Topic summary

Codex Bezae

Codex Bezae

The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis ('Beza's Cambridge Book') is a bi-lingual Greek and Latin manuscript of the New Testament written in an uncial hand on parchment. It is designated by the siglumD or 05 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and δ 5 in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts. It contains most of the four Gospels and Acts, with a small fragment of 3 John. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it is currently dated to the 5th century.

Codex Bezae is renowned for having a distinctive text of the four Gospels and Acts, and is a leading member of the "Western" recension. The manuscript has been studied extensively.

A digital facsimile of the codex is available from Cambridge University Library, which holds the manuscript.