Methods of Textual Criticism 2 The Bible Versions

Methods of Textual Criticism (2) The Bible Versions Study

Main points Wealth of Material Types of Evidence Working with External Evidence* Working with Internal Evidence* History of Textual Criticism Concluding observations * Points covered in this lesson

Definitions

Using External Evidence Compares style of writing Compares location of manuscript Notes relationship to other manuscripts Notes number and quality of manuscripts containing a reading And… many other external factors about the manuscripts themselves Key Benefit: more objective than internal evidence

External Evidence: limitations One has to sift the weight of each type of external evidence Example: the number of manuscripts in favor of a reading is not necessarily conclusive Some subjectivity: weight of external evidence influenced by internal factors Example: ‘purity’ of a reading relies on subjective factors: Internal evidence of purity of transcription Internal evidence of ‘sense’ of the passage

External/Internal subjectivity: age Internal evidence Compare readings with the early versions Compare readings with the quotes of the Fathers Added to external factors, ‘weighting’ for date is assigned to a manuscript On dates, however, there appear to be few disputes about any particular manuscript

Internal Evidence: Unintentional errors of the eye Caused by similarity of some Greek letters: q vs. o, for example Variety of abbreviations used: qu for qeou, for example Uncial issues: no spaces between words can cause misreadings Identical/similar clauses in close proximity might cause copyist to miss words Words written twice

Internal Evidence: Other unintentional errors Ear: copying in a ‘scriptorum’, head scribe reads text, copyists may misspell Memory: Use of a synonym or different word order because of familiarity with the text or similar texts Example: Jesus Christ vs. Christ Jesus Judgement: Scribes sometimes introduced marginal notes into the text itself Speech: Scribes sometimes tended to write in their own speaking style in spite of what he was copying before him

Internal Evidence: Intentional Errors The ‘Good’ (majority) Scribe might try to “correct” grammar or linguistics to clear up supposed inaccuracies Harmonistic corruptions, especially in the Gospels, scribes might try to make the events recorded to more easily appear to agree The Bad: doctrinal Change text to fit view of scribe Sometimes heretics charged with this offense Wealth of evidence aids detection

Weighting Evidence: Rules of textual criticism Prefer the reading which best explains the others Accept the more difficult reading (scribes tended to simplify rather than complicate) Shorter reading generally accepted Adopt reading most characteristic of the author Discount readings peculiar to a particular scribe

Examining authorial style This method “seeks to determine which reading makes the best sense in the context and is most in harmony with the author’s known style and habits of speech. ” Thiessen, p. 77 Must carefully and comprehensively study the author Very subjective, must not allow what the student wants the text to say to override judgement