In the previous posts we looked at the errors of homeoteleuton and homeoarchy. In both types of errors we have seen that there are no significant differences in the biblical text. This brings us to the third type of error – haplography.

Haplography occurs when there are two similar or identical phrases and the scribe overlooks one of them, seeing the two as one. One possible example of haplography is in John 17.14-15. The SBL GNT text is:

ἐγὼ δέδωκα αὐτοῖς τὸν λόγον σου, καὶ ὁ κόσμος ἐμίσησεν αὐτούς, ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου καθὼς ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου. οὐκ ἐρωτῶ ἵνα ἄρῃς αὐτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἀλλ’ ἵνα τηρήσῃς αὐτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ.

The ESV text is:

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

As indicated in bold type, there are three instances of the phrase ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου (of the world) in these two verses. Various manuscripts omit one or two of these instances along with the clauses that go with them as a clear occurrence of haplography. While none of these significantly impacts the meaning of Jesus’ words, one of the oldest manuscripts we have, designated P66, dating from perhaps the early third century AD or even earlier, omits the words “just as I am not of the world.” Going against the testimony of P66, scholars believe that the clause was in the original. Hence, our modern bibles have that clause almost without exception.

Haplography is a common occurrence in the bible. However, in no case is its occurrence of such magnitude that it changes the meaning of the text.