Scribes often felt it their duty to correct the text they were copying if they felt that there were historical or geographical conflicts in what was written.
The composite quotation from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 is introduced by the formula "As it is written in Isaiah the prophet." Later scribes (Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Washingtonensis, Family 13, Majority Text, Harclean Syriac, Bohairic Coptic) attempted to alleviate the discrepancy by changing the formula to read "...in the prophets."
Some copyists seemed to have been troubled by Mark's quotation of Jesus that he would rise again "after three days." They emended the text to read "on the third day." (Metzger, p. 199.)
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