not from the beginning, its status as a canonical writing would commit the scholars who handled it to reverence and vigilance. There is no reason to believe, however, that divine Providence would render scribes incapable of error. Neither is it evident that the text has been badly corrupted in transmission. Yet who can now tell just where between the extremes of perfect preservation and extensive deterioration it should be placed? Only the recovery of the original, or of very ancient copies close
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