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Codex Sinaiticus
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The folios are made of vellum parchment made from donkey or antelope
skin. Most of the quires or signatures contain four leaves save two
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containing five.
Free Biblical
The portion of the codex held by the British Library consists of 346½
Prophecy folios, 694 pages (38.1 cm x 34.5 cm), constituting over half of the
Need Direction In Your Life? original work. Of these folios, 199 belong to the Old Testament including
Receive Your Personal the apocrypha and 147½ belong to the New Testament, along with two
Prophecy Now! other books, the Epistle of Barnabas and part of The Shepherd of
Hermas. The apocryphal books present in the surviving part of the
Septuagint are 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, 1 & 4 Maccabees, Wisdom and
Sirach[3]. The books of the New Testament are arranged in this order:
the four Gospels, the epistles of Paul (Hebrews follows 2 Thess), the
[4]
Acts of the Apostles, the General Epistles, and the Book of Revelation. The fact that some parts of the codex
are preserved in good condition, while others are in very poor condition, implies they were separated and stored in
two places.
For most of the New Testament, Codex Sinaiticus is in general agreement with Codex Vaticanus and Codex
Ephraemi Rescriptus, attesting the Alexandrian text-type. A notable example of an agreement between the
Sinaiticus and Vaticanus texts is that they both omit the word εικη ('without cause', 'without reason', 'in vain') from
Matthew 5:22 "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger
of the judgment."[5]
Only in John 1:1-8:38 Codex Sinaiticus represents different text-type than Vaticanus and any other Alexandrian
manuscript. It is in closer agreement with Codex Bezae in support of the Western text-type. F.e. in John 1:3
Sinaiticus and Codex Bezae are only Greek manuscripts with textual variant ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἐστίν (in him is life)
instead of ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ᾓν (in him was life). This variant is supported by Vetus Latina and some Sahidic
manuscripts. This portion has a large number of corrections.[6] However, there are a number of differences
between Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. Hoskier enumerated 3036 differences:
Matt – 656
Mark – 567
Luke – 791
John – 1022
Together—3036.[7]
A large number of these differences is a result of iotacisms, and a different way for a transcription of Hebrew
names. These two manuscripts were not written in the same scriptorium. According to Hort Sinaiticus and
Vaticanus were derived from a common original much older, "the date of which cannot be later than the early part
of the second century, and may well be yet earlier".[8] The following example illustrates the differences between
Sinaiticus and Vaticanus in Matt 1:18-19:
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Since the fourth to the twelfth century worked on this codex 9 correctors and
it is one of the most corrected manuscripts.[10] Tischendorf enumerated
14,800 corrections. Besides of this corrections some letters were marked by
dot as doubtfull (f.e. ṪḢ). Corrections represent Byzantine text-type, just like
in codices: Bodmer II, Regius (L), Ephraemi (C), and Sangallensis (Δ). They
were discovered by Cambridge scholar Edward A. Button.[11]
Omitted verses
Gospel of Matthew 6:2-3 (http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=%20Matthew&
verse=6:2-3&src=!) , 6:2-3 (http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=%20Matthew&
verse=6:2-3&src=!) , 12:47 (http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610
/bibref.php?book=%20Matthew&verse=12:47&src=!) , 17:21 (http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au
/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=%20Matthew&verse=17:21&src=!) , 18:11
(http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=%20Matthew&verse=18:11&src=!) , 23:14
(http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=%20Matthew&verse=23:14&src=!)
Gospel of Mark 7:16 (http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=%20Mark&
verse=7:16&src=!) , 9:44 (http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=%20Mark&
verse=9:44&src=!) , 9:46 (http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=%20Mark&
verse=9:46&src=!) , 11:26 (http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=%20Mark&
verse=11:26&src=!) , 15:28 (http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=%20Mark&
verse=15:28&src=!) , 16:8-20(Mark's ending)
Gospel of Luke 10:32 (http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=%20Luke&
verse=10:32&src=!) , 17:36 (http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=%20Luke&
verse=17:36&src=!) , 22:43-44 (http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610
/bibref.php?book=%20Luke&verse=22:43-44&src=!) (marked by the first corrector as doubtful, but
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In Matt 13:54 εις την πατριδα αυτου changed into εις την αντιπατριδα αυτου, and in Acts 8:5 εις την πολιν της
Σαμαρειας replaced into εις την πολιν της Καισαριας. This two variants do not exist in any other manuscripts,
and it seems they were made by a scribe. According to T. C. Skeat, they suggest Caesarea as a place in which
manuscript was made.[12]
Of its early history, little is known of the text. It may have been written in Rome, Egypt, or Caesarea during the
fourth century C.E. It could not be written before 325 C.E. because it contains the Eusebian Canons, and it is a
terminus a quo. It can not be written after 350 C.E. because references to the Church fathers on a margin notes
exclude that possibility. Therefore, the date 350 C.E. is a terminus ad quem. The document is said to be was one of
the fifty copies of the Bible commissioned from Eusebius by Roman Emperor Constantine after his conversion to
Christianity (De vita Constantini, IV, 37).[13] This hypothesis was supported by T. C. Skeat.[14]
Tischendorf believed four separate scribes copied the work (whom he named A, B, C, and D), and seven
correctors amended portions, one of them contemporaneous with the original scribes, the others dating to the sixth
and seventh centuries. Modern analysis identifies at least three scribes. Scribe B was poor speller, scribe A was
not very much better, the best was scribe D. Scribe A wrote most of the historical and poetical books of the Old
Testament, and almost the whole of the New Testament.
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A paleographical study at the British Museum in 1938 found that the text had undergone several corrections. The
first corrections were done by several scribes before the manuscript left the scriptorium. In the sixth or seventh
century many alterations were made, which, according to a colophon at the end of the book of Esdras and Esther
states, that the source of these alterations was "a very ancient manuscript that had been corrected by the hand of
the holy martyr Pamphylus" (martyred 309 C.E.). If this is so, material which begin with 1 Samuel to the end of
Esther is Origen's copy of the Hexapla. From this is concluded, that it had been in Caesarea Maritima in the sixth
or seventh centuries.[15] Uncorrected is the pervasive iotacism, especially of the ει diphthong.
Discovery
The Codex was probably seen in 1761 by the Italian traveller, Vitaliano Donati,
when he visited Monastery of Saint Catherine at Sinai.[16] However, it was not
until 1844, when the modern re-discovery of the document was officially made.
Credit for this discovery goes to Constantin von Tischendorf who allegedly saw
some leaves of parchment in a waste-basket during his first visit to Monastery of
Saint Catherine. He claimed the leaves of parchment were relegated as "rubbish
which was to be destroyed by burning it in the ovens of the monastery",[17]
although this is firmly denied by the Monastery. After examination he realized
that they were part of the Septuagint, written in an early Greek uncial script. He
retrieved from the basket 129 leaves in Greek which he identified as coming
from a manuscript of the Septuagint. He asked if he might keep them, but at this
point the attitude of the monks changed, they realized how valuable these old
leaves were, and Tischendorf was permitted to take only one-third of the whole,
i.e. 43 leaves. These leaves contained portions of 1 Chronicles, Jeremiah,
Nehemiah, and Esther. After his return they were deposited in the University Konstantin von Tischendorf in
Library at Leipzig, where they still remain. In 1846, Tischendorf published their 1870
contents, naming them the 'Codex Frederico-Augustanus' (in honor Frederick
Augustus).
In 1845, Archimandrite Porphiryj Uspenski (1804-1885), later archbishop of Sinai, visited the monastery and the
codex was shown to him, together with leaves which Tischendorf had not seen.
In 1853, Tischendorf revisited the monastery again at Sinai, to get the remaining 86 folios, but without success.
Among these folios were all of Isaiah and 1 and 4 Maccabees.[18] The Codex Sinaiticus was shown to Constantin
von Tischendorf on his third visit to the Monastery of Saint Catherine, at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt, in
1859. (However, this story may have been a fabrication, or the manuscripts in question may have been unrelated
to Codex Sinaiticus: Rev. J. Silvester Davies in 1863 quoted "a monk of Sinai who… stated that according to the
librarian of the monastery the whole of Codex Sinaiticus had been in the library for many years and was marked
in the ancient catalogues... Is it likely… that a manuscript known in the library catalogue would have been
jettisoned in the rubbish basket." Indeed, it has been noted that the leaves were in "suspiciously good condition"
for something found in the trash.)[19] Tischendorf had been sent to search for manuscripts by Russia's Tsar
Alexander II, who was convinced there were still manuscripts to be found at the Sinai monastery. The text of this
part of the codex was published by Tischendorf in 1862:
Konstantin von Tischendorf: Bibliorum codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus. Leipzig: Giesecke & Devrient,
1862.
Konstantin von Tischendorf, G. Olms (Hrsg.): Bibliorum codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus. 1. Prolegomena.
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The complete publication of the codex was made by noted English scholar Kirsopp Lake (1872-1946) in 1911
(New Testament),[20] and in 1922 (Old Testament). It was the full-sized black and white facsimile of the
manuscript, made on the basis two earlier facsimiles editing. Lake did not have access to the manuscript.
After some negotiations, he obtained possession of this precious fragment. James Bentley gives an account of how
this came about, prefacing it with the comment, "Tischendorf therefore now embarked on the remarkable piece of
duplicity which was to occupy him for the next decade, which involved the careful suppression of facts and the
systematic denigration of the monks of Mount Sinai."[22] He conveyed it to Tsar Alexander II, who appreciated its
importance and had it published as nearly as possible in facsimile, so as to exhibit correctly the ancient
handwriting. The Tsar sent the monastery 9000 rubles by way of compensation. Regarding Tischendorf's role in
the transfer to Saint Petersburg, there are several views. Although when parts of Genesis and Book of Numbers
were later found in the bindings of other books, they were amicably sent to Tischendorf, the codex is currently
regarded by the monastery as having been stolen. This view is hotly contested by several scholars in Europe. In a
more neutral spirit, New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger writes:
"Certain aspects of the negotiations leading to the transfer of the codex to the Tsar's possession are
open to an interpretation that reflects adversely on Tischendorf's candour and good faith with the
monks at St. Catherine's. For a recent account intended to exculpate him of blame, see Erhard
Lauch's article 'Nichts gegen Tischendorf' in Bekenntnis zur Kirche: Festgabe für Ernst Sommerlath
zum 70. Geburtstag (Berlin: c. 1961); for an account that includes a hitherto unknown receipt given
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by Tischendorf to the authorities at the monastery promising to return the manuscript from Saint
Petersburg 'to the Holy Confraternity of Sinai at its earliest request', see Ihor Ševčenko's article 'New
Documents on Tischendorf and the Codex Sinaiticus', published in the journal Scriptorium xviii
(1964): 55–80.[23]
For many decades, the Codex was preserved in the Russian National Library. In 1933, the Soviet Union sold the
codex to the British Museum[26] for £100,000 raised by public subscription. After coming to Britain, it was
examined by T. C. Skeat and H.J.M. Milne using an ultra-violet lamp.[27]
In May 1975, during restoration work, the monks of Saint Catherine's monastery discovered a room beneath the
Saint George Chapel which contained many parchment fragments. Among these fragments were twelve complete
leaves from the Sinaiticus Old Testament.[28][29]
In June 2005, a team of experts from the UK, Europe, Egypt, Russia and USA undertook a joint project to
produce a new digital edition of the manuscript (involving all four holding libraries), and a series of other studies
was announced. This will include the use of hyperspectral imaging to photograph the manuscripts to look for
hidden information such as erased or faded text.[30] This is to be done in cooperation with the British Library.
This project will cost $1m.[31]
More than one quarter of the manuscript was made publicly available online on July 24, 2008.[32] In July 2009,
the entire manuscript will be available.[33]
Present location
The codex is now split into four unequal portions: 347 leaves in the
British Library in London (199 of the Old Testament, 148 of the New
Testament), 12 leaves and 14 fragments in St. Catherine's Monastery of
Sinai, 43 leaves in the Leipzig University Library, and fragments of 3
leaves in the Russian National Library in Saint Petersburg.[1]
At the present day, the monastery in Sinai officially considers that the
The British Library
codex was stolen. Visitors in our day have reported that the monks at
Saint Catherine's Monastery display the receipt they received from
Tischendorf for the Codex, in a frame that hangs upon the wall.[34]
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Notes
1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Kurt Aland, Barbara Aland. The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical
Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism, transl. Erroll F. Rhodes. (Grand
Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995), 107
2. ↑ Robert Bringhurst. (2004). The Elements of Typographic Style (version 3.0). (Vancouver: Hartley &
Marks. ISBN 0881792055), 174–175.
3. ↑ Codex Sinaiticus (http://www.codex-sinaiticus.net/en/codex/content.aspx) codex-sinaiticus.net. Retrieved
November 19, 2008.
4. ↑ Also in Minuscule 69 and several other minuscule manuscripts Pauline epistles precede Acts.
5. ↑ The same variant present manuscripts: Magdalen papyrus P67, Minuscule 2174, pc, vg, eth.
6. ↑ Gordon D. Fee, "Codex Sinaiticus in the Gospel of John." NTS 15 (1968-1969): 22-44.
7. ↑ H.C. Hoskier. Codex B and Its Allies, a Study and an Indictment. (London; 1914), 1.
8. ↑ B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort. Introduction to the Study of the Gospels. (1860), 40.
9. ↑ The Four Gospels, a Study of Origins treating of the Manuscript Tradition, Sources, Authorship, &
Dates, (1924), 590-597. (http://www.katapi.org.uk/4Gospels/APP4.htm) katapi.org. Retrieved November
19, 2008.
10. ↑ H.J.M. Milne, and T.C. Skeat. Scribes and Correctors of Codex Sinaiticus. (London: Trustees of the
British Museum, 1938).
11. ↑ Edward A. Button. An Atlas of Textual Criticism. (Cambridge: 1911), 13.
12. ↑ T.C. Skeat, "The Codex Sinaiticus, The Codex Vaticanus and Constantine." Journal of Theological
Studies 50 (1999): 583-625.
13. ↑ I.M. Price. The Ancestry of Our English Bible an Account of Manuscripts, Texts and Versions of the
Bible. (Sunday School Times Co, 1923), 146 f.
14. ↑ T.C. Skeat, "The Codex Sinaiticus, The Codex Vaticanus and Constantine," Journal of Theological
Studies 50 (1999): 583-625.
15. ↑ Bruce M. Metzger. The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration.
(Oxford University Press, 1992), 46.
16. ↑ G. Lumbroso. Atti della R. Accademia dei Lincei. (1879), 501.
17. ↑ T. C. Skeat, "The Last Chapter in the History of the Codex Sinaiticus." Novum Testamentum Vol. 42, Fasc.
3, (July 2000): 313
18. ↑ K.v. Tischendorf. When Were Our Gospels Written? An Argument by Constantine Tischendorf. With a
Narrative of the Discovery of the Sinaitic Manuscript. (New York: American Tract Society, 1866).
19. ↑ Davies words are from a letter published in The Guardian on May 27, 1863, as quoted by J.K. Elliott in
Codex Sinaiticus and the Simonides Affair. (Thessaloniki: Patriarchal Institute for Patristic Studies, 1982),
16; Elliott in turn is quoted by Michael D. Peterson in his essay "Tischendorf and the Codex Sinaiticus: the
Saga Continues," in The Church and the Library, ed. Papademetriou and Sopko. (Boston: Somerset Hall
Press, 2005), 77 ; See also notes 2 and 3, p. 90, in Papademetriou.
20. ↑ Kirsopp Lake. Codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus: The New Testament, the Epistle of Barnabas and the
Shepherd of Hermas. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911).
21. ↑ See Constantin von Tischendorf, The Discovery of the Sinaitic Manuscript (http://www.rosetta.reltech.org
/TC/extras/tischendorf-sinaiticus.html) , Extract from Constantin von Tischendorf, When Were Our Gospels
Written? An Argument by Constantine Tischendorf. With a Narrative of the Discovery of the Sinaitic
Manuscript (New York: American Tract Society, 1866).
22. ↑ James Bentley, Secrets of Mount Sinai (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1986), 95.
23. ↑ Bruce A. Metzger. The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration.
(Oxford University Press, 1992), 45.
24. ↑ J.K. Elliott in "Codex Sinaiticus and the Simonides Affair," (Thessaloniki: Patriarchal Institute for Patristic
Studies, 1982), 16.
25. ↑ A history of Cambridge University Press. By David McKitterick, Volume 2: Scholarship and Commerce
(1698-1872), (369).
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References
This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.
Aland, Kurt, and Barbara Aland. The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions
and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism, transl. Erroll F. Rhodes. Grand Rapids, MI:
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995.
Bentley, James. Secrets of Mount Sinai. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1986. ASIN: B000KNEFFS.
Bringhurst, Robert. 2004. The Elements of Typographic Style (version 3.0). Vancouver: Hartley & Marks.
ISBN 0881792055.
Button, E.A., An Atlas of Textual Criticism. Cambridge: 1911.
Elliott, J.K., Codex Sinaiticus and the Simonides Affair. Thessaloniki: Patriarchal Institute for Patristic
Studies, 1982.
Epp, Eldon J. and Gordon D. Fee. Studies in the Theory and Method of New Testament Textual Criticism.
Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1993. ISBN 080282773X.
Fee, Gordon D., "Codex Sinaiticus in the Gospel of John." NTS 15 (1968-1969)
Hoskier, H.C., Codex B and Its Allies, a Study and an Indictment. London: 1914.
Kenyon, F.G. Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, 4th ed., London: 1939.
Lake, Kirsopp. Codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus: The New Testament, the Epistle of Barnabas and the
Shepherd of Hermas. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911.
Lumbroso, G. Atti della R. Accademia dei Lincei. 1879.
Magerson, P., "Codex Sinaiticus: An Historical Observation," Bib Arch 46 (1983): 54-56.
McKitterick, David. A History of Cambridge University Press. (in four volumes) Volume 2: Scholarship
and Commerce (1698-1872). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998. ISBN 052130802X.
Metzger, Bruce M. Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Palaeography. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1991. ISBN 0195029240.
Metzger, Bruce M. and Bart D. Ehrman. The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and
Restoration. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. ISBN 0195072979.
Milne, H.J.M. and T. C. Skeat. Scribes and Correctors of the Codex Sinaiticus. London: British Museum,
1938.
Peterson, Michael D., "Tischendorf and the Codex Sinaiticus: the Saga Continues," in The Church and the
Library: Studies in Honor of Rev. Dr. George C. Papademetriou, ed. by Dean Papademetriou and Andrew
J. Sopko. Boston: Somerset Hall Press, 2005. ISBN 0972466118.
Price, I.M., The Ancestry of Our English Bible an Account of Manuscripts, Texts and Versions of the Bible.
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External links
All links retrieved June 1, 2013.
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