CAUSES OF CORRUPTION CHIEFLY INTENTIONAL.
VIII. Glosses.
§ 1.
'Glosses,' properly so called, though they enjoy a conspicuous place in
every enumeration like the present, are probably by no means so numerous
as is commonly supposed. For certainly _every_ unauthorized accretion to
the text of Scripture is not a 'gloss': but only those explanatory words
or clauses which have surreptitiously insinuated themselves into the
text, and of which no more reasonable account can be rendered than that
they were probably in the first instance proposed by some ancient Critic
in the way of useful comment, or necessary explanation, or lawful
expansion, or reasonable limitation of the actual utterance of the
Spirit. Thus I do not call the clause [Greek: nekrous egeirete] in St.
Matt. x. 8 'a gloss.' It is a gratuitous and unwarrantable
interpolation,--nothing else but a clumsy encumbrance of the text[353].
[Glosses, or _scholia_, or comments, or interpretations, are of various
kinds, but are generally confined to Additions or Substitutions, since
of course we do not omit in order to explain, and transposition of words
already placed in lucid order, such as the sacred Text may be reasonably
supposed to have observed, would confuse rather than illustrate the
meaning. A clause, added in Hebrew fashion[354], which may perhaps
appear to modern taste to be hardly wanted, must not therefore be taken
to be a gloss.]
Sometimes a 'various reading' is nothing else but a gratuitous
gloss;--the unauthorized substitution of a common for an uncommon word.
This phenomenon is of frequent occurrence, but only in Codexes of a
remarkable type like B[Symbol: Aleph]CD. A few instances follow:--
1. The disciples on a certain occasion (St. Matt. xiii. 36), requested
our Lord to 'explain' to them ([Greek: PHRASON hêmin], 'they said') the
parable of the tares. So every known copy, except two: so, all the
Fathers who quote the place,--viz. Origen, five times[355],--
Basil[356],--J. Damascene[357]. And so _all_ the Versions[358]. But
because B-[Symbol: Aleph], instead of [Greek: phrason], exhibit [Greek:
DIASAPHÊSON] ('make clear to us'),--which is also _once_ the reading of
Origen[359], who was but too well acquainted with Codexes of the same
depraved character as the archetype of B and [Symbol: Aleph],--Lachmann,
Tregelles (not Tischendorf), Westcott and Hort, and the Revisers of
1881, assume that [Greek: diasaphêson] (a palpable gloss) stood in the
inspired autograph of the Evangelist. They therefore thrust out [Greek:
phrason] and thrust in [Greek: diasaphêson]. I am wholly unable to
discern any connexion between the premisses of these critics and their
conclusions[360].
2. Take another instance. [Greek: Pygmê],--the obscure expression
([Symbol: Delta] leaves it out) which St. Mark employs in vii. 3 to
denote the strenuous frequency of the Pharisees' ceremonial
washings,--is exchanged by Cod. [Symbol: Aleph], but by no other known
copy of the Gospels, for [Greek: pykna], which last word is of course
nothing else but a sorry gloss. Yet Tischendorf degrades [Greek: pygmê]
and promotes [Greek: pykna] to honour,--happily standing alone in his
infatuation. Strange, that the most industrious of modern accumulators
of evidence should not have been aware that by such extravagances he
marred his pretension to critical discernment! Origen and
Epiphanius--the only Fathers who quote the place--both read [Greek:
pygmê]. It ought to be universally admitted that it is a mere waste of
time that we should argue out a point like this[361].
§ 2.
A gloss little suspected, which--not without a pang of regret--I proceed
to submit to hostile scrutiny, is the expression 'daily' ([Greek: kath'
hêmeran]) in St. Luke ix. 23. Found in the Peshitto and in Cureton's
Syriac,--but only in some Copies of the Harkleian version[362]: found in
most Copies of the Vulgate,--but largely disallowed by copies of the Old
Latin[363]: found also in Ephraem Syrus[364],--but clearly not
recognized by Origen[365]: found again in [Symbol: Aleph]AB and six
other uncials,--but not found in CDE and ten others: the expression
referred to cannot, at all events, plead for its own retention in the
text higher antiquity than can be pleaded for its exclusion. Cyril, (if
in such a matter the Syriac translation of his Commentary on St. Luke
may be trusted,) is clearly an authority for reading [Greek: kath'
hêmeran] in St. Luke ix. 23[366]; but then he elsewhere twice quotes St.
Luke ix. 23 in Greek without it[367]. Timotheus of Antioch, of the fifth
century, omits the phrase[368]. Jerome again, although he suffered
'_quotidie_' to stand in the Vulgate, yet, when for his own purposes he
quotes the place in St. Luke[369],--ignores the word. All this is
calculated to inspire grave distrust. On the other hand, [Greek: kath'
hêmeran] enjoys the support of the two Egyptian Versions,--of the
Gothic,--of the Armenian,--of the Ethiopic. And this, in the present
state of our knowledge, must be allowed to be a weighty piece of
evidence in its favour.
But the case assumes an entirely different aspect the instant it is
discovered that out of the cursive copies only eight are found to
contain [Greek: kath hêmeran] in St. Luke ix. 23[370]. How is it to be
explained that nine manuscripts out of every ten in existence should
have forgotten how to transmit such a remarkable message, had it ever
been really so committed to writing by the Evangelist? The omission
(says Tischendorf) is explained by the parallel places[371]. Utterly
incredible, I reply; as no one ought to have known better than
Tischendorf himself. We now scrutinize the problem more closely; and
discover that the very _locus_ of the phrase is a matter of uncertainty.
Cyril once makes it part of St. Matt. x. 38[372]. Chrysostom twice
connects it with St. Matt. xvi. 24[373]. Jerome, evidently regarding the
phrase as a curiosity, informs us that 'juxta antiqua exemplaria' it was
met with in St. Luke xiv. 27[374]. All this is in a high degree
unsatisfactory. We suspect that we ourselves enjoy some slight
familiarity with the 'antiqua exemplaria' referred to by the Critic; and
we freely avow that we have learned to reckon them among the least
reputable of our acquaintance. Are they not represented by those
Evangelia, of which several copies are extant, that profess to have been
'transcribed from, and collated with, ancient copies at Jerusalem'?
These uniformly exhibit [Greek: kath hêmeran] in St. Luke ix. 23[375].
But then, if the phrase be a gloss,--it is obvious to inquire,--how is
its existence in so many quarters to be accounted for?
Its origin is not far to seek. Chrysostom, in a certain place, after
quoting our Lord's saying about taking up the cross and following Him,
remarks that the words 'do not mean that we are actually to bear the
wood upon our shoulders, but to keep the prospect of death steadily
before us, and like St. Paul to "die daily"[376].' The same Father, in
the two other places already quoted from his writings, is observed
similarly to connect the Saviour's mention of 'bearing the Cross' with
the Apostle's announcement--'I die daily.' Add, that Ephraem Syrus[377],
and Jerome quoted already,--persistently connect the same two places
together; the last named Father even citing them in immediate
succession;--and the inference is unavoidable. The phrase in St. Luke
ix. 23 must needs be a very ancient as well as very interesting
expository gloss, imported into the Gospel from 1 Cor. xv. 31,--as
Mill[378] and Matthaei[379] long since suggested.
Sincerely regretting the necessity of parting with an expression with
which one has been so long familiar, we cannot suffer the sentimental
plea to weigh with us when the Truth of the Gospel is at stake. Certain
it is that but for Erasmus, we should never have known the regret: for
it was he that introduced [Greek: kath hêmeran] into the Received Text.
The MS. from which he printed is without the expression: which is also
not found in the Complutensian. It is certainly a spurious accretion to
the inspired Text.
[The attention of the reader is particularly invited to this last
paragraph. The learned Dean has been sneered at for a supposed
sentimental and effeminate attachment to the Textus Receptus. He was
always ready to reject words and phrases, which have not adequate
support; but he denied the validity of the evidence brought against many
texts by the school of Westcott and Hort, and therefore he refused to
follow them in their surrender of the passages.]
§ 3.
Indeed, a great many 'various readings,' so called, are nothing else but
very ancient interpretations,--fabricated readings therefore,--of which
the value may be estimated by the fact that almost every trace of them
has long since disappeared. Such is the substitution of [Greek: pheugei]
for [Greek: anechôrêsen] in St. John vi. 15;--which, by the way,
Tischendorf thrusts into his text on the sole authority of [Symbol:
Aleph], some Latin copies including the Vulgate, and Cureton's
Syriac[380]: though Tregelles ignores its very existence. That our
Lord's 'withdrawal' to the mountain on that occasion was of the nature
of 'flight,' or 'retreat' is obvious. Hence Chrysostom and Cyril remark
that He '_fled_ to the mountain.' And yet both Fathers (like Origen and
Epiphanius before them) are found to have read [Greek: anechôrêsen].
Almost as reasonably in the beginning of the same verse might
Tischendorf (with [Symbol: Aleph]) have substituted [Greek:
anadeiknynai] for [Greek: hina poiêsôsin auton], on the plea that
Cyril[381] says, [Greek: zêtein auton anadeixai kai basilea]. We may on
no account suffer ourselves to be imposed upon by such shallow pretences
for tampering with the text of Scripture: or the deposit will never be
safe. A patent gloss,--rather an interpretation,--acquires no claim to
be regarded as the genuine utterance of the Holy Spirit by being merely
found in two or three ancient documents. It is the little handful of
documents which loses in reputation,--not the reading which gains in
authority on such occasions.
In this way we are sometimes presented with what in effect are new
incidents. These are not unfrequently discovered to be introduced in
defiance of the reason of the case; as where (St. John xiii. 34) Simon
Peter is represented (in the Vulgate) as _actually saying_ to St. John,
'Who is it concerning whom He speaks?' Other copies of the Latin
exhibit, 'Ask Him who it is,' &c.: while [Symbol: Aleph]BC (for on such
occasions we are treated to any amount of apocryphal matter) would
persuade us that St. Peter only required that the information should be
furnished him by St. John:--'Say who it is of whom He speaks.' Sometimes
a very little licence is sufficient to convert the _oratio obliqua_ into
the recta. Thus, by the change of a single letter (in [Symbol: Aleph]BX)
Mary Magdalene is made to say to the disciples 'I have seen the Lord'
(St. John xx. 18). But then, as might have been anticipated, the new
does not altogether agree with the old. Accordingly D and others
paraphrase the remainder of the sentence thus,--'and she signified to
them what He had said unto her.' How obvious is it to foresee that on
such occasions the spirit of officiousness will never know when to stop!
In the Vulgate and Sahidic versions the sentence proceeds, 'and He told
these things unto me.'
Take another example. The Hebraism [Greek: meta salpingos phônês
megalês] (St. Matt. xxiv. 31) presents an uncongenial ambiguity to
Western readers, as our own incorrect A. V. sufficiently shews. Two
methods of escape from the difficulty suggested themselves to the
ancients:--(_a_) Since 'a trumpet of great sound' means nothing else but
'a loud trumpet,' and since this can be as well expressed by [Greek:
salpingos megalês], the scribes at a very remote period are found to
have omitted the word [Greek: phônês]. The Peshitto and Lewis
(interpreting rather than translating) so deal with the text.
Accordingly, [Greek: phônês] is not found in [Symbol: Aleph]L[Symbol:
Delta] and five cursives. Eusebius[382], Cyril Jerus.[383],
Chrysostom[384], Theodoret[385], and even Cyprian[386] are also without
the word. (_b_) A less violent expedient was to interpolate [Greek: kai]
before [Greek: phônês]. This is accordingly the reading of the best
Italic copies, of the Vulgate, and of D. So Hilary[387] and Jerome[388],
Severianus[389], Asterius[390], ps.-Caesarius[391], Damascene[392] and
at least eleven cursive copies, so read the place.--There can be no
doubt at all that the commonly received text is right. It is found in
thirteen uncials with B at their head: in Cosmas[393], Hesychius[394],
Theophylact[395]. But the decisive consideration is that the great body
of the cursives have faithfully retained the uncongenial Hebraism, and
accordingly imply the transmission of it all down the ages: a phenomenon
which will not escape the unprejudiced reader. Neither will he overlook
the fact that the three 'old uncials' (for A and C are not available
here) advocate as many different readings: the two wrong readings being
respectively countenanced by our two most ancient authorities, viz. the
Peshitto version and the Italic. It only remains to point out that
Tischendorf blinded by his partiality for [Symbol: Aleph] contends here
for the mutilated text, and Westcott and Hort are disposed to do the
same.
§ 4.
Recent Editors are agreed that we are henceforth to read in St. John
xviii. 14 [Greek: apothanein] instead of [Greek: apolesthai]:--'Now
Caiaphas was he who counselled the Jews that it was expedient that one
man should _die_' (instead of '_perish_') 'for the people.' There is
certainly a considerable amount of ancient testimony in favour of this
reading: for besides [Symbol: Aleph]BC, it is found in the Old Latin
copies, the Egyptian, and Peshitto versions, besides the Lewis MS., the
Chronicon, Cyril, Nonnus, Chrysostom. Yet may it be regarded as certain
that St. John wrote [Greek: apolesthai] in this place. The proper proof
of the statement is the consentient voice of all the copies,--except
about nineteen of loose character:--we know their vagaries but too well,
and decline to let them impose upon us. In real fact, nothing else is
[Greek: apothanein] but a critical assimilation of St. John xviii. 14 to
xi. 50,--somewhat as 'die' in our A. V. has been retained by King James'
translators, though they certainly had [Greek: apolesthai] before them.
Many of these glosses are rank, patent, palpable. Such is the
substitution (St. Mark vi. 11) of [Greek: hos an topos mê dexêtai hymas]
by [Symbol: Aleph]BL[Symbol: Delta] for [Greek: hosoi an mê dexôntai
hymas],--which latter is the reading of the Old Latin and Peshitto, as
well as of the whole body of uncials and cursives alike. Some Critic
evidently considered that the words which follow, 'when you go out
_thence_,' imply that _place_, not _persons_, should have gone before.
Accordingly, he substituted 'whatsoever place' for '_whosoever_[396]':
another has bequeathed to us in four uncial MSS. a lasting record of his
rashness and incompetency. Since however he left behind the words
[Greek: mêde akousôsin hymôn], which immediately follow, who sees not
that the fabricator has betrayed himself? I am astonished that so patent
a fraud should have imposed upon Tischendorf, and Tregelles, and
Lachmann, and Alford, and Westcott and Hort. But in fact it does not
stand alone. From the same copies [Symbol: Aleph]BL[Symbol: Delta] (with
two others, CD) we find the woe denounced in the same verse on the
unbelieving city erased ([Greek: amên legô hymin, anektoteron estai
Sodomois ê Gomorrois en hêmerai kriseôs, ê tê polei ekeinê]). Quite idle
is it to pretend (with Tischendorf) that these words are an importation
from the parallel place in St. Matthew. A memorable note of diversity
has been set on the two places, which in _all_ the copies is religiously
maintained, viz. [Greek: Sodomois ê Gomorrois], in St. Mark: [Greek: gê
Sodomôn kai Gomorrôn], in St. Matt. It is simply incredible that this
could have been done if the received text in this place had been of
spurious origin.
§ 5.
The word [Greek: apechei] in St. Mark xiv. 41 has proved a
stumbling-block. The most obvious explanation is probably the truest.
After a brief pause[397], during which the Saviour has been content to
survey in silence His sleeping disciples;--or perhaps, after telling
them that they will have time and opportunity enough for sleep and rest
when He shall have been taken from them;--He announces the arrival of
'the hour,' by exclaiming, [Greek: Apechei],--'It is enough;' or, 'It is
sufficient;' i.e. _The season for repose is over._
But the 'Revisers' of the second century did not perceive that [Greek:
apechei] is here used impersonally[398]. They understood the word to
mean 'is fully come'; and supplied the supposed nominative, viz. [Greek:
to telos][399]. Other critics who rightly understood [Greek: apechei] to
signify 'sufficit,' still subjoined 'finis.' The Old Latin and the
Syriac versions must have been executed from Greek copies which
exhibited,--[Greek: apechei to telos]. This is abundantly proved by the
renderings _adest finis_ (f),--_consummatus est finis_ (a); from which
the change to [Greek: apechei to telos KAI hê hôra] (the reading of D)
was obvious: _sufficit finis et hora_ (d q); _adest enim consummatio;
et_ (ff^{2} _venit_) _hora_ (c); or, (as the Peshitto more fully gives
it), _appropinquavit finis, et venit hora_[400]. Jerome put this matter
straight by simply writing _sufficit_. But it is a suggestive
circumstance, and an interesting proof how largely the reading [Greek:
apechei to telos] must once have prevailed, that it is frequently met
with in cursive copies of the Gospels to this hour[401]. Happily it is
an 'old reading' which finds no favour at the present day. It need not
therefore occupy us any longer.
As another instance of ancient Glosses introduced to help out the sense,
the reading of St. John ix. 22 is confessedly [Greek: hina ean tis auton
homologêsêi Christon]. So all the MSS. but one, and so the Old Latin. So
indeed all the ancient versions except the Egyptian. Cod. D alone adds
[Greek: einai]: but [Greek: einai] must once have been a familiar gloss:
for Jerome retains it in the Vulgate: and indeed Cyril, whenever he
quotes the place[402], exhibits [Greek: ton Christon einai]. Not so
however Chrysostom[403] and Gregory of Nyssa[404].
§ 6.
There is scarcely to be found, amid the incidents immediately preceding
our Saviour's Passion, one more affecting or more exquisite than the
anointing of His feet at Bethany by Mary the sister of Lazarus, which
received its unexpected interpretation from the lips of Christ Himself.
'Let her alone. Against the day of My embalming hath she kept it.' (St.
John xii. 7.) He assigns to her act a mysterious meaning of which the
holy woman little dreamt. She had treasured up that precious unguent
against the day,--(with the presentiment of true Love, she knew that it
could not be very far distant),--when His dead limbs would require
embalming. But lo, she beholds Him reclining at supper in her sister's
house: and yielding to a Divine impulse she brings forth her reserved
costly offering and bestows it on Him at once. Ah, she little knew,--she
could not in fact have known,--that it was the only anointing those
sacred feet were destined ever to enjoy!... In the meantime through a
desire, as I suspect, to bring this incident into an impossible harmony
with what is recorded in St. Mark xvi. 1, with which obviously it has no
manner of connexion, a scribe is found at some exceedingly remote period
to have improved our Lord's expression into this:--'Let her alone in
order that against the day of My embalming she may keep it.' Such an
exhibition of the Sacred Text is its own sufficient condemnation. What
that critic exactly meant, I fail to discover: but I am sure he has
spoilt what he did not understand: and though it is quite true that
[Symbol: Aleph]BD with five other Uncial MSS. and Nonnus, besides the
Latin and Bohairic, Jerusalem, Armenian, and Ethiopic versions, besides
four errant cursives so exhibit the place, this instead of commending
the reading to our favour, only proves damaging to the witnesses by
which it is upheld. We learn that no reliance is to be placed even in
such a combination of authorities. This is one of the places which the
Fathers pass by almost in silence. Chrysostom[405] however, and
evidently Cyril Alex.[406], as well as Ammonius[407] convey though
roughly a better sense by quoting the verse with [Greek: epoiêse] for
[Greek: tetêrêken]. Antiochus[408] is express. [A and eleven other
uncials, and the cursives (with the petty exception already noted),
together with the Peshitto, Harkleian (which only notes the other
reading in the margin), Lewis, Sahidic, and Gothic versions, form a body
of authority against the palpable emasculation of the passage, which for
number, variety, weight, and internal evidence is greatly superior to
the opposing body. Also, with reference to continuity and antiquity it
preponderates plainly, if not so decisively; and the context of D is
full of blunders, besides that it omits the next verse, and B and
[Symbol: Aleph] are also inaccurate hereabouts[409]. So that the
Traditional text enjoys in this passage the support of all the Notes of
Truth.]
In accordance with what has been said above, for [Greek: Aphes autên;
eis tên hêmeran tou entaphiasmou mou tetêrêken auto] (St. John xii. 7),
the copies which it has recently become the fashion to adore, read
[Greek: aphes autên hina ... têrêsê auto]. This startling
innovation,--which destroys the sense of our Saviour's words, and
furnishes a sorry substitute which no one is able to explain[410],--is
accepted by recent Editors and some Critics: yet is it clearly nothing
else but a stupid correction of the text,--introduced by some one who
did not understand the intention of the Divine Speaker. Our Saviour is
here discovering to us an exquisite circumstance,--revealing what until
now had been a profound and tender secret: viz. that Mary, convinced by
many a sad token that the Day of His departure could not be very far
distant, had some time before provided herself with this costly
ointment, and 'kept it' by her,--intending to reserve it against the
dark day when it would be needed for the 'embalming' of the lifeless
body of her Lord. And now it wants only a week to Easter. She beholds
Him (with Lazarus at His side) reclining in her sister's house at
supper, amid circumstances of mystery which fill her soul with awful
anticipation. She divines, with love's true instinct, that this may
prove her only opportunity. Accordingly, she '_anticipates_ to anoint'
([Greek: proelabe myrisai], St. Mark xiv. 8) His Body: and, yielding to
an overwhelming impulse, bestows upon Him all her costly offering at
once!... How does it happen that some professed critics have overlooked
all this? Any one who has really studied the subject ought to know, from
a mere survey of the evidence, on which side the truth in respect of the
text of this passage must needs lie.
§ 7.
Our Lord, in His great Eucharistic address to the eternal Father, thus
speaks:--'I have glorified Thee on the earth. I have perfected the work
which Thou gavest Me to do' (St. John xvii. 4). Two things are stated:
first, that the result of His Ministry had been the exhibition upon
earth of the Father's 'glory[411]': next, that the work which the Father
had given the Son to do[412] was at last finished[413]. And that this is
what St. John actually wrote is certain: not only because it is found in
all the copies, except twelve of suspicious character (headed by
[Symbol: Aleph]ABCL); but because it is vouched for by the Peshitto[414]
and the Latin, the Gothic and the Armenian versions[415]: besides a
whole chorus of Fathers; viz. Hippolytus[416], Didymus[417],
Eusebius[418], Athanasius[419], Basil[420], Chrysostom[421], Cyril[422],
ps.-Polycarp[423], the interpolator of Ignatius[424], and the authors of
the Apostolic Constitutions[425]: together with the following among the
Latins:--Cyprian[426], Ambrose[427], Hilary[428], Zeno[429],
Cassian[430], Novatian[431], certain Arians[432], Augustine[433].
But the asyndeton (so characteristic of the fourth Gospel) proving
uncongenial to certain of old time, D inserted [Greek: kai]. A more
popular device was to substitute the participle ([Greek: teleiôsas]) for
[Greek: eteleiôsa]: whereby our Lord is made to say that He had
glorified His Father's Name 'by perfecting' or 'completing'--'in that He
had finished'--the work which the Father had given Him to do; which
damages the sense by limiting it, and indeed introduces a new idea. A
more patent gloss it would be hard to find. Yet has it been adopted as
the genuine text by all the Editors and all the Critics. So general is
the delusion in favour of any reading supported by the combined evidence
of [Symbol: Aleph]ABCL, that the Revisers here translate--'I glorified
Thee on the earth, _having accomplished_ ([Greek: teleiôsas]) the work
which Thou hast given Me to do:' without so much as vouchsafing a hint
to the English reader that they have altered the text.
When some came with the message 'Thy daughter is dead: why troublest
thou the Master further?' the Evangelist relates that Jesus '_as soon as
He heard_ ([Greek: eutheôs akousas]) what was being spoken, said to the
ruler of the synagogue, Fear not: only believe.' (St. Mark v. 36.) For
this, [Symbol: Aleph]BL[Symbol: Delta] substitute 'disregarding ([Greek:
parakousas]) what was being spoken': which is nothing else but a sorry
gloss, disowned by every other copy, including ACD, and all the
versions. Yet does [Greek: parakousas] find favour with Teschendorf,
Tregelles, and others.
§ 8.
In this way it happened that in the earliest age the construction of St.
Luke i. 66 became misapprehended. Some Western scribe evidently imagined
that the popular saying concerning John Baptist,--[Greek: ti apa to
paidion touto estai], extended further, and comprised the Evangelist's
record,--[Greek: kai cheir Kyriou ên met' autou]. To support this
strange view, [Greek: kai] was altered into [Greek: kai gar], and
[Greek: esti] was substituted for [Greek: ên]. It is thus that the place
stands in the Verona copy of the Old Latin (b). In other quarters the
verb was omitted altogether: and that is how D, Evan. 59 with the
Vercelli (a) and two other copies of the Old Latin exhibit the place.
Augustine[434] is found to have read indifferently--'manus enim Domini
cum illo,' and 'cum illo est': but he insists that the combined clauses
represent the popular utterance concerning the Baptist[435]. Unhappily,
there survives a notable trace of the same misapprehension in [Symbol:
Aleph]-BCL which, alone of MSS., read [Greek: kai gar ... ên][436]. The
consequence might have been anticipated. All recent Editors adopt this
reading, which however is clearly inadmissible. The received text,
witnessed to by the Peshitto, Harkleian, and Armenian versions, is
obviously correct. Accordingly, A and all the uncials not already named,
together with the whole body of the cursives, so read the place. With
fatal infelicity the Revisers exhibit 'For indeed the hand of the Lord
was with him.' They clearly are to blame: for indeed the MS. evidence
admits of no uncertainty. It is much to be regretted that not a single
very ancient Greek Father (so far as I can discover) quotes the place.
§ 9.
It seems to have been anciently felt, in connexion with the first
miraculous draught of fishes, that St. Luke's statement (v. 7) that the
ships were so full that 'they were sinking' ([Greek: hôste bythizesthai
auta]) requires some qualification. Accordingly C inserts [Greek: êdê]
(were 'just' sinking); and D, [Greek: para ti] ('within a little'):
while the Peshitto the Lewis and the Vulgate, as well as many copies of
the Old Latin, exhibit 'ita ut _pene_.' These attempts to improve upon
Scripture, and these paraphrases, indicate laudable zeal for the
truthfulness of the Evangelist; but they betray an utterly mistaken view
of the critic's office. The truth is, [Greek: bythizesthai], as the
Bohairic translators perceived and as most of us are aware, means 'were
beginning to sink.' There is no need of further qualifying the
expression by the insertion with Eusebius[437] of any additional word.
I strongly suspect that the introduction of the name of 'Pyrrhus' into
Acts xx. 4 as the patronymic of 'Sopater of Beraea,' is to be accounted
for in this way. A very early gloss it certainly is, for it appears in
the Old Latin: yet, the Peshitto knows nothing of it, and the Harkleian
rejects it from the text, though not from the margin. Origen and the
Bohairic recognize it, but not Chrysostom nor the Ethiopic. I suspect
that some foolish critic of the primitive age invented [Greek: Pyrou]
(or [Greek: Pyrrou]) out of [Greek: Beroiaios] (or [Greek: Berroiaios])
which follows. The Latin form of this was 'Pyrus[438],' 'Pyrrhus,' or
'Pirrus[439].' In the Sahidic version he is called the 'son of Berus'
([Greek: huios Berou]),--which confirms me in my conjecture. But indeed,
if it was with some _Beraean_ that the gloss originated,--and what more
likely?--it becomes an interesting circumstance that the inhabitants of
that part of Macedonia are known to have confused the _p_ and _b_
sounds[440].... This entire matter is unimportant in itself, but the
letter of Scripture cannot be too carefully guarded: and let me invite
the reader to consider,--If St. Luke actually wrote [Greek: Sôpatros
Pyrrou Beroiaios], why at the present day should five copies out of six
record nothing of that second word?
FOOTNOTES:
[353] See The Traditional Text, pp. 51-52.
[354] St. Mark vi. 33. See The Traditional Text, p. 80.
[355] iii. 3 e: 4 b and c: 442 a: 481 b. Note, that the [Greek: rhêsis]
in which the first three of these quotations occur seems to have been
obtained by De la Rue from a Catena on St. Luke in the Mazarine Library
(see his Monitum, iii. 1). A large portion of it (viz. from p. 3, line
25, to p. 4, line 29) is ascribed to 'I. Geometra in Proverbia' in the
Catena in Luc. of Corderius, p. 217.
[356] ii. 345.
[357] ii. 242.
[358] The Latin is _edissere_ or _dissere_, _enarra_ or _narra_, both
here and in xv. 15.
[359] iv. 254 a.
[360] In St. Matthew xiii. 36 the Peshitto Syriac has [Syriac letters]
'declare to us' and in St. Matthew xv. 15 the very same words, there
being _no_ various reading in either of these two passages.
The inference is, that the translators had the same Greek word in each
place, especially considering that in the only other place where,
besides St. Matt. xiii. 36, v. 1., [Greek: diasaphein] occurs, viz. St.
Matt. xviii. 31, they render [Greek: diesaphêsan] by [Syriac
letters]--they made known.
Since [Greek: phrazein] only occurs in St. Matt. xiii. 36 and xv. 15, we
cannot generalize about the Peshitto rendering of this verb. Conversely,
[Syriac letters] is used as the rendering of other Greek words besides
[Greek: phrazein], e.g.
of [Greek: epiluein], St. Mark iv. 34;
of [Greek: diermêneuein], St. Luke xxiv. 27;
of [Greek: dianoigein], St. Luke xxiv. 32 and Acts xvii. 3.
On the whole I have _no doubt_ (though it is not susceptible of _proof_)
that the Peshitto had, in both the places quoted above, [Greek:
phrason].
[361] In St. Mark vii. 3, the translators of the Peshitto render
whatever Greek they had before them by [Syriac letters], which means
'eagerly,' 'sedulously'; cf. use of the word for [Greek: spoudaiôs], St.
Luke vii. 4; [Greek: epimelôs], St Luke xv. 8.
The Root means 'to cease'; thence 'to have leisure for a thing': it has
nothing to do with 'Fist.' [Rev. G.H. Gwilliam.]
[362] Harkl. Marg. _in loc._, and Adler, p. 115.
[363] Viz. a b c e ff^{2} l q.
[364] [Greek: 'Opheilei psychê, en tô logô tou Kyriou katakolouthousa,
ton stauron autou kath' hêmeran airein, hôs gegraptai; tout' estin,
hetoimôs echousa hypomenein dia Christon pasan thlipsin kai peirasmon,
k.t.l.] (ii. 326 e). In the same spirit, further on, he exhorts to
constancy and patience,--[Greek: ton epi tou Kyriou thanaton en
epithymiai pantote pro ophthalmôn echontes, kai (kathôs eirêtai hypo tou
Kyriou) kath' hêmeran ton stauron airontes, ho esti thanatos] (ii. 332
e). It is fair to assume that Ephraem's reference is to St. Luke ix. 23,
seeing that he wrote not in Greek but in Syriac, and that in the
Peshitto the clause is found only in that place.
[365] [Greek: Akoue Louka legontos],--i. 281 f. Also, int. iii. 543.
[366] Pp. 221 (text), 222, 227.
[367] ii. 751 e, 774 e (in Es.)--the proof that these quotations are
from St. Luke; that Cyril exhibits [Greek: arnêsasthô] instead of
[Greek: aparn]. (see Tischendorf's note on St. Luke ix. 23). The
quotation in i. 40 (Glaph.) _may_ be from St. Matt. xvi. 24.
[368] Migne, vol. lxxxvi. pp. 256 and 257.
[369] After quoting St. Mark viii. 34,--'aut juxta Lucam, _dicebat ad
cunctos: Si quis vult post me venire, abneget semetipsum; et tollat
crucem suam, et sequetur me_.'--i. 852 c.
This is found in his solution of _XI Quaestiones_, 'ad Algasiam,'--free
translations probably from the Greek of some earlier Father. Six lines
lower down (after quoting words found nowhere in the Gospels), Jerome
proceeds:--'_Quotidie_ credens in Christum _tollit crucem suam_, et
negat seipsum.'
[370] This spurious clause adorned the lost archetype of Evann. 13, 69,
124, 346 (Ferrar's four); and survives in certain other Evangelia which
enjoy a similar repute,--as 1, 33, 72 (with a marginal note of
distrust), 131.
[371] They are St. Matt. xvi. 24; St. Mark viii. 34.
[372] i. 597 c (Adorat.)--elsewhere (viz. i. 21 d; 528 c; 580 b; iv.
1058 a; v^(2). 83 c) Cyril quotes the place correctly. Note, that the
quotation found in Mai, iii. 126, which Pusey edits (v. 418), in Ep. ad
Hebr., is nothing else but an excerpt from the treatise de Adorat. i.
528 c.
[373] In his Commentary on St. Matt. xvi. 24:--[Greek: Dia pantos tou
biou touto dei poiein. Diênekôs gar, phêsi, periphere ton thanaton
touton, kai kath hêmeran hetoimos eso pros sphagên] (vii. 557 b). Again,
commenting on ch. xix. 21,--[Greek: Dei proêgoumenôs akolouthein tô
Christô toutesti, panta ta par autou keleuomena poiein, pros sphgas
einai hetoimon, kai thanaton kathêmerinin] (p. 629 e):--words which
Chrysostom immediately follows up by quoting ch. xvi. 24 (630 a).
[374] i. 949 b,--'_Quotidie_ (inquit Apostolus) _morior propter vestram
salutem_. Et Dominus, juxta antiqua exemplaria, _Nisi quis tulerit
crucem suam quotidie, et sequntus fuerit me, non potest meus esse
discipulus_'--Commenting on St. Matt. x. 38 (vol. vii. p. 65 b), Jerome
remarks,--'in alio Evangelio scribitur,--_Qui non accipit crucem suam
quotidie_': but the corresponding place to St. Matt. x. 38, in the
sectional system of Eusebius (Greek and Syriac), is St. Luke xiv. 27.
[375] Viz. Evan. 473 (2^{pe}).
[376] ii. 66 c, d.
[377] See above, p. 175, note 2.
[378] Proleg. p. cxlvi.
[379] N.T. (1803), i. 368.
[380] Lewis here agrees with Peshitto.
[381] iv. 745.
[382] In Ps. 501.
[383] 229 and 236.
[384] vii. 736: xi. 478.
[385] ii. 1209.
[386] 269.
[387] 577.
[388] i. 881.
[389] _Ap._ Chrys. vi. 460.
[390] _Ap_. Greg. Nyss. ii. 258.
[391] Galland. vi. 53.
[392] ii. 346.
[393] ii. 261, 324.
[394] _Ap._ Greg. Nyss. iii. 429.
[395] i. 132.
[396] The attentive student of the Gospels will recognize with interest
how gracefully the third Evangelist St. Luke (ix. 5) has overcome this
difficulty.
[397] Augustine, with his accustomed acuteness, points out that St.
Mark's narrative shews that after the words of 'Sleep on now and take
your rest,' our Lord must have been silent for a brief space in order to
allow His disciples a slight prolongation of the refreshment which his
words had already permitted them to enjoy. Presently, He is heard to
say,--'It is enough'--(that is, 'Ye have now slept and rested enough');
and adds, 'The hour is come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the
hands of sinners.' 'Sed quia commemorata non est ipsa interpositio
silentii Domini, propterea coartat intellectum, ut in illis verbis alia
pronuntiatio requiratur.'--iii^{2}. 106 a, b. The passage in question
runs thus:--[Greek: Katheidete to loipon kai anapauesthe. apechei;
êlthen hê hôra; idou, k.t.l.]
[398] Those who saw this, explain the word amiss. Note the Scholion
(Anon. Vat.) in Possinus, p. 321:--[Greek: apechei, toutesti,
peplêrôtai, telos echei to kat' eme]. Last Twelve Verses, p. 226, note.
[399] I retract unreservedly what I offered on this subject in a former
work (Last Twelve Verses, &c., pp. 225, 226). I was misled by one who
seldom indeed misleads,--the learned editor of the Codex Bezae (_in
loco_).
[400] So Peshitto. Lewis, _venit hora, appropinquat finis_. Harkleian,
_adest consummatio, venit hora._
[401] [Greek: apechei]. Vg. _sufficit_. + [Greek: to telos], 13, 69,
124, 2^{pe}, c^{scr}, 47, 54, 56, 61, 184, 346, 348, 439. d, q,
_sufficit finis et hora_. f, _adest finis, venit hora_. c, ff^{2},
_adest enim consummatio, et_ (ff^{2} venit) _hora_. a, _consummatus est
finis, advenit hora_. It is certain that one formidable source of danger
to the sacred text has been its occasional obscurity. This has
resulted,--(1) sometimes in the omission of words: [Greek:
Deuteroprôton]. (2) Sometimes in substitution, as [Greek: pygmêi]. (3)
Sometimes in the insertion of unauthorized matter: thus, [Greek: to
telos], as above.
[402] iii. 105: iv. 913. So also iv. 614.
[403] vi. 283.
[404] i. 307.
[405] viii. 392.
[406] iv. 696.
[407] Cramer's Cat. _in loc._
[408] 1063.
[409] E.g. ver. 1. All the three officiously insert [Greek: ho Iêsous],
in order to prevent people from imagining that Lazarus raised Lazarus
from the dead; ver. 4, D gives the gloss, [Greek: apo Karyôtou] for
[Greek: Iskariôtês]; ver. 13, spells thus,--[Greek: hôssana]; besides
constant inaccuracies, in which it is followed by none. [Symbol: Aleph]
omits nineteen words in the first thirty-two verses of the chapter,
besides adding eight and making other alterations. B is far from being
accurate.
[410] 'Let her alone, that she may keep it against the day of My
burying' (Alford). But how _could_ she keep it after she had poured it
all out?--'Suffer her to have kept it against the day of My preparation
unto burial' (M^{c}Clellan). But [Greek: hina têrêsê] could hardly mean
that: and the day of His [Greek: entaphiasmos] had not yet arrived.
[411] Consider ii. 11 and xi. 40: St. Luke xiii. 17: Heb. i. 3.
[412] Consider v. 36 and iv. 34.
[413] Consider St. John xix. 30. Cf. St. Luke xxii. 37.
[414] Lewis, 'and the work I have perfected': Harkleian, 'because the
work,' &c., 'because' being obelized.
[415] The Bohairic and Ethiopic are hostile.
[416] i. 245 (= Constt. App. viii. 1; _ap._ Galland. iii. 199).
[417] P. 419.
[418] Mcell p. 157.
[419] i. 534.
[420] ii. 196, 238: iii. 39.
[421] v. 256: viii. 475 _bis_.
[422] iii. 542: iv. 954: v^{1}. 599, 601, 614: v^{2}. 152.--In the
following places Cyril shews himself acquainted with the other
reading,--iv. 879: v^{1}. 167, 366: vi. 124.
[423] Polyc. frg. v (ed. Jacobson).
[424] Ps.-Ignat. 328.
[425] _Ap._ Gall. iii. 215.
[426] P. 285.
[427] ii. 545.
[428] Pp. 510, 816, 1008. But _opere constummato_, pp. 812, 815.--Jerome
also once (iv. 563) has _opere completo._
[429] _Ap._ Gall. v. 135.
[430] P. 367.
[431] _Ap._ Gall. iii. 308.
[432] _Ap._ Aug. viii. 622.
[433] iii^{2}. 761: viii. 640.
[434] v. 1166.
[435] Ibid. 1165 g, 1166 a.
[436] Though the Bohairic, Gothic, Vulgate, and Ethiopic versions are
disfigured in the same way, and the Lewis reads 'is.'
[437] Theoph. 216 note: [Greek: hôs kindyneuein auta bythisthênai].
[438] Cod. Amiat.
[439] g,--at Stockholm.
[440] Stephanus De Urbibus in voc. [Greek: Beroia].