In the previous article we looked at the error of homeoteleuton. That dealt with errors due to the way two lines ended. In this article we look at the error of homeoarchy. This is an error caused because two lines begin the same way. A scribe may skip the second of two lines that begin with the same word or words. In an extreme case, it is possible that the two lines are not consecutive and that the entire text between the two lines is lost.

A possible example of homeoarchy is in 1 Corinthians 9.20. The SBL Greek New Testament reading is:

καὶ ἐγενόμην τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ὡς Ἰουδαῖος,
ἵνα Ἰουδαίους κερδήσω· τοῖς ὑπὸ νόμον ὡς
ὑπὸ νόμον, μὴ ὢν αὐτὸς
ὑπὸ νόμον, ἵνα τοὺς ὑπὸ νόμον κερδήσω·

The ESV reading is:

To the Jews I became as a Jew,
in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one
under the law (though not being myself
under the law) that I might win those under the law.

Note that a distracted scribe could have skipped the third line because the third and fourth lines begin with the same two words. But, once again, observe that the difference in the readings is not a serious one. The clause that is missing in some of the manuscripts is the one where Paul states that he himself was not subject to the law. Without the clause, the parallel between Paul’s way of relating to those under the law and those not under the law is clearer. However, the interpolating statement that he himself was not under the law does not add anything to Paul’s claims.

While it is possible that omissions of this sort could cause significant changes to the understanding of a text, there is no such instance in the bible as we have received it – at least not caused by homeoarchy.