Codex Washingtonianus

The Codex Washingtonianus or Codex Washingtonensis, designated by W or 032 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 014 ( Soden), also called the ''Washington Manuscript of the Gospels'', and ''The Freer Gospel'', contains the four biblical gospels and was written in Greek on vellum in the 4th or 5th century. The manuscript is lacunose.

Description

The codex is made from 187 parchment leaves (20.5–21 cm by 13-14.5 cm) with painted wooden covers, consisting of 26 quires (four to eight leaves). The text is written in one column per page, 30 lines per page. There are numerous corrections made by the original scribe and a few corrections dating to the late 5th or 6th century. John 1:1-5:11 is a replacement of a presumably damaged folio, and dates to around the 7th century. Mark 15:13-38 and John 14:26-16:7 are lacking. The ink is dark brown. The words are written continuously without separation. Accents are absent. The rough breathing mark is used very rarely.

Like in Codex Bezae (D), the Gospels follow in Western order: Matthew, John, Luke, Mark.

The following nomina sacra are used in the Codex (nominative case; the other cases are also used for the same words): , , , , , , , , , ( once), ( once).

Matthew 16:2b–3 is present and not marked as doubtful or spurious. Luke 22:43-44, and the Pericope de adultera are not present in the manuscript. It lacks (as Minuscule 33), (NA26) and (as D, 69, 1230, 1253, lectionaries, b, d, e, ff², syr^c, syr^sin, cop^bo). (UBS3)

It includes , supported by manuscripts 0104, 0107, 0133, 0138, and most other Byzantine manuscripts.

Text of the Codex

The Codex is cited as a "consistently cited witness of the first order" in the critical apparatus of the Novum Testamentum Graece. The codex was apparently copied from several different manuscripts and is the work of two scribes. The text-type is eclectic:

* Matthew 1–28; Luke 8:13–24:53 – Byzantine text-type;
* Mark 1:1–5:30 – Western text-type similar to old-Latin Versions;
* Mark 5:31 – 16:20 – Caesarean text-type near to ;
* Luke 1:1 – 8:12, and J 5:12 – 21:25 – Alexandrian text-type;
* John 1:1 – 5:11 – mixed with some Alexandrian and Western readings. This text was added in the 7th century, probably for replacement of damaged text.

; Notable Readings

: (''Amon'') - W L ƒ¹³ Byz
: (''Amos'') - B C

: (''saying, 'Peace to this house) - W ² D L Θ ƒ¹ 1010 it vg^cl
: - Majority of manuscripts

: - W 0107 0138 ƒ¹³ q sy^{p, h} Majority of manuscripts
: - ² B L Z Θ 892

: - W c
:omit - Majority of manuscripts

: - W e bo^pt
: - Majority of manuscripts

:
::omit - W B K Ψ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 28 700 1010 1079 1242 1546 2148 ℓ ''10'' ℓ ''950'' ℓ ''1642'' ℓ ''1761'' syr^s arm geo
::incl. - Majority of manuscripts

: – W (εν πυρι) B L Δ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 28 565 700 ℓ''260'' sy^s sa
: - Majority of manuscripts

:omit - W 1241
:incl. - Majority of manuscripts

: (''and after three days another will arise'') — W D it
:omit - Majority of manuscripts

: (''and opened the book'') - W A B L Ξ 33 892 1195 1241 ℓ ''547'' sy^{s, h, pal} sa bo
: (''and unrolled the book'') - D^c K Δ Θ Π Ψ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 28 565 700 1009 1010 Byz

:
::omit. - W (singular reading likely due to homoeoteleuton ( . )
::incl. - Majority of manuscripts

:omit - W A B T 1071
:incl. - Majority of manuscripts

: (''And Jesus said: Father forgive them, they know not what they do.'')
::omit - W ^a B D* Θ 0124 1241 a d sy^s sa bo
::incl. - Majority of manuscripts

: - W a b ff² l r¹ sy^c
: - Majority of manuscripts

Freer Logion

The ending of Mark in this codex is especially noteworthy because it includes a unique insertion after Mark 16:14, referred to as the "Freer Logion".

Κακεινοι απελογουντο λεγοντες οτι ο αιων ουτος της ανομιας και της απιστιας υπο τον σαταναν εστιν, ο μη εων τα (τον μη εωντα?) υπο των πνευματων ακαθαρτα (-των?) την αληθειαν του θεου καταλαβεσθαι (+ και?) δυναμιν. δια τουτο αποκαλυψον σου την δικαιοσυνην ηδη, εκεινοι ελεγον τω χριστω. και ο χριστος εκεινοις προσελεγεν οτι πεπληρωται ο ὅρος των ετων της εξουσιας του σατανα, ἀλλὰ εγγιζει ἄλλα δεινα. και υπερ ων εγω αμαρτησαντων παρεδοθην εις θανατον ινα υποστρεψωσιν εις την αληθειαν και μηκετι αμαρτησωσιν ινα την εν τω ουρανω πνευματικην και αφθαρτον της δικαιοσυνης δοξαν κληρονομησωσιν.

Translation:

And they excused themselves, saying, "This age of lawlessness and unbelief is under Satan, who does not allow the truth and power of God to prevail over the unclean things of the spirits r: does not allow what lies under the unclean spirits to understand the truth and power of God Therefore reveal thy righteousness now" - thus they spoke to Christ. And Christ replied to them, "The term of years of Satan's power has been fulfilled, but other terrible things draw near. And for those who have sinned I was delivered over to death, that they may return to the truth and sin no more in order to inherit the spiritual and incorruptible glory of righteousness which is in heaven.

This text is not found in any other manuscript, but was partially quoted by Jerome:

et illi satisfaciebant dicentes: Saeculum istud iniquitatis et incredulitatis substantia (sub Satana?) est, quae non sinit per immundos spiritus veram Dei apprehendi virtutem: idcirco iamnunc revela iustitiam tuam.

History

The codex was purchased by Charles Lang Freer on a trip to Egypt in November 1906. Metzger states: "It is the only Greek Gospel manuscript of early date of which we know provenance. Though the exact spot in Egypt where it was found is not known, there are indications that it came from a monastery in the neighbourhood of the Pyramids." The writing is closely related to the ''Codex Panopolitanus'' (Papyrus Cairensis 10759), Henoch manuscript, found in Akhmim in 1886.Henry A. Sanders
''The New Testament Manuscripts in the Freer Collection''
The Macmillan Company, London 1918.

There is a subscription at the end of the Gospel of Mark, written in semi-cursive from the 5th century: "Holy Christ, be thou with thy servant Timothy and all of his." The similar note appears in Minuscule 579. Hermann von Soden cited a number of similar subscriptions in other manuscripts.

It is located in the Smithsonian Institution at the Freer Gallery of Art (06. 274) in Washington, D.C., United States, and some of it can be viewed online. Complete images of the codex are available from the Rights and Reproductions office at the Freer Gallery of Art.

The manuscript is dated by the INTF to the 4th or 5th century.

See also

* List of New Testament uncials
* Biblical Manuscripts in the Freer Collection
* Textual criticism

References

Further reading

* Caspar René Gregory
''Das Freer-Logion''
(Hinrichs: Leipzig 1908)
* Henry A. Sanders
''Facsimile of the Washington Manuscript of the Four Gospels in the Freer Collection''
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1912.
* Henry A. Sanders
''The New Testament Manuscripts in the Freer Collection''
The Macmillan Company, New York – London 1918.
* Frederic G. Kenyon, ''Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts'', (4th ed.), London 1939.
*
*
*

External links

{{Commons category

Colour images of the Codex
at the CSNTM

The ''Encyclopedia of New Testament Textual Criticism'' entry for W


Washingtonianus
5th-century biblical manuscripts
Manuscripts in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution