Eleven basic rules for Textual Criticism Flashcards
Rule 1)
Textual difficulties should not be solved by conjecture and guess work. Only one reading can be the original.
Rule 2)
Only the reading which best explains and supports both external and internal evidence can be considered the original reading.
Rule 3)
Internal evidence should never act as the sole basis for making a textual decision, especially if it contradicts external evidence.
Rule 4)
Greek manuscripts should always act as the primary group of witnesses when making textual decision between variants.
Rule 5)
The special qualities and aspects of each witness should also be equally considered. However, there is no single manuscript/group of manuscripts that can be followed mechanically. Each textual variant must be worked out verse-by-verse as a unique passage.
Rule 6)
Any form of eclecticism which accepts the principle that the original reading may be found in any single manuscript/version when it stands alone or nearly alone will have difficulty establishing the original text of the NT.
Rule 7)
The reconstruction of a stemma (family tree) is an extremely important procedure, because the reading which can most easily explain the existence of the other readings is most likely to be the original.
Rule 8)
Variants must never be treated in isolation, but always in the immediate and broader context of the passage and tradition. Otherwise there is too great a danger of reconstructing a text which never existed.
Rule 9)
“The more difficult reading is the more probable reading lectio difficilior lectio potior”
not too mechanically, don’t accept the most difficult reading as the original just because of its degree of difficulty.
Rule 10)
“The shorter reading is the more probable lecio brevior lectio potior”,
certainly right in many instances, principle cannot be applied mechanically.
Rule 11)
Final task of T.C. is not to end up with the answer to the riddle of “which variant”, but to use that naswer to make exegetical application.
