[The Causes of the Corruption of the Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels by John Burgon]@TWC D-Link book
The Causes of the Corruption of the Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels

CHAPTER V
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Cyril three times reads [Greek: hoti][109], three times [Greek: hote][110],--and once [Greek: henika][111], which proves at least how he understood the place.
Sec.

2.
[A suggestive example[112] of the corruption introduced by a petty Itacism may be found in Rev.i.5, where the beautiful expression which has found its way into so many tender passages relating to Christian devotion, 'Who hath _washed_[113] us from our sins in His own blood' (A.V.), is replaced in many critical editions (R.V.) by, 'Who hath _loosed_[114] us from our sins by His blood.' In early times a purist scribe, who had a dislike of anything that savoured of provincial retention of Aeolian or Dorian pronunciations, wrote from unconscious bias [Greek: u] for [Greek: ou], transcribing [Greek: lusanti] for [Greek: lousanti] (unless he were not Greek scholar enough to understand the difference): and he was followed by others, especially such as, whether from their own prejudices or owing to sympathy with the scruples of other people, but at all events under the influence of a slavish literalism, hesitated about a passage as to which they did not rise to the spiritual height of the precious meaning really conveyed therein.
Accordingly the three uncials, which of those that give the Apocalypse date nearest to the period of corruption, adopt [Greek: u], followed by nine cursives, the Harkleian Syriac, and the Armenian versions.

On the other side, two uncials--viz.

B^{2} of the eighth century and P of the ninth--the Vulgate, Bohairic, and Ethiopic, write [Greek: lousanti] and--what is most important--all the other cursives except the handful just mentioned, so far as examination has yet gone, form a barrier which forbids intrusion.] [An instance where an error from an Itacism has crept into the Textus Receptus may be seen in St.Luke xvi.25.Some scribes needlessly changed [Greek: hode] into [Greek: hode], misinterpreting the letter which served often for both the long and the short [Greek: o], and thereby cast out some illustrative meaning, since Abraham meant to lay stress upon the enjoyment 'in his bosom' of comfort by Lazarus.

The unanimity of the uncials, a majority of the cursives, the witness of the versions, that of the Fathers quote the place being uncertain, are sufficient to prove that [Greek: hode] is the genuine word.] [Again, in St.John xiii.


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