Errors in the New Testament Manuscripts
(1) Errors of the Eye: Errors of the eye in the New Testament Manuscripts, where the sight of the copyist confuses letters or endings that are similar, writing e.g. capital Ε for capital Σ; capital Ο for capital Θ; capital Α for capital Λ or capital Δ; capital Π for capital Τ and capital Ι (written together, ΤΙ); ΠΑΝ for ΤΙΑΝ; capital Μ for a double capital Λ (ΛΛ). Here should be named homoeoteleuton, which arises when two successive lines in a copy end in the same word or syllable and the eye catches the second line instead of the first and the copyist omits the intervening words as in Codex Ephraemi of Joh 6:39.
(2) Errors of the Pen: Here is classed all that body of variation due to the miswriting by the penman of what is correctly enough in his mind but through carelessness he fails rightly to transfer to the new copy. Transposition of similar letters has evidently occurred in Codices E, M, and H of Mar 14:65, also in H2 L2 of Act 13:23.
(3) Errors of Speech. Here are included those variations which have sprung from the habitual forms of speech to which the scribe in the particular case was accustomed and which he therefore was inclined to write. Under this head comes “itacism,” arising from the confusion of vowels and diphthongs, especially in dictation. Thus, iota (ι) is constantly written as epsilon-iota (ει) and vice versa; alpha-iota (αι) for epsilon (ε); eta (η) and iota (ι) for epsilon-iota (ει); eta (η) and omicron-iota (οι) for upsilon (υ); omicron (ο) for omega (ω) and epsilon (ε) for eta (η). It is observed that in Codex Sinaiticus we have scribal preference for iota (ι) alone, while in Codex Vaticanus epsilon-iota (ει) is preferred.
(4) Errors of Memory: These are explained as having arisen from the “copyist holding a clause or sequence of letters in his somewhat treacherous memory between the glance at the manuscript to be copied and his writing down what he saw there.” Here are classed the numerous petty changes in the order of words and the substitution of synonyms, as ειπεν for εφη, εκ for απο, and vice versa.
(5) Errors of Judgment: Under this class Dr. Warfield cites “many misreadings of abbreviations, as also the adoption of marginal glosses into the text by which much of the most striking corruption which has entered the text has been produced.” Notable instances of this type of error are found in Joh 5:1-4, explaining how it happened that the waters of Bethesda were healing; and in Jn 7:53 through 8:12, the passage concerning the adulteress, and the last twelve verses of Mark.
From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co
(2) Errors of the Pen: Here is classed all that body of variation due to the miswriting by the penman of what is correctly enough in his mind but through carelessness he fails rightly to transfer to the new copy. Transposition of similar letters has evidently occurred in Codices E, M, and H of Mar 14:65, also in H2 L2 of Act 13:23.
(3) Errors of Speech. Here are included those variations which have sprung from the habitual forms of speech to which the scribe in the particular case was accustomed and which he therefore was inclined to write. Under this head comes “itacism,” arising from the confusion of vowels and diphthongs, especially in dictation. Thus, iota (ι) is constantly written as epsilon-iota (ει) and vice versa; alpha-iota (αι) for epsilon (ε); eta (η) and iota (ι) for epsilon-iota (ει); eta (η) and omicron-iota (οι) for upsilon (υ); omicron (ο) for omega (ω) and epsilon (ε) for eta (η). It is observed that in Codex Sinaiticus we have scribal preference for iota (ι) alone, while in Codex Vaticanus epsilon-iota (ει) is preferred.
(4) Errors of Memory: These are explained as having arisen from the “copyist holding a clause or sequence of letters in his somewhat treacherous memory between the glance at the manuscript to be copied and his writing down what he saw there.” Here are classed the numerous petty changes in the order of words and the substitution of synonyms, as ειπεν for εφη, εκ for απο, and vice versa.
(5) Errors of Judgment: Under this class Dr. Warfield cites “many misreadings of abbreviations, as also the adoption of marginal glosses into the text by which much of the most striking corruption which has entered the text has been produced.” Notable instances of this type of error are found in Joh 5:1-4, explaining how it happened that the waters of Bethesda were healing; and in Jn 7:53 through 8:12, the passage concerning the adulteress, and the last twelve verses of Mark.
From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co