dittography

writing

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June 25, 2026

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Dittography is the unintentional repetition of letters or words during the process of copying or printing. This error can occur in various forms of writing, including biblical texts. For example, a scribe might accidentally write "literatature" instead of "literature". This type of mistake is visual in origin and can arise from similar-looking letters or inverted letter order. Dittography is one of several manuscript problems that textual critics analyze when examining ancient texts.123

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biblical literature
Types of manuscript errors
Dittography (the picking up of a word or group of words and repeating it) and haplography (the omission of syllables, words, or lines) are errors most apt to occur where there are similar words or syllables involved. In chapter 17, verse 15, of John, in…
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Dittography (the picking up of a word or group of words and repeating it) and haplography (the omission of syllables, words, or lines) are errors most apt to occur where there are similar words or syllables involved. In chapter 17, verse 15, of John, in…
Read More

biblical literature
Problems visual in origin
Dittography, the inadvertent duplication of one or more letters or words, also occurs, as in the Dead Sea Scroll text of Isaiah and in the Masoretic text of Ezekiel, for example.
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Dittography, the inadvertent duplication of one or more letters or words, also occurs, as in the Dead Sea Scroll text of Isaiah and in the Masoretic text of Ezekiel, for example.
Read More