Codex Laudianus, designated by E^a or 08 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1001 ( von Soden), called ''Laudianus'' after the former owner, Archbishop

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...

. It is a

diglot A polyglot is a book that contains side-by-side versions of the same text in several different languages. Some editions of the Bible or its parts are polyglots, in which the Hebrew and Greek originals are exhibited along with historical translat ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

—

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

uncial Uncial is a majuscule Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. (1996) ''Encyclopedia of the Book''. 2nd edn. New Castle, DE, and London: Oak Knoll Press & The British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one ...

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

, palaeographically assigned to the 6th century. The manuscript contains the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...

Description

The manuscript is a

, with Greek and Latin in parallel columns on the same page, with the Latin in the left-hand column. The codex contains 227 parchment leaves, sized , with almost the complete text of the Book of Acts (

lacuna Lacuna (plural lacunas or lacunae) may refer to: Related to the meaning "gap" * Lacuna (manuscripts), a gap in a manuscript, inscription, text, painting, or musical work ** Great Lacuna, a lacuna of eight leaves where there was heroic Old Norse p ...

in 26:29-28:26). It is the earliest known manuscript to contain Acts 8:37. The text is written in two columns per page, 24 and more lines per page. It is arranged in very short lines of only one to three words each. The text is written colonmetrically.

Text

The Greek text of this codex exhibits a mixture of text-types, usually the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, but there are many

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and some Alexandrian readings. According to

Kurt Aland Kurt Aland (28 March 1915 – 13 April 1994) was a German theologian and biblical scholar who specialized in New Testament textual criticism. He founded the '' Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung'' (Institute for New Testament Textua ...

it agrees with the Byzantine text-type 36 times, and 21 times with the Byzantine when it has the same reading as the Alexandrian text. It agrees 22 times with the Alexandrian text against the Byzantine. It has 22 independent or distinctive readings (''Sonderlesarten''). Aland placed it in Category II. It contains Acts 8:37, as do the manuscripts 323,

453 __NOTOC__ Year 453 ( CDLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Opilio and Vincomalus (or, less frequently, year 1206 ...

945 Year 945 ( CMXLV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * January 27 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown barel ...

, 1739, 1891, 2818, and several others. Most other Greek manuscripts do not contain Acts 8:37 In Acts 12:25, the Latin text of the codex reads ''from Jerusalem to Antioch'', along with 429, 945, 1739, p, syr^p, cop^sa geo; The Majority Text reads εις Ιερουσαλημ (''to Jerusalem''); In Acts 16:10, it reads θεος along with P⁷⁴,

Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

, Vaticanus, Ephraemi, 044, 33, 81, 181,

326 {{M1 year in topic __NOTOC__ Year 326 ( CCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Constantinus (or, ...

630 Year 630 ( DCXXX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 630 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the ...

, 945, 1739, ar, e, l, vg, cop^bo, geo; other manuscripts read κυριος - D, P, 049, 056,

0142 Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...

, 88, 104, 330, 436,

451 __NOTOC__ Year 451 ( CDLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marcianus and Adelfius (or, less frequently, year 1204 '' ...

614 __NOTOC__ Year 614 ( DCXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 614 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

629 __NOTOC__ Year 629 ( DCXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 629 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

, 1241, 1505, 1877, 2127, 2412, 2492, 2495, Byz, c, d,

gig Gig or GIG may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Gig'' (Circle Jerks album) (1992) * ''Gig'' (Northern Pikes album) (1993) * ''The Gig'', a 1985 film written and directed by Frank D. Gilroy * GIG, a character in ''Hot Wheels AcceleRacers'' ...

, syr^p,h, cop^sa. In Acts 18:26, it reads την οδον του κυριου along with manuscripts 1505, 2495, and lectionary 598. In Acts 20:28, it reads του κυριου (''of the Lord'') along with the manuscripts:

Papyrus 74 Papyrus 74 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by 𝔓74, is a copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Acts of the Apostles and Catholic epistles with lacunae. The manuscript paleographically had been as ...

, C*, D, Ψ, 33, 36,

, 945, 1739, and 1891.For other variants of this verse see: Textual variants in the Acts of the Apostles.

History

It was probably written in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, during the Byzantine occupation, and therefore after 534 (''

terminus a quo ''Terminus post quem'' ("limit after which", sometimes abbreviated to TPQ) and ''terminus ante quem'' ("limit before which", abbreviated to TAQ) specify the known limits of dating for events or items.. A ''terminus post quem'' is the earliest da ...

''). It was written before 716 (''

terminus ad quem ''Terminus post quem'' ("limit after which", sometimes abbreviated to TPQ) and ''terminus ante quem'' ("limit before which", abbreviated to TAQ) specify the known limits of dating for events or items.. A ''terminus post quem'' is the earliest da ...

''), as it was used by

Beda Venerabilis Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...

in his ''Expositio Actuum Apostolorum Retractata''. "It was brought to England probably by

Theodore of Tarsus Theodore of Tarsus ( gr, Θεόδωρος Ταρσοῦ; 60219 September 690) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 668 to 690. Theodore grew up in Tarsus, but fled to Constantinople after the Persian Empire conquered Tarsus and other cities. Afte ...

, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 668, or by

Ceolfrid Saint Ceolfrid (or Ceolfrith, ; c. 642 – 716) was an Anglo-Saxon Christian abbot and saint. He is best known as the warden of Bede from the age of seven until his death in 716. He was the Abbot of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, and a major co ...

, Abbot of Wearmouth and Jarrow, in the early part of the eighth century. It was probably deposited in one of the great monasteries in the north of England."

Frederic Kenyon Sir Frederic George Kenyon (15 January 1863 – 23 August 1952) was a British palaeographer and biblical and classical scholar. He held a series of posts at the British Museum from 1889 to 1931. He was also the president of the British Academy fr ...

"Chapter VII: The Manuscripts of the New Testament"
''Our Bible and the ancient manuscripts'' (1939). It eventually came into the possession of

, who donated the manuscript to the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1636, where it is still located (Cat. number: Laud. Gr. 35 1397, I,8). Thomas Hearne published a transcription of its text in 1715, but not a very good one. This was followed by a transcription done by Hansell in 1864, and then by

Constantin von Tischendorf Lobegott Friedrich Constantin (von) Tischendorf (18 January 18157 December 1874) was a German biblical scholar. In 1844, he discovered the world's oldest and most complete Bible dated to around the mid-4th century and called Codex Sinaiticus a ...

in 1870.C. R. Gregory
"Canon and Text of the New Testament"
(T. & T. Clark: Edinburgh 1907), p. 363 The manuscript was examined by

Johann Jakob Griesbach Johann Jakob Griesbach (4 January 1745 – 24 March 1812) was a German biblical textual critic. Griesbach's fame rests upon his work in New Testament criticism, in which he inaugurated a new epoch. His solution to the synoptic problem bears his na ...

, Ropes, Motzo, Poole, Clark, Lagrange, and Walther.

Notes

References

External links

* R. Waltz

''Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism'' (2007)

* {{Cite web , url = http://ntvmr.uni-muenster.de/en_GB/liste/?ObjID=20008 , title=Liste Handschriften , publisher=Institute for New Testament Textual Research , accessdate=8 March 2011, location=Münster
MS Laud Gr. 35
Images available on Digital Bodleian
MS Laud Gr. 35
In the Bodleian Libraries Catalogue of Medieval Manuscripts Laudianus Vetus Latina New Testament manuscripts 6th-century biblical manuscripts Bodleian Library collection