In most oral societies, however, traditions are understood to bemalleable; that is, they are supposed to be changed and made relevant to the new situationsin which they are cited.
And this is almost just what we see in modern religion concerning the bible. Even though it's written down, people read the words and change their original meaning and intent to make them relevant to their modern lives rather than the older historical context in which they were originally created.
However one might debate both the merit and the form of Prince’s note, we consider “slave” a provocative example of what can count as annotation and how annotation can spark - and shape - conversation.
Perhaps another historical example, though with different meaning is the placard cum annotation INRI which stood for "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum" a Latin phrase translated as "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." It was the notice Pontius Pilate nailed over Jesus as he was crucified.
Historians generally agree that this is one of the few facts that one can discern from the New Testament about the historical Jesus because it both runs at cross purposes to the ideas of early Christianity and it is multiply attested (Matthew 27:37, Mark 15:26, Luke 23:38, John 19:19).
It's an annotation which was remembered in oral tradition long enough to have been written down multiple times and which has sent both religious and cultural ripples throughout the ages.
To further the discussion of annotation in relation to this, John’s version has the chief priests of the Jews ask Pilate to have the annotation state “This man said, ‘I am King of the Jews’”, but “Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
However one might debate both the merit and the form of Prince’s note, we consider “slave” a provocative example of what can count as annotation and how annotation can spark - and shape - conversation.
Perhaps another historical example, though with different meaning is the placard cum annotation INRI which stood for "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum" a Latin phrase translated as "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." It was the notice Pontius Pilate nailed over Jesus as he was crucified.
Historians generally agree that this is one of the few facts that one can discern from the New Testament about the historical Jesus because it both runs at cross purposes to the ideas of early Christianity and it is multiply attested (Matthew 27:37, Mark 15:26, Luke 23:38, John 19:19).
It's an annotation which was remembered in oral tradition long enough to have been written down multiple times and which has sent both religious and cultural ripples throughout the ages.
biblical context
This reminds me a bit of an interesting "annotated" version of the bible which presents the synoptic gospels of the New Testament in parallel which allows one to see where the four stories overlap, diverge, or are completely different.
Throckmorton's version is a good example of this sort of presentation: https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Parallels-Comparison-Synoptic-Standard/dp/0840774842
since the 19th century it has been interpreted as sayings, which sparked numerous theories about a lost "Sayings Gospel", now called Q, resembling the Gospel of Thomas
This seems to be the origin of the Q hypothesis!