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1st Corinthians 15:52-54 (Traditional Text)

κοιμηθησομεθα παντες δε αλλαγησομεθα
εν ατομω εν ριπη οφθαλμου εν τη εσχατη
σαλπιγγι σαλπισει γαρ και οι νεκροι εγερθησον-
ται αφθαρτοι και ημεις αλλαγησομεθα δει γαρ
το φθαρτον τουτο ενδυσασθαι αφθαρσιαν και
το  θνητον τουτο ενδυσασθαι αθανασιαν οταν δε
το φθαρτον τουτο ενδυσηται  αφθαρσιαν και
το  θνητον τουτο ενδυσηται  αθανασιαν τοτε
γενησεται ο λογος ο γεγραμμενος
..........."κατεποθη ο θανατος εις νικος..."

...and we all shall be changed;
- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, in the last
trumpet, for it shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we -- we shall be changed: for it behoveth
this corruptible to .......... put on incorruption, and
this mortal to put on immortality; but when
this corruptible may have put on incorruption, and
this mortal may have put on immortality, then
shall be brought to pass the word that hath been written,
    `The Death was swallowed up -- to victory;

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INCLUDE LINE: B! C(2vid) D! K P Ψ (33) 81 88 104 181 330 436 451 614(mg) 629(c) 630 (1241) 1739(mg) 1877(mg) 1881 1962 1984 (1985 2127) 2492 2495 Byz Maj (Majority of all continuous MSS) l(809m)/1441(m) it-d/(e) Syr-p/h Origen Cyprian Chrysostom Jerome Augustine Euthalius Theodoret Cosmos John-Damascus

OMIT: Aleph* 088 (629) it-ar Ambrosiaster Hilary Athanasius (G 614* 1877* it-f/g Cop-bo(ms)

---

With 19 letters of homeoarcton (similar beginning), and 14 letters of homoioteleuton (similar ending), only a two-letter difference is left over! As a scribal gloss it is absurd, but understood as yet another haplographic accident, it is all too plain.

Its hard not to sympathize with the scribe who tripped holding this wedding cake full of Haplographic opportunities.

This is a case so shamefully obvious that both Nestle and the UBS editors felt obligated to leave the line in the text with no more than a list of variant MSS for a footnote.

Still, Hort felt equally obligated to worship the singular witness of Aleph, even against his beloved Codex B! Its hard not to suspect Hort's hidden agenda of eliminating as much NT verse as possible...

The usual (but unusually small) handful of confused copyists follow Aleph to nowhere.

Luckily, most 'modern' translations also felt obligated to follow the (strangely correct) judgment of the UBS-text here, and leave the verses in, with the exception of the always foolish New English Bible (NEB). We must document it here nonethless, because at least a few 'modern' versions took it seriously.

Apparently we won't be putting on incorruption, until the corruption of Codex Sinaiticus has fully tired us all out.

Yet there is no real excuse for the exact flub that Aleph makes, somehow failing to drop the middle line, also nearly identical with its paired counterpart. This "every-other-line" similarity is not unique in poetry or prose, but the expected mistake was both lines; the scribe of Aleph was seemingly so addled with ale that he blundered twice, once to drop the line, and once to find his place again at the wrong place...(roll eyes here).

Still, even this double gaffe was not enough to disguise the original haplography from the watchful eyes of the UBS committee. If only they were asleep at the wheel less often....

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Galatians 3:1 Traditional Text (& omission)

.............ω ανοητοι γαλα-
ται τις υμας εβασκανεν
τη αληθεια μη πειθεσθαι
οις κατ οφθαλμους ΙΣ ΧΣ
προεγραφη εν υμιν εστα-
υρωμενος...

'oh foolish Textual Cri-
tics! Who has bewitched you,
that you should not obey the truth?
- before whose eyes Jesus Christ
has evidently been set forth...

---

INCLUDE LINE: C Maj (most) Vg(Cl) Syr-H etc.
(+εν υμιν) D G Maj K pm

OMIT: א B

---

Here's another one of those borderline cases: Not in the sense that the omission makes any sense, but in the sense that there's not much excuse in terms of haplography opportunities for the scribe.

We can suppose two lines beginning in 't' helped, but this really must be put down to sheer fatigue, and the haplographic danger may have been unneeded entirely.

No plausible premise can be conjured for the "addition". Its simply Paul, wordy and in your face.

Choosing the shortest text can be explained as filling Hort's need for a common ancestor by Agreement in Error, but who else can claim such a lame excuse? Certainly not Nestle or UBS. Their goals were not Hort's (we hope).

This is simply a mechanical and mindless application of a dubious rule.

All modern versions follow down the golden path to Egypt's very first bumbling copyist, played in the movie masterfully by Peter Sellers as "Scribe Clouseau".

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Ephesians 3:14-15 (Traditional text) - Homoioteleuton

...............τουτου χαριν
καμπτω τα γονατα μου
προς τον πατερα του
κυριου ημων ΙΣ χριστου
εξ ου πασα πατρια εν ου-
ρανοις και επι γης ονομα-
ζεται

For this cause I bow my
knees unto the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
of whom whole family in the
heavens and on earth is named,...

---

INCLUDE LINE: א(corr.) D G K Ψ 88 104 181 326 330 436 451 614 629 630 1241 1877 1881 1984 1985 2495 Byz Maj (Majority of continuous MSS), it-ar/c/d/e/f/g/t/x/z, Vg Syr-H, Syr-P, Goth, Arm., Origen(Gr1/3,Lat) Ambrosiaster Victorinus-Rome Ephraem Basil Ps-Justin Chrysostom Latin mss (Jerome), THeodore Theodoret John-Dam. Photius.

OMIT: P46 א* A B C P 33 81 1739 1962 2127 2492 it-dem Syr-Pal Copt-Sa/Bo Aeth. (Clement) Origen Cyril-Jer. Epiphanius Jerome Augustine Cyril Euthalius Vigilus.

---

Its not hard to see how the combination of narrow columns and the use of the Noma Sacrae (Short form ΙΣ for "Jesus") here conspired to create an awkward procession of similar endings.

As seems to occur more often than we would like, the added self-similar beginning and ending of the lost line, and its similarity to other line endings has here resulted in more loss of text than usual. The basic mechanism is the same however, even with the 'hiccup'. Anyone who has typed a letter has experienced the frequent loss or addition of a repeated word at the beginning or end of phrase, especially when jumping to a new line.

Here sadly, Hort, Nestle, and UBS-2 conspire to remove another clarifying reference to our Lord Jesus, losing something of Paul's thought here.

Most 'modern' versions follow the UBS text, and drop the line, usually without adequate notice of a possible gaffe.

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Ephesians 5:30 (Traditional Text) homoioteleuton

(1) EARLY BONER: (wide line format)

................................καθως και ο κυριος την
εκκλησιαν οτι μελη εσμεν του σωματος αυτου
εκ της σαρκος αυτου και εκ των οστεων αυτου
αντι τουτου καταλειψει ανθρωπος τον ΠΡ αυτου

(2) LATER BONER: (narrow column format)

καθως και ο κυριος την
εκκλησιαν οτι μελη εσμεν
του σωματος αυτου
εκ της σαρκος αυτου
και εκ των οστεων αυτου
αντι τουτου καταλειψει
ανθρωπος τον πατερα αυτου

...as also the Lord, the
church, because mem-
bers we are of his body,
of his flesh, and of his bones;
___"for this cause shall
a man leave his father...

---

Include Line in Full: א(corr.) D G P Ψ 88 104 181 326 330 436 451 614 (629) 630 1241 1739mg 1877 1962 1984 2127 2492 2495 Byz Maj (Majority of continuous MSS), it-ar/c/d/dem/e/f/g/mon/x/z, Vg Syr-H, Syr-P, Arm., Iraeneus Ambrosiaster Victorinus-Rome Chrysostom Jerome, Theodore Theodoret John-Dam.

First Booboo: P46 א* A B 33 81 1739 1881 Copt-Sa/Bo Aeth. Origen(lat) Methodius Euthalius Ps-Jerome.

Second Booboo: MS 1985

---

Its rare we get to see the same boner committed twice, in two different forms, simply because of a change of format.

Τhe early boner was caused when papyri had wide single columns and longer lines, and then much later on, the same type omission is committed on a half-line due to the narrower multiple-column format!

Not surprisingly, WH, Nestle, UBS all opt for complete omission of the entire line, seemingly oblivious to the obvious haplographic clowning.

All 'modern' versions follow, apparently drifting along with the UBS-2 text.

Yet never could the evidence be clearer, than both the physical features of the text, and the actual accomplishment of the same error alike in two different times, places, and circumstances. Again, the deliberate addition of the line would be non-sensical and implausible as a theologically motivated note or gloss. Even less likely would be that scribes hundreds of years apart would by coincidence come up with the same half-line to insert.

Instead we have the usual motive-less, accidental omission that most haplographic errors cause.

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Philippians 3:15-17 (Traditional text)

- homoioteleuton +

και τουτο ο θΣ υμιν απο-
καλυψει πλην εις ο εφθα-
σαμεν τω αυτω στοιχειν
κανονι το αυτο φρονειν
συμμιμηται μου γινεσθε
αδελφοι ...

...God will reveal even this to you:
Still, up to what we have already attained,
let us walk the same rule,
let us be of the same mind.
Join in following my example,
brothers...

---

INCLUDE LINE: א(corr.) K P Ψ (69 1908 w.o.r.) 88 181 326 614 630 1877 1962 1984 1985 2495 Byz Maj (Majority of continuous MSS), Syr-H, Syr-P, Aeth., Chrysostom Theodore Theodoret John-Dam.

(reverse phrases): 81 104 330 451 (629) 1241 2127 2492 it-c/d/dem/div/f/x/s, Vg Goth Arm Euthalius

Omit Line: P46 א* A B Ivid 33 1739 Copt-Sa/Bo Aeth-Ro. Hilary Aug. Theod.-Aneyra Ferrandus

Omit Other Line: 1881

---

Another case where over 55% of the line resembles the previous one.

Like the previous case, some textual critics imagine this to be some kind of remnant left-over from a long lost act of conflation, hoping to bolster Hort's theory of an inferior Byzantine text-type.

But again the actual textual evidence is inverted: The earlier text appears to be a fuller reading, and the omissions begin 200 years after Christ.

The evidence of Haplography overwhelms any other explanation. The alternate mistake of the late Ms. 1881 just underlines how easy haplography errors are, and how they can generate imaginary features of "conflation".

When a scribe drops a line, its natural (if the sense allows) just to write the line following the intruding 2nd (now 1st) line. Haplography errors naturally generate phrase order reversals, because it is less effort than erasing a whole line written in permanent ink.

Naturally however, we can't expect to be of the same mind with textual critics who take Hort's conflation theory seriously.

Hort, Nestle & UBS2 omit to spite the evidence, and all 'modern' versions follow, ignoring the UBS notes and skipping along with the lacunated critical judgements of long dead skeptics.

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1st Thessalonians 3:2 (Traditional Text)

- homoioarcton/teleuton

...and sent Timothy,
our brother
and minister of God,
and our fellow laborer
in the gospel of Christ,
to establish you
and encourage you
concerning your faith,...

Booboo # 1:
και επεμψαμεν τιμοθεον
τον αδελφον ημων
και διακονον του θεου
και συνεργον ημων
εν τω ευαγγελιω του ΧΣ
εις το στηριξαι υμας
και παρακαλεσαι υμας
περι της πιστεως υμων

Booboo # 2:
και επεμψαμεν τιμοθεον
τον αδελφον ημων
και διακονον του θεου
και συνεργον ημων
εν τω ευαγγελιω του ΧΣ
εις το στηριξαι υμας
και παρακαλεσαι υμας
περι της πιστεως υμων

Booboo # 3:
............και επεμψαμεν τιμοθεον
τον αδελφον ημων και διακονον
του θεου και συνεργον ημων
εν τω ευαγγελιω τουXριστου
εις το στηριξαι υμας και παρακαλ
εσαι υμας περι της πιστεως υμων...

---

Full Text: D(corr) K 88 104 181 326 330 436 451 614 629mg 630 1877 1894 1985 2127 2492 2495 Byz Maj (Majority of continuous MSS), Syr-P/H Chrysostom (Theodoret) John-Damascus (w.o.r) G, it-f/g, Syr-Pal.vid

#1 minus (και συνεργον ημων): א A P Ψ 81 629* 1241 1739 1881 vg Syr-H Cop-Sa/Bo Goth Aeth. Basil Pelagius Theodore Euthalius

#2 minus (και διακονον του θεου): B 1962 (and + του θεου after συνεργον): D* 33 it-d/e/mon* Ambrosiaster Pelagius Pseudo-Jerome

#3 minus (του θεου και συνεργον ημων): it-z, Cassiodorus

---

An examination of the surrounding text shows this as another hotbed ripe for haplography errors, and the errors indeed came, as well as the amateurish attempts to repair the text afterwards.

The different layouts over the years, caused by change in line-length contributed to the variations in an old theme: homoioArcton/Teleuton omissions.

The cases, although unusually dense, are self-explanatory, but hardly less dense than the Hort following B, and the UBS-2 text following Codex Bezae!

This has to be a case of UBS-2 choosing the worst possible variant on the principle of
  "prefer the stupidest reading to outsmart the early editors",
a doubtful strategy at best...

...'modern' versions were left to fend for themselves, with the expected random results.

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1st Timothy 6:7 (Traditional Text)

- homoioteleuton

When we naturally read "it is certain", in a cherished passage of Holy Scripture, we can be absolutely certain that even the simplest and most obvious of haplographic blunders will be duly recorded and foisted on the critical Greek text, even in (or perhaps especially in) the total absence of testimony from Codex Vaticanus.

..ουδεν γαρ εισηνεγκαμεν
εις τον κοσμον δηλον οτι ουδε
εξενεγκειν τι δυναμεθα

'For we brought nothing into this world,
and it is certain that we can carry nothing out.'

The English reader simply misses the full impact of the conspiracy between the lovely 'sing-song' of the rhythm here in the Greek, ("en" / "on") and the early Majuscule/Uncial form of the letters, virtually lullabying the scribe to sleep in blunder-land as he recites the lines to himself while writing.

Its worth taking a special look at what the Egyptian scribe must have had to read, in the days when spaces between words were minimized to save papyrus and rounded 'e' and 's' ruled the calligraphic la-la land:

'ΕΙCΤΟΝΚΟCΜΟΝΔΗΛΟΝΟΤΙΟΥΔΕ'

Or perhaps the sleepy scribe saw something more like this:

'ΕΙCΤΟΝΚΟCΜΟΝΔΗΛΟΝΟΤΙΟΥΔΕ'

depending on how the ink had dried and worn on his exemplar.

All that is left for Englishmen is the terrible irony of the meaning that is all but lost in the resulting 'modern' translations.

For although we can be given the sacred treasure of the Holy Scripture, and be warned to take our duty to protect it in determined solemness, it is certain that we will probably leave this world with a washed-down ceremony minus any doctrinal commitment or Christian hope, and be buried against our wishes and common sense with some groaner of a paraphrase tucked under our head.

The only consolation for this farce will be the knowledge that this corrupt text will be appropriately left in the coffin by grave-robbers looking for more lasting treasures, like cheap gold rings and shoes.

---

Include Phrase: א (c) D(c) K P Ψ (88) 104 181 326 330 436 451 614 629 630 1241 1877 1962 1984 1985 2127 2492 2495 Byz Maj (Majority of all continuous MSS) Lectionaries Syr-P/H, Italic-c/dem/div/f/mon/x/s, Vg, Basil, Macarius, Chrysostom Euthalius, Theodoret, John-Damascus, Marcion too! (subst. alethes) D* Italic-ar/d/m (Syr-Hmarg) Goth Cyprian Ambrosiaster Pelagius Theodore(Lat) Augustine Paulinus -Nola

Omit: א* A G 048 061 33 81 1739 1881 ital-g/r1 Origen(!)... apparently omit: Ephraem Orsisius Jerome Augustine (Lat) Cyril

*When we consider the patristic 'evidence', we have to remember that the early fathers are paraphrasing from memory a third of the time, with predictable results. Thus for omissions and creative variants we must apply to them with great caution! By nature omissions are 'arguments from silence'.

We can see from the list that even 5 great uncials and their correctors are not enough to stay the cutting and snipping.

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Hebrews 1:8-9 (Traditional Text)

HomoioArcton

προς δε τον υιον
ο θρονος σου ο θεος
εις τον αιωνα του αιωνος
ραβδος ευθυτητος
η ραβδος της βασιλειας σου

and unto the Son:
`Thy throne, O God,
[is] to the age of the age;
a scepter of righteousness [is]
the scepter of thy reign;'...

---

INCLUDE LINE: Koine text, 33 etc. (miniscules), Byz Maj (Majority text)

OMIT LINE: B 33 t vg(some mss)

---

Perhaps B.J. Wright gave the most concise description of this obvious Haplography error, recently (2007):

"For centuries, the book of Hebrews has been the combat zone of many impasses and cacophonous speculations: its juncture is unstated, its author is unknown, and its destination ambiguous. Fortunately, these matters, while fascinating, are not at the viscera of the book's significance. What interests us here then, is one verse in the first chapter that possibly denotes the deity of Christ: namely, 1:8. Since the hermeneutical and exegetical issues here are beyond the scope of this paper, I will proceed by simply addressing the textual issues.

...

The first textual variant is pretty straightforward: the presence or absence of του αιωνος ("and ever") after εις τον αιωνα ("forever").

Externally, the absence of is significantly inferior with only a small handful of concentrated MSS omitting it (B 33 t vg-mss). Although it is true that scribes often expanded readings (with the apocapated reading generally being preferred), it is not the situation here for several reasons.

First, του αιωνος is a direct quotation from the OT with both the LXX [44:7] and MT [45:7] supporting it.

Second, this reading is supported by the best and earliest MSS (only a few omit it: B 33 t vg-mss).

Third, every time [ Heb: 'oulam od' ] occurs in the OT the LXX translates it with του αιωνος (Ps 10:16; 21:5; 45:7; 48:15; 52:10; 104:5). Putting it another way, if one accepts the shorter Greek rendering of the OT quote in Heb. 1:8 (simply by εις τον αιωνα ), and does not include του αιωνος, it goes against all the ancient versions.

Fourth, faulty eyesight could easily explain the omission."

- Brian James Wright, "Jesus as Theos: Scriptural Fact or Scribal Fantasy?" (Dallas Seminary, 2007)

Wright adds a footnote: 'For this and other possibilities see E.C. Colwell, Studies in the Methodology in Textual Criticism of the NT (Eerdmans, 1969), 106-124. , Cf. J. R. Royse, "Scribal Tendencies in the Transmission of the Text of the NT"; J.R. Royse, "The Treatment of Scribal Leaps in Metzger's Textual Commentary", NTS 29 (1983) 539-51.'

It only needs to be added that Codex Sinaiticus also carries its own unique set of absurd variants in the book of Hebrews, and consequently its omissions also have all the appearance of scribal boners due to negligence and fatigue. (see B.B. Warfield's enlightening list of Aleph's boners in Hebrews).

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Hebrews 7:21-22 (traditional text)

HomoioArcton

............ο δε μετα ορκω-
μοσιας δια του λεγοντος
προς αυτον ωμοσεν ΚΣ
και ου μεταμεληθησεται
συ ιερευς εις τον αιωνα
κατα την ταξιν μελχισεδεκ
κατα τοσουτον κρειττονος
διαθηκης γεγονεν εγγυος ΙΣ

and he with an oath through
Him who is saying unto
him, `The Lord gave an
oath, and will not repent,
Thou [art] a priest - eternally,
according to the order of Melchisedek;'
according to so much of a better
covenant has Jesus become surety,

---

INCLUDE LINE: א(corr) A D E K L P al pler d e hal cop syr(utr) aeth Eus.(dem177.223) Byz Maj (Majority of all continuous MSS) etc.

OMIT LINE: א* B C 17. 80. f bg sah basm arm Euthal(cod) Amb.(fug saec.3) א^-a, A, C, 048 81 1739 it-r1 [Syr-Pal(pt)], Copt-Bo, aeth,
Marcion Origen(pt:gr/lat), Ephraem Aug. John-Dam.

---

Tischendorf's Original Apparatus:

21. [spelling:]
μετα cum א D E K L P al pler etc. Item א(c) B* C Euthal(cod)
μετ...Ln
μεθ cum A B(c) etc.

[variants, omission:]
| εις τον αιωνα absque additam cum א B C 17. 80. f bg sah basm arm Euthal(cod) Amb.(fug saec.3)
[vs.]
...ς (Gb(0)) Ln add κατα την ταξιν μελχισεδεκ cum א(c) A D E K L P al pler d e hal cop syr(utr) aeth Eus.(dem177.223) etc.

Another obvious haplography error (HomoioArcton), costing the tail end of an important quotation.

The idea that the careful composer of Hebrews would have left out the key player in this O.T. quotation is not worth considering.

The line length is classic for a column width of 22 letters, with or without contractions (nomina sacrae). As is often the case, the cause of the omission is found in the very next verse.

Tischendorf blindly follows his favourite codex Sinaiticus, while Hort follows Vaticanus with the same result: They duplicate an early error introduced by the ancestor of both.

How many times must we find the translators of modern versions asleep at the wheel? All of them omit this line, following the WH/NA/UBS text, which by the way has no footnote even acknowledging the omission.

Another important line in the NT vanishes without a trace...

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1st Peter 4:14 - Traditional Text (homoioteleuton)

......................ει ονειδιζεσθε εν ονοματι XS μακαριοι οτι
το της δοξης και το του ΘΣ πνευμα εφ υμας αναπαυεται
κατα μεν αυτους βλασφημειται κατα δε υμας  δοξαζεται
η γαρ τις υμων πασχετω ως φονευς η κλεπτης η κακο-
ποιος η ως αλλοτριοεπισκοπος

if ye be reproached in the name of Christ, happy, since
of the glory and of God rests upon you;
by them, blasphemed, but by you, he is glorified;
But make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer,
or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;

---

INCLUDE LINE: Everyone else! ... K P (Ψ) ...+ Byz, Maj (Majority of MSS)

OMIT LINE: א B 056 0142 436 629*vid 1739 it-c/dem/div/(gig) Vg(cl) Syr-p?/h? (UBS is hopeful here) Copt-Bo (alone) arm eth (made from Alex.text) Tertu. Origen (surprised?)

---

Another long line lost through the common error of homoioteleuton, one of the very reasons why early Christians switched to narrower columns, and why modern newspapers and wide books all use multiple narrow columns today.

Aleph and B again stand alone against all of antiquity, showing Agreement in Error and common ancestry, but equally demonstrating that such minority readings must be catalogued as boners and kept away from serious reconstructions of the Original autograph and out of master-copies used for translating modern Bibles.

Of course Hort, Nestle, and UBS follow into the darkness, seeking the 'holy grail' of Vaticanus' lost ancestor. But we can leave them there, and get back to making practical, complete, and useful translations containing light.

'modern' versions of the 20th century mistakenly rely upon the blind academics, to their own humiliation.

NKJV, YLT, KJ2000 to their credit leave the line in.