The Codex Athous Laurae, designated by Ψ or 044 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of

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 ...

manuscripts), or δ 6 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament Manuscripts), is a

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

written in Greek

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 ...

letters on

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins of ...

. The manuscript has many gaps in the text, as well as containing handwritten notes (known as marginalia). Using the study of comparative writing styles ( palaeographically), the codex is dated to the 8th or 9th century. The codex is currently kept in the

Great Lavra The Monastery of Great Lavra ( el, Μονή Μεγίστης Λαύρας) is the first monastery built on Mount Athos. It is located on the southeastern foot of the Mount at an elevation of . The founding of the monastery in AD 963 by Athanasiu ...

monastery (B' 52) on the

Athos Athos may refer to: Fictional or mythical characters * Athos (character), one of the title characters in the novel ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) by Alexandre Dumas père * Athos (mythology), one of the Gigantes in Greek mythology * Athos Fadiga ...

peninsula.

Description

The manuscript is a

codex The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

(precursor to the modern book), containing 261

leaves, which measure , with the text-block being . The text is written in small

letters, in one column of 31 lines per page. These letters have breathings (utilised to designate vowel emphasis) and

accents Accent may refer to: Speech and language * Accent (sociolinguistics), way of pronunciation particular to a speaker or group of speakers * Accent (phonetics), prominence given to a particular syllable in a word, or a word in a phrase ** Pitch acce ...

(used to indicate voiced pitch changes). The codex contains a table of contents ("" / ''kephalaia'') before each book, the Ammonian Sections and

Eusebian Canons Eusebian canons, Eusebian sections or Eusebian apparatus, also known as Ammonian sections, are the system of dividing the four Gospels used between late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The divisions into chapters and verses used in modern texts d ...

(an early system of dividing the four Gospels into different sections), lectionary notes in the margin (for liturgical use), musical notes (

neume A neume (; sometimes spelled neum) is the basic element of Western and Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation. The earliest neumes were inflective marks that indicated the general shape but not ne ...

s), and subscriptions. It is considered one of the oldest manuscripts with musical notes. ; Textual overview The codex originally contained the entire

except for the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of R ...

, with several

gaps Gaps is a member of the Montana group of Patience games, where the goal is to arrange all the cards in suit from Deuce (a Two card) to King. Other solitaire games in this family include Spaces, Addiction, Vacancies, Clown Solitaire, Paganini, ...

at both the beginning and end. The

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...

, the

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to h ...

1:1-9:4, and one leaf from the

Hebrews The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew: / , Modern: ' / ', Tiberian: ' / '; ISO 259-3: ' / ') and ''Hebrew people'' are mostly considered synonymous with the Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still no ...

with text 8:11-9:19 have subsequently been lost. The order of the codex's books are as follows: * the four

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

s * 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 ...

* the

General epistles The catholic epistles (also called the general epistlesEncarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "katholieke brieven". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.) are seven epistles of the New Testament. Listed in order of their appearance in ...

* the

Pauline epistles The Pauline epistles, also known as Epistles of Paul or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle, although the authorship of some is in dispute. Among these epistles are some of the earliest extan ...

The

are in an unusual order (1-2 Peter, James, 1-3 John, and Jude; James usually comes before 1 Peter). There is also a shorter ending to the

before the longer version. This is similar to the ending found in other Greek New Testament manuscripts, such as

Codex Regius Codex Regius ( la, Cōdex Rēgius, "Royal Book" or "King's Book"; is, Konungsbók) or GKS 2365 4º is an Icelandic codex in which many Old Norse poems from the ''Poetic Edda'' are preserved. Thought to have been written during the 1270s, it i ...

and all other Greek codices in which the general epistles appear.

History

The manuscript was seen by biblical scholar C. R. Gregory on August 26, 1886. He described it as the first of its kind. In 1892, the biblical scholar J. Rendel Harris didn't examine the codex even though he was on a visit to Mount Athos, as he was only inspecting the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

(a early Greek translation of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

) manuscripts there. Von Goltz and

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

theologian Georg Wobbermin had collated the text of Acts, the general epistles, and Pauline epistles for biblical scholar

Hermann von Soden Baron Hermann von Soden (16 August 1852 – 15 January 1914) was a German Biblical scholar, minister, professor of divinity, and textual theorist. Life Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 16, 1852, Soden was educated at the University of Tübinge ...

. The codex was examined by biblical scholar

Kirsopp Lake Kirsopp Lake (7 April 187210 November 1946) was an English New Testament scholar, Church historian, Greek Palaeographer, and Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard Divinity School. He had an uncommon breadth of interests. His mai ...

in 1899, who thoroughly examined the Gospel of Mark and collated the text of the gospels of Luke and John. He did not examine the text of Acts and the epistles because, according to Soden, their text was ordinary. In 1903, Lake published the text of the Gospel of Mark 9:5-16:20, and a collation of the gospels of Luke, John, and the

Epistle to the Colossians The Epistle to the Colossians is the twelfth book of the New Testament. It was written, according to the text, by Paul the Apostle and Timothy, and addressed to the church in Colossae, a small Phrygian city near Laodicea and approximately fr ...

in ''Studia Biblica et Ecclesiastica''.

Textual variants

The Greek text of this

is described as representative of the

Byzantine text-type In the textual criticism of the New Testament, the Byzantine text-type (also called Majority Text, Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text) is one of the main text types. It is the form fo ...

, but with a large portion of Alexandrian readings, as well as some

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 ...

readings. The text-types are groups of different manuscripts which share specific or generally related readings, which then differ from each other group, and thus the conflicting readings can separate out the groups, which are then used to determine the original text as published; there are three main groups with names: Alexandrian,

, and

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 ...

. Despite being an unusually mixed text, Von Soden lists it as generally Alexandrian due to the

and the

General Epistles The catholic epistles (also called the general epistlesEncarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "katholieke brieven". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.) are seven epistles of the New Testament. Listed in order of their appearance in ...

being mostly in-line with the

Alexandrian text-type In textual criticism of the New Testament, the Alexandrian text-type is one of the main text types. It is the text type favored by the majority of modern textual critics and it is the basis for most modern (after 1900) Bible translations. Over 5,8 ...

. In the Gospel of Luke and John, the Byzantine element is predominate, but with a larger proportion of Alexandrian readings than in

Codex Sangallensis 48 Codex Sangallensis, designated by Δ or 037 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 76 ( von Soden), is a Greek-Latin diglot uncial manuscript of the four Gospels. It is usually dated palaeographically to the 9th century CE, though a few palaeograp ...

. The text of the General Epistles appeared to be the same type as found in

Codex 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 ...

Minuscule 33 Minuscule 33 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 48 ( Soden), before the French Revolution was called ''Codex Colbertinus 2844''. It is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament on parchment, dated palaeographically to the 9th century. ...

Minuscule 81 Minuscule 81 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), or α162 (in the Soden numbering) is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on a parchment. It is dated by a colophon to the year 1044.K. Aland, M. Welte, B. Köster, K. Junack, "Kurzg ...

, and

Minuscule 436 Minuscule 436 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 172 (in the Soden numbering), is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 11th or 12th century. Formerly it was labelled b ...

. Biblical scholar

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 ...

placed the text of the codex in Category III in the Gospels, Acts, Pauline Epistles, and its text of the

in Category II of his New Testament manuscript text classification system. Category III manuscripts are described as having "a small but not a negligible proportion of early readings, with a considerable encroachment of yzantinereadings, and significant readings from other sources as yet unidentified", and Category II manuscripts as those "of a special quality, i.e., manuscripts with a considerable proportion of the early text, but which are marked by alien influences. These influences are usually of smoother, improved readings, and in later periods by infiltration by the Byzantine text." and , along with (the

Pericope Adulterae Jesus and the woman taken in adultery (or the ) is a passage (pericope) found in John 7:53– 8:11 of the New Testament. It has been the subject of much scholarly discussion. In the passage, Jesus was teaching in the Second Temple after com ...

), are omitted. ; Some textual variants : (''and every sacrifice shall be consumed'') - Ψ : (''and every sacrifice salted with salt'') - Majority of manuscripts : omit. - B L Δ 0274 ƒ ƒ 28*

700 The denomination 700 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Avar and Slavic tribes conq ...

sy sa bo. (NA26) : (''and be joined to his wife'') :: omit. – Ψ B 892 ℓ ''48'' sy goth :: incl. - Majority of manuscripts (UBS3) : (''do not defraud'') :: omit. - Ψ B K W Δ ƒ ƒ 28 579

1010 1079 1242 1546 2148 ℓ ''10'' ℓ ''950'' ℓ ''1642'' ℓ ''1761'' sy arm geo :: incl. - B Majority of manuscripts : (''the beloved, in Whom I am well pleased'') – Ψ C D ℓ ''19'' ℓ ''31'' ℓ ''47'' ℓ ''48'' ℓ ''49'' ℓ ''49'' ℓ ''183'' ℓ ''183'' ℓ ''211'' : (''the chosen'') – B L Ξ 892 1241 : (''the beloved'') – Majority of manuscriptsFor more details of the variants of this verse see:

Textual variants in the Gospel of Luke Textual variants in the Gospel of Luke are the subject of the study called textual criticism of the New Testament. Textual variants in manuscripts arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to a text that is being reproduced. ...

. : (''eternal life'') – Ψ C D L 0100 ƒ it vg sy sa bo : (''eternal life'') - Majority of manuscripts : (''from Jerusalem'') – Ψ D 181 436

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 ...

2412 ℓ ''147'' ℓ ''809'' ℓ ''1021'' ℓ ''1141'' ℓ ''1364'' ℓ ''1439'' ar 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'' ...

vg Chrysostom : (''to Jerusalem'') – B H L 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 ...

81 88

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, ...

330 451 629 1241 1505 1877 2492 2495 Majority of manuscripts Lect : (''from Jerusalem'') – A 33 69 630 2127 : (''to Antioch'') – 97

110 110 may refer to: *110 (number), natural number *AD 110, a year *110 BC, a year *110 film, a cartridge-based film format used in still photography *110 (MBTA bus), Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus route *110 (song), 2019 song by Capi ...

328 424 425 : (''to Antioch'') – ℓ ''38'' : (''from Jerusalem to Antioch'') – E 322 323 : (''from Jerusalem to Antioch'') – 429 945 1739 e p sy sa geo : (''to Jerusalem to Antioch'') – 104 sa : (''with a written letter by their hand, having the following contents:'') - Ψ : (''being written by their hand'') – * A B bo : (''having written this by their hand'') – E ( 33) Majority of manuscripts sy : (''having written by their hand a letter, containing this:'') – C ar c

w geo : (''having written a letter by their hand, containing this:'') – D d : (''having written a letter by their hand, and sent it containing this:'') –

: (''the way of God'') – Ψ P 049

104 330

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 '' ...

1241 1877 2127 2492 Majority of manuscripts Lect : (''the way of God'') – A B 33 614 1175 vg : (''remaining within Gullion. On the next day'') - Ψ : (''and remained in Trogyllium, on the next day'') - Majority of manuscripts : (''and on the next day'') - A B C E 33 453 1175 1739 1891 2818 vg bo Acts 20:28 : (''of the Lord'') – Ψ A C* D E 33 36

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 1739 1891 : (''of God'') - B 614 1175 1505 vg sy bo; Cyr : (''of the Lord and God'') - C Majority of manuscripts : (''Gauda'') – Ψ : (''Kauda'') – 𝔓74 B 1175 lat sy : (''Klauda'') – * A 33 81 614 945 1505 1739 vg sy : (''Klaudan'') – L 323. 1241 Majority of manuscripts : (''And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves'') :: omit. – Ψ A B E 048 33 81 1175 1739 2464 :: incl. - Majority of manuscripts : (''of Jesus, not living according to heflesh'') – Ψ A D

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 ...

2127 vg : (''of Jesus'') – B D G 1739 1881 it sa bo eth : (''of Jesus, not living according to heflesh, but according to heSpirit'') – D K P 33 88 104 181

330 ( 436 omit μη) 456

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 ...

1241 1877 1962 1984 1985 2492 2495 Majority of manuscripts Lect : insert after – Ψ L 0209 181

330

460

1241 1877 1881 1984 1985 2492 2495 : insert after – : (''witness'') – Ψ B D G P 33 81 104 181 326 330 451 614 629 630 1241 1739 1877 1881 1962 1984 2127 2492 2495 Majority of manuscripts Lect it vg sy sa arm eth : (''mystery'') - * A C ar r sy bo; Hipp BasA Ambst : (''salvation'') - 489 ℓ ''598'' ℓ ''599'' : (''prayer'') – Ψ * A B C D G P 6 33 81 104 181 629 630 1739 1877 1881 1962 it vg cop arm eth. : (''fasting and prayer'') – K L 365 1241 1505 Majority of manuscripts sy : (''prayer and fasting'') –

230 Year 230 (Roman numerals, CCXXX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Agricola and Clementinus (or, less frequently, year ...

JoDam : (''gifts of healing by the one Spirit'') – Ψ A B 33 81 104 436 630 (1739 omits ) 1881 it vg : (''gifts of healing by his Spirit'') – C D G K P 0201 88 181 330 451 614 629 1241 1877 1962 1984 1985 2127 2492 2495 Majority of manuscripts Lect : (''gifts of healing by the Spirit'') – : (''gifts of healing'') – C : (''of God'') – Ψ A B ( D*) P 33 81 104 326 365 629 1175 1241 2464 : (''of heLord'') – F G; Cyp : omit. - D Majority of manuscripts r

Marcion Marcion of Sinope (; grc, Μαρκίων ; ) was an early Christian theologian in early Christianity. Marcion preached that God had sent Jesus Christ who was an entirely new, alien god, distinct from the vengeful God of Israel who had created ...

: (''God was manifest'') – Ψ A C D K L P 81 104 630. 1241. 1505. 1739. 1881 Majority of manuscripts vg : (''Who was manifest'') – * A* C* F G 33 365 1175; Did Epiph For more textual variants of this verse see: Textual variants in the First Epistle to Timothy. : (''indeed by them He is insulted, but by you He is glorified'') – Ψ K L P 1448 1611 Majority of manuscipts it vg sy sa bo Cyp : omit. - A B 049 33 81 323 614 630 945 1241 1739 vg sy bo

Description

History

Textual variants

See also

Notes

References

Further reading