On the Creation of the World (De opificio mundi)

...I cannot explain. I collated|The process of comparing a manuscript word-for-word against a known text to identify differences. the little book On the Creation of the World original Greek: περὶ κοσμοποιίας / Peri kosmopoiias in Florence in the summer of 1887; Friedrich Hanssen most kindly permitted me to compare my collation with his own; the readings noted by him and omitted by me, or those differing from my collation, I have indicated with the mark M^h in the critical apparatus|The section of a scholarly book that lists the different ways various manuscripts record the same passage..

Judging the nature of Codex M is a task full of difficulty. For it shows a double face, so to speak, since it presents sometimes an excellent and genuine text, and sometimes one that is corrupted and extremely faulty. Indeed, the scribe seems to have accurately copied the version he was using; because of this, I believe the form of Philo’s text shown in Codex M is actually much older than the scribe’s own time. It seems to me that the archetype|The now-lost original manuscript from which other surviving copies were made. from which this manuscript was derived was an ancient book of the highest quality, not unlike Codex V. Certain notable errors in Codex M demonstrate that this original source was written in uncial script|A style of writing using only capital letters, common in ancient manuscripts., and that in it, individual words were not always separated, nor were they distinguished by accents or other marks. This lack of spacing led the scribe to misread the letters:

For example:

• 6,9 "we say that which" original: φαμὲν ὡς ὅπερ instead of "saying which" original: φάμενος ὅπερ (this was further corrupted into "we say just as" original: φαμὲν ὥσπερ in other manuscripts);
• 6,17 "he knew that in order to do good" original: ἔγνω δὲ ἵν’ εὐεργετεῖν instead of "he knew it was necessary to do good" original: ἔγνω δεῖν εὐεργετεῖν (other manuscripts have an even more corrupt reading: "he knew in order that he might do good" original: ἔγνω ἵν’ εὐεργετῇ);
• 8,12 "every wonder" original: πᾶν θαῦμα instead of "all things together" original: πάνθ’ ἅμα;
• 11,7 "so that there is both at once" original: ὡς εἶναί τὲ ἅμα instead of "so that there is a marsh" original: ὡς εἶναι τέλμα; the author notes that in the original uncial capitals, TELMA (marsh) looked like TE AMA (at once);
• 16,19 "in dialogue" original: διαλόγῳ instead of "by his own reason" original: ἰδίῳ λόγῳ;
• 20,19 "of what kind" original: ὁποίων instead of "the one who makes" original: ὁ ποιῶν;
• 22,13 "he says to those with unground meats" original: φησὶ τοὺς ἀλέστοις κρέασιν instead of "they say salt to meats" original: φασὶ τοὺς ἅλας τοῖς κρέασιν;
• 23,23 "in it he moved the whole" original: ἐν αὐτῷ τὸν ὅλον ἐκίνει instead of "that one [God] of the whole universe" original: ἕνα τὸν τῶν ὅλων ἐκεῖνον;
• 26,1 "as many as he does not adorn" original: ὅσ’ ἂν οὐ κοσμεῖ instead of "as if a house" original: ὡς ἂν οἶκος;
• 28,1 "then" original: εἶτα instead of "or those things" original: ἢ τά;
• 35,17 "in form" original: εἴδει instead of "if indeed" original: εἰ δή;
• 45,4 "I said of the molded things" original: ἔφην πλαστῶν instead of "Plato said" original: ἔφη Πλάτων;
• 52,2 "it was as" original: ἦν ὡς instead of "or a ship" original: ἢ νεώς;
• 60,1 "every good thing" original: πᾶν καλόν instead of "all-beautiful" original: πάγκαλον;
• 61,16 "they divide" original: διχάζουσι instead of "to the one judging" original: δικαζούσῃ;
• 62,18 "at once" original: ἅμα instead of "other things" original: ἄλλα.

What I have said regarding the excellence of the original source and its similarity to Codex V is most strongly confirmed by many superior readings in the first part of the treatise On the Creation of the World, where M is the only manuscript to agree with Codex V: compare 11,14 withered original: ἀφαυανθεῖσαν; 18,1 to the original: τοῖς; 21,16 leaving incomplete original: ἀτελῆ καταλιπών; 26,15 let us make original: ποιήσωμεν; 28,13 in which all original: ἐν αἷς ἅπασαν; 28,16 the images original: τὰς εἰκόνας; 29,1 directly original: ἄντικρυς; 29,4 of the soul original: ψυχῆς; 29,16 of farmers original: γεωπόνων; 29,19 having been brought upon original: ἐπενεχθείσης; 30,12 let it be said original: λελέχθω; 31,2 the natures original: τὰς φύσεις; 32,4 having been bridled original: χαλιναγωγηθείς; 32,21 in hands original: ἐν χερσί; 33,1 of the perfect original: τελείου. Therefore, in the later part of the text, where we are deprived of the assistance of Codex V, it is reasonable that the quality of Codex M shines forth all the more. And indeed, a large harvest of good...