Codex Climaci Rescriptus
Encyclopedia
Codex Climaci rescriptus, known as Uncial 0250 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), is a Greek
uncial
manuscript
of the New Testament
as well as a Christian Palestinian Aramaic uncial manuscript of the Old and New Testament. Paleographically the Greek section has been assigned to the 8th century (or 7th century), and the Christian Palestinian Aramaic section to the sixth century. Formerly it was classified as lectionary manuscript, Gregory gave for it number ℓ 1561.
The Christian Palestinian Aramaic sections contain significant parts of the four Gospels, as well as the Acts and Epistles, and the remains of a large volume of the Old Testament in Christian Palestinian Aramaic, on 104 leaves (23 by 18.5 mm), mostly written in two columns per page, 18 lines per page in Estrangelo script.
The Greek section contains the text of the four Gospel
s, with numerous lacunae
, on 33 parchment leaves (23 by 15.5 cm). Written in two columns per page, 31 lines per page, in uncial letters.
It is a palimpsest
, the upper text containing two Syriac
treatises of Johannes Climacus (hence name of the codex), the Scala paradisi and portions of the Liber ad pastorem.
CCR 1: a Gospel-book in Christian Palestinian Aramaic, including the texts of Matthew and Mark
Matt. 21:23-41; 27-31; 22:40-23:1; 23:1-25; 24:42-46; 24: 25:14; 26:24-32; 26:40-49; 27:9-19; 27:39-48; 27:64-28:3; 28:4-10
Mark 1:1-10; 1:20-30; 2:2-11; 17-24
CCR 2: a Gospel of John in Christian Palestinian Aramaic, plus
the Acts and Epistles
John 1:1-9
, in canonical order, the ms may have the Epistle text.)
Acts 19:31-36; 20:1; 20:2-7; 20:8-14; 21:3-8; 21:9-14; 24:25-25:1; 25:3-26; 26:23-29; 27:1-13; 27:14-27
Romans 4:17-22; 5:4-15; 6:14-19; 7:2-11; 8: 9-21; 9:30;10:3-9; 15:11-21
I Corin. 1:6-23; 4:1-15; 13: 4-11; 14:4-7; 14:8-14; 14:24-37; 15:3-10; 15:24-49; 16:16-24
II Corin. 1:23-2: 4-11; 4:18-5:6; 5:6-12; 6:3-16; 7:3-8
Galat. 1:1-23; 3:20-24; 4:2; 4:4-29; 5:1; 5:24; 6:4-12; 6: 4
Eph. 1:18-2:8; 4:14-27; 5:8-16; 5:17-24
Phill. 2:12-26
Coloss. 4: 6-17
I Thess.1:3-9; 5:15-26
II Thess. 1:3-2:2
II Timothy 3:2-14
Titus 2:7-3:3
Philemon 11-25
II Peter 1:1-12; 3:16-18
CCR 3: a Lectionary in Christian Palestinian Aramaic, including
significant portions of the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament
Exodus 4:14-18
Deut. 6: 4-21; 7:1-26
I Sam. 1:1; 2:19-29; 4:1-6; 6:5-18
Job 6:1-26; 7: 4-21
Psalms 2:7; 40(41):1; 50(51):1; 56(57):1; 109(110):1; 131(132):1
Proverbs 1:20-22
Isaiah 40:1-8; 63:9-11
Jerem. 11:22-12: 4-8
Joel 2:12-14; 2:20
Micah 4:1-3; 4:3-5
Matt. 1:18-25; 2:1-2; 2:2-8; 2:18-23
Luke 1: 26-38
CCR 7: a biblical codex in Christian Palestinian Aramaic:
Leviticus 8:18-30; 11:42-12:2-8
CCR 8: a Lectionary in Christian Palestinian Aramaic
Matt. 27:27-41
Mark 15:16-19
John 13:15-29
John 15:19-26; 16:9
CCR 4: Unique records of homilies and stories about the life of Jesus in Christian Palestinian Aramaic
Fragment of a Homily
Fragment of a story about Jesus attempting to convert a Roman leader, Berghamus, before 2000 of his own soldiers, in an unnamed city in the Holy Land
In Greek (CCR 5 & 6):
Matt.
2:12-23; 3:13-15; 5:1-2.4.30-37; 6:1-4.16-18; 7:12.15-20; 8:7.10-13.16-17.20-21; 9:27-31.36; 10:5; 12:36-38.43-45; 13:36-46; 26:75-27:2.11.13-16.18.20.22-23.26-40;
Mark
14:72-15:2.4-7.10-24.26-28;
Luke
22:60-62.66-67; 23:3-4.20-26.32-34.38;
John
6:53-7:25.45.48-51; 8:12-44; 9:12-10:15; 10:41-12:3.6.9.14-24.26-35.44-49; 14:22-15:15; 16:13-18; 16:29-17:5; 18:1-9.11-13.18-24.28-29.31; 18:36-19:1.4.6.9.16.18.23-24.31-34; 20:1-2.13-16.18-20.25; 20:28-21:1.
is mixed with a predominant element of the Byzantine text-type
. Aland
placed it in Category III.
Matthew 8:12
Matthew 8:13
Matthew 27:35
Gregory
classified it as lectionary (ℓ 1561). The manuscript was not mentioned by Hermann von Soden in his Die Schriften des NT.
According to Moir this manuscript contains a substantial record of an early Greek uncial manuscript of the Gospels once at Caesarea, which would have been the sister of Codex Sinaiticus
, Codex Vaticanus
and Codex Alexandrinus
, but is now lost.
Until 2010, the codex was housed at the Westminster College
in Cambridge
. It was been listed for sale at a Sotheby's
auction, where it failed to sell on July 7, 2009. In 2010, the codex was bought by Steven Green, president of Hobby Lobby Inc., directly from Sotheby's after their unsuccessful auction.
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
uncial
Uncial
Uncial is a majuscule script commonly used from the 3rd to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Uncial letters are written in either Greek, Latin, or Gothic.-Development:...
manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
as well as a Christian Palestinian Aramaic uncial manuscript of the Old and New Testament. Paleographically the Greek section has been assigned to the 8th century (or 7th century), and the Christian Palestinian Aramaic section to the sixth century. Formerly it was classified as lectionary manuscript, Gregory gave for it number ℓ 1561.
Description
The codex is a 137 leaf remnant of eight separate manuscripts, six of which are in Christian Palestinian Aramaic, which have been dated to the sixth century AD; and two of which are in Greek, which have been dated to the seventh or eighth century AD.The Christian Palestinian Aramaic sections contain significant parts of the four Gospels, as well as the Acts and Epistles, and the remains of a large volume of the Old Testament in Christian Palestinian Aramaic, on 104 leaves (23 by 18.5 mm), mostly written in two columns per page, 18 lines per page in Estrangelo script.
The Greek section contains the text of the four Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
s, with numerous lacunae
Lacuna (manuscripts)
A lacunaPlural lacunae. From Latin lacūna , diminutive form of lacus . is a gap in a manuscript, inscription, text, painting, or a musical work...
, on 33 parchment leaves (23 by 15.5 cm). Written in two columns per page, 31 lines per page, in uncial letters.
It is a palimpsest
Palimpsest
A palimpsest is a manuscript page from a scroll or book from which the text has been scraped off and which can be used again. The word "palimpsest" comes through Latin palimpsēstus from Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος originally compounded from πάλιν and ψάω literally meaning “scraped...
, the upper text containing two Syriac
Syriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...
treatises of Johannes Climacus (hence name of the codex), the Scala paradisi and portions of the Liber ad pastorem.
Contents
In Christian Palestinian Aramaic:CCR 1: a Gospel-book in Christian Palestinian Aramaic, including the texts of Matthew and Mark
Matt. 21:23-41; 27-31; 22:40-23:1; 23:1-25; 24:42-46; 24: 25:14; 26:24-32; 26:40-49; 27:9-19; 27:39-48; 27:64-28:3; 28:4-10
Mark 1:1-10; 1:20-30; 2:2-11; 17-24
CCR 2: a Gospel of John in Christian Palestinian Aramaic, plus
the Acts and Epistles
John 1:1-9
, in canonical order, the ms may have the Epistle text.)
Acts 19:31-36; 20:1; 20:2-7; 20:8-14; 21:3-8; 21:9-14; 24:25-25:1; 25:3-26; 26:23-29; 27:1-13; 27:14-27
Romans 4:17-22; 5:4-15; 6:14-19; 7:2-11; 8: 9-21; 9:30;10:3-9; 15:11-21
I Corin. 1:6-23; 4:1-15; 13: 4-11; 14:4-7; 14:8-14; 14:24-37; 15:3-10; 15:24-49; 16:16-24
II Corin. 1:23-2: 4-11; 4:18-5:6; 5:6-12; 6:3-16; 7:3-8
Galat. 1:1-23; 3:20-24; 4:2; 4:4-29; 5:1; 5:24; 6:4-12; 6: 4
Eph. 1:18-2:8; 4:14-27; 5:8-16; 5:17-24
Phill. 2:12-26
Coloss. 4: 6-17
I Thess.1:3-9; 5:15-26
II Thess. 1:3-2:2
II Timothy 3:2-14
Titus 2:7-3:3
Philemon 11-25
II Peter 1:1-12; 3:16-18
CCR 3: a Lectionary in Christian Palestinian Aramaic, including
significant portions of the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament
Exodus 4:14-18
Deut. 6: 4-21; 7:1-26
I Sam. 1:1; 2:19-29; 4:1-6; 6:5-18
Job 6:1-26; 7: 4-21
Psalms 2:7; 40(41):1; 50(51):1; 56(57):1; 109(110):1; 131(132):1
Proverbs 1:20-22
Isaiah 40:1-8; 63:9-11
Jerem. 11:22-12: 4-8
Joel 2:12-14; 2:20
Micah 4:1-3; 4:3-5
Matt. 1:18-25; 2:1-2; 2:2-8; 2:18-23
Luke 1: 26-38
CCR 7: a biblical codex in Christian Palestinian Aramaic:
Leviticus 8:18-30; 11:42-12:2-8
CCR 8: a Lectionary in Christian Palestinian Aramaic
Matt. 27:27-41
Mark 15:16-19
John 13:15-29
John 15:19-26; 16:9
CCR 4: Unique records of homilies and stories about the life of Jesus in Christian Palestinian Aramaic
Fragment of a Homily
Fragment of a story about Jesus attempting to convert a Roman leader, Berghamus, before 2000 of his own soldiers, in an unnamed city in the Holy Land
In Greek (CCR 5 & 6):
Matt.
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
2:12-23; 3:13-15; 5:1-2.4.30-37; 6:1-4.16-18; 7:12.15-20; 8:7.10-13.16-17.20-21; 9:27-31.36; 10:5; 12:36-38.43-45; 13:36-46; 26:75-27:2.11.13-16.18.20.22-23.26-40;
Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
14:72-15:2.4-7.10-24.26-28;
Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
22:60-62.66-67; 23:3-4.20-26.32-34.38;
John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
6:53-7:25.45.48-51; 8:12-44; 9:12-10:15; 10:41-12:3.6.9.14-24.26-35.44-49; 14:22-15:15; 16:13-18; 16:29-17:5; 18:1-9.11-13.18-24.28-29.31; 18:36-19:1.4.6.9.16.18.23-24.31-34; 20:1-2.13-16.18-20.25; 20:28-21:1.
Text
The Greek text of this codexCodex
A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple quires or gatherings typically bound together and given a cover.Developed by the Romans from wooden writing tablets, its gradual replacement...
is mixed with a predominant element of the Byzantine text-type
Byzantine text-type
The Byzantine text-type is one of several text-types used in textual criticism to describe the textual character of Greek New Testament manuscripts. It is the form found in the largest number of surviving manuscripts, though not in the oldest...
. Aland
Kurt Aland
Kurt Aland was a German Theologian and Professor of New Testament Research and Church History. He founded the Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung in Münster and served as its first director for many years...
placed it in Category III.
Matthew 8:12
- it has ἐξελεύσονται (will go out) instead of ἐκβληθήσονται (will be thrown). This variant is supported only by one Greek manuscript Codex SinaiticusCodex SinaiticusCodex Sinaiticus is one of the four great uncial codices, an ancient, handwritten copy of the Greek Bible. It is an Alexandrian text-type manuscript written in the 4th century in uncial letters on parchment. Current scholarship considers the Codex Sinaiticus to be one of the best Greek texts of...
, by Latin Codex BobiensisCodex BobiensisCodex Bobiensis is a fragmentary Latin manuscript of the bible. Specifically, it is an example of a Vetus Latina bible, which were used from the 2nd century until Jerome's Latin translation, the Vulgate, was written in the 5th century. The text contains parts of the Gospel of Mark and Gospel of...
, syrcCuretonian GospelsThe Curetonian Gospels, designated by the siglum syrcur, are contained in a manuscript of the four gospels of the New Testament in Old Syriac, a translation from the Aramaic originals, according to William Cureton differing considerably from the canonical Greek texts, with which they had been...
, s, pPeshittaThe Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition.The Old Testament of the Peshitta was translated into Syriac from the Hebrew, probably in the 2nd century AD...
, pal, arm, and DiatessaronDiatessaronThe Diatessaron is the most prominent Gospel harmony created by Tatian, an early Christian apologist and ascetic. The term "diatessaron" is from Middle English by way of Latin, diatessarōn , and ultimately Greek, διὰ τεσσάρων The Diatessaron (c 160 - 175) is the most prominent Gospel harmony...
.
Matthew 8:13
- It has additional text (see Luke 7:10): (and when the centurion returned to the house in that hour, he found the slave well) as well as codices אCodex SinaiticusCodex Sinaiticus is one of the four great uncial codices, an ancient, handwritten copy of the Greek Bible. It is an Alexandrian text-type manuscript written in the 4th century in uncial letters on parchment. Current scholarship considers the Codex Sinaiticus to be one of the best Greek texts of...
, CCodex Ephraemi RescriptusCodex Ephraemi Rescriptus is an early 5th century Greek manuscript of the Bible, the last in the group of the four great uncial manuscripts...
, (NCodex Petropolitanus PurpureusCodex Petropolitanus Purpureus, designated by N or 022 , ε 19 , is a 6th century Greek New Testament codex gospel book. Written in majuscules , on 231 parchment leaves, measuring 32 x 27 cm...
), ΘCodex KoridethiThe Codex Koridethi, also named Codex Coridethianus, designated by Θ, 038, or Theta , ε 050 , is a 9th century manuscript of the four Gospels. It is written in Greek with uncial script in two columns per page, in 25 lines per page...
, f1Family 1Family 1 is a group of Greek Gospel manuscripts, varying in date from the 12th to the 15th century. The group takes its name from the minuscule codex 1, now in the Basel University Library. "Family 1" is also known as "the Lake Group", symbolized as f1. Hermann von Soden calls the group Ih...
, (33Minuscule 33Minuscule 33 , δ 48 , formerly it was called Codex Colbertinus 2844, is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament on parchment, dated palaeographically to the 9th century. The manuscript is lacunose. It has marginalia...
, 1241), g1, syrh.
Matthew 27:35
- τα ιματια μου εαυτοις, και επι τον ιματισμον μου εβαλον κληρον — Δ, ΘCodex KoridethiThe Codex Koridethi, also named Codex Coridethianus, designated by Θ, 038, or Theta , ε 050 , is a 9th century manuscript of the four Gospels. It is written in Greek with uncial script in two columns per page, in 25 lines per page...
, f1Family 1Family 1 is a group of Greek Gospel manuscripts, varying in date from the 12th to the 15th century. The group takes its name from the minuscule codex 1, now in the Basel University Library. "Family 1" is also known as "the Lake Group", symbolized as f1. Hermann von Soden calls the group Ih...
, f13Family 13Family 13, also known Ferrar Group , is a group of Greek Gospel manuscripts, varying in date from the 11th to the 15th century, which display a distinctive pattern of variant readings — especially in placing the story of Jesus and the woman taken in adultery in the Gospel of Luke, rather than in...
, 537Minuscule 537Minuscule 537 , ε 334 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on a parchment. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 12th century. Scrivener labelled it by number 550. The manuscript was prepared for liturgical use, its marginalia are not complete...
, 1424Minuscule 1424Minuscule 1424 , δ 30 is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, written on 337 parchment leaves . It has been dated paleographically to the 9th or 10th century).- Description :...
.
Discovery and present location
One leaf of the codex was purchased by A. S. Lewis in Cairo in 1895, 89 leaves were received from a Berlin scholar in 1905, and 48 further leaves were purchased in Port Tewfik in 1906.Gregory
Caspar René Gregory
Caspar René Gregory was a American-born German theologian theologian.-Life:Gregory was born in Philadelphia. He studied theology at two Presbyterian seminaries: in 1865-67 at the University of Pennsylvania and at Princeton Theological Seminary...
classified it as lectionary (ℓ 1561). The manuscript was not mentioned by Hermann von Soden in his Die Schriften des NT.
According to Moir this manuscript contains a substantial record of an early Greek uncial manuscript of the Gospels once at Caesarea, which would have been the sister of Codex Sinaiticus
Codex Sinaiticus
Codex Sinaiticus is one of the four great uncial codices, an ancient, handwritten copy of the Greek Bible. It is an Alexandrian text-type manuscript written in the 4th century in uncial letters on parchment. Current scholarship considers the Codex Sinaiticus to be one of the best Greek texts of...
, Codex Vaticanus
Codex Vaticanus
The Codex Vaticanus , is one of the oldest extant manuscripts of the Greek Bible , one of the four great uncial codices. The Codex is named for the residence in the Vatican Library, where it has been stored since at least the 15th century...
and Codex Alexandrinus
Codex Alexandrinus
The Codex Alexandrinus is a 5th century manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early history of Christianity...
, but is now lost.
Until 2010, the codex was housed at the Westminster College
Westminster College, Cambridge
Westminster College in Cambridge is a theological college of the United Reformed Church, formerly the Presbyterian Church of England. Its principal purpose is the training of clergy for ordination, but is also used more widely for training within the denomination...
in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. It was been listed for sale at a Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
auction, where it failed to sell on July 7, 2009. In 2010, the codex was bought by Steven Green, president of Hobby Lobby Inc., directly from Sotheby's after their unsuccessful auction.
Further reading
- A. Smith Lewis, A Palestinian Syriac Lectionary containing Lessons from the Pentateuch, Job, Proverbs, Prophets, Acts and Epistles, Studia Sinaitica 6 (1895), p. cxxxix
- Agnes Smith LewisAgnes and Margaret SmithAgnes Smith Lewis PhD LLD DD LittD and Margaret Dunlop Gibson LLD DD LittD , nées Agnes and Margaret Smith , were Semitic scholars...
, Codex Climaci rescriptus, Horae Semiticae 8 (Cambridge, 1909), pp. 27–31. - Ian A. Moir, Codex Climaci rescriptus grecus (Ms. Gregory 1561, L), Texts and Studies NS, 2 (Cambridge, 1956).
- C. Müller-Kessler, Christian Palestinian Aramaic and its significance to the Western Aramaic dialect group, Journal of the American Oriental Society 119 (1999), pp.
- C. Müller-Kessler and M. Sokoloff, The Christian Palestinian Aramaic Old Testament and Apocrypha, Corpus of Christian Palestinian Aramaic I (1997)
- C. Müller-Kessler and M. Sokoloff, The Christian Palestinian Aramaic New Testament version from the early period. Gospels, Corpus of Christian Palestinian Aramaic IIA (1998), pp.
- C. Müller-Kessler and M. Sokoloff, The Christian Palestinian Aramaic New Testament version from the early period. Acts of the Apostels and Epistels, Corpus of Christian Palestinian Aramaic IIB (1998)
- C. Müller-Kessler, Die Frühe Christlich-Palästinisch-Aramäische Evangelienhandschrift CCR1 übersetzt durch einen Ostaramäischen (Syrischen) Schreiber?, Journal for the Aramaic Bible 1 (1999), pp. 79–86
External links
- Uncial 0250 at the Wieland Willker, "Textual Commentary"