Minuscule 788 (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), ε1033 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), 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

written on parchment. Using the study of comparative handwriting styles (

palaeography Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") ...

), it has been assigned to the 11th century.

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 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 219

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 (sized ),, with only one gap (John 21:20-25). The text is written in two columns per page, 26 lines per page. The text is divided according to the chapters (known as / ''kephalaia''), whose numbers are given in the margin, with their chapter titles (known as / ''titloi'') at the top of the pages. There is also another division according to the smaller Ammonian Sections (in Mark there are 234 sections, ending at 16:9), with references to the Eusebian Canons (an early system of dividing the four Gospels into different sections). There is also a Gospel Harmony included at the bottom of the pages in the Gospel of John. It contains the

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 ...

(a letter from the early church writer

Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christia ...

, outlying his gospel harmony system, his chapter divisions of the four gospels, and their purpose), tables of contents (also known as κεφαλαια / ''kephalaia'') before each Gospel, Prolegomena (introductions) to the four Gospels, lectionary markings (to indicate what verse was to be read on a specific day in the churches yearly calendar) in the margin, liturgical books with hagiographies, a

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 ...

(a list of saint's days), 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� ...

(a list of readings to be read each calendar month), subscriptions at the end of each of the Gospels, and pictures. The manuscript also includes lists of how many phrases (known as / ''rhemata'') are used in each gospel, and how many lines (known as / ''stichoi'') are written in each gospel, but after the end of each Gospel's table of contents, as opposed to the usual location after the end of each Gospel's text.

Text

The Greek text of the codex has been considered as a representative of the Caesarean text-type. The text-types are groups of different New Testament 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. These are then used to determine the original text as published; there are three main groups with names: Alexandrian, Western, 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 ...

. The Caesarean text-type however (initially identified by biblical scholar Burnett Hillman Streeter) has been contested by several text-critics, such as Kurt and

Barbara Aland Barbara Aland, née Ehlers (born 12 April 1937 in Hamburg, Germany) is a German theologian and was a Professor of New Testament Research and Church History at Westphalian Wilhelms-University of Münster until 2002. Biography After having c ...

. Textual critic

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 ...

classified it within his textual family I.

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 it in Category III of his New Testament manuscript 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." 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 represents the textual family ƒ in Luke 1, Luke 10, and Luke 20 as a core member. It lacks text of Matthew 16:2b–3. The text of Luke 22:43-44 is placed after Matthew 26:39, and the text of the Pericope Adulterae is placed after Luke 21:38.

History

According to biblical scholar

Caspar René Gregory Caspar René Gregory (November 6, 1846 – April 9, 1917) was an American-born German theologian. Life Gregory was born to Mary Jones and Henry Duval Gregory in Philadelphia. He was the brother of the American zoologist Emily Ray Gregory. After ...

, the manuscript was written in the 11th century, a dating adopted by the

Institute for New Testament Textual Research 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 ...

. It was written in

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

for a man named Leo and was added to the list of New Testament manuscripts by Gregory, who saw the manuscript in 1886. It was formerly housed in the monastery

Porta Panagia The church of Porta Panagia ( el, Πόρτα-Παναγιά), full name Panagia tis Portas (Παναγία της Πόρτας, "Panagia of Porta"), is a Byzantine-era church near the town of Pyli, in the Trikala Prefecture in Greece. Location and ...

26. The monastery is said to have been raided in 1823 by the Albanian Soultza Korutz, who after killing most of the monks took its treasures and burnt the library there, however there is a distinct lack of evidence about this supposed raid. Whatever the reason the manuscript left the monastery, it and several others were deposited in the National Library of Greece in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. In 1876, the manuscript was noticed as being mentioned in a catalogue of the manuscripts which were originally located at Porta Panagia. The manuscript is now housed at the National Library of Greece (74).

References

External links

Digital images of Minuscule 788 (GA)
at the CSNTM. {{DEFAULTSORT:Minuscule 788 Greek New Testament minuscules 11th-century biblical manuscripts Manuscripts of the National Library of Greece Family 13

Description

Text

History

See also

References

External links