Modifications of this kind are not, however, the sort we have specially in mind. It is the second type, those which are interpolations proper, that we have particularly to consider. The existence of these has frankly to be admitted. It is beyond question that doctrinal insertions were introduced into the text of the Gospels by later scribes and readers. The one case of Mt. i. 16 is proof positive of this (see pp. 105 ff.). If the opinion, that the original ending of our Second Gospel was deliberately suppressed, is correct, Mk. xvi. 9-20 may be cited as another instance.[47] An important qualification, however, requires to be made. In the two cases mentioned there is a conflict of textual evidence, and, as regards the latter, the objections are reinforced by the internal evidence, arising from the vocabulary, the style, and the subject-matter. The present writer must needs conclude that the presence of textual variation is an almost necessary condition in the case of a doctrinal insertion. It is more difficult to say how far this requirement should be pressed in the other types of interpolation which have been mentioned, but as regards doctrinal modifications the test is thoroughly legitimate. Without going so far as to pronounce it absolutely impossible, we may say that the theory, that doctrinal insertions may exist where the extant texts show no break, is improbable in the extreme.
In taking this view, we are not confined to the plea of the early and abundant nature of textual evidence, or to the effect of controversy in preserving the purity of the text, though these are arguments of very great weight. A sufficiently decisive factor is the character of the existing textual variants.[48] If authentic items of Jesus-tradition and “explanatory words and phrases” [pg 054] have not been able to enter the textual stream unnoticed, can we suppose that doctrinal modifications have breasted the waters without leaving so much as a ripple? If even an insertion like “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” has not been able successfully to conceal itself, can we believe Lk. i. 34 f. to have succeeded in doing this? Can we think that, like Melchizedek, the passage is without father, mother, genealogy and beginning of life? In asking these questions we need to recall the character of the section. It is such as radically to transform the standpoint of the chapters in which it occurs. It speaks of matters which, for a considerable time at least, were not known among the mass of Christian believers, and were never accepted by some. To suppose, then, that it is a non-Lukan doctrinal interpolation, is a flight of faith, for which those who can make it should receive the credit that is due, but of which the present writer must confess that he is not capable.
While, however, we conclude that the theory we are discussing is manifestly improbable, we have admitted our inability to pronounce it impossible in any shape and form. Provided we agree that the Third Gospel never circulated without Lk. i. 34 f., there is one point where the passage might have entered as an insertion, and that is in the interval before circulation. But even here it is difficult to suppose that the passage was added by some one other than St. Luke himself. In our entire ignorance of the circumstances under which the Gospel came to have a wider circulation, we cannot say that this supposition is inadmissible. It has a bare possibility in its favour, but not more. If a linguistic examination of the passage gave a result unfavourable to Lukan authorship, the possibility would become more significant. But if the contrary proves to be the case, then it becomes so remote as to be unworthy of serious consideration. It is because of this position that we have described the present argument as being not completely conclusive in itself, and the one line of reasoning as complementary to the other. Quite apart, however, from the linguistic argument, the difficulties which the theory of non-Lukan interpolation has to face on textual grounds are formidable.
II. Linguistic and Stylistic Examination of Lk. i. 34 f
Our second task is to make a linguistic and stylistic examination of Lk. i. 34 f. At the beginning of the last chapter we drew attention to the importance of the test. It cannot be too strongly affirmed that any hypothesis of interpolation, which does not take account of the linguistic characteristics of the passage, is premature; indeed, it may easily turn out to be a rather glaring case of non sequitur.
It is precisely the linguistic test which we miss in the arguments of those who claim that Lk. i. 34 f. was not written by St. Luke. Usually it is thought enough to argue an incompatibility between this passage and its context, and straightway to assign the former to the pen of an unknown redactor. We may illustrate this method from the two articles in the Encyclopaedia Biblica to which reference has been made. In the article on “Mary”, Schmiedel says (col. 2956): “It has to be pointed out that even in Lk. i only two verses—vv. 34 f.—contain the idea of the virgin birth clearly and effectively; and these disturb the connexion so manifestly that we are compelled to regard them as a later insertion”. The only argument of a linguistic character is the remark: “Note, further, that apart from i. 34 ἐπεί (‘since’) is not met with either in the third gospel or in Acts”. Usener writes (col. 3349): “To Joh. Hillmann (JPT. 17, 221 ff.) belongs the merit of having conclusively shown that the two verses in Lk. (i. 34 f.), the only verses in the Third Gospel in which the supernatural birth of Jesus of the Virgin Mary is stated, are incompatible with the entire representation of the rest of chaps, i and ii, and thus must have been interpolated by a redactor”.[49] It is theories of this kind that we have in view when we say (p. 47) that to state such a conclusion is to take two steps where there is ground for one only.
The importance of the linguistic argument is manifest in such works as Sir John C. Hawkins's Horae Synopticae (2nd ed., 1909) and Dr. W. K. Hobart's Medical Language of St. Luke (1882). It has also received great emphasis in the books in which Harnack has sought to prove the Lukan authorship and early date of the Acts, viz. Luke the Physician, The Acts of [pg 056]the Apostles, and The Date of the Acts and of the Synoptic Gospels.
It may not be without value to ask how far the linguistic argument can take us. We may certainly lay down the broad proposition that arguments in favour of an interpolation ought to be supported by the linguistic facts; provided, of course, that the suspected passage is susceptible of the linguistic test. We do not forget that a passage may be of such a neutral character as not to admit of that test. In that case we have to be content with other available arguments. Where, however, the linguistic test can be applied, and where the result is strongly favourable to the genuineness of the passage, that, assuredly, is a very serious objection for the theory of interpolation to face. It becomes especially formidable, if we can bring forward no evidence to prove an anachronism, or if we can allege no real textual objections. Under such circumstances, indeed, we may well adopt the rule that, in cases of this kind, we have not to do with the insertion of a redactor; unless, of course, we have good reason for saying that the interpolator has entered deeply into the original writer's style. The view here taken does not mean that all objections to a passage are sufficiently met if we can state a strong linguistic case on the other side. We shall have reason to take up this point again (p. 69). For the present it is sufficient to say that each kind of argument must be given its own particular force. In the case of a passage where objections arising from context and subject-matter cannot be gainsaid, we must conclude that the passage is of later date than its context, but not more. In a case where the facts of vocabulary, style, and subject-matter are sufficiently favourable, and no textual difficulties forbid, we must ascribe the passage to the original writer. In a case, finally, where both kinds of conditions occur, we must suppose that the passage was afterwards inserted by the writer himself into the body of his own work. Clearly, then, the linguistic examination of a suspected passage is a matter of great importance. In the case of Lk. i. 34 f., it is not too much to say that it is a task as necessary as it is neglected.
It may be objected that the passage is one of two verses only, and that, in consequence, it is much too brief to allow of satisfactory [pg 057] results. On the other hand, it should be remembered that the thirty-seven words of the section include several interesting phrases and points of construction, which are so important in matters of this kind. Moreover, in the case of St. Luke, we are dealing with a writer who has a very distinctive style.[50]