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It had been said that if an avowed enemy of the truth should have access to all the
MSS of the Scriptures in existence, and should from them compile the most contradictory
version possible, the ordinary uncritical reader would not know that he was not still
reading the A.V. Dr. Kenyon says:--
"It cannot be too strongly asserted, that in substance the text of the Bible is certain."
Hebrew and Greek manuscripts are scattered all over the world in libraries, private
collections and museums; and these have all, or nearly all, been examined. Whenever a
manuscript is found to disagree with another or with the majority of readings, an
application of the following principles will usually lead in the direction of the true text:--
1.
The reading may be obviously wrong. It may come under one of the heads
mentioned above; an omission, an insertion, a transposition, or a mis-spelling.
2.
The reading may not belong to the first class. If this is so, the examiner must weigh
over the trustworthiness of the differing manuscripts. Some will have already been
found to be very liable to certain types of error; and manuscripts emanating from
particular sources are very likely to perpetuate certain errors, peculiar to their source.
3.
As a general rule, though not of course as an absolute rule, the older the manuscript
is, the nearer it is to the original, and the more likely it is to contain the true reading.
These and many other rules, only to be appreciated when the work is actually in hand,
give some idea of the check and countercheck we have in this field of research. This,
however, is but one avenue of approach. The Scriptures have been translated into other
language, and some of the translations are very ancient. The Samaritan Pentateuch,
the Septuagint Greek Version, the Syriac and the Latin Versions, were all written at a
much earlier date than any of the corresponding original Greek or Hebrew manuscripts
which we now possess. For instance, the oldest Hebrew manuscript we now possess
dates back to the eighth century, whereas the Septuagint was written centuries before
Christ. The oldest Greek manuscript of the N.T. that we now possess dates back to
A.D.350, whereas the Syriac and Latin translations go back as far as A.D.150. Their
testimony, therefore, is most valuable.
There is yet one more check upon the text of the differing manuscripts--the testimony
of the so-called "Fathers". The bibles used by Irenaeus, Origen, or Jerome, have long
ago perished; they were more ancient than any we possess. When these early writers are
preaching or expounding the Scriptures, the words they quote, the important features they
bring out, are all evidences of the text they were using. This testimony is useful, but it is
used with caution and moderation, for the early "Fathers" had no idea that we should in
later days search their writings to check the copies of the text of Scripture; many of the
quotations are given from memory, with consequent inaccuracy. However, they have
their place, and, together with the Versions and existing manuscripts, enable the study of
the text to be very nearly an exact science.
We are now ready to consider some further points in connection with our subject--the
history of the Hebrew text, the question of the Hebrew characters, the bearing of the
Targums, the Talmud, the work of the Sopherim and the Massorites, the methods adopted