01-11-2008, 10:40 PM
Shlama Akhay,
In the Greek of 1Corinthians 8:11, we read an interesting variant: <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/wink1.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s -->
How did this variant come about, especially considering the Greek for "Brother" and "One" look nothing alike?
Well, here comes Aramaic to the rescue. The Peshitta text reads:
[font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]0ny0 wh[/font] (lit., "He who", idiom. "The One")
The translator of the Critical Text got this one right, but the translator of the Byzantine text mistakenly read:
[font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]0x0 wh[/font] (lit., "The Brother")
In written Estrangelo, the letters Yudh-Nun (or, Nun-Yudh) when written together look very much like a Kheth (and this actually accounts for many scribal errors)
[font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]ny[/font] (Yudh-Nun together)
[font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]yn[/font] (Nun-Yudh together)
[font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]x[/font] (Kheth)
As you can see even with this computer-generated clean font, it's hard to tell sometimes between these letters. In written form, the likelihood of error increases as the writers hand may overcompensate the height of the initial Yudh, overly shrink the subsequent Nun, or even ink/smudge marks could contribute.
In the Greek of 1Corinthians 8:11, we read an interesting variant: <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/wink1.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s -->
Textus Receptus Wrote:For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died.
Critical Text Wrote:For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the one for whose sake Christ died.
How did this variant come about, especially considering the Greek for "Brother" and "One" look nothing alike?
Well, here comes Aramaic to the rescue. The Peshitta text reads:
[font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]0ny0 wh[/font] (lit., "He who", idiom. "The One")
The translator of the Critical Text got this one right, but the translator of the Byzantine text mistakenly read:
[font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]0x0 wh[/font] (lit., "The Brother")
In written Estrangelo, the letters Yudh-Nun (or, Nun-Yudh) when written together look very much like a Kheth (and this actually accounts for many scribal errors)
[font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]ny[/font] (Yudh-Nun together)
[font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]yn[/font] (Nun-Yudh together)
[font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]x[/font] (Kheth)
As you can see even with this computer-generated clean font, it's hard to tell sometimes between these letters. In written form, the likelihood of error increases as the writers hand may overcompensate the height of the initial Yudh, overly shrink the subsequent Nun, or even ink/smudge marks could contribute.