thinks, is uncertain. Opp. iii. 940. The reading "Elizabet" is found in three Latin MSS. ; yet the supposition of Wetstein may appear most probable.

IX. Luke ix. 48. Origen repeatedly quotes the last words thus, οὗτος ἔστι μέγας, but observes in one place, that ἔσται was the reading of some copies. Opp. iii. 597. Our present authorities are divided. X. Luke xiv. 19. Origen says, that, instead of èpwrŵ σe, that is, instead of the clause beginning with those words, there was found in some copies καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐ δύναμαι ἐλθεῖν. Opp. iii. 981. For ἐρωτῶ σε, ἔχε με παρῃτημένον, the Cambridge MS. reads διδ οὐ δύναμαι ἐλθεῖν,—and so likewise some of the old Latin versions.

XI. Luke xxiii. 45. Origen, according to his Latin translator, states, that, in most copies, were found the words σkotíσen d hλios, but in some Toû íov ékλeíπovтos. The latter words, if we may trust his translator, he thought, while writing the passage just quoted, to be an intentional corruption of some ill-disposed persons. They are, however, elsewhere regarded by him as those of Luke. Opp. iii. 923. comp. ii. 414, 415, vid. et iii. 56. Our present authorities are divided.

دو

XII. John i. 3, 4. "Some copies," says Origen, "read, and perhaps correctly, ὃ γέγονεν ἐν αὐτῷ ζωή ἐστιν. Opp. iv. 72. This reading is supported by other extant authorities.

"that in

XIII. John i. 28. "I am not ignorant," says Origen, almost all the copies we find the name Boavia, and this seems to have been the case formerly. But I am persuaded, that we ought to read, not Bnlavia, but Bnlaßapa." Opp. iv. 140. The latter is the reading of the Received Text, which Griesbach has removed, and substituted the former.

Such are the various readings particularly remarked upon by Origen ; and the conclusion is irresistible, that the manuscripts of the Gospels, extant in his day, did not, to say the least, differ more from each other than those which we now possess.

NOTE C.

(See p. 49.)

UNDISPUTED INTERPOLATIONS IN MANUSCRIPTS OF THE

GOSPELS.

WITH the exceptions mentioned in the body of the work, the following are the only undisputed interpolations, of any considerable length, which have been found in any manuscript of the Greek text of the Gospels.

I. After Matthew xx. 28, the following passage is found in the Cambridge manuscript.

Ὑμεῖς δὲ ζητεῖτε ἐκ μικροῦ αὐξῆσαι, καὶ ἐκ μείζονος ἔλαττον εἶναι. Εἰσερχόμενοι δὲ καὶ παρακληθέντες δειπνῆσαι, μὴ ἀνακλείνεσθαι εἰς τοὺς ἐξέχοντας τόπους, μήποτε ἐνδοξότερός σου ἐπέλθῃ, καὶ προσελθὼν ὁ δειπνοκλήτωρ εἴπῃ σοι, Ἔτι κάτω χώρει καὶ καταισχυνθήσῃ. Ἐὰν δὲ ἀναπέσῃς εἰς τὸν ἥττονα τόπον, καὶ ἐπέλθῃ σου ἥττων, ἐρεῖ σοι ὁ δειπνοκλήτωρ, Σύναγε ἔτι ἄνω καὶ ἔσται σοι τοῦτο χρήσιμον.

"But do you strive to increase from what is little, and to become less from what is greater. And when you enter, having been invited to a supper, do not lie down in the places of distinction, lest a more honorable person than thou come in, and the master of the feast come and say to thee, Go down lower; and thou shalt be put to shame. But shouldst thou lie down in an inferior place, and one inferior to thee come in, the master of the feast will say to thee, Go up yet higher; and this will be profitable to thee."

It is remarkable, considering that this passage is derived from one actually found in Luke,* how many discrepances exist, within so short a compass, between its language and that of the Greek Gospel of Matthew, of the other Gospels, and of the New Testament generally. This difference extends through the whole passage. There is nothing in the Evangelists resembling the obscure antithesis so singularly expressed, with which it commences; nor is the awkward and illogical arrangement of the words εἰσερχόμενοι δὲ καὶ παρακληθέντες δειπνῆσαι consistent with their general style. Matthew's translator does not use the infinitive for the imperative, as is here done in the word avanλeiveσdai. The following words and expressions occur nowhere in the New *Ch. xiv. ver. 7-11.

Testament. 1. παρακαλεῖσθαι δειπνῆσαι. 2. παρακαλεῖσθαι as used of an invitation to a feast. 3. ἐξέχων. 4. δειπνοκλήτωρ. 5. κάτω χωρέω. 6. ἥττων τόπος. 7. συνάγω in the sense in which it is here used. And besides these, the following are never used in Matthew's Gospel. 8. ἐλάττων. θ. δειπνέω. 10. ἔνδοξος. 11. ἐπερχόμαι. 12. καταισχύνω. 13. ἥττων. 14. άνω. 15. χρήσιμος.

In regard to the last word, it may be observed, that the use of the epithet "profitable," applied, as it is here, to a course of conduct by way of recommending it, is very foreign from the manner of Jesus.

II. In the Codex Stephani 7, it is said that instead of the last twelve verses of Mark's Gospel, the genuineness of which we have before examined, the following conclusion was found in some manuscripts.*

Πάντα δὲ τὰ παρηγγελμένα τοῖς περὶ τὸν Πέτρον συντόμως ἐξήγγειλαν. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα, καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀπὸ ἀνατολῆς καὶ ἄχρι δύσεως ἐξαπέστειλε δι' αὐτῶν το ἱερὸν καὶ ἄφθαρτον κήρυγμα τῆς αἰωνίου σωτηρίας.

"And without delay, they made known to Peter and his companions all which had been commanded. And after this, Jesus himself sent forth through them the holy and incorruptible preaching of the eternal salvation from the rising to the setting of the sun."

The difference between the use of language in this passage and that of Mark and the other Evangelists is so obvious, even in a translation, that no particular comments upon it are necessary.

III. The Cambridge manuscript, and two others, at Luke vi. 5, have the following passage.

Τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ θεασάμενός τινα ἐργαζόμενον τῷ σαββάτῳ, εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ̓́Ανθρωπε, εἰ μὲν οἶδας τί ποιεῖς, μακάριος εἶ· εἰ δὲ μὴ οἶδας, ἐπικατάρατος καὶ παραβάτης εἶ τοῦ νόμου.

The same day beholding one working on the Sabbath, he said to him, Man, if thou knowest what thou art doing, thou art blessed; but if thou dost not know, thou art accursed, and art a transgressor of the Law."

According to Luke's practice, the first words would not be rŷ avrÊ ἡμέρᾳ, but ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ. See xiii. 31. xxiii. 12. xxiv. 13. The other form of words is nowhere used by him, or either of the other Evangelists. Ei μév, without the addition of obv or yáp, does not occur in his writings; nor the word επικατάρατος, nor παραβάτης ; nor the combination el dè μh without the addition of γε. For ei de μn oldas he would * See before, p. 217.

probably have written, according to his custom, el dè phrye, simply; as in v. 36, 37. x. 6. xiii. 9. xiv. 32.

But, above all, the dissonance between the words ascribed to Jesus and the general tone of his instructions must strike every one.

The diversity between the characteristics of these interpolations and the characteristics of the Gospels is sufficient to show how different would have been the aspect of the Gospels from what it now is, had not each been the work of a single writer. Any other supposition is inconsistent with the peculiar and uniform character which belongs to them, regarded both as a class of books and individually; and this distinct character is strikingly illustrated by such a comparison as we have made between it and that of these few undisputed interpolations which have found their way into some manuscripts. The results of the comparison are the more remarkable, considering that such a difference is evident, notwithstanding the passages are so brief.

NOTE D.

(See pp. 60, 108, and 113.)

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE CORRESPONDENCES AMONG THE FIRST THREE GOSPELS.

SECTION I.

Preliminary Statement.

The remarkable agreement among the first three Gospels has given occasion to many attempts to explain its origin. But, generally, in the hypotheses that have been framed, it has not been sufficiently kept in mind, that its occurrence with so much that is dissimilar is one of the principal phenomena to be accounted for; and that, though our ultimate purpose be to solve the problem of the correspondences among

those Gospels, it must embrace likewise a solution of their differences. Together with this, the appearances to be explained are as follows.

Many portions of the history of Jesus are found in common in the first three Gospels; others are common to two of their number, but not found in the third. In the passages referred to, there is generally a similarity, sometimes a very great similarity, in the selection of particular circumstances, in the aspect under which the event is viewed, and the style in which it is related. Sometimes, the language found in different Gospels, though not identical, is equivalent, or nearly equivalent; and, not unfrequently, the same series of words, with or without slight variations, occurs throughout the whole or a great part of a sentence, and even in larger portions.

The occurrence of passages verbally the same, or strikingly coincident in the use of many of the same words, which appearances I shall denote by the term verbal coincidence, or verbal agreement, particularly demands attention. In maintaining the hypothesis, that the Evangelists copied from common documents, much stress has been laid upon it; but its importance, as a ground of argument for that hypothesis, disappears, when the subject is more thoroughly examined, and viewed in a proper light. By far the larger portion of this verbal agreement is found in the recital of the words of others, and particularly of the words of Jesus. Thus, in Matthew's Gospel, the passages verbally coincident with one or both of the other two Gospels amount to less than a sixth part of its contents; and of this, about seven-eighths occur in the recital of the words of others, and only about one-eighth in what, by way of distinction, I may call mere narrative, in which the Evangelist, speaking in his own person, was unrestrained in the choice of his expressions. In Mark, the proportion of coincident passages to the whole contents of the Gospel is about one-sixth, of which not one-fifth occurs in the narrative. Luke has still less agreement of expression with the other Evangelists. The passages in which it is found amount only to about a tenth part of his Gospel; and but an inconsiderable portion of it appears in the narrative; in which there are very few instances of its existence for more than half a dozen words together.* In the narrative it may be computed as less than a twentieth part.

These definite proportions are important, as showing distinctly in

* The most remarkable example is Luke ix. 16, where Luke coincides with both Matthew and Mark, through more than half a verse.