British Library, Add MS 14479, is a
Syriac manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...
of the
New Testament
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
, on parchment. It is dated by a
colophon to the year 534. It is one of the oldest manuscripts of
Peshitta
The Peshitta ( ''or'' ') is the standard Syriac edition of the Bible for Syriac Christian churches and traditions that follow the liturgies of the Syriac Rites.
The Peshitta is originally and traditionally written in the Classical Syriac d ...
and the earliest dated Peshitta
Apostolos.
Bruce M. Metzger
Bruce Manning Metzger (February 9, 1914 – February 13, 2007) was an American biblical scholar, Bible translator and textual critic who was a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and Bible editor who served on the board of the ...
, ''The Early Versions of the New Testament: Their Origin, Transmission and Limitations'' (Oxford University Press 1977), p. 51.
Description
It contains the text of the fourteen
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 ext ...
,
on 101 leaves (), with only three
lacunae (folio 1, 29, and 38). Written in one column per page, in 25-33 lines per page. The ''
Epistle to the Hebrews
The Epistle to the Hebrews () is one of the books of the New Testament.
The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle; most of the Ancient Greek manuscripts, the Old Syriac Peshitto and ...
'' is placed after ''
Philemon''.
[William Wright, ''Catalogue of the Syriac manuscripts in the British Museum'' (2002), p. 86.]
Numerous Syriac vowels and signs of punctuations have been added by a
Nestorian
Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...
hand, as well as a few Greek vowels by another reader.
[
It was written for the monastery in ]Edessa
Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...
,[ in a small, elegant ]Estrangela
The Syriac alphabet ( ) is a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language since the 1st century. It is one of the Semitic abjads descending from the Aramaic alphabet through the Palmyrene alphabet, and shares similarities with the ...
hand in the year 533–534.[ The first folio was supplemented by a later hand in the twelfth century, folio 28 and 39 were supplemented in the thirteenth century.][
The manuscript is housed at 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 ...
(Additional Manuscripts 14479) in London.[
]
See also
* List of the Syriac New Testament manuscripts
Syriac-language manuscripts of the New Testament include some of the earliest and most important witnesses for textual criticism of the New Testament. Over 350 Syriac manuscripts of the New Testament have survived into the 21st century. The majo ...
; Other manuscripts
* Codex Phillipps 1388
Codex Phillipps 1388, Syriac manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. It contains the text of the four Gospels. Palaeographically it had been assigned to the 5th/6th centuries. It is one of the oldest manuscripts of Peshitta with some Old ...
* British Library, Add MS 14455 British Library, Add MS 14455 is a Syriac manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 6th century. It is a manuscript of the Peshitta. The manuscript is very lacunose.
Description
It contains th ...
* British Library, Add MS 14459 British Library, Add MS 14459, Syriac manuscript of the New Testament, on a parchment. It is dated by a colophon to the year 528-529 or 537-538 (partially illegible colophon). It is one of the oldest manuscript of Peshitta and the earliest dated m ...
* British Library, Add MS 14669
; Sortable articles
* Syriac versions of the Bible
Syriac is a dialect of Aramaic. Portions of the Old Testament were written in Aramaic and there are Aramaic phrases in the New Testament. Syriac translations of the New Testament were among the first and date from the 2nd century. The whole Bible ...
* 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- ...
References
{{refend
Further reading
* William Wright, ''Catalogue of the Syriac manuscripts in the British Museum'' (1870; reprint: Gorgias Press
Gorgias Press is a US-based independent academic publisher specializing in the history and religion of the Middle East and the larger pre-modern world.
History
Founded in 2001 by Christine and George Kiraz, the press is based in Piscataway, N ...
2002).
External links
* William Wright
''Catalogue of the Syriac manuscripts in the British Museum''
Peshitta manuscripts
6th-century biblical manuscripts
Add. 14479
British Library additional manuscripts