About scribal errors

 

Scribal errors are accidental or deliberate changes that scribes made while copying texts. They may be errors of omission, of addition, of transposition or other types of errors. Scribal errors can occur when a word, phrase, or line begins with a similar string of letters (homoeoarcton) or ends with a similar string of letters (homoeoteleuton), causing the eyes to skip forward or backward. The following is a list of common types of scribal errors one may encounter in these manuscripts:

Unintentional Errors:

1. Confusing similarly shaped letters

2. Dittography and haplography

3. Confusing words with similar spellings

4. Errors of memory, judgment, fatigue, and carelessness

5. Transposition of words

Intentional Errors:

1. Corrections

2. Glosses

3. Interpolations

4. Omissions

5. Substitutions

Scribal errors can lead to the creation of new words or the alteration of existing words. For example, the word "encyclopedia" was derived from a misreading of the Greek term for "all-round education". In Hebrew, swapping two letters can literally mean the difference between the words 'crisis' and 'meat', 'evening' and 'hunger', 'hate' and 'subject/thesis'. Therefore, it is important to be aware of scribal errors when studying ancient texts.