Codex Sangallensis 1395 is a nineteenth-century compilation of fragments, and includes a 5th-century

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

manuscript of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

, designated by Σ. The text, written on

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other ani ...

, is a version of the Latin

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus&nbs ...

Description

The collection contains the text of the four

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

s (Matthew 6:21–Johannes 17:18), with numerous lacunae. The Latin text of the Gospels is representative of the Latin Vulgate. It contains 473 parchment leaves (24 by 18.5 cm). The leaves are arranged in

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

.Cod. Sang. 1395
at the e-codices The order of Gospels is usual. The

nomina sacra In Christian scribal practice, nomina sacra (singular: ''nomen sacrum'' from Latin ''sacred name'') is the abbreviation of several frequently occurring divine names or titles, especially in Greek manuscripts of the Bible. A nomen sacrum consists ...

are written in an abbreviated way. The words at the end of line are abbreviated. It also uses a few other abbreviations. Hebrew names like Ααρων, Ισαακ, Αβρααμ, Βεθλεεμ were Latinized by dropping one of the repeated vowels, or by insertion of the letter "h" between them. Although the

Vetus Latina ''Vetus Latina'' ("Old Latin" in Latin), also known as ''Vetus Itala'' ("Old Italian"), ''Itala'' ("Italian") and Old Italic, and denoted by the siglum \mathfrak, is the collective name given to the Latin translations of biblical texts (bot ...

standard forms were Aron and Isac, forms like Aron and Aharon, Isac and Isahac, Bethlem and Bethlehem all occur in the manuscript. It has some singular readings in the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and ...

(11:4; 14:2; 16:9.10; 17:26; 18:9; 26:45.47; 27:59; 28:1) and in

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

(4:7; 4:11; 6:33; 14:21). The collection also includes a number of Irish fragments from the 7th and 10th century, including an illustration of Matthew (p. 418). On the blank verso side of the portrait there are incantations and supplications written by three different writers in a mixture of Latin and possibly

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writte ...

. Both pre-Christian deities and the Christian God are invoked for the relief of health issues. A solitary leaf on page 422 depicts a decorated cross, and similarly to the Matthew fragment contains a text in Irish minuscule on the back, which comprises blessings and an exorcism. Page 426 depicts the illuminated Irish fragment, which begins with ''PECCAVIMUS DOMINE PECCAVIMUS PARCE N bis("We have sinned, Lord, we have sinned, forgive us").'' This fragment shows a strong resemblance to fragments and manuscripts from the Irish midlands, among them Cod. Sang. 51. As such, it may have originated at the same time and in the same region.

History

The manuscript was written in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

in the 5th century. E. A. Lowe even thought it possible that the manuscript could have been written during the lifetime of

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...

. It is also dated to the 6th century. It is probably the oldest manuscript of the Latin Vulgate. In the Middle Ages it was used for rebinding other manuscripts and about half of the codex has survived. The text was published by

C. H. Turner Cuthbert Hamilton Turner (1860–1930) was an English ecclesiastical historian and Biblical scholar. He became Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture in the University of Oxford in 1920. His major work was ''Ecclesiae Occide ...

,C. H. Turner
''The oldest manuscript of the Vulgate Gospels''
(Oxford 1931) A. Dold. It is housed at the

Abbey library of Saint Gall The Abbey Library of Saint Gall (german: Stiftsbibliothek) is a significant medieval monastic library located in St. Gallen, Switzerland. In 1983, the library, as well as the Abbey of St. Gall, were designated a World Heritage Site, as “an outs ...

(Cod. Sang. 1395) in

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

, Switzerland.

References

External links

Cod. Sang. 1395
at the e-codices {{DEFAULTSORT:Sangallensis 1395 Vulgate manuscripts 5th-century biblical manuscripts Manuscripts of the Abbey library of Saint Gall

Description

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links