Like a lot
of other medieval Gospels manuscripts, 490 does not begin immediately with the
Gospels’ text: first there is Eusebius’
letter Ad Carpianus, explaining how
to make use of the Eusebian Canon-tables and Sections. (in 490, the letter is framed within a quatrefoil
frame, on four pages, sort of like the format in GA 114. The quatrefoil is barbed on the first and last page of Ad Carpianus (written in red). On the second and third pages of Ad Carpianus, the quatrefoil is
accompanied by drawings of four birds. The next eight pages contain the Canon-tables
themselves. Next comes the list of 68 kephalaia (chapters) for the Gospel of
Matthew.
 |
| The first headpiece in 490. |
On fol.
8, the text of Matthew begins, written in two columns (27 lines per column),
below a leafy headpiece that fills about half the page. There is a sketch of an antelope in the
margin alongside the headpiece. Except
for the initial “B,” which is drawn in red, resembling a stylized vine, the
changed when the Scriptural text begins; everything up to this point is red; the
text after this point (except initials) is brown. (Section-numbers and Canon-numbers, titloi, chapter-numbers, and the lectionary apparatus
(dividing the text into lections for the Synaxarion) are in the margins in
red.)
On 10r,
Matthew 2:11 reads εἰδον (“saw”), like most manuscripts, disagreeing with
Stephanus’ ευρον (“found”).
On 10v
we see that sacred names are not contracted with 100% consistency; in Matthew 3:2,
ουρανων (“of heaven”) is spelled in full. On 58r,
κυριε (“Lord”) is written in full in Matthew 27:63, where the Pharisees address
Pilate.
On 11r,
“and fire” is not included at the end of Matthew 3:11.
On 14r,
an incipit-phrase, ειπεν ο Κς (“The Lord said”) is written in the margin
alongside the beginning of Matthew 5:31.
On 15v,
Matthew 6:13 includes the doxology of the Lord’s Prayer.
On 21v,
a small cross has been drawn in the margin alongside Matthew 9:36.
On 26r and 26v, the copyist worked around a hole in the parchment. (Similarly, the copyist avoided writing on a small tear in the parchment later in Matthew 12:45 and 12:50, and on folio 36.) More small holes and tears appear further along in the manuscript.
On 26r and 26v, the copyist worked around a hole in the parchment. (Similarly, the copyist avoided writing on a small tear in the parchment later in Matthew 12:45 and 12:50, and on folio 36.) More small holes and tears appear further along in the manuscript.
On 40v,
Matthew 20:16b is included in the
text, at the end of a lection.
On 47v,
alongside Matthew 24:1, the small cross (with dots, arranged ⁜) appears again.
On 53v,
the lectionary apparatus (written in this instance in different ink) includes, after Matthew 27:39, instructions for the lector to jump to Luke.
On 57r,
Matthew 27:35b is not in the text.
On 59v,
the text of Matthew ends in the first column; the closing title is written in
red.
After Mark’s kephalaia-list,
the text of Mark begins on 61r;
a red headpiece fills part of the first column.
Mark 1:2 reads “in the prophets.”
On 61v, Mark 1:16 reads αμφίβληστρα
On 61v, Mark 1:16 reads αμφίβληστρα
On 64r,
Mark 2:17 ends with “to repentance,” at the end of a lection.
On 73v,
Mark 7:16 is in the text, at the end of a lection.
On 78r,
Mark 9:29 includes “and fasting.”
On 83r,
a cross is sketched in the margin alongside Mark 11:27.
On 92r,
Mark 15:28 is not included. On 92v, a note in the lower margin introduces the tenth of the 12 Passion-lections.
On 93v,
Mark 16:9 includes ο Ις (“Jesus”) after Αναστας (“Rising”).
The text of Mark ends on 94r;
the kephalaia-list for Luke begins in
the second column of the page.
The text of Luke begins on 95r.
On 106r,
a cross is sketched in the margin alongside Luke 5:27.
On 106v,
Luke 6:1 includes δευτεροπρώτω.
On 111r,
Luke 7:31 does not include “And the Lord said.”
On 116v,
Luke 9:23 includes “daily” (καθ’ ἡμέραν)
On 118v,
ως καὶ Ἡλίας ἐποίησε (“as Elijah also did”) is included in Luke 9:54, filling
exactly one line. In Luke 9:55-56, the
last part of verse 55 and all of verse 56 are present.
On 124r,
Luke 11:54 includes ζητουντες and ινα κατηγορήσωσιν αυτου.
On 128r,
Luke 13:19 includes μέγα (agreeing with P45 Byz A W Pesh).
On 134r,
Luke 17:9 includes ου δοκω.
On 136v,
in Luke 18:24, περίλυπον γενόμενον is included.
On 140v,
in Luke 20:23, τί με πειράζετε is included.
On 144v,
in Luke 22:31, ειπε δε ο Κς is included.
On 145r,
Luke 22:43-44 is included. A lectionary
note in 22:45, after μαθητας, in different writing, mentions the jump to
Matthew (cf. 53v).
On 147r,
Luke 22:17 is included.
On 147v,
Luke 23:34b is included. In the lower margin, there is a note to introduce the eighth Passion-lection (Lk. 23:32-49).
On 148v,
in Luke 24:1, καί τινες συν αυταις is included.
On 150r,
before Luke 24:36, ⁜ appears in the text.
The text of Luke concludes on 151r
in the first column. The chapter-list
for John, in red, occupies the second column.
The text of John begins on 152r. A three-sided frame surrounds the book’s
title in the headpiece in the first column.
On 153r,
John 1:29 has ὁ Ιωάννης after βλεπει.
On 158v,
John 4:42 includes ὁ Χς.
On 159v,
John 5:3b-4 is included. Verse 4 begins αγγελος γαρ κυ, agreeing
with A K L Δ.
On 162v,
in John 6:22, εκεινο εις ὁ ενέβησαν οι μαθηται αυτου is included.
On 166v,
in John 7:46, ως ουτος ὁ ανος is included, occupying a single line.
On 167r,
John 8:12 follows 7:52 without interruption on the same line. The pericope
adulterae is completely absent.
On 169r,
in John 8:59, διελθων δια μέσου αυτων και παρηγεν ουτως is included.
On 175r,
John 12:1 includes ὁ τεθνηκώς.
On 182v,
in John 16:16, οτι υπάγω προς τον πρα is included.
On 188v,
before John 19:25, ⁜ appears in the text.
On 192v,
the text of John ends in the first column.
In John 21:23, τι πρός σε is included. The line-length slightly
decreases, vortex-style, for 12 lines.
There is a simple decoration to indicate the end of the book but there
is no closing book-title or subscription.
The text of
GA 490 is an exceptionally pure – that is, unmixed – Byzantine Text. It was skillfully written. (Perhaps it was made “in house” at a
monastery; there are no stichoi-notes.) Except for the non-inclusion of the pericope adulterae, it is very similar
to the Gospels-text in the 1982 Hodges-Farstad Greek New Testament
According to the Majority Text. Movable-nu is very often dropped. At random, I picked page 270 of the Hodges-Farstad text (containing Luke
21:7-18) to compare to 490. In Luke
21:7-18, I found exactly one difference between Hodges-Farstad and 490: in verse 7, 490 has μέλλει instead of μέλλη.
Incipit-phrases are not present in the main lectionary apparatus, but some have been added in secondary, scrawled margin-notes for the 12 Passion-time lections.
Incipit-phrases are not present in the main lectionary apparatus, but some have been added in secondary, scrawled margin-notes for the 12 Passion-time lections.
Because
490’s text is so similar to the standard Byzantine text, the most unusual thing
about it may be the titles of the four Gospels:
the headpiece to Matthew introduces all four Gospels in its central
quatrefoil: ΣΥΝ ΘΩ ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ ΤΩΝ
ΤΕΣΣΑΡΩΝ ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΣΤΩΝ. Four circles, within the four corners of the
headpiece, contain four segments of the title for the Gospel of Matthew: ΕΚ ΤΟΥ + ΚΑΤΑ + ΜΑΤ + ΘΑΙΟΝ.
Mark’s
title: ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ ΕΚ ΤΟΥ ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ
Luke’s
title: ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ ΕΚ ΤΟΥ ΚΑΤΑ ΛΟΥΚΑΝ
 |
| Claudius James Rich |
John’s
title: ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ ΕΚ ΤΟΥ ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ
ΑΓΙΟΥ
It is
unusual to see ΕΚ ΤΟΥ in the titles in a continuous-text manuscript. It is not unique
– Codex
L also has “ΕΚ ΤΟΥ” in its title for Matthew, and 1241’s title for Matthew
includes ΣΥΝ ΘΕΩ. Chief members of
family 13 (and 1071) also have εκ του in at least one Gospel-title. It is not easy to intuit the reason for these
unusual titles. Perhaps the person who
added the titles in the headpieces was used to putting titles in lectionaries.
Another
thing about 490 worth noticing is that it came to light back in the 1820’s as
part of the collection of antiquities left by Claudius James Rich
(1787-1821), a notable British scholar who traveled widely in the Middle East.
