Codex Nitriensis, designated by R or 027 (in the
Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 22 (
von Soden), is a 6th-century
Greek
Greek may refer to:
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 of all kno ...
New Testament
codex
The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...
containing the
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...
, in a fragmentary condition. It is a two column manuscript in
majuscule
Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (more formally '' majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (more formally '' minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing syste ...
s (capital letters), measuring .
Description
The text is written in two columns per page, 25 lines per page, in large uncial letters.
[ It has no breathings and accents. The letters are similar to those of codices 081, 022, and 024, only that they are somewhat irregular and straggling.]
It is a palimpsest
In textual studies, a palimpsest () is a manuscript page, either from a scroll or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off in preparation for reuse in the form of another document. Parchment was made of lamb, calf, or kid ski ...
. The upper text contains the Syriac treatise Severus of Antioch
Severus of Antioch (; ), also known as Severus of Gaza, or the Crown of Syrians (; ), was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 512 until his death in 538. He is venerated as a saint in the Oriental Orthodox Church ...
against Johannes Grammaticus written in the 8th or 9th century. The lower text of the same manuscript contains the ''Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...
'' and the Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...
, both of the sixth century, and the ''Euclid's Elements
The ''Elements'' ( ) is a mathematics, mathematical treatise written 300 BC by the Ancient Greek mathematics, Ancient Greek mathematician Euclid.
''Elements'' is the oldest extant large-scale deductive treatment of mathematics. Drawing on the w ...
'' of the seventh or eighth century.[
The manuscript contains the tables of the (''tables of contents'') before each Gospel, the Pseudo-Ammonian Sections, but no references to the ]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 of the Bible, chapters ...
.[
]
Contents
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...
1:1-13, 1:69-2:4, 2:16-27, 4:38-5:5, 5:25-6:8, 6:18-36, 6:39, 6:49-7:22, 7:44, 7:46, 7:47, 7:50, 8:1-3, 8:5-15, 8:25-9:1, 9:12-43, 10:3-16, 11:5-27, 12:4-15, 12:40-52, 13:26-14:1, 14:12-15:1, 15:13-16:16, 17:21-18:10, 18:22-20:20, 20:33-47, 21:12-22:6, 22:8-15, 22:42-56, 22:71-23:11, 23:38-51.[
]
Text of the codex
The Greek text of the codex is a representative of the Byzantine text-type
In the textual criticism of the New Testament, the Byzantine text-type (also called Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text) is one of the main Textual criticism#New Testament, text types. ...
in a very early stage, with a large portion of non-Byzantine readings. Aland gave for it the following textual profile - 111 41/2 02 5s. Aland placed it in Category V.[ 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 classi ...
it belongs to the textual family Kx in Luke 1 and Luke 10; in Luke 20 it has mixed text.
In Luke 6:2 — οὐκ ἔξεστιν (''not lawful'') for οὐκ ἔξεστιν ποιεῖν (''not lawful to do''); the reading is supported only by , Codex Vaticanus
The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...
, ( Codex Bezae), 700, lat, copsa, copbo, arm, geo;
It lacks the text of Luke 22:43-44.
History
Formerly it belonged to the monastery of St. Mary Deipara in the Nitrian Desert. In 1847 along with the other 550 manuscripts (e.g. British Library, Add MS 14448) it was brought to England by Henry Tattam.[
The fragments of Luke were independently transcribed, both by Tregelles in 1854, and by Tischendorf in 1855, who afterwards re-examined the places wherein he differed from Tregelles (e.g. Luke 8:5; 18:1.10).]
Tischendorf edited the text of the codex in 1857 in his ''Monumenta sacra inedita'', volume VII, with a facsimile.[ Bruce M. Metzger, ]Bart D. Ehrman
Bart Denton Ehrman (born October 5, 1955) is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books ...
, ''The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration'', Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 79-80
The 48 extant parchment leaves of the manuscript are kept in the British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
(Add MS 17211) in London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
See also
* List of New Testament uncials
A New Testament uncial is a section of the New Testament in Greek or Latin majuscule letters, written on parchment or vellum. This style of writing is called ''Biblical Uncial'' or ''Biblical Majuscule''.
New Testament uncials are distinct fr ...
* Biblical manuscript
A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible. Biblical manuscripts vary in size from tiny scrolls containing individual verses of the Jewish scriptures (see '' Tefillin'') to huge polyglot codices (multi- ...
* Textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may rang ...
References
Further reading
*
* S. P. Tregelles, ''An Introduction to the Critical study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures'', London 1856, pp. 183–184.
* C. v. Tischendorf
"Monumenta sarca inedita"
II (Leipzig, 1857), pp. XIV-XXII, 1-92.
* Heiberg, J. L.
''Ein palimpsest der Elemente Euklids''
in: ''Philologus'' 45 vol., 1885, pp. 353–366.
*
External links
at the ''Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism''
Add MS 17211
at the ''British Library''
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6th-century biblical manuscripts
1847 archaeological discoveries
Nitriensis
Palimpsests
Manuscripts of the Iliad
British Library additional manuscripts
Gospel of Luke