lectio difficiliorn.
/ˈlɛktɪəʊ dɪfɪˈkɪlɪɔː/ Textual Criticism.
Of two alternative manuscript readings, the one that is less obvious, and therefore less likely to be a copyist's error; also, the practice of giving preference to such a reading.
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lectio difficilior1901
1901 F. G. Kenyon Handbk. Textual Crit. N.T. i. 13 One proposition is so often stated as a leading principle in textual criticism... It is..formulated by Bengel in the words, Proclivi scriptioni praestat ardua, or..Difficilior lectio potior; the harder reading is to be preferred to the easier... The ‘difficilior lectio’ is preferable..because a hard reading is likely to be altered into an easy one.
1901 W. Edie tr. Nestle Introd. Textual Crit. Greek New Test. iii. 157 The principle laid down in the maxim, lectio difficilior placet..is perfectly sound.
a1955 B. Flower tr. P. Maas Textual Crit. (1958) 13 It is right to prefer as a rule the ‘lectio difficilior’.
1962 E. J. Dobson in N. Davis & C. L. Wrenn Eng. & Medieval Stud. 130 A's is the difficilior lectio and somewhat better in sense.
1966 Eng. Stud. 47 284 The ‘lectio difficilior’ can be the better or the worse reading as the case may be.
1968 Reynolds & Wilson Scribes & Scholars v. 150 Many references to the principle of difficilior lectio will be found in commentaries, and there is no doubt of its value.
1969 R. Renehan Greek Textual Crit. 27 As the rarer verb, it is a lectio difficilior and should be received into the text here.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.1901