Codex Laudianus, designated by E^a or 08 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1001 ( von Soden), called ''Laudianus'' after the former owner, Archbishop

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I of England, Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Caroline era#Religion, Charles I's religious re ...

. It is a diglot

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 ...

—

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

uncial Uncial is a majuscule script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Uncial letters were used to write Greek and Latin, as well as Gothic, and are the current style for ...

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

of the

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 ...

, palaeographically assigned to the 6th century. The manuscript contains the

Acts of the Apostles 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 ...

Description

The manuscript is a diglot, with Greek and Latin in parallel columns on the same page, with the Latin in the left-hand column. The

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 ...

contains 227 parchment leaves, sized , with almost the complete text of the

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 ...

( lacuna in 26:29-28:26). It is the earliest known manuscript to contain Acts 8:37. The text is written in two columns per page, 24 and more lines per page. It is arranged in very short lines of only one to three words each. The text is written colonmetrically.

Text

The Greek text of this codex exhibits a mixture of text-types, usually the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

, but there are many

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and some Alexandrian readings. According to

Kurt Aland Kurt Aland (28 March 1915 – 13 April 1994) was a German theologian and Biblical studies, biblical scholar who specialized in New Testament textual criticism. He founded the ''Institute for New Testament Textual Research, Institut für neutest ...

it agrees with the Byzantine text-type 36 times, and 21 times with the Byzantine when it has the same reading as the Alexandrian text. It agrees 22 times with the Alexandrian text against the Byzantine. It has 22 independent or distinctive readings (''Sonderlesarten''). Aland placed it in Category II. It contains Acts 8:37, as do the manuscripts 323, 453, 945,

1739 Events January–March * January 1 – Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier, in the South Atlantic Ocean. * January 3 – A 7.6 earthquake shakes the Ningxia Hui Autonomou ...

, 1891, 2818, and several others. Most other Greek manuscripts do not contain Acts 8:37 In Acts 12:25, the Latin text of the codex reads ''from Jerusalem to Antioch'', along with 429, 945,

, p, syr^p, cop^sa geo; The Majority Text reads εις Ιερουσαλημ (''to Jerusalem''); In Acts 16:10, it reads θεος along with P⁷⁴, Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, Ephraemi, 044, 33, 81, 181, 326, 630, 945, 1739, ar, e, l, vg, cop^bo, geo; other manuscripts read κυριος - D, P, 049, 056, 0142, 88, 104, 330, 436, 451, 614, 629, 1241, 1505, 1877, 2127, 2412, 2492, 2495, Byz, c, d, gig, syr^p,h, cop^sa. In Acts 18:26, it reads την οδον του κυριου along with manuscripts 1505, 2495, and lectionary 598. In Acts 20:28, it reads του κυριου (''of the Lord'') along with the manuscripts: Papyrus 74, C*, D, Ψ, 33, 36, 453, 945,

, and 1891.For other variants of this verse see: Textual variants in the Acts of the Apostles.

History

It was probably written in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, during the Byzantine occupation, and therefore after 534 ('' terminus a quo''). It was written before 716 ('' terminus ad quem''), as it was used by Beda Venerabilis in his ''Expositio Actuum Apostolorum Retractata''. "It was brought to England probably by Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 668, or by

Ceolfrid Saint Ceolfrid (or Ceolfrith, ; also Geoffrey, c. 642 – 716) was an Anglo-Saxon Christian abbot and saint. He is best known as the warden of Bede from the age of seven until his death in 716. He was the Abbot of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, an ...

, Abbot of Wearmouth and Jarrow, in the early part of the eighth century. It was probably deposited in one of the great monasteries in the north of England." It probably came to the continent with English missionaries in the 8th century and came into the possession of Hornbach Abbey in the Rhineland.Lapidge (1996), ''Anglo-Latin Literature'', Vol.1, p. 411. In the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, it came into the possession of

, who donated the manuscript to the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in 1636, where it is still located (shelfmark: MS. Laud Gr. 35). Thomas Hearne published a transcription of its text in 1715, but not a very good one. This was followed by a transcription done by Hansell in 1864, and then by

Constantin von Tischendorf Constantin is an Aromanian language, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian language, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian language, Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname. For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name). See ...

in 1870.C. R. Gregory
"Canon and Text of the New Testament"
(T. & T. Clark: Edinburgh 1907), p. 363 The manuscript was examined by Johann Jakob Griesbach, Ropes, Motzo, Poole, Clark, Lagrange, and Walther.

Notes

References

External links

* R. Waltz

''Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism'' (2007)

* {{Cite web , url = http://ntvmr.uni-muenster.de/en_GB/liste/?ObjID=20008 , title=Liste Handschriften , publisher=Institute for New Testament Textual Research , accessdate=8 March 2011, location=Münster
MS. Laud Gr. 35
Images available on Digital Bodleian
MS. Laud Gr. 35
In the Bodleian Libraries Catalogue of Medieval Manuscripts Laudianus Vetus Latina New Testament manuscripts 6th-century biblical manuscripts Bodleian Library collection