Syriac Sinaiticus, folio 82b, Gospel of Matthew 1:1-17. Superimposed, life of Saint Euphrosyne.
The Syriac Sinaiticus or Codex Sinaiticus Syriacus (syrs), known also as the Sinaitic Palimpsest, of Saint Catherine's Monastery (Sinai, Syr. 30), 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,[1] which have been overwritten by a vita (biography) of female saints and martyrs with a date corresponding to AD 697.[2] This palimpsest is the oldest copy of the Gospels in Syriac, one of two surviving manuscripts (the other being the Curetonian Gospels) that are conventionally dated to before the Peshitta, the standard Syriac translation.[3]
Both the Syriac Sinaiticus (designated syrs) [Sinai, Syr 30] and the Curetonian Gospels (designated syrcur) [British Library, Add 14451; Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, Orient Quad 528] known as the Old Syriac version[4] contain similar renderings of the Gospel text; its conformity with the Greek and the Latin has been debated.[5] Additional passages of the Old Syriac version were discovered among the New Finds (1975) of Saint Catherine's Monastery (Sinai, Syr. NF 37, 39).[6][7] Even so, syrs retains some readings from even earlier lost Syriac Gospels and from the 2nd-century Septuagint manuscripts, which brought the four Gospels into harmony with one another through selective readings and emendations.[8]
It had been ascertained that the Diatessaron, or Harmony of the Four Gospels, composed by Tatian in the second century, had to be supplanted in the Syrian churches. There was a promulgation by Bishop Rabbula of Edessa in between AD 411 and 435, that four separate Gospels come into being in use in Syriac churches.[9]
The importance of such early, least conforming texts is emphasized by the revision of the Peshitta that was made about 508, ordered by bishop Philoxenus of Mabbog. His revision, it is said, skilfully moved the Peshitta nearer to the Greek text; "it is very remarkable that his own frequent Gospel quotations preserved in his writings show that he used an Old Syriac set of the four Gospels".[10]
The German theologian Adalbert Merx devoted much of his later research to the elucidation of the Sinaitic Palimpsest, the results being embodied in Die vier kanonischen Evangelien nach dem ältesten bekannten Texte (1897–1905).
The Sinaitic Palimpsest immediately became a central document in tracing the history of the New Testament. The palimpsest's importance lies especially in making the Greek New Testament manuscripts understandable to Aramaic speaking communities during that period.
In Mark 10:2, the phrase the Pharisees came is omitted, as in D, ita.b.d.k.r1, (syrcur)
In Mark 10:7, the phrase and be joined to his wife is omitted, as in א, B, Ψ, 892*, 2427, ℓ48, goth.[15]
In Luke 4:17, it reflects ἀνοίξας ('opened') with A, B, L, W, Ξ, 33, 579, 892, 1195, 1241, ℓ547, syrh, pal, copsa, bo
In Luke 9:35, it reflects ἐκλελεγμένος ('Elect One') with 𝔓45𝔓75 א B L Ξ 892 1241 ita.aur.ff2.l vgst copmss
In Luke 10:41b–42a, the phrase you are worried and being troubled about many things, but only one thing is needed is omitted, as in ita.b.d.e.ff2.i.l.r1Ambrose
In Luke 23:34, the phrase And Jesus said: Father forgive them, they know not what they do is omitted, agreeing with 𝔓75, א1, B, D*, W, Θ, 0124, 1241, a, Bezaelat, copsa, copbo.[16]
Luke 24:40 is omitted, as in D ita.b.d.e.ff2.l.r1, syrcur
In Luke 24:52, the phrase after worshiping him is omitted, as in D ita.b.d.e.ff2.geo2.l (syrcur)
In Luke 24:53, it reflects εὐλογοῦντες ('blessing') with 𝔓75 א B C* L
In John 1:34, it reflects ὁ ἐκλεκτός ('the Elect One') with 𝔓5𝔓106vid א* itb.e.ff2* syrcur
In John 6:23, the phrase the Lord having given thanks is omitted, as in D 091 ita.e syrcur
In John 6:42, the phrase and his mother is omitted, as in א* W itb syrcur
In John 6:46, it contains a singular reading reflecting the Greek θεον πατερα ('God the Father').
In John 6:47, it reflects ὁ πιστεύων εις θεον ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον ('he who is believing in God has life everlasting') in agreement only with syrcur.
In John 6:51, it reflects του εμου ἄρτου ('my bread') with א ita.e.r1
In John 6:64, the text who they are who are not believing, and is omitted, as in 𝔓66* ite syrcur
In John 7:32, the phrase the chief priests and the Pharisees is omitted, as in 118 itb.e
In John 8:16, text reflecting πατήρ ('father') is omitted, as in א* D 1655* itd syrcur
In John 8:53, the phrase our father is omitted, as in D W ita.b.c.d.e.ff2.j.l coppbo
In John 9:18, the phrase had been blind and had received sight is omitted, as in 𝔓66*f1 565 itmss copbo
In John 9:35, it reflects υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ('Son of Man') with 𝔓66 𝔓75 א B D W copmss
The Codex Sinaiticus, designated by siglum א [Aleph] or 01, δ 2, also called Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonical books, and the Greek New Testament, with both the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas included. It is written in uncial letters on parchment. It is one of the four great uncial codices. Along with Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Vaticanus, it is one of the earliest and most complete manuscripts of the Bible, and contains the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. It is a historical treasure, and using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the mid-fourth century.
In textual criticism of the New Testament, the Alexandrian text-type is one of the main text types. It is the text type favored by the majority of modern textual critics and it is the basis for most modern Bible translations. Over 5,800 New Testament manuscripts have been classified into four groups by text type. Besides the Alexandrian, the other types are the Western, Caesarean, and Byzantine. Compared to these later text types, Alexandrian readings tend to be abrupt, use fewer words, show greater variation among the Synoptic Gospels, and have readings that are considered difficult. That is to say, later scribes tended to polish scripture and improve its literary style. Glosses would occasionally be added as verses during the process of copying a Bible by hand. From the ninth century onward, most surviving manuscripts are of the Byzantine type.
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 Peshitta 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 Dea 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 Curetonian Gospels, designated by the siglum syrcur, are contained in a manuscript of the four gospels of the New Testament in Old Syriac. Together with the Sinaiticus Palimpsest the Curetonian Gospels form the Old Syriac Version, and are known as the Evangelion Dampharshe in the Syriac Orthodox Church.
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 Regius, designated by siglum Le or 019, ε56, 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 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."
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 was translated by the 5th century. Besides Syriac, there are Bible translations into other Aramaic dialects.
Western non-interpolations is a term coined by F. J. A. Hort for certain phrases that are absent in the Western text-type of New Testament manuscripts, but present in one of the two major other text-types. The Alexandrian text-type is generally terse or concise; the Western text-type is larger and paraphrased at places ; the Byzantine text-type is a combination of those two. Nevertheless, the Western text is in certain places shorter than the Alexandrian text. All these shorter readings Hort named Western non-interpolations. Because New Testament scholars have generally preferred the shorter reading – lectio brevior – of textual variants since the 19th century, B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort concluded that these shorter readings in Western manuscripts represented the authentic original Biblical text. When they printed The New Testament in the Original Greek (1882), in almost all cases, it followed the Alexandrian text with the few exceptions that use these Western non-interpolations instead. According to Westcott and Hort, on some rare occasions Western textual witnesses have preserved the original text, against all other witnesses.
Minuscule 892, ε 1016 (Soden). It is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on 353 parchment leaves. It is dated palaeografically to the 9th century.
Papyrus 106, designated by 𝔓106, is a fragmentary manuscript of the Gospel of John from the New Testament in Greek written on papyrus. It contains text from John 1:29-35 & 1:40-46. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been assigned assigned to the early 3rd century. The manuscript is currently housed at the Sackler Library at Oxford University in Oxford, England.
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.
Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, two of the great uncial codices, representatives of the Alexandrian text-type, are considered excellent manuscript witnesses of the text of the New Testament. Most critical editions of the Greek New Testament give precedence to these two chief uncial manuscripts, and the majority of translations are based on their text. Nevertheless, there are many differences between these two manuscripts. A recent scientific comparative study of interest published on these two Alexandrian codices is "The Relationship between Vaticanus & Sinaiticus and the Majority Text in Galatians" by Dr. Graham G. Thomason and "THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SPLIT TEXT-TYPES FOR THE RECOVERY OF THE ORIGINAL TEXT OF THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT" by Dr LESLIE McFALL - both are freely made available on the internet. Historically, the true character of these two Alexandrian manuscripts was quickly and thoroughly challenged by Dean John William Burgon's exhaustive analysis: "It is in fact easier to find two consecutive verses in which these two MSS differ the one from the other, than two consecutive verses in which they entirely agree."
Textual variants in the Gospel of Matthew 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 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.
Textual variants in the First Epistle to Timothy 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 Second Epistle to the Thessalonians 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
↑ Bruce M. Metzger (1977), III. The Old Syriac Version, in Bruce M. Metzger (ed.), The Early Versions of the New Testament (Clarendon Press; Oxford), pp. 36–48.
↑ Agnes S. Lewis, Select Narratives of Holy Women from the Syro-Antiochene or Sinai Palimpsest as Written Above the Old Syriac Gospels by John the Stylite, or Beth Mari-Qanu in ADD 778 (Studia Sinaitica IX–X; C. J. Clay; London, 1900).
↑ Bruce M. Metzger (1977), IV. The Peshitta Syriac Version, in Bruce M. Metzger (ed.), The Early Versions of the New Testament (Clarendon Press; Oxford), pp. 48–63.
↑ Synoptic edition George A. Kiraz (1996), Comparative Edition of the Syriac Gospels Aligning the Sinaiticus, Curetonians, Peshitta and Harklean Version, I–IV (Brill: Leiden).
↑ Bruce M. Metzger (1977), III. The Old Syriac Version, in Bruce M. Metzger (ed.), The Early Versions of the New Testament (Clarendon Press; Oxford), pp. 36–48.
↑ Sebastian P. Brock (2016), Two Hitherto Unattested Passages of the Old Syriac Gospels in Palimpsests from St Catherie’s Monastery, Sinai, Δελτίο Βιβλικῶν Μελετῶν 31A, pp. 7–18.
↑ Smith Lewis, Agnes (1894). A Translation of the Four Gospels from the Syriac of the Sinaitic Palimpset. New York: Macmillan and Co. pp.xvii. ISBN9783337283360.
Sebastian P. Brock (2016), Two Hitherto Unattested Passages of the Old Syriac Gospels in Palimpsests from St Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai, Δελτίο βιβλικῶν Μελετῶν 31A, pp.7–18.
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