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PDFThe total result may be taken to be that ten passages
are substantially exact, while twenty-five present
slight and thirty-two marked variations [Endnote
116:1]. This is only rough and approximate, because
of the passages that are put down as exact two, or
possibly three, can only be said to be so with a qualification;
though, on the other hand, there are passages entered
under the second class as ‘slightly variant’
which have a leaning towards the first, and passages
entered under the third which have a perceptible leaning
towards the second. We can therefore afford to
disregard these doubtful cases and accept the classification
very much as it stands. Comparing it then with
the parallel classification that has been made of
the quotations from the Old Testament, we find that
in the latter sixty-four were ranked as exact, forty-four
as slightly variant, and fifty-four as decidedly variant.
If we reduce these roughly to a common standard of
comparison the proportion of variation may be represented
thus:—
|
Exact. | Slightly | Variant.
|
| variant. |
|
| |
Quotations from the Old Testament | 10 |
7 | 9 Quotations from the Synoptic Gospels
| 10 | 25 | 32
It will be seen from this at once how largely the proportion of variation rises; it is indeed more than three times as high for the quotations from the Gospels as for those from the Old Testament. The amount of combination too is decidedly in excess of that which is found in the Old Testament quotations.
