Minuscule 2278 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), is a Greek

minuscule Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

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 ...

written on parchment. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 14th century. Gregory catalogued it twice as 812 and 2278.

Description

The

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 ...

contains the text of 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, on 254

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 ...

leaves (size ). The text is written in one column per page, 24 lines per page. The large initial letters are written in gold. The first page of every Gospel is written in gold. The text is divided according to the (''chapters''), whose numbers are given at the margin, with their (''titles'') at the top of the pages. There is also another division according to the Ammonian Sections (with divergences), whose numbers are given at the margin, without references to the Eusebian Canons. It contains

Epistula ad Carpianum The ''Epistula ad Carpianum'' ("Letter to Carpian") or Letter of Eusebius is the title traditionally given to a letter from Eusebius of Caesarea to a Christian named Carpianus. In this letter, Eusebius explains his ingenious system of gospel harmon ...

, tables of the (''tables of contents'') before each Gospel, and pictures. Lectionary markings at the margin (for church reading),

Synaxarion Synaxarion or Synexarion (plurals Synaxaria, Synexaria; el, Συναξάριον, from συνάγειν, ''synagein'', "to bring together"; cf. etymology of ''synaxis'' and ''synagogue''; Latin: ''Synaxarium'', ''Synexarium''; cop, ⲥⲩⲛⲁ ...

, and

Menologion Menologium (), also written menology, and menologe, is a service-book used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite. From its derivation from Greek , ''menológion'', from μήν ''m� ...

were added by later hand.

Text

The Greek text of the codex is a representative of the Byzantine text-type. Aland did not place it in any Category. It was not examined by

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 ...

. According to the

Claremont Profile Method The Claremont Profile Method is a method for classifying ancient manuscripts of the Bible. It was elaborated by Ernest Cadman Colwell and his students. Professor Frederik Wisse attempted to establish an accurate and rapid procedure for the classif ...

it has mixed Byzantine text and represents textual family Π^b in Luke 1, Luke 10, and Luke 20. It contains the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53-8:11) without any mark.

History

Gregory dated the manuscript to the 12th century. The manuscript is currently dated by the

INTF The Institute for New Testament Textual Research (german: Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung — INTF) at the University of Münster, Westphalia, Germany, is to research the textual history of the New Testament and to reconstruct its G ...

to the 14th century. According to Frederick Wisse the manuscript was written in 1314. There is a note at the end of 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 ...

, made by different hand with date 1322, about an attack of the Turks. Before Matthew there is another note with date 1746. It was held in

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

and belonged to Archbishop Eustathius, then it came to "Dawes Collection" (as the second volume; the first volume belonged to 2277, the third to 2279). On 15 October 1904 it was bought for the British Museum. It was added to the list of New Testament manuscripts by Gregory (812^e). Gregory saw it in 1886 during his visit in Greece. On 17 October 1904 Gregory saw this manuscript in

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and catalogued again under the siglum 2278. This time he assigned age of the manuscript for the 11th or 12th century. Second description is more detailed though he did not enumerated pages of the codex. One page of the codex was edited in facsimile.''Facsimiles of Ancient Manuscripts'', ed. E. M. Thompson and others, I (London, 1903), p. 52.

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 ...

recognized that numbers 812 and 2278 belongs to the same manuscript and number 812 was deleted from the list, actually number 2278 is used as siglum for this manuscript. The manuscript is now housed at the library of the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

(Add MS 37002) in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Description

Text

History

See also

References

Further reading