ii. 4) transformed into [Greek:
haper elabon], but only by B.

[Another startling instance of the same phenomenon is supplied by the
substitution in St. Mark vi. 22 of [Greek: tes thygatros autou
Herodiados] for [Greek: tes thygatros autes tes Herodiados]. Here a
first copyist left out [Greek: tes] as being a repetition of the last
syllable of [Greek: autes], and afterwards a second attempted to improve
the Greek by putting the masculine pronoun for the feminine ([Greek:
AUTOU] for [Greek: AUTES]). The consequence was hardly to have been
foreseen.]

Strange to say it results in the following monstrous figment:--that the
fruit of Herod's incestuous connexion with Herodias had been a daughter,
who was also named Herodias; and that she,--the King's own
daughter,--was the immodest one[48] who came in and danced before him,
'his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee,' as they sat at
the birthday banquet. Probability, natural feeling, the obvious
requirements of the narrative, History itself--, for Josephus expressly
informs us that 'Salome,' not 'Herodias,' was the name of Herodias'
daughter[49],--all reclaim loudly against such a perversion of the
truth. But what ought to be in itself conclusive, what in fact settles
the question, is the testimony of the MSS.,--of which only seven
([Symbol: Aleph]BDL[Symbol: Delta] with two cursive copies) can be found
to exhibit this strange mistake. Accordingly the reading [Greek: AUTOU]
is rejected by Griesbach, Lachmann, Tregelles, Tischendorf and Alford.
It has nevertheless found favour with Dr. Hort; and it has even been
thrust into the margin of the revised Text of our Authorized Version, as
a reading having some probability.

This is indeed an instructive instance of the effect of accidental
errors--another proof that [Symbol: Aleph]BDL cannot be trusted.

Sufficiently obvious are the steps whereby the present erroneous reading
was brought to perfection. The immediate proximity in MSS. of the
selfsame combination of letters is observed invariably to result in a
various reading. [Greek: AUTESTES] was safe to part with its second
[Greek: TES] on the first opportunity, and the definitive article
([Greek: tes]) once lost, the substitution of [Greek: AUTOU] for [Greek:
AUTES] is just such a mistake as a copyist with ill-directed
intelligence would be sure to fall into if he were bestowing sufficient
attention on the subject to be aware that the person spoken of in verses