CONTINENTAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
A SUMMARY OF CODICES SINAITICUS, VATICANUS, AND BEZAE

A SHORT PAPER PREPARED FOR PROFESSOR GEORGE BATSON FOR THE COURSE REQUIREMENTS OF THE PRINCIPLES OF GREEK EXEGESIS, BI 526

BY MIKKO SINIVIRTA
MAY 1996 BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. CODEX SINAITICUS
Age and history
Quality
2. CODEX VATICANUS
Age and history
Quality
3. CODEX BEZAE
Age and history
Quality
BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. CODEX SINAITICUS

Age and history

Codex Sinaiticus, abbreviated ? or 01, dates from the fourth century, and is now in the British Museum. This codex of the Greek Bible was discovered about the middle of the nineteenth century by Dr. Constatin von Tischendorf at the monastery of St. Catharine on Mount Sinai. While visiting the monastery in 1844, young on Tischendorf accidentally found some old parts of LXX uncial manuscript from the waste-basket. In 1853 he revisited the monastery, but could learn anything more about the manuscript. His travels took him back once more to St. Catharine, and this time the stewardess showed him the copy of LXX that he had longed to see. For his excitement, it was more than just the LXX; the whole NT was included in excellent condition, and two early works of the second century. After that, Tischendorf copied the text in Cairo, and later arranged the donation of the codex to the Czar of Russia, the protector of the Greek Church. In this way the precious text was publicised by Tischendorf at Leipzig and presented to the Czar in the name of the monks. After the revolution in Russia, the British Museum bought the codex from U.S.S.R. for £ 100,000. Codex Sinaiticus arrived in London just before the Christmas Day, 1933. 1)

Quality

Codex Sinaiticus once contained the entire Bible written in a carefully executed uncial hand. However, today parts of the OT have perished, but the whole NT .has survived. In fact, this is the only known complete copy of Greek New Testament in uncial script.

2. CODEX VATICANUS

Age and history

Codex Vaticanus, B or 03, dates from the middle of the fourth century, and is presently kept in Rome. This is also one of the most valuable of all the manuscripts of the Greek Bible. As the name indicates, it hold in the great Vatican Library at Rome, which has been its home since some date prior to 1475, when it was mentioned in the first catalogue made of the treasures of the library.

Quality

Originally codex Vaticanus contained the both Testaments and the Apocrypha, except for the book of Maccabees. Today three portions are gone: at the beginning almost forty-six chapters of Genesis are missing, a section of some thirty Psalms is lost, and the concluding pages, from Heb. 9:14 onwards, including 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Revelation. the writing is in small and delicate unicials, perfectly simple and unadorned. The complete absence of ornamentation from Vaticanus has generally been taken as an indication that it is slightly older than codex Sinaiticus.

3. CODEX BEZAE

Age and history

Codex Bezae (also known as codex Cantabrigiensis), D or 05, dates from the fifth or possibly sixth century and is conserved in Cambridge. It was presented to the library of Cambridge in 1581 by Theodore Beza, the celebrated French scholar who became the successor of Calvin as leader of the Genevan Church.

Quality

The text is presented in Greek and Latin, and it contains only the Gospels and Acts, as well as a small fragment of 3 John. No known manuscript has so many and such remarkable variations from what is usually taken to be the normal New Testament text. Codex Bezae's special characteristic is the free addition of words, sentences, and even incidents. For instance, it is the principal authority in inserting after Mt.20:28 the long passage. Variations occur particularly in Acts. Therefore, Codex Bezae is the principal presentative of the freedom what is called the Western text.

The codices dealt here were in the order of their importance, or value. The order of their age is Vaticanus (B), Sinaiticus (X), and Bezae (D); altogether there are presently over 265 uncials. 2)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Metzger, Bruce M. The Text of the New Testament: Its transmission, Corruption, and Restoration. Third enlarged ed. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Grassmick, John D. Principles and Practice of Greek Exegesis: A Classroom Manual. Dallas Theological Seminary, 1974.

Footnotes

1) Unless otherwise indicated, everything is summarized from Bruce M. Metzger, The Text of the New Testament: Its transmission, Corruption, and Restoration, third enlarged ed. (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press), 1992, 42-51

2) John D. Grassmick, Principles and Practice of Greek Exegesis: A Classroom Manual (Dallas Theological Seminary), 1974, 69.