What Can We Learn from Cosmas Indicopleustes?

             Even after Cosmas, an Egyptian monk, sailed to India in the 500s, he still believed the earth was flat.  In this respect he was in a minority.  A generation later Isidore of Seville would compose  Etymologies, in which a spherical earth was presented at the core of a geocentric model.   Cosmas’ illustrated twelve-part book Christian Topography opposed the view that earth is spherical, and condemned the idea of a spheroid earth as a pagan concept.  It survives to this day – in 1909 Eric Otto Winstedt translated it into English.   Cosmas saw the physical universe as if it were modeled after the tabernacle.

            Cosmas’ cosmography serves as a reminder of how easy it is to misrepresent your personal interpretation of scientific data, piously use Scripture as a lens to affirm your interpretation, and end up insisting that your view must be God’s view. 

            His book would be irrelevant to the field of New Testament textual criticism if extracts from it had not been adapted into summaries (hypotheses, or argumenta) of the Gospels and included in dozens of Gospels-manuscripts.   They show up, for example, in GA 473.

            Cosmas’ Gospels-summaries – extracted from Christian Topography by someone else – go like this:

Matthew:

Ματθαῖος ὁ πρῶτος τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν, ὁ καὶ Λευὶς χρηματίσας, ὁ ἐκ τελώνου ἀπόστολος, Ἑβραίοις τῇ πατρίῳ αὐτῶν διαλέκτῳ Ἑβραϊστὶ γράψας τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἐξέδωκεν ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ, πρῶτον μὲν ἀρχὴν ποιησάμενος ἀπὸ τῆς κατὰ σάρκα γενεαλογίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐκ Δαυὶδ καὶ Ἀβραάμ, ὡς πρὸς Ἑβραίους ποιούμενος τὸν λόγον, οἷς καὶ αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι ἐδόθησαν· εἶτα καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ καθεξῆς διηγησάμενος, τόν τε τύπον τοῦ βαπτίσματος καὶ τοὺς πειρασμοὺς καὶ τὴν ἐκλογὴν τῶν μαθητῶν καὶ τὰ θαύματα καὶ τὴν διδασκαλίαν, καὶ τέλος τὸ πάθος καὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν, δι’ ἧς ἀθάνατος καὶ ἄτρεπτος ἡ ἀνθρωπότης δείκνυται, ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐτοιμάσαντι καὶ προμηνύσαντι Θεῷ· καὶ πληρώσαντι, ἀμήν.

Matthew, the first of the evangelists, also known as Levi the merchant, the apostle who was formerly a tax collector, wrote the gospel to the Hebrews in their native dialect, Hebrew, and released it in Jerusalem, first by beginning with the genealogy according to the flesh of Christ  from David and Abraham – delivering the word to the Hebrews, to whom the promises were also given.  Then follows the rest, narrating the type of baptism and the temptations and the choosing of the disciples and the miracles, and the teaching, and finally the passion and the resurrection, by which mankind is immortal and incorruptible. What was shown from the beginning and divinely foretold, they also fulfilled.  Amen.

Mark:

Οὗτος ὁ δεύτερος Πέτρου ἐν Ῥώμῃ, ἐντειλαμένος αὐτῷ, Μᾶρκος συγγραψάμενος εὐαγγέλιον, ὃς ἀρχὴν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, ἤτοι τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς πολιτείας, τὸ βάπτισμα ὁρισάμενος, ὃ τύπος ἦν τῆς ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστάσεως, δι’ ἧς εἰς ἀθάνατον καὶ ἄτρεπτον ζωὴν ἀναγεννώμεθα· εἶτα καὶ αὐτὸς τοὺς πειρασμοὺς εἰρηκὼς καὶ τὴν νίκην, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰ θαύματα καὶ τὴν διδασκαλίαν καθεξῆς, καὶ τὸ πάθος καὶ τὴν ἔγερσιν τοῦ Κυρίου, δι’ ἧς ἡ ἀνθρωπότης εἰς ἀθάνατον καὶ ἀπαθῆ ζωὴν ἀναμορφοῦται, ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐτοιμάσαντι καὶ προμηνύσαντι Θεῷ· καὶ πληρώσαντι.  Ἀμήν.

This, the second one, was commissioned by Peter in Rome.  Mark wrote the Gospel, “the beginning of the Gospel,” namely, of the evangelical state, baptism, which was a type of the resurrection from the dead, by which we are reborn to an immortal and unchangeable life. See also how he endured the temptations. and the victory, and likewise the miracles and the teaching thereafter, and the passion and the resurrection of the Lord, by which humanity is transformed into an immortal and unchangeable life.  What was prepared and foretold from the beginning by God was fulfilled.  Amen.

Luke:

Οὗτος ὁ Λουκᾶς ὁ τρίτος τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν, ὃς θεωρήσας πολλοὺς ἐπιχειροῦντας ἀτάκτως γράφειν, αὐτὸς ἀκριβῶς καθεξῆς ἔγραψε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, Ἀντιοχεὺς μὲν ὑπάρχων τὸ γένος, ἰατρὸς δὲ τὴν τέχνην, Παύλῳ δὲ τῷ ἀποστόλῳ συνέκδημος γενόμενος· ὃς ἀρχὴν ἐποιήσατο ἀπὸ τῆς συλλήψεως Ἰωάννου τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ, ὅς ἐστι πρόδρομος τῆς κατὰ σάρκα παρουσίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα διελθών, τὰ θαύματά τε καὶ τὴν διδασκαλίαν, καὶ τὸ πάθος καὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν, δι’ ἧς ἀθάνατος καὶ ἄτρεπτος ἡ ἀνθρωπότης ἀποδείκνυται, ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐτοιμάσαντι καὶ προμηνύσαντι περὶ τούτων Θεῷ· καὶ νῦν πληρώσαντι, καὶ πληροῦντι, Ἀμήν.

This Luke, the third of the evangelists, whose writing many of you have considered disorderly,  wrote the Gospel precisely from the beginning.  He had his roots in Antioch, was a physician by profession, and was a fellow-citizen with the apostle Paul.  He began with the conception of John the Baptist, who is the forerunner of the fleshly presence of Christ.  And he passes through the rest which follows, both the miracles and the teaching, and the passion and the resurrection, by which mankind is shown to be immortal and incorruptible, having prepared and divinely foretold these things from the beginning which are now fulfilled, and being fulfilled.  Amen.

John:

The Universe 
According to Cosmas
https://www.lib.tsu.ru/ru/node/1488

Οὗτος ὁ θεολόγος Ἰωάννης, ὁ ἔξαρχος τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν, ὁ ἠγαπημένος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ ἐπιστήθιος, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς βροντῆς, τελευταῖος πάντων συγγραψάμενος εὐαγγέλιον ἐν Ἐφέσῳ, Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ κινούμενος· ὃς ἀρχὴν ἐποιήσατο ἀπὸ τῆς θεότητος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, εἰπών, καὶ οὕτως τὰ ἀνθρώπινα αὐτοῦ διηγησάμενος, τά τε θαύματα καὶ τὴν ὑψηλὴν διδασκαλίαν, καὶ τὸ πάθος καὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν, δι’ ἧς εἰς ἀθάνατον καὶ ἄτρεπτον ζωὴν ἡ ἀνθρωπότης μετεστοιχειώθη, καθὼς ἐξ ἀρχῆς προώριστο παρὰ Θεῷ· ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, πᾶσα ἡ θεόπνευστος παλαιά τε καὶ νέα διαθήκη.

This is the theologian John, the first of the evangelists, the beloved of Christ, the sage, the son of thunder, the last of all to write the gospel in Ephesus.  Moved by the Holy Spirit, he was began by relating the divinity of Christ, saying, “In the beginning was the Word,” and thus narrates his human stories, the miracles and the high teaching, and the passion and the resurrection, by which mankind was transfigured into an immortal and inviolable life.  Thus from the beginning it was predestined by God, to whom be glory forever, who inspired the old and new testament.

 

 

 

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.]