THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
H2
Transcribers would not intentionally substitute a harsh, ungrammatical, unusual, Hebraistic expression, one that caused a difficulty of any kind, for an easier one. (2) The shorter reading is to be preferred (Porson's "surest canon of criticism"). The tendency of scribes was almost always to add, rather than to omit. They did not like to have their copies regarded as incomplete. It was common to insert in the margin of manuscripts, or between the lines, glosses, or explanations of unusual or difficult expressions, also words or clauses which served to supplement the language of one Gospel from the parallel or similar passages in another, or to complete abridged quotations of the Old Testament from the fuller text of the Septuagint. Words accidentally omitted were also placed in the margin, or between the lines. A transcriber might thus easily mistake these glosses, or supplements, of his predecessor for accidental omissions and transfer them to his text. This rule does not apply to cases where an omission can be satisfactorily explained by homceoteleuton; that is, cases where two successive sentences or parts of sentences have a like ending. The scribe copies the first of these, then his eye glances to the like ending of the second, and he thinks that that is what he has just copied, and omits unconsciously the intervening words. Another prerequisite to successful criticism is a careful study of the principal documents and groups or classes of documents, in connection with the history of the text, so far as it can be traced, in order to determine by a process of comparative criticism their peculiar characteristics, their weak points and their strong points, and the relative antiquity and value of their texts. This process includes the ancient versions and the quotations in the writings of the principal Christian Fathers. It can not be here detailed. Griesbach did good work in this direction, and it has been the special study of Westcott and Hort. It is thus possible to weigh the external evidence in particular cases with some approach to accuracy.
4. Results of the Textual Criticism of the New Testament: The host of "various readings" which an examination of ancient manuscripts, versions, and quotations, has brought to light, perhaps a hundred and fifty thousand in number, alarms some simple-minded people. Analysis at once dispels the alarm. It is seen that a very large proportion of these readings, say nineteen-twentieths, are of no authority, no one can suppose them to be genuine; and nineteen-twenticths of the remainder are of no importance as affecting the sense. Of how much, or rather, of how little, importance, for the most part, the remainder are, can readily be seen by comparing the Revised Version of the New Testament (with its marginal notes) with the text of the Authorized Version, or by an examination of the various readings of the chief modern editors in Scrivener's Xovum Testamentum textus Stephanici A.D. 1650 accedunt varim lectiones (8th ed., Cambridge, 1877). The great number of various readings is simply the result of the extraordinary richness of critical resources. Westcott and Hort remark,
with entire truth, that " in the variety and fulness of the evidence on which it rests, the text of the New Testament stands absolutely and unapproachably alone among ancient prose-writings."
Bibliography: On the paleography of the N. T.: S. P. Tregelles, An Account of the Printed Text of the Greek New Testament; with Remarks on its Revision upon Critical Principles, together with a Collation of the Critical Texts of Griesbach, Scholz, Lachmann, and Tischendorf, with that in Common Use, London, 1854; E. A. Bond and E. M. Thompson, Facsimiles of Ancient MSS, ib. 1873-82; W. Wattenbach, Anleitung zur griechischen Palceographie, Leipsic, 1877; idem, Schrifttafeln zur Geschichte der griechischen Schrift, 2 parts, Berlin, 1876-77; idem and F. A. von Welsen, Exempla codicum Grcecorum litteris minusculis scriptorum, Heidelberg, 1878; idem, Scriptural Groecm specimina, Berlin, 1883; N. Gardthausen, Griechische Palceographie, Leipsic, 1879; J. R. Harris, New Testament Autographs, in supplement to AJP, no. 12, 1882; idem, Stichometry, New York, 1893; T. W. Allen, Notes on Abbreviations in Greek MSS, with Facsimiles, Oxford, 1889; F. Blass, Palceographie, in Handbuch der klassischen Alterthumswissenschaft, vol. i, Munich, 1892; W. A. Copinger, The Bible and its Transmission, London, 1897; F. G. Kenyon, Our Bible and the Ancient MSS, ib. 1897; idem, Bible Manuscripts in the British Museum, Facsimiles, ib. 1901; C. F. Sitterly, Praxis in Greek MSS of the N. T. The mechanical and literary Processes involved in their Writing and Preservation, New York, 1898; R. Proctor, The Printing of Greek in the Fifteenth Century, no. 8 of Illustrated Monographs, issued by the Bibliographical Society, London, 1900; DB, iv, 944-957.
For the old printers consult — on Christopher Plan tin: M. Rooses, Christopher Plantin, imprimeur Anvernois, Antwerp, 1884; idem, Christopher Plantin, Correspondance, Ghent, 1886; T. L. de Vinne, Christopher Plantin and the Plantin-M oretus Museum at Antwerp, New York, 1885; L. Degeorge, La Maison Plantin a Anvers, Paris, 1886. On the Stephens: G. A. Crapelet, Robert Estienne, imprimeur royal, Paris, 1839; A. A. Renouard, Annales de Vimprimerie des Estienne, ib. 1843; L. Feugere, Essai sur la vie et les ouvrages de Henri Estienne, ib. 1853. On the Elzevirs: C. Pieters, Annales de Vimprimerie Elsevirienne, Ghent, 1860; A Willems, Les Elzevier: histoire et annales typographiques, B-ussels, 1880.
Late critical editions arc 0. Tischendorf, Novum Testamentum Greece, ed. 8. critica major, Leipsic, 1864-72; Prolegomena, by C. R. Gregory, ib. 1884-94, small ed. of text of 8. ed., with selections of readings, ib. 1878; F. H. A. Scrivener and E. Palmer, The Greek Testament with the Readings adopted by the Revisers of the Authorized Version, Oxford, 1882; B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort, N. T. in the Original Greek, Am. ed. with introduction by P. Schaff, 3d ed., New York, 1883; W. Sanday, Lloyd's ed. of Mill's Text with Parallel References, Eusebian Canons and three Appendices (published separately, containing variants of Westcott and Hort, and a selection of important readings with authorities, together with readings from Oriental versions, Memphitic, Armenian, and Ethiopic), Oxford, 1889; O. von Gebhardt, Novum Testamentum (with variants of Tregelles and Westcott and Hort), 6th ed., Leipsic, 1894; B. Weiss, Das Neue Testament, Texlkritische Untersuchungen und Textherstellung, ib. 1894- 1900; F. Blass, Acta Apostolorum sire Lucce ad Theophilum liber alter secundum formam quae videtur Romanam, ib. 1896; idem, Evangelium secundum Lucam sive Luc(v ad Theophilum liber prior secundum formam quae videtur Romanam, ib. 1897; E. Nestle, Testamentum Novum Grace cum apparatu crilico, Stuttgart, 1898 (the use of editions with the MS. variants will still be required'1; Novum Testamentum Graecum, editio Stutgardiana, ib. 1S9S (based on collation of Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, Weymouth, and Weiss; contains for the Gospels and Acts a selection of MS. readings, chiefly from Codex Beza).
Treatises on various phases of the history of N. T. textual criticism are: F. H. A. Scrivener, A Full and Exact Collation of about twenty Greek MSS of the Holy Gospels (hitherto unexamined) in the British Museum, the
Archiepiscopal Library at Lambeth, with a critical In-
troduction, Cambridge, 1853; idem, A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, 4th ed., by E. Miller, London, 1894 (conservative); O. T. Dobbin, The Codex