The Textus Receptus: How Bad Is It?

          The flaws in the Textus Receptus - defined here as the base-text of the English King James Version - are well-know to those who have studied textual criticism.  Due to the limitations of Erasmus, Stephanus, and Beza's manuscripts, the Textus Receptus fails to display the majority reading in over a thousand places in Matthew-Jude, and in Revelation 22, the Textus Receptus to this day has non-original readings which Erasmus retro-translated into Greek from Latin.  Although it is generally a sound representative of the Byzantine Text in Matthew-Jude, minority readings pop up in every Gospel, in Acts, and in the epistles - on rare occasions (such as in Acts 9:5-6) readings with no Greek support at all.

          But today is April 28, the day when Billy the Kid escaped custody - so instead of focusing on how bad the TR was, let's put the spotlight today on how GOOD the Textus Receptus is.  (Billy the Kid might not have been a great gunfighter, but he was a good jaibreaker!)  Equipped with a low number of manuscripts, mostly Byzantine, the scholars of the 1500s were able to filter out scribal mistakes and give Tyndale, Luther, and the translators of the KJV a Greek base-text which transmitted (for the most part - allowing for harmonizations, name-spelling, the occasional glitch-reading, etc,) the same message that the original text transmitted in the first century.

          Some may say, "In 2024, we don't need the Textus Receptus anymore."  I agree.  The Byzantine Textform is better.  The Solid Rock GNT is better.  Not only do we have many more Greek manuscripts available than the scholars of the 1500s had, but we also have much wider versional evidence, and much older evidence in both Greek and Latin and Syriac, et al. But is there any case in which the Textus Receptus and the oldest extant manuscript agree, saying the same thing, and the Byzantine Textform, the Majority Text, the SBLGNT, the Nestle-Aland NTG and the UBS GNT disagree?

          There is.  Turn to First Peter 5:8.  "Νήψατε, γρηγορήσατε· ὁ ἀντίδικος ὑμῶν διάβολος, ὡς λέων ὠρυόμενος, περιπατεῖ ζητῶν τίνα καταπίῃ" is the Byzantine form of this verse.  The Textus Receptus is different:  there is an οτί between γρηγορήσατε and ὁ ἀντίδικος which is in neither the Byzantine Text nor in the Nestle-Aland/UBS compilations.     In our earliest Greek witness to the text of this part of First Peter - Papyrus 72 - we also find this οτί!  Which just goes to show you that in the field of New Testament textual criticism, there is no such thing as an unimportant Greek manuscript.  Even the scribes who made the manuscripts upon which the Textus Receptus was based can possess the same scribal tendencies that the scribes of the earliest Greek manuscript had.

Hand-to-Hand Combat: P72 vs 6 - The Final Fight

          Minuscule 6 has beaten Papyrus 72 twice in hand-to-hand combat, showing that a manuscript produced in the 1200’s can contain a text that is more accurate from a manuscript produced in the late 200’s or early 300’s.  The second contest, though, was closer than the first one – and if one were to set aside textual variants that involve vowel-exchanges (itacisms), it was virtually a tie.  Today, Papyrus 72 and minuscule 6 meet one last time:  we will compare their texts in Jude verses 17-25.  Will Papyrus 72 finally prevail?

17 – 6 reads προειρημενον ρηματων after the first των (transposition)

17 – 6 does not have the second των (-3)

18 – 6 reads των χρονων instead of του χρονου (+4, -4)

18 – 6 reads ελευσονται instead of εσονται (+3)

19 – 6 reads εαυτους after αποδιοριζοντες (+7)

20 – 6 reads τη αγιωτατη ημων πιστει εποικοδομουντες εαυτους instead of εποικοδομουντες εαυτους τη αγιωτατη υμων πιστει (transposition) (+1, -1) [The microfilm is not clear.]

21 – no differences

22 – 6 reads ελεγχετε instead of ελεατε (+4 -3)

23 – 6 reads εσπιλομενον instead of εσπιλωμενον (+1, -1) [The microfilm is not clear; this letter is at the end of a line.  It probably reads εσπιλωμενον but I made the call against it just to be strict.] 

24 – 6 reads ασπιλους και after απταιστους και (+11)

24 – 6 reads γαλλιασει instead of αγαλλιασει (-1) [Again, the microfilm is not clear; the letter is probably present but since I could not see it, I made the call against it.]

25 – 6 reads και  after Θω (+3)

25 – 6 does not have του after παντος (-3)

25 – 6 does not have Αμην (-4)

          Thus, in Jude verses 17-25, minuscule 6 has 34 non-original letters, and is missing 20 original letters, for a total of 54 letters’ worth of corruption.  (This may be reduced to 33 non-original letters present and 17 or 18 original letters absent, for a total of 50 or 51 letters’ worth of corruption, if, as I suspect, the original letters in question are present in the manuscript but obscured in the microfilm-image.)

          Now we turn to Papyrus 72.

17 – no differences

18 – P72 does not have του after εσχατου (-3)  

18 – P72 reads εμπεκτε instead of εμπαικται (+2, -4)

18 – P72 reads επειθυμιας instead of επειθυμιας (+1)

18 – P72 reads ασεβιων instead of ασεβειων (-1)

19 – no differences

20 – P72 reads Υμις instead of Υμεις (-1)

20 – P72 reads τη εαυτων αγιοτητι πειστι ανυκοδομεισθαι instead of εποικοδομουντες εαυτους τη αγιωτατη υμων πιστει (transposition) (+15, -20)

20 – P72 reads εαυτοις at the end of the verse (+7)

21 – P72 reads τηρησωμεν instead of τηρησατε (+4, -3)

21 – P72 reads εις ζοην ημων Ιηυ Χρυ instead of ημων Ιυ Χυ εις ζωην (transposition) (+1, -1)

22 – P72 does not have Και (-3)

22/23 – P72 reads εκ πυρος αρπαζατε διακρινομενους instead of ελεατε διακρινομενους ους δε σωζετε εκ πυροσ αρπαζοντες (transposition) (+3, -20)

23 – P72 reads ελεειτε after δε instead of ελεατε (+2, -1)

23 – P72 reads μεισουντες instead of μισουντες (+1)

23 – P72 reads εσπειλωμενοι instead of εσπιλωμενον (+2, -1)

24 – P72 reads στηριξαι ασπειλους αμωμους αγνευομενους απεναντι της δοξης αυτου instead of

φυλαξαι υμας απταιτους και στησαι κατενωπιον της δοξης αυτου αμωμους (transposition) (+29, -25)

24 – P72 reads αγαλλιασι instead of αγαλλιασει (-1)

25 – P72 does not have σωτηρι (-6)  

25 – P72 reads αυτω after ημων (+4)

25 – P72 reads δοξα κρατος τιμη before δια (+8) [κρατος appears further along in the text so I considered its presence at this point a transposition.  Δοξα is repeated further along in the text.] 

25 – P72 reads αυτω δοξα και instead of δοξα (+7)

25 – P72 reads μεγαλοσυνη instead of μεγαλωσυνη (+1, -1)

25 – P72 does not have και εξουσια προ παντος του αιωνος (-28)   

25 – P72 reads τους παντας εωνας instead of παντας τους αιωνας (transposition) (+1, -2)

          Thus, in Jude verses 17-25, the text of Papyrus 72 includes 87 non-original letters, and 121 original letters are absent.  This yields a total of 208 letters’ worth of corruption in Papyrus 72’s text of Jude verses 17-25.  If NA28 is used as the standard of comparison, the text of P72 does not improve:  in verse 18, P72’s score decreases by three due to the non-inclusion of οτι and increases by three via the non-inclusion of του.    

          In this particular contest, minuscule 6 does not merely win.  It crushes and humiliates.  Its 54 letters’ worth of corruption (at most), acquired in a transmission-stream 1,100 years long, amount to only 26% of the amount of corruption acquired in Papyrus 72’s transmission-stream in the course of about 230 years.  The text of the younger manuscript, in this case, is not just better than the text in the much more ancient manuscript.  The text of minuscule 6 in Jude verses 17-25 is four times better than the text of Jude verses 17-25 in Papyrus 72.

        Now let’s consider these results together with the previous two contests between minuscule 6 and Papyrus 72, to see how the texts of these two manuscripts compare in the entire Epistle of Jude:

In verses 1-10, minuscule 6 has 15 non-original letters, and 26 original letters are absent.  41.

In verses 11-16, minuscule 6 has 31 non-original letters, and 31 original letters are absent.  62.

In verses 17-25, minuscule 6 has 34 non-original letters, and 20 original letters are absent.  54.

Totals for minuscule 6:  80 non-original letters present; 77 original letters absent.  Total:  157.

In verses 1-10, Papyrus 72 has 38 non-original letters, and 50 original letters are absent. 

In verses 11-16, Papyrus 72 has 24 non-original letters, and 79 original letters are absent.   

In verses 17-25, Papyrus 72 has 87 non-original letters, and 121 original letters are absent.

Totals for Papyrus 72:  149 non-original letters present; 250 original letters absent.  Total:  399.

          Thus, minuscule 6 has only 39% as much corruption in the Epistle of Jude as Papyrus 72 has.  Or to put it another way:  the ratio of corruption in minuscule 6 compared to Papyrus 72 is almost exactly 150:400, or 15:40, or 3:8.  If anyone still imagines that a simple appeal to “the oldest manuscripts” is decisive and persuasive, let that person carefully consider this data.

(Readers are invited to check the data and math in this post.)

Papyrus 72 versus Minuscule 6: Rematch!

          In today’s hand-to-hand combat, Papyrus 72 has returned to the ring for a rematch with minuscule 6.  We recently observed that in verses 1-10 of Jude, the text of minuscule 6 (produced in the 1200’s) was far more accurate than the text of Papyrus 72 (produced around 300).  But what happens in the six verses after that?  We will find out today!     

          This time we will examine minuscule 6 first, in Jude verses 11-16.  The same rules are in play that were used for the previous contest; each manuscript's text is compared to the Nestle-Aland-27 compilation. 

11 – no differences.

12 – 6 reads ευωχιαις instead of απαταις (+5, -4)

12 – 6 reads υμιν before αφοβως (+4)

13 – 6 reads τον before αιωνα (+3)

14 – 6 reads Προεφητευσε instead of Προεφητευσεν (-1)

14 – 6 does not have και after δε (-3)

14 – 6 reads ηλθε instead of ηλθεν (-1)

15 – 6 reads του at the beginning of the verse (+3)

15 – 6 reads παντας instead of πασαν (+4, -3)

15 – 6 reads ασεβεις instead of ψυχην (+7, -5)

15 – 6 does not  have ασεβειας αυτων after εργων (-13)

15 – 6 reads λογων after σκληρων (+5)

16 – 6 reads εισι instead of εισιν (-1)

          Thus in Jude verses 11-16 in minuscule 6, there are 31 non-original letters, and 31 original letters are absent, for a total of 62 letters’ worth of corruption.  (Three letters’ worth of corruption are movable-nu variants.)  

          Now let’s look at the text of this passage in Papyrus 72: 

11 – P72 reads Βαλαακ instead of Βαλααμ (+1, -1)

11 – P72 reads μεισθου instead of μισθου (+1)

11 – P72 reads αντιλογεια instead of αντιλογια (+1)

12 – P72 reads σπειλαδες instead of σπιλαδες (+1)

12 – P72 reads συνευχομενοι instead of συνευωχουμενοι (-2)

12 – P72 reads πυμενοντες instead of ποιμαινοντες (+2, -4)

12 – P72 reads νεφελε instead of νεφελαι (+1, -2) 

13 – P72 reads θαλασης instead of θαλασσης (-1)

13 – P72 reads απαφριζοντα instead of απαφριζοντα (+1, -1)

13 – P72 reads πλανητε instead of πλανηται (+1, -2)

13 – P72 does not have ο after οις (-1)

13 – P72 reads εωνα instead of αιωνα (+1, -2) 

13 – P72 reads τετηρητε instead of τετηρηται (+1, -2)

14 – P72 reads Επροφητευσεν instead of Προεφητευσεν (+1, -1)

14 – P72 reads αγιων αγγελων instead of αγιαις (+9, -3)

14 – P72 does not have αυτου after μυριασιν (-5)

15 – P72 reads ελεγξε instead of ελεγξαι (+1, -2)

15 – P72 reads περει instead of περι (+1)

15 – P72 does not have των εργων ασεβειας αυτων ων ησεβησαν και περι παντων after the second παντων.  The copyist’s line of sight apparently drifted from one occurrence of παντων των to the next one.  (-44)

16 – P72 reads γογγυστε instead of γογγυσται (+1, -2)

16 – P72 reads εαυτω instead of εαυτων (-1)

16 – P72 reads πορεομενοι instead of πορευομενοι (-1)

[Note:  The copyist of P72 skipped from μεμψιμοιροι to και in the text, but he corrected this mistake by writing κατα τας επιθυμιας εαυτω πορεομενοι in the lower margin of the page.]

16 – P72 does not have το after και (-2) 

16 – P72 reads ωφελιας instead of ωφελειας (-1)

16 – P72 reads χαρειν instead of χαριν (+1)

          Thus, in Jude verses 11-16 in Papyrus 72, there are 24 non-original letters, and 79 original letters are absent, for a total of 103 letters’ worth of corruption.  (Thirty-six letters’ worth of corruption involves itacisms or movable-nu.) 

          Once again, the text of minuscule 6, though far from optimal, resembles the text in the Nestle-Aland compilation more closely than does the text of Papyrus 72.  Compared to Papyrus 72, minuscule 6 has 39% less corruption in this passage.  In Jude verses 11-16, the transmission-stream of minuscule 6 – over 1,100 years long – resisted corruption significantly better than the 230-year-long transmission-stream of Papyrus 72.    

(Readers are invited to check the data and math in this post.)

Hand-to-Hand Combat: P72 versus Minuscule 6

          Papyrus 72 is one of the participants in today’s hand-to-hand contest.  It is possibly the oldest substantial manuscript of the book of Jude, being usually assigned a production-date in the late 200’s or early 300’s.  (Papyrus 78 may be slightly older but it is a fragment, containing less than half of Jude’s 25 verses.)  Papyrus 72 contains much more than the Epistle of Jude; it also contains First Peter and Second Peter and some other compositions – but today we will focus on its text of Jude, and not the entire book, but just the first 10 verses.  You can access page-views of P72 at the website of the Vatican Library. 

          In the opposite corner, we have minuscule 6, from the 1200’s.  Minuscule 6 is one of the manuscripts known to European researchers in the 1500’s; it was cited by Stephanus as witness #5, that is, εʹ, in his 1550 edition of the Greek New Testament.  Microfilm-images of the pages of minuscule 6 can be viewed at the website of the National Library of France; it is catalogued as MS Grec. 112.  The text of Jude begins on page-view 137.  Minuscule 6 is not your typical manuscript; it sometimes shares unusual readings with the important minuscules 1739 and 1881. 

          It is not uncommon to read claims to the effect that the manuscripts used by researchers in the 1500’s were “late and inferior.”  So you might expect that an Alexandrian manuscript made around 300 will prove to be far more accurate than such a medieval manuscript.  Will that be what we observe when P72 and minuscule 6 square off in the ring?            

          Let’s find out.  Today’s battleground consists of the first 10 verses of the Epistle of Jude.  The rules used for the previous contests apply here:  the Nestle-Aland compilation will be the standard of comparison.  Nomina sacra and other decipherable contractions are not considered variants as such.  Transpositions are mentioned but are not included in the totals.  Words in brackets in the NA compilation will be treated as part of the text.  In addition, I have defined P72’s text as the text that left the copyist’s hand; that is, the text of P72 that is evaluated here includes corrections made by the copyist as he wrote.         

Papyrus 72, compared to NA27:

1 – no differences

2 – P72 reads πληθυνθιη instead of πληθυνθειη (-1)

3 – P72 reads ποιησαμενος instead of ποιουμενος (+3, -2) 

3 – P72 reads του before γραφειν (+3)

3 – P72 reads γραφιν instead of γραφειν (-1)

3 – P72 reads περει instead of περι (+1)

3 – P72 reads επαγωνιζεσθε instead of επαγωνιζεσθαι (+1, -2)

3 – P72 reads πειστει instead of πιστει (+1)

4 – P72 reads παλε instead of παλαι (+1, -2)

4 – P72 reads προγεγραμενοι instead of προγεγραμμενοι (-1)

4 – P72 reads χαρειτα instead of χαριτα (+1)

4 – P72 does not read νομον; the copyist wrote this word but then crossed it out. (-5)

4 – P72 reads κν ιην χρν ημων instead of κν ημων ιην χρν (transposition)

5 – P72 reads Υπομνησε instead of Υπομνησαι (+2, -1)

5 – P72 does not have υμας after ειδοτας (-4)

5 – P72 reads απαξ παντα οτι θς χρς instead of παντα οτι ο κς απαξ (transposition) (+4, -2)

5 – P72 reads εγ instead of εκ (+1, -1)

5 – P72 reads Εγυπτου instead of Αιγυπτου (+1, -2)

5 – P72 reads πειστευσαντας instead of πιστευσαντας (+1)

6 – P72 reads απολειποντας instead of απολιποντας (+1)

6 – P72 reads αειδειοις instead of αιδιοις (+2)

7 – P72 reads Γομορα instead of Γομορρα (-1)

7 – P72 reads ε instead of αι (+1, -2)

7 – P72 reads περει instead of περι (+1)

7 – P72 reads απελθουσε instead of απελθουσαι (+1, -2)

7 – P72 reads τερας instead of ετερας (-1)

7 – P72 reads προσκειντε instead of προκεινται (+2, -2)

7 – P72 reads διγμα instead of δειγμα (-1)

7 – P72 reads εωνιου instead of αιωνιου (+1, -2)

8 – P72 does not have μεν after σαρκα (-3)

8 – P72 reads μειενουσιν instead of μιαινουσιν (+3, -3)

8 – P72 reads αθετουσι instead of αθετουσιν (-1)

8 – P72 reads βασφημουσιν instead of βλασφημουσιν (-1)

9 – P72 reads Μιχαης instead of Μιχαηλ (+1, -1)

9 – P72 reads Μουσεως instead of Μωυσεως (+1, -1)

9 – P72 reads επειτειμησαι instead of επιτιμησαι (+2)

10 – P72 reads υδασιν instead of οιδασιν (+1, -2)

10 – P72 reads επειστανται instead of επιστανται (+1)

10 – P72 reads φθιρονται instead of φθειρονται (-1)

The text of Jude verses 1-5
in minuscule 6.

Thus when we examine the contents of verses 1-10 of the Epistle of Jude in Papyrus 72, using NA27 as the standard of comparison, we find that 38 non-original letters are present, and 50 original letters are absent, for a total of 88 letters’ worth of corruption, most of which are spelling-related. 

Now let’s compare the text of minuscule 6 to NA27:

1 – 6 reads χυ ιυ (transposition)

1 – 6 reads εθνεσι instead of εν Θεω (+5, -4)  [Regarding this variant, which is not mentioned in Metzger’s Textual Commentary, or in the NET, or in the NKJV’s footnotes, see Robert Waltz’s comments.]

1 – 6 reads ηγιασμενοις instead of ηγαπημενοις (+3, -3)

2 – no differences

3 – 6 reads υμων instead of ημων (+1, -1)

3 – 6 reads εχων instead of εσχον (+1, -2)

4 – 6 reads χαριν instead of χαριτα (+1, -2)

5 – 6 reads ουν instead of δε (+3, -2)

5 – 6 does not have υμας after ειδοτας (-4)

5 – 6 reads Ις instead of ο Κς (+1, -2)

6 – no differences.

7 – 6 reads τουτοις τροπον instead of τροπον τουτοις (transposition)

8 – 6 reads μιαινουσι instead of μιαινουσιν (-1)

8 – 6 reads αθετουσι instead of αθετουσιν (-1)

9 – 6 reads Μωσεως instead of Μωυσεως (-1)

9 – 6 reads ετολμησε instead of ετολμησεν (-1)

9 – 6 reads αλλ instead of αλλα (-1)

10 – 6 reads οιδασι instead of οιδασιν (-1)

Thus in minuscule 6 in the first 10 verses of Jude, 15 non-original letters are present, and 26 original letters are absent, yielding a total of 41 letters’ worth of corruption. 

The score of minuscule 6 improves when the text of NA28 is the standard of comparison.  One of the newly adopted readings in NA28 is in verse 5; instead of “πάντα ὅτι [ο] κύριος απαξ,” the text of NA28 reads  απαξ παντα οτι Ιησους.  This implies a transposition in the text of minuscule 6, but it also brings minuscule 6’s total amount of corruption down to 14 non-original letters present and 24 original letters absent, yielding a total of 38 letters’ worth of corruption.  When P72’s score is compared to NA28, its score also improves, by a single letter, to 87.    

Thus, in Jude verses 1-10, when NA28 is used as the standard of comparison, minuscule 6 has only 44% as much corruption as P72 does.  Papyrus 72, our earliest complete manuscript of Jude, had a transmission-stream only 230 years long (positing its production in 300 and the composition of the Epistle of Jude around the year 70).  Minuscule 6, one of those “late and inferior” manuscripts known to Reformation-era scholars in the mid-1500’s, had a transmission-stream that was about 1,050 years long.  In the first 10 verses of Jude, the copyists in P72’s transmission-line in Egypt introduced twice as much corruption in one-fourth as much time.

(Readers are invited to check the data and math 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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