Minuscule 61
Encyclopedia
Codex Montfortianus designated by 61 (on the list Gregory-Aland; Soden's δ 603), and known as minuscule 61, Erasmus named it Codex Britannicus, is a Greek 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 paper. It is dated to the early 16th century, though a 15th century date is possible on palaeographic
Palaeography
Palaeography, also spelt paleography is the study of ancient writing. Included in the discipline is the practice of deciphering, reading, and dating historical manuscripts, and the cultural context of writing, including the methods with which writing and books were produced, and the history of...

 grounds.
The manuscript is famous for the Comma Johanneum
Comma Johanneum
The Comma Johanneum is a comma in the First Epistle of John according to the Latin Vulgate text as transmitted since the Early Middle Ages, based on Vetus Latina minority readings dating to the 7th century...

. It has 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 entire of the New Testament. The text is written in one column per page, 21 lines per page, on 455 paper leaves .

The text is divided according to the (chapters), whose numbers are given at the margin, and their (titles) 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...

, with references to the Eusebian Canons.

It contains prolegomena, tables of the (tables of contents) before each book, and subscriptions at the end of each book, with numbers of στιχοι
Stichometry
Stichometry is a term applied to the measurement of ancient texts by στίχοι or verses of a fixed standard length.It was the custom of the Greeks and Romans to estimate the length of their literary works by measured lines...

. The titles of the sacred books were written in red ink.

The order of books: Gospels, Pauline epistles, Acts, General epistles (James, Jude, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John), and Book of Revelation. The order of General epistles is the same as in Minuscule 326
Minuscule 326
Minuscule 326 , α 257 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Paleographically it has been assigned to the 10th century.Formerly it was labelled by 33a and 39p ....

.

Text

The Greek text of the Gospels and Acts of this 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. In Pauline epistles
Pauline epistles
The Pauline epistles, Epistles of Paul, or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen New Testament books which have the name Paul as the first word, hence claiming authorship by Paul the Apostle. Among these letters are some of the earliest extant Christian documents...

 and General epistles
General epistles
General epistles are books in the New Testament in the form of letters. They are termed "general" because for the most part their intended audience seems to be Christians in general rather than individual persons or congregations as is the case with the Pauline epistles...

 its text is mixed. Aland placed it in Category III.
In the Book of Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...

 its text belongs to the Byzantine text-type but with a large number of unique textual variants, in a close relationship to the Uncial 046
Codex Vaticanus 2066
Codex Vaticanus 2066, designed by 046 , α 1070 , formerly it was known also as Codex Basilianus, previously it was designated by Br or B2. It is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament written on vellum...

, and Minuscule 69
Minuscule 69
Minuscule 69 , δ 505 , known as Codex Leicester, or Codex Leicestrensis, is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament on paper and parchment leaves. The manuscript palaeographically has been assigned to the 15th century. Some leaves of the codex were lost. The text-type is eclectic...

. In the Gospels close to the manuscripts 56
Minuscule 56
Minuscule 56 , ε 517 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on paper leaves. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 15th century. The manuscript has complex contents. It has complex contents and some marginalia.- Description :The codex contains complete text of the four...

, 58
Minuscule 58
Minuscule 58 , ε 518 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment leaves. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 15th century.The manuscript has complex contents. It has marginalia....

.
It was not examined by the Claremont Profile Method.

In 1 John 5:6 it has textual variant δι' ὕδατος καὶ αἵματος καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου (through water and blood and the Holy Spirit) together with the manuscripts: 39
Minuscule 39
Minuscule 39 , A140 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, written on vellum. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 11th century. It has complex contents and some marginalia.- Description :...

, 326
Minuscule 326
Minuscule 326 , α 257 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Paleographically it has been assigned to the 10th century.Formerly it was labelled by 33a and 39p ....

, 1837.For the another variants of this verse see: Textual variants in the First Epistle of John. Bart D. Ehrman
Bart D. Ehrman
Bart D. Ehrman is an American New Testament scholar, currently the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill....

 identified this reading as Orthodox corrupt reading.

It contains the Comma Johanneum
Comma Johanneum
The Comma Johanneum is a comma in the First Epistle of John according to the Latin Vulgate text as transmitted since the Early Middle Ages, based on Vetus Latina minority readings dating to the 7th century...

 as an integral part of the text. An engraved facsimile of the relevant page can be seen in Thomas Hartwell Horne
Thomas Hartwell Horne
Thomas Hartwell Horne , was a theologian, and librarian. He was born in London and educated at Christ's Hospital. He then became a clerk to a barrister, and used his spare time to write. He was initially affiliated with the Wesleyans but later joined the Church of England.Horne wrote more than...

, An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures (London: Cadell and Davies, 1818), vol. 2.2, p. 118.

History

It was the first Greek manuscript discovered that contains the Comma Johanneum
Comma Johanneum
The Comma Johanneum is a comma in the First Epistle of John according to the Latin Vulgate text as transmitted since the Early Middle Ages, based on Vetus Latina minority readings dating to the 7th century...

 in 1 John 5:7-8. It was copied from a 10th century manuscript at Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...

, that did not have the Comma. The Comma was inserted from the Latin. Its earliest known owner was Froy, a Franciscan friar, then Thomas Clement (1569), then William Chark (1582), then Thomas Montfort, from whom it derives its present name, then Archbishop Ussher, who caused the collation to be made which appears in Walton's Polyglott (Matthew 1:1; Acts 22:29; Romans 1), and presented the manuscript to Trinity College.

This codex was used by Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus , known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and a theologian....

 in his third edition of Novum Testamentum
Novum Instrumentum omne
Novum Instrumentum omne was the first published New Testament in Greek . It was prepared by Desiderius Erasmus and printed by Johann Froben of Basel. Although the first printed Greek New Testament was the Complutensian Polyglot , it was the second to be published...

 (1522). Erasmus misprinted εμαις for εν αις in Apocalypse 2:13.

It was described by Wettstein
Johann Jakob Wettstein
Johann Jakob Wettstein was a Swiss theologian, best known as a New Testament critic.-Youth and study:...


and Orlando Dobbin. C. R. Gregory saw it in 1883.

The codex now is located at Trinity College
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

 (Ms. 30) in Dublin.

External links

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