Minuscule 278a ε 1088 (Soden), is a Greek

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;...

 minuscule 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....

, on parchment. It is dated by a colophon

Colophon (publishing)

In publishing, a colophon is either:* A brief description of publication or production notes relevant to the edition, in modern books usually located at the reverse of the title page, but can also sometimes be located at the end of the book, or...

 to the year 1072.
It has full marginalia

Marginalia

Marginalia are scribbles, comments, and illuminations in the margins of a book.- Biblical manuscripts :Biblical manuscripts have liturgical notes at the margin, for liturgical use. Numbers of texts' divisions are given at the margin...

.

Description

The codex 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 on 305 parchment leaves , with one 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...

 (Matthew 13:43-17:5). The text is written in one column per page, in 21 lines per page.

The text is divided according to the (chapters), whose numbers are given at the margin, and their (titles of chapters) at the top of the pages. There is also another division according to the smaller Ammonian Sections

Ammonian Sections

Eusebian canons or Eusebian sections, also known as Ammonian Sections, are the system of dividing the four Gospels used between late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The divisions into chapters and verses used in modern texts date only from the 13th and 16th centuries, respectively...

 (in Mark 234, 16:9), with references to the Eusebian Canons (written below Ammonian Section numbers).

It contains the Epistula ad Carpianum

Epistula ad Carpianum

The Epistula ad Carpianum is the title traditionally given to a letter from Eusebius of Caesarea to a Christian named Carpianus....

, Eusebian Canon tables, lectionary markings at the margins, synaxaria, Menologion, Armenian inscriptions, and pictures.
Matthew 13:43-17:5 was written by another, earlier hand in the 10th century. According to Scrivener it was a later hand.
This part now is classified separately and designated by 278b

Minuscule 278b

Minuscule 278b , ε 162 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Paleographically it has been assigned to the 10th century.It has marginalia.- Description :...

 according to the numbering of Gregory-Aland.

Text

The Greek text of the codex is a representative 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 V.

According to the Claremont Profile Method it belongs to the cluster Π278 in Luke 1, Luke 10, and Luke 20. To this cluster belong manuscripts 1209 and 1509.

History

The manuscript was written by Methodius, a monk and presbyter. The manuscript was added to the list of New Testament manuscripts by Scholz (1794-1852).
It was examined and described by Paulin Martin

Paulin Martin

Paulin Martin was a French Catholic Biblical scholar.-Life:...

.

The manuscript is currently housed at the Bibliothèque nationale de France

Bibliothèque nationale de France

The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...

 (Gr. 82, fol. 1-41.51-305) in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

See also

• List of New Testament minuscules
• Biblical manuscript
  Biblical manuscript
  A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible. The word Bible comes from the Greek biblia ; manuscript comes from Latin manu and scriptum...
  
  
• Textual criticism
  Textual criticism
  Textual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
  
  
• Minuscule 278b
  Minuscule 278b
  Minuscule 278b , ε 162 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Paleographically it has been assigned to the 10th century.It has marginalia.- Description :...
  
  

Further reading

• Jean-Pierre-Paul Martin
  Paulin Martin
  Paulin Martin was a French Catholic Biblical scholar.-Life:...
  
  , Description technique des manuscrits grecs, relatif au Nouveau Testament, conservé dans les bibliothèques des Paris (Paris 1883), p. 67