The Transmission of the Biblical Writings – Common Textual Errors Part 2

In these blog posts, we are looking at the transmission of the Biblical texts, and specifically at common errors that were made during the process of copying texts. Last time we looked at the first two common errors – mistaking similar letters, and a wrong division of words. Today we will look at a few more common errors those copying ancient manuscripts (not just the biblical texts – any ancient manuscript).

The third common mistake only applies to Hebrew manuscripts. Sometimes those copying the text would include the wrong vowels. Up until the time of a Jewish group known as the Masoretes, Hebrew was written without any vowels. When the text was read, one had to infer which vowels were intended. This changed under the Masoretes who began to write down vowels. However, it was possible for people to assume two different vowels were intended for a word. This would then change the word. Sometimes different vowels would merely change a word from a verb to its related noun. But at other times it could alter it to a different word entirely. Care was taken to prevent this, but changes and errors inevitably crept in. 

As a side note, this was long after Christianity and Judaism had split from one another. However, until the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls, the oldest Hebrew manuscripts we possessed were done by the Masoretes. Thus, this still affected the transmission of the Old Testament for the Christian Church. 

The fourth common mistake was skipping or doubling letters, words, or even full lines. In this case, the copyist would miss a letter or word, or write a letter or word twice. This was usually due to similar word beginnings or endings on successive words, which would cause the copyist to miss an entire word. Of even more consequence was when two lines began or ended with the same letters. In such cases, copyists sometimes skipped an entire line!

Once again, I point out these common errors, not to criticize those copying the biblical text, but rather to explain how easy it would be to make such mistakes when spending hours and hours copying documents by hand. Again I remind us we should give thanks to God for them and their tireless efforts – for this is how God chose to preserve His Word for us!

In Christ,

Bret