The title Codex Vercellensis (the "Codex of Vercelli") refers to two manuscript codices

Codex

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...

 preserved in the cathedral library of Vercelli

Vercelli

Vercelli is a city and comune of about 47,000 inhabitants in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around the year 600 BC.The city is situated on the river Sesia in the plain of the river...

, in the Piedmont

Piedmont

Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...

 Region, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

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Old Latin Codex Vercellensis

Old Latin

Vetus Latina

Vetus Latina is a collective name given to the Biblical texts in Latin that were translated before St Jerome's Vulgate Bible became the standard Bible for Latin-speaking Western Christians. The phrase Vetus Latina is Latin for Old Latin, and the Vetus Latina is sometimes known as the Old Latin Bible...

 Codex Vercellensis, preserved in the cathedral library, is a purple

Purple parchment

Purple parchment or Codex Purpureus refers to manuscripts written on parchment dyed purple, originally restricted for the use of Roman or Byzantine Emperors. The lettering may be in gold or silver. Later the practice was revived for some especially grand illuminated manuscripts produced for the...

 vellum

Vellum

Vellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...

 codex

Codex

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...

  that is typically dated to the fourth-century, and is believed to be the earliest manuscript of the Old Latin Gospels. Its standard designation is "Codex a" (or 3 in the Beuron system of numeration). The order of the gospels in this Codex is Matthew, John, Luke and Mark, which is also found in some other very old "Western" manuscripts, such as Codex Bezae

Codex Bezae

The Codex Bezae Cantabrigensis, designated by siglum Dea or 05 , δ 5 , is a codex of the New Testament dating from the 5th century written in an uncial hand on vellum. It contains, in both Greek and Latin, most of the four Gospels and Acts, with a small fragment of the 3 John...

. In its text of Mt 3, it includes a statement that a light suddenly shone when Jesus was baptized. It contains the last twelve verses of the Gospel of 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...

, but on a replacement-page. The original final pages after Mk 15:15 have been lost, and the replacement-page resumes mid-sentence in 16:7 and includes the text to the end of verse 20, but in the Vulgate version. Space considerations suggest that it is unlikely that the original, non-extant pages included verses 9-20, but this calculation (made by C. H. Turner in 1928) depends on unverifiable assumptions that only four pages have been lost, that the scribe did not accidentally skip any text, and that the person who made the replacement-page had access to the missing page that it replaced. However Turner did not explain why a scribe would replace only one of four pages. It is more probable that the replacement-page was removed from another manuscript than that it was made to insert in Codex Vercellensis. The text of Codex Vercellensis is related to the text of Codex Corbeiensis (ff2), another Old Latin copy (in which Mk 16:9-20 is included).

According to a respectable tradition, this codex was written under the direction of bishop Eusebius of Vercelli

Eusebius of Vercelli

Eusebius of Vercelli was a bishop and saint in Italy. Along with Athanasius, he affirmed the divinity of Jesus against Arianism.-Biography:...

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It contains the Euthalian Apparatus

Euthalian Apparatus

The Euthalian Apparatus is a collection of additional editorial material, such as divisions of text, lists, and summaries, to the New Testament's Book of Acts, Catholic epistles, and Pauline epistles. This additional material appears at the beginnings of books, in the margin of the text, and at the...

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It was restored and stabilised in the early twentieth century. Having been used for the taking of oaths in the early Middle Ages, much of it is either difficult to read or even destroyed, so that we are frequently dependent on the earlier editors for knowledge of its text.

Textual features

In Matt 27:9 in the sentence fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, the Codex omits the word Jeremiah (Ieremiam), just like in the manuscripts: Codex Beratinus

Codex Beratinus

Codex Purpureus Beratinus designated by Φ or 043 , ε 17 , is an uncial illuminated manuscript Gospel book written in Greek. Dated palaeographically to the 6th century, the manuscript is written in an uncial hand on purple vellum with silver ink. The codex is preserved at the Albanian National...

, Minuscule 33

Minuscule 33

Minuscule 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...

, Old-Latin Codex Veronensis (b), syr^s, syr^p, and cop^bo.

In Luke 23:34 it omits the words: "And Jesus said: Father forgive them, they know not what they do." This omission is supported by the manuscripts Papyrus 75

Papyrus 75

Papyrus 75 is an early Greek New Testament papyrus.- Description :Originally '[it] contained about 144 pages ... of which 102 have survived, either in whole or in part.' It 'contains about half the text of ... two Gospels' – Luke and John in Greek...

, Sinaiticus^a

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...

, B, D*

Codex Bezae

The Codex Bezae Cantabrigensis, designated by siglum Dea or 05 , δ 5 , is a codex of the New Testament dating from the 5th century written in an uncial hand on vellum. It contains, in both Greek and Latin, most of the four Gospels and Acts, with a small fragment of the 3 John...

, W

Codex Washingtonianus

The Codex Washingtonianus or Codex Washingtonensis, designated by W or 032 , ε 014 , also called the Washington Manuscript of the Gospels, and The Freer Gospel, contains the four biblical gospels and was written in Greek on vellum in the fourth or fifth century...

, Θ

Codex Koridethi

The 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...

, 0124

Uncial 070

Uncial 070 , ε 6 , is a Greek-Coptic diglot uncial manuscript of the New Testament. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 6th century....

, 1241, Codex Bezae^lat, syr^s, cop^sa, cop^bo.

It also has several omissions called Western non-interpolations

Western non-interpolations

Western non-interpolations are readings in the Western text-type that are shorter than those of other New Testament text types. The term was coined by F. J. A. Hort....

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External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: "St. Eusebius (of Vercelli)" (Gospels Codex)
• Codex Vercellensis (Gospels Codex)