Friday, January 22, 2021

Codex Alexandrinus: An Index

 Codex Alexandrinus is one of the most important manuscripts of the Greek New Testament.  Produced in the first half of the 400s, its readings have been known to European researchers ever since 1627, when it was entrusted to the king of England by Cyril Lucar.  

Digital images of the New Testament portion of Codex A (Volume 4) have been placed online at the website of the British Library. Site-visitors can use the search-bar to search from page to page.  Here is an index of the beginnings of each book, and other often-consulted passages:

List of Contents – 1v

Matthew 1:1-25:6 is all gone.

Mt. 25:7 – 2r –

Mt. 26:47 – 3v

Chapter-list for Mark – 5v

Mk.1:1 – 6r

Mk 6:1 – 9r (“6” written in inner margin)

Mk. 9:1 – 11v (“9” written in inner margin)

Mk 12:1 – 14v (“12” written in outer margin)

Mk 14:1 – 16r

Mk 16:9 – 18r

Chapter-list for Luke – 19r

Lk. 1:1 – 20r (Notice book-title in upper margin)

Lk. 4:1 – 22v (“4” written in inner margin)

Lk. 6:1 – 24v (“6” written in outer margin)

Lk. 8:1 – 26v (“8” written in outer margin)

Lk. 11:1 – 30r (“11” written in outer margin)

Lk. 15:1 – 33v (“15” in margin)

Lk.20:1 – 37r (“20” in margin)

Lk. 22:40 – 39r (SE portion)

Lk.24:1 – 40v (“24”in margin)

Chapter-list for John – 42r

Jn. 1:1 – 42r
Jn. 3:1 – 43v (“3” in margin)

Jn. 5:1 – 45r (“5” in margin)

[Missing:  6:50 katabainwn – 8:52 [leg]eis]

Jn. 9:1 – 47r

Jn. 11:1 – 48v

Jn. 11:55 – 49r (SE section)

Jn. 14:1 – 51r (“14” in margin)

Jn. 18:1 – 53r (“18” in margin)

Jn. 20:1 – 54v (“20” in margin)

Acts 1:1 – 56r

Acts 6:1 – “6” in margin)

Acts 9:1 – 61v (“9” in margin)

Acts 12:1 – 63v (“12” in margin)

Acts 15:1 – 65v (“15” in margin)

Acts 20:1 – 69v (“20” in margin) 

Acts 24:1 –  72v (“24” in margin)

Acts 27:1 – 74r (“27” in margin)

James 1 – 76r

First Peter 1 – 78r 

Second Peter 1 – 80r

First John 1 – 81v

Second John – 83v

Third John – 84r

Jude – 84r

Romans 1 – 85r

Romans 3 – 86r (“3” in margin)

Romans 8 – 88r (“8” in margin)

Romans 10 – 89r (“10” in margin)

Romans 12 – 90r (“12” in margin)

Romans 15 – 91r (“15” in margin)

First Corinthians 1 – 92v

First Corinthians 6 – 94r

First Corinthians 9 – 95r

First Corinthians 10 – 95v (“10” in margin)

First Corinthians 13 – 97r (“13” in margin)

First Corinthians 15 – 98r (“15” in margin)

Second Corinthians 1 – 99v

[Missing:  2 Cor. 4:13b gegramme[non] – 12:7 uperbolh]

Galatians 1 – 101v

Galatians 4 – 103r (“4” in margin)

Ephesians 1 – 104r

Philippians 1 – 107r

Colossians 1 – 108v

First Thessalonians 1 – 110v

Second Thessalonians 1 – 112r

Hebrews 1 – 113r

Hebrews 5 – 114v

Hebrews 10 – 116v

Hebrews 12 – 118r

First Timothy 1 – 119r

Second Timothy 1 – 121r

Titus 1 – 123r

Philemon – 124r

Revelation 1 – 125r

Revelation 4 – 126r

Revelation 8 – 127v

Revelation 13 – 129r

Revelation 18 – 131r

Revelation 21 – 132v

First Clement 1 – 134r

First Clement 20 – 136r

First Clement 51 – 140r (This is why we don’t use chemical reagents!)

First  Clement 63 – 141v (This, too, is why we never use chemical reagents!)

Second Clement 1- 143r





3 comments:

Demian said...

Hey James, thanks for educating us on textual criticism. Quick question... how close is codex Alexandrinus from codex Vaticanus? I’m seeing some bizantine readings in Cyril of Alexandria. I wonder if those readings are more frequent in codex Alexandrinus than Vaticanus.

James Snapp Jr said...

In the Gospels, they're not very close.
Vaticanus (the part from the 300s) doesn't even have Revelation.
I'd say they're not very close in other sections either, though I haven't attempted a direct comparison. If you have Swanson, maybe you could see something there.

Demian said...

Thanks James! By reading Jerome and Chrysostom, I noticed that their texts tend to be predominantly Byzantine in the gospels with some Alexandrian readings here and there but when it comes to the Pauline epistles, they seem to be making more use of Alexandrian readings. Codex A in that sense seems to be a potential good candidate to come close to what those fathers had in their manuscripts given that it is Byzantine in the gospels and acts and Alexandrian in the Pauline epistles. I am looking for manuscripts with this characteristic for their ability to witness to what was commonly used in the churches.