of Codex
Boernerianus see p. 77.

Breathings and accents.

Breathings and accents were found in various manuscripts of the Bible as
early as the time of Epiphanius and Augustine. In our oldest manuscripts
they seldom occur before the seventh century. They were inserted by the
first hand of the Ambrosian Hexateuch (Swete’s F), which is ascribed to the
first half of the fifth century by Ceriani. They seem to have been added to
the Codex Vaticanus by the third hand, probably in the twelfth century, and
do not always conform to our rules. Augustine, commenting on the rival
readings filiis and porcina, in Psalm xvi. 14, says: “quod (porcina) alii
codices habent et verius habere perhibentur, quia diligentiora exemplaria
per accentus notam eiusdem verbi graeci ambiguitatem graeco scribendi
more dissolvunt, obscurius est” (ii. 504-5, in Lagarde’s Probe einer neuen
Ausgabe, p. 40). Similarly, speaking of the difference between ῥάβδου
αὐτοῦ and ῥάβδου αὑτοῦ, Gen. xlvii. 31, he says:—“fallit enim eos verbum
graecum, quod eisdem literis scribitur sive eius sive suae; sed accentus [=
spiritus] dispares sunt et ab eis qui ista noverunt, in codicibus non
contemnuntur” (iv. 53 ed. Lugd. 1586, cited by Scrivener, i. p. 47).
Abbreviation. The practice of abbreviating words of frequent
occurrence like Θ̅Σ̅, Χ̅Σ̅, Χ̅Σ̅, Α̅Ν̅Ο̅Σ̅ goes back to very early times. So, too,
does the use of letters as numerals, Ι for 10, etc.
Divisions. In dividing syllables the Greek copyists in general
observed the rule of beginning each new line with a consonant. A good
many exceptions occur however, especially in the Vaticanus, most of which
have been corrected by a later hand. These are indicated in the third volume
of Swete’s edition of the LXX. A good instance of this is seen in Jer. xiv.
12, where the Vaticanus and Marchalianus both originally had προσ
ενεγκωσιν, which in the former is corrected to προ σενεγκωσιν, and in the
latter to προσε νεγκωσιν. For examples from the O.T. portion of the Codex
Vaticanus see Nestle’s Septuagintastudien, ii. 20.

Stichometry.

Carefully written manuscripts of the Old and New Testaments are provided
with a system of stichometry just as occurs in the better manuscripts of the
classics, as e.g. Herodotus and Demosthenes. In the N.T. it is found
specially in those Pauline Epistles that go back to the recension of
Euthalius. One of the writers of the Codex Vaticanus has copied, in several
of the books of the O.T., the stichometric enumeration which he found in
his original, and the numbers show that the manuscript he copied contained
almost twice as much matter in a line as the one he himself wrote. See
Nestle, Septuagintastudien, ii. 20 f.; Lagarde, Die Stichometrie der syrisch-
hexaplarischen Uebersetzung des alten Testaments (Mitteilungen, iv. 205-
208). On the stichometric list in the Codex Claromontanus of the Pauline
Epistles (D2), see p. 76.
American scholars have counted the number of words in the Greek N.T. In
Matthew the number is 18,222, in Mark 11,158, in Luke 19,209.
Unfortunately, I am unable to give the total number in the N.T. See Schaff’s
Companion, pp. 57, 176.
Graux (Revue de Philologie, ii.) has counted not only the words but the
letters in the various books. The numbers are given in Zahn’s Geschichte
des N.T. Kanons, i. 76. They are as follows:—
Letters. Stichoi.
Matthew, 89,295 2480
Mark, 55,550 1543
Luke, 97,714 2714
John, 70,210 1950
Acts, 94,000 2610
3 John, 1,100 31
Apocalypse, 46,500 1292
For Philemon, Zahn 1,567 44
gives
In this last epistle I find that my edition has 1538 letters, or including the
title 1550. The lines in my edition happen to coincide as near as may be

with the ancient stichoi. 41 stichoi at 36 letters to the stichos would give a
total of 1476. Now in the 41 complete lines which my edition gives to
Philemon I find 1469 letters, that is, only 7 fewer. In Jude, again, Graux
enumerates 71 stichoi, while my edition shows exactly 70 lines or 71 with
the title. For stichometric calculations, therefore, this edition will prove
very convenient.
For a “Table of Ancient and Modern Divisions of the New Testament,” see
Scrivener, i. 68; also Westcott, Canon, Appendix D, xix., xx.; Bible in the
Church, Appendix B, 4.
Cola and commata. The Cola and Commata were quite different from
the stichoi. The length of the latter was regulated according to the space
(space-lines), that of the former by the sense and structure of the sentence
(sense-lines). On cola and commata see Wordsworth and White, De colis et
commatibus codicis Amiatini et editionis nostrae, in the Epilogus to their
edition of the Vulgate, i. pp. 733-736. On the stichometry proper see Ibid.,
p. 736, De stichorum numeris in euangeliis.

Manuscripts de luxe.

Solomon perfumed with musk the letter he sent to Bilqis, Queen of Sheba,
who herself could both read and write.[50] Mani inscribed characters on
white satin in such a way that if a single thread was drawn out the writing
became invisible.[51] On gold and silver writing among the Syrians see
Zahn, Tatian, Forschungen, 108, n. 1; also R. Wessely, Iconographie
(Wiener Studien, xii. 2, 259-279). The earliest mention of this kind of
writing that I know is in the Epistle of Aristeas,[52] σὺν ... ταῖς διαφόροις
διφθέραις, ἐν αἷς [ἦν] ἡ νομοθεσία γεγραμμένη χρυσογραφίᾳ τοῖς
Ἰουδαϊκοῖς γράμμασι, θαυμασίως εἰργασμένου τοῦ ὑμένος καὶ τῆς πρὸς
ἄλληλα συμβολῆς ἀνεπαισθήτου κατεσκευασμένης. In Alexander’s copy of
the Pentateuch the name of God was written in gold letters.[53]
On the fineness of the parchment and the beauty of the writing see
Chrysostom, Hom. 32 in Joannem: σπουδῆς περὶ τὴν τῶν ὑμένων
λεπτότητα καὶ τὸ τῶν γραμμάτων κάλλος. Ephraem Syrus commended this

Christian munificence, as is pointed out in the Histor. Polit. Blätter, 84, 2,
104. Gold writing is also mentioned in the Targum on Ps. xlv. 10.
The passage in the Epistle of Theonas to Lucian referring to the use of
purple-dyed parchment is thought by Batiffol to be derived from that in
Jerome’s Commentary on Job, and he founds on this an argument against
the genuineness of the Epistle.[54] In the Martyrium of Qardagh the Persian,
particular mention is made of the remarkable beauty and whiteness of the
parchment (σωμάτιον) on which he wrote his epistles.[55]
For the preparation of his Bible, Origen procured the services not only of
rapid writers (ταχυγράφοι) but also of girls who could write beautifully
(καλλιγράφοι). Cassiodorus pleads—qui emendare praesumitis, ut
superadjectas literas ita pulcherrimas facere studeatis, ut potius ab
Antiquariis scriptae fuisse judicentur.[56] We also find him making proposals
for expensive bindings in the De Inst., c. 30, a passage which, according to
Springer,[57] has been overlooked in the literature on illustrated bindings in
modern histories of art.
On various decorated manuscripts see W. Wattenbach, Ueber die mit Gold
auf Purpur geschriebene Evangelien-handschrift der Hamiltonschen
Bibliothek, in the Berliner Sitz.-Ber., 7th March 1889, xiii. 143-156. Cf.
Berl. Phil. Wochenschrift, 1889, 33, 34. This manuscript purported to be a
gift to Henry VIII. from Pope Leo X., but was rather from Wolsey. Bishop
Wilfrid of Ripon (670-688) had the four Gospels written with the finest
gold. Boniface requested his English friends to send him the Epistles of
Paul written with gold in order therewith to impress the simple-minded
Germans (Ep. 32, p. 99), a fact of which Gustav Freitag makes use in his
Ingo und Ingraban, p. 476. (See Die Christliche Welt, 1888, 22.) Cf. also
the manuscripts of Theodulf in Paris and Puy (see below, p. 125). The
Cistercians forbade the use of gold and silver bindings or clasps (firmacula)
and also of different colours.
Illustration. Illustrations must have made their appearance in
Greek manuscripts a whole century earlier than has hitherto been supposed
if H. Kothe is right in his interpretation of the passage in Diogenes Laertius,
ii. 3, 8 (= Clem., Strom., i. 78, p. 364, Potter): πρῶτος δὲ Ἀναξαγόρας καὶ
βιβλίον ἐξέδωκε σὺν γραφῇ (“with a picture”: formerly read as συγγραφῆς).
In addition to the works of Aristotle and the obscene poems of Philainis,

illustrated manuscripts were known to exist of the works of the astronomers
Eudoxus and Aratus, of the botanist Dioscorides, of the tactician Euangelos,
and of the geographer Ptolemy. A description of the earliest illustrated
Bibles is given by Victor Schultze in the Daheim, 1898, No. 28, 449 ff.,
with good facsimiles. On the horses in the chariot of Elijah in a Greek
manuscript of the ninth century in the Vatican Library, and on the pictures
of the horsemen in the codex of Joshua also contained there, see F. aus’m
Weerth in the Jahrbuch des Vereins von Altertums-Freunden im Rheinland,
Heft 78 (1884), Plate VI.
Cassiodorus had a Pandectes Latinus—i.e. a manuscript of the Old Latin
Bible of large size—which contained pictures of the Tabernacle and the
Temple. There is an old work on this subject by P. Zornius entitled Historia
Bibliorum pictorum ex antiquitatibus Ebraeorum et Christianorum
illustrata cum figuris, Lipsiae, 1743, 4to; and by the same author, Von den
Handbibeln der ersten Christen, Lips. 1738, also Historia Bibliorum ex
Ebraeorum diebus festis et jejuneis illustrata, Lips., 1741. See also Georg
Thiele, De antiquorum libris pictis capita quattuor, Marburg, 1897.

Palimpsests.

Palimpsests of Bible manuscripts came to be prohibited by the Church. The
Sixth Ecumenical Council (Trullan, Concilium quinisextum, 680-681), in
its 68th canon, Περὶ τοῦ μὴ ἐξεῖναί τινι τῶν ἁπάντων βιβλία τῆς παλαιᾶς
καὶ νέας διαθήκης διαφθείρειν, forbids the sale of old manuscripts of the
Bible to the βιβλιοκάπηλοι or the μυρεψοί, or to any persons whatever.[58]
There was naturally a special aversion to letting such manuscripts fall into
the hands of Jews; but yet there were discovered, in the lumber room of the
Synagogue of Old Cairo, fragments of a Greek MS. of the Gospels, which
had been afterwards employed to receive Jewish writing. Parchments of this
sort were at first used only for rough drafts and such like, instead of wax
tablets from which the writing could be erased again.

Punctuation.

A good example of the importance of punctuation will be found in Lk. i. 35,
on which see p. 201. Compare also Lk. xxi. 8, 1 Tim. ii. 5, where Lachmann
punctuates καὶ ἀνθρώπων ἄνθρωπος. By a different punctuation in Heb. i. 9,
Tischendorf and Westcott-Hort make ὁ Θεός vocative and nominative
respectively. In the former case the Messiah is God, in the other God is the
one who anoints him. This difference was not observed at first by O. v.
Gebhardt. Similarly there is a difference between the text and the margin of
Westcott and Hort in verse 8, where by the insertion or omission of the two
commas before and after ὁ Θεός the meaning is either that Messiah is God
or that God is Messiah’s throne. Considering the importance of such marks
of division, the rule laid down by Ephraem Syrus in the year 350, and again
emphasized by Bengel and Lagarde, should be carefully attended to in the
New Testament: εἰ κέκτησαι βιβλίον, εὐστιχὲς κτῆσαι αὐτό· μήποτε εὑρεθῇ
ἐν αὐτῷ πρόσκομμα τῷ ἀναγινώσκοντι ἢ μεταγράφοντι (see Nestle, Bengel
als Gelehrter, p. 24). Compare also what Chrysostom says regarding
punctuation on Mt. viii. 9: τινὲς δὲ καὶ οὕτως ἀναγινώσκουσι τουτὶ τὸ
χωρίον· εἰ γὰρ ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος ὤν, καὶ μεταξὺ στίξαντες ἐπάγουσιν· ὑπὸ
ἐξουσίαν ἔχων ὑπ’ ἐμαυτοῦ στρατιώτας. See also Victor (or whoever it is)
on Mk. xvi. 9. On the change of the sense by means of false emphasis or
punctuation see below, pp. 204(7), 276. J. A. Robinson thinks it probable
that ὁ Ἀγαπητός is a separate title of the Messiah, and would point ὁ υἱός
μου, ὁ Ἀγαπητός in Mk. i. 11, ix. 7 on the authority of the Ascensio Esaiae
and the Old Syriac (see Hastings’ Bible Dictionary, ii. 501).

Contents.

On the contents of Bible manuscripts see Zahn, GK. i. 62 f. According to
him Jerome’s Old Testament was in 14 volumes. In addition to some entire
Bibles Cassiodorus had the Scriptures written out in 9 codices. Of these vol.
VII. comprised the Gospels, VIII. the Epistles, and IX. the Acts and
Apocalypse. Leontius speaks of 6 books of the New Testament, of which
probably I. was Mt. and Mk., II. Lk. and Jn., III. Acts, IV. Catholic Epistles,
V. Pauline Epistles, VI. Apocalypse. As a rule the Gospels and the Pauline
Epistles made two codices.

In cod. ‫ א‬we find that the different parts of the New Testament display a
different type of text, from which we may conclude that the codex was
copied, not from a single manuscript but from several. Similarly, the
singular type of text exhibited by cod. Δ in Mark would show that this
codex, or that from which it was copied, was transcribed from different rolls
or codices, each containing one Gospel. See Zahn, GK. i. 63.

Bibliotheca.

On the designation Bibliotheca and Pandectes for Bible manuscripts, see
Zahn, GK. i. 65. On τεῦχος, ibid. 67. He informs us that the earliest mention
of a Christian bibliotheca and its armaria is in the heathen protocol of the
year 304, in the Gesta apud Zenophilum given in Dupin after Optatus, p.
262. The next earliest notice is in Augustine. The custodians of the
bibliothecae were probably the Readers. In Ruinart’s Acta Saturnini a
certain Ampelius is mentioned as “custos legis, scripturarumque divinarum
fidelissimus conservator.” From Irenaeus, iv. 33, 2 Lessing concluded that
at that time the few existing copies of the Scriptures were in the custody of
the clergy, and were only to be perused in their presence. (Zusätze zu einer
nötigen Antwort. Works, ed. Maltzahn, xi. 2, 179.) On this point see Zahn,
GK. i. 140.

(a.) UNCIAL MANUSCRIPTS.

‫א‬ ‫ א‬Codex Sinaiticus, now in St. Petersburg,
contains the entire New Testament written in the
fourth or more probably at the beginning of the fifth century. The story of
its discovery and acquisition is quite romantic. When Tischendorf, under the
patronage of his sovereign King Frederick Augustus of Saxony, came to the
Convent of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai for the first time in 1844, he
rescued from a basket there forty-three old sheets of parchment which, with
other rubbish, were destined for the fire. In this way he obtained possession
of portions of one of the oldest MSS. of the Old Testament, which he
published as the Codex Frederico-Augustanus (F-A) in 1846. At the same

time he learned that other portions of the same Codex existed in the
Monastery. He could find no trace of these, however, on his second visit in
1853. But on his third visit, undertaken with the patronage of the Emperor
of Russia, the steward of the monastery brought him, shortly before his
departure on the 4th February 1859, what surpassed all his expectations, the
entire remaining portions of the Codex comprising a great part of the Old
Testament and the whole of the New, wrapped up in a red cloth. Not only
was the New Testament perfect, but in addition to the twenty-seven books,
the MS. contained the Epistle of Barnabas and part of the so-called
Shepherd of Hermas, two books of the greatest repute in early Christian
times, the Greek text of which was only partially extant in Europe.
Tischendorf managed to secure the MS. for the Emperor of Russia, at
whose expense it was published in four folio volumes in the year 1862 on
the thousandth anniversary of the founding of the Russian Empire. In return
for the MS. the monastery received a silver shrine for St. Catherine, a gift of
7000 roubles for the library and 2000 for the monastery on Mount Tabor,
while several Russian decorations were distributed among the Fathers.
Unfortunately the art of photography was not so far advanced thirty-eight
years ago as to permit a perfect facsimile to be made of the MS., and
Tischendorf had to be content with a printed copy executed as faithfully as
the utmost care and superintendence would admit.
To what date does the manuscript belong? There is still extant a letter of the
first Christian Emperor Constantine dating from the year 331, in which he
asks Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, to provide him with fifty
copies of the Old and New Testament for use in the principal churches of
his empire (πεντήκοντα σωμάτια ἐν διφθέραις ἐγκατασκεύοις) and puts two
public carriages at the bishop’s disposal for their safe transport. We have
also the letter that Eusebius sent along with these Bibles, in which he
consigns them ἐν πολυτελῶς ἠσκημένοις τεύχεσι τρισσᾶ καὶ τετρασσᾶ—i.e.
“in expensively prepared volumes of three and four.” With former scholars
Tischendorf understood the expression τρισσᾶ καὶ τετρασσᾶ of the number
of sheets in the quires of the manuscripts, as though they had been
composed of ternions and quaternions of twelve and sixteen pages
respectively. Others took it as referring to the number of columns on the
pages, Codex Sinaiticus, which Tischendorf believed to be one of these fifty
Bibles, being unique in showing four columns to the page. The most

probable explanation of the phrase is, however, that it indicates the number
of volumes each Bible comprised, and means that each Bible of three or
four parts, as the case might be, was packed in a separate box.[59]
Tischendorf, as has been said, saw in Codex Sinaiticus one of these fifty
Bibles. He also thought that ‫ א‬was the work of four different scribes, and
was confident that one of these, the one who had written only six leaves of
the New Testament, was the scribe of Codex Vaticanus. But other
authorities bring ‫ א‬down to the beginning of the fifth century.
One can understand how it was that Tischendorf was led to overrate the
value of this manuscript at first, and to call it by the first letter of the
Hebrew alphabet to signify its pre-eminence over all other manuscripts. The
claim is so far justified that it is at least one of the oldest manuscripts, and
of the oldest the only one that contains the entire New Testament. The order
is that of the Gospels, Pauline Epistles (among which Hebrews is found
after 2 Thess.), Acts, Catholic Epistles, Apocalypse, after which come
Barnabas and Hermas.[60] This same order is observed in the Old Syriac
Bible, and in the first printed Greek New Testament, the Complutensian
Polyglot. The fact that Barnabas is still tacitly included in the books of the
New Testament may be taken equally as indicating the age of ‫ א‬itself or that
of the exemplar from which it was copied.[61] Jerome’s recension of
Origen’s Lexicon of Proper Names in the Greek New Testament is still
extant, and in it Barnabas is cited like the other books. In the Catalogus
Claromontanus, which is a very old list of the books of the New Testament,
Barnabas is even found before the Apocalypse, an arrangement which is not
found again in the succeeding centuries.
[Transcriber’s Note: In this paragraph, there are two cases of letters
separated by a slash, as if describing arithmetic division, like “a/b”. In the
original book they are printed with the first item, “a”, raised up, and the
second item, “b”, printed below the first. In this e-book, they are
represented in this “a/b” form.]
Canons. ‫ א‬is also the oldest MS. that has the so-called
Ammonian Sections and Eusebian Canons. In order to facilitate the study
of the Gospels, Ammonius of Alexandria arranged, alongside of Matthew’s
Gospel, the parallel passages in Mark, Luke, and John. For this purpose he
was obliged of course to dislocate these last.[62] Eusebius, however, simply
divided the four Gospels into 1162 sections—viz., 355 in Matthew, 233 in

Mark, 342 in Luke, and 232 in John. These he numbered consecutively in
each Gospel, and then arranged the numbers in ten Canons or Tables. The
first contained those passages which are found in all the four Gospels; the
second, third, and fourth those common to any particular combination of
three; the fifth to the ninth comprised the passages common to any two, and
the tenth those peculiar to each one. The number of its Canon was then set
under that of the section in the margin, and the Table inserted at the
beginning or end of the manuscript. By this means it was possible to know
in the case of each section whether a parallel was to be found in the other
Gospels, and where. In the margin opposite John xv. 20, e.g., we find the
numbers ρλθ/γ, i.e. 139/3. This tells us that this 139th section of John is also
found in Matthew and Luke. For on referring to Canon 3 we find that it
contains the passages common to John, Matthew, and Luke, and that this
section numbered 139 in John, is 90 in Matthew and 58 in Luke. And the
sections being numbered consecutively in each Gospel, we easily ascertain
that the former is Matthew x. 24, and the latter Luke vi. 40. These, or
similar numbers, were afterwards inserted in the lower margin of
manuscripts, as, e.g., in Codex Argenteus of the Version of Ulfilas. They are
still printed alongside the text in our larger editions, though, of course,
owing to the introduction of our system of chapter and verse division they
have lost their main significance.
Revisions. Now, a Codex like ‫ א‬represents to us not one
manuscript only, but several at once. It embodies first of all the manuscript
from which its text was immediately derived, and then also that or those by
which it was revised. That is to say, after the manuscript was written by the
scribe, either to dictation or by copying, it was, particularly in the case of a
costly manuscript, handed over to a person called the διορθωτής and
revised. This might be done several times over; it might be done by a later
owner if he were a scholar. But it might happen, as in the case of ‫ א‬e.g., that
the exemplar by which the manuscript was revised was not the identical one
from which it had been copied but a different one, perhaps older, perhaps
exhibiting another form of text altogether. Tischendorf distinguished no
fewer than seven correctors in ‫א‬. One of these, belonging, it may be, to the
seventh century, adds a note at the end of the book of Ezra to the following
effect,—“This codex was compared with a very ancient exemplar which
had been corrected by the hand of the holy martyr Pamphilus; which
exemplar contained at the end the subscription in his own hand: ‘Taken and

corrected according to the Hexapla of Origen: Antonius compared it: I,
Pamphilus, corrected it.’”[63] A similar note is found appended to the Book
of Esther, where it is also pointed out that variants occurred in the case of
proper names. Traces are still discoverable in the Psalms which go to prove
that the corrector’s Bible agreed with that of Eusebius, while the manuscript
itself had been copied from one that was very different.
A considerable number of scholars are of opinion that ‫ א‬was written in the
West, perhaps in Rome. (See Plate I.)

Tischendorf: (1) Notitia editionis, 1860; (2) Bibliorum Codex Sinaiticus
Petropolitanus, Petropoli, 1862, fol. Vol. I., Prolegomena et
Commentaria; Vol. IV., Novum Testamentum. (3) N. T. Sinaiticum,
Lips. 1863. (Die Anfechtungen der Sinaibibel, Lips. 1863; Waffen der
Finsterniss wider die Sinaibibel, Lips. 1863.) (4) N. T. Graece ex
Sinaitico Codice omnium antiquissimo, Lips. 1865. Collatio textus
graeci editionis polyglottae cum Novo Testamento Sinaitico. Appendix
editionis Novi Testamenti polyglottae, Bielefeldiae. Sumptibus
Velhagen et Klasing, 1894, large 8vo, pp. iv. 96. (Preface only by
Tischendorf.) On Kenyon’s showing, the recent papyrus discoveries
give no occasion for abandoning the conclusions formerly come to
regarding the age of these parchment manuscripts (Palaeography, p.
120). Scrivener, A full Collation of the Codex Sinaiticus with the
Received Text of the N. Testament, 2nd edition, 1867. Ezra Abbot, “On
the comparative antiquity of the Sinaitic and Vatican Manuscripts of the
Greek Bible,” Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. x., i.
1872, pp. 189 ff.

A. A. Codex Alexandrinus: middle or end of the fifth
century: written probably at Alexandria: contains a note in Arabic stating
that it was presented to the library of the Patriarch of Alexandria in the year
1098. The Codex was sent by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, to
Charles I. of England in 1628, and was deposited in the library of the
British Museum on its foundation in 1753, where it has been ever since. It
has been employed in the textual criticism of the New Testament since the
time of Walton. It was printed in 1786 by Woide in facsimile from wooden
type. The Old Testament portion of it was also published in 1816-1828 by

Baber. The entire manuscript was issued in autotype facsimile in 1879 and
1880.
The Codex is defective at the beginning of the New Testament, the first
twenty-six leaves down to Matthew xxv. 6 being absent, as also two
containing John vi. 50-viii. 52, and three containing 2 Cor. iv. 13-xii. 6. It
also contains after the Apocalypse the (first) Epistle of Clement of Rome
and a small fragment of the so-called second Epistle, which is really an
early sermon. In the Codex these are recognised as parts of the New
Testament, inasmuch as in the table of contents prefixed to the entire work
they are included with the other books under the title ἡ καινη διαθηκη.[64]
After them is given the number of books ὁμου βιβλια, only the figures are
now, unfortunately, torn away. The contents indicate that the Psalms of
Solomon should have followed, but these have been lost with the rest of the
manuscript.
A is distinguished among the oldest manuscripts by the use of capital letters
to indicate new sections. But in order to economize room and to obviate
spacing the lines, the first letter of the section, if it occurs in the middle of a
line, is not written larger, but the one that occurs at the beginning of the
next whole line is enlarged and projects into the margin. (See Plate I. 2.)
Later scribes have copied this so slavishly that they have written these
letters in capitals even when they occur in the middle of the line in their
manuscripts. The Egyptian origin of this Codex is shown by its use of
Coptic forms for A and M. In several books A displays a remarkable affinity
with Jerome in those very passages where he deviates from the older Latin
version.
The books in A follow the order—Gospels, Acts, Catholic Epistles, Pauline
Epistles, Apocalypse. (Westcott, Canon, Appendix D. xii.; Bible in the
Church, Appendix B.)

Woide, 1786; eiusdem, Notitia codicis Alexandrini, Recud. cur.
notasque adjecit G. L. Spohn, Lipsiae, 1788; Cowper, 1860, Hansell,
1864; Photographic facsimile by Thompson, 1879; and in the
Facsimiles of the Palæographical Society, Pl. 106.
The mixed character of the text of A was early observed; see Lagarde,
Gesammelte Abhandlungen, p. 94.

C. F. Hoole ascribes the Codex Alexandrinus to the middle of the fourth
century (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1891; see Academy, July 25, 1891,
73).

B. B. Codex Vaticanus par excellence, No. 1209 in
the Vatican Library at Rome, inserted there shortly after its foundation by
Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. Like A it once contained
the whole of the Old Testament with the exception of the Books of
Maccabees. The first 31 leaves, containing Gen. i. 1-xlvi. 28, are now
wanting, as well as 20 from the Psalms containing Ps. cv. (cvi.) 27-cxxxvii.
(cxxxviii.) 6. The New Testament is complete down to Heb. ix. 14, where it
breaks off at καθα[ριει]. 1 and 2 Tim., Titus, Philemon, and the Apocalypse
are, therefore, also wanting. Rahlfs supposes that the manuscript may have
originally contained the Didache and the Shepherd of Hermas as well.
Erasmus obtained some account of this manuscript, and Pope Sixtus V.
made it the basis of an edition of the Greek Old Testament, which was
published in 1586, thereby determining the textus receptus of that portion of
the Bible.—Would he had done the same for the New Testament! This task
was undertaken afterwards, specially by Bentley and Birch. Professor Hug
of Freiburg recognised the value of the Codex when it was removed from
Rome to Paris by Napoleon in 1809. Cardinal Angelo Mai printed an
edition of it between 1828 and 1838, which, however, did not appear till
1857, three years after his death, and which was most unsatisfactory. After
Tischendorf had led the way with the Codex Sinaiticus, Pope Pio Nono
gave orders for an edition, which was printed between 1868 and 1872 in
five folio volumes. Not till 1881, however, did the last volume of this
edition appear containing the indispensable commentary prepared under the
supervision of Vercellone, J. Cozza, C. Sergio, and H. Fabiani, with the
assistance of U. Ubaldi and A. Rocchi. Then at last the manuscript was
photographed, the New Testament in 1889, and the Old Testament, in three
volumes, in 1890—a veritable ἡλίου ἀνάθημα. No facsimile now can give
any idea of its original beauty, because a hand of the tenth or eleventh
century—or as the Roman editors say, a monk called Clement in the
fifteenth century—went over the whole manuscript, letter by letter, with
fresh ink, restoring the faded characters and at the same time adding accents
and breathings in accordance with the pronunciation of his time (ἄμαξα, for
example, and ἁλώπηξ, δἒ). The Old Testament is the work of at least two

scribes, one of whom wrote down to 1 Sam. ix. 11, and the other to the end
of 2 Esdras. Tischendorf’s opinion with regard to the writer of the New
Testament has been already noticed. There can be no question that B is
more carefully written than ‫א‬. In the Gospels the Vatican exhibits a peculiar
division into 170, 62, 152, and 80 sections respectively, which is found also
in Ξ; in the Acts there is a double division into 36 and 69.[65] The
enumeration affixed to the Pauline Epistles shows that these were copied
from a manuscript in which Hebrews came after Galatians, though in B its
position has been changed so as to follow 2 Thessalonians. The copyist has
also retained in part of the Old Testament the enumeration of the stichoi
which he found in his original. In the New Testament the order of the books
is Gospels, Acts, Catholic Epistles, Pauline Epistles. An increased interest
would be lent to this manuscript if, as has been supposed, it represents the
recension of the Egyptian Bishop and Martyr Hesychius, of which Jerome
makes mention in two places. (Bousset, Textkritische Studien zum Neuen
Testament, pp. 74-110, see especially p. 96.) On the Egyptian character of
B, see also Burkitt in Texts and Studies, v. p. viii. f., and compare below, p.
183 f. (See Plate IV.)

Hug, Commentatio de antiquitate codicis Vaticani, 1810. Vercellone,
Dell’ antichissimo codice Vaticano della Bibbia Greca, 1859; reprinted
in his Dissertazioni accademiche, Roma, 1864, 115 ff. First facsimile
reproduction, Bibliorum sacrorum Graecus Codex Vaticanus ... collatis
studiis Caroli Vercellone et Josephi Cozza editus, vol. v., Rome, 1868;
vol. vi. (Proleg. Comment. Tab. ed. Henr. Fabiani et Jos. Cozza), 1881;
cf. ThLz., 1882, vi. 9. A. Giovanni, Della Illustrazione dell’ edizione
Romana del Codice Vaticano, Rome, 1869. Photographic edition,
Novum Testamentum e Codice Vaticano 1209 ... phototypice
repraesentatum ... curante Jos. Cozza-Luzi, Rome, 1889, fol.; see H. C.
Hoskier, The Expositor, 1889, vol. x. 457 ff.; O. v. Gebhardt, ThLz.,
1890, 16; Nestle, Sep.-St., ii. 16 ff. Alf. Rahlfs, Alter und Heimat der
Vatikanischen Bibelhandschrift (Nachrichten der Gesell. der Wiss. zu
Göttingen, Philologisch-historische Klasse, 1889, Heft i. pp. 72-79). In
this article Rahlfs seeks to prove that the number and order of the books
in the Old and New Testaments contained in B correspond exactly to
the Canon of the Scriptures given by Athanasius in his thirty-ninth
Festal Letter of the year 367. In it, Athanasius, after mentioning all the

canonical books of the Bible, including those of the N. T., cites the
extra-canonical books of the O. T. which are allowed to be read, putting
them after the second group, βίβλοι στιχήρεις, because two of these
books, Wisdom and Sirach, were to be written στιχηδόν. In the N. T. the
Greek and Syriac forms of the Festal Letter put Hebrews expressly
between the Epistles to the Churches and the Pastoral Epistles. In the
Sahidic version of the Letter, however, Hebrews stands before
Galatians. This latter arrangement is evidently the survival of a pre-
Athanasian order which has been longer preserved in the Sahidic
translation.[66] But if B is the work of Athanasius, it follows that it
cannot be one of the Bibles ordered by Constantine. In this case it
would rather be written in Egypt, and we should have in it the
Recension of Hesychius, as Grabe supposed was the case in the O. T.,
while Hug held the same view in regard to the N. T. text of this
manuscript (see below, c. III.). Against the theory of Rahlfs, see O. v.
Gebhardt in the Theologische Litteraturzeitung, 1899, n. 20.

C. C. Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, No. 9 in the
National Library at Paris, the most important of the palimpsests. This
manuscript receives its name from the fact that in the twelfth century thirty-
eight treatises of Ephraem, the Syrian Father (d. 373), were written over the
original text. After various attempts had been made at its decipherment by
Wettstein and others, Tischendorf in 1843 and 1845 published as much of
the New and Old Testaments as he was able to make out after eighteen
months’ labour, thereby establishing his reputation as a textual critic.
The manuscript once contained the entire Bible, but the whole of 1 and 2
Thessalonians has been lost, as also some 37 chapters from the Gospels, 10
from the Acts, 42 from the Epistles, and 8 from the Apocalypse. There is no
trace of a chapter division in Acts, Epistles, or Apocalypse. This last seems
to have been copied from an exemplar consisting of about 120 small leaves,
one of which had been displaced by some mistake. The Codex dates from
the fifth century, and may possibly have been written in Egypt. Its earliest
corrections are important, and were inserted in the sixth century.
A detailed list of the contents of C is given by Scrivener, vol. i. 121.
Facsimile, ibid., Plate X. p. 121.

Tischendorf, Th. St. und Kr., 1841, 126 ff; N. T. edited 1843, O. T.
1845. Lagarde, Ges. Abhandlungen, p. 94. The page of the O. T. which
Tischendorf issued in facsimile has most unfortunately disappeared, as
Martin points out in his Description technique des manuscrits grecs
relatifs au N. T., etc., Paris, 1884, p. 4. A. Jacob, Notes sur les MSS.
grecs palimpsestes de la Bibliothèque Nationale, in Melanges Julien
Havet, 759-770.

The foregoing is what remains of the four great manuscripts which once
contained the whole Bible. It will be observed that at the present time they
are distributed among the Capitals of the great branches of the Christian
Church—viz., St. Petersburg (Greek), Rome and Paris (Roman), and
London (Anglican). German scholars have taken a foremost place in the
work of their investigation.
D. D. Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, inferior to the
foregoing in age, compass, and repute, but perhaps surpassing all of them in
importance, by reason of its unique character. The manuscript was
presented to the University of Cambridge in 1581 by Calvin’s friend
Theodore Beza, “ut inter vere christianas antiquissimae plurimisque
nominibus celeberrimae.” It is not earlier than the beginning of the sixth
century, but is of peculiar importance as the oldest of the Greek-Latin
manuscripts of the Bible. It now contains, with certain lacunæ, the Gospels
(in the order Matthew, John, Luke, Mark), the concluding verses of the
Latin text of 3 John, followed immediately by the Acts, showing that in this
manuscript the Epistle of Jude either stood somewhere else or was absent
altogether. At least nine later hands can be distinguished in it. The first
scribe was more familiar with Latin than Greek, and therefore inserts a
Roman letter here and there in the middle of a Greek word, and has
frequently to use the sponge to wash out the mistakes he makes in writing
his manuscript.[67] Innumerable passages occur, particularly in Luke and
Acts, where the text of D differs in the most remarkable manner from that
of all the Greek manuscripts we are acquainted with. It alone, e.g., contains
after Luke vi. 4 the incident of the man working in the field on the Sabbath
day, to whom Jesus said, “O Man, if thou knowest what thou doest, blessed
art thou, but if thou knowest not, thou art cursed and a transgressor of the
Law.” It is the only one also that has the words in Luke xi. 2, “when ye
pray, use not vain repetitions as the λοιποί.” In Luke xxiii. 53, it says that

the stone before the grave of Jesus was of such a size ὃν μόγις εἴκοσι
ἐκύλιον, an addition in which it has the support of only one Latin MS. and
the Sahidic Version. Again in Acts xii. 10, it is alone in recording that there
were seven steps down from the prison in Jerusalem (κατέβησαν τοὺς ἑπτὰ
βαθμούς). Other examples might be given of similar peculiar interpolations
for the explanation of which reference must be made to c. III. below.
Its companion Latin text d is not translated directly from its own Greek but
from the Greek of the parent manuscript. Seeing that the manuscript was
discovered in the Monastery of Irenæus at Lyons, and that its text agrees
with the Scripture quotations found in that Father even in the matter of
clerical mistakes, it is possible that the Greek text is derived from his copy.
The Greek occupies the left-hand page of the open volume, which is the
place of honour. (See Plates II and III.)

Kipling, Facsimile edition, Codex Th. Bezae Cantabrigiensis, 1793, 2
vols.; Scrivener, Bezae Codex Cantabrigiensis. An exact copy in
ordinary type ... with critical introduction, annotations, and facsimiles.
4to, pp. lxiv + 453, 1864. Collation of the same by Nestle,
Supplementum, 1896 (see p. 26). Cambridge University Press,
Photographic facsimile. Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis Quattuor
Evangelia et Actus Apostolorum continens Graece et Latine. 2 vols.,
pp. 830, 1899. 12 guineas. (See Literature, 29th April 1899, p. 451 ff.);
Dav. Schulz, Disputatio de Codice D., 1827; K. A. Credner, Beiträge
zur Einleitung, vol. i., 1832, pp. 452-518; J. R. Harris, Codex Bezae. A
study of the so-called Western Text of the N. T. (Texts and Studies, vol.
ii.) Cambridge, 1891; also Credner and the Codex Bezae. A Lecture
delivered in the Divinity School, Cambridge, 19th Nov. 1892. (The
Classical Review, vol. vii. 6, June 1893, pp. 237-243); Chase, The Old
Syriac Element in the text of Codex Bezae, London, 1893; also The
Syro-Latin Text of the Gospels, London, 1895; Nestle, Some
Observations on the Codex Bezae in the Expositor, v. 2, 1895, p. 235;
H. Trabaud, Un curieux manuscrit du N. T. in the Revue de théologie et
de philosophie, Lausanne, 1896, p. 378; Fr. Blass: 1. Die zwiefache
Textüberlieferung in der Apostelgeschichte (Th. St. Kr., 1894, p. 86 ff.);
2. Acta Apostolorum sive Lucae ad Theophilum Liber alter. Editio
philologica, Göttingen, 1895; 3. Acta Apostolorum ... secundum
formam quae videtur Romanam, Leipzig, 1896; 4. Ueber die

verschiedenen Textformen in den Schriften des Lukas (Neue Kirchliche
Zeitschrift, 1895, p. 712); 5. De duplici forma Actorum Lucae
(Hermathena, Dublin, 1895, p. 121); 6. De variis formis Evangelii
Lucani (Ibid., Dublin, 1896, p. 291); 7. Neue Texteszeugen für die
Apostelgeschichte (Th. St. Kr., 1896, p. 436); 8. Evangelium secundum
Lucam sive Lucae ad Theophilum Liber prior. Secundum formam quae
videtur Romanam, Leipzig, 1897; B. Weiss, Der Codex D in der
Apostelgeschichte. Textkritische Untersuchung, Leipzig, 1897, (= Texte
und Untersuchungen. N. F. Zweiter Band, Heft 1); F. Graefe, Der
Codex Bezae und das Lucasevangelium, Th. St. Kr., 1898, i. 116-140;
compare especially, On the Italian Origin of Codex Bezae. 1. Codex
Bezae and cod. 1071, by the Rev. K. Lake; 2. The Marginal Notes of
Lections, by the Rev. F. E. Brightman in the Journal of Theological
Studies, i. 3 (April 1900) pp. 441-454. Codex 1071 is a minuscule on
Mt. Athos, in which the text of the Pericope Adulterae (John viii.) is
essentially the same as the singular text exhibited by D. It seems to
have come from Calabria. The lectionary indicated in the margin of D
points to a mixed Greek and Latin population such as that in the South
of Italy.

In what follows the manuscripts are grouped according to their contents as
copies of the Gospels, Acts and Catholic Epistles, Pauline Epistles, or of the
Apocalypse.
Gospels. E. Codex Basiliensis, by some ascribed to the
seventh century, but belonging more probably to the eighth: brought to
Europe by Cardinal John de Ragusio, who was sent on a mission to the
Greeks by the Council of Basel (1431): used by Mill, Bengel, and
Wettstein: Luke iii. 4-15 and xxiv. 47-53 wanting: has been in the
University Library at Basel since 1559. (Scrivener, i. p. 131, Plate XI. 27.)
F. Boreelianus, written in the ninth century: so called as belonging at one
time to a Dutchman named John Boreel: now in Utrecht: has many lacunæ,
some of which have arisen since Wettstein collated the manuscript in 1730.
(Scrivener, i. 131, Plate XI. 28.)
Fa. Coislinianus, of the seventh century, though some say the sixth and
others the eighth: consists of only 26 verses from Matthew, Luke, John,
Acts, 1 and 2 Cor., Gal., Col., and Heb., written on the margin of a famous

Parisian manuscript of the Octoteuch in Greek containing Gen.-Deut., Josh.,
Jud., and Ruth. List of contents of Fa in Scrivener, i. 134.
G. Seidelianus, of the tenth century: part of it in the British Museum in
London and part in Trinity College, Cambridge: brought from the East by
Seidel and presented in 1718 by the Berlin Librarian La Croze to J. Chr.
Wolf, a clergyman in Hamburg who cut out half a page to send to Bentley
in 1721. (Scrivener, i. 131, Plate XI. 29.)
H. Seidelianus II., of the ninth century, in Hamburg: bequeathed with his
library to his native city by Wolf, and rediscovered there in 1838.
(Scrivener, i, 134, Plate XII. 31.)
I. Tischendorfianus II., fragments of seven manuscripts in St. Petersburg
found by Tischendorf in the Monastery of Mar Saba, near the Dead Sea:
consists of 28 palimpsest leaves with Greek writing of the tenth century
containing only 255 verses of the New Testament, of which 190 are from
the Gospels: the three oldest leaves are of the fifth century; some of them
are perhaps parts of a once complete Bible: detailed list of contents in
Scrivener, i. 134 f.
Ib. So indicated by Tischendorf in his eighth edition, formerly known as Nb,
of the fourth or more probably the fifth century: a threefold palimpsest
written first in Greek and afterwards twice in Syriac: contains 17 verses
from John’s Gospel: now in the British Museum: list of verses in Scrivener,
i. 141.
K. Cyprius, No. 63 in the National Library at Paris: middle of the ninth
century: purchased in Cyprus for Colbert in 1673: one of the six, or
including Ω seven, complete uncial manuscripts of the Gospels, the others
being ‫ א‬BMSU (Ω). Facsimile in Scrivener, i., Plate VII. p. 153.
L. Regius, No. 62 in the National Library at Paris: of the eighth century:
contains the four Gospels complete with the exception of five lacunæ in
Matthew iv. v. and xxviii., Mark x. and xv., and in John xxi.: important as
showing the double conclusion of Mark’s Gospel which is exhibited as yet,
except in versions, in only three other uncials (‫ ק‬,‫ד‬, and Ψ) and one
minuscule (see Plate X.). Facsimile of L, Mark xvi. 8, 9, in Scrivener, i.,
Plate IX. 21, p. 137. The conclusions, as found in L, ‫ ק‬,‫ד‬, and Ψ, are printed
and discussed in Swete’s Gospel according to St. Mark, pp. xcviii, xcix. See

also Westcott and Hort’s Introduction, Appendix, p. 28 ff.; Scrivener, ii.
337; Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, iii. p. 13.
M. Campianus, 48 in the National Library, Paris: of the ninth century:
presented to Louis XIV. by the Abbé François de Camps, 1st January 1706:
contains the four Gospels complete: one of the oldest manuscripts, with the
exception of D, that exhibit the pericope of the adulteress, John vii. 53 ff.
Facsimile in Scrivener, i., Plate XII. p. 134.
N. Purpureus, belonging to the end of the sixth century: one of the most
lovely manuscripts, consisting of 45 leaves, of which 6 are in the Vatican
Library at Rome, 4 in the British Museum, 2 in Vienna, and the remaining
33 in the Monastery of St. John in Patmos, from which, in all probability,
the others were carried off. The manuscript is written with silver letters on a
purple ground, only the letters are not printed on it with movable type as
was formerly supposed in the case of the similar Codex Argenteus of
Ulfilas. The contents are given in Scrivener, i. 139 f., and a facsimile at p.
98, Plate V. 182 other leaves belonging to this manuscript were recently
acquired in Cappadocia for Russia.

The Vienna fragment is most beautifully printed in facsimile in that
superb work, Die Wiener Genesis, edited by Wilh. Ritter von Hartel and
Franz Wickhoff: Supplement to vols. xv. and xvi. of the Jahrbuch der
kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des Allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses.
Vienna, 1895. Hartel (p. 142) sees no reason why the manuscript should
not be ascribed to the fifth century.
The text of Codex N, including the new Russian fragments, has been
published with Introduction and Appendix by the Rev. H. S. Cronin in
Texts and Studies, v. 4, 1899. The Appendix contains a collation of the
Gospel of Mark in the Codex Imperatricis Theodorae (Scriv. 473: Hort
81: Tisch. 2pe: Greg. 565; see note on p. 151). See Nestle in the
Zeitschrift für wiss. Theologie, 42 (1899), pp. 621-623.
Some leaves of another purple manuscript have been acquired in Paris.
See H. Omont, Acad. des Inscr., Mars-Avril 1900.

O. In Moscow, consists of a few leaves taken from the binding of a book:
contains 15 verses from John’s Gospel i. and xx.: written in the ninth
century.

Oa-h. Psalters, in which are found, after the Psalms among the poetic
selections from the Bible, the Magnificat, the Benedictus, and the Nunc
Dimittis from the first and second chapters of Luke’s Gospel. Oc is a Greek
Psalter of the sixth century written in Latin characters and is at Verona. Od
is a purple Psalter of the seventh century at Zurich. Oe at St. Gall is a Psalter
of the ninth century, written partly in Latin and partly in Greek.
P and Q. Two palimpsests at Wolfenbüttel, the former belonging to the sixth
and the latter to the fifth century. P, it appears, came from Bobbio and was
afterwards at Weissenburg, Mayence, and Prague. Q, together with a
portion of Ulfilas’s Gothic Bible, has been employed to receive the works
of Isidore of Seville. The codices were edited with great care by
Tischendorf in 1869.
R. Nitriensis, of the sixth century: in the British Museum: consists of 48
leaves containing some 516 verses from Luke’s Gospel, over which and a
manuscript of 4000 verses of the Iliad, the Syriac works of Severus of
Antioch were written in the ninth century. The palimpsest was brought from
the Nitrian Desert in 1847, and deposited in the British Museum.
(Scrivener, i. 145, Plate VI, 17.)
S. Vaticanus 354: one of the earliest manuscripts of the Greek New
Testament that bears an exact date. At the end is written, ἐγράφη ἡ τιμία
δέλτος αὕτη διὰ χειρὸς ἐμοῦ Μιχαὴλ μοναχοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ μηνὶ Μαρτίῳ α’,
ἡμέρᾳ έ, ὥρᾳ ϛ’, ἔτους ϛυνζ’, ἰνδικτιῶνος ζ’, i.e. at six o’clock on Thursday,
1st March 6457 in the 7th Indiction[68] or 949 A.D.
Ta. Of the fifth century: in the Museum Borgianum at Rome: written
probably by a Coptic monk: unfortunately a mere fragment containing only
17 leaves from Luke and John: is written in two columns, that on the left
containing a Sahidic version. Tb, similar small fragments of John in St.
Petersburg of the sixth century. Tc, also of the sixth century, a fragment of
Matthew, formerly in the possession of Bishop Porfiri Uspenski of Kiev,
and now at St. Petersburg. Td, of the seventh century, in Rome, part of a
Sahidic-Greek Evangeliarium, containing a few verses from Matthew,
Mark, and John. Te, of the sixth century (?), at Cambridge, consists of four
verses, Matthew iii. 13-16. Th (Tk in TiGr. p. 450), three leaves from
Matthew xx. and xxii. Ti-r, fragments of six Greek-Coptic and three Greek
Gospels of the ninth and tenth centuries, but possibly the seventh and

eighth, published by Amélineau in vol. xxxiv. of the Notices et Extraits de
la Bibliothèque Nationale, 1895, 363 ff.; cf. v. Dobschütz in the Lit. Cent.-
Blatt., 1895, 42, 1857. Tl contains the double conclusion of Mark’s Gospel.
Twoi, similar leaves at Oxford which once belonged to Woide, but by a
different hand from Ta.
To these Græco-Coptic fragments there is now to be added two chapters of
John’s Gospel (iii. 5-iv. 49), in Greek and Middle Egyptian, written in the
sixth century. They are published by W. E. Crum and F. G. Kenyon in the
Journal of Theological Studies, i. 3 (April 1900), pp. 415-433. The find
contains no remarkable readings. The editors call its text neutral, and think
it helps to show that Egypt was the home of such correct and upright texts.
(Tw Greg.)
U. Nanianus, so called from a former possessor: of the end of the ninth or
beginning of the tenth century: in Venice: a very beautiful and complete
manuscript of the Gospels, with ornamentations in gold. (Scrivener, i. 137,
Plate IX. 22.)
V. Formerly at Mount Athos, now in Moscow: of the ninth century: first
employed by Bengel and Wettstein through the medium of G. B. Bilfinger.
W. Various small fragments: Wa of the eighth century in Paris: a fragment of
Luke. Wb of the eighth century (or the ninth) in Naples: a palimpsest with
parts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Wc of the ninth century at St. Gall: a
palimpsest, containing fragments of Mark and Luke, perhaps once
bilingual, Greek-Latin. Wd of the ninth century in Cambridge. We of the
ninth century: part of John, at Mount Athos, Oxford, and Athens. Wf of the
ninth century: in Oxford: fragment of Mark. Wg of the ninth century:
consisting of 36 palimpsest leaves with 497 verses from Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John, in the British Museum. Wh of the ninth century: in Oxford:
part of Mark. Wi-m in Paris, of the seventh to the eighth or ninth century:
fragments of Mark and Luke, of which Wl and Wk are printed in Omont’s
Catalogue des Manuscrits Grecs, Latins, Français, et Espagnols et des
Portulans, recueillis par feu Emmanuel Miller, Paris, 1897. Wn of the
seventh century, in Vienna: fragments of John. Wo of the ninth century, in
Milan: 16 mutilated palimpsest leaves, containing portions of Matthew,
Mark, and Luke.

X. Monacensis, written at the end of the ninth or beginning of the tenth
century, now in Munich, contains the Gospels, with lacunæ, and a
commentary, in the order Matthew, John, Luke, Mark. Scrivener, i. 343,
Plate XIII. 38; for contents see ibid., p. 152.
Xb. Fragment containing Luke i. 1-ii. 40, hitherto reckoned among the
minuscules and numbered 429; also in Munich.
Y. Belonging to the eighth century, in the Barberini Library at Rome: 6
leaves containing John xvi. 3-xix. 41.
Z. A palimpsest in Dublin of the fifth or sixth century, containing 295 verses
of Matthew’s Gospel. Scrivener, i. 153; Plate VII. 18.
The Roman alphabet not being sufficient for the number of uncial
manuscripts, recourse was taken to those letters of the Greek and Hebrew
which have a distinct form from those already employed. It was proposed
by others to reserve the Greek letters for those manuscripts no longer
extant, whose text can be reconstructed from a number of kindred
manuscripts as their common archetype.
Γ. Of the ninth or tenth century: part in Oxford and part in St. Petersburg,
the former having been obtained from Tischendorf in 1855 and the latter in
1859: contains the whole of Luke and John, but Mark is defective from iii.
34 to vi. 20, while Matthew is still more defective. The writing of the
manuscript was finished on a certain Thursday, the 27th November, in the
eighth year of an indiction. Tischendorf accordingly fixed its date as 844. It
was previously assigned by Gardthausen to the year 979. Scrivener, i. 134,
Plate XII. 35.
Δ. Sangallensis, written at the end of the ninth or beginning of the tenth
century: now at St. Gall, where it was probably transcribed by an Irish
monk: has an interlinear Latin version, and was not, therefore, like D,
intended for church but for school purposes. The Codex has the four
Gospels complete with the exception of John xix. 17-35. In Mark the text
shows a closer agreement with CL than in the other Gospels. The
manuscript has been copied from one written scriptione continua, and in
consequence the words are often wrongly divided. See G3 below, p. 77.
Θa-d. Small fragments brought from the East by Tischendorf, of which Θa
belongs to the seventh century, and Θbcd to the seventh, sixth, and seventh or

eighth century respectively. The first is in Leipzig, the others in St.
Petersburg. Θe-h were formerly in the possession of Bishop Porfiri of Kiev.
Λ. Of the ninth century: contains the Gospels of Luke and John entire:
evidently the second part of a minuscule brought to St. Petersburg by
Tischendorf, No. 566evv (Greg.)[69]: marginal scholia are affixed to four
passages in Matthew—viz. iv. 5, xvi. 17, xviii. 22, xxvi. 74, giving the
readings of τὸ Ἰoυδαϊκόν, i.e. the lost Gospel according to the Hebrews, and
its subscription runs, ἐγράφη καὶ ἀντεβλήθη ἐκ τῶν Ἱεροσολύμοις παλαιῶν
ἀντιγράφων τῶν ἐν τῷ ὄρει ἁγίῳ ἀποκειμένων· ἐν στίχοις βφιδ’ (2514)
κεφαλαῖς τνε’ (345). The manuscript is in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
Scrivener, i. 131, Plate XI. 30.

Cf. von Dobschütz, Zwei Bibelhandschriften mit doppelter Schriftart
(Th. Lz., 1889, iii. 74 f.).

Ξ. Zacynthius, a palimpsest of the eighth century from Zante, now in the
Library of the British and Foreign Bible Society in London: the earliest
manuscript with a commentary: has the same system of chapter division as
B, and is oftener found supporting B against A than vice versa.
Π. Of the ninth century: contains the Gospels almost complete: once the
property of a Greek of Smyrna called Parodos: procured by Tischendorf for
the Emperor of Russia.
Σ. Of the sixth century: written on purple with gold and silver lettering and
17 miniatures, being the earliest manuscript to contain such: rescued from
obscurity in 1879 by Oscar v. Gebhardt and A. Harnack, who discovered it
at Rossano in Calabria: hence designated as Codex Rossanensis: is nearly
related to N. Scrivener, i. 124, Plate XIV. 43.

O. v. Gebhardt, Die Evangelien des Matthäus und des Marcus aus dem
Codex Purpureus Rossanensis herausgegeben (T. und U., i. 4, 1883). A.
Haseloff, Cod. Pur. Rossanensis. Die Miniaturen der griechischen
Evangelien-Handschrift in Rossano. Nach photographischen
Aufnahmen herausgegeben. Leipzig, 1898 (contains 14 facsimiles of
the text and 15 photographic plates). Vide S. Berger in Bull. Crit., 1899,
6: also F. X. v. Funk, Die Zeit. des Cod. Rossanensis in the Hist.
Jahrbuch der Görresgeschellschaft, xvii. 2, 1896, 331-344.

Φ. Codex Beratinus, of the sixth century: at Berat in Albania: like the last a
purple Codex with silver writing: contains portions of Matthew and Mark:
seen and published by Batiffol. Scrivener, i. 166, Plate XV.
Ψ. Fragments of the eighth or ninth century at Athos: contains Mark ix. 5 to
the end, Luke, John, Acts, seven Catholic Epistles, Romans to Philemon,
and Hebrews: exhibits after Mark xvi. 8 the same double conclusion as is
found in L and one Sinai manuscript. On some readings of Ψ, see Lake in
the Journal of Theological Studies, No. i. p, 88; ii. pp. 290-292.
Ω. Of the eighth or ninth century: in the Monastery of Dionysius at Athos:
contains the Gospels entire.
The last-mentioned codices have not yet been thoroughly collated, some of
them having been only recently discovered.
The following are indicated by Hebrew letters.
‫ב‬. Of the ninth or tenth century: in the Monastery of St. Andrew at Athos:
contains the Gospels with lacunæ.
‫ג‬. Gregorianus, a purple manuscript from Cappadocia now admitted to be
part of N.
6-13
‫ד‬. Several leaves dating from the fifth to the ninth century, discovered at
Sinai by J. R. Harris and published by him (Biblical fragments from Mount
Sinai, 1890): 12‫ ד‬contains the double conclusion of Mark: 13‫ ד‬is a purple
fragment of the seventh century containing a few verses from the first
chapter of Luke, perhaps only a quotation.
‫ק‬. Swete indicates with this letter the fragment cited above as Tl, which
exhibits the double conclusion of Mark’s Gospel. See his Gospel according
to St. Mark, pp. xcii., xcix.
‫ר‬. An Oxyrhynchus fragment of the fifth or sixth century, published by
Grenfell and Hunt, The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part I. with eight Plates,
London, 1898: contains only Mark x. 50 f. and xi. 10 f.: cited by Swete. (Tg
Greg.)
Part II. of The Oxyrhynchus Papyri (1899, pp. 1-8) contains a fragment of
John’s Gospel (cc. i. and xx.) from a sheet of a papyrus codex written
between 200 and 300 A.D. This is one of the earliest fragments that have
been discovered of a papyrus book (not a roll). It exhibits already the

abbreviations usually found in theological manuscripts, such as Θ̅Σ̅, Ι̅Η̅Σ̅,
Χ̅Σ̅, Π̅Ν̅Α̅. The Codex agrees with ‫ א‬in several readings not found
elsewhere. (Tx Greg.) See Addenda, p. xv.

Acts and Catholic The second group is composed of manuscripts of
Epistles.
the Acts and Catholic Epistles which are
distinguished from those in the first by affixing the exponent 2 at the bottom
of the symbol.
‫ א‬A B exhibit the Acts and Catholic Epistles complete:
E2 D have the Acts all but entire:
K L have the Catholic Epistles complete:
C P have the greater part of them.
For ‫ א‬A B C D Fa (a few verses of the Acts), see above.
E2. Laudianus 35, in Oxford, written at the end of the sixth century:
bilingual, Latin-Greek, the Latin occupying the place of honour on the left:
breaks off at Acts xxvi. 29: the text very peculiar and somewhat like that of
D. The manuscript was formerly in Sardinia, and was probably brought to
England by Theodore of Tarsus in 668. It was employed by the Venerable
Bede (d. 735) in his Expositio of the Acts and afterwards in his Expositio
Retractata. Archbishop Laud presented the manuscript with many others to
the University of Oxford. Fell and Mill made use of it. Scrivener, i. 121,
Plate X. 25.
G2. Of the seventh century, a single leaf in St. Petersburg containing Acts ii.
45-iii. 8, torn from the cover of a Syriac manuscript.
Gb. Of the ninth century, a palimpsest of six leaves in Rome containing
portions of Acts xvi. 32-xviii. 20. (Vat. Gr. 2302.)
H2. Ninth century, in Modena, has the Acts with some lacunæ.
I2. Fragments in St. Petersburg of the fifth and seventh centuries: four
leaves from three different manuscripts of the Acts.
K2. Of the ninth century: brought to Moscow from Athos: contains the
Catholic and Pauline Epistles.
L2. Written at the end of the ninth century: in the Angelica Library at Rome:
contains the Acts from c. viii. onwards, the Catholic Epistles, and the
Pauline down to Hebrews xiii.

P2. Of the ninth century: formerly in the possession of Bishop Porfiri of
Kiev and now at St. Petersburg: published by Tischendorf: contains Acts,
Catholic and Pauline Epistles, and Apocalypse, with several lacunæ.
S2. Of the eighth or ninth century: at Athos: contains Acts, Catholic
Epistles, Romans, portions of 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Ephesians.
2‫ב‬. A palimpsest of the fifth century: in Rome: rediscovered by Batiffol:
consists of fragments of Acts, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John,
Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1
Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews.
Pauline Epistles. The third group is composed of manuscripts of the
Pauline Epistles. Of these there is a comparatively large number, which may
be taken as indicating the important position ascribed to Paul even in early
times. ‫א‬, however, is the only Codex that contains his Epistles complete; in
D L they are almost complete, and A B C E F G K exhibit the greater part of
them.
For ‫ א‬A B C, see above.
A is defective in 2 Cor. iv. 13-xii. 6 inclusive.
B breaks off at Hebrews ix. 14, consequently 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and
Philemon are wanting.
D2. Codex Claromontanus: takes its name from Clermont near Beauvais.
The manuscript was written in the sixth century, and is bilingual in Greek
and Latin, having the Greek on the left-hand page. The Greek is wanting in
Rom. i. 1-7, 27-30, and in 1 Cor. xiv. 13-22. In Gal. v. 9 D2 reads δολοῖ, and
in verse 14 ἐν ὑμῖν, in both places agreeing with Marcion. At least nine
hands are distinguishable in the manuscript, one of whom corrected the text
in over 2000 places in the ninth or tenth century. Two leaves are palimpsest,
their text being written over part of a play of Euripides. Hebrews has
evidently been copied into the Codex from a different manuscript by a later
scribe. Before it is a list of “versus scribtuarum sanctarum,” one of the
oldest stichometric catalogues of the books of the Old and New Testaments,
which is derived from an early Greek original. This Catalogus
Claromontanus is given in Westcott’s History of the Canon, App. D, xx. p.
563, and in his Bible in the Church, App. B, p. 309. See also Zahn,

Geschichte des N. T. Kanons, II. 157-172, 1012; Jülicher, Einleitung, § 40.
Thirty-five leaves of Codex D2 were stolen by John Aymont in 1707, but
afterwards restored by their purchasers, some of them in 1720, and the
others in 1729. (See Plates II. and III.)
E3. Sangermanensis, of the ninth century: also Greek-Latin: brought from
St. Germain de Près to St. Petersburg during the Revolution: in the Greek
merely an incorrect transcript of D2, and may therefore be dismissed. See p.
179 n. 1.
F2. Augiensis, of the ninth century: another Greek-Latin manuscript:
defective in Rom. i. 1-iii. 19; 1 Cor. iii. 8-16; vi. 7-14; Col. ii. 1-8;
Philemon 21-25: Hebrews from the first only in the Latin. The manuscript
was formerly at Reichenau (Augia Dives, hence its name). It was purchased
by Bentley in 1718 for 250 Dutch florins, and is now at Cambridge. An
edition of it was published by Scrivener in 1859. For Fa, see above, p. 66.

Scrivener, An exact transcript of the Codex Augiensis ... to which is
added a full collation of fifty manuscripts containing various portions
of the Greek N. T., 1859. F. Zimmer, Der Codex Augiensis eine
Abschrift des Boernerianus (ZfwTh., 1887, i. 76-91).

G3. Boernerianus, of the ninth century, so called from Professor C. F.
Boerner of Leipzig, who purchased it in 1705: now in Dresden. It is a
Greek-Latin manuscript, the Latin being interlinear. It is manifestly the
second part of Δ, and has a close affinity with F2, though the Greek of F
was not copied from G, as Zimmer and Hort assert. The fact is rather that
both are derived from one and the same original, in which e.g. ως γαγγρα
ινα νομην εξει, sicut cancer ut serpat, was found in 2 Tim. ii. 17, and ημεθα
δε δουλωμενοι, eramus autem servientes, in Gal. iv. 3. This manuscript
contains some interesting Irish verses.[70] At the end of Philemon there
stands the title προς Λαουδακησας, ad laudicenses, but the Epistle that
should have followed has been lost.

P. Corssen, Epistularum Paulinarum codices graece et latine scriptos
Augiensem, Boernerianum, Claromontanum examinavit, inter se
comparavit, ad communem originem revocavit. Specimen primum,
1887. Alterum, 1889.

Euthalian H3. Written in the sixth century, one of the most
Recension.
valuable manuscripts, but unfortunately
incomplete. Its leaves were used in 975 and 1218 to cover some
manuscripts at Mount Athos. Forty-one of these have been rescued, of
which 22 are now in Paris, 8 at Mount Athos, 3 in St. Petersburg, 3 in
Moscow, 2 in Turin, and 3 in Kiev. They contain portions of 1 and 2
Corinthians, Galatians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus,
and Hebrews. The value of the manuscript is indicated in the subscription,
which runs, “I, Euthalius,[71] wrote this volume of the Apostle Paul as
carefully as possible in stichoi, so that it might be read with intelligence: the
book was compared with the copy in the library at Cæsarea, written by the
hand of Pamphilus the saint.”[72] The subscription may of course have stood
in the original of H, and simply been copied into it along with the text, as in
the case of the minuscules 15, 83, and 173 of the Acts. But no matter, it
serves to locate the text of this manuscript, and it is one of our main
witnesses for the so-called Euthalian Recension of the Acts and Catholic
Epistles.
In or previous to the year 396, a deacon called Euthalius, afterwards known
as Bishop of Sulce,[73] published an edition of the Acts and Catholic and
Pauline Epistles, in which, following the rules laid down by the Greek
schools of oratory, the text was carefully broken up into lines, the length of
which depended on the sense (sense-clauses), and divided into paragraphs
or chapters. Euthalius also provided a system of Church lections, added a
summary of contents to the various chapters, and catalogued the quotations
from the Old Testament and elsewhere in the separate Epistles and in the
entire group. This edition became a sort of model for later times, and seems
to have been made use of for the Armenian version among the rest. The
comparison of the manuscript with those of Pamphilus, as well as other
additions, would seem then to have been made on the occasion of a later
revision. Ehrhard, however, thinks that we have the autograph edition of
this system in Codex H, but that Evagrius is to be read instead of Euthalius
in the place where the name has been erased. This view is combated by
Dobschütz, and in part rightly. Working independently of both, Conybeare,
from Armenian sources, establishes the year 396 as the date of Euthalius.
But in a parchment manuscript of the eleventh century in the library of the
Laura at Mount Athos, Wobbermin found a fragment of a dogmatic treatise

with the inscription, Εὐθαλίου ἐπισκόπου Σούλκης ὁμολογία περὶ τῆς
ὀρθοδόξου πίστεως, from which he makes out that Euthalius lived in the
second half of the seventh century and that Sulce was in Sardinia. See G.
Krüger in the Lit. Cent. Blatt 1899, No. 14.

Omont, Notice sur un très ancien manuscrit grec en onciales des
épîtres de S. Paul, Paris, 1889. J. A. Robinson, Euthaliana, Texts and
Studies, iii. 3, 1895. (See S. Berger, Bull. Crit., 96, 8.) Th. Zahn,
Euthaliana, Theol. Lit. Blatt., 1895, 593, 601. Ehrhard, Der codex H ad
Epistolas Pauli und Euthalius diaconus, Eine palaeographisch-
patrologische Untersuchung in the Centralblatt für Bibliothekswesen,
1891, pp. 385-411. E. v. Dobschütz, Ein Beitrag zur Euthaliusfrage, in
the same magazine, 1893, pp. 49-70; Euthaliusstudien in the ZKG. xix.
pp. 107-154 (1898): also, Euthalius, in the PRE3, v. pp. 631-633 (1898).
Islinger, Die Verdienste des Euthalius um den neutestamentlichen
Bibeltext, Hof. 1867 (Prog.). Conybeare, On the Codex Pamphili and
date of Euthalius, in the Cambridge Journal of Philology, xxiii. 241
(1895). R. L. Bensly, The Harklean Version etc., pp. 9, 27 (1889). See
also J. A. Robinson, Texts and Studies, vi. 1; C. Butler, The Lausiac
History of Palladius, p. 104 ff., and note 2, p. 188 below.

I2, K2, L2, P2: See above, p. 75.
M2. Codex Ruber, of the ninth century: four leaves written in bright red ink
or other colouring matter, two of them in London and the other two in
Hamburg.
N2. Of the ninth century, consisting of two leaves with portions of Galatians
and Hebrews: in St. Petersburg.
O2. Of the ninth century, two leaves in the same library containing portions
of 2 Corinthians.
Ob. Of the sixth century, one leaf with part of Ephesians: in Moscow.
Q2. Of the fifth century, five papyrus leaves with fragments of 1
Corinthians: in St. Petersburg.
R2. Of the seventh century, a single leaf with part of 2 Corinthians: in
Grotteferrata.

S2. See above, p. 75.
Tg. A few sentences from 1 Timothy. See TiGr., p. 441.
Ts. Two leaves containing 1 Corinthians i. 22-29, written in the ninth or
tenth century, and published simultaneously with Ti-r. Gregory now
designates Tg as Ta Paul, and Ts as Tb Paul.
2‫ב‬. See above, p. 75.
14
‫ד‬. A fragment of papyrus containing part of 1 Corinthians, cc. i., ii., iii.,
written in the fifth century.
The first seven verses of the first chapter of Romans have been published in
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part II. (pp. 8 f., Plate II.). The fragment is
probably a schoolboy’s exercise. It is written in a large rude uncial hand,
and dates from the first half of the fourth century. In verse 7 it reads Κ̅Υ̅
Χ̅Ρ̅Υ̅ Ι̅Η̅Υ̅.
Apocalypse. There are fewest manuscripts of the Apocalypse. It
is found entire only in ‫ א‬A B, while C and P exhibit portions of it. In the
Apocalypse, however, it is to be observed that Codex B is not the famous
Codex Vaticanus 1209 but a much later manuscript 2066, dating from the
end of the eighth century. It would be better, therefore, with some editors, to
call it Q or B2.
Altogether the number of Greek manuscripts is as follows[74]:—

Uncials:
Gospels, 73
Acts and Catholic Epistles, 19
Pauline Epistles, 28
Apocalypse, 7
—-
Total, 127
Cursives, 3702

Book-hand and In closing our survey of the extant uncials, it is to
hand of common life.
be borne in mind that we are not at liberty to
regard even the oldest of them as presenting the very form of the New
Testament autographs. The books of the New Testament, at all events the

majority of them, were not originally intended for publication at all, while
the others were meant for only a limited circle of readers. Now these recent
papyrus discoveries have shown conclusively what a vast difference existed
even in those days between the book-hand and what we may call the hand
of common life and business. A glance at Kenyon’s Palæography of Greek
Papyri will show how fundamental is the distinction between literary and
non-literary papyri. That writer states that in many cases the difference is
just as marked as between handwriting and print at the present day, and he
instances also the distinction between the book-hand and the charter-hand
of the Middle Ages. Of course documents of this or the other class may
occasionally be found written in the hand that is not the usual one, a
prescription, e.g., in book-hand, or conversely a literary text in the hand of
common life. The greater part of Aristotle’s work on the Polity of the
Athenians, for instance, has been preserved in the common hand. This
papyrus, which is attributed to the first century of the Christian era, is the
work of four scribes. But only one of these writes in a style approximating
to the book-hand; the other parts are written in a very cursive style on the
back of an old account, probably by one who had borrowed a copy of the
work for a short time and transcribed it with the help of two or three friends
or slaves. Kenyon quite properly instances this as an illustration of the
manner of the origin and propagation of the New Testament books, and
suggests that this mode of propagation has to be considered in connection
with times of persecution. Our very oldest manuscripts are superb codices,
editions de luxe, such as could be prepared only in an age when the Church
had attained a position of affluence and power. The distinction referred to
above is one that has had but little attention paid to it hitherto, as is shown
by the illustration given in Harris’s excellent work on the New Testament
autographs. It is manifest at the same time that this consideration is of great
importance in trying to understand the origin and dissemination of the
various readings that occur in our manuscripts. It is just a pity that Kenyon
has not given a sample of this manuscript of Aristotle in his book, seeing
that the latter is more accessible to the ordinary student than the complete
facsimile edited in 1891 by the Trustees of the British Museum, or the Plate
published in the second volume of the work of the Palæographical Society.
Uncial and A further consideration is emphasised by means of
minuscule script.
these papyrus discoveries—viz. that no distinction
of time can be drawn between the uncial and cursive hands found in the

manuscripts. Even in the very earliest documents the hand of common life
displays a very cursive character, and a fairly cursive uncial hand with
ligatures is not necessarily later than an uncial hand without ligatures. It is
somewhat different in the case of writing on parchment: here the old
distinction of uncial and minuscule manuscripts is rightly maintained, only
we must guard against supposing that the minuscule hand and the cursive
are quite the same thing; nor must we forget that for a considerable time the
older uncial and the later minuscule scripts were in use together.[75] The
sharp line of demarcation, therefore, which has hitherto been drawn in the
textual criticism of the New Testament between these two classes of
manuscripts has no real justification in fact. The present account, however,
is intended merely as a survey of the position of things up to the present,
and the following description of the minuscules is subject to that limitation.

(b.) SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT MINUSCULES.

Minuscules. When the Greek New Testament began to be
printed, the editors had necessarily to be content with indifferent and late
minuscules, and even those who followed them, like Bentley and
Lachmann, thought they were at liberty to disregard these altogether and to
found their text exclusively on the oldest uncials. They forgot that the text
of a late manuscript may be derived from a very early and good source
through comparatively few intermediaries, and that it is possible to
reconstruct a lost original by means of a comparison of several witnesses.
Accordingly, in more recent times, English editors like Tregelles, Burgon,
Ferrar, Hoskier, and Scrivener have rendered great service in the way of
collating manuscripts, and the last-mentioned as well as Gregory in
Germany has also catalogued them. At the present moment a systematic
investigation in this department is being carried on in Berlin. Most of the
minuscules are still written on parchment which began to be mixed with
paper in the ninth century, and was ultimately superseded by it. Various
minuscules contain commentaries and other additional matter, such as the
List of the Seventy Apostles, short Biographies of the Apostles, Summaries
of the journeys of St. Paul, or notes as to the date and place of the
composition of the different books. When dates are given in the
manuscripts, they are still as a rule computed in the Byzantine manner,

reckoning from the Creation of the world (5508 B.C.). In only a few cursives
is the date reckoned from the Birth of Christ.
Since the time of Wettstein the minuscule manuscripts have been indicated
by Arabic numerals, the numbers in each of the four groups beginning with
1, so that one and the same manuscript may have three or four numbers—
18evv. e.g. being 113Acts, 132Paul, and 51Apoc., while 209evv is the same as 95Acts,
108Paul, and 46Apoc. It is still more awkward that in the two principal works on
the minuscules, that of Scrivener and of Gregory, the recently discovered
manuscripts are numbered differently. Our enumeration will follow that of
Scrivener.

Minuscules of the Gospels.

1 (Acts 1, Paul 1). Of the tenth century, but according to others of the
twelfth or the thirteenth, in Basel, with beautiful miniatures which were
stolen prior to 1860. The manuscript was borrowed by Reuchlin and used
by Erasmus for his second edition. (Scrivener, i. 137, Plate IX. 23.)
2. Of the twelfth century, though some strangely suppose the fifteenth: also
in Basel: formerly purchased for two Rhenish florins: printed by Erasmus.
3. Of the twelfth century, in Vienna, lent to Erasmus for his second edition.
Ferrar Group. 4-41 are all in the National Library at Paris. 4-9
and 38 were used by Stephen. The most notable among them is 13, together
with 69, 124, 211, 346, 348, 556, 561 (788), 624, and 626, which are
remarkable for their very peculiar form of text and their additions.[76] Luke
xxii. 43, 44 is found after Matthew xxvi. 39, and John vii. 53—viii. 11 after
Luke xxi. 38. The subscriptions, moreover, state that Matthew was written
in Hebrew eight years after our Lord’s Ascension, and contained 2522
ρηματα and 2560 stichoi, Mark ρωμαιστι ten years after the Ascension with
1675 ρηματα and 1604 stichoi, Luke ελληνιστι fifteen years after with 3803
(lege 3083) ρηματα and 2750 stichoi, and John thirty-two years after with
1938 ρηματα. These manuscripts were referred to a common archetype by
the Irish scholar Ferrar, and were accordingly denominated the Ferrar
Group, and indicated by the letter Φ before that symbol was appropriated to
the Codex Beratinus. Most of them came from Calabria, and another has

lately been added to the number. Their additions, however, as Rendel Harris
shows, are rather of Syrian origin. In the first edition I ventured to suggest
that these manuscripts might go back to Lucian the Martyr (d. 312) of
whom Jerome makes mention, saying that he knew of codices quos a
Luciano (et Hesychio) nuncupatos paucorum hominum adserit perversa
contentio, quibus ... nec in novo testamento profuit emendasse, cum
multarum gentium linguis scriptura ante translata doceat falsa esse quae
addita (cod. E edita) sunt. That, however, is not possible in the event of the
so-called Syrian recension being the work of Lucian, which Hort indicates
as possible. In any case, these minuscules have preserved to us a very early
attempt to restore the text.
16 is noteworthy as being written in four different colours according to the
contents. The continuous narrative is written in green, the words of Jesus
and the Angels are in red and occasionally in gold, the words of His
followers are in blue, while those of the Pharisees, the multitude, and of the
devil, are written in black.
28. Contains relics of a very ancient text and bears some resemblance to D.
33. Written about the tenth century: the “queen of the cursives”: its text
bears a greater resemblance to that of B, D, L than does that of any other
cursive. The manuscript is much damaged, but 34, which is equally old, is
still in splendid condition, as though it were fresh from the hand of the
artist. (Scrivener, i. 343, Plate XIII. 39.)
38. Sent by the Emperor Michael Palæologus to St. Louis (d. 1270).
51. At Oxford: text resembles that of the Complutensian.
59. At Cambridge: has many points of connection with D.
61. Of the fourteenth or fifteenth century. This is the notorious Codex
Montfortianus, now in Dublin, which derives its name from one of its later
possessors. It was this manuscript, “codex apud Anglos repertus,” that
decided Erasmus to insert in his third edition of 1522 the passage of the
Three Heavenly Witnesses, 1 John v. 7, 8. It was probably written by a
Franciscan monk of the name of Froy or Roy. Its twin brother, the
parchment codex Ravianus (Rau), formerly numbered 110, and now in
Berlin, which also contains the passage, proves to be nothing more than a
transcript of the text of the Complutensian. Manuscripts, it may be

observed, continued to be prepared long after the invention of printing.
Melanchthon, e.g., wrote out the Epistle to the Romans three times in
Greek; and the manuscript in the Zurich Library hitherto cited as 56Paul is
nothing else than a copy of Erasmus’s printed edition of 1516 made by
Zwingli in the following year.
69. Cf. 13 above, and see J. R. Harris, Origin of the Leicester Codex of the
New Testament, 1887. (Scrivener, i. 343, Plate XIII. 40.)
77 and 78. Formerly in the fine library of Matthias Corvinus, King of
Hungary (d. 1490).
90. In this manuscript the Gospels are in the order John, Luke, Matthew,
Mark.
106. Would be important, but has been lost sight of since the time of
Wettstein.
140. Presented to Pope Innocent VII. by the Queen of Cyprus. This
manuscript reads διηρθρώθη in Luke i. 64, therein agreeing with the
Complutensian.
146-153. In Rome, came from Heidelberg.
154-156. Once the property of Christina, Queen of Sweden.
157. In Rome: its text is said to bear a considerable resemblance to the
quotations found in the early Christian writer Marcion. See below, p. 211.
164. The subscription of this manuscript states that it was compared with
certain ancient manuscripts in Jerusalem.
205-215 and 217 are in Venice, being part of the donation of Cardinal
Bessarion. 209 contains the whole of the New Testament, and was the
Cardinal’s own copy which he had with him at the Council of Florence in
1439.
218-225 are in Vienna.
226-233 are in the Escorial.
237-259 are at Moscow, with the exception of four at Dresden.
263-320 are in Paris, with the exception of 272, which was removed thence
to the British Museum.

274 exhibits the shorter conclusion of Mark’s Gospel in the lower margin.
(See Plate X.)
405-418 are now in Venice, and, like U, once belonged to the Nani family.
422-430. In Munich.
431. This manuscript is sometimes stated to have perished at Strassburg, in
the war of 1870, like 180Acts. This, however, is incorrect.
452. In Parma, one of the most superb codices.
473. Of the ninth and tenth centuries, a purple manuscript with gold
lettering, said to have been written by the Empress Theodora. See under N.
above, and note, p. 151.
481, dated 7th May 835, is the earliest manuscript of the Greek New
Testament bearing an exact date.
531. Written in a microscopic hand.
604. Written in the twelfth century, now in the British Museum, exhibits
2724 variations from the Textus Receptus, and has besides 270 readings
peculiar to itself. It is the only witness we know that supports that peculiar
form of the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer found in Marcion in the
second century, and in Gregory of Nyssa in the fourth, ἐλθέτω τὸ ἅγιον
πνεῦμά σου ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς καὶ καθαρισάτω ἡμᾶς (Luke xi. 2).[77]
743 has the double conclusion in Mark.
1071. See under D, p. 66.
In his Gospel according to St. Mark, Swete cites frequently, in addition to
those just mentioned and those of the Ferrar Group, 1, 28, 33, 66, 109, 118,
131, 157, 209, 238, 242, 299, 435, 473, 475, 556, 570, 736.

Acts.

2 and 4. Used by Erasmus.
7-10. Used by Stephen.

15, 83, 173. These, like ‫ א‬in the Old Testament and H3, were compared with
the Codex of Pamphilus—i.e. were faithfully copied from such an
exemplar.
33. The parent manuscript of Montfortianus. See above, p. 86.
42. Closely related to the Complutensian.
52. Once in the possession of Stunica, the chief editor of the
Complutensian. It has now disappeared.
61 has been designated the most important minuscule of the Acts. This,
however, is an exaggeration.
137 supplements D E where these are defective.
158. Used by Cardinal Mai to supply the defects of Codex B in the Pauline
Epistles.
162. Of the fourteenth or fifteenth century, now in Rome: a bilingual in
Latin and Greek: contains the passage 1 John v. 7.
182. Numbered 110 by Hort, who calls it one of the best of the cursives.
220. One of the finest manuscripts of the latter part of the New Testament.
232. An equally superb copy, on which a monk called Andreas bestowed
three years’ labour.
246. Written in gold letters for Charlotte, Queen of Cyprus (d. 1487).
419. Written in 800 by the Empress Maria, after being divorced by
Constantine VI.

Pauline Epistles.

7. Used by Erasmus.
56 and 66 are quite worthless, being simply copies of Erasmus’s printed
text. (See above under 61evv).
67. A valuable manuscript on account of its corrector having evidently
made use of an exemplar with a text very closely akin to that of B M.

80 bears a close resemblance to 69evv.

Apocalypse.

1. This was the only manuscript at Erasmus’s command for this part of the
New Testament. It is defective in the last chapter from verse 16 to the end.
For the rest it exhibits a fairly good text. (See p. 3 f.)
36. A text akin to ‫א‬.
38 has a text resembling that of A C.
68. Resembles A.
95 does so still more. This last has the reputation of being one of the best
minuscules of the Apocalypse.
The number of minuscules under each class is, according to Scrivener
(Miller), as follows:—
Gospels, 1326
Acts and Catholic 422
Epistles,
Pauline Epistles, 497
Apocalypse, 184
——
2429
A great many New Testament manuscripts are in England. Some are in the
possession of private individuals, like those at Parham Park in Sussex
belonging to Lord de la Zouche. In 1870-72 the Baroness Burdett Coutts
brought with her from Janina in Epirus over one hundred manuscripts, of
which sixteen were of the Gospels, one of them belonging to the Ferrar
Group, and as many were Evangeliaria. There are 136 manuscripts of the
New Testament in the British Museum.
The number in Great 438
Britain is

In the National 298
Library of Paris,
In Germany, 140
In Italy, 644
For the total number of Greek manuscripts arranged according to countries,
see Scrivener, i., Indices I., II., pp. 392 ff.
What a vast number of manuscripts are still waiting to be examined is
shown by the account given by Dr. von der Goltz. Accompanied by Dr. G.
Wobbermin, he made a journey to Athos in the winter of 1897-98, and there
in that ancient Monastery, the Laura of St. Athanasius, he found, among
about 1800 manuscripts altogether, including Lectionaries, some 250
codices of the New Testament, of which only a very few have been noted
by Gregory. And these manuscripts may be of the very utmost importance,
as witness the further statement of the same explorer. He was looking
through the manuscripts of the Apostolos, to which he and his companion
had to give most of their attention, when his eye fell on one written in the
tenth or eleventh century, containing the following note before the Pauline
Epistles: γεγράφθαι ἀπὸ ἀντιγράφου παλαιοτάτου, οὗ πεῖραν ἐλάβομεν ὡς
ἐπιτετευγμένου ἐκ τῶν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐλθόντων Ὠριγένους τόμων ἢ ὁμιλιῶν εἰς
τὸν ἀπόστολον ... ἐν οἷς οὖν παραλλάττει ῥητοῖς πρὸς τὰ νῦν ἀποστολικά,
διπλῆν τὴν λεγομένην παρεθήκαμεν ἔξωθεν, ἵνα μὴ νομισθῇ κατὰ
προσθήκην ἢ λεῖψιν ἡμαρτῆσθαι τουτὶ τὸ ἀποστολικόν. And from the
subscription at the end of the Pauline Epistles we learn that the manuscript,
or, as von der Goltz believes, the exemplar from which it was copied, was
written by a monk called Ephraim. See further in von der Goltz, Eine
textkritische Arbeit des zehnten bezw. sechsten Jahrhunderts herausgegeben
nach einem Kodex des Athosklosters Lawra. Mit einer Doppeltafel in
Lichtdruck. Leipzig, 1899. (Texte und Untersuchungen, Neue Folge, ii. 4);
and compare below, p. 190.

Literature.—On 2evv, see Hoskier, above, p. 5.
On 13, see W. H. Ferrar, Collation of four important Manuscripts of the
Gospels, edited by T. K. Abbott, Dublin, 1877. J. P. P. Martin, Quatre
manuscrits du N. T., auxquels on peut ajouter un cinquième, Amiens,
1886. J. R. Harris, On the Origin of the Ferrar Group, London, 1894.

K. Lake, “Some new members of the Ferrar Group of MSS. of the
Gospels,” in the Journal of Theological Studies, I. i. pp. 117-120. The
well-known manuscript of the pre-Lutheran German Bible, the Codex
Teplensis, has the words from John viii. 2, “in the morning he came
again into the temple,” after Luke xxi. 38, an arrangement similar to
that which is characteristic of the Ferrar Group, in which John vii. 53-
viii. 11 is found after Luke xxi. 38. See S. Berger, Bull. Crit., 1894, p.
390. See Addenda, p. xv.
On 561, Codex Algerinae Peckover, see J. R. Harris in the Journal of
the Exegetical Society, 1886, 79-96.
On 892evv, see Harris, “An Important Manuscript of the N. T.” in the
Journal of Biblical Literature, ix., 1890, 31 ff.
On Minuscules of the Apocalypse, see Bousset, Textkritische Studien in
T. und U., xi. 4.
C. R. Gregory, “Die Kleinhandschriften des N. Testaments”
(Theologische Studien für B. Weiss., Göttingen, 1897, 274-283).
E. J. Goodspeed, “A Twelfth Century Gospel Manuscript” (Biblical
World, x. 4).

(c.) LECTIONARIES.

Lectionaries. Till quite recently the Lectionaries, or Books of
Church Pericopae, were even more neglected than the minuscules. And yet
they are reliable witnesses to the text of the Bible in the provinces to which
they belong, on account of their official character and because their locality
can be readily distinguished. The slight alterations of the text occurring at
the beginning of the pericopae, and consisting usually in the insertion of the
subject of the sentence or of an introductory clause, are easily recognisable
as such, and deceive no one. It is not always easy to determine the date of
such books, because the uncial hand was employed in this sort of
manuscript much longer than in the others. Among the oldest, perhaps, is
135, a palimpsest (of which there is a considerable number among the
Lectionaries), assigned by Tischendorf to the seventh century, and 968,

written on papyrus and ascribed to the sixth century, which was found in
Egypt in the year 1890. When these Lectionaries originated has not yet been
clearly made out.[78] Up till the present 980 Evangeliaria—i.e. Lessons from
the Gospels—have been catalogued, and 268 Apostoli or Praxapostoli—i.e.
Lessons from the Acts and Epistles. Some of them are magnificently
executed; some, alas, have been sadly mutilated. 117, in Florence, is a very
beautiful codex; and 162, in Siena, is perhaps “one of the most splendid
Service-books in the world.” 235 may have been written in part by the
Emperor Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118). 286 is the Golden Evangeliarium
on Mount Sinai, dating from the ninth to the eleventh century, though the
tradition of the monks says that it was written by no less a personage than
the Emperor Theodosius (d. 395). Tischendorf’s 352-360 are now in the
National Library at Paris. 355 is printed in Omont’s Catalogue (see above,
p. 71). 45evl is a fragment of black parchment inscribed with gold letters
preserved at Vienna.[79] 40 is kept in the Escorial along with the reliques of
St. Chrysostom, and regarded as his autograph.[80] Bilingual Lectionaries are
also found, in Greek and Arabic for example. The arrangement of these
Service-books varies with the time and region in which they were
composed. Several fragments which were formerly regarded as parts of
manuscripts of the Gospels should perhaps be classed among the
Evangeliaria—e.g. the solitary leaf of a Bible manuscript Württemberg is
known to possess, and the Tübingen Fragment, formerly classed among the
uncials as R of the Gospels, but now enumerated as 481evl. An important
Syriac Lectionary will fall to be considered under the head of the Versions.
For further details, reference must be made to Scrivener, to TiGr., and now
especially to Gregory, Textkritik, i. pp. 327-478.

2. Versions.

Versions. Our second source of material for the
reconstruction of the text of the New Testament is the early Versions. The
value of their testimony depends on their age and fidelity. When did the first
versions originate? This question reminds us of the Inscription on the Cross,
a portion of which is still exhibited in Rome. It was written in Hebrew,
Greek, and Latin. But we may get further back still. Palestine at the time of
Christ was a country where the most diverse languages and dialects came
into contact with each other. In the last century B.C. a transformation had
occurred, which might be regarded as a counterpart to the supplanting of
Norman French by English, or of Low by High German. Aramaic had
already taken the place of the old Hebrew, and after the time of Alexander
came the intrusion of Greek, and later still of Latin. Some of the disciples of
Jesus bore old Hebrew names, like James (Ἰάκωβος) and John (Ἰωάννης);
others had names wholly or partly Aramaic, as Cephas (= Peter), the
cognomen of Simon, and Bartholomew; while others, again, had Greek
names, as Philip (Φίλιππος) and Andrew (Ἀνδρέας). To the question what
language Jesus Himself spoke, the most probable answer is that it was
Aramaic with a Galilean colouring. “Thou art a Galilean, thy speech
bewrayeth thee,” said the Jerusalem girl to Peter. The Galileans, like the
Babylonians and the Samaritans, were recognisable by their not
distinguishing the gutturals so sharply as the pure Jews did. At the same
time, Jesus certainly understood the Hebrew of the Old Testament. But
those words of His that have been preserved are Aramaic—talitha, abba,
and so is sabaqtani in Matthew xxvii. 46, and Mark xv. 34, if that is the
original form of the text, and not asabthani, as a number of manuscripts
show.
In what language, however, the first record of the preaching of the Gospel
was made, whether it was in the classic Hebrew of the Old Testament or in
the Aramaic of the time, is still subject of dispute.[81] But as this question is
of moment only for the original sources, and even then for only a certain
part of the New Testament—viz. the Gospels—it does not fall to be
considered here. We have to do only with those versions that are derived

from the Greek, and again with those of them only that are important for the
criticism of the text, which are the oldest.
The versions which are of consequence here may be placed under three or
four heads.
East. In the East, Antioch, with its semi-Greek, semi-
Syrian population, very early became the centre of the new faith, which,
indeed, obtained its name there, and must very soon have established itself
in Damascus and Mesopotamia. In that region the form of Aramaic now
commonly known as Syriac was spoken.
West, South. In the West, Greek was mostly spoken and
understood, even in Rome. Paul consequently, and others as well as he,
wrote to Rome in Greek. At the same time, the need must have existed,
even in the second century, of having the Gospel in the Latin language in
parts of Africa, in the north of Italy, and in the South of Gaul. Quite as early,
perhaps, the new faith spread to Egypt, which at that time was a kind of
centre of religious culture, and so we find in Egypt not one but several
versions in various dialects.
The Gothic version of Ulfilas deserves special mention as being the oldest
monument of Christianity among the Germanic people, and valuable too in
the criticism of the text.

L. J. M. Bebb, Evidence of the Early Versions and Patristic Quotations,
etc., in Studia Biblica, ii., Oxford, 1890. Lagarde, De Novo Testamento
ad Versionum Orientalium fidem edendo. Berlin (1857); with slight
alterations in his Ges. Abhandlungen, 1886, pp. 84-119. Reprinted
1896. Urtext (see p. 7). Copinger (see p. 6). An earlier bibliographical
work is the Bibliotheca Sacra post ... Jacobi Le Long et C. F. Boerneri
iteratas curas ordine disposita, emendata, suppleta, continuata ab A. G.
Masch. Halle, 1778-90, 4to. Pars I., De editionibus textus originalis.
Pars II., De versionibus librorum sacrorum (3 Vols.). R. Simon,
Histoire critique des versions du N. T., 1690. Nouvelles observations
sur le texte et les versions du N. T., 1695.

(a.) SYRIAC VERSIONS.

Peshitto. The Bible used in the Syrian Church has long and
deservedly borne the honourable appellation of “the Queen of the
Versions.” It was first published in 1555 at the expense of the Emperor
Ferdinand I. by J. Albert Widmanstadt with the assistance of a Syrian
Jacobite called Moses, who came from Mardin as legate to Pope Julius III.
The type for this edition was beautifully cut by Caspar Kraft of Ellwangen.
All the branches into which the Syrian church was divided in the fifth
century have used the same translation of the Scriptures. To this day the
Syriac New Testament wants the five so-called Antilegomena—viz. 2 Peter,
2 and 3 John, Jude, and the Apocalypse—a sufficient proof that it goes back
to a time and a region in which these books were not yet reckoned in the
Canon of the New Testament. In place of these it contained in early times
an alleged Third Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, and an Epistle of the
Corinthians to Paul (cf. below, p. 142). To distinguish it from other Syriac
translations, this Version has been called by Syriac scholars, since the tenth
century, the Peshiṭto—i.e. the “Simple” or perhaps the “Common,” which is
sometimes pronounced Peshiṭtå (‫ )ְפ ִׁש יטָת א‬and spelt simply Peshitto.
When and where was this translation made? An ancient Syrian tradition
asserts that it was done by the Apostle Thaddaeus, who came on a mission
to Abgar Uchama—i.e. Abgar the Black—King of Edessa, after the death of
Jesus, which mission, they say, arose out of a correspondence that Abgar
had previously had with Jesus. Another tradition ascribes it to Aggaeus
(Aggai), the disciple of Thaddaeus, and it is even attributed to Mark the
Evangelist. It is also said that Luke was by birth a Syrian of Antioch, a
tradition which may preserve an element of truth.
The earliest notice of a Syriac Gospel is found in Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical
History, iv. 22. That historian mentions that Hegesippus (c. 160-180) quotes
certain things from the Gospel of the Hebrews—i.e. of the Palestinian (?)
Jewish Christians, and from the Syriac (sc. Gospel), and particularly from
the Hebrew dialect, showing that he himself was a convert from the
Hebrews (ἔκ τε τοῦ καθ’ Ἑβραίους εὐαγγελίου καὶ τοῦ Συριακοῦ καὶ ἰδίως
ἐκ τῆς Ἑβραΐδος διαλέκτου τινὰ τίθησιν, ἐμφαίνων ἐξ Ἑβραίων ἑαυτὸν
πεπιστευκέναι). This can hardly be understood otherwise than as implying
that a Syriac version was already in existence. Whether it contained all the
four Gospels or only one of them, or Tatian’s Harmony of the Gospels, as
Michaelis supposed and as Zahn has recently shown some ground for

believing, or whether it contained a primitive Gospel, now perished, cannot
be established with certainty.
From the middle of the present century manuscripts of this version have
found their way into European libraries in great numbers. Some of these are
inestimable. At least ten date from the fifth, and thirty from the sixth
century. This is somewhat remarkable when we remember how small a
remnant of the Greek manuscripts has been preserved. G. H. Gwilliam is at
present engaged on an edition of the Syriac Tetraevangelium for the
University of Oxford on the basis of forty manuscripts. The task might
seem to be an easy one, considering that these Syriac manuscripts display a
far greater unanimity in their text than is found in any written in Greek. The
difficulty in their case lies in another direction.
Curetonian. In the year 1842 a Syriac manuscript containing
considerable portions of the Gospels was brought from Egypt and deposited
in the British Museum. It was afterwards published by Dr. Cureton in 1858
with the title “Remains of a very antient recension of the four Gospels in
Syriac hitherto unknown in Europe.” Cureton himself thought he had
discovered the original of St. Matthew’s Gospel in this version. While this
was easily shown to be a mistake, the question as to the relationship
between the Curetonian Syriac and the Peshitto, whether the two texts are
independent of each other, or if not, which is the earlier and which the
recension, is not yet decided.
Lewis. It seemed as if the solution of the problem was in
sight when fragments of a Syriac palimpsest were discovered on Mount
Sinai in February 1892 by Mrs. Lewis and her sister, Mrs. Gibson. These
they perceived to be part of a very old manuscript of the Gospels, and
Professor Bensly of Cambridge recognised that their text was closely
related to that of the Curetonian. (See Plate V.) A second expedition was
made to Sinai in the spring of 1893, when the fragments were transcribed
by Professor Bensly, F. C. Burkitt, and J. R. Harris. As Bensly died three
days after their return, the manuscript was published by the others in 1894,
with an introduction by Mrs. Lewis. On a third visit to Sinai this lady
completed the work of the triumvirate, and also published an English
translation of the whole. How, then, is this Sinai-Syriac or Lewis-Syriac, as
it is called, related to the Curetonian and to the Peshitto? The problem

becomes more complicated still by the introduction of a fourth factor, the
most important of them all.
Tatian. From early sources it was known that Tatian,[82] a
Syrian and a pupil of Justin Martyr, composed a harmony of the Gospels
called the Diatessaron—i.e. τὸ διὰ τεσσάρων εὐαγγέλιον, an expression
which may be taken either as referring to the four Gospels or as a musical
term equivalent to harmony or chord. This Harmony was in use among the
Syrians till the fifth century. Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, informs us that he
destroyed 200 copies of it in his semi-Syriac, semi-Greek diocese.[83] About
the same time Bishop Rabbulas of Edessa (407-435) instructed his
presbyters and deacons to see that all the churches possessed and read a
copy of the Distinct Gospel—i.e. not mixed or harmonised. The Lewis-
Syriac bears this very title, Gospel of the Distinct or Divided, which is
found also as the title of Matthew’s Gospel in the Curetonian version.
Tatian’s Harmony has not yet been discovered in Syriac, but a Latin
Harmony of the Gospels derived from it has long been known, and in 1883
a Harmony in Arabic was published by Ciasca which proves to be a
translation from the Syriac made by Ibn et-Tabib (d. 1043) or a recension of
it. Again, in 1836 the Armenian version of a Syriac Commentary by
Ephraem of Edessa (d. 373) was printed, and translated into Latin in 1876.
[Evangelii concordantis expositio facta a S. Ephraemo doctore Syro. In
Latinum translata a J. B. Aucher, ed. G. Moesinger. Venetiis.] Finally
Theodor Zahn discovered in the works of the Syriac writer Aphraates, who
wrote between 337 and 345, quotations which must be derived from this
Harmony of Tatian; and isolated quotations from Tatian are also found in
later Syriac authors. And so the materials are provided for deciding the
question whether or not Tatian made use of an earlier Syriac version in the
preparation of his Harmony, and how T(atian), Syrcu(reton), Syrsin and Syrsch(aaf)[84]
are related to each other. The most probable view perhaps is that T is the
earliest form in which the Gospel came to Syria, that in Syrcu and Syrsin we
have two attempts to exhibit T in the form of a version of the separate
Gospels which were not generally accepted, while Syrsch actually succeeded
and passed into general use.
The interest attaching to this question may be learned from the form in
which the text of Matthew i. 16 is given in these witnesses. Syrsch agrees
exactly with our present Greek text, but Syrcu presents a form which, when

translated into Latin, reads, Joseph cui desponsata virgo Maria genuit
Jesum Christum. Now, the only Greek manuscripts that present a form
corresponding to this are four minuscules, 346, 556, 624 and 626, which
differ in this respect even from the other members of the Ferrar Group to
which they belong. In these four manuscripts the verse reads, Ἰωσὴφ ᾧ
μνηστευθῆσα (sic) παρθένος Μαριὰμ ἐγέννησεν Ἰησοῦν τὸν λεγόμενον
Χριστόν. In the Latin, however, this text is represented by a number of the
oldest manuscripts, seven at least, one of which omits the word virgo, while
two have peperit instead of genuit, and τὸν λεγόμενον is omitted. But in
Syrsin we find: Joseph: Joseph autem cui desponsata (erat) virgo Maria
genuit Jesum Christum. The passage is similarly cited in the recently
published Dialogue of Timotheus and Aquila,[85] along with two other forms,
thus:—Ἰακὼβ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰωσὴφ τὸν ἄνδρα Μαρίας, ἐξ ἧς ἐγεννήθη
Ἰησοῦς ὁ λεγόμενος Χριστὸς, καὶ Ἰωσὴφ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰησοῦν τὸν
λεγόμενον Χριστόν.
The exact wording of Tatian can no longer be determined, but it is evident
that of these three forms in which the verse is found, only one or none can
be the original. If we had no more than our oldest uncials or the great body
of our minuscules to go by, no one could have the slightest suspicion that in
our Greek text all is not in perfect order. But here, in an old Syriac fragment
from the far East, there suddenly appears a reading which is also found in
Latin witnesses from the far West, and which is confirmed by four solitary
Greek manuscripts, written probably in Calabria at the close of the Middle
Ages. How are these facts connected, and how do they stand to the other
two readings, that of the common Greek text, and that of the Lewis-Syriac?
The history of the text of the New Testament presents many such problems.
Philoxenus- But Syrian scholars were not satisfied with those
Polycarp.
forms of the New Testament already mentioned. In
the year of Alexander 819 (A.D. 508),[86] a new and much more literal
version was made from the Greek at the desire of Xenaia (Philoxenus),
Bishop of Mabug[87] (488-518), by his rural Bishop Polycarp. Part of this
version was published in England by Pococke in 1630—viz. the four
Epistles in the Antilegomena not included in the Peshitto, 2 Peter, 2 and 3
John, and Jude. Unfortunately this edition was prepared from a somewhat
inaccurate manuscript, which is now in the Bodleian Library. The later
European editions of the Syriac New Testament took the text of these

Epistles from Pococke’s edition, which was also the one used for critical
editions of the Greek text. In 1886 Isaac H. Hall published a phototype
edition of another manuscript of this version (the Williams MS.), the
property of a private gentleman in America, and corrected from it the text of
the Syriac New Testament issued by the American Bible Society. The other
parts of this version have not yet been found, but the same American
scholar thought he discovered the Gospels in a ninth century manuscript
belonging to the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut, and deposited in the
Library of the Union Theological Seminary in New York.[88] Bernstein
thought he made the same discovery in 1853 in a manuscript belonging to
the Angelica Library in Florence.
Thomas of Heraclea. On the basis of four manuscripts sent from
Diarbeker in 1736 to Dr. Gloucester Ridley, Joseph White published,
between 1778 and 1803,[89] a version which he designated by the name of
Versio Philoxenia, and which still passes under this title. But this so-called
Philoxenian version is not the identical version made for Philoxenus by
Polycarp, but a revision undertaken by Thomas of Heraclea (Charkel), in
the year 616-7. This revision was made at Alexandria with the object of
making the Syriac text represent the Greek as closely as possible, even to
the order of the words and the insertion of the article. The critical symbols
used by Homeric commentators, the asterisk and the obelus, as well as
numerous marginal notes, were employed to indicate the various readings
found in the manuscripts. And it is very remarkable to observe that there
were manuscripts in Alexandria at the beginning of the seventh century
which were regarded by Thomas of Harkel as particularly well
authenticated, but which deviate in a marked degree from the bulk of our
present manuscripts, and which, especially in the Acts, agree almost entirely
with Codex D, which occupies so singular a position among Greek
manuscripts. A new edition of the Syriac text is necessary before any further
use can be made of it in the criticism of the New Testament. Mr. Deane set
himself to this task, going on the basis of sixteen manuscripts in England
alone, but unfortunately he was unable to bring it to a conclusion.
Apocalypse. The Apocalypse was first edited in 1627 by de
Dieu at Leyden, from a manuscript that had been in the possession of
Scaliger. It is found in a few other manuscripts, in one, e.g., that was
transcribed about this same time for Archbishop Ussher from a Maronite

manuscript at Kenobin on Mount Lebanon. It is not found in the Syriac
New Testament, but the later editions insert it from de Dieu. In Apoc. viii.
13, instead of “an eagle in the midst of heaven” (ἐν μεσουρανήματι), the
Syriac translator took it as “in the midst with a bloody tail” (μεσος, ουρα,
αιμα). Another Syriac version, in which this error is avoided, was
discovered in 1892 by J. Gwynn in a Codex belonging to Lord Crawford,
and published by him as the first book printed in Syriac at the Dublin
University Press. Still more interesting is it to know that in a manuscript,
once the property of Julius Mohl, and now in Cambridge, both the so-called
Epistles of Clement are found after the Catholic Epistles. This manuscript,
part of which was published by Bensly in 1889 (see above, p. 79), contains
a note at the end to the effect that it was derived, so far as the Pauline
Epistles are concerned, from the copy of Pamphilus.[90]
About the same time and in the same region, Paul of Tella translated one of
the best Greek manuscripts of the Old Testament into Syriac almost as
literally as Thomas of Harkel, thereby doing immense service in the
construction of the Syriac Hexapla, a work of inestimable value for the
textual criticism of the Old Testament.
Evangeliarium Mention may be made here of another Syriac
Hierosolymitanum.
version of the New Testament, the so-called
Jerusalem or Palestinian Syriac (Syrhr or Syrhier). This version, hitherto
known almost solely from an Evangeliarium in the Vatican of the year
1030, was edited by Count Miniscalchi Erizzo at Verona in 1861-4, and an
excellent edition was published in 1892 in Bibliothecae Syriacae a Paulo de
Lagarde collectae quae ad philologiam sacram pertinent. And now not only
have two fresh manuscripts of this Evangeliarium been discovered on
Mount Sinai by J. R. Harris and Mrs. Lewis, and edited by Mrs. Lewis and
Mrs. Gibson, but fragments of the Acts and Pauline Epistles have also been
found and published, as well as portions of the Old Testament and other
Church literature.[91] The dialect in which these fragments are written is
quite different from ordinary Syriac, and may, perhaps, bear a close
resemblance to that in which Jesus spoke to His disciples. At what time and
in what region this entire literature took its rise is not yet determined with
certainty. The Greek text on which the Evangeliarium is based has many
peculiarities. In Matthew xxvii. 17, e.g., the robber is called Jesus Barabbas,

or, rather, Jesus Barrabbas, a fact known to Origen, but now recorded only
in a few Greek minuscules by the first or second hand.
What used to be called the Versio Karkaphensis or Montana is not really a
version, but merely the Massoretic work of a monastery school intended to
preserve the proper spelling and pronunciation of the text of the Bible.
No other branch of the Church has taken such pains as the Syrian, faithfully
to transmit and to circulate the Gospel. From the mountains of Lebanon and
Kurdistan, from the plains of Mesopotamia and the coast of Malabar, and
even from distant China there have come into the libraries of Europe Syriac
manuscripts of the utmost value for the textual criticism of the New
Testament.

Literature on the Syriac Versions:—
J. G. Christian Adler, Novi Testamenti Versiones Syriacae, Simplex,
Philoxeniana, et Hierosolymitana. Denuo examinatae et ad fidem
codicum manu scriptorum ... novis observationibus atque tabulis aere
incisis illustratae. Hafniae, pp. viii. 206. With eight Plates. 1789, 4to.
For the complete list of editions up to 1888, see my Litteratura Syriaca
(Syr. Gr., 2nd edition, pp. 20 ff.). Appendix thereto in Urt., 227 ff.; R.
Duval, La Littérature Syriaque. Paris, 1899, pp. 42-67; TiGr., 813-822;
Scrivener, fourth edition, ii. 6-40, with the help of Gwilliam and Deane;
The Printed Editions of the Syriac New Testament, in the Church
Quarterly Review, 1888, July, 257-297; G. H. Gwilliam, in the Studia
Biblica et Ecclesiastica (Oxford), ii. 1890, iii. 1891; F. C. Conybeare,
The growth of the Peshitta Version of the New Testament, in the
American Journal of Theology, 1897, iv. 883-912; Burkitt, in the
Journal of Theological Studies, i. (July 1900), 569 ff., referring to his
forthcoming edition of the Evangelion da-Mepharreshe, says that he has
had to go over the Gospel quotations of St. Ephraem, and closes by
saying, “I confess that I am unconvinced that what we call the New
Testament Peshitta was in existence in St. Ephraem’s day, and I believe
that we owe both its production and victorious reception to the
organizing energy of the Great Rabbula, Bishop of Edessa from 411 to
435 A.D.”

1. Till Gwilliam’s edition of the Gospels appears, which has been
promised since 1891, the best edition will be the Editio Princeps of
Widmanstadt, 1555; then that of Leusden and Schaaf, Novum Domini
nostri Jesu Christi Testamentum Syriacum cum versione latina cura et
studio J. Leusden et C. Schaaf editum. Ad omnes editiones diligenter
recensitum et variis lectionibus magno labore collectis adornatum.
Lugd. Bat., 1709, 4to. Acc. Schaaf, Lexicon Syriacum concordantiale.
The text reprinted by Jones at Oxford, 1805; the editions of the London
Bible Society, 1816 and 1826, and better still, the Syriac and New-
Syriac editions of the American Mission in Urmia, 1846, and of the
American Bible Society of New York, 1868, 1874, and frequently (with
the Nestorian vocalisation). An edition is promised from the Jesuit
Press at Beyruth, Nouveau Testament Syriaque en petits caractères,
d’après plusieurs manuscrits anciens, éd. par le P. L. Cheikho.
The New Testament part of the Peshitto has been very much neglected
in the present century. On the O.T., investigations, chiefly in the form
of dissertations on most of the books, have been published, establishing
the relation of the Syriac to the Massoretic text, the Septuagint, and the
Targum. But almost nothing of this sort has been done for the N.T., at
least in Germany, since the time of Michaelis and Löhlein. The question
has never once been taken up how many translators’ hands can be
distinguished in the N.T.
J. D. Michaelis, Curae in Versionem Syriacam Act. Apost. cum
consectariis criticis de indole, cognationibus et usu versionis Syriacae
tabularum Novi Foederis. Göttingen, 1755. C. L. E. Löhlein, Syrus
Epistolae ad Ephesios interpres in causa critica denuo examinatus,
Erlangen, 1835.
2. Cureton’s Remains (1858) is now out of print. Till Burkitt’s new
edition appears its place will be taken by Baethgen’s Retranslation into
Greek (Evangelienfragmente. Der griechische Text des Curetonschen
Syrers wiederhergestellt, Leipzig, 1885); and more especially by Albert
Bonus’s Collatio codicis Lewisiani rescripti evangeliorum Syriacorum
cum codice Curetoniano, Oxford, 1896; and by Carl Holzhey’s Der
neuentdeckte Codex Sinaiticus untersucht. Mit einem vollständigen
Verzeichnis der Varianten des Codex Sinaiticus und Codex
Curetonianus, Munich, 1896. See A. Bonus, The Sinaitic Palimpsest

and the Curetonian Syriac, in the Expository Times, May 1895, p. 380
ff. The publications of T. R. Crowfoot, Fragmenta Evangelica, Pars I.,
II., 1870, 1872, and Observations on the Collations in Greek of
Cureton’s Syriac Fragments, 1872, contain useful material, but there
are a good many mistakes.
3. The Editio Princeps of the Lewis text is, of course, that of Bensly,
Harris, and Burkitt, The Four Gospels in Syriac, transcribed from the
Sinaitic Palimpsest ... Cambridge, 1894. To this must be added its
complement by Mrs. Lewis, Some Pages of the Four Gospels
retranscribed (with or without an English translation), London, 1896;
further, Last Gleanings from the Sinai Palimpsest, Expositor, Aug.
1897, pp. 111-119; also, An Omission from the Text of the Sinai
Palimpsest, Expositor, Dec. 1897, p. 472. On the discovery of the
manuscript, see Mrs. Gibson, How the Codex was found, ... Cambridge,
1893, and Mrs. Lewis, In the shadow of Sinai, ... Cambridge, 1898; also
Mrs. Bensly, Our Journey to Sinai, ... With a chapter on the Sinai
Palimpsest. London, 1896. See also Mrs. Lewis, The Earlier Home of
the Sinaitic Palimpsest, Expositor, June 1900, pp. 415-421. The text
has been translated into German by Adalbert Merx, who has added a
brief but valuable critical discussion. Berlin (Reimer), 1897. The
second part, comprising the commentary, has not yet appeared. See also
Gwilliam’s notice of the editio princeps in the Expository Times, Jan.
1895, p. 157 ff.
4. On Tatian, the latest and best is Zahn, Evangelienharmonie, PRE3, v.
(1898), 653 ff.; also his Forschungen, i. (1881), Tatian’s Diatessaron,
ii. p. 286 ff. (1883), iv. (1891); Gesch. des Kanons, i. 387-414, ii. 530-
556. J. H. Hill, The earliest Life of Christ ever compiled from the Four
Gospels, being the Diatessaron of Tatian (c. A.D. 160), literally
translated from the Arabic Version. Edinburgh, 1893. J. R. Harris, The
Diatessaron of Tatian, a Preliminary Study. Cambridge, 1890. The
Diatessaron, a Reply, in the Contemporary Review, Aug. 1895, in
answer to W. R. Cassels, in the Nineteenth Century, April 1895; also by
the same writer, Fragments of the Commentary of Ephrem Syrus upon
the Diatessaron. London, 1895.... J. H. Hill, A Dissertation on the
Gospel Commentary of S. Ephrem the Syrian ... Edinburgh, 1896. J. A.
Robinson, Tatian’s Diatessaron and a Dutch Harmony, in the Academy,

24th March 1894. Hope W. Hogg, The Diatessaron of Tatian, with
introduction and translation, in the Ante-Nicene Library. Additional
Volume ... edited by Allan Menzies. Edinburgh, 1897, pp. 33-138. W.
Elliott, Tatian’s Diatessaron and the Modern Critics. Plymouth, 1888. I.
H. Hall, A Pair of Citations from the Diatessaron, in the Journal of
Biblical Literature, x. 2 (1891), 153-155. J. Goussen, Pauca Fragmenta
genuina Diatessaroniana, appended to the Apocalypsis S. Joannis
Versio Sahidica, 1895. See also Bäumer in the Literarischer
Handweiser, 1890, 153-169; the article Tatian in the Encyclopædia
Britannica, and Hastings’ Bible Dictionary, vol. ii. p. 697 f.
5. On the later Syriac versions, see Urt., 228, 236 f.; Gwynn, The older
Syriac Version of the four Minor Catholic Epistles, Hermathena, No.
xvi. (vol. vii.), 1890, 281-314. Merx, Die in der Peschito fehlenden
Briefe des Neuen Testamentes in arabischer der Philoxeniana
entstammender Uebersetzung ... Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, xii. 240 ff.,
348 ff., xiii. 1-28. Bensly, The Harklean Version of the Epistle to the
Hebrews, ... Cambridge, 1889. In this edition will be found the
subscription mentioned above, connecting the manuscript with that of
Pamphilus. See Addenda, p. xv.
6. On the Jerusalem Evangeliarium, see Urt., 228, 237. Zahn,
Forschungen, i. 329 ff. Lagarde, Mitteilungen, i. 111, iv. 328, 340. A.
de Lagarde, Erinnerungen an P. de Lagarde, p. 112 ff. Lewis and
Gibson, The Palestinian Syriac Lectionary of the Gospels re-edited
from two Sinai MSS. and from P. de Lagarde’s edition of the
Evangeliarium Hierosolymitanum, London, 1899. The Lectionary
published in the Studia Sinaitica, vi., contains, in the N.T., passages
from Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Cor., Gal., Ephes., Philip., Col., 1 Thess., 1
and 2 Tim., Heb., James. See notice in the Expository Times, Jan. 1898,
p. 190 ff. The Liturgy of the Nile, published by G. Margoliouth, 1896
(Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Oct. 1896, 677-731, and also
published separately), contains Acts xvi. 16-34. See also Woods, The
New Syriac Fragments in the Expository Times, Nov. 1893.

(b.) LATIN VERSIONS.

Jerome. The name most closely associated with the Latin
Versions of the New Testament is that of Jerome (Hieronymus). This
scholar was born at Stridon, on the borders of Dalmatia,[92] about the year
345, and educated at Rome. After leading for some time a hermit life in
Palestine, Jerome returned to Rome, and it was during his residence there,
in the year 382, that he was urged by Pope Damasus to undertake a revision
of the Latin version of the New Testament then in use. This he did, and in
383 sent the Pope, who died in the following year, the first instalment of the
work, the Four Gospels, accompanied with a letter beginning thus:—“Thou
compellest me to make a new work out of an old; after so many copies of
the Scriptures have been dispersed throughout the whole world, I am now to
occupy the seat of the arbiter, as it were, and seeing they disagree, to decide
which of them accords with the truth of the Greek; a pious task, verily, yet a
perilous presumption, to pass judgment on others and oneself to be judged
by all.” He anticipates that everyone, no matter who, learned or ignorant,
that takes up a Bible and finds a discrepancy between it and the usual text
will straightway condemn him as an impious falsifier who presumed to add
to or alter or correct the ancient Scriptures. But he comforts himself with
the reflection that it is the High Pontiff himself that has laid this task upon
him, and that the testimony of his jealous opponents themselves proves that
discrepancies are an indication of error (verum non esse quod variat, etiam
maledicorum testimonio comprobatur); for if they tell us we are to rest our
faith on the Latin exemplars, they must first say which, because there are
almost as many versions as manuscripts (tot enim sunt exemplaria paene
quot codices); if it is to be the majority of these, why not rather go back to
the Greek original which has been badly rendered by incompetent
translators (a vitiosis interpretibus male edita), made worse instead of better
by the presumption of unskilful correctors (a praesumptoribus imperitis
emendata perversius), and added to or altered by sleepy scribes (a librariis
dormitantibus aut addita sunt aut mutata). In a letter to his learned friend
Marcella, written in the year 384, he gives instances of what he complains
of, citing, e.g., Romans xii. 11, where tempori servientes had hitherto been
read instead of domino servientes (καιρῷ instead of κυρίῳ), and 1 Tim. v.
19, “against an elder receive not an accusation,” where the qualifying
clause, “except before two or three witnesses,” was dropped, and also 1
Tim. i. 15, iii. 1, where humanus sermo was given in place of fidelis. In all
three instances, our most recent critical editions decide in favour of Jerome,

against the Old Latin Version. In the last instance cited, we know of only
one Latin-Greek manuscript that has ἀνθρώπινος instead of πιστός, and that
only in c. iii. 1, viz. D*. Jerome accordingly issued an improved version of
the New Testament, beginning with the Gospels. For this purpose he made a
careful comparison of old Greek manuscripts (codicum Graecorum
emendata conlatione sed veterum). In his version he was also careful only
to make an alteration when a real change of meaning was necessary,
retaining in all other cases the familiar Latin wording. The Gospels were in
the order which has been the prevailing one since his day—Matthew, Mark,
Luke, John.
Augustine. We learn from the great Church Teacher
Augustine, who lived in Africa about the same time (354-430), that there
was an endless variety and multitude of translators (latinorum interpretum
infinita varietas, interpretum numerositas). He tells us that while it was
possible to count the number of those who had translated the Bible—i.e. the
Old Testament—from Hebrew into Greek, the Latin translators were
innumerable; that in the early age of the Christian faith (primis fidei
temporibus), no sooner did anyone gain possession of a Greek Codex, and
believe himself to have any knowledge of both languages, than he made
Itala. bold to translate it (ausus est interpretari). The
advice he himself gives is to prefer the Italic version to the others, as being
the most faithful and intelligible (in ipsis autem interpretationibus Itala
praeferatur; nam est verborum tenacior cum perspicuitate sententiae. De
Vulgate. Doctrina Christiana, ii. 14, 15). On the ground of
this passage, the pre-Jeromic versions have been comprehended under the
title of the Itala, as distinguished from Jerome’s own work, which is called
the Vulgate, seeing that it became the prevailing text in the Church of the
Middle Ages. By the Itala, Augustine himself, however, must have referred
to a particular version, and, according to the usage of that time, the word
cannot mean anything else than a version originating in or prevalent in Italy
—i.e. the North of Italy, what is called Lombardy. It is not difficult to
understand how it came to pass that Augustine used such a version in
Africa, seeing that he was a pupil of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan. In recent
times Burkitt has revived the opinion that by Itala Augustine means neither
more nor less than Jerome’s Revision of the Gospels. He demonstrates that
Augustine’s De Consensu, written about the year 400, is based on Jerome’s
revised text. In this, Zahn[93] agrees with him on grounds that admit of no

question so far as this point is concerned. But Wordsworth-White[94] will not
admit the inference that Augustine must have meant this Revision when he
spoke of Itala in the year 397, seeing that in his letter to Jerome,[95] written
in 403, he thanks God for the interpretation of the Gospel, “quasi de opere
recenter cognito,” while in his earlier letters to Jerome[96] he makes no
mention of it: “quod mirandum esset si in opere ante sex annos publici iuris
facto eam collaudasset.”[97]
(1.) Latin Versions before Jerome.
Old Latin Texts. Where, when, and by whom was the New
Testament, or at least were parts of it, first translated into Latin? From the
passage in Augustine quoted above, we learn that it was done by all and
sundry in the very earliest times of the Christian faith. Rome used to be
regarded as the place where the Latin versions took their rise. But it was
observed that Greek was very commonly employed as the written language
at Rome, especially among Christians. The first Bishops of Rome have pure
Greek names, and even the first representative of the Roman Church with a
Latin name, the Clement that wrote the Epistle to the Corinthians about the
year 95, even he wrote in Greek. Moreover, when the relics of the Old Latin
Bibles began to be examined, it was observed that their language, both in
vocabulary and grammar, entirely agreed with that found in African writers
of that age, and in some things agreed with these alone. It is, of course, a
African Latin. fact that the majority of the writers of that age
known to us are African. Till quite recently, therefore, it was held to be
tolerably well made out that the birthplace of the Latin Bible is to be found
in Africa. It was regarded by many as equally certain, that in spite of the
statements of Jerome and Augustine, and in spite too of the various forms in
which the Old Latin Bible now exists, these all proceed from a common
origin, or at most from two sources, so that it was not quite correct to speak
of a “multitude of translators” in the very earliest times. The settlement of
this question is rendered more difficult by the fact that, while the extant
copies of the pre-Jeromic Bible are undoubtedly very early, they are few in
number, and for the most part mutilated. The reason of this is not far to
seek. For, as time went on and Jerome’s new version came to be more and
more exclusively used, manuscripts of the earlier version lost their value,
and were the more frequently used for palimpsests and book covers. One
has also to take into account how liable the text of both was to be corrupted,

either by the copyist of an Old Latin Bible inserting in the margin, or even
interpolating in the text, various passages from Jerome’s translation that
seemed to him to be a decided improvement, or conversely, by the scribe
who should have written the new rendering involuntarily permitting
familiar expressions to creep in from the old. It is estimated that we have
about 8000 manuscripts of Jerome’s recension, of which 2228 have been
catalogued by Gregory. Samuel Berger, the most thorough investigator in
this field, examined 800 manuscripts in Paris alone. But on the other hand,
only 38 manuscripts of the Old Latin Version of the New Testament are
known to exist. The credit of collecting the relics of these pre-Jeromic
versions of the Old and New Testament, so far as they were accessible at
that time, belongs to Peter Sabatier the Maurist (Rheims, 1743, 3 vols.
folio).
In critical editions of the New Testament the manuscripts of the pre-Jeromic
versions are indicated by the small letters of the Roman alphabet. They are
the following:—

1. Gospels.

a. Vercellensis: according to a tradition recorded in a document of the
eighth century this manuscript was written by Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli,
who died in the year 370 or 371. Recent scholars, however, date it
somewhat later. It is written on purple with silver letters. The order of the
Gospels is that found in most of these Old Latin MSS.—viz. Matthew,
John, Luke, Mark. The manuscript is defective in several places.

The codex was edited by Irico in 1748, and by Bianchini in 1749 along
with some of the others in his Evangeliarium Quadruplex. This latter
edition was reprinted, with some inaccuracies, in Migne’s Patrologia
Latina, vol. xii. The manuscript was again edited by Belsheim; Codex
Vercellensis. Quatuor Evangelia ante Hieronymum latine translata ex
reliquiis Codicis Vercellensis, saeculo ut videtur quarto scripti, et ex
Editione Iriciana principe denuo ededit (sic) Jo. Belsheim. Christiania,
1894.

b. Veronensis: of the fourth or fifth century, also written with silver on
purple. In this Codex, John vii. 44-viii. 12 has been erased. The manuscript
is defective.

Edited by Bianchini (see above). A Spagnolo, L’Evangeliario Purpureo
Veronese. Nota (Torino, 1899. Estratta dagli Atti dell’ Accademia Reale
delle Scienze di Torino).

c. Colbertinus: in Paris, written in the twelfth century, but still containing
the Old Latin text in the Gospels, though exhibiting Jerome’s version in
other parts.

Edited by Sabatier, and again by Belsheim; Codex Colbertinus
Parisiensis. Quatuor Evangelia ante Hieronymum latine translata post
editionem Petri Sabatier cum ipso codice collatam denuo edidit Jo.
Belsheim. Christiania, 1888.

d. The Latin part of Codex D; see p. 64 ff.
e. Palatinus: of the fourth or fifth century, written like a b f i j on purple
with gold and silver letters: now in Vienna, with one leaf in Dublin.

Two other fragments were published in 1893 by Hugo Linke from a
transcript made for Bianchini in 1762. The entire codex was edited by
Belsheim, Christiania, 1896. See von Dobschütz in the LCbl., 1896, 28.

f. Brixianus, of the sixth century, in Brescia. In their new edition of the
Vulgate, Wordsworth and White printed the text of this manuscript
underneath that of Jerome for comparison’s sake as probably containing the
text most nearly resembling that on which Jerome based his recension. But
see Burkitt’s Note in the Journal of Theological Studies, I. i. (Oct. 1899),
129-134, and the note to p. 139 in Addenda.
ff1. Corbeiensis I., contains the Gospel according to Matthew alone. The
manuscript formerly belonged to the Monastery of Corbey, near Amiens,
and with others was transferred to St. Petersburg during the French
Revolution.

ff2. Corbeiensis II., written in the sixth century and now in Paris: contains
the Gospels with several lacunæ.

On Belsheim’s editions of ff1 and ff2 (1881 and 1887), see E. Ranke in
the ThLz., 1887, col. 566, and S. Berger, Bull. Crit., 1891, 302 f.

g1. Sangermanensis I., of the ninth century, in Paris, exhibits a mixed text.
The manuscript was used by Stephen for his Latin Bible of 1538.
g2. Sangermanensis II., written in an Irish hand of the tenth century, has a
mixed text: in Paris (Lat. 13069).
h. Claromontanus, of the fourth or fifth century, now in the Vatican: has the
Old Latin text in Matthew only. The manuscript is defective at the
beginning down to Matt. iii. 15 and also from Matt. xiv. 33-xviii. 12.

Edited by Mai in his Scriptorum Veterum Nova Collectio, iii. 257-288,
and by Belsheim, Christiania, 1892.

i. Vindobonensis, of the seventh century, contains fragments of Luke and
Mark written on purple with silver and gold.

Edited by Belsheim, Codex Vindobonensis membranaceus purpureus ...
antiquissimae evangeliorum Lucae et Marci translationis Latinae
fragmenta edidit Jo. Belsheim. Lipsiae, 1885 (cum tabula).

j (z in TiGr.). Saretianus or Sarzannensis, of the fifth century, contains 292
verses from John written on purple. The manuscript was discovered in 1872
in the Church of Sarezzano, near Tortona, and is not yet completely edited.

Compare G. Amelli, Un antichissimo codice biblico Latino purpureo
conservato nella chiesa di Sarezzano presso Tortona. Milan, 1872.

k. Bobiensis, of the fifth century, is perhaps the most important of the Old
Latin manuscripts, but unfortunately contains only fragments of Matthew
and Mark. It is said to have belonged to St. Columban, the founder of the
monastery of Bobbio, who died in the year 615. It is now preserved at
Turin. See Burkitt on Mark xv. 34 in Codex Bobiensis in the Journal of
Theological Studies, i. 2 (Jan. 1900), p. 278 f.

l. Rehdigeranus, in Breslau, purchased in Venice by Thomas von Rehdiger
in 1569. Matthew i. 1-ii. 15 and a good deal of John wanting.

Edited by H. Fr. Haase, Breslau, 1865, 1866: Evangeliorum quattuor
vetus latina interpretatio ex codice Rehdigerano nunc primum edita.

m. Does not represent any particular manuscript and should properly be
omitted here. It indicates the Liber de divinis scripturis sive Speculum, a
work mistakenly ascribed to Augustine, consisting of a collection of proof-
passages (testimonia) from the Old and New Testaments. All the books of
the latter are made use of except Philemon, Hebrews, and 3 John, but the
Epistle to the Laodicæans is cited among the number.

Fragmenta Novi Testamenti in translatione latina antehieronymiana ex
libro qui vocatur Speculum eruit et ordine librorum Novi Testamenti
exposuit J. Belsheim. Christiania, 1899.

n o p. Are fragments at St. Gall: published in the Old Latin Biblical Texts,
see below, p. 131 f.
n. Written in the fifth or sixth century, has probably been in the Library at
St. Gall since its foundation. It contains portions of Matthew and Mark,
with John xix. 13-42.
o. Written in the seventh century, possibly to take the place of the last leaf
of n, which is wanting, contains Mark xvi. 14-20.
p. Two leaves of an Irish missal written in the seventh or eighth century.
a2. Is part of the same manuscript as n. It consists of a leaf containing Luke
xi. 11-29 and xiii. 16-34. It was found in the Episcopal archives at Chur,
and is preserved in the Rhætisches Museum there.
q. Monacensis, written in the sixth or seventh century, came originally from
Freising. Published in the Old Latin Biblical Texts.
r or r1 and r2. Usserianus I. and II., are both in Dublin. The former is written
in an Irish hand of the seventh century, and has several lacunæ. r2 belongs
to the ninth or tenth century and has an Old Latin text in Matthew

resembling that of r1. It shows affinity with Jerome’s text in Mark, Luke,
and John, of which, however, only five leaves remain.

Edited by T. K. Abbott, Evangeliorum versio antehieronymiana ex
codice Usseriano (Dublinensi), adjecta collatione codicis Usseriani
alterius. Accedit versio Vulgata.... Dublin, 1884, 2 Parts.

s. Four leaves with portions of Luke, written in the sixth century. The
fragments came originally from Bobbio, and are now in the Ambrosian
Library at Milan. Published in the Old Latin Biblical Texts.
t. A palimpsest very difficult to decipher, containing portions of the first
three chapters of Mark, written in the fifth century, and now at Berne.
Published in the Old Latin Biblical Texts.
v. Bound in the cover of a volume at Vienna entitled, Pactus Legis
Ripuariæ: exhibits John xix. 27-xx. 11. Published in the Old Latin Biblical
Texts.
aur. Aureus or Holmiensis, written in the seventh or eighth century, exhibits
the Gospels entire, with the exception of Luke xxi. 8-30. An inscription in
old English states that the manuscript was purchased from the heathen (the
Danes?) by Alfred the Alderman for Christ Church, Canterbury, when
Alfred was King and Ethelred Archbishop (871-889). It was afterwards in
Madrid, and is now at Stockholm. It is really a Vulgate text with an
admixture of Old Latin readings. Published by Belsheim in 1878.
δ. Is the interlinear Latin version of Δ (see p. 72), and is interesting on
account of its alternative readings given in almost every verse—e.g. uxorem
vel conjugem for γυναῖκα, Matt. i. 20. Compare Harris, The Codex
Sangallensis, Cambridge, 1891.

On the Prolegomena found in many Old Latin and Vulgate manuscripts
of the Gospels, see Peter Corssen, Monarchianische Prologe zu den
vier Evangelien. Leipzig, 1896 (TU., xv. 1). This has been
supplemented by von Dobschütz’s Prolog zur Apostelgeschichte. See
also Jülicher in the GGA., 1896, xi. 841-851. J. S. in the Revue
Critique, 1897, vii. 135 f. H. Holtzmann in the Th. Lz., 1897, xii. col.
231 ff. A. Hilgenfeld, Altchristliche Prolegomena zu den Evangelien in
the ZfwTh., 1897, iii. 432-444.

2. Acts.

d m As for the Gospels.
e. The Latin text of E. See above, p. 75.
g. Gigas Holmiensis, the immense manuscript of the entire Latin Bible
preserved at Stockholm. The text is Old Latin only in the Acts and
Apocalypse, the rest of the New Testament exhibiting Jerome’s version. The
manuscript was brought to Sweden from Prague as a prize of war in 1648,
along with the Codex Argenteus.

The Acts and Apocalypse were edited by Belsheim, Christiania, 1879.
On this see O. v. Gebhardt in the ThLz., 1880, col. 185. A new collation
of this manuscript was made for W.-W. by H. Karlsson in 1891.

g2. In Milan, is part of a Lectionary written in the tenth or eleventh century,
and contains the pericope for St. Stephen’s day, Acts vi. 8-vii. 2, vii. 51-viii.
4.

Published by Ceriani in his Monumenta Sacra et Profana, i. 2, pp. 127,
128. Milan, 1866.

h. Floriacensis, a palimpsest formerly belonging to the Abbey of Fleury on
the Loire, and now in Paris, written probably in the seventh century. It
contains fragments of the Apocalypse, Acts, 1 and 2 Peter, and 1 John, in
this order. (Tischendorf’s reg.: Blass’s f.)

The latest and best edition is that of S. Berger: Le Palimpseste de
Fleury. Paris, 1889.

p2, written in the thirteenth century, exhibits a text with an admixture of Old
Latin readings in the Acts only. The manuscript came originally from
Perpignan, and is now in Paris, No. 321. It was used by Blass.

Published by Berger: Un ancien texte latin des Actes des Apôtres, etc.
Paris, 1895. See von Dobschütz in the ThLz., 1896, 4; Haussleiter in the

Th. Lbl., no. 9; Schmiedel in the L. Cbl., no. 33; E. Beurlier, Bull. Crit.,
1896, 32, p. 623.

s2. Bobiensis, a palimpsest of the fifth or sixth century at Vienna, containing
fragments of Acts xxiii., xxv.-xxviii., and of James and 1 Peter.
x1. Written in the seventh or eighth century, contains the Acts with the
exception of xiv. 26-xv. 32. The manuscript is preserved at Oxford and is
not completely published.
w. Is the symbol given by Blass to a paper manuscript of the New
Testament written, it seems, in Bohemia in the fifteenth century, and now at
Wernigerode. In the main it exhibits Jerome’s text even to a greater extent
than p, but preserves elements of the Old Latin, particularly in the latter half
of the Acts. The mixture is similar to that observed in the Provençal New
Testament,[98] which is derived from a Latin manuscript of this nature, and
to that in the pre-Lutheran German Bible. (See Urt., p. 127 f.)

On Acts, see especially P. Corssen, Der Cyprianische Text der Acta
Apostolorum. Berlin, 1892.

3. Catholic Epistles.

h m s. As above.
ff. Corbeiensis, at St. Petersburg, of the tenth century, contains the Epistle
of James.

Edited by Belsheim in the Theologisk Tidsskrift for den evangelisk-
lutherske Kirke i Norge (N.S. Vol. ix. Part 2); also by J. Wordsworth,
The Corbey St. James, etc., in Studia Biblica, i. pp. 113-150. Oxford,
1885.

q. Written in the seventh century, and preserved at Munich, contains
fragments of 1 John, and of 1 and 2 Peter. The text exhibits the passage of
the Three Heavenly Witnesses in 1 John v., but verse 7 follows verse 8.

Published by Ziegler in 1877, Bruchstücke einer vorhieronymianischen
Uebersetzung der Petrusbriefe.

4. Pauline Epistles.

m. As for the Gospels.
d e f g. The Latin versions of the Greek Codices D E F G.
gue. Guelferbytanus, of the sixth century, contains fragments of Romans cc.
xi.-xv., found in the Gothic palimpsest at Wolfenbüttel. See p. 69.

Published by Tischendorf in his Anecdota Sacra et Profana, 1855, pp.
153-158. See Burkitt, in the Journal of Theological Studies, i. 1 (Oct.
1899), p. 134, and compare the note to p. 139 in the Addenda, p. xv.

r. Written in the fifth or sixth century, came originally from Freising, and is
now at Munich: contains portions of Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians,
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 Timothy, and Hebrews.

Ziegler, Italafragmente der paulinischen Briefe. Marburg, 1876.
Wölfflin, Neue Bruchstücke der Freisinger Itala (Münchener
Sitzungsberichte, 1893, ii. 253-280).

r2. Also at Munich, a single leaf, with part of Phil. iv. and of 1 Thess. i.
r3. In the Benedictine Abbey of Göttweih on the Danube: fragments of
Romans v. and vi. and of Galatians iv. and v., written on leaves used as a
book cover.

Published by Rönsch in the ZfwTh., xxii. (1879), pp. 234-238.

x2. At Oxford, of the ninth century, contains the Pauline Epistles: defective
from Heb. xi. 34-xiii. 25.

See also Fr. Zimmer, Der Galaterbrief im altlateinischen Text, als
Grundlage für einen textkritischen Apparat der Vetus Latina in the

Theologische Studien und Skizzen aus Ostpreussen. Königsberg, i.
(1887), pp. 1-81.

5. Apocalypse.

The only manuscripts are m as for the Gospels, and g and h as for the Acts,
h exhibits only fragments of cc. i. and ii., viii. and ix., xi. and xii., and xiv.-
xvi.

For the Old Latin Biblical Texts edited by Wordsworth and White, see
below, p. 131.

Latin Fathers. On account of the small number of these
manuscripts the quotations of the Latin Fathers are valuable, especially
those of Cyprian of Carthage,[99] and after them the recently discovered
citations in Priscillian, who was the first to suffer death as a heretic in the
year 385. In the Apocalypse we have the quotations of Primasius, Bishop of
Hadrumet (ca. 550), who used in his commentary on the Apocalypse not
only his own Old Latin Bible but also a revised version the same as that
used by the African Donatist Tyconius. In attempting to classify these
witnesses it was found that the text of certain manuscripts coincided with
that of the Bible used by Cyprian—viz., in the Gospels k especially, in Acts
h, and in the Apocalypse Primasius and h. This family has accordingly been
designated the African.
Tertullian, a still earlier African Father, undoubtedly refers to the existence
of a Latin Version in his time, but the quotations found in his Latin works
cannot be taken into account, for this reason, that in citing the New
Testament he seems to have made an independent translation from the
Greek for his immediate purpose.[100]
As for the quotations in Augustine, they are found to resemble the text of f
and q in the Gospels, particularly the former, and that of q, r, and r3 in the
Epistles. To this group, therefore, the name Italian has been given. It has,
however, been deemed necessary to regard this Italian family as being itself
a revised and smoother form of a still earlier version styled the European,

which is thought to be represented by g, g2, and s in the Acts, by ff in the
Epistles, and by g in the Apocalypse.
Old Latin Texts. As illustrating the way in which the various forms
deviate from each other, take the text of Luke xxiv., verses 4, 5, 11, and 13
as exhibited by a b c d e f and the Vulgate (vg).
v. 4.—All the seven agree in the opening words, Et factum est dum; but
after that there follows:—
(1) stuperent a c, mente consternatae essent b, vg; mente consternatae sunt
e, aporiarentur d, haesitarent f.
(2) de hoc a c f, de facto b, de eo d, de isto e, vg.
(3) ecce a c d f, vg; et ecce b e.
(4) viri duo a f, duo viri b c d e, vg.
(5) adstiterunt a f, astiterunt c, adsisterunt d, steterunt b e, vg.
(6) iuxta illas a f, secus illas b c e, vg; eis d.
(7) in veste fulgenti a f, vg; in veste fulgente b c e, in amictu scoruscanti d.
(8) v. 5: timore autem adprehensae inclinantes faciem ad terram a; cum
timerent autem et declinarent vultum in terram b e f, vg; conterritae autem
inclinaverunt faciem in terram c; in timore autem factae inclinaverunt
vultus suos in terra d.
(9) v. 11: et visa sunt a b c (visae) e f, vg; et paruerunt d.
(10) illis a, ante illos b, vg; apud illos c e, in conspectu eorum d, coram illos
f.
(11) tanquam a, sicut b e, vg; quasi c d f.
(12) delira a, deliramentum b e f, vg; (b spells -lirr-, and f -ler-), deliramenta
c, derissus d.
(13) v. 13: municipium a, castellum b c d e f, vg.
(14) stadios habentem LX ab hierusalem a, quod aberat stadia sexaginta ab
hierusalem b, quod abest ab ierosolymis stadia sexag. c, iter habentis
stadios sexag. ab hierus. d, quod est ab hierosolymis stadia septem e, quod

aberat spatio stadiorum LX ab hierus. f, quod erat in spatio stadiorum
sexaginta ab hierusalem vg.
(15) cui nomen a, nomine b c d e f, vg.
(16) ammaus a, cleopas et ammaus b, emmaus c f, vg; alammaus d, ammaus
et cleopas e.
Is not this almost exactly as Jerome said: tot exemplaria, quot codices? And
when we take into account that all this variety in the Latin manuscripts is
not simply due to a difference in translation, but that a similar diversity
exists in the Greek,[101] we can easily understand what a task it is to extricate
the original text from out these conflicting witnesses. At the same time, we
have evidence of the singular position in which D stands to all the others;
while the last example also affords an illustration of the way in which
mistakes might arise. The reading ᾗ ὄνομα in verse 13 would preclude any
possibility of misunderstanding. But suppose the reader or the translator had
before him a manuscript like D, in which the reading was ὀνόματι. What
happened, we shall suppose, was this. The phrase, “Emmaus by name,” was
taken as referring, not to the village, but to the subject of the sentence; the
other name, Cleopas, was then inserted from verse 18, and in time placed
even before Emmaus by a later copyist. And accordingly we find, even in
Ambrose of Milan, that the two travellers are regularly called Ammaon et
Cleopas. It was just as Jerome said: a vitiosis interpretibus male edita, a
praesumptoribus imperitis emendata perversius, a librariis dormitantibus aut
addita aut mutata.
(2.) The Latin Version of Jerome.

Codex It is a comparatively easy task to restore the work
Epternacensis.
of Jerome; first of all because all our present
manuscripts are derived from one and only one source, secondly because
the number of existing manuscripts is very great, and lastly because some of
them at least go back to the sixth century. There is a Codex in Paris which
formerly belonged to the Church of St. Willibrord at Echternach, written by
an Irish hand of the eighth or ninth century, and containing a subscription
copied from its original to the following effect: proemendavi ut potui
secundum codicem in bibliotheca Eugipi praespiteri quem ferunt fuisse sci
Hieronymi, indictione VI. p(ost) con(sulatum) Bassilii u. c. anno septimo
Codex Amiatinus. decimo. That must have been in the year 558.
Codex Amiatinus, now in Florence, was formerly supposed to belong to the
same time, but this turns out to be a mistake, because it has been proved
that it was written for Ceolfrid, Abbot of Wearmouth, who died at Langres
on the 25th September 716, on his way to Rome, where he intended to
Codex Fuldensis. present this Codex to the Pope. One of the oldest
and most valuable manuscripts of the Vulgate is at Fulda, where it has been
preserved, perhaps, from the time of Boniface. This Codex Fuldensis was
written between 540 and 546, by order of Bishop Victor of Capua, and
corrected by himself. It contains the whole of the New Testament according
to Jerome’s version, only in place of the four separate Gospels it has a
Harmony composed by Victor, who followed Tatian’s plan, using the Latin
text of Jerome. Victor’s Harmony in turn became the basis of the so-called
Old German Tatian.
Wordsworth and The task of restoring the original text of Jerome’s
White.
version has been undertaken in England by the
Bishop of Salisbury, who has been at work on all the available material for
more than fifteen years. The edition bears the title, Novum Testamentum
Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum editionem sancti Hieronymi ad
codicum manuscriptorum fidem recensuit Johannes Wordsworth in operis
societatem adsumpto Henrico Juliano White. Five parts of the first volume
have already appeared, containing the four Gospels with an Epilogus ad
Evangelia.[102] In France, J. Delisle, the Director of the Paris National
Library, has rendered great service by his work upon the manuscripts under
his care; while Samuel Berger has constituted himself pre-eminently the
historian of the Vulgate by bringing fresh testimony from the early Middle

Ages and the remotest provinces of the Church to bear upon the history of
the Vulgate and its text as well as on the origin and dissemination of the
different forms. In his compendious Histoire de la Vulgate pendant les
premiers siècles du moyen âge (Paris, 1893), he has, e.g., indicated no
fewer than 212 different ways in which the books of the Old Testament
were arranged in the manuscripts that he examined, and thirty-eight
varieties in the order of the New Testament books. In Germany Bengel
applied himself to the reconstruction of the Latin text of the Bible in the last
century, and in this he was followed by Lachmann in the present century,
while Riegler, van Ess, and Kaulen have added to our knowledge of the
history of the Vulgate. Dr. Peter Corssen has followed up the labours of
Ziegler and Rönsch in the particular field of the pre-Jeromic Bible and its
text with a methodical examination of the earlier editions, and E. v.
Dobschütz has begun to publish Studies in the Textual Criticism of the
Vulgate. The valuable researches of Carlo Vercellone (1860-64) were
concerned almost exclusively with the Old Testament, and do not seem to
have been followed up in Italy. “Utinam Papa Leo XIII.,” says Gregory,
“tanta scientia tanta magnanimitate insignis curam in se suscipiat textus
sacrosanctorum Bibliorum Latini edendi; cura, opus ecclesia et Papa
dignum.” Meanwhile Wordsworth and White appear to have accomplished
as much as is possible at present in the field of the Gospels.[103]
MSS. used by The principles on which Jerome went in his
Jerome.
revision of the text have been already referred to,
but what the early Greek manuscripts were that he employed is not yet
clearly made out. The relics of the material he used are as scanty as those of
his own work. He must, however, have been able to make use of
manuscripts that went back to Eusebius, seeing that he adopted the
Eusebian Canons in his New Testament. But there are certain readings in
Jerome which we have not yet been able to discover in any Greek
manuscript that we know. For instance, he gives docebit vos omnem
veritatem in John xvi. 13, where our present Greek editions read ὁδηγήσει
ὑμᾶς ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ πάσῃ, so that he would seem to have read διηγήσεται
ὑμῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν πᾶσαν. As a matter of fact, this reading does occur in
two passages of Eusebius and in Cyril of Jerusalem, as well as in the Arabic
version of Tatian, but it has not been discovered in any Greek manuscript.
[104]
In the other parts of the New Testament, the revision of which was
perhaps completed by the year 386, Jerome inserted hardly any new

readings from the Greek, but contented himself with improving the
grammar and diction of the Latin. His work on the Old Testament was much
more comprehensive, but does not fall to be discussed here.
History of the It was only by degrees that Jerome’s recension
Vulgate.
gained ground. In Rome, Gregory the Great (d.
604) for one preferred it to the old, though at the same time he says
expressly: sedes apostolica, cui auctore Deo praesideo, utraque utitur.
Alcuin. Owing to the use of both forms the diversity of
copies grew to such an extent that in 797 Charles the Great ordered Alcuin
to make a uniformly revised text from the best Latin manuscripts for use in
the Churches of his Empire. For this purpose Alcuin sent to his native
Northumbria for manuscripts, by which he corrected the text of the Bible,
and he was able to present the first copy to the Emperor at Christmas 801. A
good many of the superb Carolingian manuscripts, as they are called, which
are found in our libraries, contain Alcuin’s Revision, as for instance the
Bible of Grandval near Basel, which was probably written for Charles the
Bald, and which is now in the British Museum (see Plate VII.); the Bible
presented to the same monarch by Vivian, Abbot of St. Martin of Tours,
which was sent by the Chapter of Metz from the Cathedral treasury there to
Colbert in 1675, and is now in Paris (B. N., Lat. 1); another written in the
same monastery of St. Martin, and now at Bamberg; and that in the
Vallicellian Library of the Church of Sta. Maria in Rome, which is perhaps
the best specimen of the Alcuinian Bible.
Theodulf. Another revision was introduced into France by
Alcuin’s contemporary Theodulf, Bishop of Orleans (787-821). He was a
Visigoth, born in the neighbourhood of Narbonne, and the type of text he
introduced was taken essentially from Spanish manuscripts. We have his
revision in the so-called Theodulfian Bible, which formerly belonged to the
Cathedral Church of Orleans, and is now in Paris (Lat. 9380); in its
companion volume, formerly in the Cathedral of Puy, and now in the
British Museum (24142); and in the Bible of St. Hubert, which came from
the monastery of that name in the Ardennes.
Harding. A further revision was made by Stephen Harding,
third Abbot of Citeaux. About the year 1109 he prepared a standard Bible
for his congregation, in which the Latin text of the New Testament was
corrected by the Greek. At the same time the Old Testament was revised

from the Hebrew with the help of some Jewish scholars. Harding’s copy of
the standard Bible, in four volumes, is still preserved in the Public Library
at Dijon. A similar work was done for his monastery by William, Abbot of
Hirsau.
Correctoria. Attempts were also made to settle the text by
means of the so-called Correctoria Bibliorum, in which those readings
which were supposed to be correct were carefully collected and arranged.
The University of Paris in particular did a great deal in this way, and such
was its influence, that by the middle of the fifteenth century the Parisian
text was the one most commonly followed in manuscripts, and the
invention of printing gave it a complete ascendancy over the others.
Printed text. The first fruits of the printing press are understood
to be the undated “forty-two line Bible,” usually called the Mazarin Bible,
seeing that it was the copy in the library of Cardinal Mazarin that first
attracted the attention of bibliographers. The first dated Bible is of the year
1462. Copinger estimates that 124 editions were printed before the close of
the fifteenth century, and over 400 during the sixteenth. The first edition in
octavo, “for the poor man,” was issued at Basel in 1491 from the Press of
Froben, the same printer who prompted Erasmus to prepare the first Greek
New Testament. The first edition in Latin with various readings was printed
in 1504. In the following year Erasmus published the Annotationes which
Laurentius Valla had prepared for the Latin Bible as early as 1444. The year
1528 saw the first really critical edition. It was brought out by Stephen, who
used in its preparation three good Paris manuscripts—the Bible of Charles
the Bald already referred to, that of St. Denis, and another of the ninth
century, the New Testament portion of which has now disappeared. He
afterwards published in 1538-40 another edition, for which he employed
seventeen manuscripts, and which became the foundation of the present
Henten. authorised Vulgate. About the same time John
Henten published a very valuable edition [1547] on the basis of thirty-one
manuscripts, in the preparation of which he was assisted by the theologians
of Louvain. This was followed in 1573 and 1580 by two further editions
containing important annotations by Lucas of Brügge. In the year previous
Authorised Vulgate. to that in which Henten’s edition appeared, the
Council of Trent, in its fourth sitting of the 8th April 1546, decided “ut haec
vetus et vulgata editio in publicis lectionibus, disputationibus,

praedicationibus et expositionibus pro authentica habeatur,” and at the same
time ordained “posthac sacra scriptura, potissimum vero haec ipsa vetus et
vulgata editio quam emendatissime imprimatur.”
Sixtine. The latter part of this decree was carried into effect
in the papacy of Sixtus V. His predecessor, Pius V., began the work of
revising the text of the Bible, and a “Congregatio pro emendatione
Bibliorum” gave twenty-six sittings to it in the year 1569. His successor
seems to have allowed the work to lapse, but Sixtus V. appointed a new
commission for the purpose under the Presidency of Cardinal Caraffa. The
Pope himself revised the result of their labours, which was printed at the
Vatican Press that he had founded. This edition, which takes its name from
him, was issued under the Bull “Aeternus ille” of the 1st March 1589, and
published in the following year. It is the first official edition of the Vulgate.
Sixtus died on the 27th August 1590, and was succeeded by four Popes in
Clementine. the space of two years. His fourth successor in the
Chair of Peter, Clement VIII., issued a new edition under the name of the
old Pope, accompanied by the Bull “Cum sacrorum” of the 9th November
1592. This edition, containing a preface written by Cardinal Bellarmin, was
substituted for the former, and has continued from that day without any
alteration as the authorised Bible of the entire Roman Church. The text of
this second edition approximated more closely to that of Henten, for which
the Commission of Pope Sixtus had also expressed their preference, though
their printed edition went rather by that of Stephen. The number of the
variations between these two editions has been estimated at 3000. For our
purpose both alike are superseded by the edition of Wordsworth and White.
It may be added that the first edition to contain the names of both the Popes
upon the title page is that of 1604. The title runs: “Sixti V. Pont. Max. iussu
recognita et Clementis VIII. auctoritate edita.” Those printed at Rome at the
present day are entitled: “Sixti V. et Clementis VIII. Pontt. Maxx. iussu
recognita atque edita.” See below, p. 132.
An enumeration of all the manuscripts of the Vulgate mentioned by
Tischendorf in his eighth edition, or even of the earliest and most important
of them, cannot be attempted. Those, however, mentioned by Gebhardt in
his Adnotatio Critica are given here, with the notation adopted by
Wordsworth and White.

The best manuscripts, in the judgment of the English editors, are Codex
Amiatinus, Codex Fuldensis, and the one in the Ambrosian Library at Milan
(C 39 inf.), written in the sixth century. (M in W.-W.; not cited by
Tischendorf.)
am. Amiatinus (vide supra, p. 122), written ca. 700, is an excellent
manuscript, and particularly interesting as containing in the introduction a
double catalogue of the Books of the Bible resembling that of the Senator
Cassiodorus. See Westcott, Bible in the Church, Appendix B; Canon,
Appendix D. (A in W.-W.) (See Plate VI.)
bodl. Bodleianus, of the seventh century, formerly belonging to the Library
of St. Augustine at Canterbury. (O in W.-W.)
demid. Demidovianus, belonging to the thirteenth century, but copied from
an earlier exemplar; formerly at Lyons; present locality unknown; not cited
in W.-W.
em. Emeram, written in the year 870, in gold uncials with splendid
miniatures: at Munich, Cimelie 55: not cited in W.-W.
erl. Erlangen, of the ninth century (Irmischer’s Catalogue, 467): used only
indirectly by Tischendorf, and not cited in W.-W.
for. Foroiuliensis, written in the sixth or seventh century, and now at
Cividale, Friuli: fragments of it at Venice and Prague. (J in W.-W.)
fos. Of the ninth century: from St. Maur des Fossés, now in Paris. (Lat.
11959.)
fu. Fuldensis (vide supra, p. 122), written between 540 and 546: contains
the Epistle to the Laodicaeans after Colossians: edited with facsimiles by E.
Ranke. (F in W.-W.)
gat. Gatianus, from St. Gatien’s in Tours: written in the eighth or ninth
century: stolen from Libri: purchased by Lord Ashburnham and now in
Paris: not cited in W.-W.
harl. Harleianus 1775, of the sixth or seventh century: in the British
Museum, formerly in Paris 4582: stolen from there by John Aymont in
1707. (Z in W.-W.)

ing. Ingolstadt, of the seventh century, now in the University Library at
Munich: defective. (I in W.-W.) See von Dobschütz, Vulgatastudien (with
two facsimiles).
mm. Of the tenth or eleventh century, from Marmoutiers, near Tours: in the
British Museum, Egerton 609. (E in W.-W.)
mt. Of the eighth or ninth century, from St. Martin’s, and still at Tours:
written in gold letters. (M̅ , in W.-W.)
pe. A very old purple manuscript of the sixth century at Perugia, containing
Luke i. 1-xii. 7. (P in W.-W.)
prag. The fragments cited under for. (see above).
reg. Regius, of the seventh or eighth century, a purple manuscript inscribed
in gold, containing Matthew and Mark, with lacunæ: at Paris 11955: not
cited in W.-W.
rus. The so-called Rushworth Gospels, written by an Irish scribe who died
in the year 820: has an interlinear Anglo-Saxon version. (R in W.-W.)
san. At St. Gall, a fragment containing Matthew vi. 21-John xvii. 18,
written by a scribe who says that he used two Latin and one Greek
manuscripts. In the Epistles san. is a palimpsest at St. Gall containing
Ephes. vi. 2 to 1 Tim. ii. 5, the Biblical text being the uppermost.
taur. Of the seventh century, at Turin, contains the Gospels beginning at
Matthew xiii. 34: not cited in W.-W.
tol. Written in the eighth century: this manuscript, which was written by a
Visigoth, was given by Servandus of Seville to John, Bishop of Cordova,
who presented it to the See of Seville in 988: it was afterwards at Toledo,
and is now at Madrid. It was collated for the Sixtine Recension by
Palomares, but reached Rome too late to be of use. (T in W.-W.)
In addition to the eleven manuscripts mentioned above as cited by
Wordsworth and White, twenty-one others are regularly used by them, and a
great number are cited occasionally. For these reference must be made to
their edition, and for further particulars to Berger’s incomparable work.

On the Latin Versions compare TiGr., 948-1108, 1313, and especially
Scrivener. The chapter on The Latin Versions in the Fourth Edition of

the latter work (c. iii.) was re-written by H. J. White, the collaborateur
of Wordsworth. See also Urt., 85-118, which deals with the Old
Testament as well, and the article on the Old Latin Versions in Hastings’
Dictionary of the Bible, iii. 47-62.
1. G. Riegler, Kritische Geschichte der Vulgata, Sulzbach, 1820; Lean.
van Ess, Pragmatisch-kritische Geschichte der Vulgata im Allgemeinen
und zunächst in Beziehung auf das Trientische Decret, Tübingen, 1824;
Kaulen, Geschichte der Vulgata, Mainz, 1868; Berger, Histoire de la
Vulgate pendant les premiers siècles du moyen âge, Paris, 1893 (List of
the chief works dealing with the history of the Vulgate given on p. xxii.
ff.).
2. On the subject of the Itala see Ziegler, Die Lateinischen
Bibelübersetzungen vor Hieronymus und die Itala des Augustinus,
Munich, 1879; Zycha, Bemerkungen zur Italafrage, in the Eranos
Vindobonensis, 1893, 177-184; Burkitt, The Old Latin and the Itala
(Texts and Studies, vol. iv., No. 3, 1896).
3. On the language see Rönsch (d. 1888), Itala und Vulgata, 2nd
Edition, 1875; also Die ältesten lateinischen-Bibelübersetzungen nach
ihrem Werthe für die lateinische Sprachwissenschaft, by the same
writer in the Collectanea Philologa, Bremen, 1891, 1-20; Kaulen,
Handbuch zur Vulgata, Eine systematische Darstellung ihres
Sprachcharakters, Mainz, 1870. Saalfeld, De Bibliorum S. Vulgatæ
Editionis Graecitate, Quedlinburg, 1891.
4. Editions of the Text:—Among the earlier works the most important
is that of Sabatier, which is not yet superseded, in the Old Testament at
least, Bibliorum sacrorum Latinæ Versiones antiquæ, seu Vetus Italica,
et cæteræ quæcunque in codicibus MSS. et antiquorum libris reperiri
potuerunt, etc., opera et studio D. Petri Sabatier, 3 vols. folio,[105]
Rheims, 1743. Jos. Bianchini (Blanchinus), Evangeliarium
Quadruplex, 2 vols. folio, Rome, 1749 (copies now cost about £4).
After a long interval work in this field has been resumed in the Old
Latin Biblical Texts, published at the Clarendon Press, Oxford, of which
four parts have appeared:—1. The Gospel according to St. Matthew
from the St. Germain MS. (g1), now numbered Lat. 11553 in the
National Library at Paris, with Introduction and five Appendices,

edited by John Wordsworth, D.D., 1883 (6/-). 2. Portions of the Gospels
according to St. Mark and St. Matthew from the Bobbio MS. (k), now
numbered G. VII. 15 in the National Library at Turin, together with
other fragments of the Gospels from six MSS. in the Libraries of St.
Gall, Coire, Milan, and Berne (usually cited as n, o, p, a2, s, and t).
Edited, with the aids of Tischendorf’s Transcripts and the printed Texts
of Ranke, Ceriani, and Hagen, with two facsimiles, by J. Wordsworth,
D.D., ... W. Sanday, D.D., ... and H. J. White, M.A., 1886 (21/-). 3. The
Four Gospels, from the Munich MS. (q), now numbered Lat. 6224 in the
Royal Library at Munich, with a Fragment from St. John in the Hof-
Bibliothek at Vienna (Cod. Lat. 502). Edited, with the aid of
Tischendorf’s Transcript (under the direction of the Bishop of
Salisbury), by H. J. White, M.A., 1888 (12/6). 4. Portions of the Acts of
the Apostles, of the Epistle of St. James, and of the First Epistle of St.
Peter from the Bobbio Palimpsest (s), now numbered Cod. 16 in the
Imperial Library at Vienna. Edited, with the aid of Tischendorf’s and
Belsheim’s printed Texts, by H. J. White, M.A., with a Facsimile, 1897
(5/-). (See notice in the Expository Times, April 1898, p. 320 ff.)
5. Wordsworth and White’s edition of the Vulgate is noticed by Berger
in the Bull. Crit., 1899, viii. 141-144. It may be added here, as that
critic observes, that insufficient regard is paid to the later history of the
Latin text in this edition. At least one representative of a recension so
important as that of the University of Paris in the thirteenth century
might have been collated, and perhaps also the first printed edition, “the
forty-two line” Bible.
On the authorised edition of 1590 and 1592, see Eb. Nestle, Ein
Jubiläum der lateinischen Bibel. Zum 9 November 1892, in
Marginalien und Materialien, 1893; also printed separately.
An exact reprint of the Latin Vulgate has recently been published by M.
Hetzenauer from his Greek-Latin New Testament (see above, p. 25),
entitled Novum Testamentum Vulgatae Editionis. Ex Vaticanis
Editionibus earumque Correctorio critice edidit Michael Hetzenauer.
Oeniponte, 1899. As an introduction to this edition reference may be
made to the same writer’s Wesen und Principien der Bibelkritik auf
katholischer Grundlage. Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der
offziellen Vulgataausgabe dargelegt. Innsbruck, 1900.

(c.) EGYPTIAN VERSIONS.

Next in importance to the Syriac versions from the East and the Latin from
the West are the Egyptian versions from the South. Here too we find not
one early version but several.
Dialects. What used till lately to be called Coptic[106] is
merely one of the dialects into which the language of ancient Egypt was
divided. And here we must distinguish three main branches—the Bohairic,
the Sahidic, and the Middle Egyptian.
Bohairic. (1) Bohairic[107] is the name given to the dialect
that was spoken in the Bohaira—i.e. the district by the sea and therefore
Lower Egypt, the neighbourhood of Alexandria. It was the principal dialect,
and being that used for ecclesiastical purposes over the whole country, and,
moreover, that with which European scholars first became acquainted, the
versions written in it were described as the Coptic simply. The term
Memphitic, which was preferred for a time, is incorrect, because it was not
till the eleventh century that the Patriarchate was transferred to Cairo—i.e.
the district of Memphis, and in early times a different dialect was spoken
there.
Sahidic. (2) Sahidic is the name used to describe the dialect
of Upper Egypt. It is sometimes and not improperly spoken of as the
Thebaic in distinction to the Memphitic.
Middle Egyptian. (3) Under the Middle Egyptian[108] we have to
distinguish—
(a) The Fayumic, spoken in the Fayum—i.e. the district to the S.W. of the
Delta, watered by the Joseph Canal, and separated from the valley of the
Nile by a narrow strip of the desert. It was in this district that those recent
papyrus discoveries were made which have enriched the libraries and
museums of Europe.
(b) The Middle Egyptian proper, or Lower Sahidic, a dialect which has its
home on the site of ancient Memphis.
(c) The dialect of Achmim, which preserves a more primitive form of early
Egyptian than any of those already referred to.

In the eleventh century the Coptic Bishop Athanasius specifies three
dialects of the Coptic language—the Bohairic, the Sahidic, and a third
which he says was already extinct, and to which he gives the name of
Bashmuric; but whether this last is to be identified with the dialects
included above under the name of Middle Egyptian, is not quite certain.

(1.) The Bohairic Version.

Bohairic. This version, formerly designated as the Coptic,
was first used for the New Testament by Bishop Fell of Oxford, who was
indebted for his knowledge of it to Marshall. It was afterwards employed by
Mill for his edition of 1707. It was first published in 1716 by Wilkins (or
rather Wilke), a Prussian who had settled in England, with the title, “Novum
Testamentum Aegyptium vulgo Copticum.” His edition was accompanied
with a Latin translation. In 1734 Bengel obtained a few particulars
regarding this version from La Croze, the Berlin Librarian. An edition of
the Gospels by Moritz Schwartze appeared in 1846-47, and after his death
the Acts and Epistles were published (1852) by Paul Boetticher, afterwards
distinguished under his adopted name of de Lagarde. About the same time
Tattam prepared a wholly uncritical edition of the entire New Testament,
including the Apocalypse which did not originally form part of this version.
[109]
Steindorff is of opinion that the Bohairic version originated in the
Natron Valley during the fourth or fifth century, but others affirm that it is
older, or at all events rests on an older foundation. The order of the New
Testament books was originally: (1) the Gospels, in which John stood first,
followed by Matthew, Mark, Luke, (2) the Pauline Epistles, with Hebrews
between 2 Thess. and 1 Tim., (3) the seven Catholic Epistles, and (4) the
Acts. More than fifty Bohairic manuscripts are preserved in the libraries of
Europe, and from these an edition has been prepared for the Clarendon
Press in two volumes, with exhaustive Introduction by G. Horner (1898).
The Greek text on which this version is based is regarded by present critics
as particularly pure, and free from so-called Western additions.

(2.) The Sahidic Version.

Sahidic. It was a long time before this version attracted any
attention. In his New Testament, Wilkins mentioned two manuscripts,
“lingua plane a reliquis MSS. Copticis diversa,” and Woide in 1778
announced his intention of editing certain fragments of the New Testament
“iuxta interpretationem superioris Aegypti quae Thebaidica vocatur,” which
were afterwards published by Ford in 1799. At the close of last century and
the beginning of this, various other fragments were issued by Tuki,
Mingarelli, Münter, Zoega, and Engelbreth, but it was not till more recent
times that really important parts of the Old and New Testaments were
published by Amélineau, Ciasca (in two vols.), Bouriant, Maspero,
Ceugney, and Krall. In 1895 Goussen gave us a large part of the
Apocalypse.[110] This version, like the former, contained the entire New
Testament, with the exception of the Apocalypse, and originally exhibited
the Gospels in the same order—John, Matthew, Mark, Luke. Hebrews,
however, stood between 2 Corinthians and Galatians. Its Greek original was
quite different from that of the Bohairic version. (See Plate VIII.)

(3.) The Middle Egyptian Versions.

Middle Egyptian. Of these only fragments are as yet known to exist.
Portions of Matthew and John, and of 1 Cor., Ephes., Phil., Thess., and
Hebrews in the Fayumic, or, as it used to be called, the Bashmuric dialect,
were first published by Zoega in 1809, by Engelbreth in 1811, and
especially by Bouriant (1889) and Crum (1893).
Fragments in the Lower Sahidic have been published in the Mitteilungen
aus der Sammlung der Papyrus des Erzherzogs Rainer.
In the Achmim dialect, James iv. 12, 13 and Jude 17-20 are the only
fragments that have been discovered as yet, and these have been published
by Crum. Whether these fragments are really parts of a separate version, or
merely dialectical modifications of the Sahidic, is not quite certain.[111]
As to the date of these versions we have no definite information. It has
been understood from certain passages in the Life of St. Anthony, who was
born about the year 250, that in his boyhood he heard the Gospel read in
Church in the language of Egypt, but that need not imply the existence of a

written version, as the translation may have been made by a reader who
interpreted as he read. In the third century, however, versions may have
arisen, and it was certainly in the South that the first attempts at translation
were made. Our oldest known manuscripts, a Sahidic containing 2 Thess.
iii., and one in Middle Egyptian of Jude 17-20, date from the fourth or fifth
century. The Sahidic version seems to have been made first, then the Middle
Egyptian, and finally the Bohairic. To what extent the one influenced the
other is a question requiring further investigation.
A correct edition and a critical application of these Egyptian versions is,
next to a fresh examination of the minuscules, the task of most importance
at present for the textual criticism of the New Testament. For the Sahidic
version in particular represents a type of text found hitherto almost
exclusively in the West, and looked upon as the outcome of Western
corruption and licence, whereas it may really bear the most resemblance to
the original form. In the Acts especially its agreement with the text of
Codex D is remarkable. One might instance, e.g., the mention of Pentecost
in Acts i. 5, the insertion of the Golden Rule in its negative form in xv. 20,
29, the relation of the vision in xvi. 10, and the description of the stone
which twenty men could not roll away in Luke xxiii. 53, all of which are
now found in a Greek-Sahidic manuscript. The Sahidic version, like the
Bohairic, is well represented in European libraries, and the manuscripts are
dated as a rule in the Egyptian fashion according to the years of the Martyrs
—i.e. according to an era reckoned from August or September 284 A.D.

TiGr., 859-893. Scrivener4, ii. 91-144, revised by Horner, with additions
by Headlam. H. Hyvernat, Étude sur les Versions Coptes de la Bible
(Revue Biblique, v. (1896) 427-433, 540-569; vi. 1 (1897) 48-74.) Urt.,
144-147. Forbes Robinson, Egyptian Versions, in Hastings’ Dictionary
of the Bible, vol. i. (1898) 668-673. W. E. Crum, Coptic Studies from
the Egypt Exploration Fund’s Report for 1897-1898, 15 pp. 4to. For the
Gospels, Horner’s edition eclipses all others. It is entitled, The Coptic
Version of the New Testament in the Northern dialect, otherwise called
Memphitic or Bohairic, with Introduction, Critical Apparatus, and
literal English Translation. Vol. I. Introduction, Matthew and Mark,
cxlviii. 484. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1898; Vol. II. Luke and John, 548
pp., 1898. See notice by Hyvernat in the Revue Biblique, 1899, pp. 148-
150, and also W. E. Crum, lib. cit., where reference is also made to the

Manuscrits Coptes au Musée ... à Leide, 1897. As Horner’s edition as
yet only covers the Gospels, the remaining portions of the New
Testament must still be sought in the two parts published by Lagarde
after Schwartze’s death, Acta Apostolorum coptice (1852), and
Epistulae Novi Testamenti coptice (1852). On Brugsch’s Recension in
the Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft, vii.
(1853) pp. 115-121, see ibid., p. 456, and Lagarde, Aus dem deutschen
Gelehrtenleben, pp. 25-65, 73-77. Tattam’s Bohairic-Arabic edition was
published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
The first fragments of the New Testament in Sahidic appeared in Tuki’s
Rudimenta in 1778, and Woide’s editio princeps, announced in the
same year, was brought out after his death by Ford in 1799.
Amélineau’s Fragments Thébaines inédits du Nouveau Testament were
published in vols. xxiv.-xxvi. of the Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache
(1886-1888). Considerable portions of the Apocalypse were issued in
facsimile by Goussen in the first Fasciculus of his Studia Theologica
(Lipsiae, 1897). Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphical writings have also
been discovered in recent times, as, for example, the Acta Pauli in a
manuscript of the seventh century, written in Sahidic consonants with
Middle Egyptian vocalisation. These are to be published by A. Schmidt.
See Addenda, p. xv.
See also Amélineau, Notice des manuscrits coptes de la Bibliothèque
Nationale renfermant des textes bilingues du Nouveau Testament, in the
Athenæum, No. 3601, p. 599.

The foregoing versions are those of most importance in the criticism of the
text. There are, however, one or two others which, though inferior in value,
are still interesting. Among these is—

(d.) THE GOTHIC VERSION.

Gothic. This is the work of Ulfilas—i.e. Wölflin—a
Cappadocian by descent, who in the year 340 succeeded Theophilus, the
first Bishop of the Goths.[112] While the tribe was still settled in the Crimea,
he is said to have invented an alphabet, and translated both the Old and the

New Testament for their use. In the Old Testament Ulfilas followed the
Septuagint according to the Recension of Lucian of Antioch (d. 312), which
circulated in the diocese of Constantinople. In the New Testament the text is
likewise essentially that of Chrysostom. The traces of Latin influence which
were supposed to be discernible in the version, and which may either have
existed from the first or been introduced at a later time, relate at most,
perhaps, to matters of orthography.
(1) The Gothic version first became known through the so-called Codex
Argenteus which Ant. Morillon, Granvella’s secretary, and Mercator the
geographer saw in the Monastery of Werden in the sixteenth century. It was
afterwards seen at Prague by Richard Strein (d. 1601). In 1648 it was
brought to Sweden as a prize of war, and presented to Queen Christina, or
her librarian, Isaac Voss. It was purchased by Marshall de la Gardie in 1662,
bound in silver, and deposited in the library at Upsala, where it has since
remained. Ten leaves were stolen from the manuscript between 1821 and
1834, but restored, after many years, by the thief upon his deathbed. This
magnificent Codex was written in the fifth or sixth century on purple with
gold and silver lettering. It now comprises 187 leaves out of 330, and
contains fragments of the four Gospels in the order, Matthew, John, Luke,
Mark. It was published for the first time in 1665, from a transcript made by
Derrer ten years before.
(2) Codex Carolinus, the Wolfenbüttel palimpsest already referred to as Q
of the Gospels (see p. 69 above) and the Old Latin gue of Paul (see p. 118),
contains some forty verses of the Epistle to the Romans. It was first
published in 1762.
(3) Fragments of seven palimpsests in the Ambrosian Library at Milan,
discovered by Cardinal Mai in 1817. Like Codex Carolinus, they are in all
probability from the Monastery of Bobbio. They exhibit part of the Pauline
Epistles and fragments of the Gospels. A few quotations from Hebrews are
also found in a theological work. No portion of Acts, (Hebrews), Catholic
Epistles, or Apocalypse has as yet been discovered. Editions of the Gothic
version have been published by Gabelentz and Löbe (1836-1843), Stamm
(1858), Heyne 5(1872) 9(1896), Bernhardt (Halle, 1875, 1884), and Balg
(Milwaukee, 1891). St. Mark was edited by Müller and Höppe in 1881, and
by Skeat in 1882.

Literature.—On Ulfilas, see Scott, Ulfilas, the Apostle of the Goths,
Cambr., 1885. Bradley, The Goths, in the “Story of the Nations” Series,
1888. Gwatkin, Studies of Arianism, 1882. Urt., pp. 119-120, where see
literature, to which add Eckstein, Ulfilas und die gothische
Uebersetzung der Bibel, in Westermann’s Illustr. Monatshefte, Dec.
1892, 403-407; Jostes, Das Todesjahr des Ulfilas und der Uebertritt der
Gothen zum Arianismus (Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen
Sprache, xxii. i. 158 ff.). Jostes gives 383 as the date of Ulfilas’s death.
On the other side, see Kauffmann, Der Arianismus des Wulfila in the
ZfdPhil., xxx. (1897) 93-113; Luft, Die arianischen Quellen über
Wulfila in the ZfdAltert., xlii. 4; Vogt, Zu Wulfilas Bekenntnis und dem
Opus imperfectum, ibid. Kauffmann, Beiträge zur Quellenkritik der
gotischen Bibelübersetzung in the ZfdPhil.; (ii.) das N. T. (xxx., 1897,
145-183); (iii.) das gotische Matthäusevangelium und die Itala; (iv.) die
griechische Vorlage des gotischen Johannesevangeliums (xxxi., 1898,
177-198): also by the same author, Aus der Schule des Wulfila. Auxentii
Dorostorensis epistula de Fide, Vita, et Obitu Wulfila im
Zusammenhang der Dissertatio Maximini contra Ambrosium
herausgegeben. Strassburg, 1899. P. Batiffol, De quelques homilies de
St. Chrysostome et de la version gothique des écritures (Revue
Biblique, Oct. 1899, pp. 566-572), see also ThLz., 1900, No. i.; LCbl.,
1900, No. 28. On the relation of the Gothic version to the codex
Brixianus (f), see Burkitt in the Journal of Theological Studies, i. p. 131
ff., and compare Addenda, p. xv.
On the Gothic language and writing, see Douse, Introduction to the
Gothic of Ulfilas. London, 1886; the grammars of Braune and Skeat,
and the dictionaries of Schulze, Heyne, and Bernhardt; see also Luft,
Studien zu den ältesten germanischen Alfabeten, Gütersloh, 1898, viii.
115, who traces eighteen characters to the Greek alphabet and nine to
the Latin and Ulfilas’s own invention. On R. Löwe’s Reste der
Germanen am schwarzen Meer (Halle, 1896), see the story told by
Melanchthon according to Pirkheimer (Th. St. und Kr., 1897, 784 ff.).

To what extent the remaining ancient versions were taken directly from the
Greek or influenced by one or other of those already described is still
subject of dispute.

(e.) THE ETHIOPIC VERSION.

According to the tradition of the Abyssinian Church, the Ethiopic version of
the New Testament was made from the Greek previous to the fifth century.
Dillmann accepts this as correct, but Gildemeister would assign it to the
sixth or seventh century, and thinks that traces are discernible of Syrian
Monophysitism. Guidi decides for the end of the fifth or beginning of the
sixth century. In addition to the usual twenty-seven books, the Ethiopic
New Testament has an Appendix consisting of a work on Canon Law in
eight books called the Synodos, so that the Ethiopian Church reckons in all
thirty-five books in the New Testament. In later times the version was
undoubtedly corrected from Arabic and Coptic texts. The first edition
appeared in Rome in 1548-1549, but neither it nor those issued since are of
any real critical worth.
At least a hundred Ethiopic manuscripts, mostly of late origin, exist in the
libraries of Europe. What is perhaps the oldest is preserved in Paris. It dates
from the thirteenth century, and exhibits the Gospels in an unrevised text.

Literature.—See TiGr., 894-912. Scrivener, ii. 154 ff. re-written by
Margoliouth. Urt., 147-150 (F. Praetorius). R. H. Charles, Ethiopic
Version in Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, i. 791-793. C. Conti
Rossini, Sulla Versione e sulla Revisione delle Sacre Scritture in
Etiopico, in the Z. für Assyriologie, x. 2, 3 (1895). The view of Lagarde
(Ankündigung, 1882, p. 28; cf. also Gesammelte Abhandlungen, lxi.
113), that this version may have been made from the Arabic or
Egyptian in the fourteenth century, is now generally rejected.

(f.) THE ARMENIAN VERSION.

La Croze, the Berlin Librarian, thought this the “Queen of the Versions.”
Till the fifth century of the Christian era Syrian influence was supreme in
Armenia, and the inhabitants of that region first received the Scriptures of
the Old and New Testaments in the form of a translation from the Syriac.
But in the year 433 two pupils of Mesrob, returning from the Synod of

Ephesus, are said to have brought back with them from Constantinople a
Greek Bible, and having learned Greek in Alexandria, to have translated it
into Armenian. According to another account this was done by St. Sahak
(390-428) about the year 406. The first edition of the Armenian New
Testament was brought out in Amsterdam in the year 1666[113] by Osgan of
Eriwan, who had been sent to Europe four years previously by the
Armenian Synod. It was edited from a defective manuscript, the missing
portions of which Osgan supplied from the Vulgate. A better edition was
published in 1789 by Zohrab, who used twenty manuscripts, and especially
a Cilician Codex of the year 1310. He was of opinion that the Armenians
did not receive the Apocalypse before the eighth century. Zohrab’s text was
collated for Tregelles by Rieu, whom Tischendorf seems to have drawn
upon in his editions.
The Armenian manuscripts display variations of several sorts. In some
John’s Gospel precedes the Synoptists, in others it is followed by the
Apocryphal “Rest of St. John.” The Apocalypse was not read in church
prior to the twelfth century. In the oldest manuscript of the entire New
Testament, at Venice, which dates from the year 1220, the order of the other
books is Acts, Catholic Epistles, Apocalypse, Pauline Epistles, with the
Epistle of the Corinthians to Paul. In Moscow there is a manuscript of the
year 887, in Venice one dated 902, in Etschmiadzin one written in the year
986 and bound in ivory covers of the third or fourth century. In the last-
mentioned Codex the words, “of Ariston the Presbyter,” are found after
Mark xvi. 8, as the heading of what follows. (See Plate IX.) We learn from
this, what is evidently correct, viz., that the present conclusion of Mark’s
Gospel is due to a certain Ariston, who may perhaps be identified with
Aristion, the teacher of Papias in the second century. The earlier Armenian
version also contained the two verses Luke xxii. 43, 44, which were omitted
in the later.

Literature.—TiGr., 912-922. Scrivener, ii. 148-154. F. C. Conybeare,
Armenian Versions of N. T., in Hastings’ Bible Dictionary, i. 153 f. See
also J. A. Robinson, Euthaliana, c. v.; The Armenian Version and its
supposed relation to Euthalius, in Texts and Studies, vol. iii. (1895). On
Aristion see Expositor, 1894, p. 241, and below, p. 295.

(g.) THE GEORGIAN VERSION.

This version, called also the Grusinian or Iberian, is thought to have been
made from the Greek in the sixth century, though it may also be derived
from the Armenian. It contains the pericope adulteræ (John vii. 53-viii. 11),
but places it immediately after ch. vii. 44, which is the more remarkable,
seeing that in the Old Latin Codex b, the passage from vii. 44 onwards has
been erased. The Georgian version was first printed at Moscow in 1743.

Scrivener, ii. 156-158; re-written by F. C. Conybeare. TiGr., 922 f.

(h.) THE ARABIC VERSIONS.

Some of these were made directly from the Greek, others from the Syriac
and the Coptic, while there are also manuscripts exhibiting a recension
undertaken at Alexandria in the thirteenth century, The New Testament was
even cast into that form of rhymed prose made classic by the Koran. As
early as the eighth century we find Mohammedan scholars quoting various
passages of the New Testament, particularly the sayings regarding the
Paraclete in John xv. 26, 27, xvi. 13, which they understood of Mohammed.
He himself, however, knew the Gospel narrative from oral tradition only.
The oldest known manuscript is perhaps one at Sinai, written in the ninth
century, from which Mrs. Gibson edited the text of Romans, 1 and 2 Cor.,
Gal., and Ephes. i. 1-ii. 9, in the Studia Sinaitica, ii. The four Gospels were
published in 1864 by Lagarde from a Vienna manuscript, in which a
number of various readings were cited from the Coptic, Syriac, and Latin,
this last, e.g., being adduced in support of a reading hitherto found only in
D, one Old Latin (g), and the Lewis-Syriac: οὔκ εἰσιν δύο ἢ τρεῖς
συνηγμένοι ... παρ’ οἷς οὔκ εἰμι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν (Matthew xviii. 20). The
first edition of the Gospels appeared at Rome in 1591. In common with the
Other versions. remaining versions of the New Testament, Persic,
Old High German, Anglo-Saxon, Bohemian, and Slavonic, these secondary
Arabic versions are not only exceedingly interesting from the point of view
of the history of language and culture, but they are also valuable here and

there for the restoration of the original text. In the present work, however,
we cannot enter more fully into them.

Literature.—TiGr., 928-947. Scrivener, ii. 161-164. Urt., 150-155. F.
C. Burkitt, Arabic Versions, in Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, i. 136-
138, where see literature. Burkitt thinks that the oldest monument of
Arabic Christianity is the manuscript formerly belonging to the
Convent of Mar Saba, now known as Cod. Vat. Arab. 13, and numbered
101 in TiGr., which is generally assigned to the eighth century. It
originally contained the Psalter, Gospels, Acts, and Epistles, and is
derived from the Syriac. Fragments of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and
of the Pauline Epistles, are all that now remain. From the same convent
come two manuscripts of the ninth century, containing a version made
directly from the Greek, and perhaps ultimately derived from the
Greek-Arabic manuscript cited as Θh, of which only four leaves have
been preserved (see above, p. 72). On a Græco-Arabic MS. connected
with the Ferrar Group (211ev), see Lake in the Journal of Theological
Studies, i. 117 ff. Most of the Coptic manuscripts are accompanied by
an Arabic version. The one contained in Cod. Vat. Copt. 9 of the year
1202 is the best, and forms the basis of our printed editions. The first
revision was undertaken in the year 1250, at Alexandria, by Hibat Allâh
ibn el-Assâl, and a second towards the end of the thirteenth century,
from which the variants in Lagarde’s edition are derived. An Arabic
version of the Acts and all seven Catholic Epistles, found in a ninth
century manuscript at Sinai, and numbered 154 in Mrs. Gibson’s
Catalogue, is published by her in Studia Sinaitica, vii. (1899).
For the remaining versions of the N. T., see Scrivener, ii. pp. 158-166
(Slavonic, Anglo-Saxon, Frankish, Persic). These minor versions will
be treated in vol. iv. of Hastings’ Bible Dictionary, under the general
heading of Versions. See also Urtext und Uebersetzungen der Bibel.

3. Quotations.

Our third source of material for the restoration of the text of the New
Testament is Quotations found in other books. These are of great value,
because they represent, for the most part, definite manuscripts existing in
certain places at the time of the writer quoting them, and also because a
large number of them belong to a time from which no codices have come
down to us. The value of their testimony depends, of course, on the
conditions already mentioned (p. 32)—viz., that the author quoted
accurately, and the copyist copied faithfully, and the editor edited correctly.
Quotations made by Jewish writers as well as by Christian will fall to be
considered, only it is doubtful if in their case we have more than one or two
uncertain allusions to Matthew v. 17. So, too, will the quotations made by
pagan opponents of Christianity, particularly those of Celsus in the second
century, and of the Emperor Julian. But here again we are not in possession
of their complete works, which can only be restored by a similar process
and with more or less uncertainty from the quotations from them found in
the writings of the Apologists.[114] The books of those Christian Churches
which were isolated from the main church will also be valuable. Even a
verse of Scripture carved upon a stone in an old ruin may have something to
tell us.
Brief quotations were usually made from memory. It was not so convenient
to turn up the passage in an old manuscript as it is now in our handy printed
editions.[115] In the case of longer passages and verbal quotations generally,
indolent copyists were sometimes content with simply adding καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς.
In the Apostolic Constitutions, ii. 22, for example, where the entire prayer
of Manasses was meant to be given, the copyist of a certain manuscript,[116]
after writing the opening words from Κύριε down to δικαίου, omitted all the
rest, amounting to thirty-one lines of print, substituting simply καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς
τῆς εὐχῆς ἃ ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἀγνοεῖτε. (See further, Apost. Const., i. 7, Lagarde, p.
8, 23; ii. 14, p. 28, 7. 11; 29, 2). This, however, is not without its parallel in
modern times. As late as 1872, an Oxford editor, in bringing out Cyril of
Alexandria’s Commentary on the Gospel according to St. John, wrote down
only the initial and final words of the quotations in his manuscript, and

allowed the compositor to set up the rest from a printed edition of the
Textus Receptus. Another editor in Vienna, in preparing an edition of
Cyprian’s Works, preferred those very manuscripts in which the Scriptural
quotations had been accommodated to the current text of later times. Only
when a quotation is given by an author several times in exactly the same
form is it safe to depend on the actual wording, or when in a Commentary,
e.g., the context agrees with the quoted text. Collections of Scriptural
passages like the Testimonia of Cyprian and the so-called Speculum of
Augustine are also taken directly from manuscripts of the Bible.
Francis Lucas of Brügge was the first to explore the writings of the Church
Fathers for the express purposes of textual criticism. They are referred to in
four notes found in the Complutensian Polyglot. In his edition of 1516,
Erasmus cites a whole series of Patristic witnesses—Ambrosius,
Athanasius, Augustine, Cyprian, Gregory of Nazianzen, Origen, and
Theodoret. Since that time all judicious critics have paid attention to them.
Valuable service has been rendered for Tertullian by Rönsch, and for Origen
by Griesbach. For Augustine, Lagarde is specially to be mentioned. Most of
the Fathers were thus cared for by Burgon, who indexed the New Testament
quotations in sixteen large volumes, which were deposited in the British
Museum after his death. The only pity is that the works of those very
Fathers that are of most importance are not yet satisfactorily edited. All the
more welcome, therefore, is the appearance of the Vienna Academy’s
Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, of which forty volumes
have been issued since 1867, and of the Berlin Academy’s edition of the
Ante-Nicene Greek Fathers, of which one volume of Hippolytus and two of
Origen have made their appearance.[117]
The earliest Fathers are valuable chiefly for the history of the Canon. That
is to say, their evidence must be taken simply as showing what New
Testament writings they were acquainted with, and here the argumentum ex
silentio is to be applied with caution. This is the case with Barnabas and
Clement[118] in the first century, and Ignatius and Hermas in the first half of
the second. Even with the much more extensive writings of Justin, there is
still considerable dispute—e.g., as to what Gospels he made use of.[119]
Irenæus of Lyons is valuable on account of his extreme carefulness, and
would be particularly so if it could be proved that he brought his New
Testament with him from Smyrna[120] and if his writings were extant in

Greek, and not, as is the case with most of them, in Latin only. In Egypt
Clement of Alexandria holds a prominent place, but by far the most
distinguished of all is the great Biblical scholar of antiquity, Origen (d.
248). Already we find these writers appealing to manuscripts, and
distinguishing them by such epithets as “good,” “old,” “emended,” “most,”
or “few.” In the case of the Ante-Nicene Fathers their locality is an
important consideration, whether Antioch, Cæsarea (Eusebius), Egypt,
Constantinople (Chrysostom), or Cappadocia (Theodore), etc. Their
expositions of Scripture are preserved in the so-called Catenæ, or
continuous commentaries, in which the interpretations of different Fathers
are arranged continuously like the links of a chain. It not unfrequently
happens in these Catenæ that the words of one writer are cited under the
name of another. The evidence afforded by the writings of the Heretics is no
less valuable, if we except those passages, which are not numerous, in
which they are understood to have altered the text of the Scriptures. The
works of Marcion have been preserved for the most part in Latin by
Tertullian. They have recently been collected and restored by Zahn. The
Latin translator of Irenæus also belongs, in all probability, to the time of
Tertullian, and not to the fourth century. This unknown translator seems to
have preserved the Scriptural quotations of Irenæus with greater fidelity
than the later Church Fathers who cite them in the Greek. Of Latin writers
contemporary with or subsequent to Tertullian, those of most importance
for the text of the Old Latin Bible are Cyprian, Hilary of Poictiers, Ambrose
of Milan, Augustine and his opponent Pelagius, and for the Apocalypse,
Tyconius and Primasius. From the works of Augustine Lagarde collected no
fewer than 29540 quotations from the New Testament in addition to 13276
from the Old.
Valuable testimony is also afforded by Syrian and Armenian writers. It is
only with their assistance, e.g., that it has been possible to restore one of our
oldest authorities—the Diatessaron of Tatian—which dates from the second
century.

(1) Further examples might be adduced of the unreliable nature of
manuscripts and printed editions.
We find, e.g., in the voluminous commentary of the so-called
Ambrosiaster,[121] the following note on the quotation in 1 Cor. ii. 9:

—“Eye hath not seen, etc.”—“hoc est scriptum in Apocalypsi Heliae in
apocryphis.” In place of the last five words, two manuscripts and all the
printed editions previous to that of St. Maur—i.e. prior to the year 1690
—have “in Esaia propheta aliis verbis.”
Compare also what Zahn says in his Einleitung, ii. 314. “A comparison
of the quotations in Matthew with the LXX. is rendered more difficult
by the fact that in manuscripts of the latter written by Christians, and
especially in Cod. Alexandrinus, the text of the O. T. has been
accommodated to the form in which it is cited in the N. T. Cf., also, p.
563 on the quotation from Zechariah xii. 10, found in John xix. 37.”
The same writer says (p. 465): “In the Chronicle of Georgios
Hamartolos (circa 860), all the manuscripts save one assert the peaceful
death of John (ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἀνεπαύσατο), but this one says the very
opposite, μαρτυρίου κατηξίωται, and goes on to make certain other
additions.” On the other hand, we must not forget in this connection the
testimony preserved by Eusebius to the scrupulous care taken by
Irenæus for the propagation of his writings in the identical form in
which he wrote them. According to that historian, he wrote at the end of
one of his works the following note:—Ὁρκίζω σε τὸν μεταγραψόμενον
τὸ βιβλίον τοῦτο κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ κατὰ τῆς
ἐνδόξου παρουσίας αὐτοῦ, ἧς ἔρχεται κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς, ἵνα
ἀντιβάλλῃς ὃ μετεγράψω καὶ κατορθώσῃς αὐτὸ πρὸς τὸ ἀντίγραφον
τοῦτο ὅθεν μετεγράψω ἐπιμελῶς, καὶ τὸν ὅρκον τοῦτον ὁμοίως
μεταγράψῃς καὶ θήσεις ἐν τῷ ἀντιγράφῳ.[122]
(2) It was Lagarde who most clearly recognised and pointed out the
unsatisfactory way in which the Fathers had previously been edited.
How much care is necessary in the matter of the text is shown by the
discussions connected with the treatment of Scriptural quotations in the
new Vienna edition of Augustine (see Urt., 76, 94; Preuschen, in the
ThLz. for 1897, 24, col. 630). Even in the new Berlin edition one cannot
absolutely rely on the form of the Scriptural quotations exhibited in the
text, but must always verify it by means of an independent examination
of the apparatus. A few passages from the first volume of Origen
recently published will show this, and prove at the same time how
faulty the editions have been hitherto. This first volume of Koetschau’s
new edition of Origen opens with the Exhortation to Martyrdom (εἰς

μαρτύριον προτρεπτικός), a work which is to be assigned to the year
235. The text of previous editions is grounded solely on a manuscript at
Basel written in the sixteenth century (No. 31, A. iii. 9), which is itself
a copy, and a not altogether correct copy, of a Parisian manuscript
written in the year 1339, not known to the first editors of Origen (P =
suppl. grec. 616). Moreover, the Basel manuscript was not transcribed
with sufficient accuracy, or the print was not superintended with
sufficient care by the scholar who prepared the first printed edition of
1674. With the help of a fresh manuscript (M = Venetus Marc. 45, of
the fourteenth century) it is now established that the writer of P
arbitrarily altered the text in a great number of passages, and, above all,
abridged it mainly by the excision of Scriptural quotations. Where
Origen, e.g., in citing a passage gives all three Synoptists, P quite
calmly drops one of them. The Panegyric of Gregory Thaumaturgus is
treated in the same way, this manuscript omitting about 100 out of
some 1200 lines of print. And these were the texts to which till the
present we were referred for our Patristic quotations! To take an
example:
On τοὺς ἐμοὺς λόγους, Luke ix. 26, Tischendorf, who in his seventh
edition gave τοὺς ἐμούς (= my followers) as the correct reading,
observed that this reading, without λόγους, was supported by Dael Or.,
i. 298. But he added—and this is a proof of the carefulness with which
the quotation from Origen is employed here—sed præcedit ουτε
επαισχυντεον αυτον η τους λογους αυτου. But if we turn up this
passage in the new edition, we find that it now reads (i. 34, 9 ff.): ουτ’
επαισχυντεον αυτον η τους οικειους αυτου η τους λογους αυτου, and
then the three parallel passages are quoted in the order frequently found
in Origen—viz., Matthew x. 33 = Luke ix. 26 = Mark viii. 38. Previous
editions entirely omitted this last quotation, as well as the words in the
context, η τους οικειους αυτου. But now everything is in order. The
words ουτ’ επαισχυντεον αυτον refer to οστις δ’ αν απαρνησηται με in
Matt. x. 33; η τους οικειους αυτου to ος γαρ αν επαισχυνθη με και τους
εμους in Luke ix. 26; and η τους λογους αυτου to ος γαρ αν επαισχυνθη
με και τους εμους λογους, in Mark viii. 38. So that whereas, on the
ground of previous editions, Tischendorf was obliged to point out a
discrepancy between Origen’s context and his peculiar quotation from
Luke, the context of the new edition serves to confirm this peculiar

quotation, and shows at the same time that we can accept it on the
authority of this very passage, as against a former passage (p. 296 = 31,
7), where the verse in Luke is found in the newly-employed manuscript
also with the words τους εμους λογους. That the editor should have put
λογους in the first passage within brackets, or at least have pointed out
the discrepancy between it and the quotation further down, would have
been too much to expect, seeing that his manuscripts of Origen gave no
manner of ground for doing so; it is the duty of those who investigate
the Scriptural quotations in Origen to pay attention to such things. But
there are also passages where the editor has actually gone in the face of
his manuscripts, and wrongly altered the text of his Scriptural
quotations, having evidently allowed himself to be influenced by the
printed text of the N. T., and paying too little respect to the manuscripts.
An attentive reader will have observed that the reading in Luke ix. 26,
τους εμους = my followers, which is now established for Origen, is at
present supported by D alone of the Greek manuscripts and by three
Old Latin witnesses. (It is also found in the Curetonian Syriac, but
unfortunately the corresponding words in the Sinai-Syriac could not be
made out with certainty by Mrs. Lewis; see Some Pages, p. 72 = p. 168
in the first edition). Now, look at the passage in Origen’s work, i. 25, 26
ff. (p. 293 in De la Rue’s edition): ο μεν γαρ Ματθαιος ανεγραφε
λεγοντα τον κυριον ... ο δε Λουκας ... ο δε Μαρκος· ἀββᾶ ὁ πατὴρ,
δυνατά σοι πάντα· παρένεγκε κ.τ.λ. The passage is printed thus by
Koetschau, agreeing exactly with the earlier printed editions and our
texts of the N. T. in Mark xiv. 36. But in this he is far wrong. Because,
as his own apparatus shows us, the Venetian manuscript, which he
rightly follows elsewhere, reads the words in the order δυνατὰ πάντα
σοί, which is exactly the order of the words (Mark xiv. 36) in D, but
again in no other Greek manuscript with the solitary exception of the
cursive 473.[123] But there are even passages where Koetschau follows
the printed text of the N. T. in the scriptural quotations in despite of
both his manuscripts. In i. 29, 13 (i. 295 De la Rue), where Matt. x. 17-
23 is quoted, he inserts after πῶς ἢ τί λαλήσητε the clause δοθήσεται
γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ τί λαλήσητε from Matt. x. 19, on the
supposition that these words may have dropped out of the archetype of
M P on account of the homoioteleuton. But they are also omitted in
Cod. D of the N. T. And this, moreover, is not the only point of

agreement between this manuscript and the text given in this quotation.
There is, e.g., the omission of δέ in v. 17, the reading παραδώσουσιν in
v. 19, which Koetschau has altered to the more grammatical
παραδῶσιν, again without sufficient reason and in defiance of both his
manuscripts, and the omission of ὑμῶν in v. 20, of which there is no
mention in Tischendorf (see the Collation of D in my Supplementum).
Origen also agrees with D, though not verbally, in reading κἂν ἐκ
ταύτης διώκωσιν φεύγετε εἰς τὴν ἄλλην further down (v. 23), where
again Koetschau seems to me to have unnecessarily inserted τὴν, which
is omitted in his principal manuscript and also in D. Compare, also, i.
22, 12, where Origen agrees with D in reading φέρωσιν (Luke xii. 11)
instead of εἰσφέρωσιν, read by our critical editions on the authority of ‫א‬
B L X, or προσφέρωσιν by the textus receptus with A Q R, etc. Both
concur, also, in the omission of the first ἢ τί in the same verse.
What is here said as to the close affinity of Origen’s Bible with Codex
D is corroborated by the testimony of the Athos manuscript discovered
by von der Goltz (see above, p. 90). This manuscript confirms what we
knew before—viz. that Marcion’s text had χριστὸν and not κύριον or
θεὸν in 1 Cor. x. 9. But it also tells us what we did not know—viz. that
χριστὸν was the only reading known to Origen, and that κύριον in the
Synodical Epistle addressed to Paul of Samosata, published by
Turrianus (in Routh’s Reliquiæ Sacræ, iii.2 299), is not the original
reading but a later substitute for χριστόν. This is made out by Zahn in
the ThLbl., 1899, col. 180, who concludes by saying that Clement, Ecl.
Proph., 49, should not be omitted in a proper apparatus, and that κύριον
ought never again to be printed in the text. Our most recent editors,
Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, Weiss, and Baljon, put κύριον in their
text without so much as mentioning χριστόν in the margin, or among
the Noteworthy Rejected Readings, or in the list of Interchanged Words
(Weiss, p. 7). In the Stuttgart edition the text is determined by a
consensus of previous editions, and I was obliged to let κύριον stand in
the text, but I have put χριστόν in the margin, as Tregelles also did. In
this instance the textus receptus is actually better than our critical
editions. The rejected reading is again the Western, and Zahn, in
commenting on the newly-discovered testimony as to the text of 1 John
iv. 3 (see below, p. 327), pertinently remarks that “here again it is
perfectly evident, as any discerning person might have known, that

many important readings which were wont to be contemptuously
dismissed as Western, were long prevalent in the East as well, not only
among the Syrians but also among the Alexandrians, and were only
discarded by the official recensions of the text that were made
subsequent to the time of Origen.” These illustrations will serve to
show that not only is the editing of the Patristic texts no easy matter,
but also that the employment even of the best editions is not
unaccompanied with risks. See Koetschau, Bibelcitate bei Origenes,
ZfwTh., 1900, pp. 321-378.
(3) The Rev. Prebendary Ed. Miller is at present at work on a Textual
Commentary upon the Holy Gospels, on the ground of Burgon’s
Collection and his own researches. A specimen of this work (Matthew
v. 44) is given in his Present State of the Textual Controversy respecting
the Holy Gospels, which was printed for private circulation, and may be
had of the author.[124] In this little pamphlet he takes up the question (p.
30) whether Origen in the De Oratione 1 (De la Rue, i. 198; Koetschau,
ii. 299, 22) quotes from Luke (vi. 28) or Matthew (v. 44), and decides
for the latter. Koetschau is of the opposite opinion, giving “Luke vi. 28
(Matthew v. 44).” In the case of Patristic quotations, it will be seen that
matters are frequently very complicated. It must be borne in mind, too,
that the various writers did not use the same copy of the Scriptures all
their life long. At different times and in different localities they must
necessarily have had different copies before them.
(4) It is further to be observed that in the case of controversial writings,
such as those of Origen against Celsus, and Augustine against the
Manichæans, the question must always be considered whether the
Scriptural quotations found in them are quotations made by Origen and
Augustine themselves, or taken by them from the writings they assail or
refer to; and also whether the quotations have been made directly from
a manuscript of the Bible, or from the works of a previous writer.
Borrowing from an author without acknowledgment may have been a
much more common thing in olden times than it is even at present.
In Clement of Rome (c. 13), in Clement of Alexandria (Stromata, ii. p.
476), and partly also in the Epistle of Polycarp (c. 2), we find the
following quotation:—“Be ye merciful that ye may obtain mercy:
forgive that ye may be forgiven: as ye do, so shall it be done to you: as

ye give, so shall it be given to you: as ye judge, so shall ye be judged:
as ye are kind, so shall kindness be shown to you: with what measure
ye mete, it shall be meted unto you.” We find also in Clement of Rome
(c. 46), and in Clement of Alexandria (Stromata, iii. p. 561), the
quotation: “Woe to that man: it were good for him if he had never been
born, rather than that he should offend one of my elect: it were better
for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he be drowned
in the depth of the sea, than that he should offend one of my little
ones.” Neither of these quotations is found literally in our canonical
Gospels. Accordingly, Rendel Harris concludes from the testimony of
these various witnesses that they must have been taken from an
Urevangelium, now perished (Contemporary Review, Sept. 1897). This
view is combated, it seems to me rightly, by H. T. Andrews in the
Expository Times for November 1897, p. 94 f. He thinks it probable that
Clement of Alexandria and Polycarp are both dependent on Clement of
Rome.[125]
(5) In spite of all these difficulties, a systematic examination of the
Patristic quotations remains one of the most important tasks for the
textual criticism of the N. T. We have most useful collections, both
ancient and modern, of passages from the Fathers to illustrate the
history of the Canon, and their use of the Scriptures has been
scrutinised in the interests of dogmatic history, but there are not yet, so
far as I know, any collections of Patristic quotations to elucidate the
history of the text. Two things are specially wanted at present. One is a
collection, arranged according to time and locality, of all the passages
in which the Fathers appeal to ἀντίγραφα. In the new volumes of
Origen, e.g., we find two such references—κατά τινα τῶν ἀντιγράφων
τοῦ κατὰ Μάρκον εὐαγγελίου (i. 113), and κατὰ τὰ κοινὰ τῶν
ἀντιγράφων (ii. 52).[126] The other desideratum is a collection of all the
passages in the biographies of the Saints where mention is made of the
writing of Biblical manuscripts. It is said of Evagrius, e.g., in the
Historia Lausiaca (c. 28 in Preuschen, Palladius, p. 111), εὐφυῶς γὰρ
ἔγραφε τὸν ὀξύρυγχον χαρακτῆρα, and the preparation of Biblical
manuscripts is also referred to in the Vita Epiphanii (ed. Petav. ii.), and
in Cassiodorus, De Institutione Divinarum Literarum (see above, p.
50). On the use hitherto made of Patristic testimony see the section De
Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis in TiGr., 1129-1230. An abridged list of

those mentioned there will be found in Baljon’s New Testament, pp.
xv.-xxiii. A catalogue of the names and dates of the Patristic writers
most frequently cited in critical editions of the N. T. is given in
Scrivener, ii. pp. 172-174.[127] See also Urt., p. 22, 56 f., 94. On the Old
Latin Didascalia, see Ed. Hauler in the W.S.B., 1895, vol. cxxxiv. p. 40
ff., and the Mitteilungen of B. G. Teubner, 1897, ii. p. 52.[128] On the
Biblical text of Filastrius (C.S.E., vol. xxxviii., 1898), see Kroll in the
notice of Marx’s edition in the Berlin. Phil. Wochenschrift, 1898, 27.
On Jovinian, see TU., New Series, ii. 1, etc. On the quotations from the
Gospels in Novatian (Pseudo-Cyprian) see Harnack in TU., xiii. 4.

CHAPTER III.
THEORY AND PRAXIS OF THE TEXTUAL CRITICISM OF
THE NEW TESTAMENT.[129]

There is no special theory of the textual criticism of the New Testament.
The task and the method are the same for all literary productions. The task
is to exhibit what the original writer intended to communicate to his
readers, and the method is simply that of tracing the history of the
document in question back to its beginning, if, and in so far as, we have the
means to do so at our command. Diversity of treatment can only arise when
the fortunes of one written work have been more chequered and
complicated than those of another, or when we have more abundant means
at our disposal to help us in the one case than in the other. The task is very
simple when we have only one completely independent document to deal
with, as in the case of several of the recently discovered papyri, but this
occurs very seldom with literary texts. In this case all that we have to do is
to see that we read the existing text correctly, and then by means of the so-
called internal criticism to determine whether the text so received can be
Internal Criticism. correct. Even when several witnesses are at our
command, we cannot altogether dispense with this internal criticism in the
matter of sifting and weighing their testimony, only it would be unfortunate
were we left with such a subjective criterion alone. For not only in such a
case would different scholars come to very different conclusions, but even
one and the same scholar would not be able to avoid a certain amount of
uncertainty and inconsistency in most cases. The principle laid down in the
maxim, lectio difficilior placet, or, as Bengel more correctly and more
cautiously puts it, proclivi scriptioni praestat ardua, is perfectly sound; that
reading is correct, is the original reading, from which the origin of another
or of several others can be most easily explained. But how seldom can this
be established with certainty! Take an illustration:—

Conclusion of the How does the Apocalypse, and the New Testament
Apocalypse.
with it, conclude? Leaving out of account additions
like “Amen” or “Amen, Amen,” and variations like “The grace of the Lord
Jesus,” and “our Lord Jesus,” and “the Lord Jesus Christ,” and “Christ”
simply, we find that the following forms are given:—
(1) μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν
(2) μετὰ πάντων ἡμῶν
(3) μετὰ πάντων τῶν ἁγίων
(4) μετὰ πάντων
(5) μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων
How are we to decide without external evidence which is the correct form?
Even supposing we know that the first two are out of the question, and why
they are so, it is very difficult on internal grounds alone to decide between
the other three. Lachmann, who did not know of (5), decided in favour of
(4). But so does Tischendorf, Weizsäcker, and Weiss, the latter giving as his
reason for doing so that (5), τῶν ἁγίων, is explanatory of (4), πάντων,
which is manifestly too general, and that (3) is the result of a combination
of these two. On the other hand, Tregelles and Westcott and Hort favour (5),
without so much as mentioning (4) in their margin; while Bousset, the latest
expositor of the Apocalypse, regards (3) as the correct reading, and thinks
that in all probability both (4) and (5) are due to a transcriptional error. Who
is to decide when doctors disagree? Manifestly one might argue on quite as
good if not better grounds than those of Weiss to the very opposite
conclusion—viz. that a later writer who wished the Apocalypse, and with it
the New Testament, to conclude with as comprehensive a benediction as
possible, substituted the words “Grace be with all” in place of the restricted
and somewhat strange expression “Grace be with the saints.” I did not
observe that Bousset still defends the third form when I said in the first
edition of this work that this reading does not fall to be considered at all.
But my reason for saying so was not “because this form proves to be a
combination of the other two,” or “because the authorities for it are later,”
but because it could be shown that its supporters follow a corrected text in
other places as well as this; and I concluded with observing that the
decision between (4) and (5) could not be made to depend solely on internal
criteria either, but depended on the decision come to regarding the general

relationship between the witnesses that support each one, in this instance
between A, as supporting (4), and ‫א‬, as supporting (5).

(1) It may be stated here, merely by way of comment, that the first form
of the benediction, “with you all,” was clearly translated into Greek by
Erasmus from his Latin Bible, without the authority of a single Greek
manuscript. But in spite of this, it is still propagated in the textus
receptus by the English Bible Society, and even in the last revision of
Luther’s German Bible it was allowed to stand without demur. The
English Authorised Version had it in this form, but the Revised Version
adopts the fifth form “with the saints,” and puts (4) in the margin, with
a note to the effect that “two ancient authorities read ‘with all.’”
The second form, “with us all,” which was adopted by Melanchthon in
his Greek Bible of 1545, published by Herwag, is just as arbitrary an
alteration. The third form, “with all the saints,” is read by the
Complutensian with Q, with more than forty minuscules, and the
Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian versions. The fourth, “with all,” is found
in A and Codex Amiatinus, while the fifth, “with the saints,” is given by
‫ א‬and the Old Latin g. In the Syriac version of the Apocalypse, edited
by Gwynn in 1897, a sixth form seems to have been brought to light,
which Baljon, who himself decides for (5), cites as μετὰ πάντων τῶν
ἁγίων αὐτοῦ: Syrgwynn. But the pronoun, which in Syriac is indicated by
a suffix only, is employed now and again merely to represent the Greek
definite article, so that this new Syriac manuscript does not give us a
sixth form but only another witness to the third. On the other hand,
Gwynn mentions the omission of the entire verse in Primasius, a fact
that neither Tischendorf nor Weiss takes the least notice of, and he
adduces lastly that a manuscript of the Vulgate reads “cum omnibus
hominibus.” One sees from an illustration like this what an amount of
pains is required seriously to apply, even in a single point, Bengel’s
principle that the smallest particle of gold is gold, but that nothing must
be passed as gold that has not been proved to be such (Introductio in
Crisin Novi Testamenti, § 1, p. 572).
(2) Literature.—See especially Gebhardt (Urt., p. 16). Ed. Reuss,
Geschichte der h. Schriften des N. T., Braunschweig, 1887, § 351 ff. S.
P. Tregelles, An Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the N.T. (= vol.

iv. of Horne’s Introduction, 1877). F. H. A. Scrivener (see above, p. 6);
also Adversaria Critica Sacra, edited by Miller, Cambr. 1893. B. F.
Westcott, The New Testament in Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol.
ii., London, 1863. C. E. Hammond, Outlines of Textual Criticism,
Oxford, 1890. Westcott-Hort, vol. ii. (see p. 21). B. B. Warfield,
Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the N. T., New York, 1887;
London, 1893. J. W. Burgon, Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel
according to St. Mark, Oxford and London, 1871; also The Traditional
Text of the Holy Gospels vindicated and established, edited by Miller,
London, 1896; also, The Causes of the Corruption of the Traditional
Text of the Holy Gospels, edited by Miller, London and Cambridge,
1896. The Oxford Debate on the Textual Criticism of the N. T. held at
New College on May 6, 1897; with a preface (by Miller) explanatory of
the Rival Systems, 1897, pp. xvi. 43. Ed. Miller, The Present State of
the Textual Controversy respecting the Holy Gospels (see above, p.
152).
Martin (Abbé J. P.), Introduction à la Critique textuelle du N.T., in five
volumes, with plates and facsimiles: vol. i. pp. xxxvi. 327, Paris, 1884,
25 fr.; vol. ii. pp. ix. 554, 1884, 40 fr.; vol. iii. pp. vi. 512, 1885, 40 fr.;
vol. iv. pp. vi. 549, 1886, 40 fr.; vol. v. pp. xi. 248 and 50 pp. of
facsimiles, 1886, 20 fr. Also by the same author, Description technique
des manuscrits grecs relatifs au N.T. conservés dans les Bibliothèques
de Paris. Supplement to the foregoing, Paris, 1884, pp. xix. 205, with
facsimiles, 20 fr.; Quatre manuscrits importants du N.T. auxquels on
peut en ajouter un cinquième, Paris, 1886, pp. 62, 3 fr.; Les plus
anciens mss. grecs du N.T., leur origine, leur véritable caractère, in the
Revue des Quest. Hist., 1884, No. 71, pp. 62-109; Origène et la
Critique textuelle du N.T., Paris. Reprinted from the Rev. des Quest.
Hist. for Jan. 1885, No. 73, pp. 5-62.
Th. Zahn, Geschichte des N.T. Kanons: vol. i., Das N.T. vor Origenes,
Part 1, 1888; Part 2, 1889. Vol. ii., Urkunden und Belege zum ersten
und dritten Band, Part 1, 1890; Part 2, 1892. The third vol. has not yet
appeared. The order of the books of the N.T. is discussed in vol. ii. p.
343 ff., and the conclusion of Mark’s Gospel in the same vol., p. 910 ff.
Salmon (Geo.), Some thoughts on the Textual Criticism of the N.T.,
London, 1897, pp. xv. 162. Blass, Philology of the Gospels, London,

1898, pp. viii. 250. Ada Bryson, Recent Literature on the text of the
N.T. in the Expository Times for April 1899, pp. 294-300. M. Vincent,
History of the Textual Criticism of the N.T., 1900. G. L. Cary, The
Synoptic Gospels, with a chapter on the Textual Criticism of the N.T.,
New York, 1900. See also Prof. Jannaris in the Expositor, vol. viii. of
Series V. There is an article in the American Journal of Theology, 1897,
iv. p. 927 ff., entitled Alexandria and the N.T., which I have not been
able to consult.

In attempting to restore the text of the New Testament as nearly as possible
to its original form, it is essential to remember that the New Testament, as
we have it to-day, is not all of one piece, but consists of twenty-seven
separate documents now arranged in five groups, and that every several
document and every several group has had its own peculiar history. Of these
groups the most complicated, perhaps, is the one with which the New
Testament opens—viz. the Gospels.
Gospels. It is quite uncertain when our four Gospels were
first written together in one volume and arranged in the order that is now
common. The Muratorian Fragment on the Canon[130] is defective at the
beginning, but seems to imply this arrangement. It was supposed that the
Gospels were written in the following order—viz. Matthew first and John
last. The order, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, which is found in nearly all the
Greek and Syriac manuscripts, was made popular by Eusebius and Jerome.
The former followed it in his Canons, which were afterwards adopted by
Jerome in his Latin Bible. According to Eusebius (Eccl. Hist., vi. 25),[131]
Origen knew this order, though he very frequently cites the Gospels in the
order Matthew, Luke, Mark.
The following arrangements are also found:—
[Transcriber’s Note: The following list begins with (2).]
(2) Matthew, Mark, John, Luke, in the earlier (Curetonian) Syriac and in the
Canon Mommsenianus, a catalogue of the Books of the Bible and of the
works of Cyprian, originating in Latin Africa about the year 360, and first
published by Mommsen.[132]
(3) Matthew, Luke, Mark, John, in the so-called Ambrosiaster and in a
Catalogue of the Sixty Canonical Books.

(4) Matthew, John, Mark, Luke—i.e. the two Apostles put before the two
pupils of Apostles, in the Codex Claromontanus.[133] This order occurs also
in the Arabic writer Masudi’s Meadows of Gold.[134]
(5) Matthew, John, Luke, Mark, in Codd. D and X, in the Apostolic
Constitutions, in Ulfilas, and especially in the Old Latin Manuscripts; see
Corssen, Monarchianische Prologe, p. 65, in TU. xv. 1.[135]
(6) John, Luke, Mark, Matthew, in Codex k.
(7) John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, in the Vocabularies of the Egyptian
versions.
(8) John, Matthew, Luke, Mark, in Tertullian and cod. 19. See Arthur
Wright, Some New Testament Problems, p. 196 ff.[136]
This very variety shows that for a long time, perhaps till the third century, at
all events much longer than the Pauline Epistles, the Gospels were
propagated singly, perhaps on rolls, and only afterwards incorporated in a
codex. And this makes it probable that the text of our manuscripts was not
taken from a single copy of the first Tetraevangelium. More than probable
we cannot call it, seeing that a copyist may have had any sort of reasons of
his own for disarranging the order of the books given in his exemplar, as
may still be gathered luckily from the position occupied by Hebrews in
Codex B. The probability is heightened, however, by the fact that our
manuscripts display a considerably greater amount of textual variation in
the Gospels than in the Pauline Epistles, though not in all to the same extent
as in D which contains an entirely peculiar recension, especially in Luke.
One of the most remarkable indications of this is afforded by the discovery
made by E. Lippelt, a pupil of Professor Blass. The order of the books in D
is Matthew, John, Luke, Mark, Acts, where it will be seen that the two
portions of the book inscribed to Theophilus are separated by Mark. Now
Lippelt observed that while the name Johannes is regularly spelt with two
ν’s (Ἰωάννης) in Matthew, John, and Mark, it is just as regularly spelt with
one (Ἰωάνης) in Luke and Acts, sundered though these two books are by
Mark, where the other spelling prevails.[137] This shows an accuracy of
tradition which is surprising, but till now it has only been traced in this one
manuscript. The others write the name throughout with two ν’s and B as
consistently with one. In this connection the question naturally arises
whether certain liberties were not taken with the books on the occasion of

their collection and arrangement. Resch, e.g., thinks that it was then that the
second Gospel received the conclusion or appendix which is found in most
of our manuscripts, and Rohrbach holds a similar opinion.[138] I have
elsewhere expressed the idea that the peculiar opening of Mark is to be
accounted for in this way.[139] Zahn, however, doubts whether the use of
ἀρχή and τέλος for ἄρχεται and ἐτελέσθη, incipit and explicit, can be
established for early times.[140] I have found it in Greek Psalters, though not
very early, I admit, where αρχη των ωδων occurs instead of ωδαι as the
superscription of the Hymns at the end of the Psalter.[141] However, there is
no need to dwell further on this point. Zahn (p. 174) is quite right in his
contention that the usual titles κατὰ Μαθθαῖον, etc.,[142] imply a collection
of the Gospels of which Εὐαγγέλιον is the general title.
If, then, for the sake of simplicity, we take as our goal the first manuscript
of the Tetraevangelium, one would think it must be possible with the means
at our command gradually to work back to it. Even the latest of our
manuscripts is surely copied from an earlier one, and that one from another,
and so on always further and further back, so that all we have to do is to
establish their genealogy, pretty much as Reuss has done for the printed
editions of the New Testament; and seeing we have manuscripts as old as
the fourth and fifth century, that means that the entire period of a thousand
years prior to the invention of printing is bridged over at once, so that the
task would appear to be simply that of throwing a bridge over the first few
centuries of the Christian era. And by going on comparing the witnesses and
always eliminating those that prove unreliable, it must be possible, one
would suppose, in this way to arrive at the original. But a little experience
will shortly moderate our expectations.
At the outset it is very much against us that we have no really serviceable
text for comparison. The text of our present critical editions is a patchwork
of many colours, more wonderful than the cloak of Child Roland of old. In
fact it is a text that never really existed at all. In the preparation of my
Supplement, which I undertook with the object of making the text of Codex
Bezae easily accessible to every one, I compared the text of that manuscript
with that of Tischendorf-Gebhardt’s edition, and I saw clearly that my work
would necessarily present a very confused appearance indeed. I also issued
an interleaved edition of my Stuttgart New Testament with a similar object
—viz. to furnish a convenient means of comparing the text of manuscripts

and of Patristic quotations, but that, too, labours under the same
disadvantage. Whoever intends really to further the textual criticism of the
New Testament will have to issue a copy of a single manuscript printed in
such a way as will make it practically convenient for the comparison of
different texts, something like Tischendorf’s edition of Codex Sinaiticus
(Novum Testamentum Sinaiticum, 1863), which, however, is of little use for
other purposes, or like Schjøtt’s edition of the New Testament (see above, p.
24). But as these are in the hands of very few, there is nothing for it at
present but to take one of our most common texts, always bearing in mind
its composite character. This feature of the text appears at the very outset in
the title. In ‫ א‬B (D) it is κατα Μαθθαιον. Codex D is defective at the
beginning down to c. i. 20, but κατ Μαθθαιον is found regularly as the title
at the top of the pages, a fact which Tischendorf has overlooked. Most other
manuscripts, C E K M etc., have Ευαγγελιον κατα Ματθαιον. If this latter is
held as incorrect, then all these manuscripts should for the future be
dropped out of account and ‫ א‬B D alone be regarded as authoritative.
Again, in verse 2, ‫ *א‬has Ισακ twice, while the others have Ισαακ, so that ‫א‬
too would drop out, leaving B standing alone. But then in verse 3 our
editors forthwith reject B, which reads Ζαρε, and decide in favour of the
others which have Ζαρα. Whether this may not be a little premature, seeing
that there are other places where ε is found for final ]143[,‫ ח‬and that one
manuscript, 56, has deliberately corrected Ζαρα into Ζαρε in Gen. xxxviii.
30, where a third has Ζαρε, we do not pause to determine. The point is
simply this, that in these first three verses there is no manuscript that is
always right in the judgment of our editors. True, the cases we have been
considering are trifling, the differences being of an orthographical nature
merely, and one must not be too particular in such matters, though at the
same time the oft-quoted maxim, minima non curat praetor, is nowhere less
applicable than in textual criticism. But the same state of things reappears
immediately where we have differences involving important matters of fact.
What is the fact in verse 11? Did Josias beget Jechoniah, or did he beget
Joachim and Joachim Jechoniah? Verse 16 has already been referred to: in
this case our oldest Greek manuscripts would give no occasion to mention
the verse. But in verse 25 we have again to ask which is correct, ἔτεκεν υἱόν
Dogmatic influence. or ἔτεκεν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς τὸν πρωτότοκον? And
when we hear Jerome say—Ex hoc loco quidam perversissime suspicantur
et alios filios habuisse Mariam, dicentes primogenitum non dici nisi qui

habeat et fratres, we learn already how dogmatic motives may have some
influence upon the form of the text. And, moreover, when we call to mind
the words of Luke ii. 7, we are made aware of another thing that may exert
a disturbing influence in the Gospels—viz. the tendency to alter the text in
Parallel passages. conformity with the parallel passage. Apart from
the stylistic peculiarities of Codex D, we meet with no materially important
variants in our Greek manuscripts of Matthew till we come to the Sermon
on the Mount. The only thing is in iii. 15, where two Latin witnesses have
an addition which is evidently taken from a Greek source: et cum
baptizaretur, lumen ingens circumfulsit de aqua ita ut timerent omnes qui
advenerant (congregati erant). This interpolation, however, does not
concern the criticism of the text of the New Testament, seeing that it is
derived from some source outside the Canon.
On the other hand, there is a great question as to the order of the first three
Beatitudes in Matthew v. 3-5, whether they are to be read in the order given
in the common text, πτωχοί ... πενθοῦντες ... πραεῖς ..., or as our recent
editors prefer πτωχοί ... πραεῖς ... πενθοῦντες.[144] The latter arrangement is
attested by only two Greek manuscripts—D and 33. Now, if their evidence
is accepted here in spite of its apparent weakness, how can we justify the
refusal to acknowledge the authority of D in other similar cases? Verse 22,
but a short way down, is a case in point. Here D, with most authorities,
exhibits the sorely-contested εἰκῇ. But our modern critics will have nothing
to do with it, going by ‫ א‬B, Origen, Jerome, and Athanasius. Merx (Die vier
kanonischen Evangelien, pp. 231-237) has recently come forward as a
strong supporter of it, on the ground that Syrsin also has it,[145] but how is its
omission, especially by Jerome, to be explained? The Vulgate itself shows
that it was easier to insert it than to omit it, because out of twenty-four
manuscripts collated in W.-W. three have it, though it certainly does not
belong to the text of the Vulgate.[146]
In view of these illustrations, which serve to show the somewhat haphazard
way in which the text of our editions hitherto has been arrived at, the
question becomes very important how the original text is to be restored in
disputed or doubtful cases.
Conjectural The first case, or, if we like to call it, the last, but at
emendation.
all events the one most easy of settlement, is when
the correct reading is no longer found in any of our witnesses, neither in

Greek manuscript, version, nor patristic quotation. Here we must simply
have recourse to conjecture. Not long ago philologists evinced such a
fondness for conjectural emendation that the question might not
unreasonably be asked why they did not rather themselves write the text
that they took in hand to explain. At the same time, the aversion to this
method of criticism which till recently prevailed and still to some extent
prevails, especially in the matter of the New Testament text, is just as
unreasonable. Tischendorf, e.g., did not admit a single emendation of this
nature into his text, while Westcott and Hort consider it to be necessary in
only a very few cases, such as Colossians ii. 18, though they also decline to
adopt any conjectural readings in their text. For
ΑΕΟΡΑΚΕΝΕΜΒΑΤΕΥΩΝ in this passage, which Weizsäcker renders
“pluming himself upon his visions,” they would read ΑΕΡΑ
ΚΕΝΕΜΒΑΤΕΥΩΝ, which is obtained by the omission of a single letter
and a different division of the words. In Holland conjectural criticism is
freely indulged in,[147] the example of Cobet and his school being followed
by such critics as S. A. Naber, W. C. van Manen, W. H. van de Sande-
Bakhuyzen, van de Becke Callenfels, D. Harting, S. S. de Koe, H. Franssen,
J. M. S. Baljon, J. H. A. Michelsen, and J. Cramer.[148] Baljon has adopted a
great number of such conjectural emendations in his edition of the text
published in 1898 (see above, p. 24). In place of πολλοὶ διδάσκαλοι, e.g., in
James iii. 1, Lachmann would read πῶλοι δύσκολοι, Naber
πλανοδιδάσκαλοι, while Junius, de Hoop-Scheffer, and Bakhuyzen prefer
πολυλάλοι on the ground that m64 has nolite multiloqui esse.[149] So far,
therefore, this last is not pure conjecture. For κρινέτω in Col. ii. 16 Lagarde
wished to read κιρνάτω, because the verb ‫ דוד‬found in the Peshitto at this
place is elsewhere used to translate θροεῖν (Matt. xxiv. 6), ταράσσειν (John
xiv. 1, 27), ἐγκόπτειν (Gal. v. 7), and also διαστρέφειν (Eccl. vii. 18; xii. 3).
My proposal to read ἐπὶ πόντον in Apoc. xviii. 17, a reading adopted by
Baljon in his text, instead of ἐπὶ τόπον or ἐπὶ πλοίων as given in our
manuscripts, was a pure conjecture, but it has the support of super mare in
Primasius.[150] There is therefore no objection on principle to the method of
conjecture, nor to the adoption of conjectural readings in the text, though it
is only to be resorted to as the ultima ratio regis and with due regard to all
the considerations involved, transcriptional, linguistic, and otherwise.[151]
There is no essential difficulty in supposing, e.g., that κιρνάτω in Col. ii. 16
was first corrupted into κρινάτω and then into κρινέτω. Such a transposition

of the liquid is quite common in all languages.[152] But we must see if
κιρνάτω has the sense required in the passage. There is no doubt a reference
to drinking here, and so far, therefore, the word seems to suit the context
better. It is also true that evidence is not wanting of the metaphorical use of
the word proposed to be inserted. Passow, e.g., gives τὸ τῆς φύσεως
σκληρὸν κιρνᾶν from Polybius iv. 21, 3, and τὴν πόλιν κιρνᾶν from
Aristophanes i. 1. In spite of this, however, I have considerable misgivings
whether this sense of the word is in harmony with Pauline usage and is
suitable to the context of the passage. If it is sought to justify a conjectural
reading on transcriptional grounds, then, as has been observed (p. 82), a
strict account must be taken of the manner of writing prevalent at the time
when the corruption is supposed to have originated. Luke’s handwriting
must have been very bad indeed if we are to suppose that the scribe of D or
the parent manuscript mistook ἠρνήσασθε for the enigmatical ἐβαρύνατε in
Acts iii. 14, though it is quite conceivable how he came to write δόξῃ
instead of δεξιᾷ in v. 31, or conversely wrote ἐδέξαντο instead of ἐδόξασαν
in xiii. 48, or that ΚΑΙΤΟΥΤΩΣΥΝΦΩΝΟΥΣΙΝ was made into
ΚΑΙΟΥΤΩΣΣΥΝΦΩΝΗΣΟΥΣΙΝ or vice versa.[153] A slight experience in
the reading of ancient manuscripts shows how easy it is to make mistakes of
this sort. And if we wish to see what mistakes of this sort actually do occur
in Codices Vaticanus, Alexandrinus, Sinaiticus, and Ephraemi, we have
only to look into Morrish’s Handy Concordance of the Septuagint,[154]
though of course the examples there are all from the Old Testament. We
have, e.g., ἀγαπάω for ἀπατάω; ἀγάπη for ἀπάτη; ἁγιάζω for ἀγοράζω;
ἅγιος for αἴγειος, ἀγγεῖον, ἀγρός, γῆ; ἀδιάλυτος for διάλυτος; βάλλω and its
compounds for λαμβάνω and its compounds; λαός for ναός, etc.
Eclectic method. It is more difficult to answer the question how the
text is to be restored in cases where there is no lack of external evidence.
We have already seen that critics have hitherto adopted an eclectic mode of
procedure. In general, whenever Vaticanus and Sinaiticus agree, editors,
Tischendorf as well as Westcott and Hort, give the preference to their
testimony. But if they do not agree, what is to be done? And what if a third
reading seems on internal grounds to be better than either? In his Thoughts
on the Textual Criticism of the New Testament, Salmon very pungently, but
not altogether incorrectly, describes Westcott and Hort’s method on the lines
of an anecdote told of Cato by Cicero: “To the question what authorities
should be followed, Hort answers, Follow B ‫א‬. But if B is not supported by

‫ ?א‬Still follow B, if it has the support of any other manuscript. But suppose
B stands quite alone? Even then it is not safe to reject B unless it is clearly a
clerical error. But suppose B is defective? Then follow ‫א‬. And what about
D? What about killing a man!” Lagarde has said that the gag is the modern
equivalent of the stake. Codex D has not been gagged outright, to be sure,
but it has been shoved aside, and only now and then with remarkable
inconsistency has its evidence been accepted as trustworthy. For one must
surely call it inconsistent to follow one side as a rule and then all at once to
take sides with that which is diametrically opposed to the first. In his
Introduction, Hort, in the most brilliant manner one must admit, has
established the principle that the restoration of the text must be grounded on
the study of its history, and no one has studied that history as carefully as
Hort has done. But the question remains whether he has not interpreted the
history wrongly, whether what he calls the Neutral text is really the original,
and whether that which he rejects as a Western Corruption is really to be
regarded as such.
History of I cannot presume to judge; but I have the feeling
transmission.
that the history of the transmission of our New
Testament text must be studied in quite another way from that in which it
has been done hitherto, and in a twofold direction:—
(1) The manuscripts and their relation to each other must be subjected to a
still more searching investigation, and
(2) The works of the ecclesiastical writers, especially the Commentaries and
the Catenæ, must be thoroughly explored for any information they may
have to give regarding the history of the text of the New Testament, and
these two results must then be set in relation with each other.
With regard to the former task, it might not be essential to make such a
minute collation of the manuscripts as Ferrar, Hoskier, and other
investigators deemed necessary, and as is certainly the right thing to do in
the case of the oldest documents. With such a mode of procedure, the task
could not be accomplished in any conceivable time. But suppose the work
was organised the way that Reuss did with the printed editions, by selecting
say a thousand passages for comparison, it would be possible, and in a very
short time we should be much better informed than we are at present as to
the state of the text in our manuscripts, and especially in the minuscules.

Such a task, moreover, must be preceded by a fresh scientific statement of
the way in which the text was propagated previous to the invention of
printing, on the lines laid down by Hort in the first fourteen paragraphs of
his Introduction.[155] A necessary preliminary to this is the study of
genealogy, in which we have an excellent guide in Ottokar Lorenz’s
Lehrbuch der gesamten wissenschaftlichen Genealogie (Berlin, 1898). See
especially the first chapter of Part I. on the distinction between
Genealogical Tree (Table of genealogy) and Table of Ancestors, and the
third chapter of Part II. on the problem of Loss of Ancestors.
All the ideas pertaining to the genealogy of living creatures, such as
crossing, heredity, and so forth, fall to be considered also in the genealogy
of manuscripts, the only difference being that in the latter case new features
make their appearance. It has been asserted somewhere that if an
Englishman, a Dutchman, a German, a Frenchman, and an American meet
in a company, the nationality of each is at once recognisable, but it is
impossible to determine their exact genealogical relationships, and that the
same impossibility exists in the case of the manuscripts of the New
Testament. That is perhaps an exaggeration, but it is certainly a surprising
fact that so few even of our latest manuscripts can be proved with certainty
to be copies of manuscripts still in existence, or at least to be derived from a
common original.
Analogous works. It will be a very great help, particularly to those
beginning work in this field, to compare the method and results of
investigations pursued in similar and perhaps easier departments of study.
Apart from the works of classical philologists, or works like the new edition
of Luther’s writings, a great deal of most valuable research has been carried
on of late years in the matter of textual criticism, some of it very extensive,
some of it less so. Ed. Wölfflin, e.g., devoted his attention to the Rule of St.
Benedict of Nursia, who died some time after the year 542. His Rule, which
Rule of Benedict. extends only to eighty-five pages of the Teubner
size, is extant in manuscripts dating as far back as the seventh and eighth
centuries. By a comparison of these, Wölfflin was convinced that we still
possess the Rule essentially in the identical wording of the original vulgar
Latin, that Benedict himself had afterwards made certain alterations and
additions, and that we have therefore to distinguish several (fortasse tres)
editions.[156] Wölfflin purported to give the text of that recension which he

took to be the earliest. But we had no more than time to congratulate
ourselves on the satisfactory result arrived at by this experienced
philologist, when behold, another totally different conclusion was
announced by a younger worker in the same field. Wölfflin had done little
more than compare the manuscripts, but Lud. Traube applied also the
external evidence afforded by the history of the text, and discovered that
certain manuscripts that Wölfflin had thrown aside possessed a greater
claim to originality.[157]
De Viris Illustribus. Similarly, E. C. Richardson gave several years to
an examination of all the accessible manuscripts of the De Viris Illustribus
of Jerome and Gennadius, a work not much larger than the Rule of
Benedict. These manuscripts, about 120 in number, he grouped, and then
framed his text in accordance with them.[158] While his work was in the
press, an edition was published by C. A. Bernoulli, based on some of the
manuscripts that Richardson also had used.[159] But from the very first
sentence onwards, the two editors follow contradictory authorities, so that
while one gives parvam as the correct reading, the other reads non parvam.
But more than that, the same Part of Texte und Untersuchungen that gave us
Richardson’s laborious work contained a second piece of work on the same
material—viz., O. v. Gebhardt’s edition of the so-called Greek Sophronius,
which is an old version of Jerome’s book. And the last chapter of this
version, which is autobiographical, contains indications, according to v.
Gebhardt’s Introduction, that Jerome issued two editions of his book, so
that, if this be so, an entirely new grouping of the manuscripts becomes
necessary.
Julian’s Letters. In the case of Holl’s researches on the Sacra
Parallela of John Damascene, published in the same Collection,[160] matters
are too complicated for beginners in textual criticism, but of non-biblical
texts mention may be made of the Recherches sur la tradition manuscrite
des lettres de l’Empereur Julien by S. Bidez and Fr. Cumont (Brussels,
1898), as showing how much can be attained by combining the internal and
external history of the transmission of literary texts.[161] In the field of
Latin New Biblical texts, and particularly of the New
Testament.
Testament, the study of Wordsworth and White’s
Epilogus to the first volume of their Novum Testamentum Latine is to be
specially recommended, particularly c. iv. De Patria et Indole Codicum

nostrorum, c. v. De Textus Historia, and c. vi. De Regulis a nobis in Textu
constituendo adhibitis. As was said before, Jerome undertook his revision
of the Gospels in the year 383; his work was of an entirely uniform texture,
apart from a few passages where a correction may have occurred even in
the original manuscript; and there is a sufficiency of manuscripts extant,
some of them going back to the sixth century. One of these, which formerly
belonged to the Church of St. Willibrord at Echternach, contains a note
dated 558, and copied into it from the parent manuscript, to the effect:
proemendavi ut potui secundum codicem in bibliotheca Eugipi presbyteri,
quem ferunt fuisse sancti Hieronymi. (See above, p. 122.) In these
circumstances it must surely be possible, one would think, to arrive at some
satisfactory conclusion. And yet, in spite of all this, and in spite of long
years of labour, many a problem remains to perplex the editor of the
Vulgate. To begin with, there is one striking circumstance. Jerome executed
his work at Rome, in obedience to the commission of Pope Damasus. One
would therefore expect to find the best manuscripts in Rome, or at least
originating from Rome. But that is by no means the case: “praeter
expectationem accidit ut pauci vel nulli ex codicibus optimis et
antiquissimis originem Romanam clare ostendant.” The manuscript that
editors consider the best—viz. Codex Amiatinus, now at Florence—was
certainly at Rome for a long time, but it was sent there as a present from
beyond the Alps; indeed, it came from England. And on the other hand it
was not from Rome that the Latin Bible came to England, or to Canterbury
in particular, although Augustine was sent thither by Pope Gregory the
Great, but from the South of Italy; in fact, it was from Naples. Codex
Fuldensis, which may have been brought to Fulda by Boniface, formerly
belonged to Bishop Victor of Capua; the Echternach manuscript referred to
above came from the Lucullan Monastery at Naples, while the manuscript
from which Codex Amiatinus was copied was written by Cassiodorus of
Vivarium, and therefore came from Calabria. The history of the
transmission of the Latin Bible reveals many other facts as strange as these
in connection with the locality to which manuscripts belong. We must be
prepared, therefore, for similar surprises in the case of Greek manuscripts
also, and need not be astonished to hear that the Greek-Latin Codex Bezae,
so much decried as “Western,” takes us back to Smyrna or Ephesus by way
of Lyons and by means of Irenæus.[162]

It is also very instructive to observe that after long years of the most
thorough study of their manuscripts, Wordsworth and White refrain from
constructing stemmata or genealogies of these. All they venture to do is to
distinguish certain large classes or families, and within these again to bring
certain manuscripts into somewhat closer relationship with each other. They
distinguish two main classes. In the first they reckon five, or it may be four,
Italian-Northumbrian manuscripts, A Δ H* S Y, two Canterbury O X, three
Italian J M P, the two mentioned already from Capua-Fulda F and Lucullan-
Echternach EP, and the Harleian Z, so called from a former possessor and
now in the British Museum. To the second class belong five Celtic D E L Q
R, three French B BF G, and two Spanish C T. After these come the
witnesses to the history of the text in the stricter sense of the term, the
recensions made by Theodulf (Hc Θ) and Alcuin (KV M̅ ), and, for the form
which the text assumed in the later manuscripts and in the printed editions,
the Salisbury Codex W. We should have great reason to congratulate
ourselves, could we arrive at like certain results in the region of the far
older and more diversified history of the transmission of the Greek text, but
there too we shall encounter the same general features—viz., a form of the
text in the printed editions, in the later manuscripts, in the Recensions, the
dates of which are still to be determined (Lucian, Hesychius?, Pamphilus),
and in the families, which are only to be classified in a general way.
It is also instructive to find that in the case of several manuscripts,
Wordsworth and White are obliged to observe that they seem to have been
corrected from the Greek, H* (p. 709), M (p. 711), EP* (p. 712), D R L (pp.
714, 716), which suggests the possibility of Greek manuscripts also having
been influenced by one of the versions, be it Latin or Syriac.
Finally, when we enquire as to the relationship between Jerome and the
Greek manuscript or manuscripts used by him, we find that that manuscript
must have been most nearly related to the Sinaiticus, while it had no sort of
connection with Codex D. Whether this result tells in favour of ‫ א‬or the
reverse, we will not pronounce at present: Jerome certainly avers that he
made use of a Graecorum codicum emendata conlatione ... sed veterum (p.
108), only veterum is a comparative term, and it might quite well happen
that to Jerome that form of text appeared to be the best which was most
recent or most widely circulated in his neighbourhood, and that he would
have nothing to do with such a singular form of text as D exhibits, even

supposing he was acquainted with it, a point we cannot decide. The intimate
connection in various passages between his text and that of the cursive 473
(2pe) is remarkable, and especially the many points of resemblance between
the Irish manuscripts (D L R) and the members of the Ferrar Group.
And this brings us back from our survey of the history of the Latin text to
that of the Greek, where we seem to have got at least one fixed point to
begin with in this perplexing chaos, for that is the first impression we gain
on glancing at the mass of Greek manuscripts before us. But here again our
too sanguine hopes are likely to be disappointed, and we shall learn only
too soon that even this is no Archimedean point from which we are able to
regulate this world of disorder.
Ferrar Group. If we find that in a certain number of manuscripts
the passage usually indicated as John vii. 53-viii. 11 occurs in Luke, and in
exactly the same place in each one—viz. after Luke xxi. 38—we must
needs conclude that the manuscripts exhibiting this common peculiarity are
intimately connected with each other. This is the case with the cursives 13,
69, 124, 346, 624, 626. Whether the others that are reckoned in this group
have this same peculiarity, I am not perfectly sure. Now one would
naturally expect that these manuscripts would also coincide in the other
Variation. peculiarities characteristic of this group. But on the
contrary, they part company over the very first and most conspicuous of
these—viz. Matthew i. 16. Here, unfortunately, 13 and 69 are defective, but
we can compare 124 and 346. And we find that whereas the former has the
usual text, the latter, with the support of 556, 624, 626, exhibits in place of
τὸν ἄνδρα ... Χριστός, the reading already mentioned, ᾧ μνηστευθεῖσα
παρθένος Μαριὰμ ἐγέννησεν Ἰησοῦν τὸν λεγόμενον Χριστόν. Which of
these readings is right, or whether both of them may not be wrong, we need
not enquire at present. It is sufficient to point out that one and the same
mother may give birth to very different children. The specific difference
will be inherited from the other of the two parents, in this case represented
by the copyist, and will depend on whether he is painstaking, careless,
violent, arbitrary, well-informed, or the reverse. But the mother herself has
a great number of hereditary or acquired peculiarities which, the latter no
less than the former, may be transmitted to the children in a variety of ways.
There is perhaps no manuscript in existence which is entirely free from
corrections, while, on the other hand, there are many so overlaid with

corrections that the original writing is scarcely now recognisable. Codex B,
on the whole, is in a very good state of preservation, but it was supposed
lately (see ThLz., 1899, col. 176) that its first hand wrote in John viii. 57,
“and Abraham saw thee” instead of “and hast thou seen Abraham,” as all
our editors read in that passage.[163] The supposition proved to be incorrect,
but if that could possibly happen with B, what must have happened in the
case of manuscripts that are so full of corrections as ‫ א‬and D, if they came
to be copied in later times? Suppose that one scribe took the trouble to copy
the text of the first hand, while another thought it his duty to follow the
corrections, the result would be two manuscripts whose common origin
would be scarcely recognisable. And in the course of centuries how often
may not this process have been repeated. No wonder, therefore, that so few
manuscripts have as yet been clearly made out to be the descendants of our
oldest codices, so as to permit of their being removed from the board with
one sweep, as having no independent testimony to contribute, as is the case
with E3 which is merely a bad copy of D2 (p. 77), or that scholars cannot
agree as to the relationship existing between two manuscripts like F2 and G3
(p. 77).[164] Nor need we be surprised to find that some of our most peculiar
witnesses seem to have remained absolutely childless, while a less valuable
race is perpetuated in many copies. The words of Homer—οἵη περ φύλλων
γενεή, τοίη δὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν—may be applied conversely to the leaves to
which we entrust our immortality: habent sua fata libelli. The only
unfortunate thing is that we are so little able to follow the course of these
fates by means of external testimony.
External testimony. When the Emperor Constantine e.g. asks Eusebius
to supply him with fifty copies of the Scriptures at once, we cannot but
suppose that these became authoritative over a large area. But in which of
the classes into which our manuscripts have hitherto been divided are we to
look for these now?[165] And conversely if, in another locality, heathen
persecution was directed specially against the Bibles of the Christians, this
cannot have been without some effect. According to C. Hülsen (Bilder aus
der Geschichte des Kapitols, Rome, 1899), even the Roman Bishop
Marcellinus, with his deacons Strabo and Cassianus, in the year 304,
burned, in front of the temple of Juno Moneta, those Gospels which ten
years later were made the law of Christian Rome by the Emperor
Constantine. These scattered notices must be much more carefully collected

and considered than hitherto, and combined with the results obtained from
the collation of the manuscripts.
Recensions. Most of our information with respect to the
recensions of the Bible comes from the Syrian Church, and is concerned
rather with the Old Testament than with the New; but the recensions of the
former may throw some light on those of the latter.
Lucian. (a) As the result of their researches, Westcott and
Hort have made it very probable, on internal grounds, that a recension of an
official nature was undertaken in Syria, perhaps at Antioch, about the fourth
century, and that to this recension are due the origin and propagation of that
form of the text of the New Testament which was widely disseminated in
the Byzantine Empire, now represented in our later minuscules, and made
the textus receptus by means of the first printed editions.
Lucian, the celebrated founder of the Antiochean school of exegesis,
suffered martyrdom in the year 311 or 312, most probably the latter. Of all
the names that we know, none has a better claim than his to be associated
with such a recension, and the conjecture derives some support from the
passage of Jerome cited above (p. 85).[166] It is, perhaps, even better
supported by what we know of Lucian’s recension of the Old Testament. In
his preface to the Chronicles, Jerome wrote: “Alexandria et Aegyptus in
Septuaginta suis Hesychium laudat auctorem, Constantinopolis usque
Antiochiam Luciani martyris exemplaria probat, mediae inter has
provinciae Palaestinae (v.l. Palaestinos) codices legunt, quos ab Origene
elaboratos Eusebius et Pamphilus vulgaverunt; totusque orbis hac inter se
trifaria varietate compugnat.” Now it is true that the words of a man like
Jerome must not be pressed too far, and what may have been true in his day
might be quite different in a comparatively short time—think e.g. of the
fifty copies of the Bible that Eusebius Pamphili had sent to Constantine, or
the Bible or Bibles sent by Athanasius to Constans[167]—at the same time it
has been established beyond all doubt by Field and Lagarde, that it is to
Lucian we must refer a peculiar recension of the Greek Old Testament
preserved in a good many manuscripts, the one found in the unfortunately
small remnant of the Gothic Old Testament and especially in the numerous
Biblical quotations of the famous theologian John of Antioch, better known
as Chrysostom of Constantinople, who was a pupil of Lucian. The
probability, therefore, is very great that the same thing will hold good of the

New Testament portion of the Bible of Ulfilas and Chrysostom. As regards
the former, Kauffmann has expressed a decided opinion to this effect in his
work on the Gothic Bible cited above (p. 139). The supposition would be
converted into something like certainty if it could be proved on
palæographic grounds that this or that New Testament manuscript belongs
to this or that Old Testament manuscript of Lucianic derivation as part of
what was originally one and the same complete Bible. This is a point which
I am not in a position personally to investigate, and I must therefore content
myself with throwing out this suggestion, and with adding in support of it
that we have the express testimony of the Menologies for saying that
Lucian bequeathed to his pupils a copy of the Old and New Testaments
written in three columns with his own hand.
There is a statement in the Pseudo-Athanasian Synopsis,[168] which seems,
however, to refer only to the Old Testament portion, to the effect that it was
discovered in a concealed cupboard (πυργίσκος) in the house of a Jew at
Nicomedia in the time of Constantine. Long ago Hug and Eichhorn
attributed the “Asiatic” or “Byzantine” recension to Lucian, and no decided
objection can be established to the view of Hort, which Gregory also is
inclined to accept (TiGr., p. 814).[169]
Hesychius. (b) It is, on the other hand, somewhat difficult to
make out how matters stand with regard to the recension of Hesychius.
Jerome commends it with that of Lucian for the Old Testament, but
contemptuously rejects it for the New; and accordingly, in the decree of
Pope Gelasius, we hear of Gospels “quae falsavit Lucianus, apocrypha,
evangelia quae falsavit Hesychius, apocrypha” (c. vi. 14, 15). Considering
the important position of Alexandria and Egypt, and the vast number of
manuscripts referred with more or less certainty to that locality, it is the
more remarkable that so few unmistakable traces have as yet been
discovered of the recension of which “Alexandria et Aegyptus ...
Hesychium laudat auctorem,” and that till the present moment the most
divergent views have been held with regard to it. And this is true of the Old
Testament no less than of the New. One view, for which a good deal can be
said, has already been referred to (p. 61 f.)—viz. that we have the recension
Codex B. of Hesychius in Codex B. Rahlfs, who was the first
to connect B with the Canon of Athanasius, says (lib. cit., p. 78, note 7); “If
we care to trust ourselves to pure hypothesis, we might hazard the

conjecture that our superb Codex, manifestly written for one of the
principal churches of Egypt, was prepared at the instigation of St.
Athanasius himself. The locality in which the manuscript was produced
supports this conjecture, while the time is not inconsistent with it.” I am not
aware if Rahlfs knew that Athanasius had executed πυκτία τῶν θείων
γραφῶν for Constans, and I am not sufficiently acquainted with the minutiæ
of the ecclesiastical history of that time, and with the life of Athanasius in
particular, to hazard the assertion that Codex B was prepared by Athanasius
for the Emperor Constans. It is certainly the case, as every Church History
records, that Constans was Prefect of Illyricum and Italy, and that
Athanasius fled to Rome to Julius II., which would help to explain how
Codex B comes to be in that city.[170] I cannot ascertain however from the
books at my command, whether any particular resemblance has been
observed between the text of this manuscript and the Biblical quotations
found in those writings of Athanasius that belong to this period of his life,
that is, prior to the year 350. And, besides, one has always to take into
consideration how very little reliance can be placed as yet on the text of the
Biblical quotations in our editions of the Fathers. In the Book of Judges B
certainly exhibits quite a peculiar form of text which is not used by the
earlier Egyptian teachers, Clement and Origen, nor even by Didymus (d.
394 or 399), but was employed first by Cyril of Alexandria, and which is
the basis of the Sahidic version. This fact may have an important bearing on
the question as to the text of the New Testament as well.[171] As early as
1705 Grabe expressed the opinion that the Sahidic version was the work of
Hesychius, but we have very little information indeed regarding that Church
Father, and in particular as to his connection with the lexicographer of that
name. Here also, the evidence afforded by palæography would need to be
examined with a view to ascertaining whether or not any of the manuscripts
agreeing with B in the Book of Judges—viz. G (Brit. Mus., 20,002), 16, 30,
52, 53, 58, 63, 77, 85, 131, 144, 209, 236, 237, Catena Nicephori—has a
counterpart in some manuscript of the New Testament. On Codex G see
Rahlfs (p. 35, n. 2), and compare v. Dobschütz (ThLz., 1899, 3, 74) on the
two New Testament manuscripts Λ and 566evv. (Greg).[172] According to the
latter, the difference in size precludes the supposition that Λ and 566 are the
New Testament portion of the manuscript described by Rahlfs (loc. cit.).
But if they are not written by the same scribe, they both undoubtedly come
from the same school of copyists. At most, however, Λ-566 would only

possess importance for the recension of Hesychius if the text they, or rather
it, follows were different from that with which it was collated. Its
subscription shows that it belongs to those exemplars which were collated
with the Codex of Pamphilus. This fact has an important bearing on the
Gospel of the Hebrews. See Zahn, GK. ii. 648.
Eusebius-Pamphilus. (c) We have nearly as little certain information
regarding the third, and perhaps most important, of the recensions
mentioned by Jerome in connection with the Old Testament, that of
Eusebius and Pamphilus, which goes back to Origen.[173] So far as I know,
Origen. the references which Origen makes in his extant
writings to his own labours in the field of textual criticism, relate only to the
Old Testament. At the same time his complaint as to the evil condition of
the manuscripts of his day refers to the New Testament, and to the Gospels
in particular. Νυνὶ δὲ δηλονότι, he says, in his Commentary on Matthew,
Bk. xv. 14, πολλὴ γέγονεν ἡ τῶν ἀντιγράφων διαφορά, εἴτε ἀπὸ ῥᾳθυμίας
τινῶν γραφέων, εἴτε ἀπὸ τόλμης τινῶν μοχθηρᾶς τῆς διορθώσεως τῶν
γραφομένων, εἴτε καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν τὰ ἑαυτοῖς δοκοῦντα ἐν τῇ διορθώσει
προστιθέντων ἢ ἀφαιρούντων.[174] He tells us in the same place how, θεοῦ
διδόντος, he found ways and means of remedying the evil by the
employment of the critical symbols of Homeric commentators, the obelus
and asterisk, τὴν μὲν οὖν ἐν τοῖς ἀντιγράφοις τῆς παλαιᾶς διαθήκης
διαφωνίαν, θεοῦ διδόντος, εὕρομεν ἰάσασθαι. According to his own express
declaration, supposing it to have been correctly preserved, for it is only
extant in Latin, his work in textual criticism at that time at least was
confined to the Old Testament: in exemplaribus autem Novi Testamenti hoc
ipsum me posse facere sine periculo non putavi. Von Gebhardt
consequently says (Urt., 25) that this statement from Origen’s own mouth
should have kept anyone from ascribing a formal recension of the New
Testament text to him, alluding to Hug’s system of recensions; but at the
same time he will not deny that the works of Origen, who was a man of
conspicuous critical accuracy, are of the highest importance for the criticism
of the text of the New Testament. As a matter of fact, later church teachers
appeal chiefly to Origen’s manuscripts of the Old Testament, but several
references are also found to his New Testament manuscripts. On Gal. iii. 1,
Jerome remarks (ii. 418): legitur in quibusdam codicibus, Quis vos
fascinavit non credere veritati? Sed hoc (meaning, of course, the last three
words only) quia in exemplaribus Adamantii non habetur, omisimus. The

words are a gloss interpolated from ch. v. 7, but they are also found in
Origen, though only in the Latin translation of Rufinus, and they appear,
among our Greek manuscripts, in C Dc E K L P, and likewise in most
codices of the Vulgate (see Wordsworth and White, p. 659). The same
writer says on Matthew xxiv. 36 (ii. 199): in quibusdam latinis
exemplaribus additum est “neque filius,” quum in Graecis et maxime
Adamantii et Pierii exemplaribus hoc non habeatur additum; sed quia in
nonnullis legitur, disserendum videtur (W. and W., p. 658). Pierius is no
doubt the Presbyter of Alexandria who lived at Rome after the Diocletian
persecution. He was styled “the younger Origen” on account of his learning,
and was perhaps the teacher of Pamphilus (Jerome, Viri Ill., 76; Eusebius,
Eccl. Hist., vii. 32). Adamantius, like Chalkenteros, is a surname of honour
given to Origen. Here again, it is a strange fact that the words which Jerome
says were omitted in Origen’s exemplar are found in a certain passage of his
works also extant only in Latin, and there expounded so fully that there
cannot be the slightest doubt that he had them in his text, and, moreover,
had no conception of their omission in other copies. What explanation, if
any, can be given of this fact we need not pause to enquire. Nor need we
take up the question where Jerome obtained access to the exemplars of
Pierius. I suppose it would be in Caesarea, where he also saw the (Bible?)
volumes of Origen transcribed by Pamphilus with his own hand, and
actually obtained possession of his copy of the commentary on the Minor
Prophets.[175] Even supposing that what is meant by exemplaria Adamantii is
not really a recension of the text of the Bible but simply the copy that
Origen used most or used last, that copy might have been authoritative for
Pamphilus if not for Eusebius, and so far, therefore, it becomes necessary
for us to try and discover the Origenic text in the New Testament as well as
in the Old. At all events a good many of our manuscripts go back to
Pamphilus, and particularly H of the Pauline Epistles. In addition to a very
practical suggestion as to the lending of books,[176] and a notice of its
preparation and of the original writer, this manuscript has also the following
note: ἀντεβλήθη δὲ ἡ βίβλος πρὸς τὸ ἐν Καισαρίᾳ ἀντίγραφον τῆς
βιβλιοθήκης τοῦ ἁγίου Παμφίλου χειρὶ γεγραμμένον (αὐτοῦ). From this
subscription Field (Hexapla, i. p. xcix) has concluded that the library of
Pamphilus was still in existence in the sixth century, but it is doubtful
whether the subscription may not have been found in the original of H and
copied into it along with the text, as is the case with a similar note copied

Euthalius. into the minuscules 15, 83, 173. In any case this
manuscript is our principal witness for the recension of Pamphilus, or, as it
used to be called, the recension of Euthalius.[177] I have no intention of
discussing the question whether it should be Euthalius or Evagrius: Von
Dobschütz (Euthaliusstudien, p. 152 n. 1) has promised to give us further
particulars as to the Syriac texts relating to the subject. I would merely call
attention to two facts, viz.—
Harklean. (1) That the subscription testifying to a collation
with the exemplar of Pamphilus is found also at the end of the Harklean
Syriac published by Bensly (see above, pp. 79, 106).
Evagrius. (2) That the name Evagrius, which Ehrhard
proposes to read in place of Euthalius in Codex H, is actually found
associated with the library of Pamphilus in another manuscript of the Old
Testament. In his Notitia editionis codicis Bibliorum Sinaitici (Lipsiæ,
1860), pp. 73-122, Tischendorf published “Ex Codicibus Insulae Patmi,
Ineditum Diodori Siculi; Origenis Scholia in Proverbia Salomonis.” The
latter he took from a manuscript which, according to H. O. Coxe’s Report ...
on the Greek MSS. yet remaining in the Levant (1858, p. 61), professed to
contain “Origenis Hexapla cum Scholiis” after the Philocalia. In reality they
are Origen’s Scholia on the Proverbs which Angelo Mai had published in a
different form from the Vatican Catena 1802, in the Nova Patrum
Bibliotheca, 1854. In the Patmos manuscript the scholia proper are prefaced
by two (or three) explanatory notes on the use of the obelus and the asterisk,
and on the different arrangement of the chapters in the Hebrew and Greek
texts, followed by another explanation of the same sort under the title
Εὐαγρίου σχόλιον.[178] Who they are that are referred to in the scholion as
having collated the book (τῶν ἀντιβεβληκότων τὸ βιβλίον) we learn from
the subscription, which says: μετελήφθησαν ἀφ’ ὧν εὕρομεν ἑξαπλῶν καὶ
πάλιν αὐτὰ χειρὶ (leg. αὐτόχειρι) Πάμφιλος καὶ Εὐσέβιος διορθώσαντο.
This subscription, which Oikonomos published fully fifty years ago from
that Patmos manuscript,[179] should be added to those usually cited—viz.
those appended to Ezra and Esther in ‫א‬, to Isaiah and Ezekiel in Codex
Marchalianus, to 3 and 4 Kings in the Syriac Hexapla, and to Ezekiel in
Codex Chisianus 88.
With what has been said the student should compare what Von der Goltz
tells us of a critical work upon the text of the New Testament belonging

partly to the tenth and partly to the sixth century.[180] This, too, goes back to
Origen, and in a scholion on James ii. 3, the greater part of which is
unfortunately erased, the work mentions “a manuscript written by the hand
of St. Eusebius.” As Zahn elsewhere shows, the writer of the Athos
manuscript did not base his own work on this Codex of Eusebius, and in
one passage he expressly contrasts it with the text of Origen which he
follows. In spite of this, however, this Athos manuscript must be taken into
account in dealing with the recension of Pamphilus. Still more so must the
Armenian and Syriac texts, according to Conybeare and von Dobschütz.[181]
Even the Latin manuscripts may contain traces of this recension. E.
Riggenbach has shown that the table of chapters in Hebrews given in Codex
Fuldensis and in a manuscript indicated as Cod. Vat. Reg. 9, is nothing but a
translation of the corresponding part of “Euthalius.”[182] Unfortunately the
relics of the literary activity of Pamphilus, that devoted student of the
Scriptures,[183] are exceedingly scanty, and what little is left is extant only in
a Latin translation. In these circumstances the attempt to specify more
closely than hitherto his manuscripts of the Bible by means of his
quotations does seem rather hopeless.
Later revisers. (d) As we are now dealing with the question how
to arrive at the oldest form of the Greek text, it is unnecessary to take
account of the labours of any later individuals in the formation of the Greek
New Testament. Among these were Emperors and Empresses like
Constantine and Constans, who exerted themselves in the dissemination of
the Scriptures, and perhaps even made copies of them with their own hands,
but these we may disregard.[184] The work of Andreas and Arethas on the
Apocalypse will be noticed when we come to speak of that book. One
naturally turns here to Krumbacher’s History of Byzantine Literature, but
the index to the first edition of that work contains only two references to the
New Testament, neither of them bearing on our present subject. The matter
is one which may be commended to those who have the time and the
opportunity and the willingness to investigate it, and considering the ardour
with which the study of Byzantine antiquities is being prosecuted at present,
it may suffice merely to throw out this hint.
Pre-Origenic texts. (e) So far as we have gone, therefore, it appears
that much uncertainty prevails regarding the text formations we have
already considered—those of Lucian, Hesychius, Pamphilus, and the Ferrar

Group. Considering the amount of evidence at our command—how the
external testimony points in the same direction as the manuscripts
themselves, and, indeed, how probable is the whole nature of the operation
in question—one would expect these to be the most easily distinguishable
of all. Indeed, even so cautious an enquirer as Zahn speaks without any
hesitation of “the official recensions originating subsequent to the time of
Origen” (ThLbl., 1899, 180). The vagueness of our conclusions with respect
to these recensions does not look very promising for the result of our
investigation of the text prior to the time of Origen, when activity in this
field was more disconnected and might be said to run wild and unrestrained.
And there is this further difficulty that some of the writers who fall to be
considered in this period came in later times more or less justly under the
imputation of heresy, with the consequence that the results of their labours
were less widely disseminated, if not deliberately suppressed. In
circumstances like these any attempted revision of the text must have been
equally mischievous, whether it proceeded from the orthodox side or from
the opposite. That there were διορθωταί who were supposed to correct the
text in the interests of orthodoxy we have already learned from Epiphanius.
Indeed, from our point of view the action of the orthodox correctors must
be thought the more regrettable of the two, since the books without a doubt
parted at their hands with many vivid, strange, and even fantastic traits of
language. Even in the matter of style it seems to me incontestable that it
was at their hands that the Gospels received that reserved and solemn tone
which we would not now willingly part with, and which can be compared to
nothing so much as to those solemn pictures of Christ that we see painted
on a golden background in Byzantine churches. For myself, at least, I have
not the slightest doubt that the Gospel, and the Gospel particularly, was
originally narrated in a much more vivacious style. Just consider this, for
example. In all our present authorities—Greek manuscripts, ancient
versions, Syriac, Egyptian, and so forth, and in all the Church Fathers
without exception, so far as I am aware—we read the beautiful words:
“your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him,” πρὸ
τοῦ ὑμᾶς αἰτῆσαι αὐτόν (Matt. vi. 8). Compare with this what we find
singly and solely in Codex D and the Old Latin h, πρὸ τοῦ ἀνοῖξαι τὸ
στόμα, antequam os aperiatis, “before ever you open your mouth.” To me it
is a striking indication to what an extent the instinctive sense of originality
is wanting, that a reading like this is not inserted by Westcott and Hort

among their Noteworthy Rejected Readings, nor even cited by Baljon in his
critical apparatus, and that our commentators have not a single syllable
about it, so that our students and preachers know nothing whatever of this
form of the words of Jesus. If my edition of the New Testament did no more
than bring such things to the notice of those who previously were
unacquainted with them, I should consider it had done no small service. But
take another illustration from the parable of the Barren Fig Tree. “Cut it
down, why cumbereth it the ground,”—that is how our ordinary texts give
the commandment of the justly indignant husbandman in Luke xiii. 7:
ἔκκοψον αὐτήν· ἱνατί καὶ τὴν γῆν καταργεῖ. Here again, the great majority
of our witnesses of every sort exhibit no variation worth mentioning, except
that a good many (A L T etc.) insert a very prosy οὖν after the imperative,
while B 80 read τὸν τόπον for τὴν γῆν. And in the answer of the vine-
dresser (verse 8), “till I shall dig about it and dung it,” there is again no
various reading in our ordinary witnesses of all kinds except the
insignificant interchange of (βάλω) κόπρια, κοπρίαν, and κόπρον. What a
difference do we find here also in the text of D: “bring the axe,” φέρε τὴν
ἀξίνην, adfers securem; and, “I will throw in a basket of dung,” βάλω
κόφινον κοπρίων, mittam qualum (= squalum) stercoris d, or cophinum
stercoris a b c f ff2 i l q, from which it was taken into the Codex of
Marmoutier, a copy of the Alcuinian recension of the Vulgate written in
gold.[185] Here again, our editors and commentators for the most part take no
notice. “Bring the axe” is omitted by Weiss, father and son, Westcott-Hort,
Tregelles, and also by Baljon, while Holtzmann ignores both variants. It
stands to reason, of course, that greater vivacity of style is not of itself an
actual proof of greater originality. But the whole question is raised as to the
principles by which we are to be guided in estimating the comparative value
of the witnesses. One might be inclined to regard such peculiarities as due
to the caprice of some scribe by whom D or its parent manuscript was
written. As a matter of fact, Westcott and Hort, and most recent editors with
them, do so regard them, seeing they cite the reading of D neither in Matt.
vi. 8 nor in Luke xiii. 7. In the latter passage one might be inclined to take
that view of the case, because as yet we have no other testimony to φέρε
τὴν ἀξίνην than D d. But it is not so likely in the case of Matt. vi. 8, seeing
that here the testimony of D is supported by that of h. To justify our neglect
of these witnesses, we should require to prove either that h is derived from
D or D from h.[186] So far as my knowledge goes, no one has yet maintained

the latter view. The derivation of h from D is an impossibility, for this
reason alone that h belongs either to the fourth, or, what is perhaps more
likely, to the fifth century (see p. 113).[187] The truth is, rather, that we have
in h a second and independent witness to the fact that at a very early date
the text of Matt. vi. 8 read, “before you open your mouth.” But it is quite
impossible to ignore the evidence of D in Luke xiii. 8 (κόφινον κοπρίων).
Here too, of course, one might take exception and say that as D is bilingual,
its Greek text might be derived from the Latin. Fortunately, however, it
happens that the Latin of D, that is, d, differs from all the other eight Latin
witnesses in reading not cophinus but qualus, and it is cophinus that is a
loan word from the Greek[188]; so that this objection, actually raised against
D in the case of other readings, does not apply to this one. There is this to
be observed, moreover—a point not given in Tischendorf, but noticed in
Westcott and Hort—viz., that Origen also seems to have read “basket.” The
passage is again one that is extant only in the Latin translation of Rufinus,
and Tischendorf cites Or. 3, 452 among the witnesses supporting κόπρια;
but Westcott and Hort expressly mention that Origen’s context appears to
support the reading κόφινον (“Lev. lat. Ruf., 190, apparently with context”).
Here, then, we have these three stages:—

(1) D d alone, φέρε τὴν ἀξίνην—i.e. one solitary Greek manuscript.
(2) D supported by h, ἀνοῖξαι τὸ στόμα—i.e. the same solitary Greek
manuscript with the addition of one representative of a version.
(3) D supported by eight Latin manuscripts and Origen, κόφινον
κοπρίων—i.e. the same solitary Greek manuscript with the addition of
eight representatives of one version and one not absolutely certain
quotation.

What then? Can it be allowable to judge a reading’s claim to be mentioned
and considered from the number of the witnesses supporting it, and like
Westcott and Hort and Baljon to mention the third only, and take no notice
of the other two? I think not. For just as in certain circumstances the correct
reading may no longer appear in any manuscript, but must be determined by
conjecture, so in another case the truth may have only one solitary
representative left to support it against a whole world of adversaries (Heb.
xii. 3), and this solitary witness either a manuscript, a version, or a

quotation. On the other hand, it may have a whole cloud of witnesses
accompanying it and supporting it. In matters of this kind numbers have
nothing to do with the case whatever. To speak of majorities is nonsense.
The true man is willing and able to stand alone, and to many a witness of
this sort we must apply the words of Socrates: ἃ μὲν συνῆκα γενναῖα· οἶμαι
δὲ καὶ ἃ μὴ συνῆκα. If we have been able to verify the word of a witness
once, several times, frequently, then we shall be willing to trust him even in
cases where we cannot check his evidence. Of course we must make
allowance for human fallibility—quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus; least
of all in matters of this kind must we look for inerrancy. A manuscript
whose testimony was decisive on every point would be even a greater
miracle than a book printed without a single error at the time of the
Incunabula, which the printers of that age would have regarded as an eighth
wonder of the world. But how to estimate the character of such a witness,
seeing that the subjective feeling, the instinctive perception of what is
original, is as little to be trusted as the number of the witnesses—that is the
difficulty. And what is the point that our discussion has brought us to? From
the “official recensions of the text” made in the later centuries, we sought to
get back to similar works of earlier times, and we found that the original
text may have suffered as much at the hands of orthodox revisers and
correctors, who toned down and obscured the fresh colouring of the ancient
records, as at the hands of heretics who inserted foreign and extraneous
elements.[189]
Unfortunately very little definite information has come down to us from
those early times, and as that relates more to the history of the canon than of
the text, reference must be made here to the monumental work of Zahn.[190]
Two figures, however, emerge from this chaos who have left their traces on
the history of the text as well, Tatian and Marcion, the former chiefly in
connection with the Gospels, the latter with the Pauline Epistles. Both have
been already referred to more than once in the chapter on the “Materials”
(Tatian, p. 97 f.; Marcion, pp. 76, 87), and both will require careful
consideration here in our treatment of the principles involved in the
reconstruction of the text. How much would be achieved could we but
restore the original work of Tatian upon the Gospels, or the Gospel and the
Apostle of Marcion!
Heretics.

(f) Before speaking of their work, however, there are still a few less
important notices to be gleaned from their own and the preceding time.
Nearly all the heretics were in turn accused of falsifying the Scriptures. In
this sense, also, the Dutch proverb is true, “jedere ketter heeft zijn letter”
(every heretic has his letter, his text of the Scriptures). In early times Justin
charged the Jews with such falsification in the Old Testament, and Lagarde
was sometimes inclined to suspect that the Massoretic numbers in Genesis
had been manipulated by the opponents of Christianity. Such complaints
were most frequently made against the Gnostics, particularly the
Valentinians, and when we glance over the long lists of apocryphal and
pseudepigraphical writings,[191] it is abundantly evident that at various times
there was a good deal of falsification—i.e., a good deal written under false
names. At the same time it cannot be denied that alterations were also made
on early Christian works and the books of Scripture in the interests of
dogma. These alterations are of all sorts, ranging from quite harmless
changes made in all innocence to supposed corrections, and, it may be, even
wilful corruptions.[192] But most assuredly the heretics are not alone in being
chargeable with this offence: Iliacos intra muros peccatur et extra.
As Jülicher (Einl., 378) points out, the orthodox Church teachers were very
fond of making this charge against the heretics: παραλλάσσειν,
παραχαράσσειν, ῥᾳδιουργεῖν, διαφθείρειν, ἐξαιρεῖν, ἀφανίζειν, κατορθοῦν
(ironically), ἀποκόπτειν, παρακόπτειν, περικόπτειν, μετατιθέναι,
προστιθέναι, interpolare, adulterare, violare, corrodere, dissecare, auferre,
delere, emendare (ironically), eradere, subvertere, extinguere, these are
some of the expressions we hear in this connection. Marcion gave occasion
to the reproach by his edition of the Gospel of Luke and the Epistles of
Paul, but against the rest of the Gnostics, especially the Valentinians,
against the Artemonites, Novatians, Arians, and Donatists, and against the
Nestorians, the same accusation is made as was formerly brought against
the Jews. Even within the pale of the Church one party attributed such
practices to the other. Ambrosiaster, e.g., believed that in the case of
important discrepancies between the Greek and Latin manuscripts, the
variations were due to the presumption of the Greek writers who had
interpolated spurious matter. Jerome was afraid this would be said of him if
he ventured to make the slightest alteration: quis doctus pariter vel indoctus
non statim erumpat in vocem, me falsarium, me, clamans, esse sacrilegum

qui audeam aliquid in veteribus libris addere, mutare, corrigere! The curse
in Apoc. xxii. 18 f. was also referred to the “falsifiers,” who thought it more
convincing and more reverent to observe the rules of grammar and logic
than to abide by all the peculiar expressions in the Scriptures. At a meeting
of Cyprian bishops, about the year 350, when one of them, in quoting the
verse John v. 8, substituted for κράβαττος the better Greek word σκίμπους,
another shouted to him in the hearing of all the multitude, “Art thou better
than he who said κράβαττος that thou art ashamed to use his words?”[193]
And it is a well-known fact that in the time of Augustine there was very
nearly an uproar in an African congregation over Jonah’s “gourd”
(cucurbita) or Jonah’s “ivy” (hedera). A few references at least may be
collected here:—

(1) On a certain Sunday[194] in the year 170 or thereabouts, Dionysius,
Bishop of Corinth, wrote a letter to the Church at Rome through their
Bishop Soter, of which Eusebius has preserved the following among
other passages (Eccl. Hist., iv. 23):—Ἐπιστολὰς γὰρ ἀδελφῶν
ἀξιωσάντων με γράψαι ἔγραψα. Καὶ ταύτας οἱ τοῦ διαβόλου
ἀπόστολοι[195] ζιζανίων γεγέμικαν, ἃ μὲν ἐξαιροῦντες, ἃ δὲ
προστιθέντες. Οἷς τὸ οὐαὶ κεῖται.[196] Οὐ θαυμαστὸν ἄρα,[197] εἰ καὶ τῶν
Κυριακῶν ῥᾳδιουργῆσαί τινες ἐπιβέβληνται γραφῶν, ὁπότε καὶ ταῖς οὐ
τοιαύταις ἐπιβεβουλεύκασι. The κυριακαὶ γραφαὶ are in all likelihood
the Gospels (the Syriac renders “the writings of our Lord”), but may
also include the Pauline Epistles and the O.T. If we are to take the
words of Dionysius in their strict sense, it would appear that these
writings, like his own letters, had been corrupted by means of
“additions” and “omissions.” The last sentence, if it is put correctly, and
if it has been faithfully transmitted, leads us to infer that in his letter to
Corinth Soter had expressed his surprise that the writings of the Lord
should have been falsified. To which Dionysius replies that certain
letters of his own had been falsified also, and that it was therefore no
wonder if they did the same to the writings of the Lord, seeing they
tampered also (or, even) with those that were inferior to them. The
simplest explanation of the words is, undoubtedly, that Dionysius
sought to console himself over the fate that had befallen his letters, by
reflecting that it was not surprising that they had falsified his letters of
less importance, seeing they had presumed to do the same even to the

writings of the Lord. On the first interpretation, one would certainly
expect Dionysius to use a stronger expression to describe his feelings at
the manipulation of the sacred writings than the mere οὐ θαυμαστόν.
Who are meant by τινές? One most naturally thinks of Marcion.
According to a later account, Soter, whom Jerome does not mention
among the writers, composed a book against the Montanists.
Artemonites. (2) In the last chapter of the Fifth Book of his
Ecclesiastical History (c. xxviii.), entitled Περὶ τῶν τὴν Ἀρτέμωνος
αἵρεσιν ἐξαρχῆς προβεβλημένων· οἷοί τε τὸν τρόπον γεγόνασι καὶ ὅπως
τὰς ἁγίας γραφὰς διαφθεῖραι τετολμήκασιν, Eusebius quotes the
following complaint from an earlier source, entitled the Little Labyrinth
(± 235):—Γραφὰς μὲν θείας ἀφόβως ῥερᾳδιουργήκασιν, πίστεως δὲ
ἀρχαίας κανόνα ἠθετήκασι, Χριστὸν δὲ ἠγνοήκασιν, οὐ τί αἱ θεῖαι
λέγουσι γραφαὶ ζητοῦντες, but occupying themselves with Logic,
Geometry, Euclid, Aristotle, Theophrastus, and Galen, ταῖς τῶν
ἀπίστων τέχναις, τὴν ἁπλῆν τῶν θείων γραφῶν πίστιν καπηλεύοντες ...
διὰ τοῦτο ταῖς θείαις γραφαῖς ἀφόβως ἐπέβαλον τὰς χεῖρας, λέγοντες
αὐτὰς διωρθωκέναι. Καὶ ὅτι τοῦτο μὴ καταψευδόμενος αὐτῶν λέγω, ὁ
βουλόμενος δύναται μαθεῖν. Εἰ γάρ τις θελήσει συγκομίσας αὐτῶν
ἑκάστου τὰ ἀντίγραφα ἐξετάζειν πρὸς ἄλληλα, κατὰ πολὺ ἂν εὕροι
διαφωνοῦντα. Ἀσύμφωνα γοῦν ἔσται τὰ Ἀσκληπιάδου τοῖς Θεοδότου·
Πολλῶν δὲ ἔστιν εὐπορῆσαι διὰ τὸ φιλοτίμως ἐγγεγράφθαι τοὺς
μαθητὰς αὐτῶν τὰ ὑφ’ ἑκάστου αὐτῶν, ὡς αὐτοὶ καλοῦσι κατωρθωμένα
τουτέστιν ἠφανισμένα. Πάλιν δὲ τούτοις τὰ Ἑρμοφίλου οὐ συνᾴδει. Τὰ
γὰρ Ἀπολλωνίδου οὐδὲ αὐτὰ ἑαυτοῖς ἐστι σύμφωνα. Ἔνεστι γὰρ
συγκρῖναι τὰ πρότερον ὑπ’ αὐτῶν[198] κατασκευασθέντα τοῖς ὕστερον
πάλιν ἐπιδιαστραφεῖσι, καὶ εὑρεῖν κατὰ πολὺ ἀπᾴδοντα. Ὅσης δὲ
τόλμης ἐστὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἁμάρτημα, εἰκὸς μηδὲ ἐκείνους ἀγνοεῖν. Ἢ γὰρ
οὐ πιστεύουσιν Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι λελέχθαι τὰς θείας γραφὰς, καί εἰσιν
ἄπιστοι· ἢ ἑαυτοὺς ἡγοῦνται σοφωτέρους τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος
ὑπάρχειν, καὶ τί ἕτερον ἢ δαιμονῶσιν; Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀρνήσασθαι δύνανται
ἑαυτῶν εἶναι τὸ τόλμημα, ὁπόταν καὶ τῇ αὐτῶν χειρὶ ᾖ γεγραμμένα, καὶ
παρ’ ὧν κατηχήθησαν μὴ τοιαύτας παρέλαβον τὰς γραφάς· καὶ δεῖξαι
ἀντίγραφα, ὅθεν αὐτὰ μετεγράψαντο, μὴ ἔχωσιν. Ἔνιοι δὲ αὐτῶν οὐδὲ
παραχαράσσειν ἠξίωσαν αὐτὰς, ἀλλ’ ἁπλῶς ἀρνησάμενοι τόν τε νόμον
καὶ τοὺς προφήτας ἀνόμου καὶ ἀθέου διδασκαλίας προφάσει χάριτος,
εἰς ἔσχατον ἀπωλείας ὄλεθρον κατωλίσθησαν.

The passage is very instructive. We learn that copies of the writings of
these heretics were to be found in abundance, because their disciples
eagerly inserted their emendations in their texts, “each one’s
emendations, as they style them, but in reality they are corruptions,” as
the Syriac has it. At the same time, it is not quite certain that
κατωρθωμένα really means corrected manuscripts of the Bible, and not
the heretics’ own works—i.e., whether we should understand
ἀντίγραφα τῶν θείων γραφῶν after τὰ Ἀσκληπιάδου, τὰ Θεοδότου, τὰ
Ἑρμοφίλου, τὰ Ἀπολλωνίδου and not rather γράμματα or συντάγματα.
In the former case we shall have to search for a recension of
Asclepiades, of Theodotus, of Hermophilus, and in the case of
Apollonides for a double recension, an earlier and a later. This
interpretation of the words does certainly receive support from the
positive way in which the historian argues from the conduct of these
heretics, that they either did not believe in any inspiration of the holy
Scriptures, or thought they could write better themselves, and also from
his remark that they did not receive τὰς γραφάς in that form (τοιαύτας)
from their (Christian) instructors, and were not able to show any older
copies from which their own were transcribed. From the mention of the
Law and the Prophets, we may conclude that the reference is mainly to
the O. T. Epiphanius mentions the Theodotians as appealing to Deut.
xviii. 15, Jer. xvii. 9, Isa. liii. 3, Matt. xii. 31, Luke i. 35, John viii. 40,
Acts ii. 22, 1 Tim. ii. 5; while Hippolytus argues against them on the
ground that in John i. 14, it is not τὸ πνεῦμα but ὁ λόγος σάρξ ἐγένετο.
No sure traces, however, can be discovered in any of these N. T.
passages of their supposed trenchant criticism of the text. The most
probable instance is Luke i. 35. “If we may trust the statement of
Epiphanius,” says Harnack (Monarchianismus, PRE3, x. 188),
“Theodotus wished to separate the second half of the sentence from the
first (διὸ καὶ τὸ γεννώμενον ἐκ σοῦ ἅγιον κληθήσεται, υἱὸς Θεοῦ),[199]
as if the words διὸ καὶ were wanting, which makes the sentence imply
that the divine Sonship of Christ rests on his approving himself. But
perhaps Theodotus omitted διὸ καὶ altogether, just as he seems to have
read πνεῦμα κυρίου instead of πνεῦμα ἅγιον, in order to obviate all
ambiguity.” The latter reading is not mentioned in Tischendorf, and the
remark of Epiphanius in my opinion amounts to this, that whereas he

understood ἅγιον to be the subject of the sentence, Theodotus made it
the predicate and separated it from γεννώμενον.[200]
Marcosians. (3) Speaking of the Marcosians,[201] Irenæus says
(92):—Ἔνια δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐν Εὐαγγελίῳ κειμένων εἰς τοῦτον τὸν
χαρακτῆρα μεθαρμόζουσιν ... ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ εἰρηκέναι· πολλάκις
ἐπεθύμησα ἀκοῦσαι ἕνα τῶν λόγων καὶ οὐκ ἔσχον τὸν ἐροῦντα,
ἐμφαίνοντός φασι δεῖν διὰ τοῦ ἑνὸς τὸν ἀληθῶς ἕνα Θεόν. This seems
to contain a reference to Matt. xiii. 17, but what is complained of is a
false interpretation of the words of Scripture rather than an actual
alteration of the text itself.[202] The still earlier passage, Polycarp vii. 1,
is also to be taken as referring to this practice, ὃς ἂν μεθοδεύῃ τὰ λόγια
τοῦ Κυρίου πρὸς τὰς ἰδίας ἐπιθυμίας καὶ λέγῃ μήτε ἀνάστασιν μήτε
κρίσιν [εἶναι], οὗτος πρωτότοκός ἐστι τοῦ Σατανᾶ. For the exposition
of the passage see Zahn, GK. i. 842.
Basilides. (4) That Basilides[203] altered the text of the
Gospels as received by the Church in accordance with his own religious
and ethical views, and incorporated them in their altered form in his
Evangelium, is shown by Zahn on Matt. xix. 10-12 (GK. i. 771). He
shows also that the form into which Basilides cast the Synoptic
narrative may have prepared the way for the belief that Simon the
Cyrenian was crucified instead of Jesus, if this was really his doctrine.
Noëtus. (5) Hippolytus says of Noëtus (Lagarde’s edition,
45, 19): ὁπόταν γὰρ θελήσωσιν πανουργεύεσθαι, περικόπτουσι τὰς
γραφάς. He means by this, according to Zahn, that the Noetians garbled
their quotations, and made selections of Scriptural sayings without
paying regard to the context. But compare ibid., line 7 ff., αἱ μὲν γὰρ
γραφαὶ ὀρθῶς λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ ἂν καὶ Νόητος νοῇ· οὐκ ἤδη δὲ εἰ
Νόητος μὴ νοεῖ, παρὰ τοῦτο ἔκβλητοι αἱ γραφαί.
Valentinians. (6) Heracleon,[204] the Valentinian, is said to have
read πέντε instead of ἕξ in John ii. 20, but whether he made the
alteration himself or found the former reading in his exemplar is not
clearly made out. There is no notice of the variant in Tischendorf,
Baljon, or in our commentaries. It is mentioned by Scrivener, Introd., ii.
260, n. 3, where reference is made to Lightfoot’s Colossians, p. 336, n.
1. Origen, commenting on John i. 28, cites Heracleon in support of the

reading “Bethany,” which, he says, “is found in almost all the
manuscripts.”
In contrast to the Marcionites and their practice of mutilating the
Scriptures, Irenæus says of the Valentinians (iii. 12, 12): scripturas
quidem confitentur, interpretationes vero convertunt, quemadmodum
ostendimus in primo libro. There we read (i. 3, 6): καὶ οὐ μόνον ἐκ τῶν
εὐαγγελικῶν καὶ τῶν ἀποστολικῶν πειρῶνται τὰς ἀποδείξεις ποιεῖσθαι
παρατρέποντες τὰς ἑρμηνείας καὶ ῥᾳδιουργοῦντες τὰς ἐξηγήσεις, ἀλλὰ
καὶ ἐκ νόμου καὶ προφητῶν. But in i. 11, 9 he says of them: Illi vero qui
sunt a Valentino ... suas conscriptiones proferentes, plura habere
gloriantur quam sint ipsa evangelia, siquidem in tantum processerunt
audaciae, uti quod ab his non olim scriptum est, “veritatis evangelium”
titulent, in nihilo conveniens apostolorum evangeliis, ut nec evangelium
sit apud eos sine blasphemia. For the continuation and discussion of the
passage, see Zahn, GK. ii. 748. See also Westcott, Canon, p. 298 ff.
Zahn (GK. ii. 755) endeavours to show that they corrected the text of
the manuscripts, by the omission of ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, e.g., in 1 Cor. xv. 29,
and the insertion of θεότητες in Col. i. 16.
In i. 8, 1, Irenæus accuses them of ἐξ ἀγράφων ἀναγινώσκοντες καὶ τὸ
δὴ λεγόμενον ἐξ ἄμμου σχοίνια πλέκεις ἐπιτηδεύοντες. The proverb is
from Ahikar.
The well-known charge made by Celsus (Orig. con. Cels., 2, 27;
Koetschau, i. 156) and the answer of Origen refer partly to the re-
writing of manuscripts and partly to their alteration: Μετὰ ταῦτά τινας
τῶν πιστευόντων φησὶν (Celsus) ὡς ἐκ μέθης ἥκοντας εἰς τὸ ἐφεστάναι
αὑτοῖς μεταχαράττειν ἐκ τῆς πρώτης γραφῆς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τριχῇ καὶ
τετραχῇ καὶ πολλαχῇ, ἵν’ ἔχοιεν πρὸς τοὺς ἐλέγχους ἀρνεῖσθαι.
Μεταχαράξαντας δὲ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἄλλους οὐκ οἶδα ἢ τοὺς ἀπὸ
Μαρκίωνος καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ Οὐαλεντίνου οἶμαι δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ
Λουκιάνου. Τοῦτο δὲ λεγόμενον οὐ τοῦ λόγου ἐστὶν ἔγκλημα ἀλλὰ τῶν
τολμησάντων ῥᾳδιουργῆσαι τὰ εὐαγγέλια. Καὶ ὥσπερ οὐ φιλοσοφίας
ἔγκλημά εἰσιν οἱ σοφισταὶ ἢ οἱ Ἐπικούρειοι ἢ οἱ Περιπατητικοὶ ἢ
οἵτινές ποτ’ ἂν ὦσιν οἱ ψευδοδοξοῦντες, οὕτως οὐ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ
χριστιανισμοῦ ἔγκλημα οἱ μεταχαράττοντες τὰ εὐαγγέλια καὶ αἱρέσεις
ξένας ἐπεισάγοντες τῷ βουλήματι τῆς Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίας.

Gnostics. (7) Clement (Strom., iii. 39) complains that the
Gnostics corrupted the sense of the Scriptures both by arbitrarily
misplacing the emphasis (in oral delivery) and by altering the
punctuation (in copying manuscripts?); see Zahn, GK. i. 424. On
Tertullian’s complaint as to the way in which Marcion construed Luke
xx. 35, see below, p. 276.
(8) Clement (Strom., iv. 41) quotes Matt. v. 10a, to which he annexes
the reason found in verse 9b, and then goes on to say, ἢ ὥς τινες τῶν
μετατιθέντων τὰ εὐαγγέλια, Μακάριοι, φησίν, οἱ δεδιωγμένοι ὑπὲρ τῆς
δικαιοσύνης, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἔσονται τέλειοι. Zahn (GK. i. p. 411) makes the
surmise that when Clement spoke of certain persons who “transposed”
or altered the Gospels—i.e., took liberties with the text, he may have
been thinking of Tatian, whose personal intercourse he may have
enjoyed for a length of time, and with whose Greek writings he shows
himself to be familiar.
Simon Magus and (9) In an Arabic Introduction to a collection of
the Marcionites.
alleged Nicene Canons particular stress is laid
upon the falsification of the Scriptures by heretics. The Emperor
Constantine is represented as addressing the Fathers at Nicæa, and
enjoining them, in dealing with heretics, to distinguish between those
who reject and falsify the holy Scriptures and those who merely
interpret them falsely. The arch-heretic Simon Magus already appears
as a fabricator of spurious Scripture. His sect possessed an Evangelium
in four books, to which they gave the title “Liber quatuor angulorum et
cardinum mundi.” The Phocalites (Kukiani) retained the Old Testament,
but in place of the Church’s New Testament they had one manufactured
by themselves, in which the twelve Apostles bore barbaric names. It is
said of the Marcionites: Sacras scripturas quibusdam in locis
commutarunt addideruntque Evangelio et Epistolis Pauli apostoli
quibusdam in locis, quaedam vero loca mutilarunt. Apostolorum Actus
e medio omnino sustulerunt, alium substituentes Actorum librum, qui
faveret opinionibus ac dogmatibus, illumque nuncuparunt “Librum
propositi finis.” See Zahn, GK. ii. 448, where reference is made to
Mansi, Conc. Coll., ii. (Flor., 1759), 947-1082; Hefele,
Conciliengeschichte, 2nd. ed., i. 361-368, 282 f.; Harnack, Der Ketzer-

Katalog des Bischofs Maruta von Maipherkat, TU. (New Series), iv.,
1899; ThLz., 1899, 2.
Arians. (10) Ambrose says on John iii. 6 (De Spiritu, iii.
10): Quem locum ita expresse, Ariani, testificamini esse de Spiritu, ut
eum de vestris codicibus auferatis. Atque utinam de vestris et non etiam
de Ecclesiae codicibus tolleretis. Eo enim tempore quo impiae
infidelitatis Auxentius Mediolanensem Ecclesiam armis exercituque
occupaverat, vel a Valente atque Ursatis nutantibus sacerdotibus suis
incursabatur Ecclesia Sirmiensis, falsum hoc et sacrilegium vestrum in
Ecclesiasticis codicibus deprehensum est. Et fortasse hoc etiam in
oriente fecistis.
Greeks. (11) Ambrosiaster has the following note on Rom.
v. 14 (Migne, xvii. 100 f.): Et tamen sic (i.e. μὴ ἁμαρτήσαντες)
praescribitur nobis de graecis codicibus, quasi non ipsi ab invicem
discrepent, quod facit studium contentionis. Quia enim propria quis
auctoritate uti non potest ad victoriam, verba legis adulterat, ut sensum
suis quasi verba legis asserat, ut non ratio sed auctoritas praescribere
videatur. Constat autem porro olim quosdam latinos de veteribus
graecis translatos (esse) codicibus, quos incorruptos simplicitas
temporum servavit et probat: postquam autem a concordia animis
discedentibus et haereticis perturbantibus torqueri quaestionibus
coeperunt, multa immutata sunt ad sensum humanum, ut hoc
contineretur in litteris quod homini videretur, unde etiam ipsi Graeci
diversos codices habent. Hoc autem verum arbitror, quando et ratio et
historia et auctoritas observatur: nam hodie quae in latinis
reprehenduntur codicibus, sic inveniuntur a veteribus posita,
Tertulliano, Victorino, et Cypriano. The correction “hodie quae” for
“hodieque” in the last sentence is due to Haussleiter, Forschungen, iv.
32. The passage is also interesting as being the earliest instance known
to me of the collocation of ratio and auctoritas as the two arbiters in
theological disputes. Compare the frequent combination of the two by
Luther in his earlier polemics—e.g. against Prierias, and also later in
his protest at Worms.
Again, Ambrosiaster says on Gal. ii. 1, with reference to Acts xv. 20,
29: Quae sophistae Graecorum non intelligentes, scientes tamen a
sanguine abstinendum adulterant scripturam, quartum mandatum

addentes “et a suffocatis observandum,” quod puto nec ne Dei nutu
intellecturi sunt, quia iam supra dictum est, quod addiderunt.

Marcion. (g) Marcion.—We have more exact information in
regard to Marcion’s great undertaking than to these slender attempts at
textual criticism. Here there is a fuller stream of testimony both in the
Greek and Latin Fathers. It must be confessed, however, that hitherto
attention has been directed more to his position in the matter of the Canon
generally than to his work on the text of the New Testament. Here again, the
works of Zahn throw most light upon the subject; in other works, like the
PRE e.g., this side of Marcion’s activity is very superficially treated.
Several points have already been referred to here and there in the previous
part of this work, but the question must now be treated as a whole.[205]
In the opening sentence of his examination of Marcion’s New Testament,
Zahn avers that no church teacher of the second century occupies such an
important position in the history of the ecclesiastical canon as does that
early writer. If this is really so, it becomes all the more important for us to
inquire whether traces of his influence may not be discoverable also in our
witnesses to the text of the New Testament.
His New Testament. Marcion’s New Testament, which was at the same
time his entire Bible, consisted of two books of moderate compass—viz. a
Gospel-Book, which he seems to have called Εὐαγγέλιον simply, and a
collection of ten Pauline Epistles called, probably by himself, τὸ
Ἀποστολικὸν (sc. βιβλίον). The Epistles were arranged in an order which
was evidently thought to correspond to that of their composition—viz.,
Gal., 1 and 2 Cor., Rom., 1 and 2 Thess., Laodicenos (= Ephes.), Col., Phil.,
Phm. He was unanimously accused by the Church teachers of having
mutilated the ecclesiastical Bible in the manufacture of his own, and also of
having corrupted the text here and there by means of interpolations,
particularly in the case of Luke, which was the only Gospel he admitted.
They complained that he used not the pen but the knife (only he used it for
a purpose the opposite of that for which the scissors are employed
nowadays), and the sponge, and also that he deleted not words merely but
whole pages. They compared his work upon the manuscripts to that of a
mouse.[206] And as for his disciples! Every day they were improving their
Gospel. Seeing that he himself had not gone so far as to erase the writings

of Paul altogether, his disciples continued his work, and removed whatever
did not concur with their views.[207] But according to testimony extending
over a long stretch of time, their text of the Scriptures seems to have
undergone fewer alterations during that period than that of the Catholic
Church (Zahn, GK. i. 613). In comparing the text of these two collections
“it should be clearly understood that the Church’s text, whose treatment by
Marcion is in question, is not to be identified with that of our Bible
Societies, or of Tischendorf, or of Epiphanius, but was such a text as
Marcion found in the Catholic Church or in the Roman community about
the year 150. The text of the ecclesiastical exemplar on which Marcion
based his labours can no longer be restored in every word, but sufficient
means are at our command to give us a general idea of the form which the
text of the Pauline Epistles presented in the second century, and at the same
time to ascertain in many separate instances what text Marcion had before
him. It turns out in many cases that what seems strange in Marcion’s text to
one who compares it with the textus receptus, or with one of our modern
critical editions, without knowing much about the history of the text, is by
no means peculiar to Marcion, but was pretty common in the West in early
times. Now it is quite inconceivable, in view of the implacable hostility of
the Church to Marcion, that his text, condemned as it was unceasingly as
being heretical and spurious, should have exerted any positive influence on
that of the Church.[208] It follows, accordingly, that all those things in
Marcion’s Bible that seem to the uninitiated to be peculiar to it alone, but
which are attested by Catholic manuscripts, versions, and Patristic writers,
were not invented by Marcion, but taken by him from the Church’s Bible of
that time, or from one such Bible at all events, and were only gradually
ousted from the text used by the Church.”[209] All this, which is taken word
for word, with the exception of a slight change in the last sentence, from
Zahn’s dissertation of the year 1889 (p. 636), should even at that time have
been self-evident, but, like Zahn’s further statements in the same place, has
not yet been sufficiently attended to, especially in our commentaries on
Luke and the Pauline Epistles. He points out, e.g., that Tertullian, in
speaking of the change of the address “ad Ephesios” to “Laodicenos,”
credits Marcion with the intention of being “et in isto diligentissimus
explorator,” so that it is possible that he compared several manuscripts in
order to discover the original wording.[210] In such cases, therefore, the
question may be asked whether Marcion may not really have preserved the

original text, and whether his text, so far as it is corroborated by any
independent tradition, should not be estimated much higher than it is by the
textual critics of the present.[211] Zahn deserves all the more credit for giving
such careful attention to questions relating to the text, seeing that the
subject of his investigation was merely the history of the canon. He has
dealt chiefly with those passages in which Marcion’s intentional alterations
His “Emendations.” have been preserved. Reference may be made, e.g.,
to the pages in the first volume of his History, entitled Minor Emendations,
wherein it is shown how Marcion, in his hostility to the Old Testament with
its God of Righteousness, omitted the quotations from the Old Testament
altogether, or dropped the introductory formula of quotation in Rom. i. 17,
xii. 19, 2 Cor. iv. 13; excluded all the references to Abraham in Galatians
except in iv. 22; altered ἀγνοοῦντες τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην in Rom. x. 3
to ἀγνοοῦντες τὸν θεόν; removed the words γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικὸς,
γενόμενον ὑπὸ νόμον from Gal. iv. 4; changed the active construction into
the passive in 1 Cor. iii. 17; and elsewhere strove after greater condensation,
lucidity, and brevity of expression. Marcion, says Zahn, had good grounds
for believing that the text of the Scriptures had not remained unchanged
during the century that had elapsed since their composition, though that
might be said with more truth of the Gospels and the Acts than of the
Epistles; but to attempt to rid the Apostle’s text of all supposed corruptions
with no regard to any sort of critical material whatever, but depending
simply and solely on his own instinctive sense of what was genuinely
Christian and apostolic, was the undertaking of a giant, as Irenæus calls
Marcion. And his disciples, in a blind veneration of his authority, seem to
have exceeded the intention of the master and editor, “just as many
Lutherans at the present day look upon Luther’s translation, with all its
faults, as the very word of God, and hardly capable of improvement.”
In the Appendices to his second volume Zahn has gone still more carefully
into the questions relating to the criticism of the text.[212] His main
conclusions will hardly be contested. Among these are the following:—

Marcion and the 1. That Marcion based his Gospel on that of Luke,
Western Text.
although his text displays various elements
belonging to Matthew and Mark;
2. That this mixture is found in those passages wherein the ecclesiastical
texts, and especially the Western, exhibit the same or similar features;
3. That Marcion’s text shows[213] none of those small “apocryphal additions”
which we find combined with the contents of our Gospels in Justin and
Tatian.
Zahn also calls attention frequently to the different manuscripts which still
exhibit a text agreeing with that credited to Marcion, and which are
precisely the Western witnesses, the Old Latin manuscripts, and D of the
Greek.[214] Compare, e.g., on Luke v. 14, 34, 39; vi. 25 f., 31, 37; viii. 45; ix.
6, 16, 22; x. 22, 25; xi. 20, 41; xii. 14, 31, 58 f.; xviii. 35; xx. 36; xxi. 27,
30; xxiv. 6, 26, 37. But there are also passages where Marcion parts
company with D and its associates—e.g., vi. 22, 26, 29; xi. 4. In Paul, too,
the number of passages displaying agreement between Marcion and D2 G2
preponderates: Gal. ii. 5; iii. 14b; v. 1, 14, 24; 1 Cor. i. 18; 2 Cor. v. 4; 1
Thess. iv. 16; Eph. i. 9, 13; iii. 10; iv. 6; v. 28 ff. The agreement between
Marcion’s text and that of the minuscule 157 was previously emphasised by
Zahn—e.g., in Luke xvi. 12, where the reading τὸ ἐμόν instead of τὸ
ὑμέτερον (ἡμέτερον B L) is supported as yet by this Greek manuscript
alone and three old Latin (e i l), and in xxi. 30, where only one other of the
minuscules collated by Scrivener supports D 157 in reading προβάλωσιν
τὸν καρπὸν αὐτῶν.[215] In Luke xxiv. 26, D and Marcion are our only
witnesses for the reading ὅτι instead of οὐχί. How is this to be explained?
Zahn, e.g., holds that it is a mere coincidence that Marcion’s reading,
“prophetas suos,”[216] in 1 Thess. ii. 15 agrees with τοὺς ἰδίους προφήτας
read by D2 E2 K2 L2, i.e., the representatives of the Antiochean recension,
with which Marcion elsewhere very seldom agrees, seeing he founds
throughout upon a Western text. In the great majority of cases the
explanation seems to be simple enough. Marcion began his career at Rome,
so that we may naturally expect him to give us a Western text. So far,
therefore, one might be tempted simply to ignore that text as hitherto,
although a text attested by Marcion and the Church in common is surely
entitled, even in respect of its antiquity, to much more consideration than

has been paid to it heretofore. The importance, and at the same time the
difficulty, of the problem is increased by the fact that we find the same text
as his, or at all events one of a similar sort, represented in a totally different
quarter—viz. in Tatian.[217]
Tatian. (h) Tatian[218] has already been referred to in a
general way above (p. 97 ff.): we shall now give the testimony of the early
church regarding him verbatim. If we leave out of account the somewhat
doubtful reference in Hegesippus (p. 96), and an equally uncertain allusion
to the title of his Harmony in Origen,[219] the testimony from purely Greek
sources is confined to a few sentences in Eusebius,[220] a notice in
Epiphanius,[221] and a scholion in a manuscript of the Gospels.[222]
For more exact information we are indebted solely to the Syrian church.
The Greek writer Theodoret gives us most details.[223] The notices contained
in Syriac and Arabic sources are more numerous than the Greek, but they
are shorter and must be omitted here.[224] It becomes necessary, therefore, to
consider very carefully whether any vestiges of Tatian’s work are preserved
in our witnesses for the text, and how these may, and indeed must, be used
in its criticism. I assume as having been demonstrated by Zahn, that Tatian’s
Diatessaron was a Syriac work, and I take it as very probable that the
Curetonian Syriac and the Lewis Syriac present us with two works based
on, or at least influenced by, that of Tatian. To what extent the same is true
of the Peshitto as well need not be considered here, the main problem being
to elucidate the connection between Tatian and the Western witnesses. And
here we are at once confronted with a matter of great uncertainty—viz.,
whether there might not also have been a Greek Harmony of the Gospels
either antecedent to the Diatessaron or contemporary with it, which Tatian
himself made or employed. Zahn thinks not, mainly because from the side
of the Greek Church we have almost no notice whatever of the existence of
anything of this sort, nor of Tatian’s own work either. Harnack seems not to
be convinced of the correctness of Zahn’s position.[225] He even declares that
Harris’s Preliminary Study[226] has only confirmed his “conviction that
Tatian composed a Greek Harmony of the Gospels.”[227] That treatise is
accompanied by a facsimile of the fragment of Mark in Codex Wd, “the
contents of which display an affinity with the text of the Diatessaron (with
the original text?).”[228] At all events Harnack is of opinion that Harris’s
conclusions with regard to a Pre-Tatian and a very early Harmony of the

narrative of the Passion are very premature, and in his judgment should
either not have been put forward at all in a Preliminary Study or suggested
with more deliberation. G. Krüger also puts “this Combined Gospel written
in Syriac (Greek?)” in his History of Early Christian Literature, § 37. On
the other hand, Hogg in § 12 of his Introduction,[229] Non-Syriac Texts of the
Diatessaron, says nothing of a Greek text, and in § 19, where he raises the
question, “In what language was it written?”, he speaks only of the “view
favoured by an increasing majority of scholars, that it was written in
Syriac,” and then asks, on this view, “was it a translation or simply a
compilation?” and lastly, which is the main question, “what precisely is its
relation to ... the Western text generally?”
In his first work, written prior to the publication of the Arabic text, Zahn
very frequently pointed to the fact that the so-called Western witnesses—
i.e., Codex D and the Old Latin manuscripts, agree so often with Tatian.[230]
His explanation of this phenomenon is very simple—viz., that Tatian
returned from Rome to his old home in Syria about the year 172, and took
with him from the West his text, which was just the Western text. This view
Tatian and the would present no difficulty if it were only the case
Western Text.
that the Diatessaron shared the peculiarities of the
Western text, but is the fact not rather the converse of this—viz., that D, the
leading representative of that text, shares the peculiarities of a Harmony of
the Gospels, might we say, in short, of the Diatessaron? Not only are certain
readings the same in both texts, but the Western text seems actually to
exhibit features which can scarcely be regarded otherwise than as the
outcome of a Harmony. I have given expression to this opinion ere now; it
struck me forcibly when I was collating the Codex Bezae for my
Supplementum Novi Testamenti Graeci. In order to afford a more
convenient survey of the vast number of variants, I followed the
paragraphing of Westcott and Hort’s edition. Now look at the variants there.
Whereas the majority consist of quite separate and disconnected readings, I
was obliged at the beginning of the pericopæ regularly to copy half a line or
even a whole line from D, its text differed so much from that of our present
editions at the beginnings of the pericopæ, and there only to the same
extent. See, e.g., Luke v. 17, 27; vii. 1, 18; ix. 37; x. 1, 25; xi. 14; xii. 1 to
the end; xxiv. 13. It is true this phenomenon is most frequently observed in
Luke, where I had previously explained its appearance in another way by
supposing like Blass that it was due to the author having issued two editions

of that Gospel. But neither is it altogether absent from the other Gospels. It
occurs most seldom, as might be expected, in Matthew, but examples may
be seen in xvii. 22, 24; xx. 29. In Mark see iii. 19; iv. 1; vi. 7. There are
other features besides this which are difficult of explanation on any other
grounds. For these I may briefly refer to the second of the works relating to
this part of the subject, The Syro-Latin Text of the Gospels, by F. H. Chase,
[231]
in which a special chapter is devoted to the question of “Harmonistic
Influence” (pp. 76-100). The writer calls attention there to three points, viz.:
—
1. “The text of Codex Bezae shows constant indications of harmonistic
influence.” This, however, is nothing new. Jerome, e.g., complains of
amalgamations of this sort. But then,
2. “In such harmonized passages readings occur which we are justified by
other evidence in considering as Tatianic readings.”
3. “There are other signs of the influence of Syriac phraseology in, or in the
neighbourhood of, such readings due to harmonistic influence.”
I waive consideration of this last point, but as regards the second it is
noteworthy, and bears out what I have said above, that Chase in this
connection goes almost entirely by passages from Luke with the exception
of Matt. xxi. 18; xxiv. 31 f.; xxvi. 59 ff.; and Mark viii. 10; xiii. 2; x. 25 ff.
From Luke he instances iii. 23-38; iv. 31; v. 10 f., 14 f.; vi. 42; viii. 35; xi.
2; xx. 20; xxi. 7; xxiii. 45 ff.; xxiv. 1.
I should like, however, to call attention here to one passage to which Chase
refers in another connection—viz., the extensive interpolation after Matt.
xx. 28 (Chase, pp. 9-14). It is true, as Zahn expressly points out,[232] that
neither Ephraem nor Aphraates, who were our only sources for the
Diatessaron prior to 1881, “shows any traces of this long and in part
apocryphal interpolation, nor yet of Luke xiv. 7-10, from which the most of
it is taken.” But in the Arabic Tatian,[233] Luke xiv. 1-6 and xiv. 7-11, 12-15
are found after Matt. xx. 1-16 at the end of § 29 and the beginning of § 30
respectively. The verse Matt. xx. 28, regarding which Zahn was uncertain
whether it was in Tatian or not, seeing that neither Ephraem nor Aphraates
mentions it, is found in § 31, 5 between Mark x. 44 and Luke xiii. 22, while
Matt. xx, 29a (+ Mark x. 46a) follows a little further down in § 31, 25. So
far, indeed, this result is not favourable to our theory. But I ask myself in

vain how else this interpolation is to be explained except as an attempt at
harmonising. Now, seeing that its text is found in one Syriac, two Greek,
and half a dozen Latin witnesses (the particulars are given in the critical
note, p. 255), the further question arises, Whence comes it? The most ready
answer will be, “it comes from the Greek, whence it passed to the Latin on
the one side and to the Syriac on the other.” As for the Latin, it is certain
that the majority, perhaps even all, of the Latin forms are derived from the
Greek. But are the Syriac as well? Or is not rather the converse true,
however strange it may seem at the first glance, that the Greek is a
translation of the Syriac? There is the word δειπνοκλήτωρ, e.g., which
strikes me as it did Chase, as being particularly strange. I admit that I
should not care to build a hypothesis of this magnitude on this one word
and this one passage alone. I would merely submit it generally as a question
to be kept in view in further investigations. And I would supplement it by
another question whether, in the case of the first being negatived, it may not
be true after all, pace Zahn, that there was a Greek Harmony alongside the
Syriac and probably going back to the same author. May not the close
resemblances traceable between Tatian and the Western text be also
accounted for on the supposition that instead of Tatian being influenced by
the latter, it really goes back to Tatian?
I would ask this question specially in regard to the Western text of the
Pauline Epistles. What is meant by the statement of Eusebius cited above as
to Tatian’s treatment of these Epistles? Μεταφράσαι may certainly mean to
translate, but then one translates an entire text and not φωνάς τινας merely,
and, moreover, one does not translate ὡς ἐπιδιορθούμενος αὐτῶν τὴν τῆς
φράσεως σύνταξιν “with a view to improving the phraseology and syntax.”
Do not our Western witnesses present us with a work of this description? I
am well aware that such hypotheses are like that regarding the author of the
Nibelungenlied where there was a great poem without a name and one or
two great names without poems, and so various combinations were made,
for each of which something could be said, while none of them could be
said to be proved. That may be the case here too. But at present I feel
disposed to attribute a considerable share in this peculiar “Western” text to
Syro-Latin. Tatian. And as this name “Western,” the
inappropriateness of which has long been recognised, becomes on this
supposition more inappropriate still, I am inclined to recommend the freer
adoption of the nomenclature familiarised by the work of Chase, I mean

that of “Syro-Latin.” In his preface Chase puts in a plea for its use, citing a
sentence from the Dublin Review of July 1894, p. 52, in which H. Lucas
says: “The time is, we hope, not far distant, when the term Western will
give place to the term Syro-Latin, the only one which truly represents, in
our opinion, the facts of the case.” Just as when we wish to indicate those
languages and tribes that extend from the Indian to the German and Keltic
we say Indo-Germanic, or Indo-Keltic, if we wish to be more exact and
avoid wounding the sensibilities of the French, so the term Syro-Latin
would be the best designation for a form of text whose characteristics are as
distinctly traceable among the Syrians in the East as among the Greeks in
the centre and the Latins in the West. But be that as it may, one thing is
clear, that many problems here await solution. But they will not for ever
defy methodical investigation.

The foregoing was all written before I saw the analysis given by Zahn
in his Geschichte des Kanons, i. 383 ff. Reading it, I am surprised that
his conclusions have not been followed up by a thorough investigation
of the subject long ere now. Personally, I am precluded at this moment
from even making an attempt in this direction. Zahn says: “The
quotations of Aphraates frequently presuppose a different Greek text (of
the Pauline Epistles) than that lying at the foundation of the Peshitto.
The repeated resemblances to Western texts, Claromontanus,
Boernerianus (D G), Tertullian, and other Latin witnesses are
particularly striking. In the earliest Syriac Gospel the same
phenomenon appears even more conspicuously. How is it to be
explained? Shall we suppose that this type of text was dispersed equally
throughout all parts of the Church during the second century? In that
case we should have to regard it as the earliest form at which we can
arrive, on the principle laid down by Tertullian: quod apud multos
unum invenitur, non est erratum sed traditum. But,” says Zahn, “even
those who venerate the Western tradition of the text—i.e. those who,
like myself, are of opinion that it does not get nearly its due share of
attention from present-day critics—will decline to assent to this
proposition. Because the result of this view would be to establish the
rule that the so-called Western tradition invariably deserves the
preference over those others, even over our oldest Greek manuscripts
themselves. Even if we limited it to those elements of the text in which

the furthest East agrees with the furthest West, the result would still be
a text to which no cautious critic would pin his faith. A more natural
explanation of this striking condition of things is required.” Zahn finds
this in the supposition that there was formerly a close intimacy between
the Syrian Church and Rome. “Just as the Princes of Edessa had much
direct intercourse with Rome, so to all appearance had the Church
there.” In proof of this, he points to the early intrusion of Marcion’s
doctrines and Bible into Mesopotamia, to the participation of the
Church of Edessa in the Easter controversy and its agreement in that
matter with Victor of Rome, and to the Abgar Legend which connects
Edessa with Zephyrinus of Rome (199-216) by way of Antioch, and
represents Peter as sending the Epistles of Paul from Rome to Edessa.
“Considering the anachronisms that legends usually exhibit, may we
not take this to be the expression of an historical fact, viz. that a text
written in the West formed the basis of the earliest Syriac version of the
Pauline Epistles? This supposition is confirmed by the earliest history
of the Gospel among the Syrians—viz. by the Diatessaron.”[234] After a
most thorough discussion of all the questions relating to that book (pp.
387-422), Zahn discovers in this part also (the Gospels) an intimate
connection between the text on which it is based, and the form assumed
by the text of the Gospels in the West during the second century. And
he believes that it will be difficult to find a more feasible explanation of
the remarkable agreement evidenced by these two texts in the very
matter of their textual corruption and licence than this, that this text
came from Rome to Syria. And so the final question arises, “whether a
connection does not exist between the first Gospel and the first text of
Paul and the Acts in the Syriac, and whether the entire N. T., as the
Doctrine of Addai says, was not a present which Tatian brought with
him from Rome to his countrymen, and adapted for their use by means
of a free translation and revision?” Zahn thinks that a positive answer
cannot be given, but he refers pointedly to what Eusebius says
regarding Tatian’s treatment of the Pauline Epistles, and is led to
suppose that those changes were introduced on the occasion and in the
form of a translation from the Greek into Syriac, and that the reason
why Eusebius had such hazy notions regarding it as well as the
Diatessaron, is most likely that both the books were in Syriac, and used

only in the Syrian Church. A closer investigation of the Pauline Epistles
in the Syriac is needed to decide these questions.
To these propositions of Zahn I have but the one objection stated above,
that the expressions used by Eusebius point far too plainly to a revision
of the phraseology of the Pauline Epistles, which could have been done
only on the original Greek.[235] Zahn himself points out that the words
of Eusebius remind us of what is elsewhere said of the Theodotians
(Eccl. Hist., v. 28, 15. 18; see above, p. 200).[236]

Western Text. (i) The Western Text.—We thus find ourselves
face to face with what has been called the only burning question of the
textual criticism of the New Testament—the question, namely, of the place
to be assigned to the so-called Western text. Our treatment of the external
testimony has led us back through Lucian, Pamphilus, Hesychius, and
Origen, to Marcion and Tatian, that is, into the middle of the second
century. But the question is now whether we must stop here, or whether it is
not possible to ascend with certainty even somewhat higher by means of an
investigation of the material afforded by the manuscripts themselves. The
“Higher Criticism,” e.g., seeks to get behind the Synoptic Gospels to the
documents which the authors or editors used in their composition; is it not
possible for the “Lower Criticism” to recover with certainty at least the
primitive text of the New Testament books? And is that not most readily
found in the so-called Western text? We have been obliged to make frequent
reference to it already; the question for us now is, “What is the value of
Codex Bezae and its associates?”
It was observed by Theodore Beza himself, the scholar whose name the
Codex justly bears, that the text of this manuscript differed in so many
respects from that of others, especially in Luke and Acts, that he could give
no explanation of it satisfactory to himself. He was not led to suppose that
the alterations were due to heretics; nevertheless, like a cautious man, he
thought it more advisable to preserve the Codex than to publish it. Eight
hundred years before, Bede was similarly impressed by the Codex which
we now know by the name of Laudianus, E2. He indicated “quaedam quae
in Graeco sive aliter seu plus aut minus posita vidimus.” He was uncertain
“utrum negligentia interpretis omissa vel aliter dicta, an incuria librariorum
sint depravata sive relicta ... namque graecum exemplar fuisse falsatum

suspicari non audeo.” When the manuscripts began to be more
systematically collated, Bengel declared that the criticism of the text would
be much simplified if one were not bound to trouble himself with these
codices, which, as being written in Greek and Latin, he called vere
bilingues. Old students of the Maulbronn College have told me that
Ephorus Bäumlein the most distinguished philologist of our Institute in this
century, and editor of Disquisitions on the Greek Particles and similar
works, was always referring to the Codex Cantabrigiensis, though they
themselves never rightly understood about this Codex, or indeed about such
things at all. I do not know who it was from whom I myself first heard of it;
certainly there was no particular importance attributed to it in my student
days or at the college where I was. On the other hand, Tischendorf admitted
its claims in opposition to all the other Greek manuscripts in several
passages, such as Mark ii. 22; xi. 6; Luke xxiv. 52, 53, etc. In other places
he did so at first, but changed his opinion afterwards—e.g., in Acts xi. 12,
while in others again, like Acts xiii. 45, he was inclined to accept its
testimony, asserting expressly: Ceterum D quantopere passim inter omnes
testes excellat constat. One of the things for which Westcott and Hort
deserve credit is the attention they have directed to Codex Bezae and its
associates. Some of their remarks upon it will be found in the note below.
[237]

Lagarde. That peerless scholar, P. de Lagarde, has even
greater claims to honourable mention in this connection, though but little
regard was paid to his representations during his lifetime. As early as 1857,
he said of Codex Cantabrigiensis: facile patet, quum similibus libris
careamus et ultra Evangelia et Actus nondum cogitem, totius editionis meae
quasi fundamentum futurum esse hunc codicem Cantabrigiensem, sed eum
eis librarii vitiis purgatum quae vitia esse agnita fuerint (Gesam. Abh., p.
98). His chief merit, however, lies not in his having estimated
Cantabrigiensis so highly, but in having assigned a lower value to the other
manuscripts. By comparing D with the earlier versions, and particularly by
relying on the testimony of Epiphanius, he recognised in it a representative
of an “editio emendatorum orthodoxorum temeritate corrupta” (ibid., p. 96).
Compare also his Übersicht über die Bildung der Nomina, p. 213, where he
instances ἔταξαν ἀναβαίνειν of the “emendati” for παρήγγειλαν ἀναβαίνειν
of D.[238]

Blass. General attention was first directed to the question
of the Western text, when Blass came forward with his view that it was
quite wrong to present the problem in the shape of an alternative between D
and A B, because both groups were right, D and its associates representing a
first edition of the Acts and a second of Luke, and the other group
conversely. I hailed this solution of the difficulty at once as a veritable
Columbus Egg, and to this day I am firmly persuaded that Blass’s theory is
nearer the mark than the previous estimate of the Western text. Readers
Zahn. may, perhaps, be struck by the fact, which Zahn
has since made public (Einl., ii. 348), that in his practical class at Erlangen,
in the winter of 1885-6, he set as the subject of the prize essay an
“Investigation of the materially important peculiarities of Codex D in the
Acts,” and made a note at the time of the result which he hoped to see the
investigation arrive at—viz., “either the author’s first draft before
publication or his hand copy with his own marginal notes inserted
afterwards.” Zahn himself got no further, but he was not surprised when
Blass came forward with his clearly-defined and thoroughly-elaborated
hypothesis. In one point, certainly, Zahn does not agree with Blass, and that
is in the application of the hypothesis to Luke. He holds that the text which
Blass restored as the Roman form or second edition of Luke is essentially
nothing but a bold attempt to restore what is called the Western text; that the
question to which such different answers have been made as to the value of
this type of text—for it is not to be spoken of as a recension in the proper
sense of that term—is by no means confined to the Third Gospel, but
touches the others as well and the Pauline Epistles also; that the reason why
the divergence of the Western text from that exhibited in the oldest
manuscripts and the great majority of Greek witnesses is more conspicuous
in Luke, is simply that we have the additional testimony of Marcion for that
Gospel, but the question is essentially the same in all the cases; that
whereas in Acts we have two parallel texts both possessing equal authority,
in Luke the case is different, where in determining what the evangelist
actually wrote, we have to choose one or the other of two mutually
exclusive propositions; that this verdict on the text of Luke, however, in no
way invalidates the conclusion come to as regards the text of the Acts. But
further, Zahn, who even before this had avowed himself an “admirer of the
Western text,” stands up determinedly for the view that this same Western
text, which I shall, like Zahn and Blass, indicate henceforward as β,

contains much that is original. He says that just as we must beware of a
superstitious idolatry of what are styled the best manuscripts,[239] which goes
hand in hand with a disparagement of much older tradition (Marcion,
Irenæus), so we have equally to be on our guard against a morbid
preference for every interesting and fanciful excrescence of the riotous
tradition of the second and third centuries. Such a preference would
logically imply that the scholars who took in hand to revise the text about
the beginning of the fourth century simply corrupted it, somewhat after the
fashion of those who set themselves to “improve” our Church hymns in the
age of Rationalism. More than twenty years ago, when I was a Tutor at
Tübingen, I had the impression to which I frequently enough gave utterance
in debate with my colleagues, that modern textual criticism is going
altogether on the wrong tack. The textual study of the New Testament was
out of my province at that time, and is really so still, were it not that, as
Augustine says, it is necessary for everyone who devotes himself to the
holy Scriptures to take up such studies. Nor am I inclined thus far to fall
foul of the system to which Westcott and Hort devoted the labours of a
lifetime, and in the building up of which they had at their command such an
apparatus as is far beyond the reach of a German, especially of one who is
not attached to any University. And as for the results of Zahn’s researches, I
prefer to look upon myself here as a mere learner and admirer. In the
presence of such doughty warriors I feel like a spectator upon the battlefield
of New Testament textual criticism, and I would beg that what follows, as
well as what has been already said, be regarded as but suggestions, the
acceptance or rejection of which by others may perchance serve to bring a
younger generation nearer to the goal. In this spirit I have in my Philologica
Sacra (1-15th March 1896) taken as a starting-point the reading in Luke
xxii. 52, λαοῦ = ναοῦ = ἱεροῦ, which is not mentioned at all by Tischendorf,
and have sought by means of one or two analogous cases to show “how
frequently D preserves the correct reading.” I have instanced ἑπταπλασίονα,
Luke xviii. 30; φάντασμα, xxiv. 37; δέρριν καμήλου, Mark i. 6 ;
ἠνοιγμένους, i. 10, which might, however, be inserted from Matt. iii. 16,
Luke iii. 21 ; ὀργισθείς, Mark i. 40; ὁμοιάζει, Matt. xxvi. 73.
In the first sketch of this Introduction, written in the year 1895, I referred to
the addition found in Matt. xxvii. 49, which is manifestly taken from John
xix. 34, and is read by many authorities, among these being ‫ א‬B C.[240] I said
then: “Only two possibilities are conceivable. Either the passage stood here

originally, and was removed at an early date on account of its variance with
John xix. 34, or it is an interpolation. In the latter case, it must have been
inserted at a very early date, and all the witnesses containing it, which
elsewhere are so frequently and so widely divergent, must then go back to
one and the same exemplar. Because the third possibility—viz. that the
same sentence was inserted in different copies in the same place quite
independently of each other, no one will consider to be at all likely. But if
the second supposition is to be held as correct, then we see just what
amount of importance is to be attached to the concurrence of our oldest
witnesses, particularly our chief manuscripts ‫ א‬B C L. They are not streams
flowing independently from the same fountain of Paradise: they flowed
together for a good part of their course, and were considerably polluted
before they parted company.”
Salmon. Two years later, when the first edition was issued, I
added: “This too must now be asserted with far greater emphasis, that the
concurrence of B ‫א‬, on which so much stress has been laid hitherto by
almost all textual critics, proves nothing at all. In Sirach the common
archetype of B ‫ א‬was younger than the origin of the Latin version,
manifestly a good deal younger, because it already contained errors that had
not yet made their appearance in our other manuscripts (or in their sources).
Salmon (p. 52) is of opinion that the text which Westcott and Hort have
restored is one that was most in favour in Alexandria in the third century,
and that came there, perhaps, in the century previous. This is not far from
Bousset’s view that B perhaps contains the recension of Hesychius. Salmon
calls the results of Westcott and Hort ‘an elaborate locking of the stable
door after the horse has been stolen.’ Burgon’s paradox, that the reason why
B and ‫ א‬have survived is that they were the worst, seemed to Salmon at first
to be a joke, but he now thinks it not improbable that they were set aside on
account of their divergence from the form of text that acquired ascendancy
at a later time. If that be so, then they met the same fate that they
themselves prepared for the primitive form they supplanted; and just as
they, with the help of Tischendorf and Westcott and Hort, dislodged the
Textus Receptus of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries from the hands
of theologians, and made themselves the Textus Receptus of the end of the
nineteenth century, so perchance will Codex D, which the builders despised,
become the foundation-stone of a new structure. In Urtext, p. 54, Oscar v.
Gebhardt alludes to the objections raised partly against the entire method of

Westcott and Hort, partly against their particular estimate of Codex
Vaticanus, and partly also against the position they have assigned to what
they call the Western text, and he too says: ‘If these objections are valid,
then the sure foundation which they seemed at last to have secured for the
text of the New Testament begins once more to totter.’”
Since this was written, my impressions have been greatly confirmed,
particularly by Zahn’s Einleitung; only I must admit that I am now less in a
position than ever to make any definite proposals as to the way in which the
goal of the textual criticism of the New Testament is to be reached. To
follow one witness or one group of witnesses through thick and thin, which
would really be the only consistent course, will seemingly not do.[241] And
the “eclectic method” to which Bousset was led in his work on the
Apocalypse as the only possible one, is surely the opposite of the
genealogical, which we must acknowledge to be in theory the only correct
method. But first of all, a fresh application of it would require to be made.
And as the task is too great for any single worker, might it not be well if, in
the exegetical classes of our Theological Faculties, the separate witnesses
were either examined anew, or, conversely, selected passages of the text,
quite small passages—a single chapter, or a single epistle like 2 or 3 John or
Philemon—were given out to different students to examine thoroughly all
the witnesses for each passage, and the results then compared with one
another? Furthermore, the critical apparatus would require at once to be
lightened of all those manuscripts which are unmistakably recognised to be
the representatives of a definite recension, and the Lucianic recension
printed separately with or without an apparatus, just as was done by
Lagarde himself for half of the Old Testament. Finally, the Western text
would require to be much more thoroughly examined than has hitherto been
the case. It is true that Weiss has given a special part of Texte und
Untersuchungen to an examination of Codex D in Acts, but without
prejudice one may be quite sure that a solution of the problem is not to be
found in the way in which Weiss seeks it. No doubt he establishes among
other things the fact, that in the Speeches of Peter β displays almost no
variation, but then he makes no attempt to explain this fact or make any use
of it. It is an indication of considerable progress to find Zahn going so
carefully into matters of the text in an Introduction to the New Testament,
and his appreciation of the Western text is most gratifying. At the same time
Luke and Acts in D. the reader will naturally ask whether Zahn’s

verdict on the β text in Luke is not fatal to his own conclusions with regard
to Acts. Is it not true in this connection that “he who says A must also say
B”? If you admit that there were two editions of Acts, you must make the
same admission in the case of Luke. And conversely, if there was no second
edition of the Gospel, must you not then look for some other explanation of
the variations in Acts? For it seems quite certain that the variants in Luke
xxiv. are most closely related to the text of Acts i. Or how else are the
readings in Luke xxiv. 51-53 to be explained? Westcott and Hort have one
way of explaining them. They say that καὶ ἀνεφέρετο εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν “was
evidently inserted from an assumption that a separation from the disciples at
the close of a Gospel must be the Ascension. The Ascension apparently did
not lie within the proper scope of the Gospels, as seen in their genuine texts;
its true place was at the head of the Acts of the Apostles as the preparation
for the Day of Pentecost, and thus the beginning of the history of the
Church.” That is all very well, and it may also be the case that
προσκυνήσαντες αὐτόν in v. 52 is the natural result of the insertion of καὶ
ἀνεφέρετο εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. But how then are we to account for the
interchange of εὐλογοῦντες and αἰνοῦντες in the next verse, which is found
in precisely the same groups of witnesses?[242]
If this explanation then is insufficient on account of verse 53, it may be
confidently asserted that the omission of the Ascension and the Worship of
the Exalted Lord by any later scribe is all but inconceivable from the
moment that Luke was separated from Acts and placed among the Gospels.
If such a thing were possible at all, it would be in the case of
προσκυνήσαντες αὐτόν, as there is no express mention in Acts i. of the
disciples worshipping. On the other hand, the omission becomes quite
conceivable as soon as the author added a δεύτερος λόγος to the πρῶτος. So
far these variants appear to me to fit in very well with Blass’s theory and
with no other. Zahn, as far as I can see, has nowhere expressed any opinion
regarding them, certainly he says nothing of the variation between
αἰνοῦντες and εὐλογοῦντες, which is the one of most importance critically,
though it is of least consequence materially.
Graefe, following on the lines of Birt and Rüegg, supposes that the shorter
form was due to want of space, that Luke was glad to get the shorter form
all into his roll at the foot the first time he wrote it out, and sent off the book
to Theophilus in that form, hoping to deal with the Ascension in the second

of his books. In the second edition he had sufficient space to admit of the
insertion of καὶ ἀνεφέρετο εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, then of προσκυνήσαντες αὐτόν,
and finally of εὐλογοῦντες.[243] These additions he made, feeling, rightly
enough, that there could be no more fitting conclusion to his Life of Jesus
than a brief allusion to the Ascension, which he had already described more
particularly in the Acts. At the same time he substituted ἕως εἰς for ἔξω
πρὸς. Graefe thinks that all these changes are connected with the alterations
made also in the introduction to the Acts, though he omits to say what the
connection is.
Weiss, father and son, omit the words καὶ ἀνεφέρετο εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν as “a
gloss derived from Acts i.,” and “likewise” the words προσκυνήσαντες
αὐτόν in verse 52 (is this also a gloss from Acts i.?). Which text they hold to
be correct in verse 53 they do not say.[244]
Αἰνεῖν[245] is the specifically Lucan word for “to praise,” while εὐλογεῖν in
this sense does not occur in Acts at all, and only in the first two chapters of
Luke. Further, as any concordance will show, αἰνεῖν is the regular
equivalent of ‫ הלל‬and εὐλογεῖν of ‫ברך‬, while αἰνεῖν is rarely used for ‫ ברך‬or
εὐλογεῖν for ‫הלל‬. This confirms the supposition that αἰνοῦντες, which is
preferred by Tischendorf but rejected by Westcott and Hort, is the original
reading.
In order to show the full extent of the difficulty of the problem, we shall
take along with this passage from the end of the Gospel a single instance
from the Acts. How does the Apostolic Decree read in ch. xv.? “To judge
any matter before knowing the facts of the case is inadmissible.” So
Hilgenfeld says in his magazine, adding that the matter of the Apostolic
Council, as it is called, and the Decree have been so judged. He himself
restores the whole text in this passage to the form that Blass has adopted as
the Forma Romana—i.e., to confine ourselves to this point of main
importance, he omits “things strangled.”[246] On the other hand, Harnack, in
the article to which reference will be made below, comes to the conclusion
that the Eastern, i.e. the common, text is the original, and the Western a later
correction made subsequent to the Didache, and not earlier than the first
decade of the second century.[247] The same conclusion is reached by Zahn
in his extremely careful discussion of the question (Einl., ii. 344 ff.): “The
two texts are here mutually exclusive, and therefore cannot both be derived
from the same author (xv. 20, 29, xxi. 25).” But he immediately adds: “The

fact that Blass, in this important point, as in many another of less
consequence, declares a certain thing to be an original element of the text
which turns out to be simply an early corruption in no wise detracts from
the correctness of his hypothesis.” That is quite true and must be borne in
mind in connection with the objection raised by Wendt, that “manifest
clerical errors are found in the actual β text.” The passages are also used by
Corssen as an argument against Blass. The remarks of the latter in reply to
the strictures of Corssen (Evang. sec. Lucam, p. xxvi) seem to me to be not
without reason, but in any case it is strange that alterations should have
been made in an official document like the Decree in Acts xv., no matter
whether these were due to the writer himself or a later intermediary. That
there was some method in the alteration is shown by its recurrence in three
places. But again I must emphasise the superiority of Codex D. Whereas in
ch. xv. 20, 29 the shorter text is represented by other witnesses as well, in
ch. xxi. 25 it is supported by D with the sole addition of Gigas Holmiensis.
[248]
I have not to decide the question here; I simply commend it to a
searching investigation, in which attention must be paid to the apparently
meaningless differences in the use of particles and synonyms, of simple and
compound words, and such-like seeming minutiæ. I can only repeat how
frequently the thought occurred to me when I was comparing Scrivener’s
edition with that of v. Gebhardt for my Supplement, that here was no
alteration of a later scribe, and what then? The simplest explanation was
that both readings were due to the author himself, who on the one occasion
purposely set down the one reading and on the other the other.
There is another question in connection with the Western text which has
been even more neglected than the former—viz. the amount of importance
to be attached to it in the case of the Pauline Epistles. What about
Eusebius’s reference to Tatian’s work on these Epistles? I frankly confess
that not till the printing of this work was begun did I become aware, mainly
from Zahn’s Einleitung, how many problems are here waiting to be solved,
and for this reason as well as others I must for the present forbear making
any attempt in this direction.
Here I can only indicate a few of the most general rules of textual criticism,
and thereafter adduce a number of New Testament passages which are of
interest from a critical point of view.
Rules of criticism.

(k) General Rules of Textual Criticism.—In its essence the task of the
textual critic resembles that of the physician, who must first of all make a
correct diagnosis of the disease before attempting its cure. Manifestly the
first thing to do is to observe the injuries and the dangers to which a text
transmitted by handwriting is liable to be exposed. A correct treatment must
be preceded by a correct diagnosis.
The injuries which a text receives will vary according as it is multiplied by
Dictation or by Copying. The fifty Bibles which Eusebius prepared at once
for Constantine would be written to dictation. In the early times of the
Church, copying, as has been already mentioned, would doubtless be the
more usual method of multiplication. Here, however, we must make a
single exception in the case of Paul, who for the most part did not write his
Epistles with his own hand. He evidently dictated them. He certainly did
not have them simply written out from his own rough draft.
Illegibility. (1) In the case of copying, errors originate first of
all, though not most frequently, in a word or group of letters being illegible,
or in their being read for some psychological reason otherwise than as they
were intended. However attentive the copyist may be, he may still be in
doubt as to the way in which a word or passage should be read, and may
decide wrongly. Proper names, e.g., are often very doubtful.[249] More
frequently however the mistake will be due to inattention. The context may
lead the copyist to expect a certain word; he sees one like it, and inserts the
former in its place.
Homoioteleuton. (2) It frequently happens, particularly in copying
the old scriptio continua, that the eye of the scribe jumps from one word or
group of letters to another the same or similar to it, either before or after it.
In the former case the intervening words will be repeated, in the latter they
will be omitted. Scholars designate these errors as dittography and elision
respectively; printers know them under the name of a marriage and a
funeral. The former mistake is not so serious, because it is at once detected
on reading over the copy. A peep into any manuscript will show how
frequently this error occurs, the repeated words being enclosed in brackets
or surmounted with dots.[250] In Codex B such passages give us an
opportunity of observing the beauty of the original writing, because the
painstaking man who retraced the old writing with fresh ink in the eighth,
or tenth, or eleventh century, or whenever it was, adding at the same time

accents and punctuation marks, left these untouched. This kind of mistake
very often happens in passages where a group of characters catches the eye
for any reason, such as the occurrence of the abbreviation mark, Θ̅Σ̅,
Ι̅Λ̅Η̅Μ̅, Α̅Ν̅Ο̅Σ̅, etc., and at the transition to a new page or leaf. The
omission of a piece of the text of various length by homoioteleuton is as
common, and is more serious.[251] Any critical apparatus will show the
frequency of its occurrence. We often find there the note “a voce alterutra ...
ad alterutram desunt” or “a voce 1o ad vocem 2o (3o) transilit,” or “vox ...
alterutra et intermedia desunt.” Compare, e.g., Codex D, Matt. xviii. 18
from γῆς to γῆς; x. 23; xxiii. 14-16. The result is worst when the mistake is
not discovered till afterwards and the two fragments are patched together in
some way with more or less success. Lacunæ that have not been doctored
are very helpful in determining the relationship between different texts.[252]
Confusion. (3) As errors of the tongue and the memory[253]
rather than of the eye may be reckoned the Transposition and Confusion
of particular combinations of letters or entire words. The former occurs so
frequently in connection with a liquid, that in some cases it ceases to be a
mistake. Thus we have on the one hand the confusion of κορκοδειλος with
κροκοδειλος, Καρχηδων with Carthago, and on the other, εβαλον with
ελαβον, βηθαραβα with βηθαβαρα, John i. 28; κιρνατω with κρινετω,
ποντον with τοπον, ‫בכרין‬, talent, Matt. xxv. 14-30, with ‫כרכין‬, cities, Luke
xix. 17, 19. Akin to this is the confusion of vowels with a similar sound, to
which are to be ascribed all cases of itacism, as it is called—ἔγειρε and
ἔγειραι, —εσθε and —εσθαι, ἑταίροις and ἑτέροις, χρηστὸς ὁ κύριος and
χριστὸς ὁ κύριος, 2 Cor. xii. 1; φορέσωμεν and φορέσομεν, ἔχωμεν and
ἔχομεν, Rom. v. 1; μετὰ διωγμῶν and μετὰ διωγμόν. Manifestly mistakes of
this sort would occur more readily in dictation than in copying.
A third class of errors of a more conscious or semi-conscious description is
due to the substitution of words or forms of similar meaning. Thus, for
λέγει we may have εἶπε or ἔφη or ἀπεκρίνατο, or the simple form may be
replaced by the compound or vice versa, or one preposition may be
substituted for another.[254] Separate words are very frequently transposed
without seriously affecting the sense. Thus, in Acts iv. 12, we find nearly all
the possible permutations of the three words ονομα εστιν ετερον actually
represented—viz., in addition to this (2) ονομα ετερον εστιν; (3) ετερον
ονομα εστιν; (4) εστιν ετερον ονομα; (5) εστιν ονομα ετερον.[255] On Luke

xvii. 10, Merx says (Die vier kanonischen Evangelien, p. 246): “Let it be
observed that the position of ἀχρεῖοι fluctuates between (1) δοῦλοι ἀχρεῖοί
ἐσμεν; (2) δοῦλοί ἐσμεν ἀχρεῖοι D, and (3) ἀχρεῖοι δοῦλοί ἐσμεν. Such
fluctuations are due to the different arrangement of a word that did not
originally belong to the text, but was appended as a note and afterwards
incorporated with the text. Such fluctuations point to the interpolation of the
fluctuating word.” This judgment has to be accepted with caution. For one
thing, it is not at all clear which word it is that fluctuates. In this particular
case, one might say that δοῦλοι fluctuates as much as ἀχρεῖοι, and the
copula still more. Moreover such an interpolation becomes at once an
integral part of the text, and its insertion is no longer visible. Only if several
copies were made of that exemplar in which the interpolation was first
introduced could fluctuation of this sort originate. Such transpositions are
much more frequently of a harmless order, as each one may perceive for
himself. The writer’s thoughts fly faster than his pen and anticipate a word
that should not come in till later. One of the most frequent cases of
transposition is that of Ἰησοῦς Χριστός and Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς in the Pauline
Epistles.
Additions. (4) Akin to this last is a class of mistakes
originating in the border region between the unconscious and the conscious
or intentional—viz. that of Additions. One can readily understand how
easy it was to insert a κύριος or ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν, a μου after πατήρ on the
lips of Jesus, the subject at the beginning of a sentence, especially of the
first sentence of a pericope, or the object in the form of a pronoun. Bengel
proposed to omit the name of Jesus in some twenty-five places, for which
he was ridiculed by Wettstein, as may be learned from my work on Bengel,
p. 74. Now, everyone admits that Bengel was right. Under the head of
“Interpolationes breviores,” Wordsworth and White first give examples “de
nomine Jesus,” then of “Christus, Dominus, Deus,” and then of
“Pronomina.” It is evident that in this way the wrong word may be supplied
now and again. Perhaps one of the most interesting cases is Luke i. 46. All
our present Greek witnesses make Mary the composer of the Magnificat,
but Elisabeth’s name is attached to it in three Old Latin manuscripts, in the
Latin version of Irenæus, according to the best manuscripts, and in some
manuscripts known to Origen (or to his translator, Jerome: the passage,
unfortunately, is found as yet only in the Latin).[256]

Corrections. (5) To the category of conscious alterations belong
first of all grammatical corrections, then assimilations to parallel
passages, liturgical changes introduced from the Evangeliaria, as, e.g., the
addition at the close of a pericope of the words ὁ ἔχων ὦτα ἀκουέτω which
occurs in all sorts of manuscripts in the most diverse passages, or
indications of time, such as ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ at the beginning of a
pericope,[257] and lastly, alterations made for dogmatic reasons, if any such
can be established. It is impossible to deny that dogmatic conceptions had
some influence on the propagation of certain readings if not on their origin
—as, e.g., on the form assumed by the words in Matt. xix. 17, τί με λέγεις
ἀγαθόν, or on the omission of the words οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός in Mark xiii. 22;
compare also above, p. 106. On the whole, however, there is no real ground
for the scepticism that was for a time entertained with respect to our texts in
this connection. A sober criticism will be able in most cases to restore the
correct form. Its conditions will be apparent from what has been said in the
foregoing.
Canons of Criticism. Gerhard von Maestricht laid down forty-three
Critical Canons, and Wettstein set forth in his New Testament his
Animadversiones et Cautiones ad examen variarum lectionum Novi
Testamenti necessariae (vol. ii. 851-874). In 1755 J. D. Michaelis added to
his Curae in versionem Syriacam Act. Apost. his Consectaria critica de ...
usu versionis Syriacae tabularum Novi Foederis.[258] Bengel reduced all the
rules to a single one. Quite recently Wordsworth and White comprehended
the rules they followed in the preparation of the text of their Latin New
Testament in four sentences. Of these the first two apply to a version only,
and therefore do not concern us here;[259] while the fourth (brevior lectio
probabilior) is but another form of Bengel’s canon. The third alone may be
regarded as new and deserving of attention—viz., vera lectio ad finem
victoriam reportat. That is to say, if a phrase is repeated in several passages
in the same or similar terms, and displays variants in the earlier passages,
the reading of the later passage will, as a rule, be the correct one, the reason
being that copyists are apt to consider a certain reading to be an error the
first time it occurs, and therefore to alter it, but come in the end to admit it
as correct.
I would once more briefly emphasize the following propositions:—

(1) The text of our manuscripts must not be regarded as homogeneous,
but must be examined separately for each part of the New Testament. A
manuscript that exhibits a very good text in one book does not
necessarily do the same in the others. The same thing holds good of
versions and quotations.
(2) The text is preserved with less alteration in the versions than in the
manuscripts.[260]
(3) In the Gospels that reading is the more probable which differs from
that of the parallel passages.
(4) The influence of the ecclesiastical use of the Scriptures on the text
must be more carefully attended to than heretofore.
(5) One of the most valuable aids in estimating the importance of the
witnesses is the proper names, particularly those of less frequent
occurrence.
(6) “Proclivi scriptioni praestat ardua.”

Proper names. Of these propositions only the last two need be
illustrated further, particularly the second last. For it is really remarkable to
what extent this consideration has been neglected hitherto. To the best of
my knowledge there is as yet no monograph in which the proper names are
treated from a critical point of view. And yet these are for the critic
frequently the only points of light in vast regions of darkness. They are to
him what the lighthouse is to the mariner or the fossil to the geologist. This
makes their neglect all the more strange. Had there been a systematic
examination of the proper names of the New Testament, Lippelt’s important
discovery with regard to the spellings Ἰωάνης and Ἰωάννης might have
been made long ere now (see above, p. 162 f.). Weiss’s critical studies in
Acts deserve honourable mention in this connection. But Westcott and Hort,
who have paid attention to these things with their usual exactitude, were
simply on the wrong tack in this case when they asked whether the various
persons who bore this name might not have spelt it differently, as in the
case of Smith, Smyth, Smythe, etc. Similarly the genealogies give rise to a
whole host of problems of which no account has been taken hitherto. See
above, p. 165, for the reading Ζαρέ exhibited by B in Matt. i. 3; and
compare Sela, given by Syrsin in verses 4 and 5, with Σαλά in Luke iii. 32.

Tischendorf omits the testimony in Matt. i. 5, while Baljon passes over both
the variants, though they are certainly of more importance than the variation
in the spelling of Βοές, Βοός, Βοόζ. In Luke iii. 27 the word ‫ ֵר אָׁש א‬is
converted into a proper name Ῥησά. From this fact some very interesting
conclusions might be drawn with regard to the sources of Luke’s Gospel,
but this is a matter lying outside the scope of this chapter. On the other
hand, the fact that in the fourth Gospel the traitor is called not Ἰσκαριώτης,
or anything like it, but ἀπὸ Καρυώτου by ‫ א‬in ch. vi. 71, where his name
first occurs, and by D in every other place in that Gospel (xii. 4; xiii. 2, 26;
xiv. 22), raises a very strong presumption in favour of these two
manuscripts and indeed of the fourth Gospel. On this see my Philologica
Sacra, p. 14, and my notes, with Chase’s unconvincing replies, in the
Expository Times for December 1897, and January, February, and March
1898. I am very glad to see that Zahn now inclines to the same view (Einl.,
ii. 561). Considerable weight is given to it by the fact that these two
manuscripts seem to be the only ones that have preserved the correct
reading in the case of other names as well.
What is Apollos called in Acts? He is mentioned by D only in ch. xviii. 24,
where he is called Ἀπολλώνιος. ‫ *א‬calls him Ἀπελλῆς in xviii. 24 and xix.
1. This reading is supported in the former passage by the minuscules 15 and
180, and in the latter by 180 alone. Wendt now agrees with Blass in
thinking it probable that the original form in Acts was Ἀπελλῆς, which was
altered in the main body of manuscripts in conformity with 1 Corinthians,
just as ἀπὸ Καρυώτου in John was accommodated to Ἰσκαριώτης given by
the Synoptics. But what about D? I must ask with Salmon. Even Weiss says
in this connection (Codex D, p. 18): “The most that can be said for
Ἀπολλώνιος is that this form, differing as it does from that prevailing in the
Pauline Epistles, has the presumption of originality, seeing that there was
always a temptation for the scribes to accommodate it to the latter.”[261] In
his earlier work on the text (p. 9) he seems not to have considered this
point.
I cannot understand how Weiss could at first explain Ἰωνάθας, which is
found in D (Acts iv. 6) in place of Ἰωάν(ν)ης read by the other witnesses, as
a “clerical error,” whereas now (Cod. D, p. 108) he deems it more natural to
suppose that a corrector inserted the name of the son of Annas and the
successor of Caiaphas mentioned by Josephus (Antiq. xviii. 4, 3) in place of

that of the entirely unknown John, than that the name of Jonathan, even
supposing it was unknown to the copyist, which applies equally to that of
Alexander mentioned along with him, was replaced by John, which was a
very common name, the name of the Apostle so frequently mentioned
before. It could, therefore, be only a purely accidental clerical error.
Headlam, in his article on John (Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, ii. 676)
seems to know nothing of all this. But perhaps Weiss sees on the same page
of the aforesaid book that the mistake of Johanan and Jonathan occurred
elsewhere also, and remembering Bengel’s principle, considers that
Ἰωνάθας is the scriptio ardua, and, therefore, the praestantior.[262]
In 2 Peter ii. 15 the father of Balaam is called Βοσόρ, which is quite
peculiar. Westcott and Hort and Weiss, in their fondness for B, write Βεώρ.
But this is most certainly a correction which is combined with the original
to form βεωρσόρ in ‫א‬. The only thorough discussion of the passage that I
know is in Zahn’s Einleitung, ii. 109. The only thing that might be added to
his data in the LXX. is that, according to Holmes-Parsons, the Georgian
version has υἱὸν τοῦ βοσόρ in Jos. xiii. 22. Σεπφώρ, as the name of Beor,
has crept into various manuscripts in several places from Jos. xxiv. 9—e.g.
into the Armenian in Gen. xxxvi. 32, Codex 18 in Num. xxii. 5, Codex 53 in
Num. xxiv. 15, where Cod. 75 has Σεβεώρ, and into Lucian in 1 Chr. i. 43.
There seems to me to be a confusion between Gen. xxxvi. 32 (= 1 Chr. i.
43) and the following verse, in which Bosra occurs. In Gen. xxxvi. 33 one
manuscript observes, ἡ βοσὸρ πόλις τῆς Ἀραβίας ἡ νῦν καλουμένη βόσρα.
Jerome also renders “ex Bosor.”[263] Βοσόρ also occurs as the name of a
place in Deut. iv. 43; 1 Sam. xxx. 9; 1 Macc. v. 26. On this last passage see
ZdPV., 12, 51; 13, 41. For other interpretations (Hebrew pronunciation of
the Aramaic ‫[)פתורה‬264] see Pole’s Synopsis on 2 Peter ii. 15.
It is worth observing that minuscule 81 displays a close agreement with B
in other places as well as this.
On the names in the catalogue of the Apostles, see Zahn, Einl., ii. 263; on
Ἱερουσαλήμ and Ἱεροσόλυμα, ii. 310; on Jesus Barabbas, ii. 294; on
Barachias in Matt. xxiii. 35, i. 454, ii. 308. On the confusion between Isaiah
and Asaph in Matt. xiii. 35, and between Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Isaiah in
other passages, compare Ambrosiaster’s note on 1 Cor. ii. 9 cited above, p.
148.

“He who seeks in the wild fir wood, will still find many a cudgel
good.”

Textus brevior. The rule that the shorter text is the more original
is a subdivision of Bengel’s canon. It is specially the case when two longer
forms are opposed to it which are mutually exclusive and whose origin can
be explained from the shorter. As examples of this Zahn adduces, in
addition to the double conclusion of Mark’s Gospel, the following:—
John vi. 47: πιστεύων, ‫ א‬B L T, + “in God,” Syrcu. sin, + εἰς ἐμέ A C D Γ Δ Λ
Π....
John vii. 39: πνεῦμα, ‫ א‬K T Π, + ἅγιον L X Γ Δ Λ, + δεδομένον it vgcle, +
ἅγιον ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς, D f goth, + ἅγιον δεδομένον, B 254 Syrsin. hark....
James v. 7: πρόϊμον, B 31, pr. ὑετὸν A K L P, pr. καρπὸν 9 ‫ א‬ff etc.
It is equally clear that a reading is incorrect which proves to be a mixture of
two others (conflate readings). The respective claims of these others must
be adjudged on other considerations. Thus we have—

Luke xxiv. 53: αἰνοῦντες, D a b e.
εὐλογοῦντες, ‫ א‬B C* L.
αἰνοῦντες καὶ εὐλογοῦντες, A C2 X Γ Δ Λ Π.
εὐλογοῦντες καὶ αἰνοῦντες, Ethiop.
Acts vi. 8: πλήρης χάριτος, ‫ א‬A B D.
πλήρης πίστεως, H P.
πλήρης χάριτος καὶ πίστεως, E.

In general that reading will have the best claim to originality which stands
first in the combination. Further illustrations are unnecessary.
In order to fulfil the promise of the title of this chapter, the foregoing
exposition of the Theory of New Testament criticism should be succeeded
by a further part dealing with its Praxis. Such a part would contain
particular illustrations of the way in which the criticism of the text has been
handled by our authorities hitherto and the way in which it must be treated
in accordance with the foregoing principles. The following notes do not and
cannot claim to be a complete fulfilment of this great task, more especially
as in the preceding part we were unable to arrive at a finished system of

textual criticism. I have therefore contented myself with bringing together a
series of passages of interest from a critical point of view. In doing so I
have freely drawn upon Zahn’s Introduction. For this I feel sure the reader
will thank me, while at the same time I trust that the author will pardon the
liberty I have taken. I have made use, as far as possible, of the additional
material afforded by editions later than those of Tischendorf and Westcott
and Hort, particularly of the Sinai-Syriac. This collection may therefore
serve in some degree to supplement our commentaries, which, though their
merits in other directions are to be freely conceded, still leave much to be
desired in the matter of textual criticism. A purely critical commentary on
the New Testament is a great desideratum. The following notes are to be
regarded not as the commencement of such a work, but simply as a stimulus
thereto. I myself felt it to be a defect in the small Stuttgart edition of the
New Testament that want of space obliged me to omit all references to the
origin and significance of the various readings selected from manuscripts.
For many of these an Annotatio Critica in an Appendix like that in the larger
edition of v. Gebhardt would scarcely have been sufficient. What
information, e.g., would it have imparted to a reader to have given the
numbers of the two minuscules 346, 556 after the reading in Matt. i. 16?
What he needs is an Apparatus Criticus or a Commentarius Criticus such as
Bengel appended to his edition, or like that which Burk published
separately in his second issue. Ed. Miller has promised to give us one for
the Gospels, only it will proceed on principles which very few of us will be
able to accept.

CRITICAL NOTES ON VARIOUS PASSAGES OF THE NEW
TESTAMENT.

THE GOSPEL.

Matthew.

With regard to the title, Westcott and Hort say (Introduction, § 423, p. 321):
“In prefixing the name ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ in the singular to the quaternion of
‘the Gospels,’ we have wished to supply the antecedent which alone gives
an adequate sense to the preposition ΚΑΤΑ in the several titles. The idea, if
not the name, of a collective ‘Gospel’ is implied throughout the well-known
passage in the third book of Irenæus, who doubtless received it from earlier
generations. It evidently preceded and produced the commoner usage by
which the term Gospel denotes a single written representation of the one
fundamental Gospel.” Compare Zahn, GK., i. 106 ff.; Einleitung, ii. 172 ff.,
178 f.: “Of recent editors, Westcott and Hort have most faithfully
interpreted the original idea by setting Εὐαγγέλιον on the fly-leaf, and κατὰ
Μαθθαῖον, etc., over the separate books.” I have followed the same
principle in the Table of Contents prefixed to the Stuttgart edition of the
New Testament. Compare above, pp. 164, 165. On the spelling Μαθθαῖος,
instead of Ματθαῖος, compare on the one hand the LXX. manuscripts,
which exhibit the forms Μαθανιά, Μαθθανιά, Ματθανιά; Ματταθίας,
Ματθαθίας, Μαθθαθίας (see Supplement I. to Hatch and Redpath’s
Concordance to the Septuagint), and on the other, Blass’s Grammatik des
neutestamentlichen Griechisch, § 3, 11 (English Trans. by Thackeray, 1898,
p. 11).
i. 16. There are three forms of the text here—
(1) Ἰωσὴφ τὸν ἄνδρα Μαρίας, ἐξ ἧς ἐγεννήθη Ἰησοῦς ὁ λεγόμενος Χριστός:
all our Greek uncials and almost all the minuscules.
(2) Ἰωσήφ, ᾧ μνηστευθεῖσα παρθένος Μαρία ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰησοῦν (τὸν
λεγόμενον) Χριστόν: most of the Old Latin (a d g1 k q, with b c similarly),
Curetonian Syriac, Armenian, and four minuscules—viz., 346, 556, 624,
626, with slight divergencies.

(3) Ἰωσήφ· Ἰωσὴφ δὲ, ᾧ μνηστευθεῖσα (or μεμνηστευμένη?) ἦν παρθένος
Μαρία, ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν: the form underlying the newly-
discovered Sinai-Syriac.[265]
These readings are discussed in the “Additional Note” to Notes on Select
Readings, Westcott and Hort, Introduction (1896), p. 140 ff. Reading (2) is
dismissed on external grounds as displaying the characteristic features of
the “Western” type of text. Reading (3) is regarded as independent of (2),
neither confirming it nor confirmed by it. Taken therefore on its own merits,
it must yield to the received text (1), as it is easier to suppose that (3) is
derived from (1) than vice versa.
Zahn goes fully into these various forms (Einleitung, ii. 291-293). He
begins by saying that it is impossible, except on a very loose view of the
facts, to conclude that the Sinai-Syriac here preserves the original text,
which was gradually displaced for dogmatic reasons by the modified form
presented in (2), and ultimately by that given in (1). On the contrary, the
Curetonian-Syriac preserves an early form of text, and one that had a pretty
wide circulation, so that it cannot be due to an orthodox alteration of the
Sinai-Syriac. “If it be the case that the latter, like the former, is derived from
a Greek original, and that these two earliest versions of the ‘Distinct’
Gospel are not independent of each other but are two recensions of a single
version, then it follows that the recension which agrees exactly with a
demonstrably old Greek text (in this case the Curetonian Syriac) preserves
the original form of the Syriac version; while, on the other hand, the one
which deviates from all the Greek, Latin, and other forms of the transmitted
text (in this case the Sinai-Syriac) is derived from the other by a process of
intentional alteration.” There would be nothing to object to this reasoning
were it not that, as it seems to me, there is a flaw in the second of the
premises stated above, which of course vitiates the conclusion. In the main,
it is true that the Sinai-Syriac and the Curetonian are not independent, but
two recensions of a single version, but their common original was, as Zahn
himself was the first to suggest, Tatian’s Diatessaron, which did not contain
the first chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. So that the Sinai-Syriac may also go
back to a Greek text (such as has been discovered in the Dialogue of
Timothy and Aquila, see above, p. 99), and be earlier than the Curetonian.
Zahn concludes his examination of this passage by saying: “We may give
up all hope of finding in early manuscripts and versions any indication that

Joseph was regarded as the natural father of Jesus by the writers of lost
Gospels which may have been employed in the composition of the
canonical Matthew and Luke. A writer like Matthew, whose purpose was to
silence the calumnies raised against the miraculous birth of the Messiah,
and who knew how to utilise the smallest details of an intractable genealogy
to this end, cannot at the same time have accepted in his narrative
statements directly contradicting his view of that occurrence. Any text of
Matthew’s Gospel containing such features would be pre-condemned as one
that had been tampered with in a manner contrary to the conception of the
author.”
i. 18. The reading γένεσις is now supported by the newly-discovered
Oxyrhynchus Papyrus. It was adopted in the text by Vignon (Geneva,
1574). Origen knew no other reading than γέννησις, which is also attested
by L (Codex D is defective here). Westcott and Hort have accordingly given
it a place in their Appendix. Weiss explains it as an alteration made in
conformity with the verbal forms ἐγέννησε, ἐγεννήθη, occurring in the
previous part of the chapter. Zahn (Einleitung, ii. 270, 289) thinks it is
probably original. The two oldest and the latest Syriac have a different word
here from that in i. 1. These agree with Irenæus in the omission of Ἰησοῦ.
Zahn thinks this is probably correct.
i. 25. On πρωτότοκον, see above, p. 166, and the Oxford Debate, p. 4 ff.
v. 25. On ἀντίδικος = ‫בעלדינא‬, see Lagarde, De Novo, 20 (Ges. Abhdl.,
188); quem Matthaei locum quum imitaretur et rideret Lucianus in Navigio
35, ἀντίδικος non ferebat: ἕως ἔτι καθ’ ὁδόν εἰσιν οἱ πολέμιοι, ἐπιχειρῶμεν
αὐτοῖς.
vi. 1. δικαιοσύνην, ‫ *א‬B D Syrsin: ἐλεημοσύνην, most authorities: δόσιν ‫א‬a:
“your gifts,” Syrcu. Zahn (Einl., ii. 311) asks whether these variants may not
go back to a time when the Aramaic Gospel was interpreted orally in these
different ways? The agreement exhibited between ‫א‬a and Syrcu is
particularly strange.
vi. 13. There is a considerable amount of unanimity now with regard to the
doxology which used to be so much discussed. Among the witnesses
supporting its insertion are Syrcu, which, however, omits καὶ ἡ δύναμις, and
the Sahidic, which omits καὶ ἡ δόξα. Syrsin is unfortunately lost here. In
addition to the testimony previously known for the insertion of the

Doxology, there is now that of the Teaching of the Apostles, one of the
earliest Church writings. But the very fact that the Teaching is a Church
work reveals the source of the Doxology—viz. liturgical use. The
Conclusion was early added in Church worship from Old Testament
analogies; in the First Gospel it is out of place. The Greek manuscripts from
which Jerome made his version knew nothing of it, and accordingly the
Catholic Church omits it to this day. Luther also passed it over in his
Catechism, in which the exposition of the Conclusion is limited to the word
“Amen,” and says, “it is added that I may have the assurance that my prayer
will be heard.” In the Greek Church the Amen was explained as equivalent
to γένοιτο, “so may it be.”
viii. 7. Fritzsche (1826) took this verse as a question of surprise. This view
has been renewed by Zahn (Einl., ii. 307).
viii. 24. The words “erat enim ventus contrarius eis,” which are found in
one manuscript of the Vulgate in W-W after “mari,” and in four after
“fluctibus,” are an interpolation from Mark vi. 48. Tischendorf cites two
Greek minuscules in support of it. Lagarde’s Vienna Arabic manuscript (see
p. 143) mentions it as an addition of the “Roman” version.
xi. 19. Schlottman and Lagarde explain the variation between ἔργα and
τέκνα as a confusion of the Aramaic ‫( ַע ְב ָּד א‬servant: παῖς) and ‫( ְַע ָב ָד א‬work).
See Zahn, Einl., ii. 311 f., and compare also Salmon, Some Thoughts etc., p.
121 f. It is still to be shown, however, that τέκνα is ever used as the
equivalent of ‫ַע ְב ָּד א‬. Hilgenfeld (ZfwTh., 42. 4, p. 629) refers to 4 Esdras vii.
64 (134), where the Latin and the first Arabic version read “quasi suis
operibus,” the Ethiopic “quasi filiis suis,” and the Syriac “quia servi eius
sumus.”
xii. 36. See on xviii. 7.
xiii. 35. διὰ Ἠσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου is now attested only by ‫*א‬, two
members of the Ferrar group, and some other minuscules, but Eusebius and
Jerome found it in several manuscripts, and it was used still earlier by
Porphyrius as a proof of Matthew’s ignorance. It is certainly, therefore,
genuine, although it is omitted by Syrsin, Syrcu, by the “accurate”
manuscripts according to Eusebius,[266] and by the “vulgata editio”
according to Jerome. The conjecture of the latter, that Ἀσάφ was the
original reading, which was changed to Ἠσαΐου by some unintelligent