First John 5:7 and Greek Manuscripts

           Earlier this month over at the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog, Elijah Hixson offered an informative post which included pictures of the few Greek manuscripts which have the Comma Johanneum in the text of First John 5:7.  The earliest is GA 629, a Latin-Greek manuscript dated to 1362.  I offered some analysis of the text of First John 5:7 in GA 629 in August of 2016 (see the replica of the relevant part of 629 at this link, or a page-view of the manuscript itself at the Vatican Library’s website at this link).  The second-oldest manuscript of First John that has the Comma Johanneum in the text of 5:7 is GA 61, which was made in the early 1500s.  The third-oldest Greek manuscript with the Comma Johanneum in the text of First John 5:7 is GA 918.  Hixson, by a series of simple deductions, narrowed his estimate of its production-date to the 1570s. 

GA 641:  The Comma Johanneum is absent.

            And that’s it, unless we include GA 2473 (from 1634) and 2318 (from the 1700s) – both of which were made after printed editions of the Greek New Testament were made, and which very probably include the Comma Johanneum because their copyists used a printed Greek New Testament as an exemplar. 

            The other manuscripts do not have the Comma Johanneum in the text; the Comma Johanneum is written in the margin instead.  Hixson’s post includes pictures of the relevant portions of these manuscripts, so I will only spend a little time reviewing them here: 

            ● In GA 221, a manuscript from the 900s, the Comma Johanneum is written in the margin, but it appears that the Comma Johanneum arrived there rather recently, considering that (as Hixson reports) a description of GA 221 made in 1854 says that the manuscript does not have the Comma Johanneum, with nothing said about a margin-note. 

            ● In GA 177, the Comma Johanneum is written in the upper margin of the page and is identified by its verse-number, which means that the Comma Johanneum was placed in the margin of GA 177 sometime after 1550.  (Dan Wallace noticed the Comma Johanneum in the margin of GA 177 in 2010.)   Hixson offers a more precise date, however:  the annotator of this manuscript left his name in it:  Ignatius Hardt, who was born in 1749.  Guided by a little more data about Hardt’s career, Hixson estimates that Hardt wrote the Comma Johanneum in the margin of 177 no earlier than the 1770s.

            ● In GA 88, a manuscript from the 1100s, the Comma Johanneum appears in the margin with almost no clues about who added it or when.   Almost no clues:  as Hixson observed, whereas copyists routinely contracted sacred names such as “Father” and “Spirit,” in the margin-note in 88 these words are written out in full, which may indicate that the person writing them was using as his source a printed book, rather than a manuscript.

            ● In GA 429, a manuscript from the 1300s, the Comma Johanneum is written in the margin, and it matches up with the text of the Comma Johanneum printed in Erasmus’ third edition – because, as Hixson explains, Erasmus’ third edition was its source.

            ● In GA 636, a manuscript from the 1400s, the Comma Johanneum is written in the margin, and is missing the articles, which is consistent with a scenario in which it was translated from Latin. 

                       

            Let’s review the implications of this evidence:  First, there is no Greek manuscript made before the 1500s in which the Comma Johanneum appears in the text of First John in a form which does not appear to be derived from Latin; strictly speaking, the exact text of the Comma Johanneum that appears in the Textus Receptus does not appear in the text of any Greek manuscript made before the 1500s.  Second, in the Greek manuscripts in which the Comma Johanneum appears in the margin, it either appears to be derived from Latin, or else it appears to have been copied from a printed source. 

           

            Now let’s look on the other side of the equation.  Here, from researcher Timothy Berg, is a list of the Greek manuscripts that contain First John but do not have the Comma Johanneum in the text:

Manuscripts Produced Before the 700s:  01, 03, 02, 048, 0296

Manuscripts Produced in the 700s-800s:  018, 020, 025, 049, 0142, 1424, 1862, 1895, 2464

Manuscripts Assigned to the 900s:  044, 056, 82, 93, 175, 181, 221, 307, 326, 398, 450, 454, 456, 457, 602, 605, 619, 627, 832, 920, 1066, 1175, 1720, 1739, 1829, 1836, 1837, 1841, 1845, 1851, 1871, 1874, 1875, 1880, 1891, 2125, 2147,     

Manuscripts Assigned to the 1000s:  35, 36, 2, 42, 43, 81, 104, 131, 133, 142, 177, 250, 302, 325, 312, 314, 424, 436, 451, 458, 459,   462, 464, 465, 466, 491, 506, 517, 547, 606, 607, 617, 623, 624, 635, 638, 639, 641, 699, 796,   901, 910, 919, 945, 1162, 1243, 1244, 1270, 1311, 1384, 1521, 1668, 1724, 1730, 1735, 1738, 1828, 1835, 1838, 1846, 1847, 1849, 1854, 1870, 1888, 2138, 2191, 2344, 2475, 2587, 2723,   2746     

Manuscripts Assigned to the 1100s:  3, 38, 1, 57, 88, 94, 97, 103, 105, 110, 180, 203, 226, 256, 319, 321, 323, 330, 337, 365, 431, 440, 442, 452, 618, 620, 622, 625, 632, 637, 656, 720, 876, 917, 922, 927, 1058, 1115, 1127, 1241, 1245, 1315, 1319, 1359, 1360, 1448, 1490, 1505, 1573, 1611, 1646, 1673, 1718, 1737, 1740, 1743, 1752, 1754, 1850, 1853, 1863, 1867, 1868, 1872, 1885, 1889, 1893, 1894, 1897, 2127, 2143, 2186, 2194, 2289, 2298, 2401, 2412, 2541, 2625, 2712, 2718, 2736, 2805     

Manuscripts Assigned to the 1200s:  4, 5, 6, 51, 204, 206, 172, 141, 218, 234, 263, 327, 328, 378, 383, 384, 390, 460, 468, 469, 479, 483, 496, 592, 601, 614, 643, 665, 757, 912, 914, 915, 941, 999, 1069, 1070, 1072, 1094, 1103, 1107, 1149, 1161, 1242, 1251, 1292, 1297, 1352, 1398, 1400, 1404, 1456, 1501, 1509, 1523, 1563, 1594, 1595, 1597, 1609, 1642, 1719, 1722, 1727, 1728, 1731, 1736, 1758, 1780, 1827, 1839, 1842, 1843, 1852, 1855, 1857, 1858, 1860, 1864, 1865, 1873, 2180, 2374, 2400, 2404, 2423, 2483, 2502, 2558, 2627, 2696       

Manuscripts Assigned to the 1300s:  18, 62, 76, 189, 201, 209, 216, 223, 254, 308, 363, 367, 386, 393, 394, 404, 421, 425, 429, 453,  489, 498, 582, 603, 604, 608, 621, 628, 630, 633, 634, 680, 743, 794, 808, 824, 913, 921, 928, 935, 959, 986, 996, 1022, 1040, 1067, 1075, 1099, 1100, 1102, 1106, 1248, 1249, 1354, 1390, 1409, 1482, 1495, 1503, 1524, 1548, 1598, 1599, 1610, 1618, 1619, 1622, 1637, 1643, 1661, 1678, 1717, 1723, 1725, 1726, 1732, 1733, 1741, 1742, 1744, 1746, 1747, 1753, 1761, 1762, 1765, 1769, 1831, 1832, 1856, 1859, 1866, 1877, 1881, 1882, 1886, 1890, 1892, 1899, 1902, 2080, 2085, 2086,  2197, 2200, 2261, 2279, 2356, 2431, 2466, 2484, 2492, 2494, 2508, 2511, 2527, 2626, 2675, 2705, 2716, 2774, 2777

Manuscripts Assigned to the 1400s:  69, 102, 149, 205, 322, 368, 385, 400, 432, 444, 467, 615, 616, 631, 636, 664, 801, 1003, 1105, 1247, 1250, 1367, 1405, 1508, 1626, 1628, 1636, 1649, 1656, 1729, 1745, 1750, 1751, 1757, 1763, 1767, 1830, 1876, 1896, 2131, 2221, 2288, 2352, 2495, 2523, 2554, 2652, 2653, 2691, 2704

Manuscripts Assigned to the 1500s and Later:  90, 296, 522, 1702, 1704, 1749, 1768, 1840, 1844, 1861, 2130, 2218, 2255, 2378, 2501, 2516, 2544, 1101, 1721, 1748, 1869, 1903, 2243, 2674, 2776, 2473, 1104

            With this data in mind, let’s consider a few extracts from a defense of the Comma Johanneum recently offered by Taylor DeSoto of Agros Reformed Baptist Church in Arizona: 
            ► “There is manuscript evidence for it.”  True, but as Hixson’s analysis shows, the Greek manuscript evidence for the Comma Johanneum is sparse, late, and shows clear signs of being derived either from Latin or from a printed text.   

            ► “It has more manuscript evidence support than let’s just say, the Gospel of Mark without 16:9-20.”  That is not quite the case; there are three Greek manuscripts in which Mark 16 ends at 16:8 (À, B, and 304 – all with other anomalous features), so technically, the quantities are equal.  But it would be foolish to use simple quantities to frame this evidence, because B and À are the two earliest manuscripts of Mark 16 known to exist, while GA 629 is from the mid-1300s, 61 is from the early 1500s, and 918 is from the 1570s, and the rest, as Hixson’s data shows, are either dependent on Latin, or else extremely late.  

            As a defender of the genuineness of Mark 16:9-20, I do not grant to B and À the level of weight that was given to them by Westcott and Hort (and which continues, in some circles, to be assumed).  But it is not just the testimony of B and À which we ought to consider.  It is also the testimony of 02, 048, 0296, 018, 020, 025, 049, 0142, 1424, 1862, 1895, 2464, 044, 056, 82, 93, 175, 181, 221, 307, 326, 398, 450, 454, 456, 457, 602, 605, 619, 627, 832, 920, 1066, 1175, 1720, 1739, 1829, 1836, 1837, 1841, 1845, 1851, 1871, 1874, 1875, 1880, 1891, 2125, 2147, 35, 36, 2, 42, 43, 81, 104, 131, 133, 142, 177, 250, 302, 325, 312, 314, 424, 436, 451, 458, 459,   462, 464, 465, 466, 491, 506, 517, 547, 606, 607, 617, 623, 624, 635, 638, 639, 641, 699, 796,   901, 910, 919, 945, 1162, 1243, 1244, 1270, 1311, 1384, 1521, 1668, 1724, 1730, 1735, 1738, 1828, 1835, 1838, 1846, 1847, 1849, 1854, 1870, 1888, 2138, 2191, 2344, 2475, 2587, 2723, 2746, 3, 38, 1, 57, 88, 94, 97, 103, 105, 110, 180, 203, 226, 256, 319, 321, 323, 330, 337, 365, 431, 440, 442, 452, 618, 620, 622, 625, 632, 637, 656, 720, 876, 917, 922, 927, 1058, 1115, 1127, 1241, 1245, 1315, 1319, 1359, 1360, 1448, 1490, 1505, 1573, 1611, 1646, 1673, 1718, 1737, 1740, 1743, 1752, 1754, 1850, 1853, 1863, 1867, 1868, 1872, 1885, 1889, 1893, 1894, 1897, 2127, 2143, 2186, 2194, 2289, 2298, 2401, 2412, 2541, 2625, 2712, 2718, 2736, 2805, and so forth. 

            ► “Those who attack the authenticity of this reading appeal to the assumption that it was introduced from a Latin manuscript.”  Mr. DeSoto writes as if there is no basis for this “assumption.”  However, it is not an assumption; it is a deduction from evidence:  in the Old Latin text of First John 5:8 (as I have explained already in an earlier post), the nouns are typically transposed to the order water-blood-spirit, which is conducive to a figurative interpretation in which the water represents the Father, the blood represents the Son, and the Spirit represents, of course, the Holy Spirit.  And that interpretation is the Comma Johanneum – an interpretive gloss that was inserted into the Old Latin text (and from there into the later medieval Vulgate text).  Its origin is linked to the transposition:  in evidence uninfluenced by Latin, where the transposition is absent, the Comma Johanneum is absent as well.

            ► “Can 1 John 5:7 be said to have been definitively introduced from the Latin, as though it were never found in a Greek manuscript?”  Yes, it can.  All one needs to do is observe the evidence and think it through:  everything is completely consistent with precisely that scenario.  Just look at the Latin text that runs parallel to the Greek text in 629, and look at the absence of the articles, and look at the absence of the Comma Johanneum in 02, 048, 0296, 018, 020, 025, 049, 0142, 1424, 1862, 1895, 2464, 044, 056, 82, 93, 175, 181, 221, 307, 326, 398, 450, 454, 456, 457, 602, 605, 619, 627, 832, 920, 1066, 1175, 1720, 1739, 1829, 1836, 1837, 1841, 1845, 1851, 1871, 1874, 1875, 1880, 1891, 2125, 2147, 35, 36, 2, 42, 43, 81, 104, 131, 133, 142, 177, 250, 302, 325, 312, 314, 424, 436, 451, 458, 459, 462, 464, 465, 466, 491, 506, 517, 547, 606, 607, 617, 623, 624, 635, 638, 639, 641, 699, 796, 901, 910, 919, 945, 1162, 1243, 1244, 1270, 1311, 1384, 1521, 1668, 1724, 1730, 1735, 1738, 1828, 1835, 1838, 1846, 1847, 1849, 1854, 1870, 1888, 2138, 2191, 2344, 2475, 2587, 2723, 2746, 3, 38, 1, 57, 88, 94, 97, 103, 105, 110, 180, 203, 226, 256, 319, 321, 323, 330, 337, 365, 431, 440, 442, 452, 618, 620, 622, 625, 632, 637, 656, 720, 876, 917, 922, 927, 1058, 1115, 1127, 1241, 1245, 1315, 1319, 1359, 1360, 1448, 1490, 1505, 1573, 1611, 1646, 1673, 1718, 1737, 1740, 1743, 1752, 1754, 1850, 1853, 1863, 1867, 1868, 1872, 1885, 1889, 1893, 1894, 1897, 2127, 2143, 2186, 2194, 2289, 2298, 2401, 2412, 2541, 2625, 2712, 2718, 2736, 2805, and so forth.  Then ask, what more could I possibly ask for, if I were asking for evidence that the Comma Johanneum drifted into a few Greek manuscripts due to the actions of copyists who wanted to make their Greek copies conform more precisely to the meaning of their Latin copies? 

            Nevertheless Mr. DeSoto states, “I have yet to see a scholar actually produce a manuscript, or historical source from antiquity which demonstrates that this verse was added from the Latin.”   It seems to me that he is simply resisting the plain implications of the evidence. 

            In addition. Mr. DeSoto resorts to a grammatical argument (offered in a past generation by commentator Robert Dabney) as evidence for the genuineness of the Comma Johanneum – and then states, “The only people I have seen stand against this grammatical argument are people who self-admittedly are rusty in Greek.”  However, this whole approach is a nothingburger, as demonstrated already by Dr. Barry Hofstetter in the 2018 post, The Comma Johanneum and Greek Grammar. 

            Furthermore, Mr. DeSoto misrepresents the evidence when he states that “Jerome and Nazianzes comment on it.”  By “Jerome” he appears to mean the author of the Preface to the Canonical Epistles – an author who (as I have already pointed out) used the transposed form of First John 5:8.  And by saying that “Gregory of Nazianzes comments on it,” he seems to be referring to the statement by Gregory of Nazianzus where, after stating that John says “that there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood” – as we find verse 8 in most manuscripts, without the phrase “on earth” – he bring up a frivolous objection from a posited grammarian only in order to tear it down, stating “You see how completely your argument from con-numeration has completely broken down, and is refuted by all these instances,” and he goes on from there – not once citing any part of the Comma Johanneum.  

            It is simply false to claim that Gregory of Nazianzus commented on the Comma Johanneum.  He did not do so.   Furthermore, in the very next chapter of his composition, Gregory of Nazianzus refers to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, without referencing the Comma Johanneum.

            Mr. DeSoto did not leave that falsehood without company.  He also claimed, “The Comma Johanneum was seated at 1 John 5:7 until evangelical textual critics began deconstructing the Scriptures.”  As long as one ignores the testimony of 02, 048, 0296, 018, 020, 025, 049, 0142, 1424, 1862, 1895, 2464, 044, 056, 82, 93, 175, 181, 221, 307, 326, 398, 450, 454, 456, 457, 602, 605, 619, 627, 832, 920, 1066, 1175, 1720, 1739, 1829, 1836, 1837, 1841, 1845, 1851, 1871, 1874, 1875, 1880, 1891, 2125, 2147, 35, 36, 2, 42, 43, 81, 104, 131, 133, 142, 177, 250, 302, 325, 312, 314, 424, 436, 451, 458, 459, 462, 464, 465, 466, 491, 506, 517, 547, 606, 607, 617, 623, 624, 635, 638, 639, 641, 699, 796, 901, 910, 919, 945, 1162, 1243, 1244, 1270, 1311, 1384, 1521, 1668, 1724, 1730, 1735, 1738, 1828, 1835, 1838, 1846, 1847, 1849, 1854, 1870, 1888, 2138, 2191, 2344, 2475, 2587, 2723, 2746, 3, 38, 1, 57, 88, 94, 97, 103, 105, 110, 180, 203, 226, 256, 319, 321, 323, 330, 337, 365, 431, 440, 442, 452, 618, 620, 622, 625, 632, 637, 656, 720, 876, 917, 922, 927, 1058, 1115, 1127, 1241, 1245, 1315, 1319, 1359, 1360, 1448, 1490, 1505, 1573, 1611, 1646, 1673, 1718, 1737, 1740, 1743, 1752, 1754, 1850, 1853, 1863, 1867, 1868, 1872, 1885, 1889, 1893, 1894, 1897, 2127, 2143, 2186, 2194, 2289, 2298, 2401, 2412, 2541, 2625, 2712, 2718, 2736, 2805, and so forth, that is something that can be honestly said.  Yes, if you resolve to be blind to these Greek manuscripts, and focus instead, like a horse wearing blinders, upon interpolated and transposed Latin texts, and on a few late manuscripts influenced by them, then you can say that you have a basis for keeping the Comma Johanneum in your text of First John.  But if you are going to say that it was a good thing that at some point in the past, the Latin text was on the throne, and that the Greek text was usurped and pushed to the side, and that such ought to be the case today, then you thus are not actually recognizing the authority of the original text.      

            Finally, after asking a series of rhetorical questions, Mr. DeSoto asks, “Do we gain anything by removing this passage?”  To which I say, first, that this is a trick question, because when we look at 02, 048, 0296, 018, 020, 025, 049, 0142, 1424, 1862, 1895, 2464, 044, 056, 82, 93, 175, 181, 221, 307, 326, 398, 450, 454, 456, 457, 602, 605, 619, 627, 832, 920, 1066, 1175, 1720, 1739, 1829, 1836, 1837, 1841, 1845, 1851, 1871, 1874, 1875, 1880, 1891, 2125, 2147, 35, 36, 2, 42, 43, 81, 104, 131, 133, 142, 177, 250, 302, 325, 312, 314, 424, 436, 451, 458, 459, 462, 464, 465, 466, 491, 506, 517, 547, 606, 607, 617, 623, 624, 635, 638, 639, 641, 699, 796, 901, 910, 919, 945, 1162, 1243, 1244, 1270, 1311, 1384, 1521, 1668, 1724, 1730, 1735, 1738, 1828, 1835, 1838, 1846, 1847, 1849, 1854, 1870, 1888, 2138, 2191, 2344, 2475, 2587, 2723, 2746, 3, 38, 1, 57, 88, 94, 97, 103, 105, 110, 180, 203, 226, 256, 319, 321, 323, 330, 337, 365, 431, 440, 442, 452, 618, 620, 622, 625, 632, 637, 656, 720, 876, 917, 922, 927, 1058, 1115, 1127, 1241, 1245, 1315, 1319, 1359, 1360, 1448, 1490, 1505, 1573, 1611, 1646, 1673, 1718, 1737, 1740, 1743, 1752, 1754, 1850, 1853, 1863, 1867, 1868, 1872, 1885, 1889, 1893, 1894, 1897, 2127, 2143, 2186, 2194, 2289, 2298, 2401, 2412, 2541, 2625, 2712, 2718, 2736, 2805, and so forth, nobody is removing the passage; it is not there to begin with. 

            But taking the question as it stands:  yes we certainly do gain something.  First, we gain a purer, less corrupted text, which more closely resembles the original inspired text.  Mr. DeSoto recently stated in another post, “We need to receive the text as it has been passed down.”  I point out again that in the text of First John 5:7-8 that has been passed down in 99.2% of the handed-down Greek manuscripts, the Comma Johanneum is unsupported.  I point out again that the non-inclusion of the Comma Johanneum is supported.  I point out again that at this particular point, the Textus Receptus does not represent the text-that-was-handed-down, or the Byzantine Text, or the “Antiochan line.”  Yet this fact seems to have no effect on Mr. DeSoto’s position.  It seems abundantly clear that his goal is neither to defend the original text nor the text that has been handed down in Greek manuscripts; his agenda is to defend the contents of the Textus Receptus.

            (In addition, one must ask, “Which text that has been passed down?”, because the manuscripts that have survived to the present day do not always agree.  When asking, “Is this reading authoritative?” the decisive sub-question is not, Is it popular?, or “Is it familiar to a particular group of people?” (such as English readers of the KJV, or formulators of a particular creed from the 1600s), but, “Is it original?.)    

            Second, we lose the stigma of desperation which is the inevitable consequence of treating an interpolation as if deserves to be a foundation for Christian doctrine, as if the Textus Receptus must be right, and all those other manuscripts must be wrong.  It is morally wrong and strategically unwise to employ falsehoods – such as the false claim that John wrote the Comma Johanneum – in the service of the truth.  To continue to do so is to run the risk that onlookers will conclude that the orthodox view of the Trinity is so weak that its defenders must adopt non-original readings in order to defend it.  I would point out that few early theologians were as Trinitarian as Gregory of Nazianzus and Cyril of Alexandria – yet they did not use the Comma Johanneum, because it was not the Greek texts that they used. 

            Third, we gain the time that would otherwise be wasted continuing to discuss a textual variant which ought to be easily recognized as an interpolation.

Readers are invited to double-check the data in this post.

  

Fifty Manuscripts at the Vatican Library

          The Vatican Library – officially known as the Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, or BAV – contains a lot of manuscripts, including some New Testament manuscripts.  The Polonsky Foundation Digitalization Project aims to digitalize page-views of manuscripts in the Vatican Library and the Bodleian Library – with a priority on Bibles and Biblical commentaries. 

          Here are some of the Biblical manuscripts which can presently be viewed online, along with brief descriptions and notes.  You can use the embedded links to go directly to the page-views.  (This is not an exhaustive list.  There are many Biblical manuscripts in Latin not mentioned here.)

Papyrus 75:  Extant in Luke 3-24 and John 1-15, the text of this early (c. 225) manuscript closely resembles the text of Codex Vaticanus. 

Papyrus 72:   includes the text of First Peter, Second Peter, and Jude, from the late 200’s or early 300’s. 

Codex Vaticanus (B, 03), produced around 325, is regarded by many textual critics as the most important of all New Testament manuscripts. 

Codex S (028), also called Codex Guelpherbytanus B, is an uncial manuscript of the Gospels, made in 949.  Elephants are among the animals accompanying the hollow-uncial text of Ad Carpianus near the beginning of the manuscript.  The pericope adulterae begins on 197r.  It is given its own title in the upper margin.  After John 7:53 the lector is instructed to skip to 8:12 and resume reading there.  A large red asterisk is in the side-margin beside the beginning of John 8:3.  The entire pericope adulterae is accompanied by asterisks.  The Gospels are followed by Gospel-lections for Easter-week.

Codex Basilianus (046) (Vat. Gr. 2066), is an uncial manuscript of Revelation, produced probably in the 800’s.  It also contains some patristic compositions.  The book of Revelation begins on 259r.   

GA 137 (Vat. Gr. 756) is a minuscule manuscript of the Gospels, produced probably in the 1100’s.  The text of Mark is accompanied by the Catena Marcum attributed to Victor of Antioch.  The claim that “asterisks follow v. 8 in 137” is refuted by consulting 150v, where a red “+” appears at the beginning of 16:9, intended to draw the reader’s attention to the note (a normal part of the Catena Marcum) at the foot of 151v, which is also accompanied by a red “+”.  Matthew 1:1 is on 14r.

GA 150 (Pal. Gr. 189) is a Gospels-manuscript from the 1000’s.

GA 151 (Pal. Gr. 220) is a manuscript of the Gospels with commentary-material in outer margins, produced probably in the 900’s.  A composition by Eusebius, Answers to Questions about the Gospels asked by Stephanus & Marinus begins on 61r.  A transcription of the text of this composition is on the even-numbered pages in Roger Pearse’s Eusebius of Caesarea – Gospel Problems & Solutions, pages 6-128.  This is followed by the chapter-list for Mark and a miniature of Mark; the text of Mark begins on 100r.  Notably, “Isaiah the prophet” is read in Mark 1:2.  Luke begins on 133r.  John begins on 186r.  

GA 157 (Urb. Gr. 2) is one of the most important of all minuscule copies of the Gospels, produced in 1122 for the family of the Byzantine emperor.  It has the Jerusalem Colophon after each Gospel.  

GA 162 (Barb. Gr. 449) is a manuscript of the Gospels, written in strong black ink with red initials at the beginnings of sections.  Luke 11:2, on 151v, features a notable textual variant.

GA 389 (Ott. Gr. 297) is a Gospels-manuscript from the 1000’s.  Matthew 1:1 is on 7r; Mark 1:1 is on 56r; Lk. 1:1 is on 88r; Jn. 1:1 is on 142r.  The pericope adulterae begins on 157r.

GA 390 (Ott. Gr. 381) is a manuscript of the New Testament, except Revelation, made in 1281 or 1282.  The Acts and the Epistles appear before the Gospels:  Acts (9r), Romans (51r), First Cor (66v), Second Cor (81b), etc., Hebrews (131r), James (143v), First Peter (148r), Second Peter (152v), First John (156r), Jude ends on 163r.  Matthew begins on 190r; Mark begins on 232r; Luke begins on 261r; John begins on 304r.  

GA 629 (Ottobianus Gr. 298) is a Latin-Greek manuscript from the 1300’s or 1400’s known for the presence of the Comma Johanneum (without its final phrase) in Latin and in Greek, on 105v.

GA 850 (Barb. Gr. 504) is mostly a commentary by Cyril of Alexandria, but it includes text from John 7:25-10:18. 

GA 880 (Ott. Gr. 208) is a manuscript of the Gospels from the 1400’s.  Mark 1:1 is on 103r, Luke 1:1 is on 170r, and John 1:1 is on 281r.

GA 2195 (Ross. Gr. 135-138) is in four volumes:  GA 2195 – Matthew, GA 2195 – Mark, GA 2195 – Luke, and GA 2195 – John.  The pericope adulterae begins on 32v.

Lectionary 35 (Vat. Gr. 351), an uncial lectionary from the 900’s, containing only 25 lections, is a model of elegant penmanship.  

Lectionary 37 (Borg. Gr. 6) begins with the Heothina lections (from Mt. 28, Mk. 16, Lk. 24, and Jn. 20-21),

Lectionary 120 (Vat. Gr. 1156) features lots of gold, plus the Evangelists’ icon-miniatures.  This is truly a deluxe manuscript.  Notice the little ascension-scene on 52r, and the passion-scenes on 194v, and the intricate headpiece on 242r.

Lectionary 123 (Vat. Gr. 1522) was produced in the 900’s.  It is written in large uncials, with titles written in gold; simple framework is also gold.  It features full-page miniatures of John, Luke, Matthew, and Mark.  Mark 16:9ff. begins on 177r.

Lectionary 130, part 1 (Ott. Gr. 2) is an uncial Gospels lectionary.  Lectionary 130, part 2 contains more of the same Gospels lectionary.  The Heothina begin on 330v; Mk. 16:9ff. is on 332r.

Lectionary 131 (Ott. Gr. 175) is a minuscule Gospels lectionary.

Lectionary 132 (Ott. Gr. 326) contains readings for the twelve major feasts.  It is written in white (and gold, especially for initials) on a black-dyed background.  

Lectionary 135 (lower writing) and lectionary 136 (upper writing) are two layers of a palimpsest; lectionary 135 (Barb. Gr. 472) consists of text from Matthew 24-25 and John 19, from the 700’s.

Lectionary 379 (Vat. Gr. 357) is an uncial Gospels-lectionary from the 800’s.

Lectionary 549 (Vat. Gr. 1523), produced around 1300, is a neatly written Gospels-lectionary with ornate headpieces.

Vat.gr. 2627 includes pages from an uncial lectionary (15r-16v).

OLD TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS (with some New Testament extracts)

The Barberini Psalter:   Most pages of this Psalter have illustrations, with a generous use of gold.  This manuscript, like Gospels-manuscript 157, was prepared for the family of Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus.  Ernest DeWald has written about this manuscript’s background.   Among the Odes at the end of the Psalter, Luke 1:46ff. begins on 266r; Luke 2:68ff. begins on 266v, and Luke 2:29ff. is on 271v.  On fol. 3, written in a much later hand than the main text, is John 1:1-17; this part of the manuscript has its own Gregory-Aland number; it is 2359. 

A Greek copy of the book of Job (Pal. Gr. 230) with illustrations.

The Leo Bible, a volume of the Old Testament in Greek (Genesis-Psalms, with Odes at the end of Psalms), written in minuscule but with uncial Table of Contents.  On 564r, the Magnificat is given as Ode #9, extracted from Luke 1:46-55.  On 564r-564v, the prayer of Zechariah is given as Ode #10, extracted from the Gospel of Luke 1:68-80. 

Psalms with commentary, with gold-grounded pictures all the way through.

Psalms with commentary, continued.  An imperial manuscript.  It also has the Odes with extracts from Luke; see 485r & ff.

 An illustrated copy of the books of Kings (beginning with First Samuel).

A minuscule Greek Psalter.

Greek Old Testament, Part 1 and Part 2, with pictures and commentary. 

OTHER MANUSCRIPTS

VL 12 (Codex Claromontanus) (Vat. Lat. 7223) is a manuscript of the Old Latin Gospels (Matthew from the 400’s; Mark, Luke, and John from the 600’s.  

The Ripoll (or, Farfa) Bible (Vat. Lat. 5729) is a Latin Bible with unusual illustrations.  Matthew begins on 371r.

Vat. Lat. 41 is a Latin manuscript of the Gospels. 

Barb. Lat. 637 is a Latin Gospels manuscript which features a very early capitula system.

Pal. Lat. 502 is a Latin lectionary.

Arch. Cap. S. Pietro D 154 is a manuscript of the Vulgate Gospels.

The Manfred Bible, a medieval Vulgate Bible with sumptuous historiated initials at the beginnings of books. On 399v, in Mark 1:1, “filii dei” is in the margin rather than in the text.  Extra books and an index of names follow Revelation.

The Wigbald Gospels (Barb. Lat. 570), an artistically executed Vulgate Gospels manuscript from the late 700’s, is comparable in some ways to the Book of Kells.

A Coptic manuscript of Acts (with text from chapters 16, 17, and 27). 

A Syriac copy of the Gospels (Vat. Sir. 12) produced in 548.

 A Syriac copy of the Gospels (Vat. Sir. 13) produced in 736.

The book of Psalms in five languages (Barb. Or. 2):  Ethiopic (Ge’ez), Syriac, Bohairic, Arabic, and Armenian. 

An Arabic manuscript (Vat. Ar. 18) of the Gospel of Luke. 

A Bohairic/Arabic manuscript of the Gospels (complete with Ad Carpianus and Eusebian Canon-tables at the beginning, plus book-introductions and icons before each Gospel) made in 1205.  Cross on 20v.  Mt. 1:1 on 23r.  Mk. 1:1 on 147r.  (Mark 16:9-20 is included after 16:8.)  Lk. 1:1 on 237r.  Jn 1:1 on 389v.  PA on 431r.  433r repeats part of 7:52 (at the same point where the text begins on 431r) before continuing with 8:12.

A liturgical scroll made of dyed parchment, from around the year 1100. 

A Greek bestiary from the 1500’s.  A manticore is on 27r; a unicorn is on 27v; a chameleon is on 35v; a dragon is on 39r; a squid is on 54v. 

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