Lower Criticism of the Old Testament

Types of Manuscript Errors

1) Haplography – Writing of a letter, syllable, or word once, when it should have been written more then once.
          Example  Isaiah 26:3

BK BTHW (in you they trusted) - BK BTWH BTHW (trusting in Him; trust you)

2) Dittography – Writing twice of that which should only be written once.
          Example  Ezekiel 48:16

HMS HMS M’WT (five five hundred) – HMS M’WT (five hundred)

3) Metathesis – Reversing the proper position of letters or words.
          Example  Isaiah 32:19

HY’R (the forest) – H’YR (the cty)

4) Fusion – The combining of two separate words into one.
          Example  Amos 6:12

BBQRYM (with Oxen) – BBQR YM (the sea with oxen)

5) Fission – Dividing up of a single word into two words.
          Example  Isaiah 2:20

LHPR PRWT (to a hole of rats) – LHPRPRWT (to the shrew-mice)

6) Homophony – The substitution of one homonym for another.
          Example  Isaiah 9:3

LW (to him) – L’ (not)

7) Misreading of similar appearing letters.

Example d (D) -  r (R)

8) Homoeoteleuton – The omission of an intervening passage because the copyist’s eye had skipped between similar endings

9) Misreading vowel letters as consonants.
          H W Y were consonants and later became vowels