Codex Cyprius (John 6,52-53)

Codex Cyprius, designated by K^e or 017 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 71 ( von Soden), is a Greek uncial manuscript of the four Gospels, on parchment. It has been variously dated (8th–11th centuries), but it is currently dated to the 9th century. It was brought from Cyprus (hence name of the codex) to Paris. Sometimes it was called Codex Colbertinus 5149 (from its then place of housing).

It is one of the very few uncial manuscripts with the complete text of the four Gospels, and it is one of the more important late uncial manuscripts.

The text of the codex was examined by many scholars. It mainly represents the Byzantine text-type, but it has numerous peculiar readings. Although its text is not highly estimated by present textual critics, and a full collation of its text was never made or published, it is often cited in critical editions of the Greek New Testament.

Description

The codex contains the complete text of the four Gospels. The entire work is arranged on 267 parchment leaves (size ), in a quarto format with four leaves to each quire. The text itself is written in brown ink in one single column per page. Each page contains 16 to 31 lines because the handwriting is irregular and varies in size, with some pages having letters that are quite large. The uncial letters of this codex are large, upright, not round, and compressed. There is frequent insertion of a point as a mark of interpunction. This has been supposed to occur in an ancient stichometrical style of writing. A dot is always used to denote the end of the stichos. It contains lectionary markings in the margin, Synaxarion (list of Saints) on pages 1–18, with Menologion (Saint days), and the Eusebian Canon tables on pages 19–28. It contains subscriptions after each of three first Gospels.

After Matthew the subscription reads:
: ευαγγελιον κατα ματθαιον ΣΤΙ ΑΒΨ
: το κατα ματθαιον ευαγγελιον υπ αυτου εν ιεροσολυμοις
: μετα χρονους η της του χριστου αναληψεως.
After Mark it reads:
: ευαγγελιον κατα μαρκον ΣΤΙ ΔΨ
: το κατα μαρκον ευαγγελιον εξ δοτη μετα χρονους δεκα
: της του χριστου αναληψεως
After Luke it reads:
: ευαγγελιον κατα λουκαν ΣΤΙ ΑΒΩ
: το κατα λουκαν ευαγγελιον εξεδοτη μετα χρονους ιε
: της του χριστου αναληψεως.

It has rough breathings, smooth breathings, and accents from the original scribe (''prima manu''), but these are often omitted or incorrectly placed.
The breathings are indicated by ⊢ and ⊣, these signs were often used in the codices from the 9th and 10th century. Errors of itacism are very frequent.

The text is divided according to the Ammonian Sections (Matthew has 359, Mark 241, Luke 342, and John 232), whose numbers are given in the left margin of the text, but a references to the Eusebian Canons are absent. There was no other division according to the (''chapters'') in the original codex, though it has their (''titles'') at the top of the pages, and tables of the before each Gospel. The numbers of the (''chapters'') were added by a later hand (Matthew has 68, Mark 48, Luke 83, and John 19).

The nomina sacra are written in an abbreviated way, using mainly the first and last letters (sometimes with other letters, selected either from those immediately following the first letter, or from those immediately preceding the final letter). The last letter is dependent upon case; the nominative case abbreviations are as follows: / (''men''), / (''David''), / (''God''), / (''Jesus''), / (''Jerusalem''), / (''Israel''), / (''Lord''), / (''mother''), / (''heaven''), / (''heavenly''), / (''father''), / (''spirit''), / (''spiritual''), / (''salvation''), / (''son''), / (''Christ'').

Text

Textual character

The Greek text of this codex is a representative of the Byzantine text-type. Together with Codex Petropolitanus it belongs to family Π, which is in close relationship to Codex Alexandrinus. According to Tregelles it has many good and valuable readings, but according to Kenyon the text of the codex has no remarkable value, due to the manuscript being of a late date. According to Gregory it has many old readings that preceded the Byzantine text-type. Hermann von Soden classified it to the textual family I^κa, and associated the provenance of this text with Jerusalem.

Silva Lake considered the text of the codex as a somewhat dilute form of family Π, with a large number of peculiar readings, most of which are either misspellings or careless and ignorant mistakes. An educated scribe could hardly have produced the variants in ; ; ; ; ; or . The readings which it does not share with other representatives of Family Π are supported outside that family, and they seem to be connected with the late Alexandrian group ( C, L, M, N, Δ), but the number of the Alexandrian readings is not high, and Silva Lake considered them as a result of accident as opposed to influence from a different text-type.

Kurt Aland placed its text in Category V. According to the Claremont Profile Method, its text belongs to the textual family Π^a in Luke 1, Luke 10, and Luke 20.

Notable Readings

: (''wine'') – K B D L Θ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 33
: (''vinegar'') – A W 0250 Byz (see Psalm 69:22). According to Wettstein, the reading οινον came from the Latin versions.

: (''do not defraud'')
::omit – K B* W Ψ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 28 700 1010 1079 1242 1546 2148 ℓ ''10'' ℓ ''950'' ℓ ''1642'' ℓ ''1761'' syr^s arm geo
::incl. – B^c1 Majority of manuscripts (UBS3)

: (''Naraios'') – K*
: (''of Nazareth'') – K^c Majority of manuscripts

: (''but He turned and rebuked them and He said: "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of; for the Son of man came not to destroy men's lives but to save them'') – K Π 1079 1242 1546 ƒ¹ (omit γαρ) Θ ƒ¹³ (omit υμεις and γαρ)
:omit – Majority of manuscripts

: (''an ass or an ox'') – K L X Π Ψ ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ 33 892 1071, ℓ ''547''
: (''a son or an ox'') – Majority of manuscripts

: (''John'')
::omit – K A B M N S U Y Δ Θ Π Ψ Ω 047 0141 8 9 565 1192
::incl. – Majority of manuscripts''The Gospel According to John in the Byzantine Tradition'' (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft: Stuttgart 2007)

: – K Ψ 1519 ℓ ''1692''
: – Majority of manuscripts

: (''of Joseph'') – K A M Y Δ Π 047 7 8 196 461 817 1514 1519
: – Majority of manuscripts

: (''you will see'') – K A E F G M S Δ Θ Π Ψ Ω 047 9 461 1216 ℓ ''253''
: (''you will see'') – Majority of manuscripts

: (''and He said'') – K A G M U Y Θ Π 0141 0211 210 1212
: (''He said'') – Majority of manuscripts

: (''so they'') – K N Π Ψ 565 1192
: (''and'') – Majority of manuscripts

: (''said to them'') – K Π 754 1212 ℓ ''1076''
: (''said'') – Majority of manuscripts

: (''Him'') - K A S U Y Δ Θ Π Ψ Ω 047 0211 7 9 194 196 210 461 565 743
: (''Jesus'') – Majority of manuscripts

: (''their works are evil'') – K (singular reading)
: – Majority of manuscripts

: (''the Lord'') – K A E F G S U Y Γ Δ Π Ψ Ω 0141 0211 2 7 8 9 27 194 196 461 475
: (''Jesus'') – Majority of manuscripts

: – K (singular reading)
: – Y Π
: – Majority of manuscripts

: – K N Θ Ψ 565 1194 1519
: – Majority of manuscripts

: (''I am not going'') – K D 1241 f
: (''I am not yet going'') – K B L T W Θ Ψ 0105 0180 0250 ƒ¹ ƒ¹³ Majority of manuscripts (NA26)

: – K E G H 1079 1365

: – K K^r
:omit – D Γ 1 892 1010

: – K (singular reading)
: – E F G U 1079
: – G S ƒ¹³ 28 225 700 1009
: – D M Γ Tischendorfianus III ƒ¹

History

Colophon

Near the end of the manuscript, on the reverse of page 267, there is a colophon (subscription) inserted by a second hand (''secunda manu''). According to this colophon the manuscript was written by a scribe named Basil (εγραφη δε η δελτος αυτη διαχειρ[] βασιλειου μοναχου), and it was bound by one Theodulos, who commended themselves to the Mary (mother of Jesus), Virgin and St. Eutychios (προσδεξη ταυτην [την δελτον] η παναγια θεοτοκος και ο αγιος Ευτυχιος). Some parts of the colophon are uncertain.Constantin von Tischendorf
''Novum Testamentum Graece''
''Editio Octava Critica Maior'', J.C. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1884, p. 380Constantin von Tischendorf
''Novum Testamentum Graece. Editio Septima''
Sumptibus Adolphi Winter, Leipzig 1859, p. CLVIII.

The Full text of the colophon is:
: εγραφη δε η δελτος αυτη δια χειρ[] βασιλειου μοναχου
: ημφιασθην και εκεφ[]λεωθη υπ[.. θε]οδουλου του μοναχου
: προσδεξητε αυτην η παναγια και ο αγιος ευτυχιος
: κς δε ο θς δια πρεσβειων της υπερ �γι�ς και
: του αγιου ευτυχιου χαρισηται ημιν την βασιλειαν
: των ων αιωνιζησαν αμην:~

Dating

Richard Simon dated the manuscript to the 10th century. According to palaeographer Bernard de Montfaucon and biblical scholar Scholz, it was written in the 8th century. According to Leonard Hug it is not older than the ninth century, as several of the letter-forms in the manuscript have not been found in any other manuscript securly dated to before the 9th century CE.

Constantin von Tischendorf and Caspar René Gregory dated the manuscript to the 9th century. Tregelles dated the manuscript to the middle of the ninth century. Frederic G. Kenyon stated the manuscript must be not earlier than the 11th century, due to the formal liturgical hand and on palaeographic grounds. But Kenyon only saw Scrivener's facsimile, and his assessment was made only on the basis of this facsimile text.

Henri Omont advised it is impossible to give a precise date to this manuscript due the palaeographical grounds, as there are many manuscripts written in the same style of handwriting, but they are not dated. The 9th century is possible as well as the 11th century.

Silva Lake proclaimed it is difficult to prove it was written earlier than the year 1000, and it is perhaps as late as the middle of the eleventh century. This assessment was based rather on the textual dependency from other manuscript members of family Π, than on palaeographical grounds. According to Silva Lake, Minuscule 1219 represents a text of family Π in its earlier stage as opposed to Codex Cyprius. Cyprius could have been copied from the Minuscule 1219, or from a copy of Minuscule 1219 (Silva Lake's hypothetical codex b). Minuscule 1219 can hardly have written before the year 980 or long after 990, and so as a result Codex Cyprius can hardly be dated long before the year 1000.

William Hatch argued the letters Β, Δ, Κ, Λ, Μ, Ξ, Π, Υ, Φ, Χ, Ψ, and Ω have forms which are characteristic of the late 10th or the early 11th century CE. Hatch also noted the handwriting of the codex bears a striking general resemblance to that of three Gospel lectionaries of the 10th and 11th centuries: ℓ ''3'', ℓ ''296'', and ℓ ''1599''. On the other hand, no such likeness exists between the codex and uncial manuscripts of the New Testament which were written in the 9th century. As such, Hatch argued the manuscript should be dated to about 1000.

Textual critics like Frederic G. Kenyon, Kurt Aland and Bruce Metzger dated it to the 9th century. The manuscript is currently dated by the INTF to the 9th century.

Discovery and further research

The early history of the codex is unknown. It was brought from Cyprus to the Colbert Library (no. 5149) in Paris in 1673, whence it passed into its present locality in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

The manuscript was examined by Richard Simon, who made some extracts for John Mill, who used readings from the codex in his edition of ''Novum Testamentum Graecum'' in Greek. Montfaucon published the first facsimile of the codex, with the text of , and used this manuscript for his palaeographical studies. Wettstein employed readings from the codex, but with quite a large number of errors. Scholz valued it very highly, and he collated its text noted its textual variants in 1820, but with so little care and numerous errors that his list is now ignored. Tischendorf in 1842 and 1849, and Tregelles in 1950, produced a new and more accurate collation, and in 1850 they compared their collations in Leipzig, and created a new list. Its textual variants are cited in Tischendorf's ''Editio Octava Critica maior''. Scrivener published its facsimile with the text of .
Henri Omont and William Hatch published some fragments of the codex in separate facsimile samples.

The codex was also examined and described by Bianchini, and Gregory, who saw the codex in 1883.

Wettstein believed the text of the codex was altered by influence from Old Latin manuscripts. Hatch stated the codex is "one of the more important of the later uncial manuscripts of the four Gospels".

The codex is currently located in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gr. 63) in Paris.

See also

* Biblical manuscript
* List of New Testament uncials
* Textual criticism

References

Further reading

; Facsimile
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; Related articles
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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cyprius
Greek New Testament uncials
9th-century biblical manuscripts
Bibliothèque nationale de France collections