I translate here
the reading of the Parisian Codex called by the Benedictine Editors
Regius Secundus, τὸ
εὐμετάβολον
κατωρθωκότας.
The harder reading, τὸ
εὐμετάδοτον, which may be rendered “have perfected their readiness to
distribute,” has the best manuscript authority, but it is barely
intelligible; and the Benedictine Editors are quite right in calling
attention to the fact that the point in question here is not the
readiness of the flock to distribute (cf.
1 Tim. vi.
18), but their patient
following of their Master. The Benedictine Editors boldly
propose to introduce a word of no authority τὸ
ἀμετάβολον,
rendering qui per patientiam animam immutabilem
præbuerunt. The reading adopted above is
supported by a passage in Ep. 244, where St. Basil is
speaking of the waywardness of Eustathius, and seems to fit in
best with the application of the passage to the words of our
Lord, “have fled for refuge to his ruling care,”
corresponding with “the sheep follow him, for they know his
voice” (St. John x. 4), and “have mended their
wayward ways,” with “a stranger will they not
follow,” v. 5. Mr. Johnston, in his
valuable note, compares Origen’s teaching on the Names of
our Lord.