Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus

New Testament manuscripts
papyri • uncials • minuscules • lectionaries

Uncial 04
Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
Name	Ephraemi rescriptus
Sign	C
Text	Old and New Testament
Date	c. 450
Script	Greek
Now at	Bibliothèque nationale de France
Size	33 x 27 cm
Type	mixture types of text
Category	II

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9; Gregory-Aland no. C or 04, von Soden δ 3) is an early 5th century Greek manuscript of the Bible,^[1] the last in the group of the four great uncial manuscripts of the Greek Bible (see Codex Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus and Vaticanus). It receives its name, as a codex in which the treatises of Ephraem the Syrian, in Greek translations, were written over ("rescriptus") a former text that had been washed off its vellum pages, thus forming a palimpsest.^[1] The later text was produced in the 12th century. The effacement of the original text was incomplete, for beneath the text of Ephraem are the remains of what was once a complete Bible, containing both the Old Testament and the New. It forms one of the codices for textual criticism on which the Higher criticism is based.

Contents 1 Description 2 Text 3 History 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 Bibliography 8 External links

Description

There are only 209 leaves, of which 145 belong to the New Testament. Written in one column per page, 40-46 lines per page, on parchment leaves (33 cm by 27 cm).^[1] The capitals at the beginning sections stand out in the margin as in codices A and E.^[2]

The pericope John 7:53-8:11 is omitted.

The manuscript probably was written in Egypt before the middle of the fifth century. It had been corrected, in Palestine in the sixth century, and again corrected in the ninth century possibly in Constantinople, and was in the twelfth century thoroughly used up.^[3]

Contents

• Gospel of Matthew: 1:1-2; 5:15-7:5; 17:26-18:28; 22:21-23:17; 24:10-45; 25:30-26:22; 27:11-46; 28:15-fin.;
• Gospel of Mark: 1:1-17; 6:32-8:5; 12:30-13:19;
• Gospel of Luke: 1:1-2; 2:5-42; 3:21-4:25; 6:4-36; 7:17-8:28; 12:4-19:42; 20:28-21:20; 22:19-23:25; 24:7-45
• Gospel of John: 1:1-3; 1:41-3:33; 5:17-6:38; 7:3-8:34; 9:11-11:7; 11:47-13:7; 14:8-16:21; 18:36-20:25;
• Acts of the Apostles: 1:1-2; 4:3-5:34; 6:8; 10:43-13:1; 16:37-20:10; 21:31-22:20; 3:18-24:15; 26:19-27:16; 28:5-fin.;
• Epistle to the Romans: 1:1-3; 2:5-3:21; 9:6-10:15; 11:31-13:10;
• First Epistle to the Corinthians: 1:1-2; 7:18-9:6; 13:8-15:40;
• Second Epistle to the Corinthians: 1:1-2; 10:8-fin.
• Epistle to the Galatians: 1:1-20
• Epistle to the Ephesians: 1:1-2:18; 4:17-fin.
• Epistle to the Philippians: 1:1-22; 3:5-fin.
• Epistle to the Colossians: 1:1-2;
• First Epistle to the Thessalonians: 1:1; 2:9-fin.;
• Second Epistle to the Thessalonians lost
• First Epistle to Timothy: 1:1-3:9; 5:20-fin.;
• Second Epistle to Timothy: 1:1-2;
• Epistle to Titus: 1:1-2
• Epistle to Philemon: 1-2
• Epistle to the Hebrews: 1:1-2:4; 7:26-9:15; 10:24-12:15;
• Epistle of James: 1:1-2; 44:2-fin.
• First Epistle of Peter: 1:1-2; 4:5-fin.;
• Second Epistle of Peter: 1:1
• First Epistle of John: 1:1-2; 4:3-fin.
• Second Epistle of John lost;
• Third Epistle of John: 1-2
• Epistle of Jude: 1-2
• Book of Revelation: 1:1-2; 3:20-5:14; 7:14-17; 8:5-9:16; 10:10-11:3; 16:13-18:2; 19:5-fin.

In the Old Testament survived parts of Iob, Proverbs, Kohelet, Song of Songs, Wisdom, and Sirach.^[4]

Text

The Greek text of the codex is a representative of the Alexandrian text-type, with the Byzantine readings in the Gospels, but with numerous Alexandrian readings. Aland placed it in Category II.^[1]

In Apocalypse Codex Ephraemi is a witness of the same form of text as Codex Alexandrinus.^[5]

Interpolations

Matthew 8:13

It has additional text (see Luke 7:10): και υποστρεψας ο εκατονταρχος εις τον οικον αυτου εν αυτη τη ωρα ευρεν τον παιδα υγιαινοντα (and when the centurion returned to the house in that hour, he found the slave well) as well as codices (N), Θ, f¹, g¹, syr^h.^[6]

Matthew 21:10

It has singular reading αγαμος against γαμος (B¹, D, W, Θ, 085, 0161, f¹, f¹³, Byz) or νυμφων (codices א, B, L, 0138, 892, 1010);^[7]

Matthew 27:49

In Matthew 27:49 codex contains added text: ἄλλος δὲ λαβὼν λόγχην ἒνυξεν αὐτοῦ τὴν πλευράν, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὖδορ καὶ αἳμα (the other took a spear and pierced His side, and immediately came out water and blood). This reading was derived from John 19:34 and occurs in other manuscripts of the Alexandrian text-type (א, B, L, Γ, 1010, 1293, pc, vg^mss).^[8]

Textual variants

Mark 10:35

οι δυο υιοι Ζεβεδαιου (the two sons of Zebedee) instead of οι υιοι Ζεβεδαιου (the sons of Zebedee), this reading have Codex Vaticanus and Coptic version;^[9]

Acts 15:23

It has the unique reading γραψαντης δια χειρος αυτων επιστολην περιεχουσαν ταδε, which is not supported by any other Greek manuscripts, though it is supported by versions: ar, c, gig, w, geo

The other manuscripts read:

γραψαντης επιστολην δια χειρος αυτων περιεχουσαν ταδε — D, d

γραψαντης δια χειρος αυτων — ⁴⁵, ⁷⁴, א*, A, B, cop^bo

γραψαντης δια χειρος αυτων ταδε — א^c, E, (33), Byz, syr^h

γραψαντης δια χειρος αυτων επιστολην και πεμψαντες περιεχουσαν ταδε — 614.^[10]

Acts 20:28

it reads του κυριου (of the Lord) together with the manuscripts Papyrus 74 D E Ψ 33 36 453 945 1739 1891, but the corrector added και του Θεου (and God) as have P 049 326 1241 2492 and the Byzantine manuscripts.^{[11][n 1]}

Revelation 13:18

"the number of the beast" it reads hexakosiai deka hex (lit. six hundred sixteen).^[12]

History

The manuscript was written in the 5th century. It was housed in the Caesarea library. In the 6th century the first corrector worked on the codex. The second corrector worked in the 9th century in Constantinople. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Codex was brought to Florence by an émigré scholar.^[13] Catherine de' Medici brought it to France as part of her dowry, and from the Bourbon royal library it came to rest in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. In 1834-1835 potassium ferricyanide was used to bring out faded or eradicated ink.

The first complete collation of the New Testament was made by Johann Jakob Wettstein (1716). Constantin von Tischendorf made his reputation an international one when he published the Greek New Testament text in 1843 and the Old Testament in 1845. The torn condition of many folios, the ghostly traces of the text overlaid by the later one made the decipherment an extremely difficult task. Even with modern aids like ultra-violet photography, not all the text is securely legible.

According to Edward Miller (1886) codices "B and probably א were procured under the dark gloom of Asian ascendency; A and C in the light of the most intellectual period of the early Church".^[14]

The codex (illustration, above right) measures 12 1/4 in/31.4-32.5 cm by 9 in/25.6-26.4 cm, with a single column to a page. Originally the whole Bible seems to have been contained in it.

See also

• List of New Testament uncials
• Biblical manuscript

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Hatch, William Henry, The Principal Uncial Manuscripts Of The New Testament, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1939.
• Frederic G. Kenyon, Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts (4th ed.), London 1939.
• Bruce M. Metzger, Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Palaeography, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1981.
• Philip Comfort, Encountering the Manuscripts: An Introduction to New Testament Paleography and Textual Criticism, Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005.

External links

• Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus at the Encyclopedia Textual Criticism
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus
• Codex Ephraemi Syri Rescriptus
• Image from Codex Ephraemi