(3) Speaking of the Marcosians,[201] Irenæus says (92):—Ἔνια δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐν Εὐαγγελίῳ κειμένων εἰς τοῦτον τὸν χαρακτῆρα μεθαρμόζουσιν ... ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ εἰρηκέναι· πολλάκις ἐπεθύμησα ἀκοῦσαι ἕνα τῶν λόγων καὶ οὐκ ἔσχον τὸν ἐροῦντα, ἐμφαίνοντός φασι δεῖν διὰ τοῦ ἑνὸς τὸν ἀληθῶς ἕνα Θεόν. This seems to contain a reference to Matt. xiii. 17, but what is complained of is a false interpretation of the words of Scripture rather than an actual alteration of the text itself.[202] The still earlier passage, Polycarp vii. 1, is also to be taken as referring to this practice, ὃς ἂν μεθοδεύῃ τὰ λόγια τοῦ Κυρίου πρὸς τὰς ἰδίας ἐπιθυμίας καὶ λέγῃ μήτε ἀνάστασιν μήτε κρίσιν [εἶναι], οὗτος πρωτότοκός ἐστι τοῦ Σατανᾶ. For the exposition of the passage see Zahn, _GK._ i. 842. [Sidenote: Basilides.] (4) That Basilides[203] altered the text of the Gospels as received by the Church in accordance with his own religious and ethical views, and incorporated them in their altered form in his _Evangelium_, is shown by Zahn on Matt. xix. 10-12 (_GK._ i. 771). He shows also that the form into which Basilides cast the Synoptic narrative may have prepared the way for the belief that Simon the Cyrenian was crucified instead of Jesus, if this was really his doctrine. [Sidenote: Noëtus.] (5) Hippolytus says of Noëtus (Lagarde’s edition, 45, 19): ὁπόταν γὰρ θελήσωσιν πανουργεύεσθαι, _περικόπτουσι_ τὰς γραφάς. He means by this, according to Zahn, that the Noetians garbled their quotations, and made selections of Scriptural sayings without paying regard to the context. But compare _ibid._, line 7 ff., αἱ μὲν γὰρ γραφαὶ ὀρθῶς λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ ἂν καὶ Νόητος νοῇ· οὐκ ἤδη δὲ εἰ Νόητος μὴ νοεῖ, παρὰ τοῦτο _ἔκβλητοι_ αἱ γραφαί. [Sidenote: Valentinians.] (6) Heracleon,[204] the Valentinian, is said to have read πέντε instead of ἕξ in John ii. 20, but whether he made the alteration himself or found the former reading in his exemplar is not clearly made out. There is no notice of the variant in Tischendorf, Baljon, or in our commentaries. It is mentioned by Scrivener, _Introd._, ii. 260, n. 3, where reference is made to Lightfoot’s _Colossians_, p. 336, n. 1. Origen, commenting on John i. 28, cites Heracleon in support of the reading “Bethany,” which, he says, “is found in almost all the manuscripts.”