Codex Colbertinus is a manuscript of the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

. It contains the entirety of the New Testament and includes the Apocryphal Epistle to the Laodiceans. It is designated by 6 or c in the Beuron register of Latin New Testament manuscripts. Using the study of comparative writing styles (

palaeography Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic disciplin ...

), it has been assigned to the 11th or 12th century. It was probably produced in southern France.

Description

The manuscript is a

codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

(precursor to the modern

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

format), containing the text of the entire Latin New Testament including the Epistle to the Laodiceans written on 146

folio The term "folio" () has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging Paper size, sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for ...

s (292 pages, sized 17.5 x 9.5cm). The text is written in two columns of 40 lines in black ink. There are decorations in red, green and blue ink, along with illustrations before each of the four gospels. Before each gospel and Acts are Prologues and chapter lists, with all the other books only having Prologues. Following the book of Acts is a note regarding the apocryphal '' Passion of Peter and Paul'', similar to that seen in

Codex Complutensis I The Codex Complutensis I, designated by C, is a 10th-century codex of the Christian Bible. It is written on vellum with Latin text mainly following the Vulgate. Parts of the Old Testament present an Old Latin version. Bruce M. Metzger, ''The Early ...

Text

Its version of the four

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

s and

Book of Acts The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...

follows the

Old Latin Old Latin, also known as Early, Archaic or Priscan Latin (Classical ), was the Latin language in the period roughly before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. A member of the Italic languages, it descends from a common Proto-Italic ...

, while the rest of the

follows the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

. Thus the codex represents a mixed form of the Latin New Tesament text. It is generally a European Old Latin text, named ''Itala'', strongly interpolated by ''Afra''. Both text were contaminated by

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

. In Matthew 27:38, the two robbers who were crucified on either side of Jesus are named as ''Zoatham'' (right-hand) and ''Camma'' (left-hand), but in Mark 15:27 they are named 'Zoatham'' and ''Chammatha''.

History

The earliest history of the manuscript is unknown. The text of the codex was edited by scholar Johannes Belsheim in 1888, scholar Heinreich Vogels in 1953, and by Jülicher. The manuscript is currently housed at the

National Library of France National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(shelf number Latin 254) in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Notes

{{reflist

External Links

Digital Colour images of Codex Colbertinus online
at the

. Vetus Latina New Testament manuscripts 12th-century biblical manuscripts Bibliothèque nationale de France collections

Description

Text

History

Notes

See also

External Links