Minuscule 4

Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament
New Testament manuscript
Minuscule 4
New Testament manuscript
TextGospels
Date13th century
ScriptGreek
Now atNational Library of France
Size18.5 cm by 14.3 cm
Typemixed
Categorynone
Noteclose to 273
marginalia

Minuscule 4 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), ε 371 (in von Soden's numbering of New Testament manuscripts),[1] 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 13th century.[2] It was formerly named Codex Regius 84.[3] It has a full collection of marginal marks (known as marginalia). It was adapted for liturgical use.

Description

The manuscript is a codex (precursor to the modern book), containing an almost complete text of the four Gospels with four gaps (Matthew 2:9-20; Mark 15:42-16:14; John 1:1-13.49-3:11), consisting of 212 parchment leaves (sized 18.5 cm by 14.3 cm). The text is written in one column per page, 26-28 lines per page.[2]

The text is divided according to the chapters (known as κεφαλαια / kephalaia), whose numbers are given in the margin, with the titles of chapters (τιτλοι / titloi) at the top of the pages. There is also another division according to the smaller Ammonian Sections (an early division of the Gospels into sections). The codex has 27 sections in Mark. There are also references to the Eusebian Canons (another early division of the Gospels into sections, and where they overlap).[4]

It contains the Letter to Carpian, tables of contents (also known as κεφαλαια / kephalaia) are placed before each Gospel, lectionary markings in the margin (for liturgical use), incipits, synaxaria, Menologion, subscriptions at the end of each Gospel, numbers of στιχοι, and extracts from some Church Fathers.[4]

The Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53–8:11) is marked with an obelus.[4]

Text

The Greek text of this codex is a mixture of text-types. According to biblical scholar Constantin von Tischendorf, its text is mixed but with a strong Byzantine element.[5]

Biblical scholar Kurt Aland did not place it in any Category within his categories of New Testament manuscripts.[6] Textually it is close to the codex 273.

According to the Claremont Profile Method (a specific analysis method of textual data), it represents Kx in Luke 10 and Luke 20. In Luke 1 it has mixed Byzantine text.[7]

In Matthew 21:31 it has the textual variant ὁ δεύτερος (the second) instead of ὁ πρῶτος (the first), ὁ ὕστερος (the last), or ὁ ἔσχατος (the last). This reading is supported by Minuscule 273 and lectionary ℓ 547.[8][9]

History

The manuscript was used by biblical scholar Desiderius Erasmus in his edition of Novum Testamentum, and by Robert Estienne in his Editio Regia (1550), who designated it as γ'. Biblical scholar John Mill noticed its affinity to the Latin versions and the Complutensian Polyglot.[3]

It was examined by Scholz and Paulin Martin.[10] Biblical scholar Caspar René Gregory saw the manuscript in 1885.[4]

The codex is located now at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gr. 84) in Paris.[2][11]

See also

References

  1. ^ Gregory, Caspar René (1908). Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testament. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. p. 48.
  2. ^ a b c Aland, Kurt; M. Welte; B. Köster; K. Junack (1994). Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments (2 ed.). Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. p. 47. ISBN 3-11-011986-2.
  3. ^ a b Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose; Edward Miller (1894). A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament. Vol. 1 (4th ed.). London: George Bell & Sons. p. 191.
  4. ^ a b c d Gregory, Caspar René (1900). Textkritik des Neuen Testaments. Vol. 1. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs. pp. 128–129.
  5. ^ Tischendorf, C. v., Novum Testamentum Graece. Editio Septima, Lipsiae 1859, p. CXCV.
  6. ^ 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. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.
  7. ^ Wisse, Frederik (1982). The Profile Method for the Classification and Evaluation of Manuscript Evidence, as Applied to the Continuous Greek Text of the Gospel of Luke. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 53. ISBN 0-8028-1918-4.
  8. ^ Metzger, Bruce Manning (2001). A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (2nd ed.). Germany: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. p. 45. ISBN 978-3-438-06010-5.
  9. ^ Aland, Kurt; Black, Matthew; Martini, Carlo Maria; Metzger, Bruce M.; Wikgren, Allen, eds. (1981). Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (26 ed.). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstiftung. p. 60. ISBN 3-438-051001.
  10. ^ Jean-Pierre-Paul Martin, Description technique des manuscrits grecs, relatif au N. T., conservé dans les bibliothèques des Paris (Paris 1883), p. 18-19
  11. ^ "Liste Handschriften". Münster: Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Retrieved 2013-05-01.

Further reading

  • Jean-Pierre-Paul Martin, Description technique des manuscrits grecs, relatif au Nouveau Testament, conservé dans les bibliothèques des Paris (Paris 1883), p. 18-19

External links

  • R. Waltz, Minuscule 4 at the Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism (2007)
  • "Liste Handschriften". Münster: Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  • Online images of Minuscule 4 at the National Library of France.
  • Online images of Minuscule 4 (microfilm) at the CSNTM.