Caesarean text-type

Last updated November 05, 2024

In textual criticism of the New Testament, Caesarean text-type is the term proposed by certain scholars to denote a consistent pattern of variant readings that is claimed to be apparent in certain Koine Greek manuscripts of the four Gospels, but which is not found in any of the other commonly recognized New Testament text types (Byzantine, Western and Alexandrian).

In particular a common text type has been proposed to be found: in the ninth/tenth century Codex Koridethi; in Codex Basilensis A. N. IV. 2 (a Greek manuscript of the Gospels used sparingly by Erasmus in his 1516 printed Koine New Testament); and in those Gospel quotations found in the third century works of Origen, which were written after he had settled in Caesarea.^[1]^[2] The early translations of the Gospels in Armenian and Georgian also appear to witness to many of the proposed characteristic Caesarean readings, as do the small group of minuscule manuscripts classed as Family 1 and Family 13. However, some text critics such as Kurt and Barbara Aland have disputed the existence of a Caesarean text-type.^[3]

Description

A particularly distinctive common reading of the proposed text-type is in Matthew 27:16-17, where the bandit released by Pontius Pilate instead of Jesus is named as "Jesus Barabbas" rather than—with all other surviving witnesses—just "Barabbas". Origen notes particularly that the form "Jesus Barabbas" was common in manuscripts in Caesarea, whereas he had not found this reading in his previous residence in Alexandria. Otherwise the Caesarean readings have a mildly paraphrastic tendency that seems to place them between the more concise Alexandrian, and the more expansive Western text-types. None of the surviving Caesarean manuscripts is claimed to witness a pure type of text, as all appear to have been to some degree assimilated with readings from the Byzantine text-type.

Some writers have questioned the validity of this grouping, claiming that the classification is the result of poor research. Insofar as the Caesarean text-type does exist, then it does so only in the Gospels, with most studies focusing on readings in Mark; the text-type is not so well defined in Matthew, Luke and John. The proposed Caesarean witnesses do not appear to have any common distinctive readings in the rest of the New Testament. Some of the Caesarean manuscripts have the so-called Jerusalem Colophon.

The Caesarean text-type was discovered and named by Burnett Hillman Streeter in 1924.^[2] According to some scholars such as Kurt and Barbara Aland, it is only a hypothetical text-type.^[3] There are no pure Caesarean manuscripts. In many cases, it is difficult to decide the original reading of the group, for instance in Mark 1:16:^[1]^: LIII

αμφιβαλλοντας τα δικτυα — ƒ¹³ 565.

αμφιβληστρα βαλλοντας — ƒ¹

αμφιβληστρον βαλλοντας — 700.

βαλλοντας αμφιβληστρον — 28.

Classification siglia

H. von Soden — Iota (Jerusalem) (I), in part (most strong "Caesarean" witnesses are found in Soden's I^α group, with family 1 being his I^η and family 13 being I^ι).

Kirsopp Lake, an outstanding British textual critic, developed the hypothesis of the relationship between ƒ¹, ƒ¹³, Θ, 565, 700, and 28.^[4] Streeter carried Lake's work further by pointing to Caesarea as the original location of the family.^[5]

F. G. Kenyon — Gamma (γ)^[6]

M. J. Lagrange — C

Supposed witnesses

The earliest potential witnesses to something alike the Caesarean manuscripts are Papyrus 45 ( 𝔓⁴⁵ ) and some of the (now non-existent) manuscripts used by Origen. According to biblical scholar Teofilio Ayuso, 𝔓⁴⁵ and the quotations of Origen count as "proto-Caesarean", however the full Caesarean text only appears later in manuscripts such as Koridethi (Θ) and the early Armenian and Georgian manuscripts.^[7] Notwithstanding this association of 𝔓⁴⁵ and a "proto" or "pre-Caesarean" text-type, biblical scholar Larry Hurtado quashed any sort of affiliation between 𝔓⁴⁵ and the Caesarean text-type. He argued only that 𝔓⁴⁵ and Codex Washingtonianus (W) had a close relationship in the Gospel of Mark, but not with any other witness considered to represent the Caesarean text-type. Therefore, Hurtado states "the 'pre-Caesarean' witnesses are not Caesarean at all," and accordingly 𝔓⁴⁵ and W "[do] not belong to any major text-type."^[8]^[9]

Sign	Name	Date	Content
Θ (038)	Codex Koridethi	9th	Mark
565.	Minuscule 565	9th	Gospels
28.	Minuscule 28	11th	Gospel of Mark
700.	Minuscule 700	11th	Gospels
1. and rest of ƒ¹	Minuscule 1, 118, 131, 209	12th 11th-15th	only Gospels
13. and rest of ƒ¹³	Minuscule 13, 69, 124, 346	13th 11th-15th	Gospels only Gospels

Other manuscripts

𝔓²⁹ , 𝔓³⁸ , 𝔓⁴¹ , 𝔓⁴⁸ , Uncial 0188, 174, 230, 406 (?), 788, 826, 828, 872 (only in Mark), 1071, 1275, 1424 (only in Mark), 1604, 2437, ℓ32.^[10]

Textual features

(Apparent Caesarean witnesses in Bold)

Matthew 8:13

και υποστρεψας ο εκατονταρχος εις τον οικον αυτου εν αυτη τη ωρα ευρεν τον παιδα υγιαινοντα (and when the centurion returned to his house in that hour, he found the slave well) - א ‎ C (N) Θ (0250) ƒ¹ (33. 1241.) g¹ syr^h

omit. - Majority of MSS^[11]^: 18

Matthew 13:35

δια Ησαιου του προφητου (through Isaiah the prophet) – Θ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 33.

δια του προφητου (through the prophet) — Majority of MSS^[12]^: 50

Matthew 20:23

και το βαπτισμα ο εγω βαπτιζομαι βαπτισθησεσθε (and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with) - Majority of MSS

omit. — א ‎ B D L Z Θ 085 ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ it syr^{s, c} sa ^[11]^: 56

Matthew 27:16–17

Ιησουν τον Βαραββαν (Jesus Barabbas) — Θ ƒ¹ 700.* syr^{s, pal} arm geo

τον Βαραββαν (Barabbas) — Majority of MSS

Mark 8:14

ενα μονον αρτον εχοντες (only having one loaf) — 𝔓⁴⁵ Θ ƒ¹ 565. 700 k sa

omit — Majority of MSS

Mark 8:15

των Ηρωδιανων (of the Herodians) — 𝔓⁴⁵ W Θ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 28. 565. 1365. i k cop^sa arm geo

Ηρωδου (of Herod) — majority of mss

Mark 8:17

εν ταις καρδιαις υμων, ολιγοπιστοι (in your hearts, Oh little-faithed ones) — Θ 28. 565. 700. pc syr^h

omit. - Majority of MSS

Mark 9:29

προσευχη και νηστεια (prayer and fasting) — 𝔓⁴⁵ A C D L W Θ Ψ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ Majority of MSS

προσευχη (prayer) — א ‎ B 0274 k

Mark 10:19

μη αποστερησης (do not defraud) — א ‎ A B² C D X Θ 565. 892. 1009. 1071. 1195. 1216. 1230. 1241 1253. 1344. 1365. 1646. 2174. Byz Lect

omit. — B* K W Δ Ψ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 28 700 1010. 1079. 1242. 1546. 2148. ℓ10 ℓ950ℓ1642ℓ1761 syr^s arm geo^[12]^: 165

Mark 12:1

ανθρωπος τις εφυτευσεν αμπελωνα (a certain man planted a vineyard) — W Θ ƒ¹³ 565 aur c

αμπελωνα ανθρωπος εφυτευσεν (a man planted a vineyard) — א ‎ Β C Δ Ψ 33. 1424.

Mark 12:7

θεασαμενοι αυτον ερχομενον ειπαν προς εαυτους (seeing him coming, he said towards them) — Θ 565. 700. c

θεασαμενοι αυτον ερχομενον ειπον (seeing him coming, he said) — N ƒ¹³ 28.

προς εαυτους ειπαν οτι (he said towards them, "Because...) — א ‎ Β C L W' Ψ 33. 892.

ειπαν προς εαυτους (he said towards them) — D

ειπον προς εαυτους οτι (he said towards them, "Because...) — A Majority of MSS

Mark 13:6

λέγοντες ὅτι Ἐγώ ο Xρηστός (saying that, "I am the Messiah") — W Θ ƒ¹³ 28 61. 115. 255. 299. 565. 700. 1071. b c g² l vg^mss sa bo geo^b arm arab^ms Cyp

λέγοντες ὅτι Ἐγώ εἰμι (saying that, "I am he") — Majority of MSS

Notes

1 2 Lake, Kirsopp (1902). Codex 1 of the Gospels and its Allies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 1-59244-836-4.
1 2 Streeter, Burnett Hillman (1926). The Four Gospels: A Study of Origins Treating of the Manuscript Tradition, Sources, Authorship, & Dates (2 ed.). London: Macmillan.
1 2 Aland, Kurt; Aland, Barbara (1995). The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism . Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.
↑ Lake, Kirsopp; Blake, Robert (1923). "The Text of the Gospels and the Koridethi Codex". Harvard Theological Review. 16 (3): 267–286. doi:10.1017/S0017816000013742. JSTOR 1507787. S2CID 163050334.
↑ Wisse, Frederik (1982). The Profile Method for Classifying and Evaluating Manuscript Evidence . Michigan: Eerdmans. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-8028-1918-5.
↑ Kenyon, Frederic G. (1912). Handbook to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament. London: Macmillan & Co. pp. 334–338.
↑ Colwell, Ernest Cadman (1969). Studies in Methodology in Textual Criticism of the New Testament. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-37927-5.
↑ Hurtado, Larry W. (1981). Text-Critical Methodology and the Pre-Caesarean Text: Codex W in the Gospel of Mark . Michigan: Eerdmans. p. 88. ISBN 0-8028-1872-2.
↑ Metzger, Bruce Manning; Ehrman, Bart D. (2005). The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 310–311. ISBN 0-19-516667-1.
↑ David Alan Black, New Testament Textual Criticism, Baker Books, 2006, p. 65.
1 2 Aland, Kurt; Black, Matthew; Martini, Carlo Maria; Metzger, Bruce M.; Wikgren, Allen, eds. (1981). Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (26 ed.). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstiftung. ISBN 3-438-051001. (NA26)
1 2 Aland, Kurt; Black, Matthew; Martini, Carlo Maria; Metzger, Bruce Manning; Wikgren, Allen, eds. (1983). The Greek New Testament (3rd ed.). Stuttgart: United Bible Societies. ISBN 9783438051103. (UBS3)

Related Research Articles

In textual criticism of the New Testament, the Western text-type is one of the main text types. It is the predominant form of the New Testament text witnessed in the Old Latin and Syriac translations from the Greek, and also in quotations from certain 2nd and 3rd-century Christian writers, including Cyprian, Tertullian and Irenaeus. The Western text had many characteristic features, which appeared in text of the Gospels, Book of Acts, and in Pauline epistles. The Catholic epistles and the Book of Revelation probably did not have a Western form of text. It was named "Western" by Semmler (1725–1791), having originated in early centers of Christianity in the Western Roman Empire.

The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, designated by siglum D^ea or 05, δ 5, is a bi-lingual Greek and Latin manuscript of the New Testament written in an uncial hand on parchment. 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.

The Syriac Sinaiticus or Codex Sinaiticus Syriacus (syr^s), known also as the Sinaitic Palimpsest, of Saint Catherine's Monastery, or Old Syriac Gospels is a late-4th- or early-5th-century manuscript of 179 folios, containing a nearly complete translation of the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament into Syriac, which have been overwritten by a vita (biography) of female saints and martyrs with a date corresponding to AD 697. This palimpsest is the oldest copy of the Gospels in Syriac, one of two surviving manuscripts that are conventionally dated to before the Peshitta, the standard Syriac translation.

Codex Koridethi, also named Codex Coridethianus, designated by siglum Θ or 038, ε050, is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, written on parchment. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been assigned to the 9th century CE. The manuscript has several gaps.

Codex Washingtonianus, Codex Washingtonensis or Codex Freerianus, designated by W or 032, ε014, also called the Washington Manuscript of the Gospels, The Freer Gospel and The Freer Codex, is a Greek uncial manuscript of the four Gospels, written on parchment. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the 4th or 5th century. The manuscript has some gaps.

Family 13, also known as the Ferrar Group, is a group of Greek Gospel manuscripts, dating from the 11th to the 15th centuries, which share a distinctive pattern of variant readings. All are thought to derive from a lost majuscule Gospel manuscript, probably from the 7th century. The group takes its name from minuscule 13, now in Paris.

Papyrus 45, designated by siglum 𝔓⁴⁵ in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, is an early Greek New Testament manuscript written on papyrus, and is one of the manuscripts comprising the Chester Beatty Papyri, a group of early Christian manuscripts discovered in the 1930s, and purchased by business man and philanthropist, Alfred Chester Beatty. Beatty purchased the manuscript in the 1930s from an Egyptian book dealer, and it was subsequently published in The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri, Descriptions and Texts of Twelve Manuscripts on Papyrus of the Greek Bible by palaeographer, biblical and classical scholar Frederic G. Kenyon in 1933. Manuscripts among the Chester Beatty Papyri have had several places of discovery associated with them, the most likely being the Faiyum in Egypt. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the early 3rd century CE. This therefore makes it the earliest example of not only the four Gospels contained in one volume, but also the Acts of the Apostles. It contains verses in fragmentary form from the texts of Matthew chapters 20–21 and 25–26; Mark chapters 4–9 and 11–12; Luke chapters 6–7 and 9–14; John chapters 4–5 and 10–11; and Acts chapters 4–17.

Codex Basilensis, designated by E^e, 07 or ε 55, is a Greek uncial manuscript of the four Gospels written on parchment. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the 8th century.

Family 1 is the name given to a group of Greek New Testament minuscule manuscripts of the Gospels, identified by biblical scholar Kirsopp Lake. These manuscripts vary in date from the 12th to the 15th century. The group takes its name from minuscule codex 1, now in the Basel University Library, Switzerland. "Family 1" is also symbolized as ƒ¹ in critical editions of the Greek New Testament. Textual-critic Hermann von Soden refers to the group as I^η. Initially named after minuscule 1, later studies have demonstrated that another minuscule, minuscule 1582, is likely a better candidate as a representation of the archetype from which the Family 1 manuscripts are descended.

Codex Regius is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament written on parchment. It is designated by siglum L^e or 019 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and ε56 in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been assigned to the 8th century. The manuscript has several gaps. Textual critic Frederick H. A. Scrivener described it as "by far the most remarkable document of its age and class."

Codex Sangallensis is a Greek-Latin diglot uncial manuscript of the four Gospels. It is designated by Δ or 037 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and ε76 in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it is usually dated to the 9th century CE, though a few palaeographers would place it in the 10th century CE. It was given its current name by biblical scholar Johann Martin Augustin Scholz in 1830.

The Codex Athous Laurae, designated by Ψ or 044, or δ 6, is a manuscript of the New Testament written in Greek uncial letters on parchment. The manuscript has many gaps in the text, as well as containing handwritten notes. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeographically), the codex is dated to the 8th or 9th century.

Uncial 071, ε 015 (Soden), is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, dated paleographically to the 5th or 6th century. It came from Oxyrhynchus.

Minuscule 892, ε 1016, is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament Gospels, written on parchment. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the 9th century.

Minuscule 700, ε 133, is a Greek New Testament minuscule manuscript of the Gospels, written on parchment. It was formerly labelled as 604 in all New Testament manuscript lists, however textual critic Caspar René Gregory gave it the number 700. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the 11th century. It is currently housed at the British Library in London.

Minuscule 28, ε 168, formerly known as Colbertinus 4705, is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, written on vellum. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the 11th-century. It contains marginal notes (marginalia), and has several gaps.

Textual variants in the New Testament manuscripts arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to the text that is being reproduced. Textual criticism of the New Testament has included study of its textual variants.

Textual variants in the Gospel of Mark are the subject of the study called textual criticism of the New Testament. Textual variants in manuscripts arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to a text that is being reproduced. An abbreviated list of textual variants in this particular book is given in this article below.

Textual variants in the Gospel of Luke are the subject of the study called textual criticism of the New Testament. Textual variants in manuscripts arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to a text that is being reproduced. An abbreviated list of textual variants in this particular book is given in this article below.

Textual variants in the Gospel of John are the subject of the study called textual criticism of the New Testament. Textual variants in manuscripts arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to a text that is being reproduced. An abbreviated list of textual variants in this particular book is given in this article below.

References

Metzger, Bruce Manning (1945). "The Caesarean Text of the Gospels". Journal of Biblical Literature. 64 (4): 457–489. doi:10.2307/3262276. JSTOR 3262276.

External links

Text Types And Textual Kinship – from the Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism
Concerning the "Caesarean Text"
Origins of the Caesarean text

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[codex1-1] 1 2 Lake, Kirsopp (1902). Codex 1 of the Gospels and its Allies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 1-59244-836-4.

[origins-2] 1 2 Streeter, Burnett Hillman (1926). The Four Gospels: A Study of Origins Treating of the Manuscript Tradition, Sources, Authorship, & Dates (2 ed.). London: Macmillan.

[TENT-3] 1 2 Aland, Kurt; Aland, Barbara (1995). The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism . Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.

[4] Lake, Kirsopp; Blake, Robert (1923). "The Text of the Gospels and the Koridethi Codex". Harvard Theological Review. 16 (3): 267–286. doi:10.1017/S0017816000013742. JSTOR 1507787. S2CID 163050334.

[5] Wisse, Frederik (1982). The Profile Method for Classifying and Evaluating Manuscript Evidence . Michigan: Eerdmans. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-8028-1918-5.

[6] Kenyon, Frederic G. (1912). Handbook to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament. London: Macmillan & Co. pp. 334–338.

[7] Colwell, Ernest Cadman (1969). Studies in Methodology in Textual Criticism of the New Testament. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-37927-5.

[8] Hurtado, Larry W. (1981). Text-Critical Methodology and the Pre-Caesarean Text: Codex W in the Gospel of Mark . Michigan: Eerdmans. p. 88. ISBN 0-8028-1872-2.

[9] Metzger, Bruce Manning; Ehrman, Bart D. (2005). The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 310–311. ISBN 0-19-516667-1.

[10] David Alan Black, New Testament Textual Criticism, Baker Books, 2006, p. 65.

[na26-11] 1 2 Aland, Kurt; Black, Matthew; Martini, Carlo Maria; Metzger, Bruce M.; Wikgren, Allen, eds. (1981). Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (26 ed.). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstiftung. ISBN 3-438-051001. (NA26)

[ubs3-12] 1 2 Aland, Kurt; Black, Matthew; Martini, Carlo Maria; Metzger, Bruce Manning; Wikgren, Allen, eds. (1983). The Greek New Testament (3rd ed.). Stuttgart: United Bible Societies. ISBN 9783438051103. (UBS3)

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