Minuscule 1424 and the Pericope Adulterae

  

MS 1187's text of John 7:53-8:11
is similar to the text in the margin of 1424.
And they share a large annotation.

          In the super-sparse apparatus of the Tyndale House edition of the Greek New Testament, a note mentions that although the pericope adulterae (John 7:53-8:11) is absent in the text, the passage is present in the margin.  Unfortunately, that is about as close as readers get to a close examination of the testimony of 1424 and its annotator regarding this passage.

            Similarly in D.A. Carson’s volume on the Gospel of John in the Pillar NT Commentary series, after acknowledging that John 7:53-8:11 is present “in most of the medieval Greek miniscule [sic] manuscripts,” the author states that these verses “are absent from virtually all early Greek manuscripts that have come down to us.”  Displaying a degree of one-sidedness, Carson does not discuss the Old Latin capitula at all, and he states – erroneously – “All the early church fathers omit this narrative.”  It is a challenge to imagine how any scholar can make such a claim, for one would have to ignore well-known references to the pericope adulterae in the writings of Ambrose, Augustine, and Jerome, among many others.  Carson – clearly echoing Metzger as he keeps readers in the dark about the reasons for the dislocation of the passage in some manuscripts – is guilty of several other one-sided statements that cumulatively mold the evidence and give readers a false impression.  

            But rather than dwell on such mistreatments of the evidence, let’s focus today specifically on the testimony of minuscule 1424.  This manuscript was housed at the Gruber Rare Books Collection at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago until it was recently returned to Greece.  The entire manuscript has been digitally photographed by CSNTM, and the page-views can be viewed at the CSNTM website.

            When we examine the relevant page of minuscule 1424, we see that at the end of 7:52, above the line, there is a symbol that looks vaguely like the letters O and C connected by a horizontal line.  In the text, 8:12 begins at the beginning of the next line.  The O––C symbol also appears in the outer margin of the page (although the horizontal line is broken), accompanied by the text of the pericope adulterae in a form that is very similar to the text of the pericope adulterae in Codex Λ, which resembles the text that is presented in the Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Textform in italics, beginning with Καὶ ἀπῆλθον ἕκαστος εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ, without πειράζοντες in verse 4, and without τω δακτύλω in verse 6, and when the page ends, the pericope adulterae has been presented up to a point halfway through verse 9.  Alongside the pericope adulterae in the outer (left) margin is a stack of asterisks; three are clear and there appear to be two more beneath then, albeit unclear.

            On the following page, verse 9 resumes, not at the top of the page, but in the lower margin.  A ⁒ symbol appears in the far left inner margin, above a stack of two asterisks (※) alongside the margin-text.  In 1424’s margin-text, in verse 9, ὁ Ις appears after κατελείφθη and μόνος does not appear.   In verse 11, the text does not have the words οἱ κατήγοροί σου.

            And now for the interesting part.  After 8:11 ends, there is a note (very faintly written at some points, and with lots of contraction, so this transcription is tentative):  ταυτα εν τισιν αντιγράφοις ου κειται ουδε [’Απολιναρίου·  Εν δε τοις] αρχαιοις όλα κειται·  Μνημονευουσι της περικοπης ταυτης και οι αποστολοι εν αις εξεθεντο διαταξεσιν εις οικοδομην της εκκλησίας.   

            This is essential the same note that is found in Codex Λ (039) which accompanied John 7:53-8:11 there.  It means:  “This is not in some copies, nor in those [copies] of Apollinarius.  In the ancient [copies] it is all present.  And this pericope was recollected by the apostles, which affirms that it is for the edification of the church.”
            That last sentence refers to Apostolic Constitutions 2:24, which was produced around 380.    This portion of Apostolic Constitutions, designed to prove the premise that “Our Lord Came to Save Sinners by Repentance,” includes the following statement, after mentioning Jesus’ statement in Luke 7:47:

 “And when the elders had set another woman which had sinned before Him, and had left the sentence to Him, and had gone out, our Lord, the Searcher of the hearts, inquiring of her whether the elders had condemned her, and being told, ‘No,’ said unto her, ‘Go your way therefore, for neither do I condemn you.’  This Jesus, O you bishops, our Savior, our King, and our God, ought to be set before you as your pattern.” 

This portion of Apostolic Constitutions can be traced to an earlier source:  the Syriac Didascalia.  In its seventh chapter (or in some formats, near the end of the sixth chapter), following a discussion on the Prayer of Manasseh, the author of the Syriac Didascalia states:

            “For if thou receive not him who repents, because thou art merciless, thou sinnest against the Lord God, because thou dost not obey our Lord and God in acting as He acted; for even He to that woman who had sinned, her whom the elders placed before him and left it to judgment at His hands, and went away; He them who searcheth the hearts, asked her and said to her, ‘Have the Elders condemned thee, my daughter?’  She saith to Him, ‘No, Lord.’  And our Saviour said,  ‘Go, and return no more to do this, neither do I condemn thee.”  In this therefore let our Saviour and King and God be to you a sign, O Bishops!” (Gibson’s translation)

            The Syriac Didascalia is generally assigned to the first half of the 200s, which makes this reference pretty much as old as the oldest witnesses for non-inclusion of the pericope adulterae.

The note that appears in 1424, confirming that the entire passage is not in some copies but is all present in ancient copies, and so forth, is not only shared by Codex Λ but also in minuscule 1282 (on Image 0214b at CSNTM, at the foot of the page).  In MS 1282, on this page and the one that follows, a stack of obeli accompanies the text of John 8:3-11 (but not 7:53-8:2) in the outer margin.  (In the upper margin, the chapter-title “#10 – About the Adulteress” appears in red ink.)  Minuscule 1443 has a similar format – John 7:53-8:11 is included in the text, and 8:3-11 is accompanied by a stack of obeli in the margin – but does not appear to have the note.  Minuscule 1187 also has a similar format – John 7:53-8:11 is included in the text, and 8:3-11 is accompanied by a stack of obeli in the margin, and in the lower margin of 1187 5, there is the note.

The note also appears (with minor differences) in minuscules 20 (which has the pericope adulterae after John 21), 215, 262, and 1118.  This points to a common source, for these manuscripts, along with Codex Λ, feature the Jerusalem Colophon.  (Tommy Wasserman, using information from Maurice Robinson and other resources, has confirmed this in a detailed essay.)

The presence of the both the Apollinarius Colophon  and the Jerusalem Colophon in the same manuscript indicates that the “ancient copies” referred to in the Apollinarius Colophon – in which the entire pericope adulterae is stated to be present – are the same manuscripts referred to in the Jerusalem Colophon (or, the prevalent form of it) “the ancient exemplars from Jerusalem preserved on the holy mountain.”

In addition, the close similarity of the text of the pericope adulterae in Codex Λ and in the margin of 1424 and in the text of 1187 suggests that the possibility of a historical link between these three manuscripts should be explored.  Both Λ and 1424’s margin do not have τω δακτύλω in verse 6, and in 1187, τω δακτύλω is not in the main text of verse 6 either; it is added as a correction in the side-margin.  (This variant-unit is not covered in NA27.)

           So, the next time you see 1424 listed as a witness for non-inclusion of John 7:53-8:11, remember that while that is true, it is also true that a marginal note in 1424 (shared by five other manuscripts) affirms the use of the passage in Apostolic Constitutions (c. 380, echoing a source from the early 200s) and also affirms that in ancient manuscripts, the whole passage is present, and that the ancient manuscripts being referred to were (or were thought to be) cherished copies at a holy mountain.

            

The Adulteress in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Church of the
Holy Sepulchre

         The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem has a long and distinguished history.  A church building on its site was built in the days of Constantine, and was destroyed by Persians in 614.  It was soon rebuilt, but it was set on fire in 841, and again in 935, and again in 966; finally it was thoroughly destroyed by Muslims in 1009.  In 1149, fifty years after the First Crusade, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre had been rebuilt and thoroughly remodeled.  It is essentially this medieval edifice, with various expansions, that can be visited today in Jerusalem.  Many Christian pilgrims and tourists to Jerusalem visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – including President and First Lady Trump, who visited there earlier this year (2017).

            In addition to all its cherished pilgrimage-sites, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is home to a small collection of New Testament manuscripts.  A Gospels-manuscript, GA 1358, is there; this manuscript used to be cited as if it supports the reading of Codex Bezae in Mark 1:41 (where Codex Bezae famously says that Jesus became furious , rather than that He was filled with compassion) – but in 2011, researcher Jeff Cate showed that the text of Mark 1:41 in 1358 has merely been conformed to the parallel account in Matthew, stating neither that Jesus was filled with compassion nor that He was angry.    

            The Library of Congress recently released microfilm page-views of GA 1358 – Naos Anastaseos 15.  This manuscript, about 1000 years old, contains not only the text of the four Gospels but also book-introductions by Cosmas Indicopleustes (a writer of the mid-500’s who is otherwise infamous for his belief that the earth is flat) – not just for Matthew, but also before Luke and before John.

            Here is a basic index of GA 1358:

            Beginning of Matthew.  Beginning of Mark.  Beginning of Luke.  Beginning of John.

            The pericope adulterae (καὶ ἀπῆλθεν, etc.) follows John 7:52.

            After the end of John, this manuscript features a brief summary of apostolic history, and a description of the post-resurrection appearances of Christ recorded in the Gospels. 

            The Naos Anastaseos (Sanctuary of the Resurrection) collection also includes nine Greek Gospels-lectionaries, most of which are very late, having been produced in the late 1500’s and early 1600’s.  Two of them, however – Naos Anastaseos 11 – Evangelion (made in the 1200’s) and Naos Anastaseos 9 (made in 1152) – are much older.

            Naos Anastaseos 9 – GA Lectionary 1033 – has some particularly interesting features which render it the most significant manuscript in the collection.  Its full-page picture of Mary and the Child Jesus is artistically notable, but of far more interest is its treatment of the pericope adulterae, that is, the story of the adulteress which is found in John 7:53-8:11.  This passage, famously absent from the Alexandrian manuscripts that serve as the primary New Testament base-text for most modern English translations (the ESV, NIV, NLT, etc.), is present in about 85% of the extant Greek manuscripts. 

            In one small group of manuscripts known as family-13 (also called the Ferrar group, in honor of William Hugh Ferrar, a researcher in the 1800’s who noted the close relationship of four of the main members of the group, minuscules 13, 69, 124, and 346), the story of the adulteress is not found in the Gospel of John; it is instead inserted in the Gospel of Luke after 21:38 (that is, at the end of chapter 21).  This dislocation of the pericope adulterae has been confidently asserted by many commentators to be evidence that it was a “floating” composition which copyists inserted at different locations.

Highlighted:
the listing for Oct. 8

            Naos Anastaseos 9 may shine some light on this subject.  Let’s look into its pages and see what we find. 

            In most continuous-text manuscripts of the Gospel of John, John 7:53-8:11 follows John 7:52.  Many manuscripts are supplemented by a lectionary-apparatus – rubrics and notes for the lector, explaining what each day’s Scripture-reading was, and where to find it (and, often, a phrase with which to start it).  Typically, in the lectionary-cycle, the annual Scripture-reading, or lection, for Pentecost, a major feast-day, begins at John 7:37, and continues to the end of 7:52, but instead of stopping there, the lector is instructed to jump ahead in the text to 8:12, and read that verse, and then conclude.

            Accordingly, in Naos Anastaseos 9, we see, in the lection for Pentecost (beginning on page-view 35), no indication of the existence of John 7:53-8:11 in the Pentecost-reading; John 7:52 is followed immediately by John 8:12; nothing separates the two verses except a normal cross-symbol which routinely serves as a pause-marker.

            When we look in the Menologion-section of Naos Anastaseos 9 for the lection for October 8 – the feast-day of Saint Pelagia, when John 8:3-11 was typically read – we do not find the pericope adulterae there either.  Instead, there is a listing which says that for the reading for St. Pelagia’s Day, seek the lection for April 1.  Turning, then, to the lection for April 1, we find the lection for Saint Mary the Egyptian – and, behold, there is the text of John 8:1-11.

The April 1 lection
(beginning)

            But this is not just any text of John 8:1-11.  It is almost exactly the text of John 8:1-11 that appears in Codex Λ (039), and it is very similar to the form of the pericope adulterae that appears in Luke in the family-13 manuscripts.  Codex Λ (039) is a Gospels-manuscript from the 800’s, containing Luke and John; each Gospel is accompanied by a note – the “Jerusalem Colophon,” which is found in 37 manuscripts – which states that its text has been cross-checked using the ancient manuscripts that are kept on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.  (Codex Λ and minuscule 566 form two parts of one unit, Codex Tischendorfianus III; 566 has the text of Matthew and Mark.)

           

The following readings show this very satisfactorily:

● v. 1 – ὄχλος instead of λαὸς (agreeing with Λ)

● v. 3 – καὶ προσήνεγκαν αὐτῶ instead of ἄγουσιν δὲ (agreeing with family-13)

● v. 3 – does not include πρὸς αὐτον (agreeing with Λ, family-13, et al)

● v. 3 – επί instead of εν (agreeing with Λ, family-13, et al)

● v. 3 – ἐν τῶ instead of just ἐν (agreeing with Λ)

● v. 4 – εἶπον instead of λέγουσιν (agreeing with Λ)

● v. 4 – εἴληπται instead of κατελήφθη (agreeing with Λ and family-13)

● v. 5 – includes περὶ αὐτῆς at the end of the verse (agreeing with Λ and family-13)

The April 1 lection
(continued)

● v. 6 – does not include τῷ δακτύλῳ (agreeing with Λ)

● v. 6 – does not include μὴ προσποιούμενος (agreeing with Λ and family-13)

● v. 7 – ἀναβλέψας instead of ἀνακύψας (agreeing with Λ and family-13, et al)

● v. 7 – λίθον βαλέτω after πρῶτος (agreeing with U, Λ, and family-13)

● v. 7 – εἰς instead of ἐπ (unique to Neos Anastaseos 9)

● v. 9 – και εξῆλθεν at the beginning of the verse (agreeing with Λ) 

● v. 10 – ἀναβλέψας instead of ἀνακύψας (agreeing with Λ and family-13, et al)

● v. 10 – includes ἲδεν αὐτὴν (basically agreeing with U, Λ, and family-13)

● v. 10 – καὶ instead of θεασάμενος πλὴν τῆς γυναικὸς (agreeing with U, Λ, family-13, et al)

● v. 10 – εἰσιν οἱ (no ἑκεῖνοι), agreeing with U, Ω, family-13, et al)

● v. 11 – ὁ δὲ Ἰ[ησοῦ]ς, agreeing with Λ and 124)

● v. 11 – καὶ μηκέτι (agreeing with Byz, Λ, et al)

            The exceptionally close correspondence between Codex Λ and the text of the lection for April 1 in Naos Anastaseos 9 suggests that the ancient manuscripts which are referred to in the Jerusalem Colophon were indeed located at Jerusalem – not Mount Sinai or Mount Athos – and were ancestors of Naos Anastaseos 9. 

GA 1187:  obeli alongside
John 8:3ff., and footnote.

            This evidence also indicates that a note about the pericope adulterae which appears in Codex Λ, in the margin of minuscule 1424, and in minuscules 20, 215, 262, 1118, and 1187 is also referring to manuscripts at Jerusalem when it mentions ancient manuscripts which contain the pericope adulterae.      

            Let’s take a closer look at this note in 1187.  In 1187, the pericope adulterae is given its own rubric at the top of the page, and each line of John 8:3-11 (but not 7:53-8:2) is accompanied by an obelus.  The note says:   “The obelized portion is not in certain copies, and it was not in those used by Apollinaris.  In the old ones, it is all there.  And this pericope is referred to by the apostles, affirming that it is for the edification of the church.” 

            Τα ὀβελισμένα ἔν τισιν ἀντιγράφοις ού κεῖται· ουδε ἀ-

            πολιναρίου· εν δε τοις ἀρχαιος ὅλα κεῖται· μνημονευου-

            σιν της περικοπης ταυτης και οι αποστολοι πάντες

            ἐν αισ εζέθεντο διατάζεσιν ἐις οἰκοδομεῖν τῆς ἐκκλησίας: –

 (The claim  that the apostles refer to the pericope adulterae reflects the annotator’s awareness of the composition known as the Apostolic Constitutions (particularly Book 2, chapter 24) (from c. 380) which, in turn, is largely based on the earlier Didascalia (from the 200’s; see pages 39-40 of Gibson’s English translation of the Didascalia).

Highlighted:  the note about the pericope adulterae in GA 1187, at St. Catherine’s Monastery.

             Out of the 37 Greek manuscripts that have the Jerusalem Colophon, at least five of them – 039, 262, 899, 1187, and 1555 – also consistently share some otherwise rare readings, essentially rendering them a distinct textual family.  In addition, 039, 20, 262, 1118, and 1187 have the annotation about the pericope adulterae which mentions the absence of the PA in the copies of Apollinaris and the presence of the PA in ancient copies and the use of the PA in Apostolic Constitutions.  Thus, in 039, 262, and 1187, both features are present.  This suggests that these three witnesses are the best witnesses – along with Naos Anastaseos 9 – to the earliest strata of a small but distinct transmission-line (Wisse’s “Group Λ”).

[Explore the embedded links in this post for more information and resources on this subject.]

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. 

          Page-views of each manuscript can be selected by using the slider at the bottom of the page; a vertical slider on the right of the page provides magnification.  If greater detail is needed, one can press + and Control simultaneously.
          There are many more manuscripts yet to be digitized!  Thanks are expressed to the Polonsky Foundation, the BAV, and other institutions which assisted in the task of making these page-views available to the public.


(All digitized images at the BAV are under copyright and may not be reproduced without permission from the BAV.)

Minuscule 1273 - A Treasure in New Zealand

The George Grey Collection is a phenomenal
assortment of books on diverse subjects.

          Although the medieval Gospels-manuscript known as 1273 was kept in the collection of Sir George Grey ever since 1862, it has not been studied or analyzed very much.  In 1887 it was donated, along with very many other books, to the Auckland Public Free Library where it was examined by Henry Shaw (who gave a brief description of it in a book about the Grey Collection in 1908) and Christopher de Hamel (who included it in a holdings-catalog prepared in the 1970’s).  (Daniel Wallace saw it, too, in 2009, and a team from CSNTM photographed it.)  As far as I know, 1273 is the only continuous-text Greek Gospels manuscript in New Zealand.

          The George Grey Gospels-book was not consulted during the preparation of the 1881 compilation of the Greek text of the New Testament undertaken by Westcott and Hort.  Nor was it consulted during the preparation of various text-compilations in the 1900’s, even though Shaw had mentioned that scholars who had examined it had concluded that it had “great textual value.”  For most researchers it was simply out of reach, in New Zealand.

Dr. Christopher de Hamel,
the scholar's scholar.

          In 2011, however, the Auckland Public Library made many of the George Grey Collection’s most interesting and valuable manuscripts and books available for public viewing online.  A downloadable PDF of the George Grey Gospels was made available, and it can still be downloaded for free today.   The Auckland Libraries are to be thanked for this generous gift – for there is more to this manuscript than meets the eye!  The text of 1273 is no ordinary text; it is closely related to the text of a small cluster of manuscripts which have the Jerusalem Colophon, that is, a note that states that their text was cross-checked using ancient manuscripts from the holy mountain in Jerusalem.  1273 is a long-lost relative of the manuscripts known as Codex Θ, 28, 565, and 700 – each of which ranks as “a witness of the second order” in the apparatus of the Nestle-Aland compilation of the Greek text of the New Testament.  In other words, New Zealand has a New Testament manuscript of world-class importance.

          A few sample-readings, mainly from the Gospel of Mark, may indicate the interesting nature of the text of 1273:

● Matthew 5:44:  the phrase “do good to those who hate you” is absent but the rest of the verse is present.

● Mark 1:2:  instead of “in Isaiah the prophet,” or “in the prophets,” 1273 refers to the “book of the words of Isaiah the prophet.”

● Mark 5:21:  there is no mention of a boat.  (This feature is shared by Θ, 565, 28, and 700.  It is even supported by Codex D, an uncial manuscript from the 400’s or 500’s.)

● Mark 9:12:  1273’s text does not say that Elijah comes first.  Minuscule 700 shares this very unusual reading.

● Mark 9:44 and 9:48 are in the text of 1273, but not 9:46.

● Mark 11:26 is not in 1273.  (The verse ends with the same letters with which the preceding verse ends, making it vulnerable to accidental loss when a copyist’s line of sight drifted from one set of letters to the same (or similar) set of letters further down the page.) 

● Mark 13:32 does not include the exception, “nor the Son.”

● Mark 14:6:  the second half of the verse is absent in 1273 – a harmonization via excision to the parallel-passage in John 12:6.

● Mark 14:41:  1273 agrees with Θ and 565 by including the words το τελος after απεχει.  This may mean, “The end is at hand,” but it has also been interpreted as a very early note for the lector, or reader in the church-service, meaning “The end of the lection,” and that this note, after being inserted in the text, was subsequently misunderstood.  This reading is also supported by the early uncials D and W, with “And” (και) or “Behold” (ιδου) added to transition to the following sentence.

● Mark 14:56:  1273 includes the soldiers’ question, “Who is it who struck you?” – apparently a harmonization to the parallel in Luke 22:64.

● Mark 15:8 and 15:28 are both absent from 1273’s text.
● John 1:28:  1273 reads “Bethany” rather than “Bethabara.”

● John 5:4 is in the text, but it is accompanied by a column of four “X” marks in the margin.

A detail from 1273, showing Mark 16:6b-9b.
The rubric at the top of the page identifies Mark 16:9-20
as the third resurrection-related Gospels-lection
in the Heothinon-series, and supplies the introductory
phrase for the reader to use.  Ordinary "End" and "Begin"
symbols appear between 16:8 and 16:9.

● John 7:53-8:11 was not in the text of 1273 when the manuscript was made.  Someone erased an entire page of the manuscript (where the text began in John 7:41) and rewrote the text of John 7:41b-8:13a with 7:53-8:11 included (using not only the page that had been erased, but also the upper margin of the following page), all in smaller lettering and with extra lines.

(In case you're wondering, Mark 16:9-20 and Luke 22:43-44 are both in the text.)

          Further study of 1273 is bound to bring to light the importance of 1273 as a good representative of the “Jerusalem Colophon” group of manuscripts, even though it does not have the colophon.  (I have made a transcription/collation of the text of Mark available on Facebook in the NT Textual Criticism group.  Others, I expect, will continue the analysis of Matthew, Luke, and John.)  One may reasonably hope that 1273 will be recognized as a witness worth citing in the apparatus of the Nestle-Aland text, the United Bible Societies’ text, and other compilations in the future.

The Third-most-important Manuscript in the Vatican Library

          At the Vatican Library, a project is underway to digitize thousands of Greek manuscripts.  The most important Biblical manuscript at the Vatican Libary – Codex Vaticanus (B, 03), an incomplete uncial manuscript produced around 325 – is already online.  Papyrus 75 is also at the Vatican Library (although complete page-views are not yet available at the Vatican Library’s website).  The third-most important Greek manuscript housed at the Vatican Library is also online:   minuscule 157, listed in the library-catalog as MS Urbinate Gr. 2.  Let’s take a look at this very important Gospels-codex.  

Frontispiece of 157:
Chris blessing Byzantine
Emperor John II Comnenus
and his son Alexius.

          Codex 157 is a minuscule copy of the Gospels that was produced, according to a secondary note in the manuscript, in 1122.  Even if this note had not been included in the manuscript, an approximate production-date could be deduced from the full-page illustration that appears before the Gospels-text:  Jesus Christ is pictured on His heavenly throne, accompanied by personifications of mercy and righteousness, with one hand on Emperor John II Comnenus (b. 1087, r. 1118-1143) and the other hand on Alexius, the son of John II Comnenus.   It is similar to a mosaic of Byzantine Emperor John Comnenus II and Empress Irene (previously a Hungarian princess) in Hagia Sophia (in Istanbul); the inscription that accompanies John Comnenus II in the illustration in minuscule 157 is the same as the one that accompanies him in the mosaic in Hagia Sophia.        

          In 1912-1913, in the Journal of Theological Studies, the researcher H. C. Hoskier released a full collation of 157 which is available at Archive.org.  Hoskier took note of the interesting text of this manuscript, particularly in the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John.  He also reported some of its history:  for some time it was housed at Urbino (the birthplace of the artist Raphael) in Italy, and eventually came into the possession of Clement VII (1523-1534).  It has been in the Vatican Library since that time.  Reuben Swanson cited 157 exhaustively in the Gospels-volumes of his Greek New Testament Manuscripts book-series.  

          In this manuscript, the portraits of the evangelists are combined with elaborate headpieces, heavily embellished with gold, that precede the beginning of each Gospel.  Each Gospel is accompanied by a full-page illustration closely resembling an icon:  Christ’s birth, Christ’s baptism, the birth of John the Baptist, and Christ’s resurrection are all depicted.

          Marginalia is plentiful:  chapter-numbers and chapter-titles are provided at the tops of pages, and chapter-numbers also appear in the side-margins.  Section-numbers (but not canon-numbers) are in the side-margins.  The names of various feast-days and some calendar-days also accompany the passage assigned to them in the lectionary.  In addition, the text is peppered with gold dots, apparently intended to indicate where one should pause when reading aloud.  

          While the artistic and calligraphical skills displayed in 157 are impressive, its chief value emanates from its text.  Hoskier noted that while 157 frequently corresponds to the Textus Receptus for large segments (sometimes for over 30 verses), it has a strong non-Byzantine element as well.  Hoskier listed hundreds of non-standard readings in 157, and noted many particularly interesting ones, including variants in Matthew 21:46, Mark 5:23, Luke 5:18, and John 12:20.  At the end of Mark, verses 9-20 are present – verse 9 begins on the same line in which verse 8 ends.  The story of the adulteress (John 7:53-8:11) is completely absent; John 8:12 follows 7:52 with no gap.  The copyist was a careful worker but nevertheless he made occasional mistakes, perhaps the worst of which is in John 14:6, where he omitted the clause, “and the truth.”  This mistake was never corrected, which suggests that 157 did not receive a lot of regular use.

          At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, 157 features the intriguing note known as the Jerusalem Colophon:  “The Gospel according to Matthew:  written and double-checked using the old copies in Jerusalem, stored on the holy mountain.”  This is blended with a note about the amount of text written by the copyist:  “2,484 sense-lines and three hundred and fifty-seven chapters.”  Colophons which follow the conclusions of Mark, Luke, and John also state that their text has been written and double-checked using the same copies – the “ancient copies at Jerusalem” mentioned in the colophon after the end of the Gospel of Matthew – before listing the number of sense-lines and chapters (or, technically, sections) in each Gospel.  
          Minuscule 157 is thus a member of an elite group of 37 manuscripts that contain this note, or similar notes.  Among the fellow-members of the group of manuscripts that contain the Jerusalem Colophon (in one form or another) are 039, 20, 164, 215, 300, 376, 565 (an important manuscript written on purple parchment), 686, 748, 829, 899, and 1071.  The relationship of these manuscripts to one another is not yet resolved, but it seems sufficiently clear that when a consensus of the members of this group is in agreement, it bear witness to a transmission-line that is more ancient and weightier than any single member of the group.  It may be worth mentioning that several members of this group share a similar note about John 7:53-8:11.  (See, for details, the excursus in Tommy Wasserman’s 2009 essay, The Greek New Testament Manuscripts in Sweden with an Excursus on the Jerusalem Colophon.)
          In the event that readers may wish to consult images of 157 directly, I have prepared the following index.  Verse-references indicate the passage where the first line of the page on the left is found.  (Please bear in mind that the digital images at the Vatican Library are under copyright.)

PREFATORY MATERIAL
Front Cover.
Latin text of Jerome’s Letter to Damasus (probably included as an explanation of the Eusebian Canons.)

Beginning of Ad Carpianus (within a quatrefoil border).

End of Ad Carpianus (cruciform) and first Canon-table.

Final Canon-table and beginning of chapter-list for Matthew:

12v/13r:  Kephalaia (chapter-list) for Matthew.

13v/14r:  End of kephalaia for Matthew.  Beginning of Chronikon, by Eusebius of Caesarea, written in red.

14v/15r:  End of Eusebius’ Chronicon; beginning of Hippolytus of Thebes’ Chronicle, extracted from Book 3 of his writings. 

15v/16r:  End of the extract from Hippolytus of Thebes.  Beginning of extracts from John Chrysostom’s Preface to the Gospel of Matthew (First Homily on Matthew). 

16v/17r:  

Continuation of the extracts from John Chrysostom’s First Homily on the Gospel according to Matthew.  

17v/18r:  Further extract from Chrysostom’s First Homily on Matthew.  (“For this reason, then, Matthew, writing to Hebrews, sought to show nothing more than that Jesus was from Abraham and David. . . .”).  Additional comment on the four Gospels, extracted from Origen, followed by a list of Greek rhetoricians and other writers, closing with a reference to Paul of Tarsus.

18v/19r:  Epigrams of the Gospel of Matthew, and an extract from Nicetas (?). 

19v:  Gold-background picture:  Christ Blessing John II Comnenus and Prince Alexius.

20v:  Pasted-down full-page icon-page:  the birth of Christ.  Combined scenes:  heavenly saints and angels look down upon Mary and the Christ-child; Shepherds visit; adoration of the magi.  Ox and donkey are peeking over the manger.  Mary is seated on a white couch with red and blue stripes.  Below:  a fourth scene – Joseph looks at two sheep while the midwives Salome and Zelemi bathe the Christ-child.

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

Empress Irene (from a
mosaic at Hagia Sophia)

21r:  headpiece with portrait of Matthew, and the beginning of the text of the Gospel of Matthew below the headpiece-illustration.  Within a square blue floral border on gold ground, Matthew is seated on a throne-like chair, writing a scroll; writing-tools including a compass are on his desk.   The design of the initial B is a woman holding a branch; this woman is probably intended to represent Empress Irene.  A note written to the left of the initial in small red letters may identify this person as Irene but it is not easy to read, inasmuch as the entire page is pasted down and part of the note was cut away in production.

26v/27r:  Matthew 3:11.  

33v/34r:  Matthew 6:6.  The Lord’s Prayer begins on 33v, in line 9. Notice the unusual expansion in the doxology, on the last line of 33v and the first line of 34r.

34v/35r:  Matthew 6:19.

36v/37r:  Matthew 7:10.   

46v/47r:  Matthew 10:32. 

56v/57r:  Matthew 13:33.

66v/67r:  Matthew 16:28. 

76v/77r:  Matthew 20:25.

86v/87r:  Matthew  23:30.

96v/97r:  Matthew 26:34.

105v/106r:  Matthew 28:17.  The Gospel of Matthew concludes on 105v; the text is formatted in a vortex-pattern.  The final “Amen” (with the letters arranged N-W-E-S) is followed by the Jerusalem Colophon written in gold ink.

106v/107r:  conclusion of hypothesis of Mark on 106v; beginning of kephalaia-list on 107r.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

109v/110r:  full-page illustration on 109v:  The Baptism.  On 110, an elaborate square headpiece with a portrait of Saint Mark in the center, writing his Gospel, fills the upper half of the page.  In the lower half of the page, the beginning of the Gospel of Mark has a large initial A, detailed in red and blue. 

116v/117r:  Mark 3:4.   

126v/127r:  Mark 6:17. 

146v/137r:  Mark 9:8.

146v/147r:  Mark 11:32. 

156v/157r:  Mark 14:43. 

161v/162r:  Mark 15:46.  On 162r, on line 12, Mark 16:8 ends with efobounto gar.  This is followed by an arch symbol (denoting the start of a lection), which is followed by the beginning of Mark 16:9 on the same line.  In the margin, a note identifies 16:9 as the beginning of the fourth Gospel-lection in the Heothinon-series (although it is the third such lection).  A section-number also identifies Mark 16:9 as the beginning of section #234.

162v/163r:  Mark 16:12.  The Gospel of Mark concludes on 163r, followed by the Jerusalem Colophon, followed by Epigrams of Saint Mark, followed by the beginning of the Hypothesis (Summary) of the Gospel of Luke.  

  

166v/167r:  Lines about Luke and his Gospel-account.  167r is blank.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

167v/168r:  167v is an icon-page, depicting the birth of the Prodromos (that is, the Forerunner, John the Baptist).  Elizabeth sits on a white bed with red and blue stripes.  The midwives Florus and Laurus accompany her, standing.  Below the main scenes is a scene with the infant being given a bath by the midwives.  On 168r, the entire page – headpiece and text – is pasted onto the main parchment.  An elaborate square headpiece fills the upper half of the page; a portrait of Luke is in its center on gold ground.  The Gospel of Luke begins with a large E. 

176v/177r:  Luke 2:39.  

186v.187r:  Luke 5:30.

196v/197r:  Luke 8:9.   

206v/207r:  Luke 10:3.

216v/217r:  Luke 12:27.

226v/227r:  Luke  15:24.  

236v/237r:  Luke 19:19.

246v/247r:  Luke 22:30.  On 247r, Luke 22:43 begins in line 17. 

256v/257r:  Luke 24:47.  The text of the Gospel of Luke ends near the bottom of 256v, followed by the Jerusalem Colophon.  On 257r, there are Epigrams on Saint Luke, in five lines, followed by “the end of the Gospel of Luke” (as if the Gospel ended there, instead of on the previous page), a decorative line, which is followed by the Preface to the Gospel of John.  The Jerusalem Colophon is written in heavier ink than the other text on the page.

259v/260r:  259v contains the kephalaia-list for the Gospel of John.  260r is blank.

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 

260v/261r:  260v is an icon-page, depicting the Resurrection.  (The details of the picture are similar to the representation of the “Harrowing of Hell” in the Psalter of Queen Melisende.)  261r has an elaborately decorated square headpiece for the Gospel of John, filling the upper half of the page, with a picture of John dictating his Gospel to Prochorus in the center.  The text of the Gospel of John begins with an elaborately decorated large initial E.  The entire page containing the headpiece and the text is pasted onto the parchment. 

266v/267r:  John 2:25.
272v/273r:  John 4:50.  On line 3 of 273r, John 4:5 follows 4:3, without verses 3b and 4.

276v/277r:  John 6:5. 

284v/285r:  John 7:44.  In the second and third lines of 285r, John 7:52 is followed by 8:12 without the pericope adulterae.

286v/287r:  John 8:30.

296v/297r:  John 11:29.

304v/305r:  John 13:33.  On line 10 of 305r, the copyist skipped the words “and the truth” in John 14:6.     

305v/306r:  John 14:10.   

306v/307r:  John 14:24.   

316v/317r:  John 18:38.

324v/325r:  John 21:22.  The text of the Gospel of John ends on 324v.  Three crosses are below the final verse, and a single cross, centered, is below the three crosses.  325r contains the Jerusalem Colophon, and Epigrams for John the Evangelist and Theologian.  This is followed by a note written in a different color of ink. 

325v/326r:  the end of the note that beganon the previous page, followed by a colophon, followed by a benediction.  326r is blank.

          May this manuscript, prepared for the family of the Byzantine Emperor (perhaps on the beginning of Alexius’ reign as co-emperor), continue to bless the kingdom of God.