CHAP. III.

Of various lections in the Greek copies of the New Testament. FOR various lections in the Greek copies of the New Testament, we know with what diligence and industry they have been collected by some, and what improvement hath been made of those collections by others. Protestants, for the most part, have been the chiefest collectors of them; Stephanus, Camerarius, Beza, Camero, Grotius, Drusius, Hensius, D' Dieu, Capellus, all following Erasmus, have had the prime hand in that work. Papists have ploughed with their heifer to disparage the original, and to cry up the vulgar Latin; a specimen of their endeavours we have in the late virulent exercitations of Morinus. At first very few were observed. What a heap or bulk they are now swelled unto, we see in this appendix. The collection of them makes up a book bigger than the New Testament itself. Of those that went before, most gave us only what they found in some particular copies that themselves were possessors of; some those only which they judged of importance, or that might make some pretence to be considered whether they were proper or no; here we have all, that by any means could be brought to hand, and that whether they are tolerably attested for various lections or no; for as to any contribution unto the better understanding of the Scripture from them, it cannot be pretended. And whither this work may yet grow, I know not.

That there are in some copies of the New Testament, and those some of them of some good antiquity, diverse readings, in things or words of less importance is acknowledged; the proof of it lies within the reach of most, in the copies that we have; and I shall not solicit the reputation of those who have afforded us others, out of their own private furniture. That they have been all needlessly heaped up together, if not to an eminent scandal, is no less evident. Let us then take a little view of their rise and importance.

That the Grecian was once as it were the vulgar language of the whole world of Christians is known. The writing of the New Testament in that language, in part found it so,

and in part made it so. What thousands, yea, what millions, of copies of the New Testament were then in the world, all men promiscuously reading and studying of the Scripture, cannot be reckoned. That so many transcriptions, most of them by private persons, for private use, having a standard of correction in their public assemblies ready to relieve their mistakes, should be made without some variation, is, ἐκ τῶν ἀδυνάτων. From the copies of the first ages, others in the succeeding have been transcribed, according as men had opportunity, From those which are come down to the hands of learned men in this latter age whereof very few or none at all, are of any considerable antiquity, have men made it their business to collect the various readings we speak of; with what usefulness and serviceableness to the churches of God, others that look on must be allowed their liberty to judge. We know the vanity, curiosity, pride, and naughtiness of the heart of man: how ready we are to please ourselves, with things that seem singular and remote from the observation of the many, and how ready to publish them as evidences of our learning and diligence, let the fruit and issue be what it will. Hence it is come to pass, not to question the credit of any man speaking of his MSS. (which is wholly swallowed in this appendix), that whatever varying word, syllable, or tittle, could be by any observed, wherein any book, though of yesterday, varieth from the common received copy, though manifestly a mistake, superfluous or deficient, inconsistent with the sense of the place, yea, barbarous, is presently imposed on us as a various lection.

As then I shall not speak any thing to derogate from the worth of their labour, who have gathered all these various readings into one body or volume, so I presume I may take liberty without offence to say, I should more esteem of theirs, who would endeavour to search and trace out these pretenders, to their several originals, and rejecting the spurious brood that hath now spawned itself over the face of so much paper, that ought by no means to be brought into competition with the common reading, would reduce them to such a necessary number, whose consideration might be of some other use than merely to create a temptation to the reader, that nothing is left sound and entire in the word of God.

However, now Satan seems to have exerted the utmost of

his malice, men of former ages the utmost of their negligence, of these latter ages of their diligence, the result of all which, we have in the present collection in this appendix: with them that rightly ponder things there ariseth nothing at all to the prejudice of our assertion, as may possibly, God assisting, be farther manifested hereafter in the particular consideration of some, or all of these divers readings therein exhibited unto us. Those which are of importance, have been already considered by others; especially Glassius; Tract. 1. lib. 1.

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It is evident that the design of this appendix was to gather together every thing of this sort, that might by any means be afforded at the present, that the reader may not be too much startled at the fruit of their diligence, whose work and labour it was, I shall only remark concerning it some few things that on a general view of it occur unto me.

The

1. Then here is professedly no choice made, nor judgment used, in discerning, which may indeed be called various lections; but all differences whatever that could be found in any copies, printed or written, are equally given out. Hence many differences that had been formerly rejected by learned men for open corruptions, are here tendered us again. very first observation in the treatise next printed unto this collection, in the appendix itself, rejects one of the varieties, as a corruption. So have some others of them been by Arias Montanus, Camero, and many more. It is not every variety or difference in a copy that should presently be cried up for a various reading. A man might with as good colour and pretence take all the printed copies he could get, of various editions, and gathering out the errata typographica, print them for various lections, as give us many, I shall say the most, of these in this appendix, under that name. It may be said, indeed, that the composers of this appendix found it not incumbent on them, to make any judgment of the readings, which, de facto, they found in the copies they perused, but merely to represent what they so found, leaving the ement of them unto others; I say also it may be so ; and, ore, as I do not reflect on them, nor their diligence, so they nor others, will not be offended that I give this of what judgment remains yet to be made concerning

2. Whereas Beza, who is commonly blamed by men of all sides and parties, for making too bold upon various lections, hath professedly stigmatized his own MS. that he sent unto Cambridge, as so corrupt in the gospel of Luke that he durst not publish the various lections of it, for fear of offence and scandal, however he thought it had not fallen into the hands of heretics, that had designedly depraved it; we have here, if I mistake not, all the corruptions of that copy given us as various readings; for though I have not seen the copy itself, yet the swelling of the various lections in that gospel, into a bulk as big, or bigger, than the collection of all the New Testament, besides the Gospels and Acts, wherein that copy is cited one thousand four hundred and forty times, puts it out of all question that so we are dealt withal: now if this course be taken, and every stigmatized copy may be searched for differences, and these presently printed to be various readings, there is no doubt but we may have enough of them to frighten poor unstable souls into the arms of the pretended infallible guide; I mean as to the use that will be made of this work by such persons as Morinus.

3. I am not without apprehensions that opere in longo obrepsit somnus,' and that whilst the learned collectors had their hands and minds busied about other things, some mistakes did fall into this work of gathering these various lections. Some things I meet withal in it, that I profess, I cannot bring to any good consistency among themselves; to let pass particular instances, and insist on one only of a more general and eminent importance. In the entrance unto this collection an account is given us of the ancient copies, out of which these observations are made; among the rest one of them is said to be an ancient copy in the library of Emanuel college in Cambridge: this is noted by the letters Em. throughout the whole collection. Now whereas it is told us in those preliminary cautions and observations, that it contains only Paul's Epistles, I wonder how it is come to pass, that so many various lections in the Gospels and Acts, as in the farrago itself are fixed on the credit of that book, could come to be gathered out of a copy of Paul's Epistles; certainly here must be some mistake, either in the learned authors of the previous directions, or by those employed to gather the varieties following; and it may be supposed that

that mistake goes not alone; so that upon a farther consideration of particulars, it may be, we shall not find them sơ clearly attested, as at first view they seem to be. It would indeed be a miracle, if in a work of that variety many things should not escape the eye of the most diligent observer.

I am not then, upon the whole matter, out of hopes, but that upon a diligent review of all these various lections, they may be reduced to a less offensive, and less formidable number; let it be remembered that the vulgar copy we use, was the public possession of many generations; that upon the invention of printing, it was in actual authority throughout the world, with them that used and understood that language, as far as any thing appears to the contrary. Let that then pass for the standard which is confessedly its right and due, and we shall, God assisting, quickly see, how little reason there is to pretend such varieties of readings, as we are now surprised withal. For, 1. Let those places be separated, which are not sufficiently attested unto, so as to pretend to be various lections: it being against all pretence of reason, that every mistake of every obscure private copy, perhaps not above two or three hundred years old (or if older), should be admitted as a various lection, against the concurrent consent of, it may be, all others that are extant in the world, and that without any congruity of reason, as to the sense of the text where it is fallen out. Men may, if they please, take pains to inform the world, wherein such and such copies are corrupted or mistaken, but to impose their known failings on us as various lections, is a course not to be approved.

2. Let the same judgment, and that deservedly, pass on all those different places, which are altogether inconsiderable, consisting in accents, or the change of a letter, not in the least intrenching on the sense of the place, or giving the least intimation of any other sense to be possibly gathered out of them, but what is in the approved reading: to what end should the minds of men be troubled with them or about them, being evident mistakes of the scribes, and of no importance at all.

et them also be removed from the pretences which own convictions along with them, that they are ither, [1.] By their superfluity or redundancy of words; or, [2.] Their deficiency in words, evi